CA1282171C - Banknote denomination reader system for the blind - Google Patents
Banknote denomination reader system for the blindInfo
- Publication number
- CA1282171C CA1282171C CA000524620A CA524620A CA1282171C CA 1282171 C CA1282171 C CA 1282171C CA 000524620 A CA000524620 A CA 000524620A CA 524620 A CA524620 A CA 524620A CA 1282171 C CA1282171 C CA 1282171C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- banknote
- signals
- series
- light
- responsive
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
- 230000015572 biosynthetic process Effects 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000003786 synthesis reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000003491 array Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- WUPHOULIZUERAE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 3-(oxolan-2-yl)propanoic acid Chemical compound OC(=O)CCC1CCCO1 WUPHOULIZUERAE-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims 1
- 229910052980 cadmium sulfide Inorganic materials 0.000 claims 1
- 238000010200 validation analysis Methods 0.000 description 2
- UCKMPCXJQFINFW-UHFFFAOYSA-N Sulphide Chemical compound [S-2] UCKMPCXJQFINFW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004364 calculation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000005693 optoelectronics Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000638 stimulation Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
- G07D7/00—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency
- G07D7/06—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency using wave or particle radiation
- G07D7/12—Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
- G07D7/128—Viewing devices
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
- G07D7/00—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency
- G07D7/20—Testing patterns thereon
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
- G07D7/00—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency
- G07D7/06—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of valuable papers or for segregating those which are unacceptable, e.g. banknotes that are alien to a currency using wave or particle radiation
- G07D7/12—Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
- G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
- G09B21/00—Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute
- G09B21/001—Teaching or communicating with blind persons
- G09B21/006—Teaching or communicating with blind persons using audible presentation of the information
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Toxicology (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Audiology, Speech & Language Pathology (AREA)
- Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
- Educational Administration (AREA)
- Educational Technology (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Inspection Of Paper Currency And Valuable Securities (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A system for indicating currency note denominations for the blind utilizing code marked notes and a hand-held device into which notes are inserted for reading. A light source illuminates one side of a note and photosensors sense the transmitted light on the other side at the positions where the code markings are located. The code is read, interpreted and a voice announcement is made by a voice synthesizer.
A system for indicating currency note denominations for the blind utilizing code marked notes and a hand-held device into which notes are inserted for reading. A light source illuminates one side of a note and photosensors sense the transmitted light on the other side at the positions where the code markings are located. The code is read, interpreted and a voice announcement is made by a voice synthesizer.
Description
BANKNOTE DENOMINATION READER SYSTEM FOR THE BLIND
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for recognizing banknote denominations, and particularly a system for indicating the value oE specially marked bankno-tes or currency bills. More particularly s-till, the system is directed to serving blind individuals by announcing the electronically read denomination of a marked bill after insertion into a handheld~ battery operated, device.
Description of the Related Art A plethora of prior art patents exists, which is mainly directed to recognition and validation of currency banknotes or bills.
Canadian Patent No. 696,596 discloses a device ~here the amount of light transmitted through certain portions of a bill is detected and compared to the re-ference transmission characteristics of a genuine bill.
Canadian Patent No. 1,177,172 discloses a currency note validator where the reflectance and opacity of a number of laterally spaced sample areas are detected and compared to stored reference values. The note is accepted if it has the correct length and if the re1ec-tance and opacity data exhibit less than a predetermined maximum nonconformity. The note is propelled along its length past the detectors. The device is microprocessor controlled and a simple flow chart is shown ln figure 10 Canadian Patent No. 1,190,651 discloses a device for scanning a sheet with a pattern (i.e. a banknote). The device moves the note and illumina-tes a strip perpendicular to the direction of movement. The reflected light from the strip is summed and a characteristic intensity waveform is created as the note is moved, which is compared to a stored reference waveform.
In United States Patent No. 4,349,111, a bill-handling device provides relative movement between a sensor and a U.S. bill or other object to permit that sensor to sense longitudinally-spaced areas on that U.S.
bill or other object which correspond to areas, on authentic U.S. bill or counterfeits thereof, where significant data is found. Data which is obtained during the sensing of those areas is stored, and subsequently is analyzed to determine the authenticity and denomination of the U.S. bill -- if it is one of a plurality of bills of specifically-different denominations.
