JPH0954850A - Paper money discrimination device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the color discrimination of paper money with a miniaturized configuration, to remarkably improve discrimination accuracy, to facilitate maintenance and further, to improve optical resolution. SOLUTION: On the back side of insertion slot 22 for paper money and one side of passage for paper money 23 at a bill validation part 21, a light source device 27, for which plural LED chips 36-38 for respectively generating the light beams of plural wavelength bands λ1, λ2 and λ3 are mounted on a substrate 35 and a diffusion film 40 is arranged on the surface, and a condenser lens 28 for converging the light from the light source device 27, are arranged. On the opposite side of passage for paper money 23, a slit member 29, for which a slit 42 linearly extended in the breadthwise direction of paper money 23 is formed, prism 30 of configuration having plural prism pieces mutually optically separated with separate pieces, and CCD image pickup device 31, are arranged. The signal from the CCD image pickup device 31 is read by a pattern discriminating device 41, the pattern of prescribed color is discriminated, and the truth or counterfeitness of paper money 23 and the denomination of paper money 23 are discriminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bill validator used in an automatic vending machine or the like which can use bills.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a system diagram of a conventional bill validator 1 for performing color discrimination of bills. Here, the color discrimination is a technique of irradiating a bill with light of a plurality of wavelengths and discriminating the authenticity of the bill from the intensity distribution of the transmitted light or the reflected light from the bill for each wavelength. A conventional bill identifying device (hereinafter, bill bill) 1 is provided with a pair of pull-in rollers 4, 5 for pulling a bill 3 behind a bill insertion slot 2. Power is transmitted from the motor 6 to the pull-in roller 4, and the pull-in rollers 4 and 5 are interlocked by a gear or the like. Pull-in roller 4,
On the back side of 5, there is a wavelength λ1 across the passage of the bill 3.
A sensor S1 including a light-emitting element 7 and a light-receiving element 8 for generating the light is disposed. In addition, a sensor S2 including a light emitting element 9 and a light receiving element 10 that generate light having a wavelength λ2 is arranged at the subsequent stage of the sensor S1. The sensors S1 and S2 are connected to the pattern discrimination device 14. These sensors S1,
The wavelengths λ1 and λ2 of the light of S2 are determined corresponding to the predetermined color of the printing ink used for the banknote 3. Further, the positions of the sensors S1 and S2 are determined so as to scan on the same line along the conveyance direction of the banknote 3. A pair of transport rollers 11, 1 is provided at the subsequent stage of the sensor S2.
2 are arranged to convey banknotes. Power is transmitted from the motor 13 to the transport roller 11, and the transport rollers 11 and 12 are interlocked by a gear or the like.

The bill 3 inserted into the bill burr 1 from the insertion slot 2 is drawn in by the drawing rollers 4 and 5, and the sensor S
The pattern discriminating device 14 discriminates a pattern of a predetermined color on the basis of the signals from S1 and S2, and discriminates the authenticity of the bill 3 and the type of the bill 3. The banknote 3 determined as a counterfeit is discharged to the outside by the motors 6 and 13 rotating in reverse. The banknote 3 determined to be genuine is the motor 6,
It is further conveyed to the inside by the rotation of 13.

[0004]

In such a bilver 1 of the prior art, the positions of the sensors S1 and S2 are determined so as to scan on the same line along the conveyance direction of the banknote 3, Each light emitting element 6 and 8 has a single L
An ED (light emitting diode) element is used and is a point light source. Therefore, there is a problem that the banknote 3 cannot be scanned in a region of a predetermined width along the width direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction, and there is a limit to improvement of the identification accuracy.

A conventional LED serving as a linear light source is an array of a plurality of LED elements that generate light of the same wavelength, and the linear LED cannot perform color discrimination regarding a plurality of colors. There are lamps such as white lamps as a light source having a bandwidth instead of a single wavelength, but such lamps have a problem that the life of the lamps is short and maintenance of the building burr 1 is troublesome.

