JPH10177665A - Coin processor with picture identifying function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the workload of a staff at the time of the generation of the reject of a coin, and to stabilize the excluding performance of a similar foreign coin or the like in a coin processor. SOLUTION: This coin processor is provided with a display means 50 for displaying the possibility of the selection of a reject payment mode, mode selecting means 60 for selecting the reject payment mode, and controlling means 100 for identifying a coin by changing an identification level so that a coin authenticity identification ratio can be higher than that of an identification level at the time of a payment processing when the reject payment mode is obtained by operating the mode selecting means 60, and accepts the coin identified to be authentic to this device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin processing machine equipped with an identification device for identifying an object to be recognized based on an image.
In particular, the present invention relates to a coin processing machine having a function of re-identifying reject coins generated at the time of deposit processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a coin processing machine having a deposit function used in a financial institution or the like, at the time of depositing, a deposit amount of a customer is input and registered in advance from an operation section, and a coin entry slot of the coin processing machine is registered. The customer's coins are inserted into the coin, the inserted coins are separated and transported one by one, and while transported, the material and image of the coins are read by the identification unit to identify the authenticity, denomination, etc. The determined coins are received in the cabin and temporarily held, and the coins determined to be false are rejected to a reject port outside the machine, and the total amount of the received coins is counted. At this time, if there is no rejected coin, the total amount of the deposit declaration and the total amount of the deposit registered in advance in the proof check match, and the final settlement of the customer's deposit amount is completed and temporarily held. The deposit processing is completed by storing coins.

[0003]

By the way, a coin rejected by discriminating it to be false at the time of counting the number of deposits due to dirt or the like adhering to the surface of the coin is usually rejected no matter how many times the number of deposits is counted and identified. In this case, it is determined that the total sum of the counts is smaller than the deposit declaration amount registered in advance, and therefore, the values do not match. In this case, in the conventional coin processing machine as described above, a clerk must count the total amount of rejected coins, input the value, process the rejected coins, and store the rejected coins by the clerk. However, there was a problem that the staff was burdened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the work load on staff when coins are rejected, and to reduce the burden on similar foreign coins and the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing machine with an image identification function that can stabilize the exclusion performance.

[0005]

According to the present invention, at the time of deposit processing,
The present invention relates to a coin processing machine that performs identification by an image while transporting a coin inserted into an insertion slot, accepts a coin identified as true into the machine, and rejects a coin identified as false to the outside of the machine, of the present invention. The object of the present invention is to provide a display unit for displaying selectability of a reject deposit mode, a mode selecting unit for selecting the reject deposit mode, and operating the mode selecting unit to set the reject deposit mode to the reject deposit mode. This is achieved by providing control means for counting coins by changing the discrimination level so that the rate of discriminating coins as true is higher than the discrimination level at the time, and for receiving coins discriminated as true into the machine.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention operates in a mode of high rejection of similar foreign coins during normal operation, and when coin rejection occurs, the passing rate of dirty coins and worn coins is high. The mode can be selected and operated. That is, the normal deposit mode and the reject deposit mode are provided in the coin processing machine, and in the normal deposit mode, the identification process is performed at a high rejection identification level of similar foreign coins, and when the reject deposit mode is selected, By changing the discrimination level to a looser discrimination level than the standard level and performing discrimination processing, it is possible to increase the pass rate of rejected normal coins such as dirty coins and worn coins, and to stabilize the rejection performance of similar foreign coins. Like that. Also, a plurality of levels are prepared as the above-mentioned identification levels, and reference levels used in each mode are set in advance for each type of coin. Then, the reference level can be changed to another level if necessary.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a coin depositing machine to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 shows an example of the external configuration. In FIG. 2, a coin slot 2 is provided at the upper center of the housing, and a start button 3a for instructing the start of a depositing process, a power switch, and the like are arranged on an operation panel section 3 in front of the slot. I have. The coins inserted from the insertion slot 2 are stored in the storage section below the insertion slot, and the deposit processing is started by a start instruction by the start button 3a. The coins stored in the storage unit are fed out in a single line to the coin passage in the housing by the feeding means 10 composed of a horizontal rotating disk or a conveyor, and are sent to the identification unit 80 by the transporting means 20 composed of a transport belt and a transport motor. Conveyed. A detachable coin accommodating portion 41 for holding / storing the identified coin is provided at a lower portion of the housing.
The coins determined to be true are classified by denomination, and are temporarily stored by the temporary holding means 30 in a safe-type storage box 41a.
Coins that are temporarily held at the top of
The “reject coin” is stored in the reject box 41b, and when the deposit processing is canceled, all the coins temporarily held are transported to the return box 41c and stored.

