JPS6120190A - Detector for circular object such as coin - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is applicable to financial l! A coin that detects dirt on the surface of coins used in coin processing machines such as coin machines, sorting machines, deposit and withdrawal machines, etc. used in supermarkets, department stores, etc., or automatic change refilling automatic vending machines. This invention relates to a device for detecting equicircular objects.

[Conventional technology]

When dispensing banknotes and coins at financial institutions such as banks, supermarkets, and department stores, handing out banknotes and coins that are too dirty will give a bad impression to the customer, so please use clean and clean banknotes and coins as much as possible. I'm trying to pass it on.

To sort out soiled banknotes and coins, a device has been developed that automatically identifies and sorts soiled banknotes, but for coins, it consists of, for example, a light-emitting lamp and a lens for irradiation and light reception. Since it was impossible to install a large device in the coin passageway where the coins are conveyed, the coins were transported manually by staff in advance to visually distinguish between dirty and clean coins. I was sorting it out.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As mentioned above, in the past, dirty coins could not be detected automatically and the coins had to be sorted out by staff, which took time and effort, and there was also a problem in that the judgment of dirt varied depending on the staff. .

The present invention was made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a detection device for circular objects such as coins that can automatically and uniformly detect dirt on coins with a small and simple configuration. It is something to do.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a light-emitting optical fiber 5 that allows the light emitted by the light-emitting means 15 to enter from one end and irradiate the circular object C such as a coin being conveyed from the light-emitting end 5a at the other end, and also irradiates the light from the light-emitting optical fiber 5. Circular objects such as coins C
A light emitting optical fiber 6 is provided which transmits the light reflected from the light receiving end 6a at one end to the light receiving means 18 at the other end,
A detection surface 8 facing the surface of the circular object C such as a coin and integrally comprising the light emission G'55a and J of the light emission optical fiber 5 and the light receiving end 6a of the light receiving optical fiber 6.
This is a device for detecting circular objects such as coins.

[Effect]

The detection surface, which is integrally formed with the light emitting end of the light emitting optical fiber and the light receiving end of the light receiving optical fiber, is placed opposite to the surface of a circular object such as a coin, so as to irradiate light onto the coin or other circular object and receive the reflected light. This is what I did.

〔Example〕

Next, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is, for example, several coins,
In the coin passageway through which coins C of coin processing machines such as sorting and counting machines and deposit/withdrawal machines are conveyed, an optical detection unit 2 is installed on the coin passageway 1.
and material detecting section 3 are provided in the order of the coin C conveying direction. This optical detection unit 2 includes a light-emitting optical fiber 5 that emits light incident from one end from a light-emitting end 5a at the other end, and a light-emitting optical fiber 5 that receives reflected light from the light emitted by the light-emitting optical fiber 5 from a light-receiving end 6a at one end. A plurality of these optical fibers 5, 6 for emitting light and receiving light are bundled into one body, and the end surfaces of the light emitting end 5a and the light receiving end 6a are aligned flush with each other to form a rectangular frame shape. The sensor is housed in a support frame 7, forming a detection surface 8 as shown in FIG. In this detection surface 8, the light-receiving optical fibers 6 are arranged almost entirely within the support frame 7, while the light-emitting optical fibers 5 are arranged in several rows at predetermined intervals (the light-emitting optical fibers 5 are shown by thick lines). , and a transparent plate 9 is closely fixed to this detection surface 8. Further, an insertion hole 10 through which light emitted from the light-emitting optical fiber 5 passes is formed in the coin passage 1 facing the detection surface 8.

Further, the material detecting section 3 has a magnetic sensor 11, which is provided in a substantially U-shape so as to sandwich the front and back surfaces of the coin C conveyed to the coin path 1. A magnetic signal is output from the magnetic identification unit 12, and the central processing unit 31 (described later) determines a dirt detection zone and a dust detection zone.Based on this magnetic signal, it also performs denomination identification and performs random access, which will be described later. The denomination signal is stored in the magnetic denomination memory MDM of the memory 33 and checked against the designated denomination.

