JP3657470B2 - Paper sheet counting device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a paper sheet counting apparatus that is applied to, for example, an automatic deposit machine (ATM), an automatic ticket vending machine, and the like. More specifically, a plurality of paper sheets such as banknotes and checks are circulated and conveyed inside the apparatus. The present invention relates to a paper sheet counting apparatus for automatically counting.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Hereinafter, an ATM banknote counting device will be described as an example. Normally, a banknote handling apparatus built in an ATM has a built-in safe for allowing banknotes to be taken in and out. When counting banknotes, the banknotes are fed out from the safe one by one onto the transport path, and all the fed banknotes pass through the position of the identification unit to complete the counting. When transporting the bills to be counted, it is necessary to transfer all the bills in the safe to another, so that a separate storage unit from the safe is required, which increases the size of the entire apparatus and increases the cost.
[0003]
For this reason, the inside of the safe is divided into upper and lower sides, the banknotes are fed out from one of the sections, the banknotes are stored from the other side, the banknotes are circulated and conveyed with reference to the safe, and all the banknotes fed out from the safe are counted. For example, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the entire apparatus by circulating and using the same safe.
[0004]
However, in order to make a round of all banknotes in the safe and know the end point of counting, it is necessary to recognize the break between uncounted banknotes and already counted banknotes. For this reason, it is recognized that all the banknotes have made a round at the time when the second passage of the reference piece is detected by interposing a reference piece dedicated to the counting delimiter at the time of counting (see, for example, JP-A-11-144120). .
[0005]
However, in such a recognition method, every time counting in the safe, a reference piece dedicated to the count separator is required, and an attendant needs to insert the reference piece at the time of counting, and handling management of this reference piece Has the problem that it is time-consuming.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Therefore, the present invention pays attention to the fact that each sheet stored in the safe is given ID information unique to the sheet when counting the sheets in the safe. It is an object of the present invention to provide a paper sheet counting apparatus that can automatically check the end of counting of paper sheets by distinguishing the counting sections without using a reference piece dedicated to counting sections by performing a reading check.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a paper sheet counting device that includes a safe connected to the circulation conveyance path, and sequentially circulates and counts a plurality of paper sheets stored in the safe, reading means for reading the paper sheet unique ID information recorded on the paper sheet, and the read sheet unique ID information unit read, reading pre sheets unique ID information already read And a judging means for judging that a plurality of paper sheets already counted have been completed when the ID information of the paper sheets coincides at the time of collation by the collating means. And
[0008]
The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that a serial number is used for the ID information.
[0009]
The invention described in claim 3 is a reading means for reading the luminance distribution data of the paper sheet.
[0010]
[Action and effect of the invention]
According to the present invention, when counting the paper sheets in the safe, a plurality of paper sheets stored in the safe are circulated and conveyed one by one in order, and the paper sheets recorded on the paper sheets are recorded. The unique ID information is sequentially read by the reading means, and the ID information unique to the read paper sheet is compared with the ID information unique to the read paper sheet that has been read first. if they match, determines the determination means that the whole sheet sheets in safe and round.
[0011]
Therefore, by reading the ID information unique to the paper sheets that are circulated and transported in order, it is possible to accurately detect when the paper sheets have made a round, and confirm this to know the end of counting. Can do. Therefore, the number of all sheets stored in the safe can be automatically counted.
[0012]
As a result, it is possible to know the end of the counting without interposing a reference piece dedicated to the separation in the safe to be counted, thereby eliminating the clerk work for interposing the reference piece, and fully automating the paper in the safe. Leaves can be counted.
[0013]
In addition, since the ID information unique to each paper sheet is read in order, not only the first paper sheet that has been fed out first but also the subsequent second and subsequent sheets. Can be read accurately. For example, even if the ID information unique to the paper sheet does not match with the first paper sheet of the first round, if the collation result with the paper sheet fed out after that matches, the circuit goes around at that time. it can be determined, stable counting process performance can be obtained with a high matching precision by continuous large number verification.
[0014]
In addition, when serial numbers are used for ID information unique to paper sheets , the paper sheets can be accurately distinguished one by one from the serial numbers recorded on the paper sheets. When the route is completed, it is possible to accurately recognize the end point of counting by clearly distinguishing from other paper sheets.
[0015]
Further, when the reading means for reading the luminance distribution data of the paper sheet is used, the paper sheet can be distinguished one by one for the entire luminance distribution data or partially read luminance distribution data of the paper sheet. If the leaves make a round of the circulation conveyance path, it is possible to accurately recognize the end point of counting by clearly distinguishing from other paper sheets.