The coins identified by the identifying unit 80 are counted by the control unit 100, and the counting results (counting results for each denomination, total amount, presence / absence of rejected coins, etc.) are stored in an image mounted on the upper rear of the housing. It is displayed on the display panel 51 of the processing device. The clerk checks on the screen of the display panel 51 whether or not the deposit declaration amount input from the operation unit 70 and registered in the storage unit 90 in advance matches the total count amount. Then, the end of the depositing process is instructed by the confirmation button provided on the operation panel section 3, and the coins temporarily stored are stored in the safe-type storage box 41a by the storing means 40, thereby completing the depositing process. On the other hand, when they do not match, that is, when there is a rejected coin or when a coin larger than the amount of the declared deposit is inserted, the display means 50 displays that fact on the display panel 51. If there are no rejected coins and more coins have been inserted than the declared amount, the attendant takes out the coins held in the return box 41c and returns them to the customer, or re-enters the declared amount from the operation unit 70. Then, the payment is completed by making the count equal to the total count.

On the other hand, if there are rejected coins, the mode selection means 60 changes the current deposit mode from the "normal deposit mode" to the "reject deposit mode" described later. When the reject deposit mode is selected, the recognizing unit 80 identifies the reject coin again at a discrimination level lower than the discrimination level in the normal deposit mode. In other words, the control unit 100 instructs the discriminating unit 80 to change the discrimination level so as to increase the rate of discriminating the coin as true, and discriminates the coin according to the discrimination level. Coins that are rejected at normal discrimination levels, such as coins with dirt on the coin surface or worn coins, are “true”
Is determined, and payment processing is performed as a normal coin. In the configuration example of FIG. 2, the entire control related to the deposit processing is configured to be performed by the control unit of the image processing apparatus mounted on the upper rear of the housing, and the program and control data according to the present invention are Are stored in a storage medium of the image processing apparatus.

Here, the discrimination level of coins in each deposit mode will be described. The normal deposit mode is a mode for identifying coins at a standard level, and is set in a normal operation. The reject deposit mode is
In this mode, coins are discriminated by relaxing the discrimination level of the coins from the standard level, and rejected coins determined to be “false” during the payment processing are processed. In this example, when there is a rejected coin, the fact that the reject deposit mode can be selected is displayed on the display panel 51, and when the reject coin is selected, identification processing in the reject deposit mode is performed only within the transaction, and the reject deposit mode is selected. Upon completion, the mode is shifted to the normal deposit mode.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a judgment table used for judging the authenticity. The determination table 91 is prepared for each denomination, and a threshold value for checking the matching degree with a template (reference image) described later is registered for each identification level. The identification level is n from level 0 to level n.
Level 0 is the loosest discrimination level, and level n is the highest rejection discrimination level for similar foreign coins. In the case of the normal deposit mode, the discrimination is performed using the threshold value (S1k, S2k,...) Of the standard discrimination level k. Is to be identified. Although a reference value is set in advance for each denomination as to which level to use in each deposit mode, the level can be changed to a desired level according to the operation. For example, the discrimination level in the normal deposit mode can be set to the discrimination level n for checking the degree of coincidence with the reference pattern most strictly, and the discrimination level in the reject deposit mode can be set to the loosest discrimination level 0. . Note that coins that are not accepted in the reject deposit mode are coins that cannot be accepted as products.For example, as in the past, the attendant counts the total amount of rejected coins, inputs the value, fills in the value, and rejects it. The coins are stored by a clerk, or all coins that have been inserted and temporarily held are returned to the customer.