A light emitting means 15 is connected to the other end of the light emitting optical fiber 5 to the light emitting end 5a, and this light emitting means 15 is equipped with a small light emitting lamp 16 having an illuminance of about 7000 Lx, for example.
and a light emitting circuit 17 for lighting the light emitting lamp 16.

A light-receiving means 18 is connected to the other end of the light-receiving optical fiber 6 to the light-receiving end 6a, and this light-receiving means 18 detects the amount of reflected light emitted from the light-receiving optical fiber 6 by means of a detection light-receiving sensor 19. The circuit 20 outputs a voltage level signal, and the A/D converter 21 converts the detected analog voltage value into a hexadecimal digital value and outputs a light reception signal.

In addition, an infrared cut filter 22 is interposed between the light emitting lamp 16 and the light emitting optical fiber 5, so that among the light emitted from the light emitting lamp 16, wavelengths of infrared light or more (for example, wavelengths of 700n- or more) are removed. The light is cut off, and only light of a wavelength whose amount of reflected light is likely to change depending on the degree of dirt on the surface of the coin C is allowed to pass through the light receiving sensor 19. Further, a yellow filter 23 is interposed between the light receiving sensor 19 and the light receiving optical fiber 6.
Coin C
Only reflected light that can easily detect dirt is passed through the light receiving sensor 19.

Further, one end of a monitor optical fiber 24 is connected to the light emitting means 15 together with the light emitting optical fiber 5, and a monitor light receiving means 25 is connected to the other end of the monitor optical fiber 24. This monitor light receiving means 25 detects the amount of light from the light emitting lamp 16 in order to determine whether or not the light emitting lamp 16 is emitting light normally.
4 is detected by the monitor light receiving sensor 27 through the yellow filter 26, the voltage level signal output from the monitor light receiving circuit 2B is converted into a digital value by the A/D converter 29, and the monitor light receiving signal is output. do.

Next, 31 is a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPLI),
This CPU 31 is a read-on memory 32 (hereinafter referred to as RO).
It controls the coin processing machine according to the 70 grams stored in the coin C (referred to as M), and also functions as a determination unit that determines how dirty the coin C is. This CPU 31 controls the light emitting circuit 11 to control the lighting of the light emitting lamp 16, and also receives a magnetic signal from the magnetic identification section 12 and each light reception signal from the A/D converter 21, 29, respectively. . The CPU 31 also includes a random access memory 33 (hereinafter referred to as R△M) and a coin processing unit 3.
4, the display section 35 is connected, the RAM 33 has at least various flags, memories, and counters as shown in FIG.
The display unit 35 displays at least an abnormality such as dirt, dust adhesion, insufficient light, etc., and further displays the number of coins 31 and the number of coins by denomination if it has a function to sort by denomination. We will also do Alternatively, the number of normal coins and dirty coins may be displayed separately.

Next, each detection operation of this embodiment will be explained.

In FIG. 5, the magnetic signal input from the magnetic identification section 12 to the CPU 31 is divided into points a, b, c, and aH.
The area between b and d is defined as a dirt detection zone, and the area between cod is defined as a dust detection zone. The levels of a-b-c-d that determine each zone differ for each denomination, and are shown in the zone determination table in Table 1 below.

(See next page) Table 1 When the magnetic signal reaches level a (for example, level 5 in the case of a 10 yen coin) in the dirt detection zone, the level of the light receiving signal from the light receiving means 18 is multiplied by 1 with respect to the level tl of this level a. After detecting the level of x1, the magnetic signal becomes level b (for example, level 12 in the case of a 10 yen coin), such as x2 for tl and x3 for ta.
The levels of the received light signal are detected at several points at predetermined time intervals until the level is reached. The detection level of these light reception signals is determined based on the dirt determination level and CP that are set in advance for each detection.
U 31 is compared to determine how dirty the coin C is.

