JP2851752B2 - Bill validator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill discriminating apparatus for discriminating and reporting a denomination of a bill, and more particularly, to a small, lightweight, portable, and visually impaired person who can easily discriminate bills. The present invention relates to a bill discriminating apparatus that can perform the billing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 12, for a person who is blind and cannot determine the denomination of a banknote visually, a 1,000 yen note P1 and a 5,000 yen note P
A denomination display portion P5 having a different pattern (number and arrangement) according to the denomination is provided at the lower end of the 10,000 yen note P3. The annular portion P7 of the denomination display portion P5 is
8 and a concave portion having a smaller thickness of the paper than the central circular portion P9, and the central circular portion P9 is a convex portion with respect to the annular portion P7. The blind person touches the unevenness of the denomination display portion P5 with a fingertip to identify the pattern and determine the denomination.

[0003] However, the unevenness of the denomination display portion P5 is delicate, and it is not easy for a person who is not sensitive to the fingertip to identify it. In addition, when the fingertip sensation is particularly slowed due to illness or the like, it is more difficult to identify the denomination display portion P5, it is difficult to determine the denomination of the banknote, and to pay a fee frequently used in daily life. In that case, it will be very troublesome.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bill discriminating apparatus which is made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is small and lightweight, can be carried around, and can easily discriminate a denomination of a bill at any time and any place. Aim.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention for achieving this object is, as shown in FIG. 1, for a banknote provided with a denomination display portion having a ring-shaped unevenness near a corner. A bill discriminating device for discriminating a denomination of the bill, wherein the bill abuts only on an edge of the bill on a side where the denomination display portion is provided.
And the bill can be transported by hand in the direction along its edge.
A guide for guiding part is positioned and fixed to the guide portion,
A sensor that detects a pattern of the denomination display unit provided on the bill, a bill discriminating unit that discriminates a denomination of the bill based on an output of the sensor, and a denomination determined by the bill discriminating unit. comprising a notification means for notifying, the said report
The protruding parts are raised by a different number depending on the denomination
Material, and the whole device is smaller and more portable than bills
The gist of the present invention is a bill discriminating device characterized in that the bill discriminating device is formed to have a functional size .

[0006] The denomination display unit herein is that provided for the purpose of enabling discrimination of banknotes by touch, Ru der that the ring-like irregularities provided on the lower end portion of the banknote. As the sensor, a sensor including a light emitting unit that irradiates light to the denomination display unit and a light receiving unit that receives transmitted light or reflected light from the denomination display unit can be used. For example, a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode is used as the light emitting unit, and a light diode or an optical sensor such as a solid-state image sensor is used as the light receiving unit.

Further, as the sensor, a sensor having switch means for opening and closing according to the unevenness of the denomination display portion can be used. As the notifying means, a speaker or the like is used when notifying by sound or voice such as a chime. In addition, notification by tactile sensation is also possible .
The notifying means is a projection that protrudes by a different number depending on the denomination
It has a member. For this reason, it becomes possible for a person to determine the denomination by touching the protruding member .

[0008]

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the sensor detects the pattern of the denomination display portion formed of, for example, ring-shaped irregularities located at the lower end of the bill, and the bill discriminating means detects the bill based on the output of the sensor. Determine the denomination. Then, the notifying unit notifies the denomination determined by the bill discriminating unit.
In addition, the sensor is only required to be positioned and fixed on a guide portion that abuts only on the side edge where the denomination display portion of the bill is provided, so that the pattern of the denomination display portion can be detected. As is well known, the denomination display portion of the bill is provided at a position very close to the edge, so that the sensor is disposed very close to the guide portion. In addition, the guide unit is configured to
It is guided so as to be conveyable by hand in the direction along the edge. For this reason, the main part of the mechanical configuration of the present invention, which includes the guide portion and the sensor, can be extremely reduced in size and weight. Therefore, in the present invention, the entire device is smaller than a bill.
It is formed in a portable size. Therefore, the present invention
Can be easily carried by the visually impaired,
For example, it would be possible to carry them in shopping, etc. in a purse.
You. Furthermore, the notification means of the present invention differs depending on the denomination.
It has a number of protruding protrusion members, and a person can know the denomination by touching this member . others
Therefore , even a person who has difficulty in eyes and ears can easily determine the denomination of a banknote .

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of the bill discriminating apparatus of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 2 is an external view of the bill discriminating apparatus 1 as an embodiment of the present invention.

The bill discriminating apparatus 1 is a flat plate having a substantially square shape, and is smaller and smaller than a bill.
The main power switch on the body top portion 2 3, provided with a speaker 5 is a multi-address known means, sensor and electronic control unit detects the pattern of the denomination display unit 11 of the banknote inside (ECU) 1
2 (FIG. 5 ) and the like.

