JP2810782B2 - Bill validator - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a bill validator and, more particularly, to skew correction.

(Prior Art) When a banknote is inserted by a customer in an automatic depositing and dispensing machine or a vending machine, a process for determining the denomination of the banknote and the front / back of the banknote and further determining the authenticity is performed. It is.
For this purpose, banknote discriminating devices are used in automatic depositing and dispensing machines and vending machines.

The banknote discriminating device, from the pattern and graphics of the inserted bill,
An optical pattern or a magnetic pattern due to the reflected light or transmitted light is detected, and the detected pattern is compared with a preset reference value. Based on the similarity, or the similarity and the outer diameter of the bill are detected. Discrimination was performed in combination with the results.

In order to detect the above optical pattern, LEDs, photodiodes, phototransistors, CCDs, etc. are used.
A magnetic head or the like is used to detect a magnetic pattern.

However, if the banknote is skewed and conveyed, the position at which the detected pattern is compared with the stored reference value is shifted, and the inserted banknote may not be correctly discriminated. Therefore, the bill discriminating device detects the amount of skew of a bill, and performs correction by using the detected skew value so as to reduce the influence of skew.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a detection unit in a conventional bill validator.

In the drawing, a banknote 1 is configured to be conveyed on a banknote conveying path 2 in a direction indicated by an arrow by a conveying unit (not shown).

Two LEDs (light emitting diodes) 3A and 3B are installed at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the bill conveying direction, on the near side of the bill conveying direction and below the bill 1, and at the positions of these LEDs 3A and 3B. The photodiodes 4A and 4B are installed above the banknote 1 conveyed correspondingly. These LEDs 3A, 3B and photodiodes 4A, 4B are LED3A, photodiodes 4A, LED3B
The photodiodes 4B and the photodiodes 4B form a pair, respectively, and detect the arrival of the bill 1. The light emitted from the LEDs 3A and 3B is received by the photodiodes 4A and 4B to detect the presence or absence of the bill.

Behind these two pairs of detection units in the bill transport direction, bill 1
An image sensor 5 for detecting an image pattern of the reflected light of the image is provided.

When the banknote 1 is conveyed by a conveying unit (not shown), the detection unit of the banknote 1 configured as described above detects the arrival of the banknote 1 by blocking the light from the LEDs 3A and 3B.

Next, the image sensor 5 detects an image pattern of the banknote 1 from reflected light of the banknote 1 by light emitted from a light emitting unit (not shown).

The bill discriminating apparatus discriminates the bill 1 based on the detection signals from the image sensor 5 and the detection signals from the photodiodes 4A and 4B.

Next, a conventional bill validator using such a detecting unit will be described.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional bill validator.

In the figure, a pattern detecting means 6 comprises the image sensor 5 shown in FIG. 2 and the like, and is a means for detecting the image pattern by the reflected light from the banknote 1.

The bill detecting means 7 and 8 are LED3A and photodiode 4A, respectively.
And a means for detecting the arrival of the banknote 1 comprising the LED 3B and the photodiode 4B.

The temporary storage unit 9 is a buffer memory that stores an output signal from the pattern detection unit 6.

The skew calculating means 10 determines the degree of skew of the bill 1 from the time difference of arrival of the bill 1 outputted from the bill detecting means 7 or 8 or the difference in the number of pulses outputted each time the bill 1 is conveyed by a certain distance. It is an arithmetic circuit for performing an operation.

The skew correction means 11 is a skew correction circuit for sequentially reading the reflected light pattern data stored in the temporary storage means 9 and rearranging the data based on the skew values calculated by the skew calculation means 10.

The storage unit 12 is a memory that stores the data rearranged by the skew feeding correction unit 11.

The reference value storage means 13 is a memory in which reference value data of the banknote 1 set in advance is stored.

The comparing means 14 is constituted by a comparing circuit or the like for comparing the data of the banknote 1 stored in the storage means 12 with the reference value data of the reference value storage means 13.

The discriminating means 15 is constituted by a discriminating circuit or the like for discriminating the denomination of the inserted banknote 1, the front and back sides, and the authenticity thereof based on the comparison result of the comparing means 14.

 Next, the operation will be described.