Further, when scanning is performed with respect to a plurality of colors, it is necessary to dispose the sensors S1 and S2 at positions spaced apart from each other so that the generated light is not confused as shown in FIG. There is a problem that can not be miniaturized.

Further, it is conceivable to use a light source that generates light including a plurality of wavelength bands. In that case, it is necessary to disperse the transmitted light, which is the light source light transmitted through the banknote, into each predetermined wavelength band. . It is conceivable to use a prism having a triangular prism shape as the spectroscopic means, but when such a prism is used, the light receiving element to which the light from the prism enters is
Light from a spot other than a predetermined scanning spot on the bill enters, which causes a problem of low optical resolution.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to enable color discrimination of banknotes with a miniaturized structure and to significantly improve the discrimination accuracy. An object of the present invention is to provide a bill validator that is easy to maintain and that can improve optical resolution.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A bill discriminating apparatus of the present invention is a light diffusing member for arranging a plurality of light emitting elements which respectively generate light in a plurality of wavelength bands in a straight line and diffusing light in a light emitting direction. And a plurality of light-splitting pieces for respectively splitting light from the light-source device through the identified banknote into light in a plurality of predetermined wavelength bands, arranged along the arrangement direction of the plurality of light-emitting elements. The light-splitting members that optically separate the light-splitting pieces from each other are separated by the light-splitting members disposed between the light-splitting members and the light-splitting members. The above-described object can be achieved by including a photodetector arranged at a position capable of receiving light and detecting the light dispersed by the spectral member for each of a plurality of wavelength bands.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the bill discriminating apparatus is provided with a prism as the light-splitting piece in the first aspect of the present invention, whereby the above object can be achieved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the bill validator according to the second aspect, wherein the photodetector includes a CCD (charge coupled device) image pickup device on which light from the spectroscopic member is incident. The above object can be achieved by the above.

[0012]

According to the invention of claim 1, light of a plurality of wavelength bands is generated from a plurality of light emitting elements of the light source device,
These lights are diffused by the light diffusion member. Therefore,
Light including the light in the plurality of wavelength bands is emitted from the light source device. The light from the light source device is incident on the spectral member via the bill to be identified. The light that has entered the light-splitting member is split into light in a plurality of predetermined wavelength bands by a plurality of light-splitting pieces that form the light-splitting member. Each of the spectroscopic pieces is arranged along the arrangement direction of the plurality of light emitting elements, and a separating piece that optically separates the respective spectroscopic pieces from each other is arranged between the respective spectroscopic pieces. The light from the spectral member is received by the photodetector. The photodetector detects light in a predetermined wavelength band from the spectral member for each of the plurality of wavelength bands.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the light-splitting pieces of the light-splitting member are optically separated from each other by the separating pieces, the photodetection device on which the light from the light-splitting member is incident has a predetermined scanning position on the banknote. Light from other locations is prevented from entering, and the optical resolution is improved.

Further, in the present invention, when the light source device is used in the bill discriminating device so that the arrangement direction of the plurality of light emitting elements becomes the width direction of the bill to be discriminated, the bill is predetermined along the width direction. The scanning can be performed in the width region, and the identification accuracy can be significantly improved.

Further, in the present invention, it is not necessary to use lamps having a short life, and it is not necessary to regularly monitor or replace the light source device. This facilitates maintenance of the bill validator.

Further, since the present invention uses a configuration in which a plurality of light emitting elements for respectively generating lights of a plurality of wavelength bands are linearly arranged, the configuration of the light source device is downsized, and the configuration of the bill discriminating device is realized. Can be miniaturized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a prism is provided as the spectroscopic piece.
This also makes it possible to achieve the same effect as that of claim 1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the photodetector includes a CCD (charge-coupled device) image pickup device on which light from the spectral member enters. It is possible to realize the same operation as that of 1.

