JP2791213B2 - Banknote handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a bill processing apparatus for performing bill discrimination, counting, authenticity discrimination, and the like. The present invention relates to an improved bill processing device.

(Prior Art) In a cash transaction business of a financial institution, various operations such as a denomination determination, a counting, a fitness determination, and a true / false determination of a bill are performed using a bill processing device. In the banknote handling machine, the banknotes are fed out one by one from the banknote supply unit for feeding out the banknotes, and after the denomination, the damage, the front and back, the counting, and the like are discriminated by the discriminating unit provided on the banknote transport path, the billing unit is used. The banknotes are sorted and stored in the respective stacking units by denomination and by fitness.

The discriminating unit of such a bill processing apparatus requires a fitness determining function of distinguishing bills according to the degree of contamination of bills of the same denomination. This is because, after the discrimination unit determines the degree of dirt on the banknotes, the clean banknotes (genuine bills) are collected in the first stacking unit and used again as change. This is because the banknotes need to be sorted in order to be accumulated in the second accumulation section and returned to the bank.

In a conventional banknote handling machine, the entire density of a banknote is measured and detected by a close contact image sensor, and the detected density value is compared with a predetermined reference value. ) In the case, a method of uniformly judging a banknote is adopted. In this case, the reference value is
This corresponds to a predetermined value determined by the level setting of the fitness determination.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the conventional bill processing apparatus has sufficient accuracy when discriminating a normal bill, but erroneous determination frequently occurs when there is modulation in the density of the whole bill. I do.
For example, a whitish banknote that has been washed off by washing has a low ink density and a large integrated value of the density (bright), so it is easy to determine that the banknote is a genuine note, while a new banknote that has just been printed has an ink density of Since the density is high and the integrated value of the density is small (dark), it is easy to determine that the banknote is damaged.

Also, since the thickness of paper is thin, when reading density data at a position where there is no printing on the front side with a non-contact type contact image sensor, the density data is affected by the presence or absence of printing on the back side and the pattern etc. In addition, the difference between the density of clean and dirty banknotes visually determined by using a reflection densitometer is very small. There are inconveniences such as the necessity of performing determination.

Therefore, the position without printing on both sides (background color of banknote)
There has been proposed a technique for determining the validity of a banknote based on how bright is determined. However, it is difficult to extract density data in a very narrow range without printing on both sides due to the influence of skew, skew of the banknotes conveyed at high speed, and shift of the conveyance position. Since the obtained density data becomes a noisy signal including the density data of the printed portion, it is difficult to accurately determine the fitness.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a highly reliable banknote processing apparatus with a low rate of occurrence of erroneous determination when performing banknote damage determination. With the goal.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) A bill processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a reading means for reading density information of a bill, and corrects a bill based on the density information of the bill read by the reading means. Determining means for determining whether the bill is a genuine note or a damaged note, the determining means comprising: (a) discriminating designation of a bill for determining whether the bill is a genuine note or a damaged note Setting means for setting an area and a determination reference value;
(B) when the density information of the bill is read by the reading means, from the density information in the discrimination designated area set by the setting means, an integrated value of a plurality of pieces of density information including the maximum value from the brightest one; Calculating means for calculating an average density value of a bright area in the determination designated area;
(C) comparing the average density value of the bright area within the discrimination designated area calculated by the calculation means with the discrimination reference value set by the setting means, and determining whether the banknote is a genuine note or an unfit note; And comparing means for determining whether there is any data.

In this case, the setting unit sets a determination reference value based on the density information of the area where the bill is not printed, and a processing unit that sets the determination designated area using the area where the bill is not printed, It is preferable to have a storage unit that stores the determination reference value set by the processing unit and the determination designation area.

(Operation) In the banknote processing apparatus according to the present invention, the average density value is obtained from the density information including at least the maximum value from the brightest in the density of the discrimination designated area. If it is determined that the average density value exceeds the determination reference value, it is determined that the banknote is unfit.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, a bill supply unit 11 is provided in the front row of the bill processing apparatus 10, and the bills P are supplied through the bill supply unit 11.
Are taken into the cabin one by one. Behind the bill supply unit 11, first to fourth stacking units 14a to 14d continue. These stacking units 14a to 14d are for stacking the banknotes P determined by denomination and by fitness. Note that a controller 15 including a CPU is provided in the body, and the transport operation and the discriminating operation of the banknote P are controlled.

As shown in FIG. 3, a discriminating unit 12 is provided on the downstream side of the bill supplying unit 11 in the device 10. Further, a sorting unit 13 is provided on the downstream side of the discriminating unit 12, and the bills P after discrimination are transported to the respective stacking units 14a to 14d according to denomination and fitness, and are respectively stacked. . The first stacking unit 14a corresponds to a reject warehouse for stacking unfit bills,
Each of the second to fourth accumulation units 14b to 14d accumulates genuine bills by denomination and corresponds to a safe for reuse as change.

Next, the determination unit 12 will be described with reference to FIG.

A transport path for transporting the banknote P is provided inside the determination unit 12. By the rollers 32 and 33 of the conveyance path, the bill P
Are transported one by one in a horizontal direction (a direction in which the length of the banknote P is orthogonal to the transport direction).

Two line image sensors 30, 31 are provided at appropriate places on the bill transport path. Each of the sensors 30 and 31 is a non-contact type contact sensor having a built-in light emitting unit and light receiving unit. The light emitting unit has a light source lamp, and the light receiving unit has a CCD element.
The sensitivity surface of the first sensor 30 is provided so as to face the lower surface of the bill P being transported, and the sensitivity surface of the second sensor 31 is provided so as to face the upper surface of the bill P being transported. In addition, an image line sensor (not shown) is provided in the bill transport path in addition to the sensors 30 and 31 so that the front and back and the top and bottom of the bill P are determined in the transport direction.