When the banknote 1 is conveyed by a conveying unit (not shown), the arrival thereof is detected by the banknote detecting units 7 and 8. Then, the bill calculating means 10 is provided with an interval between the installation positions of the bill detecting means 7, 8 and a time difference of arrival of the bill 1 detected from the two means 7, 8 or a pulse outputted every time the bill 1 is conveyed by a fixed distance. The degree of skew of the banknote 1 is calculated based on the difference between the numbers, and the calculated value is output to the skew correction unit 11.

When the arrival of the bill 1 is detected by the bill detecting means 7 and 8, the pattern detecting means 6 scans in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the bill 1 to detect and output a reflected light pattern of the bill 1.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the state of scanning by the pattern detecting means 6.

That is, when the points obtained by the scanning are expressed as (x, y), the pattern detecting means 6 firstly sets (0, 0), (1, 0),
(2,0),... (N, 0) are scanned in that order, and the next (0,0), (1,1) is synchronized with the pulse output every time the banknote 1 is conveyed for a certain distance. , (2,1),... (N, 1) are scanned.
Furthermore, (0,2), (1,2), (2,2), ... (n, 2), (0,
3),..., (N, m) and the reflected light pattern of one bill are scanned, and the data of one bill is stored in the temporary storage means 9.

The skew value calculated by the skew calculating means 10 indicates an angle between the x direction in FIG.

The reflected light pattern of the bill 1 stored in the temporary storage unit 9 is input to the skew feeding correction unit 11. The skew correcting means 11 sequentially reads the reflected light patterns stored in the temporary storage means 9 and rearranges them based on the skew values calculated by the skew calculating means 10. Further, the reflected light pattern of one sorted banknote 1 is stored in the storage unit 12.

Next, the comparison unit 14 compares the reflected light pattern stored in the storage unit 12 with the reference value stored in the reference value storage unit 13. Then, the discriminating means 14 discriminates the denomination of the bill 1 and the front / back sides and the authenticity of the bill 1 based on the comparison result, and notifies the connected device of the discrimination result.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described conventional bill discriminating apparatus, there is a case where the skew angle of the bill 1 in which a part is lost is not accurately obtained.

 FIG. 5 shows a banknote 1 in which such a part is missing.

That is, in the case where the missing portion 1a of the transported banknote 1 has just hit the banknote detecting means 7, 8, the skew angle is calculated with the defective portion 1a as the end of the banknote. Skew angle could not be determined.

Therefore, if the skew angle is inaccurate, the skew cannot be corrected accurately, so that highly accurate bill discrimination cannot be performed. There was a possibility that the discrimination was wrong or that the truth was wrong.

In addition, since the bill detecting means 7 and 8 are required separately from the pattern detecting means 6 for detecting the physical characteristics of the bill 1 in order to detect the skew of the bill 1, the structure becomes complicated and the apparatus becomes large. There have been problems such as cost reduction and cost increase.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is capable of performing stable and highly accurate bill discrimination even with a bill having a defective portion, and is capable of reducing the size and cost. The purpose is to provide.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The bill discriminating apparatus of the present invention comprises a pattern detecting means for detecting physical characteristics of a bill to be conveyed, and physical characteristic data of the bill detected by the pattern detecting means, A bill end detecting means for detecting a bill end position, a skew calculating means for calculating a skew amount of a plurality of places of the bill based on an output of the bill end detecting means, and a plurality of skew calculated by the skew calculating means. Mean value calculating means for calculating the average value of the skew amount of the location, and skew the physical characteristic data of the bill detected by the pattern detecting means based on the average skew value obtained by the average value calculating means. Skew correction means for rearranging the banknotes so that the degree of the skew is reduced, comparison means for comparing physical characteristic data of the banknotes rearranged by the skew correction means with a preset reference value, and a comparison result of the comparison means From the A discriminating means for discriminating bills.

(Operation) The first device detects the physical characteristics of the bill by the pattern detecting means.

The bill end detecting means detects the bill end detecting means from physical characteristic data of the bill detected by the pattern detecting means.

The skew calculating means calculates the amount of skew at a plurality of places of the bill based on the bill end position, and the average value calculating means calculates the average value of the skew values at the plurality of places.

