JPH1083471A - Coin identification device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely identify the truth or falsehood of a coin by storing the circular pattern of a coin being an identification object, reading the range of the surface of a supplied coin, which is equivalent to the pattern position, judging the supplied coin to be the coin being the identification object when read data is similar to the stored pattern. SOLUTION: The coin 1 rolled and transported on a wall face 2a interrupts light which is made incident to a photodetector 5 from a light-emitting element 4. A data processing part 6 detects it and takes in the output signal for one line from the one-dimensional light-receiving element 3c of an optical sensor 3. Brightness and darkness on a line connecting a plurality of projecting patterns on the coin 1 is taken in as a signal and read width can be obtained as a serial output waveform corresponding to time. The data processing part 6 compares an output waveform which is taken in from the optical sensor 3 with the threshold, detects the interval of respective adjacent rise signals, obtains the average value as a detection pitch, compares it with a reference value and identifies whether the passing coin 1 is the discrimination object or not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin discriminating apparatus for use in financial automatic machines such as ATMs and various vending machines, and in particular, discriminates the authenticity of coins having a concentric pitch pattern. The present invention relates to a coin identification device to perform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of device, the characteristics such as the material, thickness, presence or absence of a hole, etc. of a coin are detected by a magnetic sensor, or the outer diameter is measured by an optical sensor to discriminate the denomination and authenticity of the coin. Was. However, in recent years, foreign coins having similar materials, outer diameters, and the like may be mixed in. In such a case, the possibility of erroneously recognizing these coins has increased.
Yen coins are high-valued coins, and have become a major problem for illegal use of foreign currency.

In order to solve this problem, as a method of improving a magnetic sensor or a method of utilizing a feature of a coin pattern, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-201247 discloses a structure of a magnetic sensor with improved detection accuracy. And Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-1809.
No. 92 describes a method of accurately detecting a material by alternately driving magnetic sensors at different frequencies. Also, a method of detecting jagged edges of a coin using an optical sensor as described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-48933, or reading a pattern on the coin surface with an optical sensor as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-12548. Various methods for identifying a pattern image by collation have been proposed.

[0004]

However, in order to increase the detection accuracy of the sensor and at the same time to limit the normal detection range, it is necessary to change the detection output due to the environmental conditions of the apparatus and to change the detection output due to wear and damage of the coin. As a result, there is a problem that even a genuine coin is out of the normal detection range and rejected.

[0005] In addition, only by detecting the presence or absence of the jagged edge of the coin, there is a large number of foreign coins having the jagged edge, and it is easy to forge the edge with the jagged shape, so that a great effect cannot be expected. There was a problem. On the other hand, in the identification by collation of the pattern image on the coin surface, since the pattern of each coin is different, sufficient identification performance can be expected, but the identification processing takes time and the cost of the identification processing circuit becomes expensive. There were drawbacks.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a storage unit for storing a pattern of a pattern formed in a circle on a coin to be identified, and a surface of a coin to be inserted corresponding to a position where the pattern of the coin to be identified is provided. A reading unit for reading the range of
A data processing unit is provided for comparing the read data read by the reading unit with the pattern stored in the storage unit and determining that the inserted coin is a coin to be identified if the patterns are the same.

[0007] Further, a coin transport path having a wall surface for rolling and transporting the outer peripheral surface of the coin and having a transport surface inclined is provided.
A one-dimensional optical sensor disposed in parallel with the end face at a position separated from the end face of the coin conveyance path by a predetermined distance, and a coin rolled and conveyed on the coin conveyance path come to the position of the optical sensor. Position detecting means for detecting that
A data processing unit that captures an output signal of the optical sensor when the position detection unit detects a coin, and detects the captured sensor output signal.

An optical sensor arranged on a coin transport path for reading a pattern on the surface of the coin, a center calculating section for detecting a center position of the pattern image read by the optical sensor, and the pattern image read by the optical sensor. A data cutout unit that cuts out image data of a predetermined radius with respect to the center position, a discrimination data extraction unit that counts the number of patterns from the cutout data, and compares the counted number of patterns with a predetermined reference value A determination unit.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a projection pattern. In FIG. 1, 1 is a coin, and 2 is a transport path. The transport path 2 has a substantially L-shaped wall surface 2a formed below the transport surface, and is inclined so that the transport surface is inclined and the front side in the drawing is lowered. Therefore, the coin 1
Is transported on the transport path 2 as follows. That is, since the outer peripheral surface of the coin 1 contacts the wall surface 2a of the transport path 2 and one side of the coin 1 contacts the transport surface of the transport path 2, the coin 1 rolls on the transport path 2. The paper is conveyed while sliding to the near side in the drawing.