United States Patent No. 4,127,194 is directed to a device for selecting mail accordiny to Zip Codes.
As the piece of mail is moved, a detector detects the light radiated by stimulation from illuminated Zip Code bars and compares it to that obtained from a non-radiating reference bar. A valid code bar is recognized if the difference exceeds a minimum value.
In all of the above patents for the validation of banknotes, the note is propelled past the detectors and does not have a special marking or code. Since the purpose is to authenticate a bill by comparing its charact~ristics to those of known genuine characteristics, the systems and devices are necessarily complex.
~2~12~L
SUMMA~Y OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is not intended for currency authentication, but, rather, for use by blind individuals to identify the denomination of paper currency or bank notes. This is achieved by providiny a portable or hand-held banknote reader in which the user places a banknote in the reader and the reader audibly announces the denomination of the note. The reader requires currency which is coded with special code markings. In order to read the note, the reader transmits light through the note from one side and senses the intensity of light passing through the note from the other side. It converts intensity readings to a series of signals representative of the presence or absence of codes on the note, compares the series of signals against known codes to determine the denomination of the note and then activates a voice synthesizer to announce the denomination.
~O Thus, the present invention is generally defined as a portable banknote reader for determining the denomination of currency notes having an array of discrete opaque markings, indicative of the denomination of the notes, at some or all of predetermined code locations on the notes, the reader comprising a housing for receiving a banknote in a prede~ermined position therein; light source means in the housing for transmitting light through at least the predetermined locations of a banknote disposed in the housing; means disposed in the housing in opposed relation to the light source means for receiving light transmitted thereby and responsive thereto for producing a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed in the housing; means for comparing the series of signals against each of a plurality predetermined signals indicative of denominations of banknotes and producing an output signal indicative of the actual .~
g~
denomination of a note in the housing when the series of signals matches one of the plurality of predetermined signals; and means responsive to the comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in the housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an example Canadian $20 banknote in outline with special code markings according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective depicting the hand-held device according to the present invention;
Figure 3 is a block schematic of the circuit in the hand-held device for reading and interpreting the code markings of Figure 1 according to the present invention;
Figure 4A, 4B and 4C is a flow chart for the program operating the device of Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a flow chart for the French language subroutine when requested by the user of the device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 of the drawings shows in outline a paper currency note 10 for the denomination Canadian $20.00 having adjacent its narrow edges code markings in the form of two sets of black squares 11/12 and 13/14 made by printing the currency note 10 with a heavy intaglio ink. The marking code actually consists of four binary positions corresponding to four squares on either side of the note 10. The code for the denomination 20 is that the outer two most squarss 11, 12, 13 and 14 are '~ , - . ~
. . ~i , - 5 -inkedO The position of the remaining squares is shown in dotted outline as squares 15, 16, 17 and 18. ~ny four position binary code is sufficient to identify seven denominations, ranging from $1.00 to ~100.00, of Canadian banknotes. The s~uares 11 etc. are made large enouyh to account for the tolerances during the operation o~
reading of the note 10. A blind person who wishes to ~now the denomination of the note 10 places the same in a hand-held device 19, shown in Figure 3 in perspective, and closes the cover 20. Once the cover 20 is closed, light emitting panels 21 and 22 face the code squares 11/12 and 13/14. Light emanating from panels 21 and 22 is transmitted through the note 10 and received by four photosensors (not shown) one opposite each of the squares 11, 12, 15 and 16. Another set of four photosensors is likewise positioned opposite the squares 13, 14, 17 and 18.
Figure 3 of the drawings shows the opto-electronic circuitry housed in the device 19, which com-prises in addition to the light panels 21 and 22 andtwo sets of photosensors 23 and 24, an analague-to-digital converter 25 for converting the voltage developed at each of the photosensors into a digital representation.
The analogue-to-digital converter 25 delivers the digitized voltage values to a microprocessor 26, which controls the operation of the device by means of a program stored in a memory 27. A decoder/driver 28, in response to the microprocessor 26, controls the light panels 21 and 22, the analogue-to-digital converter 25, the memory 27 and a power ON and hold circuit 29 which develops the necessary power +5 volts and -5 volts from the battery.
A voice synthesis processor 30 is controlled by the microprocessor 26 to announce the proper value, once determined by the microprocessor 26, of the note 10 via an audio amplifier 31 and loud speaker 32. ~he operation of the circuit shown in Figure 3 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C.