A bill insertion portion 7 is provided on the side surface portion. A bill is inserted into the bill insertion portion 7 and the denomination display portion 11 is moved to a sensor built in the bill discriminating device 1 so that a bill is inserted. A configuration for detecting the pattern of the seed display unit 11 is employed. Next, a sensor for detecting a pattern of the denomination display units 11a to 11e (collectively, 11) will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sensors S1 and S2 are composed of light-emitting units L1 and L2 and light-receiving units R1 and R2 arranged to face each other. The portions where the light-emitting portions L1 and L2 and the light-receiving portions R1 and R2 face each other are gap portions 33a and 33b into which bills are inserted, and light transmitted from the light-emitting portions L1 and L2 to the banknotes respectively. Receiver R
1, R2.

The guide section 3 is located near the sensor S1.
1 is provided. The guide section 31 and the sensors S1,
The positional relationship of S2 is, for example, the lower edge 34 of the 5,000 yen ticket K2.
Is moved in the direction of arrow A while making contact with the guide portion 31, the denomination display portions 11b and 11c of the 5,000-yen ticket K2
Are arranged so as to pass through the gaps 33a and 33b, respectively, as shown by dotted lines.

The sensors S1 and S2 include light emitting units L1 and L
From No. 2, the denomination display portion is detected by a change in the transmittance of the light beam irradiated on the bill. That is, since the annular portions 42b and 42c of the denomination display portions 11b and 11c shown in FIG. 4 have a higher light transmittance than the peripheral portion 44, the denomination display portions 11b and 11c have the light emitting portions L1 and L1. L2 and light receiving parts R1, R
2 are located in the gaps 33a and 33b,
1 and R2, the output of the sensors S1 and S2 changes rapidly, and the denomination display units 11b and 1
1c can be detected.

Next, an electronic control unit (ECU) used as a bill discriminating means in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The ECU 12 includes a well-known CPU 51a, R
OM 51b and RAM 51c are configured as the center of a logical operation circuit, and an input / output unit 51d that performs input / output with an external device
Are connected to each other via a common bus 51e.
The input / output unit 51d includes the sensors S1, S
2, and the speaker 5 are connected.

Next, the operation of the bill discriminating apparatus 1 of this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 6, the central portion of the lower end side portion 63 of the bill is inserted into the bill insertion portion 7 of the bill discriminating device 1 from the direction of arrow B, and the bill is inserted into the gaps 33a, 33b of the sensors S1, S2 (see FIG. ) To make contact with the guide portion 31. And the lower end side 63 of the bill is
The bill is moved in the direction of arrow C while keeping the state in which the bills are in contact with each other, and the bill is extracted.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), when the bill is a 1,000 yen note K1, one denomination display portion 11a is
1 through the gap 33a. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the bill is a 5,000-yen note K2, the two denomination display units 11b and 11c are simultaneously provided in the gap 33 of the sensors S1 and S2.
a, 33b. Also, as shown in FIG.
If the bill is a 10,000 yen note K3, two denomination display units 11
d and 11e pass through the gap 33a of the sensor S1.

Then, as the denomination display unit 11 passes, the sensors S1 and S2 obtain ON / OFF outputs as shown in FIG. When a portion of the bill other than the denomination display unit 11 passes through the gaps 33a and 33b of the sensors S1 and S2, the sensor output is off (dark state). On the other hand, when the denomination display unit 11 having a high light transmittance passes through the gaps 33a, 33b of the sensors S1, S2, the light emitting units L1, L2
2, the amount of light that passes through the banknote and reaches the light receiving units R1 and R2 sharply increases, and the outputs of the sensors S1 and S2 are turned on (bright state).

That is, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), when the bill is a 1,000-yen note K1, the denomination display portion 11a only passes once through the sensor S1, and the ON state pulse is output from the sensor S1. Once, sensor S2 remains off. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the bill is a 5,000-yen note K2, pulses in the ON state appear simultaneously from the sensors S1 and S2. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, in the case of the 10,000 yen note K3, a pulse in the ON state appears twice from the sensor S1, and the sensor S2 remains in the OFF state.

The outputs obtained from the sensors S1 and S2 as described above are input to the ECU 12, and the denomination is determined and notified by the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. First,
In step 100, it is determined whether or not the sensor S1 has been turned on. Here, when a negative determination is made, that is, when the denomination display unit 11 has never passed the sensor S1, the direction of insertion / movement of the bill is wrong, or a non-bill note is inserted. Then, the process proceeds to step 110 to notify that the denomination display unit 11 has not been detected, and then the present process is terminated. On the other hand, if a positive determination is made, the process proceeds to step 120.

In step 120, it is determined whether or not the sensor S1 has been turned on for the second time. If an affirmative determination is made here, the process proceeds to step 130, where it is notified that the denomination is 10,000 yen, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made, the routine proceeds to step 140, where it is determined whether the sensor S2 has been turned on. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 150 to report that the denomination is 5,000 yen, and if the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step 160 to report that the denomination is 1,000 yen, and once This processing ends.