Reference numeral 3 denotes an optical sensor having a light source 3a, a lens 3b, and a one-dimensional light receiving element 3c. Light emitted from the light source 3a irradiates the surface of the coin 1, and reflected light from the surface is An image is formed on the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c by the lens 3b, and the intensity of the reflected light is detected as the magnitude of the output signal. The one-dimensional light receiving element 3c is, for example, an array of CCD sensors or the like. Also,
The optical sensor 3 is disposed so as to read the surface of the coin 1 passing a position separated by a predetermined distance (S) from the wall surface 2a of the transport path 2 and the reflected light is reflected by the wall surface 2a.
It is arranged so as to form an image on the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c as a light ray parallel to a. Here, the predetermined distance (S) refers to a pattern concentrically engraved on the surface of the coin 1 to be discriminated at an equal pitch on a line passing through the diameter of the coin 1 to be discriminated and the outer peripheral surface of the coin 1. Is the distance corresponding to For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when a 500-yen coin in Japan is to be determined, the distance between the concentric projection pattern 1a engraved on the surface of the coin at an equal pitch and the outer peripheral surface is 1.
3 mm.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a light emitting element, and 5 denotes a light receiving element. The light receiving element is disposed at a position of a hole 2b formed in the transport path 2 so as to face up and down the transport path 2. Is arranged so that when it comes to the position of the optical sensor 3, the light incident on the light receiving element 5 from the light emitting element 4 is blocked.
Reference numeral 6 denotes a data processing unit which is connected to the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c and the light receiving element 5 and captures an output signal of the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c when light incident on the light receiving element 5 is blocked. The pitch of the amount of received light, that is, the engraving pitch of the pattern of the coin 1 is obtained from the magnitude, and is compared with a predetermined reference value to determine whether or not the coin is an identification target coin.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. In addition,
The processing in the case of a 500 yen coin or a foreign coin similar to the 500 yen coin as the coin 1 will be described. First, 5
A case where a 00 yen coin is set as an identification target will be described. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a reading range, FIG. 4 is an output waveform diagram of a sensor, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a binarized signal. The coin 1 rolls while the outer peripheral surface thereof is in contact with the wall surface 2 a and is conveyed on the conveying path 2. When the coin 1 reaches the position of the optical sensor 3, the light emitting element 4
From the light incident on the light receiving element 5. As a result, the output of the light receiving element 5 decreases, and the data processing unit 6 detects that the output of the light receiving element 5 has decreased.

The data processing unit 6 includes the optical sensor 3
The output signal for one line is taken in from the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c. Since the optical sensor 3 is arranged with respect to the transport path 2 as described above, the reading range of the coin 1 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the light and darkness on a line connecting the seven projecting patterns 1a is captured as a signal. . This signal indicates that the reflected light of the protruding pattern 1a of the coin 1 is stronger than the other portions,
Since the output value of the portion a is large, for example, as shown in FIG.
The read width is obtained as a serial output waveform corresponding to time.

The data processing unit 6 compares the output waveform fetched from the optical sensor 3 with a predetermined threshold value (Vref) and binarizes the waveform, for example, as shown in FIG. P1 to P6) are detected. The average value (P1 + P2 +... + P) of the intervals (P1 to P6)
n) / n is determined as a detected pitch P, and the detected pitch P is compared with a predetermined reference value (Pmin, Pmax) to determine whether or not the passing coin 1 is a discrimination target.
The reference value when the 500 yen coin is a discrimination target is the arrangement pitch (approximately 0.75 mm) of the projection patterns 1a, has a slight width, and has a minimum allowable range (Pmin) and a maximum allowable range (Pmax). ) And decide. The reading resolution of the one-dimensional light receiving element 3c of the optical sensor 3 is as follows.
8dot / mm so that the above arrangement pitch can be detected more accurately
It is desirable to make the above.

On the other hand, the reading width of the optical sensor 3 may be limited to a range in which only the projection pattern 1a of the coin 1 can be read, or may be a range in which the optical sensor 3 has a larger reading width. In this case, the range in which the projection pattern 1a can be read out of the entire reading range is handled as valid data. Next, an operation when a foreign currency similar to the 500 yen coin is passed will be described below.

In the case of a coin which does not have a pattern corresponding to the protrusion pattern 1a of a 500 yen coin, such as a 10 yuan coin in Taiwan or a 1 dollar coin in the United States, the output signal waveform captured by the data processing unit 6 from the optical sensor 3 is substantially flat. Waveform. For this reason, even when a part of the pattern enters the reading position, the detection P obtained as described above becomes a value considerably larger than the reference value, and it is possible to reliably exclude the detection P.

