EP2783354A1

EP2783354A1 - Method for monitoring transport processes for conveying banknotes in a self-service terminal

Info

Publication number: EP2783354A1
Application number: EP12801489.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Kremer; Stefan Moock
Original assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Current assignee: Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH
Priority date: 2011-11-23
Filing date: 2012-11-22
Publication date: 2014-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2032-11-22
Also published as: CN104094324B; DE102011055652A1; CN104094324A; US20140326576A1; US9129462B2; EP2783354B1; WO2013076206A1

Abstract

The aim of the invention is a method for monitoring transport processes of banknotes in a self-service terminal, said method ensuring a reliable control of the transport processes even for banknotes which have windows. This is achieved in that each transported banknote (BN) is guided lengthwise through a light barrier, said light barrier having a light-sensitive sensor (S) in order to detect at least one edge of the banknote (BN). In order to prevent the detection of windows (W) and to detect the rear edge (HK) of the banknote (BN), the signal (SO) generated by the sensor (S) is debounced, the debouncing time (dT) being set to a first period of time (dT1) dependent on the length of the banknote (BN), wherein the period of time corresponds to the expected length of the banknote (BN) and can last 60 ms for example. The debouncing time (dT) is set to the first period of time (dT1) as soon as the signal (SO) generated by the sensor (S) indicates the first appearance of an edge of the banknote (BN), in particular the front edge (VK). After the first period of time (dT1) expires, the debouncing time can be set to a second substantially shorter period of time (dT2) of 1 ms for example. The rear edge (HK) of the banknote is thus reliably detected and indicated.

Description

A method of monitoring transport operations for carrying bills in a self-service terminal

The present invention relates to a method for monitoring transport operations for carrying notes of value according to the preamble of claim 1 and a

Self-service terminal with a device performing the method according to the preamble of the independent claim. In particular, the invention relates to a method for monitoring the transport processes for conveying banknotes and checks in a self-service terminal, in particular ATMs.

In an ATM, but also in other self-service terminals, e.g. Self-payer POS systems, must accept the accepted or issued notes of value

(Banknotes, checks, vouchers, etc.) are transported safely and reliably, for example, from the banknote storage to the output slot of the machine. In particular, it must be ensured that the notes of value are transported individually and do not overlap or overlap during transport. Each transported value note must be able to be recorded accurately, in particular to ensure the counting and sorting of the different note values can. To capture the notes of value and to control the transport system, the notes of value are usually guided lengthwise through at least one light barrier. Each light barrier has at least one light-sensitive sensor that responds to changes in the optical state (light-dark or dark-light). Thus, in particular the beginning (leading edge) and / or the end (trailing edge) of the individual note of value can be detected. A device for handling and transport of notes of value is described for example in DE 10 2010 004580 AI. The conventional optical scanning of banknotes can lead to problems when individual banknotes have viewing windows, which are provided as additional security features. For the appearance of viewing windows when scanning the bills, causes several status changes are reported in tandem, so that it may be difficult to accurately detect the leading and / or trailing edge of each banknote.

WO 03/023 724 A2 discloses a detection system for optical media in the form of banknotes and others

Written notes. The system is designed to also detect or recognize viewing windows, ie transparent areas, in the notes of value. For this purpose, a light barrier system is installed, which has an optical transmitter and two photosensitive sensors, which are arranged at different positions. The one sensor recognizes the passage of the respective note of the reflected light of the note; the other sensor detects the light passing through as soon as a window appears. Thus, the occurrence of the various edges, namely the leading and trailing edges on the one hand and possibly window edges on the other, can be detected. However, this solution relies on the windows that appear to be adequate good transparency, which is not always the case. The transparency of the windows can be very low due to contamination of the notes of value or deliberately semi-permeable or opaque and / or colored windows. If low-transparency windows occur, reflections may even cause a window edge to be erroneously detected as the leading or trailing edge of a bill of exchange and, consequently, the control of the transport system will malfunction.

Further prior art is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,455,659 A, EP 0 080 158 A2, EP 0 884 652 A2. In addition, in the article "Prepunched Paper Feed" by D.R. Blankenship et al., Published in IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 25, May 1983, pages 6524-6526, a method for a secure

Paper supply of pre-punched copy paper described.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for monitoring transport processes of banknotes, which provides a reliable

Control of transport operations also ensures such notes of value, the windows have.