The skew correction unit rearranges the physical characteristic data of the banknote detected by the pattern detection unit based on the average of the skew values so that the degree of skew is reduced, and the physical characteristic data of the rearranged banknote. Is compared with a reference value set in advance by the comparing means, and the discriminating means discriminates the denomination, authenticity or the like of the bill from the comparison result.

Therefore, for example, even for a bill partially missing, the average skew amount at a plurality of locations is obtained, so that the influence of the missing portion is small,
Highly accurate skew correction can be performed. Further, it is possible to reduce the size and cost without separately providing a means for detecting the skew of the bill.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, a bill discriminating apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail using an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a bill validator according to the present invention.

The device shown in the figure includes a pattern detection unit 16, a temporary storage unit 17,
Skew feeding correcting means 18, bill edge detecting means 19, skew calculating means 20,
It comprises an average value calculation means 21, a storage means 22, a reference value storage means 23, a comparison means 24, and a determination means 25.

The pattern detecting means 16 is a means for detecting physical characteristics of a bill conveyed by a conveying means (not shown), and is constituted by an LED or a fluorescent tube and the image sensor 5 composed of a CCD or the like shown in FIG.

The temporary storage unit 17 is a buffer memory that stores an output signal from the pattern detection unit.

The skew correcting means 18 sequentially reads out the physical characteristic data (pattern data) of the bill stored in the temporary storage means 17 and, based on the average skew value calculated by the average value calculating means 21, skews the bill. Means for rearranging the data so as to reduce the influence of the data, and is constituted by a processor or the like.

The bill end detecting means 19 is a detection circuit for detecting a bill end position from the pattern data of the bill detected by the pattern detecting means 16.

The skew calculating means 20 is an arithmetic circuit for calculating the skew amounts (skew angles) of the bill at a plurality of positions from the bill end position detected by the bill end detecting means 19.

The average value calculating means 21 is a calculating circuit for calculating an average value of the skew amounts at a plurality of locations calculated by the skew calculating means 20.

The storage unit 22 is a memory that stores the data rearranged by the skew feeding correction unit 18.

The reference value storage means 23 is a memory in which, similarly to the conventional reference value storage means 13, preset reference value data of banknotes is stored.

The comparing means 24 and the discriminating means 25 are a comparison circuit for comparing the physical characteristic data of the bill stored in the storage means 22 with the reference value data of the reference value storage means 23, as in the related art. It is constituted by a discriminating circuit for discriminating the denomination, front / back and reverse of the bill and the authenticity thereof based on the comparison result.

Next, the operation of the above-configured bill validator will be described.

When a bill inserted into an automatic depositing and dispensing machine is conveyed to a bill discriminating means by a bill conveying means (not shown), the arrival of the bill is detected by a signal from a bill detecting means (not shown) or a higher-level device, and the pattern detecting means 16 The detection of the reflected light pattern is started.

This detection is, as described with reference to FIG. 4, a detection in which one scan is performed in the x direction each time a banknote is conveyed by a predetermined distance, as in the related art. That is, the points obtained by scanning are (x,
y), the order in which the pattern detection means 16 scans is (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), ... (n, 0), (0,0).
.., (N, 1), (0, 2),... (N, m), and all these patterns are stored in the temporary storage means 17.

On the other hand, the bill end detecting means 19 detects the bill end position from the output signal of the pattern detecting means 16 based on the pattern data when one line is scanned in the x direction.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a pattern when one scan is performed in the i direction in the y direction and one scan in the x direction.

The bill end detecting means 19 calculates a pattern difference ((n + 1) -n in FIG. 6) in the x direction from such a signal, and finds a place where the result is larger than a preset value or smaller than a preset value. Is the bill end position.

 FIG. 7 shows a differential waveform of such a certain pattern.

In FIG. 7, x _ij and x _ik are a portion larger than the set value and a portion smaller than the set value, and indicate a bill end position.

FIG. 8 is a view for explaining a bill end position of the bill 100.

That is, in FIG. 8, the pattern when the i-th scan in the y direction and the scan in the x direction corresponds to the waveform in FIG. 6, and x _ij and x _ik
Are bill end positions. It should be noted that i of x _ij and x _ik indicates a value in the y direction, j indicates the start end of the bill end when scanning from left to right in FIG. 8, and k indicates the end end.