In the case of a coin having a pattern corresponding to the protruding pattern 1a of a 500-yen coin, the pattern position and the pattern pitch do not become equal. For example, a 1-dollar coin in Hong Kong has a small distance (S) to a pattern position of about 1 mm and a fine pattern pitch of about 2/3 of a 500 yen coin. The 500 won coin in Korea has a protrusion pattern formed on one side at a pitch similar to 500 yen, but the distance to the pattern position is as large as about 1.7 mm. For this reason, if the reading position of the optical sensor 3 is set strictly, the pattern portion is not read and erroneously identified, and can be reliably excluded.

According to the first embodiment, the coins to be identified and the other coins are not erroneously distinguished from each other unless the coins to be identified and the pattern positions and the pattern pitches are equal.
Therefore, an effect is obtained that the authenticity of the coin to be identified can be reliably identified. Further, since the pattern pitch can be determined from the output signal of one line of the optical sensor read at a predetermined timing and the pattern pitch can be identified simply by comparing the pattern pitch with a reference value, a short processing can be performed with a simple processing circuit. This makes it possible to provide an effect that a low-cost coin identification device can be provided.

Second Embodiment FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image input unit, which comprises a two-dimensional sensor such as a CCD camera or a linear one-dimensional sensor or the like, captures the surface pattern of the moving coin 1 as an image signal, and transmits the captured image signal to the A / D conversion unit 12. Output.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an A / D converter 12, which converts an image signal received by the image input unit 11 into a digital signal and sends the digital signal to the image memory unit 13. Reference numeral 13 denotes an image memory for temporarily storing digitized image signals of the coin 1. Reference numeral 14 denotes a center calculation unit that detects the center position of the image signal coin 1 stored in the image memory unit 13. For example, an edge of the coin 1 is detected based on a difference from the background level, and the center position is detected. You can ask.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a concentric data extracting unit which extracts an image signal having a predetermined radius from the image memory unit 13 with respect to the center position of the coin 1 obtained by the center calculating unit 14 as polar coordinate data and discriminates a discrimination data extracting unit 16 To enter. Reference numeral 16 denotes a discrimination data extraction unit which counts the number of patterns in the cutout area from the image data input from the concentric data cutout unit 15 and inputs the result to the discrimination unit 17.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a discriminating unit, which outputs whether or not the coin is a discrimination target coin by comparing it with a predetermined reference value. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with the 500-yen coin as an identification target. When the coin 1 is transported to the position of the image input unit 11 by a transport unit (not shown), the image input unit 11 captures the surface pattern of the coin 1 as an image signal, and the captured image signal is digitally converted by the A / D conversion unit 12. The signal is converted into a signal and temporarily stored in the image memory unit 13. The fact that the coin 1 has approached the image input unit 11 and that the coin 1 has passed through the image input unit 11 is detected by a position detecting unit (not shown), and a digitized image signal of the coin 1 that has passed at that time is stored in the image memory unit 13. Is stored for one sheet.

Next, the center calculating section 14 controls the image memory section 13
The edge of the coin 1 is detected from the image signal stored in the image signal based on the difference from the background level, and the center position (x ₀ , y
₀ ). Specifically, the first line of existence of the edge is detected (y _a) and the last row (y _b), and the first column (x
_a) the extracted last column (x _b), the center point position (x _0,
y ₀ ) is x ₀ = (x _a + x _b ) / 2 and y ₀ = (y _a
+ Y _b ) / 2.

The center position (x₀, Y₀) Is the center
When calculated by the calculation unit 14, the concentric data extraction unit 1
5 is the center position (x₀,
y₀) At a position (x, y) with a predetermined radius r
Extract image signal as polar coordinate data and extract discrimination data
Input to the output unit 16. That is, the polar coordinate position of radius r is
Reference position data of rectangular coordinates (r cosθ₀, R sin
θ₀), (R cosθ₁, R sinθ₁) To (r cos θ_n,
r sinθ_n) Is stored in advance as the reference position data.
The center position data (x₀, Y₀) Added position
(X = r cos θ_m+ X ₀, X = r sin θ_m+ Y₀) Painting
The image signals are sequentially input to the discrimination data extraction unit 16.