The object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1.

Accordingly, it is proposed that in order to suppress the detection of windows and to detect the trailing edge of the respective ticket, the signal generated by the sensor located in the photocell is debounced, with the signal

Debounce time is set depending on the length of the note of value to a first period corresponding to the expected length of the ticket. This uses a debounce time that is dynamically adapted to the value length, which suppresses the occurrence of windows and always leads to a reliable detection of the trailing edge, regardless of whether and which types of windows the respective security note may have. For example, if a value certificate has a length equal to 60ms (given the transport speed), the debounce time is set to 60ms. The value note transport and its control can thus be carried out safely and reliably. The invention is based in particular on the following findings: By debouncing the sensor signal over a longer debounce time, the occurrence of windows can be effectively suppressed. However, the front edge of the note can often not be bounced liberally, because in many applications must be responded to the leading edge quickly and time-critical, such as when points within the transport system must be made. In addition, a too large Entprellung the trailing edge would also be problematic in certain applications, namely, if, for example, the note passes through a stop photocell on a reel storage or should be detected by the trigger sensor on a separating and stacking module.

By the here proposed dynamic Entprellung, in which the Entprellung the trailing edge with occurrence of the first edge, in particular the leading edge, is set to the expected value certificate length, the aforementioned problems can be solved advantageously. The invention also proposes a self-service terminal equipped with a device operating according to the method. Advantageous embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims.

Accordingly, it is advantageous if the debounce time is set to a first, larger time period as soon as the signal generated by the sensor indicates the first occurrence of an edge, in particular the leading edge, of the banknote. This causes the debounce time to start immediately when the front edge of the ticket occurs, or when there should be a transparent window at the leading edge, the end of the window occurs, then the sensor signal is debounced over the entire length of the ticket.

Advantageously, the debounce time is set after the first time period (of, for example, 60 ms) has elapsed, a second time that is significantly less than the first time duration, in particular less than a value corresponding to 5 percent of the length of the value note. The second time period is e.g. only 1ms. As a result, after the length-dependent first period of time has elapsed (for example, 60 ms), the sensor signal only has a relatively short duration

Debounce time is applied, since no more windows are expected at the end of the ticket and thus a timely detection or notification of the trailing edge can be done. The self-service terminal according to the invention is equipped with a device operating according to the method for monitoring the transport processes, the device having a signal processing which is used to suppress the Detection of windows and for detecting the trailing edge of the note debounces the signal generated by the sensor, the signal processing setting the debounce time depending on the length of the note to a first time corresponding to the expected length of the note.

Preferably, the signal processing is designed as a digital Entprelleinheit. The signal processing can also be integrated into a computing unit of the self-service terminal. The self-service terminal may for example be designed as an ATM.

The invention and the resulting advantages will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show the following schematic representations:

Fig. 1 shows for five exemplary situations the

Signal curve of the sensor signal respectively with and without debouncing;

Fig. 2 shows the dynamic change of the debounce time

during the passage of a transported value ticket; and

Fig. 3 shows the construction of an apparatus for carrying out the method for monitoring transport operations

FIG. 1 shows, on the basis of five situations, the signal profile of the sensor signal in each case without and with debouncing. The two upper signal curves relate to a note of value which has no windows and has a length which corresponds to 60 ms transit time through the light barrier (see also FIG. That of the photosensitive Sensor generated signal SO has a first rising edge at the occurrence of the leading edge. The time of this state change (light-dark) is marked here with TFA. The sensor signal SO then remains at a level until the occurrence of the trailing edge (next state change dark-light at the time TFE). Since, in this first example, the ticket has no window, the detection of the leading and / or the trailing edge can not be disturbed. Nevertheless, according to the invention, the debounce time dT for the sensor signal SO is set to a predefinable value when the first edge occurs, that is to say here when the leading edge occurs at the time TFA. The debounce time dT corresponds to the expected value slip length and is here for example 60 ms. For this period, the state of the sensor signal SO is virtually frozen. Only after the debounce time dT has elapsed is the sensor signal processed only with a very low debounce time of, for example, 1 ms. The signal SO ^x dynamically debounced in the signal processing (see also FIG. 3) thus follows the sensor signal SO in the first example. If disturbances occur during the debounce time dT, these would be suppressed.