[0016]
【Example】
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
The drawing shows a banknote processing apparatus internally constructed in an ATM. As shown in FIG. 1, the banknote processing apparatus 11 opens a deposit / withdrawal port 12 for depositing / withdrawing banknotes A on the upper side, and A batch transport unit 13 that batch transports a plurality of banknotes A in a state where the banknotes A are stacked on the inner side communicating with the mouthpiece 12, and a feeding unit 14 that receives the banknotes A transported collectively and feeds them one by one to the subsequent stage. An identification unit 15 that performs authenticity determination and denomination determination of the bills that have been paid out, an imaging unit 16 that reads the serial number of the banknotes, a thousand-yen safe C1 that allows a thousand-yen bill to be taken in and out, and a five-thousand-yen bill 5,000 yen safe C2 that allows entry / exit of money, 10,000 yen safe C3 that allows entry / exit of 000 yen bills, reject banknote collection box 17 that collects rejected reject banknotes, and denominations and continuous delivery of withdrawal banknotes The withdrawal determination unit 18 that determines the presence or absence of the banknote and the rejected banknote with a poor identification are held. And a reject banknote storage unit 19, and these processing elements 12 to 19 and C1 to C3 are connected in a loop shape with a conveyance line L, and according to various processing purposes of deposit processing, withdrawal processing and counting processing. Transport processing is performed.
[0017]
The above three denominations of safes C1 to C3 have the same structure and are arranged from top to bottom with 10,000 yen safe C3, 5,000 yen safe C2, and 1,000 yen safe C1. It is allowed to handle 3 denominations with yen. In this case, each of the safes C1 to C3 has a circulation conveyance structure for inserting and removing the bills A ... and connected to the conveyance line L. The circulation conveyance structure is connected to the lower part of the safes C1 to C3 from the conveyance line L. A holding part B1 that takes in and holds banknotes A guided one by one through a safe carry-in line L1 that is horizontally branched, and a stacking part B2 that pushes up the banknotes in the holding part B1 upward and collects them together. The banknotes are fed one by one from the stacking section B2 and led to the carry-in line L via the upper safe carry-out line L2.
[0018]
The holding section B1 is provided in the lower part of each safe, and the banknotes taken at the time of deposit transaction are first held here for the payment cancellation, and if there is a deposit cancellation, the bank B1 returns it and returns it.
[0019]
On the other hand, when the deposit transaction is confirmed, the banknotes A ... held in the holding section B1 are pushed up and superposed together with the existing stacked banknotes of the stacking section B2 disposed separately in the upper part of the safe.
[0020]
FIG. 2 shows a control circuit block diagram of the banknote processing device 11. The CPU 21 controls each circuit device in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 22, and stores the control data in a readable manner in the RAM 23.
The banknote detection sensor S detects the conveyance state and the presence of the banknotes A passing through the conveyance line L and the processing elements 12 to 19 and C1 to C3.
[0021]
The communication device 24 communicates with the host controller to communicate various data such as deposit / withdrawal transaction data, verification data, and count data.
[0022]
The conveyance motor M drives the conveyance line L to execute a deposit process, a withdrawal process, a counting process, and the like of the banknotes A.
[0023]
The 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen safe driving units 25 to 27 drive a take-in mechanism, a push-up mechanism, a feeding mechanism, and the like (not shown) provided in each safe, and deposit / withdraw bill processing and counting. Hold processing and circulation processing according to the processing.
[0024]
By the way, the imaging unit 16 is connected to the subsequent stage of the identification unit 15, and the CPU 21 treats the serial number of the banknote read by the imaging unit 16 as the ID information of the banknote. Used for counting elements when counting bills.
[0025]
For example, when counting the bills in the thousand yen safe C1, a plurality of bills stored in the safe are sequentially fed out and circulated one by one. The read ID information is stored in the RAM 23, and each time it is read, it is compared with the ID information stored in the RAM 23. And if it matches and matches with the read ID information read first, it is possible to determine that all banknotes in the safe are a complete counting break, and this can be confirmed to know the end of counting. it can. Therefore, all banknotes in the thousand yen safe C1 can be automatically counted.
[0026]
Further, since the ID information of each banknote is read in order, not only the first banknote collation judgment first fed out but also the subsequent second and subsequent collation judgments can be performed to accurately read and confirm. As a result, even if the coincidence of ID information with the first banknote in the first round is not obtained, if the collation result with the banknote fed out after that coincides, it can be detected that the circuit has made one round at that time. Stable counting can be performed with high collation accuracy by collating multiple sheets.