An example of the operation in each of the deposit modes in the above-described configuration will be described in detail. It is assumed that the customer's deposit report amount is input in advance by a clerk and registered in the storage unit 90.

[0013] A coin to be processed is inserted from the insertion slot 2,
When the start of the depositing process is instructed by pressing the start button 3a, the control unit 100 feeds out coins in the coin passage in a single line by the feeding means 10 and conveys the coins to the identification unit 80 by the conveying means 20. The identification unit 80 reads the image image of the conveyed coin by an image sensor, cuts out a characteristic range from the coin center of the coin image in an annular shape, compares it with a pre-registered reference image (template), and compares the difference. The matching value of the pattern is determined by comparing the feature value with a threshold value of the standard identification level k. The template has at least two patterns including the front and back patterns of the coin, and the identification unit 80 compares the coin image to be identified with one of the patterns of the front and back of the coin. If the feature value is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, it is determined that the coin is genuine. At this time, a threshold (S1k, S2k,...) Of the standard identification level k is used.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, image data 1 of a coin to be identified and a template T
Assuming that the differences from P1 and TP2 (for example, the sum of the differences between the pixel values of the characteristic portions) are PD1 and PD2, and the thresholds in the “normal deposit mode” for the templates TP1 and TP2 are S1k and S2k, PD1 ≦ S1k, PD2 ≦ S
If any one of the conditions of 2k is satisfied, it is determined as “true”, and P
If D1> S1k and PD2> S2k, that is, if both feature values exceed the threshold value, it is determined to be “false”.
In order to speed up the processing when comparing the image of the coin cut out in an annular shape with the template, first, material information from the material sensor of the identification unit 80 and the coin image read from the image sensor are used. The denomination is provisionally determined based on the outer diameter of the hole and the presence or absence of holes, and one of the coin image cutout data and the provisionally determined denomination reference cutout data is sequentially collated while rotating by a predetermined angle, and collation is performed. The reference cutout data having the closest degree is obtained and compared with the template.

FIG. 6 shows a display example during the counting process.
During the above determination process, the value being counted (count value, total value, etc. for each denomination) is displayed on the screen of the display panel 51 as shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, a display 51a of "yen" displayed on the right side of the screen indicates a display mode by money display, and by operating a display mode selection key provided on the right side of the display mode, the display of money is displayed. The display can be switched between the number display and the number display. In the control unit 100, the identification and counting process of the inserted coins is completed, and when there is a rejected coin, as shown in FIG. 7, while displaying "rejected" on the screen of the display panel 51, A display to remove coins stored in the reject box 41b is displayed. The display 51b of "RJ payment" in FIG. 7 is a display indicating that the change to the reject payment mode is possible, and the operation of the mode selection means 60 provided on the right side thereof causes the current payment mode to be changed. Indicates that the state can be changed from the “normal payment mode” to the “reject payment mode”.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows an example of a basic operation pattern when there is a rejected coin, which will be described below with reference to the flow of FIG.

The attendant checks whether or not there is a rejected coin on the screen of the display panel (step S1). If there is no rejected coin, the clerk instructs the end of the deposit processing and completes the deposit processing. If there is a reject coin, the coin stored in the reject box 41b is taken out, the reject coin is visually checked (step S2), and it is determined whether or not the reject coin is deposited (step S3). If you do not deposit rejected coins, for example, if the rejected coins are not clearly eligible for deposit, such as foreign coins,
The coin held in the temporary holding section is taken out, the rejected coin is processed together with the rejected coin, such as returning the inserted coin to the customer (step S4), and the processing is terminated with the paying-in processing invalidated.