In order that the debounce time dT for the passage of the value note can be adapted to its length, the length must be known. For payouts, this is usually the

Case, because the banknotes to be paid out are specified by the system and thus their lengths are known. In the case of deposit transactions, the incoming banknotes are measured in advance by means of a series of photoelectric sensors in order to determine in particular the lengths of the banknotes.

The next two waveforms refer to the example of a bill of exchange having a window. The Sensor signal shows accordingly a multiple state change. By setting the debounce time dT to the apparent length, however, the occurrence of the window is suppressed and the safe detection of the trailing edge at time TFE is ensured. The debounced signal S1 runs like a windowless banknote. This is also the case if the value certificate should have several windows and the sensor signal S2 should indicate a corresponding number of state changes. Also in this case, the debounced signal S2 ^{Λ runs} like a windowless

Of notes. The duration of the debounce time dT adapted to the apparent length is preferably exactly the actual apparent length (e.g., 60 ms) or slightly less, so that the occurrence of the trailing edge is not suppressed by this debounce time and the trailing edge is displayed immediately.

However, the detection of the trailing edge should also be deburred somewhat, e.g. with a debounce time of 1ms. The message of the trailing edge is then very close to the time TFE. The actual detection of the trailing edge is done previously at time TZ and only causes a

Time stamp is generated, which is passed to the controller with the later message (at the time TFE, see also the next waveforms). This then knows exactly when the trailing edge has been detected.

The next two waveforms refer to a bill of exchange, which has a transparent window or window at its beginning. The sensor signal S3 therefore only indicates the first state change at the later time TFA * and then drops back to zero at TZ. Of the

Note would appear shorter according to the signal history S3. Due to the debounce time dT of z..B. 60ms, however, the real value amount is taken into account here and the Detection of the trailing edge only displayed at the time TFE. The debounced signal S3 ^λ thus runs according to the actual conditions; the control of the transport system can be carried out safely.

The last two waveforms in Fig. 1 relate to a banknote having a viewing window at its end. The sensor signal S4 therefore runs in such a way that the leading edge is displayed correctly at the time TFA, but the signal already appears at the beginning of the window (time TZ)

S4 falls back to zero and remains at this level. Thus, the note appears shortened at its end. By setting the debounce time dT to the true value of 60ms, the debounced signal S4 remains unaffected by the appearance of the window and only then falls

Time TFE back to zero. Accordingly, the real value is considered length and the trailing edge is displayed exactly. Fig. 2 illustrates the dynamic adjustment of

Debounce time dT or its change during the passage of a bill of exchange through the light barrier (see also FIG. 3). The debounce time dt is set from a first occurrence of an edge (usually the leading edge) at the time TFA to a first value dT1 which corresponds to the expected length of the ticket. According to the embodiment described here, the first value dTl = 60 ms. Otherwise, i. before the occurrence of a leading edge and after the debounce time dT1 = 60 ms has elapsed, the debounce time dT becomes a very small one

Value dT2 set, which is eg 1ms. The debounce time could also be reset to zero, but it is advantageous to maintain a low Entprellung to detect the trailing edge at time TFE.

The above-described method for monitoring transport processes of notes of value can be carried out by the apparatus described below with reference to FIG. 3. The device is preferably integrated in a self-service terminal, in particular in an ATM, and has a signal processing which serves for dynamic debouncing of the sensor signals. The

Banknotes BN are guided through a light barrier, which has a light-emitting element, here a light-emitting diode or light diode assembly LED, and a photosensitive element, here has a sensor S. When light-dark changes occur (e.g., at the

Leading edge VK) and dark-to-light changes (e.g., at the trailing edge HK), the sensor S provides the previously described sensor signal (see Fig. 1). A downstream signal processing EP performs the described debouncing of the sensor signal depending on the expected

Length of the note and thus provides the already described debounced signals (see also Fig. 1).

