JPH04199489A - Paper money processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the occurrence of the mis-judgment by determining the average density value from the density information including the maximum value, judging as the right notes when the average density value is not more than the discrimination reference value and judging as the wrong notes when the average density exceeds the discrimination reference value. CONSTITUTION:A paper money P is carried to the sensor part by a carrying roller 32, no printing area in the lower section of the paper money P is irradiated with the light from the projecting part of a first sensor 30 and the reflected light is detected in the light receiving part. In the same way as this, no printing area in the upper section of the paper money P is irradiated with the light from the projecting part of a second sensor 31 and the reflected light is detected in the light receiving part. The plural density data included the maximum value is integrated in order of the brighter of the obtained density data, the integrated value is divided by the number of data and the density average value of the bright point is determined within the extent of a discrimination specified area 23. In this case, as for the discrimination of right and wrong, when the average density value is greater than the fixed judgment reference value, it is judged as a right note and when it is less than the fixed judgment reference value, it is judged as a wrong note. Thus, the performance of the discrimination of right and wrong can be improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a banknote handling device that performs fitness determination, counting, authenticity determination, etc. of banknotes. This invention relates to an improved banknote handling device.

(Prior Art) In the cash transaction operations of financial institutions, banknote handling devices are used to perform various tasks such as determining the denomination of banknotes, counting them, determining whether they are good or bad, and determining whether they are genuine or false. In a banknote handling device, banknotes are fed out one by one from a banknote supply unit for feeding out banknotes, and after a discrimination unit installed on the banknote conveyance path distinguishes the denomination, fitness, front and back, count, etc., the banknotes are sorted out. The banknotes are sorted and stored in each stacking section by denomination and fitness.

The discrimination unit of such a banknote processing apparatus is required to have a fitness discrimination function for discriminating banknotes of the same denomination according to the degree of dirtiness of the banknotes. After the discrimination section determines how dirty the banknotes are, the clean banknotes (good banknotes) are accumulated in the first stacking unit and used again as change, while the dirty banknotes (damaged banknotes) are
This is because it is necessary to collect the banknotes in a separate second stacking section and sort the banknotes before returning them to the bank.

In conventional banknote processing devices, the overall density of a banknote is measured and detected using a contact image sensor, and when the detected density value is compared with a predetermined reference value, if it is small (dark), it is uniformly determined that the banknote is dirty, and if it is large ( If the banknote is bright (bright), it is determined that the banknote is clean. In this case, the reference value corresponds to a predetermined value determined by the level setting of the fitness determination.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, conventional banknote processing devices have sufficient accuracy when distinguishing ordinary banknotes, but if there is a modulation in the density of the entire banknote, erroneous judgments or frequent occurrences occur. do. For example, a whitish banknote whose printing has peeled off due to washing has a low ink density and a large (bright) integrated value of density, so it is easy to judge it as a genuine banknote.On the other hand, a new banknote that has just been printed has a low ink density. Since it is dark and the integrated value of the density is small (darker), it is easy to judge it as a damaged note.

In addition, since the paper of banknotes is thin, when reading the density data of the position without printing on the front side with a non-contact close image sensor, it is difficult to In addition, when measuring the density of clean banknotes and dirty banknotes that have been visually sorted using a reflection densitometer, the difference in density is very small. There are some inconveniences such as the need to perform a fitness-to-damage determination based on the criteria.

Therefore, based on the level of brightness used to determine the position where there is no printing on both the front and back sides (the background color of the banknote),
Technical ability 1 for determining the fitness of banknotes has been proposed. However, the skew of banknotes conveyed at high speed
, it is difficult to extract density data from a very narrow range where there is no printing on both the front and back sides due to the influence of transport position misalignment, etc., and depending on the transport state, it is difficult to extract density data from the read density data or the density data from the printed area. Since the signal contains a lot of noise, it is difficult to accurately determine whether it is good or bad.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a highly reliable banknote processing device that has a low incidence of false judgments when determining whether banknotes are good or bad. The purpose is to