[0019]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a paper money bill discriminating apparatus 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prism 30 which is a spectral member provided in the paper currency discriminating apparatus 21.
[Fig. 4] is a perspective view of a prism of a comparative example to be compared with the present embodiment, and Fig. 4 is a graph for explaining the operation of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the configuration of the bill validator 21 (hereinafter, bill burr) of the present embodiment will be described. The bill discriminating action of the bill bar 21 of the present embodiment is performed by using the transmitted light from the light source, but the present invention is not limited to this. In the bill burr 21, a pair of pull-in rollers 24, 25 for pulling in the bill 23 is provided behind the bill insertion slot 22. Power is transmitted from the motor 26 to the pull-in roller 24,
25 is linked by a gear or the like. Pull-in rollers 24, 2
A light source device 27 having a configuration to be described later and a condenser lens 28 that condenses light from the light source device 27 are arranged on one side of the passage of the banknote 23 on the back side of the banknote 5. The condenser lens 28 is, for example, a cylindrical lens or the like, and the bill 2
A material having a longitudinal length in the width direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1) perpendicular to the conveyance direction of 3 is selected.

On the opposite side of the passage of the bill 23, in order to make the transmitted light obtained by the light from the condenser lens 28 passing through the bill 23 linear, the bill 23 extends linearly in the width direction. The slit member 29 in which the slit 42 is formed is arranged, and the light from the slit member 29 is dispersed through the prism 30 which is a spectral member. A two-dimensional CCD image pickup device 31 is arranged at a position where the dispersed light is detected. A light detection device is configured to include the prism 30 and the CCD image pickup device 31. The signal from the CCD image pickup device 31 is read by the pattern discriminating device 41 to discriminate a pattern of a predetermined color, and to discriminate the authenticity of the banknote 23 and the type of the banknote 23. A pair of conveyance rollers 32 and 33 are arranged downstream of the arrangement position of the light source device 27 and the like to convey the bill. Power is transmitted from the motor 34 to the transport roller 32, and the transport rollers 32 and 33 are interlocked with each other by a gear or the like.

An example of the structure of the light source device 27 will be described below. The light source device 27 includes a plurality of LED chips 36, 3
7 and 38, and a plurality of LED chips 36 and 3
7, 38 are linearly arranged on the wiring board 35, and generate light in the wavelength bands (hereinafter, wavelength bands λ1, λ2, λ3) having three types of center wavelengths λ1, λ2, λ3, for example. Each of the LED chips 36 to 38 is connected to a wiring pattern on the substrate 35, and the light emission state is controlled via the wiring pattern by a microcomputer such as an automatic vending machine as an example including the bill burr 21. The wavelengths λ1, λ2, and λ3 of the light are determined in correspondence with the predetermined color of the printing ink used for the banknote 23.
In the light source device 21, the diffusion film 40 is arranged so as to cover all the LED chips 36 to 38.

Each of the plurality of LED chips 36 to 38 has
As an example, the LED chips 36, 37, 38, 36, 37,
38, ... are arranged in this order, but the present invention is of course not limited to such an arrangement method. As the diffusion film 40, various ones such as a milky white synthetic resin film or a transparent synthetic resin film having a roughened surface can be used. In this embodiment, by using such a diffusion film 40, the CCD
It is possible to prevent unevenness in the intensity of light from the LED chips 36 to 38 of the light source device 27 with respect to the imaging device 31. Further, the LED chips 36 to 38 having the intensity distributions shown by the solid curves L1, L2, and L3 in FIG.
The light in the wavelength bands λ1, λ2, and λ3 from is mixed sufficiently, and the shortest wavelength λ1-α and the longest wavelength λ3 shown by the broken line in FIG.
The bill 23 is irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength band between + β.