The debounce time dT is, as previously described with reference to FIG. 2, adapted to the value note length so that always reliably the trailing edge is detected and possibly occurring windows do not interfere with the detection of the trailing edge. This is preferably done in the following procedure:

The leading edge is not bounced. Before the arrival of the banknote BN, the debouncing time dT for the trailing edge corresponding to the length of the banknote becomes, for example, 60 ms set. After expiration of this first debounce time (see also dT1 in FIG. 2), the debounce time is set to the low value of eg dT2 = 1 ms. Due to the long first debounce time dTl of eg 60ms, all windows are suppressed because no window can be longer than the note length. After 60ms, the debounce time is reset to 1ms to maintain some sensor debouncing. If the photocell should already be free, any further state change, ie the trailing edge, will be reported with this slight delay along with the time stamp indicating when the photocell has cleared. If the photocell is not free but hidden, the trailing edge will be reported immediately as soon as the photocell clears.

The solution proposed here may e.g. integrated in the slave in an analog sensor and activated via the master. It should then be activated only for light barriers. If the function is switched on, the sensor will then, with each leading edge, have a debounce time of e.g. Set 60ms for the trailing edge and immediately send the command to switch back to 1ms in 60ms. It is also possible to use the debounce time via PDO (process

Data object on a CAN bus), so that it is used in the next banknote BN. Thus, one can configure a sensor for a registered banknote from the master. The banknotes BN can be transported longitudinally or transversely. Accordingly, the length or the

Width of the banknote used for setting the debounce time. By length, both can be meant here, both the longitudinal extent of the banknote as well as their Width expansion, depending on how the banknote is transported. If it should be known that the banknote has a certain length and N degrees is wrong, the derived length can be sent directly to the sensor. This then uses this length or the corresponding debounce time for all subsequent banknotes, unless the length value is overwritten. This is especially useful if several equal or long banknotes come in succession. In this case, the sensor or the signal processing would not have to be reconfigured each time, but only once when changing the banknote length. At a transport speed of eg 1400 mm / sec. For standard banknotes (eg Euro bills) debounce times of about 45-80 ms have to be set.

The invention has the particular advantages that any existing windows in the banknotes can no longer be seen or disturbed. Also signal peaks or peaks are filtered out. For shorter notes, the trailing edge is only reported for a very short time (1ms). If it is to be expected that many of the banknotes will pass through the light barrier in a certain tilt, then the second debounce time dT2 should be set slightly larger, e.g. to a value of 10ms. Due to the relatively short debounce time during the detection of the trailing edge, this is displayed promptly. The control of the transport system can be safely carried out for virtually any kind of notes.

Claims

claims

1. Method for monitoring transport operations to

Carrying of notes of value (BN) in one

Self - service terminal, each transported bill of exchange (BN) being guided along its length or width through a photocell which has a photosensitive sensor (S) at least one edge of the photocell

Certificate (BN) to detect

characterized in that

for suppressing the detection of windows (W) and for detecting the trailing edge (HK) of the note (BN), the signal (SO) generated by the sensor (S) is debounced, the debounce time (dT) being dependent on the length or width of the value certificate (BN) on a first

Duration (dTl) is set, which corresponds to the expected length or width of the note (BN).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the debounce time (dT) is set to the first time duration (dT1) as soon as the signal (SO) generated by the sensor (S) detects the first occurrence of an edge, in particular the leading edge (VK ), of the note of value (BN).

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the debounce time (dT) after the expiration of the first

Duration (dTl) to a second time duration (dT2)

is set smaller than the first time duration (dT1), in particular smaller than a value that is 5

Percent of the length of the note (BN) corresponds.

4. self-service terminal with a device for

Monitoring transport procedures for carrying notes of value (BN) in the self-service terminal, the device passing each transported ticket (BN) along its length or width through a photoelectric sensor having a photosensitive sensor (S) surrounding at least one edge of the ticket (BN ) to detect

characterized in that:

the device comprises signal processing (EP) which, for suppressing the detection of windows (W) and for detecting the trailing edge (HK) of the note (BN), debounces the signal (SO) generated by the sensor (S), the signal processing ( EP) the

Debounce time (dT) depends on the length or width of the

Wertscheines (BN) to a first time duration (dTl) set, which corresponds to the expected length or width of the note (BN).

5. self-service terminal according to claim 4, characterized

characterized in that the signal processing (EP) is arranged to carry out the method according to one of claims 2 to 3.

6. self-service terminal according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the signal processing is designed as a digital Entprelleinheit.

7. self-service terminal according to one of claims 4-6, characterized in that the signal processing in a computing unit of the self-service terminal

is integrated.

8. Self-service terminal according to one of claims 4-7, characterized in that the self-service terminal is designed as an ATM.