~3æ~
, ~ 6 -In the circuit of Figure 3, a suitable micro-processor is CMOS CPU part number MC146805E2P, and a speech synthesizer part number TMS5220NL. The analogue-to-digital converter could suitably be an 8 bit converter wi-th 8 channel multiplexer part number ACD808NL. The eight photosensors in the two sets 23 and 2~ are cadmiwm sulfide light sensors part number CL1986, which are pre-ferably driven by a constant current source, one after the other, as the voltage drop there across is being sampled by the analogue-to-digital converter 25. In the alternative, eight matched current sources could be used one for each photosensor resistor in the arrays 23 and 24. The light panels 21 and 22 are preferably blue-green electro-luminesent panels manufactured by Luminesent Systems Inc. This electro-luminesent light panels have proven sufficient in compensating for the colour differences between banknotes of different denominations.
It is, of course, possible to use simple incandescent light, but at the cost of less reliability in differen-tiating between different notes, possibl~ due to the large infrared content of the incandescent light. The electro-luminesent panels require a power supply of 100 volt AC
at approximately 500 Hz, which is not difficult to generate from the 9 volt battery powering the device.
Negative reference voltage -VREF applied to the analogue-to-digital converter 25 is ~1.5 V and equals the lowest value expected as a voltage drop across the photosensors in the arrays 23 and 24. The highest possible value is the supply voltage or ~5 V. Accordingly, the voltage range is 3.5 V, and given an 8-bit resolution yielding 256 quantisation steps, the resolution is 13.7mV/bit. This provides sufficient digital distance between the ink and no ink signals as the code markings on the note 10 are sensed.
The memory 27, in addition to storing the program for the microprocessor 26, also stores the data for the speech synthesis processor 30.
.. -. ........ ...
-` ~2~
~ - 7 ~
The microprocessor 26 has a shared 8-bit address and data bus, an 8-bit address/data latch is therefore required to temporarily store the lower eigh-t addresses for the memory 27. One of the two 8-bit by-directional ports of the microprocessor 26 is used as a data bus Eor the voice synthesis processor 30, and the other 8-bit port is used for timing -the voice processor 30 and for providing other necessary control functions.
The microprocessor 26 also has 112 bytes of user RAM
memory, which are used to store the data from the analogue-to-digital converter 25 as well as an overlay area for program execution. The latter use is necessary because the microprocessor 26 has a limited ability of index addressing of only 0 - 255, but the program requires the entire 4K address range to be index addressed. To accommodate this requirement, a program is transferred from the memory 27 to the RAM memory in the micro-processor 26, then modified and finally executed.
The program shown in flow chart form in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C occupies only about 600 memory locations in the program memory 27. 2,400 memory locations in the memory 27 are occupied by -the speech data for the voice synthesis processor 30. The announcements synthesized are the denominations ranging from $1 - $100, phrases "not readable" and "battery low". The remaining 1,000 memory locations in the memory 27 are used for instruc-tions, constants and other data necessary for the operation for the microprocessor 26.
In order to initiate a note-reading operation, the user depresses momentarily the read button which triggers an SCR rectifier in the power ON/hold unit 29.
The microprocessor 26 then latches up and holds the power ON and continues to initiate and control the reading operation until it is terminated at the end of the phrase announced through the loud speaker 32.
Turning now to Figures 4A, 4B and 4C of the draw-ings, the cycle of operation is started when the read button is ~2~7~
, - 8 -pressed and power is applied to the system. The micro-processor 26 performs an automatic power-up reset and the direction of each bit of the two by-directional ports is set. The internal timer i5 initialized and no interrupts are allowed. If the bat-tery voltage is below 7.5 V, which is too low for stable operation, no note reading is at-tempted and the system exits by announcing a "poT~er low"
condition.
Next the data from the analogue-to-digital converter 25 is read into the RAM of the microprocessor 26, which tests each of the eight readings corresponding to the eight photosensors to see if all of them are low enough to indicate that there is no note in the notereader, in which case the voltage vaLues would be between 0 and ~0.25V. The CPU 26 then looks for the lowest value on each end of 9 sensors, if all are above ~0.25V, this is then recognized as the paper only value, meaning that at that code position there is no ink. Having located the no ink or paper only signal from the row data, a new
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for recognizing banknote denominations, and particularly a system for indicating the value oE specially marked bankno-tes or currency bills. More particularly s-till, the system is directed to serving blind individuals by announcing the electronically read denomination of a marked bill after insertion into a handheld~ battery operated, device.