The predetermined radius r in the present embodiment is set to 12 mm so as to cut out a concentric projecting pattern 1a (see FIG. 2) engraved at equal pitches on the surface of a 500-yen coin to be identified. And therefore coin 1 is 50
In the case of a zero-yen coin, the image signal input to the discrimination data extraction unit 16 has a waveform similar to that of FIG. 4 depending on the presence or absence of the projection pattern 1a, and the discrimination data extraction unit 16 counts the number of patterns. As the method, the binarization of the image signal and the detection of the rise of the signal as described in the first embodiment are performed by digital signal processing, and the number of rises of the signal is counted to obtain the number of patterns.

The number of patterns obtained by the discrimination data extraction unit 6 is compared with a reference value determined in advance by the discrimination unit 17, and depending on whether or not both are the same, the passing coin 1 is a coin to be identified. Identify and output. The reference value is the number of patterns of the concentric cut-out portions of the coin to be identified, and in the case of 500 yen, it is “101” which is a plurality of the protrusion patterns 1a.

Next, the operation when a surface pattern of a foreign currency similar to 500 yen is captured as an image signal will be described below. In the case of a coin which does not have a pattern corresponding to the protruding pattern 1a of a 500 yen coin like a 10 yuan coin in Taiwan or a 1 dollar coin in the United States, even if a part of the pattern is in the cutout area, the discrimination data extraction unit 16 Is a considerably small value, and can be reliably eliminated.

On the other hand, among coins having a pattern corresponding to the protruding pattern 1a of a 500 yen coin, for example, a 1 dollar coin in Hong Kong has a pattern position radius of about 11.7 and a pattern number of 150.
There are about 500 coins in Korea, and the radius of the pattern position is 11.6 mm and the number of patterns is 100. The coins with the same pattern position and the same number of patterns are not equal. There is no identification.

According to the second embodiment, as long as there are not the same number of patterns at the same radial position as the coin to be identified, the coin to be identified is not erroneously distinguished from the other coins. There is an effect that the authenticity can be surely identified. Further, since only the special area of the coin to be identified is cut out and processed, the time can be greatly reduced as compared with the identification by collation of the pattern image or the like, and an effect that can be realized by a simple processing circuit is obtained.

The first embodiment and the second embodiment
In both of the embodiments, the operation has been described with the 500-yen coin as the identification target. However, if the setting conditions are changed, any coin with a pattern arranged concentrically can be used as the target coin for any coin. It is possible to identify whether or not there is. Further, in the second embodiment, an accurate diameter can be obtained from coin edge data detected by the center calculation unit, and this diameter data can also be used for coin identification.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the coins to be identified and other coins are not erroneously distinguished from each other unless the coins to be identified have the same pattern position and pattern pitch. Therefore, an effect is obtained that the authenticity of the coin to be identified can be reliably identified. In addition, even if the detection output fluctuates due to the device environmental conditions, or the detection output changes due to coin abrasion or scratching, the normal detection range is not rejected. Further, since the coins are identified by a simple comparison of the circularly formed patterns, the amount of information is small, the identification process can be performed in a short time, and the effect of reducing the cost can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a projection pattern.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a reading range.

FIG. 4 is an output waveform diagram of a sensor.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a binary signal.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a coin identification device according to a second embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coin 2 Transport path 3 Optical sensor 3a Light source 3b Lens 3c One-dimensional light receiving element 4 Light emitting element 5 Light receiving element

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A coin discriminating apparatus for discriminating whether or not a coin to be inserted is a target coin, a storage unit for storing a pattern of a pattern formed in a circle on the coin to be discriminated, and a pattern of the coin to be discriminated is provided. A reading unit that reads a range of the surface of the inserted coin corresponding to the position; comparing the read data read by the reading unit with the pattern stored in the storage unit; A coin identification device comprising: a data processing unit that determines that the coin is a target coin. 2. A coin transport path formed by rolling and transporting an outer peripheral surface of a coin, and a coin transport path provided with an inclined transport surface, and a position separated by a predetermined distance from an end face of the coin transport path and parallel to the end face. A one-dimensional optical sensor, a position detecting means for detecting that a coin rolled and conveyed on the coin conveyance path has come to the position of the optical sensor, and when the position detecting means detects a coin. And a data processing unit for receiving the output signal of the optical sensor and detecting the captured sensor output signal. 3. An optical sensor arranged on a coin transport path for reading a pattern on a coin surface; a center calculating unit for detecting a center position of the pattern image read by the optical sensor; A data cutout unit for cutting out image data having a predetermined radius with respect to the center position, a discrimination data extraction unit for counting the number of patterns from the cutout data, and comparing the counted number of patterns with a predetermined reference value A coin identification device, comprising: a determination unit.