JPH10105765A - Image reader for circular object - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the retrieval time and also to eliminate such a case where the noises in an invalid range are detected as edges by preparing a control part which retrieves the boundary of an image valid area to detect an error between the boundary and a reference boundary position and decides the adjustment value based on the detected error, a storage means which stores the adjustment value decided at the control part, etc. SOLUTION: The control part 50 controls the operation of an image reader based of the control modes such as an operation mode, a maintenance mode, etc. When the serve mode of the maintenance mode is set at the reading image position adjustment mode by a mode setting means 60, the part 50 reads the image data VCD out of an image storage part 40, retrieves the boundary of an image valid area to detect an error between the retrieved boundary and a reference boundary position, and decides the adjustment value VR2 based on the detected error. Then the value VR2 is written in an adjustment value storage part 70 and also sent to an image position adjustment means 30 which sets the value VR2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for irradiating a circular object such as a coin with illumination light and receiving the reflected light to read an image. It is possible.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image reading apparatus or the like, a sensor for reading an image by reflected light of a coin is not adjusted, so that there is a variation in mounting of the sensor for each apparatus.
As shown in (B) and (B), the range of the image effective area portion 20b (hatched portion) in the image reading area 20a (within the broken line frame) differs for each device. For example, in the example of FIG. 7A, 32CH of the read image is a channel (hereinafter, referred to as a “single-side boundary channel”) HLE located at the boundary between the conveyance path 2 and the width regulating guide 2A on the coin-single side. In FIG. 7B, 20CH is the one-sided boundary channel HLE.
It has become. Therefore, when the position of the coin 6 is detected from the read image, the read image area 20
The edge search is performed on the entire range of a, that is, from 0CH to 255CH, and the coin edge on the one side is found by searching 32 times in FIG. 7A and 20 times in FIG. 7B. Then, the other coin edge is searched in reverse from 255CH, and the middle point of the two edges is set as the coin center position in the transport path width direction.

[0003]

By the way, in the coin image reading apparatus described above, the edge detection range of the acquired image is wide, and a search is made to a range which is originally invalid, such as the width regulation guide 2A in FIG. Therefore, there is a problem that a search processing time is required. In addition, since the search is performed up to the range which is originally invalid, there is a problem that noise outside the transport path through which coins do not pass is detected as an edge.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method in which a channel of an image effective area of an acquired image does not vary depending on the apparatus, and an image effective area is searched for at the edge search of a circular object. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image reading apparatus for a circular object in which only edge search is performed to reduce search time and noise in an invalid range is not detected as an edge.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a circular object which illuminates a surface of a circular object conveyed in a conveying path, reads an image by reflected light from the circular object, and stores image data. The object of the present invention relates to an illumination unit that irradiates the circular object with illumination light, an image reading unit that reads an image of the circular object illuminated by the illumination unit, An image position adjusting unit that adjusts a start position of the image information read by the image reading unit based on the adjustment value; an image storage unit that stores image data from the image position adjusting unit; and a control mode of the apparatus. Mode setting means for setting an adjustment mode for determining an adjustment value, and when the mode setting means is in an adjustment mode,
A control unit that reads out image data from the image storage unit, searches for a boundary of an image effective area, detects an error from a reference boundary position, and determines the adjustment value based on the detected error; And adjusting value storage means for storing the adjusted value.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention. A coin conveyed along a predetermined conveying path is illuminated by illumination means 10 onto a surface thereof. The image by the reflected light from the coin surface is read by the image reading means 20, and the image information VIN is input to the image position adjusting means 30. The image position adjusting unit 30 is a unit for correcting a deviation (error) of the read image area from the reference position due to a variation in mounting of the image reading sensor, and takes in the image information VIN read by the image reading unit 20. The start position is adjusted based on the adjustment value VR2, and the image data after the image position adjustment, that is, the image data VCD in which the above-described displacement has been corrected, is output and stored in the image storage unit 40. The value of the adjustment value VR2 is determined by the control unit 50 when the control mode set by the mode setting unit 60 is the read image position adjustment mode, and is stored in the adjustment value storage unit 70 and the image position adjustment unit 3
The reference adjustment value VR1 is set if there is no adjustment value VR2 in the adjustment value storage unit 70.

[0007] The control unit 50 controls the operation of the apparatus in accordance with each control mode such as an operation mode and a maintenance mode. When the sub mode of the maintenance mode is set to the read image position adjustment mode by the mode setting means 60, the control unit 50 reads the image data VCD from the image storage unit 40, searches for the boundary of the image effective area, and An error from the boundary position is detected, and the adjustment value VR2 is determined based on the detected error. In this example, a reflection plate is set on the conveyance path as a boundary detection member, the image data is read out, a boundary between the reflection plate and the width regulation guide is searched, and a channel located at the searched boundary and a channel located at the boundary are searched. The above error is detected from the difference from the power reference channel. Then, the determined adjustment value VR2 is written in the adjustment value storage unit 70, and is sent to the image position adjustment unit 30 to send the adjustment value VR2.
Set.