Description of the Related Art A plethora of prior art patents exists, which is mainly directed to recognition and validation of currency banknotes or bills.
Canadian Patent No. 696,596 discloses a device ~here the amount of light transmitted through certain portions of a bill is detected and compared to the re-ference transmission characteristics of a genuine bill.
Canadian Patent No. 1,177,172 discloses a currency note validator where the reflectance and opacity of a number of laterally spaced sample areas are detected and compared to stored reference values. The note is accepted if it has the correct length and if the re1ec-tance and opacity data exhibit less than a predetermined maximum nonconformity. The note is propelled along its length past the detectors. The device is microprocessor controlled and a simple flow chart is shown ln figure 10 Canadian Patent No. 1,190,651 discloses a device for scanning a sheet with a pattern (i.e. a banknote). The device moves the note and illumina-tes a strip perpendicular to the direction of movement. The reflected light from the strip is summed and a characteristic intensity waveform is created as the note is moved, which is compared to a stored reference waveform.
In United States Patent No. 4,349,111, a bill-handling device provides relative movement between a sensor and a U.S. bill or other object to permit that sensor to sense longitudinally-spaced areas on that U.S.
bill or other object which correspond to areas, on authentic U.S. bill or counterfeits thereof, where significant data is found. Data which is obtained during the sensing of those areas is stored, and subsequently is analyzed to determine the authenticity and denomination of the U.S. bill -- if it is one of a plurality of bills of specifically-different denominations.
United States Patent No. 4,127,194 is directed to a device for selecting mail accordiny to Zip Codes.
As the piece of mail is moved, a detector detects the light radiated by stimulation from illuminated Zip Code bars and compares it to that obtained from a non-radiating reference bar. A valid code bar is recognized if the difference exceeds a minimum value.
In all of the above patents for the validation of banknotes, the note is propelled past the detectors and does not have a special marking or code. Since the purpose is to authenticate a bill by comparing its charact~ristics to those of known genuine characteristics, the systems and devices are necessarily complex.
~2~12~L
SUMMA~Y OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is not intended for currency authentication, but, rather, for use by blind individuals to identify the denomination of paper currency or bank notes. This is achieved by providiny a portable or hand-held banknote reader in which the user places a banknote in the reader and the reader audibly announces the denomination of the note. The reader requires currency which is coded with special code markings. In order to read the note, the reader transmits light through the note from one side and senses the intensity of light passing through the note from the other side. It converts intensity readings to a series of signals representative of the presence or absence of codes on the note, compares the series of signals against known codes to determine the denomination of the note and then activates a voice synthesizer to announce the denomination.
~O Thus, the present invention is generally defined as a portable banknote reader for determining the denomination of currency notes having an array of discrete opaque markings, indicative of the denomination of the notes, at some or all of predetermined code locations on the notes, the reader comprising a housing for receiving a banknote in a prede~ermined position therein; light source means in the housing for transmitting light through at least the predetermined locations of a banknote disposed in the housing; means disposed in the housing in opposed relation to the light source means for receiving light transmitted thereby and responsive thereto for producing a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed in the housing; means for comparing the series of signals against each of a plurality predetermined signals indicative of denominations of banknotes and producing an output signal indicative of the actual .~
g~
denomination of a note in the housing when the series of signals matches one of the plurality of predetermined signals; and means responsive to the comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in the housing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~IE DRAWINGS
The preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the attached drawings, in which Figure 1 shows an example Canadian $20 banknote in outline with special code markings according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a perspective depicting the hand-held device according to the present invention;
Figure 3 is a block schematic of the circuit in the hand-held device for reading and interpreting the code markings of Figure 1 according to the present invention;
Figure 4A, 4B and 4C is a flow chart for the program operating the device of Figure 2; and Figure 5 is a flow chart for the French language subroutine when requested by the user of the device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Figure 1 of the drawings shows in outline a paper currency note 10 for the denomination Canadian $20.00 having adjacent its narrow edges code markings in the form of two sets of black squares 11/12 and 13/14 made by printing the currency note 10 with a heavy intaglio ink. The marking code actually consists of four binary positions corresponding to four squares on either side of the note 10. The code for the denomination 20 is that the outer two most squarss 11, 12, 13 and 14 are '~ , - . ~
. . ~i , - 5 -inkedO The position of the remaining squares is shown in dotted outline as squares 15, 16, 17 and 18. ~ny four position binary code is sufficient to identify seven denominations, ranging from $1.00 to ~100.00, of Canadian banknotes. The s~uares 11 etc. are made large enouyh to account for the tolerances during the operation o~
reading of the note 10. A blind person who wishes to ~now the denomination of the note 10 places the same in a hand-held device 19, shown in Figure 3 in perspective, and closes the cover 20. Once the cover 20 is closed, light emitting panels 21 and 22 face the code squares 11/12 and 13/14. Light emanating from panels 21 and 22 is transmitted through the note 10 and received by four photosensors (not shown) one opposite each of the squares 11, 12, 15 and 16. Another set of four photosensors is likewise positioned opposite the squares 13, 14, 17 and 18.