The notification of the denomination is made by voice from the speaker 5. For example, if the denomination is determined to be 1,000 yen, the speaker 5 notifies the user that the denomination is "1,000 yen" so that even a blind person can easily know the denomination. Note that this notification need not be a synthesized voice, and various means can be used as long as the notification is made by discriminating the denomination by voice, such as sounding a chime sound and a buzzer sound at different times according to the denomination. .

As described above, the bill discriminating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment employs a configuration in which the pattern of the denomination display section 11 located at the lower end of the bill is detected to discriminate the denomination. Weight and weight can be reduced. Moreover, the guide part 31
Transports the bill by hand only in contact with the lower end of the bill.
Since the device is guided so that it can be sent, the size and weight of the device can be further reduced.
Becomes possible. Therefore, a visually impaired person can carry and use the banknote discriminating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, and has a remarkable effect that the denomination of the banknote can be easily discriminated at any time and in any place as needed. .

As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail. However, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various modes within the scope of the gist. For example, as a sensor for detecting a pattern of a denomination display unit, as shown in FIG.
The sensors S3, S4, and S5 are arranged in an L shape, and the sensor S3 is used for a 1,000-yen ticket, and the sensor S is used for a 5,000-yen ticket.
According to steps S3 and S4, in the case of a 10,000-yen ticket, the denomination display section can be detected by the sensors S3 and S5 to determine the denomination. In this example, it is not necessary to move the bill with respect to the sensors S3 to S5.

As shown in FIG. 11, a solid-state image sensor 91 such as a CCD may be used as a light receiving section of a sensor for detecting a pattern of a denomination display section. In this case, the denomination display unit 97 of the bill is inserted between the light emitting unit 93 and the solid-state image sensor 91, and the image 99 is read to determine the denomination. Therefore, there is no need to move the bill with respect to the sensor.

Further, in the sensor of the above embodiment, the configuration may be such that the reflected light of the light beam emitted from the light emitting unit to the bill enters the light receiving unit. On the other hand, instead of the sensor using light as described above, a sensor including a switch unit that opens and closes according to the unevenness of the denomination display unit may be used. For example, it is possible to use a sensor that has a contact member that comes into contact with the surface of a bill and that generates an on / off signal by opening and closing a switch by moving the contact member up and down in accordance with unevenness of the denomination display unit. it can.

In addition, as the notifying means, in addition to means for notifying by sound using a speaker or the like, notification by tactile sensation is also possible. That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, a projecting member that protrudes by a different number according to the denomination is provided outside the bill discriminating apparatus, and a notifying unit that can know the denomination by touching this member is used . . Because of this,
By touching this protruding member, you can know the denomination
Wear. Therefore, even those who are blind and deaf can use the denomination of banknotes.
It can be easily determined.

[0028]

As described in detail above, the bill discriminating apparatus according to the present invention detects the pattern of the denomination display portion provided on the bill to discriminate the denomination, and the denomination of the bill. Display
The guide part is brought into contact only with the edge on the side where
Is configured to be guided by a hand in a direction along the edge so that the device can be reduced in size and weight. Further, with the adoption of the above configuration, the present invention
The whole is made smaller and smaller than the banknote
You. For this reason, the present invention can be easily carried by the visually impaired.
Can be stored in a wallet, etc.
It is possible to walk. Therefore, even when a blind person cannot discriminate the denomination of a banknote by touching the denomination display unit, by carrying and using the banknote discriminating device of the present invention, it becomes necessary at any time and in any place. Accordingly, there is a remarkable effect that the denomination of the banknote can be easily determined. Furthermore, the notification means of the present invention differs depending on the denomination.
Has a projecting member that only raised a few it was, permits a person to determine the denomination also by touching this member.
Therefore , a more remarkable effect is produced in that a person who has both eyes and ears can easily determine the denomination of a bill at any time and in any place as needed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a bill discriminating apparatus in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a sensor of the bill discriminating apparatus in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a detection principle of a denomination display unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing movement of bills in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a detection operation of a pattern of a denomination display unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a signal waveform diagram illustrating an output of a sensor according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a denomination determination process in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a sensor in another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing the structure and operation of a sensor according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Bill discriminating device 5 ... Speaker S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 ... Sensor L1, L2 ... Light emitting part R1, R2 ... Light receiving part 11a, 11b, 11c, 11d, 11e ... Denomination display part

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G07D 7/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bill discriminating device for discriminating a denomination of a banknote provided with a denomination display portion having a ring-shaped unevenness near a corner portion, wherein the denomination of the bill is The edge of the side where the display is provided
It viewed abut, transporting by hand the bill in the direction along the edge
A guide portion for guiding as much as possible ; a sensor positioned and fixed to the guide portion for detecting a pattern of the denomination display portion provided on the bill; and a denomination of the bill based on an output of the sensor. A bill discriminating means, and a notifying means for notifying the denomination determined by the bill discriminating means , wherein the notifying means protrudes by a different number according to the denomination.
With a protruding member, the entire device is smaller than a bill
A bill discriminating device formed in a portable size .