[0027]
In particular, since the banknotes can be accurately distinguished one by one from the serial numbers recorded on the banknotes, when a specific banknote whose counting is completed makes a round of the circulation conveyance path, it is clearly distinguished from other banknotes. The end point can be accurately recognized. Further, when counting the banknotes in the safe, it is possible to count with a simple movement that circulates and conveys the banknotes in one direction without requiring a complicated movement of transferring the banknotes in the safe.
[0028]
First, the depositing operation will be described by using the bill processing apparatus 11 configured as described above. When a plurality of bills A are put into the deposit / withdrawal port 12 at a time, the bills A ... are put in a batch. The batch transport unit 13 batch transports the feed unit 14 to the feed unit 14, and feeds the sheet one by one from the feed unit 14 to the subsequent stage.
[0029]
The fed banknotes A are firstly discriminated by the discriminating unit 15 for authenticity and denomination. If they are genuine, they are sorted and stored in the safes C1 to C3 corresponding to the same denomination. It returns to the deposit / withdrawal port 12 without entering.
[0030]
The banknotes deposited in the storage unit B1 of each safe are first stored here in preparation for canceling the deposit, and stored separately from the stacked banknotes in the stacking unit B2 at the upper part of the safe. When the deposit transaction is finalized, the banknotes held in the holding unit B1 are pushed up and superposed together with the existing stacked banknotes in the stacking unit B2. If the deposit is canceled before the transaction is confirmed, the bills A ... accumulated in the holding section B1 are reversely sent out and taken out of the safe and returned to the deposit / withdrawal port 12.
[0031]
Next, the withdrawal operation will be described. The CPU 21 pays out banknotes one by one from the corresponding safes of the 1000 yen safe C1, the 5000 yen safe C2, and the 10,000 yen safe C3 designated for withdrawal based on the withdrawal instruction. When the fed banknotes pass through the withdrawal determination unit 18, the denomination and continuous dispensing are checked here, and if they are determined to be appropriate, they are collected before the deposit / withdrawal port 12 and then discharged together.
[0032]
If the withdrawal determination unit 18 determines that the banknote is unsuitable, the banknote unsuitable for the withdrawal is stored in the reject banknote storage unit 19 and guided to the deposit / withdrawal port 12 after the withdrawal is completed. It is sorted and stored in a safe through the same transport process. At this time, if there is a reject banknote determined to be defective by the identification unit 15, the banknote is collected in the reject banknote collection box 17.
[0033]
Next, the counting processing operation of the banknote processing apparatus 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the conveyance explanatory diagram of FIG. In this case, since the three denominations of the safes C1 to C3 have the same structure and perform the counting operation in the same transport processing process, an example is shown in which counting is performed using the 10,000 yen safe C3 as a counting target.
[0034]
Now, when a counting signal for counting the number of sheets stored in the 10,000 yen safe C3 is input to the CPU 21, the CPU 21 initially sets the counter value for the 10,000 yen safe C3 (step n1).
Ten thousand yen bills are fed one by one from the ten thousand yen safe C3 (step n2).
[0035]
As shown in FIG. 4, the paid out 10,000 yen bill passes through the withdrawal determination unit 18, the deposit / withdrawal port 12, the feeding unit 14, and the identification unit 15 on the transport line L in this order to the imaging unit 16. Then, the bill serial number is read (step n3).
[0036]
The read serial number is stored in the RAM 23 as ID information unique to the banknote, and is stored in the RAM 23 each time it is read. After that, the read ID information is collated with the already read ID information (step n4).
If they do not coincide with each other, it is determined that the circuit has not completed a cycle and the count value is counted up, and the read ID information is stored in the RAM 23 (steps n5 to n6).
[0037]
In this way, one banknote in the safe is fed out and collated, and after the collating process, the circulation and transport operation for storing in the original safe is sequentially repeated for each banknote (step n7).
Only after the banknote in the safe travels around the transport line L, the banknote at the top of the safe is fed out again. The counting operation ends when it is recognized that the ID information of the banknote coincides with the first ID information (step n8).
[0038]
The counting result counted at this time is transmitted to the upper level control unit of the ATM on which the banknote processing device 11 is mounted, and the counted data is displayed and output on the display of the ATM (step n9).
[0039]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the imaging unit 16 and the identification unit 15 are provided separately and separately is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as illustrated in FIG. Can be integrated into a single unit, and can be integrated into a single unit in this way to be miniaturized and incorporated in the banknote processing apparatus 53.
[0040]
Furthermore, when reading the serial number printed on the banknote, an image of the banknote specific part is acquired, and recognition processing is performed on this image to extract the serial number. Even if the serial number cannot be extracted completely, the luminance distribution data itself of the image with the serial number may be used as the ID information.