An example of the structure of the prism 30 of this embodiment will be described below. As shown in FIG. 3, the prism 30 has a structure in which a plurality of prism pieces 43 made of glass are laminated in the plate thickness direction as an example of a triangular plate having a small plate thickness. A separation layer 44 for optically separating the prism pieces 43 from each other is formed on the surface of at least one side thereof, for example, a vapor deposition layer of aluminum. The transmitted light from the predetermined identification portion of the banknote 23 to be identified is incident on each prism piece 43.
4, the prism pieces 43 are configured so that light from the portion of the bill 23 other than the identification portion does not enter the prism pieces 43.

Further, the light source device 27 of the present embodiment is in the form of a long plate as described above, and is arranged on the bill burr 21 so that the width direction of the banknote 23 becomes the long direction. Also,
The condenser lens 28 and the slit 42 of the slit member 29 are also elongated in the width direction. Therefore, the light from the slit 42 becomes linear, and this light is also dispersed by the prism pieces 43 of the prism 30 which is also long in the width direction, and diffused in the left-right direction of FIG. 1 according to the wavelength band. Therefore, the light from each prism piece 43 of the prism 30 illuminates a predetermined linear region of the CCD image pickup device 31.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. Banknote 23 inserted from bill slot 21 into bill burr 21
Is drawn by the draw-in rollers 24 and 25, is generated by the light source device 27, and is condensed by the condenser lens 28 to irradiate the bill 23. The light transmitted through the banknote 23 is linearly converted by the slit 29, and the light from a plurality of predetermined point-shaped identification portions of the banknote 23 is dispersed by each of the spectroscopic pieces 43 of the prism 30. The spectrally separated light has wavelength bands λ
It has different intensity distributions for 1, λ2, and λ3.
A predetermined linear region of the D imaging device 31 is irradiated. The distribution of the light intensity of the light dispersed into each prism piece 43 is detected by the CCD image pickup device 31. Based on the signal from the CCD image pickup device 31 corresponding to the light intensity distribution, the pattern discriminating device 41 discriminates a pattern of a predetermined color,
The authenticity of the banknote 23 and the type of the banknote 23 are determined. The banknote 3 determined to be a counterfeit is discharged to the outside by the motors 26 and 34 rotating in reverse. The banknote 23 determined to be genuine is further conveyed inside by the rotation of the motors 26 and 34.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the prism 30 is composed of a plurality of triangular plate-like prism pieces 4 having a minute plate thickness.
3 were laminated in the plate thickness direction, and a separation layer 44 for optically separating each prism piece 43 from each other was formed on the surface of at least one side of each prism piece 43. The prism of the comparative example shown in FIG. 3 has a well-known triangular prism shape. When this prism is used as the light-splitting member, as described in the prior art, the light receiving element on which the light from the prism is incident is placed on the bill. Light enters from a position other than the predetermined scanning position, and the optical resolution decreases. In the present embodiment, since the separation layer 44 does not allow light to enter each prism piece 43 from a portion other than the identification portion of the banknote 23 corresponding to each prism piece 43, the optical resolution for identifying the banknote 23 is improved. can do.

In the bill burr 21 of this embodiment,
A linear portion having a predetermined length along the width direction of the banknote 23 is scanned, and the intensity distribution for each of the wavelength bands λ1, λ2, and λ3 of the color of each point of the linear portion is scanned by the CCD image pickup device 31.
Is detected by Since the pattern discriminating device 41 discriminates the pattern from the image signal from the planar area of the CCD image pickup device 31 as described above, the pattern discriminating device 41 is arranged on the same line along the conveyance direction of the banknote 23 as in the prior art. Different from the scanning configuration, the identification accuracy can be significantly improved. Moreover, since this discrimination operation can be performed by color discrimination, the discrimination accuracy can be improved also in this respect. Moreover, it is not necessary to use a lamp such as a white lamp as a light source for performing color identification, unlike the prior art. Therefore, it is not necessary to regularly monitor or replace the lamp as in the case of the lamps having a short life, the bill burr 21 can have a long life, and the maintenance of the bill burr 21 can be significantly facilitated. .