Figure 3 of the drawings shows the opto-electronic circuitry housed in the device 19, which com-prises in addition to the light panels 21 and 22 andtwo sets of photosensors 23 and 24, an analague-to-digital converter 25 for converting the voltage developed at each of the photosensors into a digital representation.
The analogue-to-digital converter 25 delivers the digitized voltage values to a microprocessor 26, which controls the operation of the device by means of a program stored in a memory 27. A decoder/driver 28, in response to the microprocessor 26, controls the light panels 21 and 22, the analogue-to-digital converter 25, the memory 27 and a power ON and hold circuit 29 which develops the necessary power +5 volts and -5 volts from the battery.
A voice synthesis processor 30 is controlled by the microprocessor 26 to announce the proper value, once determined by the microprocessor 26, of the note 10 via an audio amplifier 31 and loud speaker 32. ~he operation of the circuit shown in Figure 3 will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C.
~3æ~
, ~ 6 -In the circuit of Figure 3, a suitable micro-processor is CMOS CPU part number MC146805E2P, and a speech synthesizer part number TMS5220NL. The analogue-to-digital converter could suitably be an 8 bit converter wi-th 8 channel multiplexer part number ACD808NL. The eight photosensors in the two sets 23 and 2~ are cadmiwm sulfide light sensors part number CL1986, which are pre-ferably driven by a constant current source, one after the other, as the voltage drop there across is being sampled by the analogue-to-digital converter 25. In the alternative, eight matched current sources could be used one for each photosensor resistor in the arrays 23 and 24. The light panels 21 and 22 are preferably blue-green electro-luminesent panels manufactured by Luminesent Systems Inc. This electro-luminesent light panels have proven sufficient in compensating for the colour differences between banknotes of different denominations.
It is, of course, possible to use simple incandescent light, but at the cost of less reliability in differen-tiating between different notes, possibl~ due to the large infrared content of the incandescent light. The electro-luminesent panels require a power supply of 100 volt AC
at approximately 500 Hz, which is not difficult to generate from the 9 volt battery powering the device.
Negative reference voltage -VREF applied to the analogue-to-digital converter 25 is ~1.5 V and equals the lowest value expected as a voltage drop across the photosensors in the arrays 23 and 24. The highest possible value is the supply voltage or ~5 V. Accordingly, the voltage range is 3.5 V, and given an 8-bit resolution yielding 256 quantisation steps, the resolution is 13.7mV/bit. This provides sufficient digital distance between the ink and no ink signals as the code markings on the note 10 are sensed.
The memory 27, in addition to storing the program for the microprocessor 26, also stores the data for the speech synthesis processor 30.
.. -. ........ ...
-` ~2~
~ - 7 ~
The microprocessor 26 has a shared 8-bit address and data bus, an 8-bit address/data latch is therefore required to temporarily store the lower eigh-t addresses for the memory 27. One of the two 8-bit by-directional ports of the microprocessor 26 is used as a data bus Eor the voice synthesis processor 30, and the other 8-bit port is used for timing -the voice processor 30 and for providing other necessary control functions.