On the other hand, if it is desired to deposit a reject coin in step S3, that is, if the reject coin is considered to be a normal coin such as a dirty coin, the mode selection means 60
To select "Reject deposit mode". When the “reject deposit mode” is selected, the control unit 100 displays that reject coins can be deposited as shown in FIG. 8 and sets the deposit mode to “normal deposit mode”.
To "Reject deposit mode" (step S
5). The attendant inserts the reject coin taken out of the reject box 41b from the slot 2, and starts the start button 3a.
Is pressed to instruct restart of the counting process. When a plurality of reject coins are present, the reject deposit mode selection operation may be repeated to perform the identification process one by one. The identification unit refers to the determination table 91 and performs coin identification processing at the identification level in the reject deposit mode. The details of the identification processing, such as authenticity determination by collation with the template, are the same as those in the above-described normal payment mode, and a description thereof will be omitted. In the counting process in the reject deposit mode, the counting result in the reject deposit mode is added to the result counted in the normal deposit mode, and the count value is displayed on the display panel 51 as shown in FIG. The fact that the counting process is being performed is displayed (step S6).

When the rejected coin is rejected again, the control unit 100 displays on the display panel 51 that there is a rejected coin, and when there is no rejected coin, displays that the counting process has been completed normally and confirms it. It waits for a payment processing end instruction by the button. The attendant is the display panel 5
It is confirmed whether or not there is a reject coin on the screen 1 (step S7). If there is a reject coin, the coin housed in the reject box 41b is taken out and visually checked for the reject coin (step S8). Then, it is determined whether or not a reject coin is to be deposited (step S9). If the reject coin is not to be deposited, the reject coin is processed in the same manner as in step S4 described above, the deposit process is invalidated, and the process is terminated (step S10). If the reject coin is to be deposited, the total amount of the reject coin is set by an attendant. Are counted, the value is input from the operation unit 70, and is processed (step S11). The control unit 100 returns the payment mode to the normal payment mode in response to an instruction to end the payment processing by the confirmation button, and completes the payment processing in the transaction.

In the above-described embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a coin depositing machine is described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to a general coin processing machine. The pattern of the template used in the identification processing has been described by taking the pattern on the front and the back of the coin as an example. However, a pattern of the material (upper limit, lower limit) and the diameter of the coin (upper limit, lower limit) is prepared. Regarding the coin diameter and the like, the identification level may be changed according to each deposit mode. Also, 1
Perform the second discrimination process in the normal deposit mode, and if there is a rejected coin, the rejected coin held out is fed out to the coin path and transported to the discriminating section in the opposite direction, and the rejected coin re-identification process in the reject deposit mode is automatically performed. You may make it implement | achieve it. Furthermore, if a rejected coin is generated during counting in the normal deposit mode, the display unit indicates that the normal deposit mode can be selected instead of the reject deposit mode, and when the normal deposit mode is selected, the normal deposit mode is counted and selected. If not, it may automatically switch to the reject deposit mode and count.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, coins rejected in the deposit processing due to dirt adhering to the coin surface are accepted in the reject deposit processing after identifying the denomination, It will be possible to store it, making it easy to confirm the customer's deposit amount,
This has the effect of reducing the need for staff to store rejected coins during the deposit processing. In addition, when the present invention is applied to a coin depositing / dispensing machine, and a customer's deposited coins are stored by denomination in a reject depositing process and can be used as a dispensed coin, there is an effect that a fund efficiency is improved. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a coin depositing machine to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of an external configuration of a coin depositing machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a determination table used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining image identification processing according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Feeding means 20 Transport means 30 Temporary holding means 40 Storage means 50 Display means 60 Mode selection means 70 Operation part 80 Identification part 90 Storage part 91 Judgment table 100 Control part

Claims (1)

[Claims] At the time of deposit processing, coins are discriminated by an image while conveying coins inserted into an insertion slot, coins identified as true are accepted in the machine, and coins identified as false are rejected outside the machine. A display means for displaying selectability of a reject deposit mode, a mode selecting means for selecting the reject deposit mode, and operating the mode selecting means to set the reject deposit mode to the reject deposit mode. And a control means for counting coins by changing the discrimination level so that the rate of discriminating the coins as true is higher than the discrimination level, and receiving the coins recognized as true into the machine. Coin processing machine.