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A banknote processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a reading means for reading the density information of a banknote, and a banknote processing apparatus that reads banknotes according to the density information of the banknote obtained by the reading means. A means is used to sort the bills into good and unfit bills, a conveying means for conveying the bills to the means, a discrimination reference value for discriminating the good bills and the unfit bills, and a discrimination between the bills to be read by the reading means. means for setting a designated area; and means for comparing and determining the density information obtained from the designated area with the discrimination reference value; Calculate the integral value of a plurality of concentration information including at least the maximum value from each side, calculate the average concentration value based on this integral value and the number of readings of concentration information, and compare this average concentration value with the discrimination reference value. It is characterized by determining losses.

In this case, it is desirable to set an area where no banknotes are printed as the discrimination designated area.

(Function) In the banknote processing apparatus according to the present invention, the average density value is calculated from the density information including at least the maximum value from the brighter density of the discrimination designated area, and when the average density value is less than the discrimination reference value, it is determined that the banknote is genuine. If the average density value exceeds the discrimination reference value, the note is determined to be unfit.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, a banknote supply section 11 is provided in the front row of the banknote processing apparatus 10, and through this banknote supply section 11, banknotes P are taken into the machine one by one. Behind the bill supply section 11 are first to fourth stacking sections 14.
A to 14d continue. These accumulation parts 14a to 14
d is for stacking banknotes P classified by denomination and fitness. Note that a controller 15 including a CPU is provided inside the machine to control the transport operation and discrimination operation of the banknotes P.

As shown in FIG. 3, within the body of the device 10, a discrimination section 12 is provided downstream of the banknote supply section 11. Further, a sorting section 13 is provided downstream of the discriminating section 12, and a sorting section 14a is provided for sorting the bills P after the discriminating, by denomination and fitness.
~14d, and are respectively accumulated. The first accumulation section 14a corresponds to a paste storage for accumulating unfit notes, and the second to fourth accumulation sections 14b to 14d
Each of these corresponds to a safe in which genuine bills are collected by denomination and reused as change.

Next, without reference to FIG. 1, the determining section 12 will be explained.

A conveyance path for conveying banknotes P is provided inside the determination unit 12 . By rollers 32 and 33 on the conveyance path, the banknotes P are conveyed one by one sideways (in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the banknote P or the conveyance direction).

Two line image sensors 30, 31 are provided at appropriate locations on the banknote transport path. Each of the sensors 30 and 31 is a non-contact type contact sensor incorporating a light projecting part and a light receiving part, the light projecting part has a light source lamp, and the light receiving part has a CCD element. The sensitivity surface of the first sensor 30 is the banknote P being conveyed.
The sensitivity surface of the second sensor 3] is provided so as to face the top surface of the banknote P being conveyed. In addition, there is a Densa 3tT1.31 on the banknote conveyance path.
In addition, an image line sensor (not shown) is also provided to determine whether the banknote P is front or back and top and bottom in the transport direction.

These sensors 30 and 31 are each connected to an input section of the controller 15, and have the role of inputting the reflected light from the banknote P to the controller 15 as density information. Each sensor 30, 31 faces its respective sensitivity surface or a white plate (not shown), and is configured so that when no banknote P is passing through, the sensor 30, 31 can self-calibrate by reflecting light on the white plate. There is.

The output section of the controller 15 is connected to the input side of the distribution section 13, and the output side of the distribution section 13 is connected to each of the accumulations 114a to 14.
connected to d. In the storage section of the controller 15,
The determination reference value and determination specification area are stored. The determination reference value is set using the reflection intensity (brightness) from the non-printed area of the normal banknote P. Further, the discrimination designated area is set using areas with no printing on the front and back surfaces of the banknote P, depending on the denomination. This embodiment shows an example in which two reflected light sensors are used to separately measure the density of the front and back surfaces of a banknote P to determine whether it is fit or not. By setting the watermark in the watermark part, it is also possible to determine the fitness or failure using only one transmitted light type sensor.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, a case will be described in which the inserted banknotes P are determined to be good or bad.