The microprocessor 26 also has 112 bytes of user RAM
memory, which are used to store the data from the analogue-to-digital converter 25 as well as an overlay area for program execution. The latter use is necessary because the microprocessor 26 has a limited ability of index addressing of only 0 - 255, but the program requires the entire 4K address range to be index addressed. To accommodate this requirement, a program is transferred from the memory 27 to the RAM memory in the micro-processor 26, then modified and finally executed.
The program shown in flow chart form in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C occupies only about 600 memory locations in the program memory 27. 2,400 memory locations in the memory 27 are occupied by -the speech data for the voice synthesis processor 30. The announcements synthesized are the denominations ranging from $1 - $100, phrases "not readable" and "battery low". The remaining 1,000 memory locations in the memory 27 are used for instruc-tions, constants and other data necessary for the operation for the microprocessor 26.
In order to initiate a note-reading operation, the user depresses momentarily the read button which triggers an SCR rectifier in the power ON/hold unit 29.
The microprocessor 26 then latches up and holds the power ON and continues to initiate and control the reading operation until it is terminated at the end of the phrase announced through the loud speaker 32.
Turning now to Figures 4A, 4B and 4C of the draw-ings, the cycle of operation is started when the read button is ~2~7~
, - 8 -pressed and power is applied to the system. The micro-processor 26 performs an automatic power-up reset and the direction of each bit of the two by-directional ports is set. The internal timer i5 initialized and no interrupts are allowed. If the bat-tery voltage is below 7.5 V, which is too low for stable operation, no note reading is at-tempted and the system exits by announcing a "poT~er low"
condition.
Next the data from the analogue-to-digital converter 25 is read into the RAM of the microprocessor 26, which tests each of the eight readings corresponding to the eight photosensors to see if all of them are low enough to indicate that there is no note in the notereader, in which case the voltage vaLues would be between 0 and ~0.25V. The CPU 26 then looks for the lowest value on each end of 9 sensors, if all are above ~0.25V, this is then recognized as the paper only value, meaning that at that code position there is no ink. Having located the no ink or paper only signal from the row data, a new
2~ table is created by subtracting the paper only signal from the four raw readings of each of the two sets of photosensors. This in effect leaves only the ink signals in the new table. A threshhold calculation is then per-formed separately for each of the two sets of photosensors 23 and 24. ~he threshhold is calculated as the ink only signal divided by 2, which if found to be less than 0.25V, causes the rejection of that threshhold as a minimum threshhold and replaces it with the minimum threshhold of 0.25V. Once the minimum threshhold is determined, an ink map is prepared by setting a bit within a four bit code ~or every sensor which exceeds the minimum threshhold. We now have two sets of four bits each representative of the presence and absence of ink squares on either side of the currency note. The two four bit codes are compared with each other and if they do not match a "not readable" announcement is generated.
~2~32~7~
g If there is a match between the two four bit codes in the ~, then the four bit code is used to retrieve the denomination from a code/denomination table or matrix stored ln 27. If the four-bi-t code is not found in the table, -then a "not readable" announcement is generated.
In the above description in all cases where the announcement is to be made in the French language because such was selected by the operator, a minor sub-routine shown in Figure 5 causes all announcements to be made in French.
Once an announcement has been completed by the voice synthesis processor 30, the microprocessor 26 causes the power to be turned off.
~2~32~7~
g If there is a match between the two four bit codes in the ~, then the four bit code is used to retrieve the denomination from a code/denomination table or matrix stored ln 27. If the four-bi-t code is not found in the table, -then a "not readable" announcement is generated.
In the above description in all cases where the announcement is to be made in the French language because such was selected by the operator, a minor sub-routine shown in Figure 5 causes all announcements to be made in French.
Once an announcement has been completed by the voice synthesis processor 30, the microprocessor 26 causes the power to be turned off.