Next, the skew value calculation by the skew calculation means 20 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the bill ends of the _{(i + 1)} th pattern in the y direction are x _{(i + 1) j} and x _{(i + 1) k} , while the bill 100 is conveyed from the ith to the _{(i + 1)} th. At the end of the banknote x _{(i + 1) j}
−x _ij changes.

Therefore, the skew angle θ _i is obtained by the following equation.

θ _i = tan ⁻¹ (1 / (x _{(i + 1) j−} x _ij )) (1) In addition, for example, the transport distance in the case of transport from the i-th to the i + 1-th in the y direction is a fixed distance It can be obtained by counting the number of pulses output each time the sheet is conveyed.

Average value calculating means 21 calculates an average value of a plurality of skew angle theta _i obtained by the skew calculating means 20 by the following equation.

In this equation (2), s and e are values in the y direction including the vertex of the banknote 100 as shown in FIG. 8, and there is a side between s and e for which a skew value is required.

Incidentally, the number of the plurality of skew values θ ₁ for obtaining the average value is set to an appropriate value in consideration of the discrimination error of the circulation banknote. ~
It is configured to perform the skew value theta ₁ detection at intervals of about 1.0 mm.

Then, the skew correction unit 18 rearranges the pattern data of the banknote 100 read from the temporary storage unit 17 based on the average value of the skew angles calculated by the average value calculation unit 21 so that the influence of the skew is reduced. This reordering is based on the vote x = x _sj ,
This is executed by coordinate transformation for rotating the angle with y = s as a reference point.

The pattern data of the banknotes 100 rearranged by the skew correction unit 18 is stored in the storage unit 22, and the stored banknote 100 is stored.
Is compared by the comparing means 24 with the reference value stored in the reference value storage means 23.

The comparison means 24 compares all the reference values stored in the reference value storage means 22 and obtains the sum of the differences for each denomination and each of the front and back sides.

The discriminating means 25 determines the sum of the difference between the model and the reference value obtained for each of the front and back sides and the smallest denomination and the front and back sides thereof as the same as the inserted banknote 100, This discrimination result is notified to a higher-level device (not shown).

In the above embodiment, the detection is performed using the reflected light of the banknote 100 as a means for detecting the physical characteristics of the banknote 100.However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the detection may be performed using transmitted light. You may.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a bill end position is detected from physical characteristic data of a bill detected by the pattern detecting means, and a plurality of bills are detected using the bill end position. Since the skew amount is calculated and the skew correction is performed based on the average value of the plurality of skew values, for example, even if the bill is partially missing, the influence of the missing portion is small and stable accuracy is achieved. Banknote discrimination with high cost.

Further, since a detecting means for detecting the amount of skew of the bill is not required, the size and the price of the apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram of a bill validator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a detection unit of the conventional bill validator, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional bill validator, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view of a banknote in which a part is missing, FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram showing an output waveform of a certain scanning line, and FIG. 7 is a difference waveform of an output of a certain scanning line. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a skew calculation of a bill. 16 ... pattern detection means, 18 ... skew correction means, 19 ... banknote end detection means, 20 ... skew calculation means, 21 ... average value calculation means, 23 ... reference value storage means, 24 ... Comparison means, 25 ... discriminating means, 100 ... banknotes.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pattern detecting means for detecting physical characteristics of a bill being conveyed; a bill end detecting means for detecting a bill end position from physical characteristic data of the bill detected by the pattern detecting means; A skew calculating means for calculating a skew amount of a plurality of places of the bill based on an output of the bill end detecting means; and an average value for calculating an average value of the skew amounts of the plurality of places calculated by the skew calculating means. Calculating means, based on the average skew value obtained by the average value calculating means,
Skew correction means for rearranging the physical characteristic data of the banknotes detected by the pattern detection means so that the degree of skew is reduced, and physical characteristic data of the banknotes rearranged by the skew correction means A bill discriminating apparatus comprising: a comparing unit that compares the bill with a preset reference value; and a discriminating unit that discriminates the bill from the comparison result of the comparing unit.