The bill P is conveyed to the sensor section by the conveyance roller 32, light is irradiated from the light projecting section of the first sensor 30 onto an unprinted area on the lower surface of the bill P, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiving section. At the same time, the light projecting section of the second sensor 31 shines light onto the unprinted area on the top surface of the banknote P, and the light receiving section detects the reflected light.

As shown in FIG. 6, the image line sensors 30 and 31 scan the banknote P by moving in one direction in the figure while the banknote P is conveyed in the direction shown in the figure.

These read detection signals are reflected density data D1 (i,
k) and reflection density data D2 ci,k) are input to the controller 15 and stored in the storage unit as density data for the entire front and back surfaces of the banknote P.

The size of the measurement point area for concentration measurement is approximately 111 m x 1) square. Further, the number of measurement points is, for example, 100 on one side of the banknote.

After obtaining the density data of the front and back surfaces of the banknote P in this way, based on the results of the front and back sides of the banknote P and the top and bottom transport directions obtained from other sensors, as shown in FIG. The density information range 11 of the discrimination designated area 23 including the area 25 with no printing on both the front and back sides corresponding to the conveyance direction of the banknote P
~i2. 2 for kl~, and 30 for either upper or lower
．． It is determined whether to use the density information D1 or D2 of No. 31.

As shown in FIG. 4, based on the above information, density data D n (i, k) (i = i 1 - i
2.

Find 2) for k-kl~. Among the density data Dn (i, k) obtained in this way, a plurality of density data including the brightest value is integrated, the integrated value is divided by the number of data, and the brightest data within the range of the discrimination designated area 23 is calculated. Find the average concentration value of the points. This value corresponds to the average density of bright spots in the discrimination designated area 23 on the banknote, and the density of areas with printing is small (dark) and is therefore excluded. This value represents the brightness of white color.

In the fitness determination, if the average density value is larger (brighter) than a predetermined discrimination reference value, it is determined to be a normal note, and if it is smaller (dark), it is determined to be an unfit note.

Furthermore, if the average density value is abnormally large (bright), the bill is determined to be unfit because it may be that white paint has adhered to the bill or that there is a hole in the bill.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a banknote processing device with high fitness/damage discrimination performance. For example, skewing of banknotes during transportation (
Even if the transfer position is not correct, if the size of the specified discrimination area is set to a certain degree, bright spots on the banknotes that exist within that area can be extracted. It is completely unaffected by printing ink, and it is possible to determine whether the banknote is good or not, based on the brightness of the background color of the banknote. Therefore, the performance of determining whether the banknote is good or bad is greatly improved.

Furthermore, multiple designated areas are defined, and each designated area is judged to be normal or defective, and each average density value is compared with the standard value. ), it is determined that the banknote is genuine, and the other banknotes are determined to be defective, thereby making it possible to deal with cases where part of the banknote is stained or soiled.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of a banknote processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an overall outline of the banknote processing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a side view of the banknote processing apparatus. FIG. 4 is a front view of the banknote to explain the data acquisition area on the banknote in the discrimination section of the device, FIG. 5 is a back view of the banknote, and FIG. 6 is an illustration of the arrangement of density data. This is a diagram for 12...Discrimination section, 13...Distribution section, 14a-14
d...Integration unit, 15...Controller, 30, 31
...Image sensor, P...Banknote applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A reading means for reading the density information of the banknotes, a sorting means for sorting the banknotes into good notes and damaged notes according to the density information of the banknotes obtained by the reading means, and transport for conveying the banknotes to the sorting means. means for setting a discrimination reference value for discriminating a valid note or a damaged note and a discrimination designated area of a banknote to be read by the reading means; density information obtained from the discrimination designated area and the discrimination reference value; and means for comparing and determining, and the comparing and determining means calculates an integral value of a plurality of density information including at least the maximum value from the lighter density within the designated discrimination area, and combines this integral value and the number of density information readings. A banknote processing apparatus characterized in that the banknote processing apparatus determines whether the banknote is good or not by determining an average density value based on the above, and comparing the average density value with the determination reference value.