These sensors 30 and 31 are respectively connected to the input unit of the controller 15 and have a role of inputting the reflected light from the bill P to the controller 15 as density information. Each sensor 3
Reference numerals 0 and 31 each have a sensitivity surface facing a white plate (not shown), and have a configuration such that when the banknote P is not passing, light is reflected on the white plate to perform self-calibration.

The output unit of the controller 15 is connected to the input side of the distribution unit 13 and connected to each of the accumulation units 14a to 14d on the output side of the distribution unit 13. The storage unit of the controller 15 stores a determination reference value and a determination designation area. The criterion value is
It is set using the reflection intensity (brightness) from a region where normal banknotes P are not printed. In addition, the discrimination designation area is set using an area that is not printed on each of the front and back surfaces of the banknote P according to the denomination. In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the density of the front and back surfaces of the banknote P is separately set using two reflected light sensors to determine whether the banknote is defective. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to this. It is also possible to determine the fitness using only one transmitted light sensor by setting the watermark portion of the above.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, a description will be given of a case where the inserted banknote P is determined to be correct or not.

The banknote P is transported to the sensor unit by the transport roller 32, and a light-emitting portion of the first sensor 30 irradiates light to an unprinted area on the lower surface of the banknote P, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiving unit. Similarly,
Light is radiated from the light projecting unit of the second sensor 31 to an unprinted area on the upper surface of the banknote P, and the reflected light is detected by the light receiving unit.

As shown in FIG. 6, while the bill P is being conveyed in the K direction in the figure, the image line sensors 30, 31 move in the I direction in the figure to scan the bill P. These read detection signals are converted into reflection density data D1 (i, k) and reflection density data D1.
2 (i, k) is input to the controller 15 and stored in the storage unit as density data of the front and back surfaces of the entire banknote P. The size of the measurement point area for density measurement is about 1 mm × 1 mm square. The number of measurement points is, for example, 100 on one side of the bill.

After obtaining the density data of the entire front and back of the banknote P in this manner, the banknote P has been conveyed as shown in FIG. 1 based on the results of the front and back of the banknote P obtained from another sensor in the conveyance direction of the top and bottom. The range i1 to i of the density information of the discrimination designation area 23 including the non-printed area 25 on both the front and back sides according to the transport direction of the banknote P
It is determined whether to use the density information D1 or D2 of 2, k1 to k2 and the upper or lower sensor 30, 31.

As shown in FIG. 4, based on the above information, the density data of a plurality of measurement point areas in the discrimination designation area 23 on the bill P
Dn (i, k) (i = i1 to i2, k = k1 to k2) is obtained. Among the density data Dn (i, k) obtained in this manner, a plurality of pieces of density data including the maximum value are integrated from the brightest one, the integrated value is divided by the number of data, and the brightness is bright within the range of the discrimination designation area 23. The density average value D of the point is obtained. This value corresponds to the average density of the bright point in the discrimination designation area 23 on the bill, and the density of the printed area becomes smaller (dark) and is excluded. Is a value that represents the brightness of the white color.

If the value of the average density D is larger (bright) as compared with the determined reference value, the card is judged to be a genuine sheet, and if smaller (dark), it is judged to be a damaged sheet. Further, when the average density value D is abnormally large (bright), it is determined that the banknote is unfit because white paint is attached to the banknote or a hole is formed in the banknote.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a banknote processing device having high fitness determination performance. For example, even if a banknote is skewed (skewed) due to transport or a transport position shift occurs,
If the size of the discrimination designation area is set to be somewhat large, it is possible to extract the bright spots on the banknotes that exist within that range, so it is not affected by the printing ink at all, and the brightness of the background color of the banknote is used as a reference. Can be determined. For this reason, the fitness judgment performance of the bill processing device is greatly improved.

Further, a plurality of discrimination designated areas are determined, the fitness is determined for each discrimination designated area, and each of the average density values D is compared with a reference value. ), It is possible to cope with a case in which a part of the banknote is stained by discriminating the banknote as a genuine banknote and discriminating the other banknotes as unfit banknotes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of a banknote processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the general outline of the banknote processing apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of a bill for explaining a data acquisition area on a bill in a discriminating unit of the apparatus, FIG. 5 is a back view of the bill, and FIG. 6 is an arrangement of density data. FIG. 12 ... Discriminator, 13 ... Distributor, 14a-14d ... Accumulator,
15 …… Controller, 30, 31 …… Image sensor, P…
…bill

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Reading means for reading density information of a bill, determining means for determining whether the bill is a genuine note or a damaged note based on the density information of the bill read by the reading means;
This determination means comprises: (a) a setting means for setting a discrimination designation area and a discrimination reference value for discriminating whether a bill is a genuine note or an unfit note; When the density information of the bill is read by the means, from the density information in the discrimination designated area set by the setting means, the integrated value of a plurality of pieces of density information including the maximum value from the brighter density is calculated, Calculating means for calculating an average density value of a bright area in the discrimination designated area; and (c) setting an average density value of a bright area in the discriminated designated area calculated by the calculating means and set by the setting means. A bill processing device comprising: a comparison unit that compares the bill with a discrimination reference value to determine whether the bill is genuine or unfit. 2. A processing unit for setting a discrimination reference value based on density information of an area where a bill is not printed, and setting a discrimination designation area using an area where a bill is not printed. 2. The banknote processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a storage unit configured to store a determination reference value set in the processing unit and a determination designation area.