[0041]
For example, the brightness distribution data of the serial number printed on the banknote is read by a CCD image sensor for serial number imaging, and the serial number of the banknote read by this CCD image sensor is recognized one by one for each brightness distribution data. Obtained as ID information. Even when characters cannot be recognized, it can be acquired as ID information, and banknotes can be distinguished one by one for each acquired ID information.
[0042]
When collating the luminance distribution data, a threshold value serving as a collation reference is set, and matching / mismatching is collated based on the threshold value. Also in this case, the ID information coincides with the first banknote in the first round in order not only to check the first fed banknote but also to perform the subsequent second and subsequent collation judgment. Even if is not obtained, it can be detected that the circuit has made a round at that time if the collation result with the bills fed out after that coincides.
[0043]
As described above, when counting the banknotes in the safe, a plurality of banknotes stored in the safe are circulated and conveyed one by one in order, and the banknotes recorded on the banknotes are circulated and conveyed. The imaging unit reads the unique ID information, and the read ID information is compared with the read ID information that has already been read. If the ID information matches, it is determined that all the banknotes in the safe are counted. Therefore, by sequentially reading the ID information of the banknotes that are circulated and conveyed, it is possible to accurately detect the time when the banknotes have made a round, and confirm this to know the end of counting. Therefore, the number of stored bills in the safe can be automatically counted.
[0044]
As a result, it is possible to know the end of counting without interposing a reference piece dedicated to the delimiter in the safe to be counted, and it is possible to omit a staff member handling the reference piece, and to fully automate counting of banknotes in the safe. it can.
[0045]
In addition, since the ID information of each banknote is read in order, not only the first banknote that has been fed out first but also the second and subsequent sheets can be checked and read accurately. Therefore, even if the ID information match with the first banknote in the first round is not obtained, if the matching result with the banknote fed out after that coincides, it can be detected that the circuit has made one round at that time, and many continuous Stable counting can be performed with high collation accuracy by sheet collation.
[0046]
Moreover, since the serial number peculiar to a banknote is used for the ID information, the banknote can be accurately distinguished one by one from the serial number recorded on the banknote, and when a round of a conveyance line in which a specific banknote is circulated and conveyed Is clearly distinguishable from other banknotes and can accurately recognize the end point of counting.
[0047]
In correspondence between the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment,
The paper sheet counting apparatus of this invention corresponds to the banknote counting apparatus incorporated in the banknote processing apparatuses 11 and 53 of the embodiments,
Similarly,
The circulation conveyance path corresponds to the conveyance line L,
The safe corresponds to the 1,000 yen safe C1, the 5000 yen safe C2, and the 10,000 yen safe C3.
Paper sheets correspond to banknote A,
ID information corresponds to the serial number of the banknote,
The reading unit corresponds to the imaging unit 16 or the imaging device 52,
The collating means and the determining means correspond to the processing functions of the CPU 21 corresponding to the respective means ,
The present invention can be applied based on the technical idea shown in the claims, and is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.
[0048]
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the safes C1 to C3 for inserting and removing banknotes at the time of deposit / withdrawal transactions and banknote counting have been shown. Similar effects can be obtained.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an internal structure of a banknote handling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a control circuit block diagram of the banknote handling apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a counting processing operation of the banknote processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a transport explanatory view showing a counting processing operation of the banknote processing apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the internal structure of another bill processing apparatus of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11,53 ... Banknote processing apparatus 15,51 ... Identification part 16 ... Imaging part L ... Conveyance line A ... Paper money C1 ... Thousand yen safe C2 ... Five thousand yen safe C3 ... Ten thousand yen safe B1 ... Reservation part B2 ... Accumulation part 21 ... CPU
23 ... RAM
25 ... Thousand yen safe drive unit 26 ... Thousand yen safe drive unit 27 ... 10,000 yen safe drive unit 52 ... Image sensor

Claims (3)

A paper sheet counting device that includes a safe connected to a circulation conveyance path, and sequentially circulates and counts a plurality of paper sheets stored in the safe,
Reading means for reading ID information unique to the paper sheet recorded on the paper sheet;
Said reading means sheets unique ID information read, and collating means for collating the read already sheet unique ID information already read,
The paper sheet ID information at the time of the collation of the collating means that matches paper sheet counting apparatus provided with a judging means for judging that the plurality of sheets which have already been counted is round. 2. The paper sheet counting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ID information unique to the paper sheet is a serial number. 3. The paper sheet counting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reading unit reads the luminance distribution data of the paper sheet.

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