On the other hand, when the control mode is the operation mode, the image information VIN of the transported coin is stored in the image position adjusting means 30.
, And reads the image data VCD after the image position adjustment from the image storage unit 40. Then, the edge of the coin is searched for the range of the image effective area as a target of image processing, coin pattern data is extracted from the image data VCD, and the reference pattern RPD for each denomination prepared in the denomination determination reference storage unit 80 in advance. To determine the degree of similarity and determine the denomination. Note that the image position adjusting means 30 is formed of an electronic circuit, and will be described below as the image position adjusting circuit 30.

Next, an example of the configuration of the image reading apparatus will be described.
The control for adjusting the read image position and the control for the counting process will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image reading apparatus cut in a conveying path width direction and viewed from the conveying direction. In the image reading apparatus shown in FIG.
Is conveyed by the conveyance belt 3 while sliding on the conveyance path 2 in a state sandwiched between the conveyance path 2 (a transparent member such as a glass plate) and along one width regulating guide (one-sided side) 2A of the conveyance path 2. It is controlled by a shifting mechanism (not shown) so as to pass through the image reading device 1. The illuminating means 10 includes a plurality of illuminating LEDs for illuminating the coin surface below the transport path 2 from obliquely below.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a ring-shaped arrangement, and the image reading means 20 comprises a lens 21 for capturing light reflected from the coin surface and an area type CCD 22 for reading a coin image. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the position of the timing sensor 5 for detecting the image reading timing is such that if the image is read when the target coin 6 having the maximum diameter is shielded, the entire coin is in the image reading area. 20a.

An example of control when adjusting the read image position in the above configuration will be described. First, the image reading apparatus 1 is set to the maintenance mode, and the power is turned on. After the power is turned on, if the adjustment value VR2 for setting the image position adjustment circuit 30 does not exist in the adjustment value storage unit 70, the adjustment value VR1 is set, and the adjustment value V1 is set.
If there is R2, it is set with the adjustment value VR2, and the illumination LED 11
Lights up. Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the reflection plate 4 having the full width of the conveyance path is set on the conveyance path 2 of the image reading apparatus 1, and a mode setting switch (not shown) is operated to change the control mode of the apparatus to the read image position adjustment mode. Set to.

The adjustment value determination processing will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The control unit 50 controls the lighting LED 1
The image of the reflector 4 illuminated by 1 is area type C
Reading is performed by the CD 22 (step S1), the read image position is adjusted via the image position adjusting circuit 30 in which the adjustment value is set when the power is turned on (step S2), and the read image data VCD is stored in the image storage unit 40 (step S2). Step S3).
Next, the read image data VCD is read from the image storage unit 40, and the boundary between the reflection plate 4 and the width regulation guide 2A, that is, the boundary channel HLE of the image effective area 20b is detected. What is detected is the boundary of the image effective area on the side where coins are offset in this example (step S4). Next, the detected boundary channel HLE is set to the reference “k”.
The adjustment value VR2 is determined so as to be CH (in this example, the reference boundary channel k = 28) (step S5), the determined adjustment value VR2 is stored in the adjustment value storage unit 70 (step S6), and the determined adjustment is performed. Image position adjustment circuit 3 with value VR2
0 is reset (step S7), and the process in the read image position adjustment mode ends.

For example, the boundary channel HLE is set to 28CH
When the reference adjustment value VR1 is set to 128, the boundary channel HLE detected in step S4 becomes 3
In the case of 2CH, the adjustment value VR is calculated by the following equation 1.
2 is set to 124 (128+ (28−32)), and the image position adjustment circuit 30 is set.

[0013]

VR2 = VR1 + (HLEr-HLEd) where HLEr is a reference boundary channel number in the image reading area, and HLEd is a detected boundary channel number.

The image position adjusting circuit 30 sets the fetch timing of the image input by the video using the adjustment value VR2, and adjusts the boundary channel HLE to the reference 28CH. That is, as shown in the timing chart of FIG.
A video input signal VIN and a horizontal synchronizing signal HD from the area type CCD 22 are input, and an image information capture signal PT is used to adjust a capture start position of image information with an adjustment value VR2 and capture the image information. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, the image reading area 20a in which the boundary channel HLE and the reference 28CH always match.
Will be captured. In step S4, only the boundary channel HLE of the image effective area on the side where coins are offset is detected because the width of the coin transport path is a predetermined width, and the other boundary channel HRE is detected.
The channel can be determined without detecting.