Claims (18)
PROPERTY OF PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A portable banknote reader for determining the denomination of currency notes having an array of discrete opaque markings, indicative of the denomination of said notes, at some or all of predetermined code locations on said notes, said reader comprising:
a housing for receiving a banknote in a predetermined position therein;
light source means in said housing for transmitting light through at least said predetermined code locations of a banknote disposed in said housing;
means disposed in said housing in opposed relation to said light source means for receiving light transmitted thereby and responsive thereto for producing a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed in said housing;
means for comparing said series of signals against each of a plurality predetermined signals indicative of denominations of banknotes and producing an output signal indicative of the actual denomination of a note in said housing when said series of signals matches one of said plurality of predetermined signals; and means responsive to said comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in said housing.
a housing for receiving a banknote in a predetermined position therein;
light source means in said housing for transmitting light through at least said predetermined code locations of a banknote disposed in said housing;
means disposed in said housing in opposed relation to said light source means for receiving light transmitted thereby and responsive thereto for producing a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed in said housing;
means for comparing said series of signals against each of a plurality predetermined signals indicative of denominations of banknotes and producing an output signal indicative of the actual denomination of a note in said housing when said series of signals matches one of said plurality of predetermined signals; and means responsive to said comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in said housing.
2. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 1, said housing having a base and a cover hingedly secured to said base, said light source means being disposed in said cover and said light responsive means being disposed in said base, said cover being pivotally moveable between an opened position whereat a banknote may be placed in said predetermined position on said base and a closed position whereat said light source means may be energized to transmit light through said code locations of said banknote.
3. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 1, said light responsive means including a plurality of light sensitive elements, each said element being responsive to light passing through one of said predetermined code locations by producing a signal indicative of the presence or absence of a marking at said location.
4. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 3, said light responsive means further including means responsive to said marking indicative signals from said plurality of light sensitive elements for producing said series of signals, said series of signals being a series of binary bits.
5. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 4, said means responsive to said marking indicative signals being an analog-to-digital converter.
6. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 4, each said light sensitive elements being a cadmium sulfide light sensor.
7. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 1, said comparing means including a microprocessor electrically connected to said light sensing means for receiving said series of signals in digital format and memory means for storing said plurality predetermined signals in digital format.
8. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 7, further including means responsive to said microprocessor for energizing said light source means.
9. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 8, said means responsive to said microprocessor being a decoder/driver.
10. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 7, 8 or 9, said light responsive means including a plurality of light sensitive elements, each said element being responsive to light passing through one of said predetermined code locations by producing a signal indicative of the presence or absence of a marking at said location.
11. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 10, said light responsive means further including means responsive to said marking indicative signals from said plurality of light sensitive elements for producing said series of signals, said series of signals being a series of binary bits.
12. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 11, said means responsive to said marking indicative signals being an analog-to-digital converter.
13. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 1, 7, 8 or 9, said means responsive to said comparing means output signal including voice synthesis means, an amplifier and a speaker.
14. A portable banknote reader as defined in any one of claims 3 to 9, 11 and 12 said housing having a base and a cover hingedly secured to said base, said light source means being disposed in said cover and said light responsive means being disposed in said base, said cover being pivotally moveable between an opened position whereat a banknote may be placed in said predetermined position on said base and a closed position whereat said light source means may be energized to transmit light through said code locations of said banknote.
15. A portable banknote reader for determining the denomination of currency notes having an array of discrete opaque markings, indicative of the denomination of said notes, at some or all of predetermined code locations on said notes, said reader comprising;
a housing having a base for receiving a banknote in a predetermined position thereon and a cover hingedly secured to said base for pivotal movement between an opened position whereat a banknote may be placed in said predetermined position on said base and a closed position whereat said banknote is disposed between said base and said cover;
light source means in said cover for transmitting light, when said cover is closed, through at least said predetermined code locations of a banknote disposed between said cover and said base;
an array of photosensors disposed in said base for sensing light transmitted by said light source means, each said photosensor being operable to produce a signal indicative of the presence or absence of a marking at one of said predetermined code locations of a banknote whereby said array of photosensors produce a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed on said base;
means for converting said array representative signals to a series of binary bits:
memory means for storing a plurality of coded binary bits representative of predetermined denominations;
microprocessor means for comparing said series of binary bits against each said coded binary bits in said memory means and producing an output signal indicative of the actual denomination of a note in said housing when said series of binary bits matches one of said coded binary bits; and means, including voice synthesis means, an amplifier and a speaker, responsive to said comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in said housing.