In the light source device 27 of this embodiment,
The light sources are a plurality of LED chips 36 to 38 integrated on the substrate 35, and it is not necessary to arrange a plurality of light sources at a distance as in the prior art, and the structure of the bill burr 21 can be miniaturized. You can

The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, but includes a wide variety of modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. As an example, the light source device 27 is not limited to the wavelength bands λ1, λ2, and λ3, and the number of LED chips may be increased so as to generate light of other wavelength bands. In this case, this can be dealt with by changing the pattern discrimination program by the pattern discrimination device 41.
Further, the condenser lens 28 may be another lens having a condenser function such as a flat lens. In addition, the spectral member,
The prism 30 is not limited to the prism 30, and a spectral grating or the like may be used as an example. Further, the light from the light source device 27 may be condensed in a point shape by the condenser lens 28. At this time, the slit member 29 having a through hole is used. When the light from the through hole is split into a linear light by a light splitting member such as the prism 30, a one-dimensional line CCD image pickup device may be used as the CCD image pickup device. In this case, as compared with the two-dimensional CCD image pickup device 31, the configuration is simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0030]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
Light including light in a plurality of wavelength bands is emitted from the light source device, and the light is made to enter the spectral member via the banknote to be identified. In addition, the light incident on the light-splitting member is split into light in a plurality of predetermined wavelength bands by the plurality of light-splitting members that form the light-splitting member, and the light-splitting members are optically optically separated from each other. The separating pieces to be separated were arranged respectively. Thereby, in the present invention, since the respective spectroscopic pieces of the spectroscopic member are optically separated from each other by the separating piece, the photodetector on which the light from the spectroscopic member is incident does not have a predetermined scanning position on the banknote. Light from a location is prevented from entering, and the optical resolution is improved.

In the present invention, when the light source device is used in the bill discriminating device so that the arrangement direction of the plurality of light emitting elements is the width direction of the bill to be discriminated, the bill is predetermined along the width direction. The scanning can be performed in the width region, and the identification accuracy can be significantly improved.

Further, in the present invention, it is not necessary to use lamps having a short life, and it is not necessary to regularly monitor or replace the light source device. This facilitates maintenance of the bill validator.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of light emitting elements for respectively generating lights of a plurality of wavelength bands are linearly arranged, the structure of the light source device is miniaturized and the structure of the bill discriminating device is realized. Can be miniaturized.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a prism is provided as the spectroscopic piece.
This also makes it possible to achieve the same effect as that of claim 1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the photodetector includes a CCD (charge coupled device) image pickup device on which light from the spectral member enters. It is possible to realize the same operation as that of 1.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a bill burr 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prism 30 included in the bill burr 21.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a prism of a comparative example.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of a conventional bill Bali 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Bill Bill 23 Banknote 27 Light Source Device 28 Condensing Lens 29 Slit Member 30 Prism 31 CCD Imaging Device 36, 37, 38 LED Chip 40 Diffusion Film 41 Pattern Discriminating Device 42 Slit 43 Prism Piece 44 Separation Layer λ1, λ2, λ3 Wavelength Band

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A light source device in which a plurality of light emitting elements each generating light of a plurality of wavelength bands are linearly arranged, and a light diffusing member for diffusing the light in the light emitting direction is arranged, and a bill to be identified. A plurality of spectroscopic strips for respectively splitting the light from the light source device into light in a plurality of predetermined wavelength bands,
Separation pieces, which are arranged along the arrangement direction of the plurality of light-emitting elements, and which are arranged between the respective separation pieces to optically separate the respective separation pieces from each other, are distinguished from the light source device. And a photodetector arranged at a position capable of receiving the light dispersed by the spectral member via the banknote, and detecting the light dispersed by the spectral member for each of a plurality of wavelength bands. 2. The bill validator according to claim 1, wherein a prism is used as the spectral strip. 3. The bill validator according to claim 2, wherein the photodetector includes a CCD (charge-coupled device) imager on which light from the spectroscopic member is incident.