Next, a control example of the image reading apparatus at the time of counting processing will be described. First, the image reading apparatus 1 is set to the operation mode and the power is turned on. After the power is turned on, the image position adjustment circuit 30 is set with the adjustment value, and the illumination LED 11 is turned on. Next, the count start button is operated to enter the count processing mode. Hereinafter, FIG.
Will be described with reference to the flowchart of the counting process. When the start of counting is instructed, it is monitored whether or not the timing sensor 5 is shielded from light by the conveyed coins 6 (step S1).
1) When the light is shielded, the image reading timing is determined, and the image of the coin 6 illuminated by the illumination LED 11 is read by the area type CCD 22 (step S12), and the image position adjustment circuit 30 set at power-on is read. The read image position is adjusted (step S13) through the image storage unit 40.
To store the read image data VCD (step S1).
4).

Subsequently, the image data V
The CD is read, and the edge of the coin is searched to recognize the coin position (step S15). At this time, the image data read from the image storage unit 40 is, as shown in FIG.
In the image position adjusting circuit 30, the one-side boundary channel HLE
Is adjusted to 28CH, the image effective area 20b from 28CH to 227CH of the other boundary channel HRE may be searched, and a fixed range may be searched in any device. For example, in the shifting mechanism, the coin 6 is shifted to one of the width regulating guides 2A and conveyed. If the edge of the coin is located at 3OCH slightly away from the width regulating guide 2A, the coin edge is searched from 28CH.
Since the number of searches is small and the number of searches is small, the search time is shortened. Further, since only the image effective range is searched, coin dust or the like on the width regulation guide 2A does not become an edge. The other coin edge is the boundary channel HRE 227.
Search from CH.

Next, the center of the two coin edges searched in step S15 is set as the coin center position in the conveying path width direction, and the center of the coin in the conveying direction is also determined (step S1).
6). Then, the coin pattern data is extracted from the image data VCD based on the center position of the coin, and is compared with a reference pattern RPD for each denomination prepared in advance in the denomination determination reference storage unit 80 to determine the similarity. The denomination is determined (step S17). When the processing for one coin is completed,
It is determined whether or not the counting is completed (step S18). When the counting is being performed, the process returns to step S11, and when the counting is completed, the counting process is completed.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the reflection plate 4 having the full width of the conveyance path is placed and the image position on the one-sided side of the conveyance path 2 is adjusted, but the adjustment is performed on the image position on the side other than the one-sided side. You may do it. In addition, if the reflection plate 4 is arranged along the one-sided side of the transport path 2, the reflection plate 4 does not need to have the full width of the transport path. In addition, the length of the reflection plate 4 in the transport direction may be determined as appropriate, such as the width of the transport path. Further, in the embodiments, coins are described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to circular objects such as game coins.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the position of the acquired image is adjusted, there is no variation in the acquired image position for each device, and the edge search start position of the acquired image can be set independently of the device. It can be fixed and the number of searches is reduced, so that the search time is shortened. Further, since the edge search is performed only in the range of the conveying path width, the position of the circular object can be accurately recognized without being affected by noise such as coin powder accumulated outside the conveying path.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image reading apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the image reading apparatus cut in a conveying path width direction and viewed from the conveying direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image read by an image reading device after a reading position is adjusted.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of adjusting the image position of the image reading apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the image reading apparatus during a counting process.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart illustrating an operation example of the image position adjustment circuit.

FIG. 7 shows an example of an image read by a conventional image reading apparatus, or
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image before adjustment of a reading position according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading apparatus 2 Conveying path 2A Width regulation guide 3 Conveying belt 4 Reflector 5 Timing sensor 6 Coin 10 Illuminating means 11 Illuminating LED 20 Image reading means 20a Image reading area 21 Lens 22 Area type CCD 30 Image position adjusting means 40 Image Storage unit 50 Control unit 60 Mode setting means 70 Adjustment value storage unit 80 Denomination judgment reference storage unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] An image reading apparatus for a circular object configured to irradiate illumination light onto a surface of a circular object conveyed on a conveying path, read an image by reflected light from the circular object, and store image data. An illumination unit that irradiates the circular object with illumination light; an image reading unit that reads an image of the circular object illuminated by the illumination unit; and a capturing start position of image information read by the image reading unit, based on the adjustment value. Image position adjusting means for adjusting the image data, image storing means for storing image data from the image position adjusting means, mode setting means for setting a control mode of the apparatus to an adjustment mode for determining the adjustment value, and mode setting When the unit is in the adjustment mode, the image data is read from the image storage unit, an error from a reference boundary position is detected by searching for a boundary of an image effective area,
An image reading apparatus for a circular object, comprising: a control unit that determines the adjustment value based on the detected error; and an adjustment value storage unit that stores the adjustment value determined by the control unit.