a housing having a base for receiving a banknote in a predetermined position thereon and a cover hingedly secured to said base for pivotal movement between an opened position whereat a banknote may be placed in said predetermined position on said base and a closed position whereat said banknote is disposed between said base and said cover;
light source means in said cover for transmitting light, when said cover is closed, through at least said predetermined code locations of a banknote disposed between said cover and said base;
an array of photosensors disposed in said base for sensing light transmitted by said light source means, each said photosensor being operable to produce a signal indicative of the presence or absence of a marking at one of said predetermined code locations of a banknote whereby said array of photosensors produce a series of signals representative of the array of markings on a banknote disposed on said base;
means for converting said array representative signals to a series of binary bits:
memory means for storing a plurality of coded binary bits representative of predetermined denominations;
microprocessor means for comparing said series of binary bits against each said coded binary bits in said memory means and producing an output signal indicative of the actual denomination of a note in said housing when said series of binary bits matches one of said coded binary bits; and means, including voice synthesis means, an amplifier and a speaker, responsive to said comparing means output signal for producing an audible signal indicative of the denomination of a note in said housing.
16. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 15, wherein said banknotes having two identical arrays of markings thereon, said array of photosensors further including:
a first array of photosensors for detecting a first array of markings on a banknote and a second array of sensors for detecting a second array of sensors on said banknote;
said microprocessor means being operable to compare the series of signals output by said first array of photosensors against the series of signals output by said second array of sensors and producing a second output signal when said series of signals do not match and said microprocessor means being operable, when said first series of signals matches said second series of signals to compare one of said series of signals against said predetermined signals; and said means responsive to said second output signal by producing an audible signal indicating a currency not readable signal.
a first array of photosensors for detecting a first array of markings on a banknote and a second array of sensors for detecting a second array of sensors on said banknote;
said microprocessor means being operable to compare the series of signals output by said first array of photosensors against the series of signals output by said second array of sensors and producing a second output signal when said series of signals do not match and said microprocessor means being operable, when said first series of signals matches said second series of signals to compare one of said series of signals against said predetermined signals; and said means responsive to said second output signal by producing an audible signal indicating a currency not readable signal.
17. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 15, said microprocessor means further including decoder means responsive to said microprocessor means for energizing said light source means.
18. A portable banknote reader as defined in claim 15, said means for converting being an analog-to-digital converter.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000524620A CA1282171C (en) | 1986-12-05 | 1986-12-05 | Banknote denomination reader system for the blind |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000524620A CA1282171C (en) | 1986-12-05 | 1986-12-05 | Banknote denomination reader system for the blind |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1282171C true CA1282171C (en) | 1991-03-26 |
Family
ID=4134496
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000524620A Expired - Lifetime CA1282171C (en) | 1986-12-05 | 1986-12-05 | Banknote denomination reader system for the blind |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1282171C (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2859807A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2005-03-18 | Carole Krebs | Object e.g. banknote, classifying device for blind person, has measuring and transformation units measuring parameter of object such that object is in uniform contact with electrical conductor units to measure objects dimension |
| US8050484B2 (en) | 2007-08-03 | 2011-11-01 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for image recognition for aiding the visually impaired |
| CN106846608A (en) * | 2017-01-25 | 2017-06-13 | 杭州视氪科技有限公司 | A kind of visually impaired people's paper money recognition glasses based on RGB D cameras |
| CN106875543A (en) * | 2017-01-25 | 2017-06-20 | 杭州视氪科技有限公司 | A kind of visually impaired people's bill acceptor system and recognition methods based on RGB D cameras |
-
1986
- 1986-12-05 CA CA000524620A patent/CA1282171C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR2859807A1 (en) * | 2003-09-16 | 2005-03-18 | Carole Krebs | Object e.g. banknote, classifying device for blind person, has measuring and transformation units measuring parameter of object such that object is in uniform contact with electrical conductor units to measure objects dimension |
| US8050484B2 (en) | 2007-08-03 | 2011-11-01 | International Business Machines Corporation | Method and system for image recognition for aiding the visually impaired |
| CN106846608A (en) * | 2017-01-25 | 2017-06-13 | 杭州视氪科技有限公司 | A kind of visually impaired people's paper money recognition glasses based on RGB D cameras |
| CN106875543A (en) * | 2017-01-25 | 2017-06-20 | 杭州视氪科技有限公司 | A kind of visually impaired people's bill acceptor system and recognition methods based on RGB D cameras |
| CN106846608B (en) * | 2017-01-25 | 2019-03-01 | 杭州视氪科技有限公司 | A kind of visually impaired people's paper money recognition glasses based on RGB-D camera |
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