This stain determination level is shown in the stain determination table in Table 2 below.

(See next page) Table 2 In Table 2 above, the stain determination level is divided into severe level, normal level, and loose level for each denomination, and each level is 21/10,000 sheets, 5/10,000 sheets, 1/
The level is set to the extent that 10,000 sheets can be detected. In addition, in the free mode, all denominations are set to level 0, so that dirt determination of the coin C is not performed.

When the magnetic signal reaches the C level of the dust detection zone (for example, level 16 in the case of a 10 yen coin), the level of the received light signal is detected x4 for ts of this C level, and then x5 for ts, etc. The magnetic signal is at d level (
Levels at several locations are detected at predetermined time intervals until reaching level 7 (in the case of a 10 yen coin). At this time, since the coin C has passed through the optical detection section 2 located upstream of the coin passage 1, the light irradiated by the light emitting optical fiber 5 passes through the insertion hole 10 of the coin passage 1 and is received. Only a very small amount of reflected light reflected by the transparent plate 9 enters the optical fiber 6. Therefore, as shown in Figure 6,
When dust such as metal powder adheres to the surface of the transparent plate 9 as the coin C is transported, the dust increases the number of reflection points and increases the level of the light reception signal. The level of this light reception signal is compared with a predetermined dust adhesion determination level, and the presence of dust is determined.

Further, when the conveyance of the coin C is interrupted for a predetermined time or more, the monitor light receiving means 25 detects the light intensity of the light emitting lamp 16, and the monitor light receiving signal from the monitor light receiving means 25 is matched with a predetermined first pile determination level. It is determined whether the light emitting lamp 16 is abnormal by comparing the values.

Next, control by the CPU 31 will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the denomination of the coin to be processed is input using the denomination button (not shown), the a-b-c-d level values of the dirt detection zone and dust detection zone of the specified denomination are shown in Figure 4. It is stored in the zone memory of the RAM 33, and when a dirt determination level is selected, its number (ill (for example, 1
In the case of normal level of 0 yen coin, the value of 0.50) is RA
The dirt level of M33 is stored in the memory DLM (
Step ■). Then, the coins C are conveyed one by one to the coin passage 1 by the operation of the coin processing section 34 (step ■),
This coin C reaches below the optical detection section 2 and the magnetic sensor 11, and the level ML of the magnetic signal from the magnetic detection section 12 is a≦
When entering the passage of ML≦b (from a level to b level in Table 1 above) (step ■), the level of the light reception signal from the light receiving means 18 and the dirt level memory DL of the RAM 33 are immediately stored.
A comparison is made with the dirt determination level stored in M (step ■), and if the level of the received light signal is low and it is determined to be dirt, the dirt flag DFLG in the RAM 33 is set to ON. For example, after a delay of 1m5ec) (step ■), return to step ■ and ML>
Contamination determination is performed several times until the result is b. Then, in step ■, when the magnetic signal level M[ is out of the range of a≦ML≦b, it is determined whether the dirt flag DFLG of RAM 33 is on (step ■), and if it is on, it is treated as a dirty coin. A dirt display or a dirt alarm is displayed on the display section 35, and the coin processing section 34 is immediately stopped (step (2)).

At this time, the detected soiled coin (A) is stopped on the coin path 1 by a stopper (not shown), checked by the staff member, and removed, after which the process is resumed from step (2).

In addition, if the level of the light reception signal is higher than the dirt determination level and it is judged to be a normal coin in step (2), the normal flag NFLG in the RAM 33 is set to ON, and the dirt flag D
When the FLG is in the ON state, it is reset to OFF. Then, the level of the magnetic signal M L h< d≦ML≦
When it enters the range C (d level to C level in Table 1 above) (step ■), the level of the received light signal is immediately compared with the dust adhesion determination level (step ■), and the level of the received light signal is high; When it is determined that dust is attached to the detection surface 8, +1 is added to the dust counter DCO in the RAM 33 (step o), and t of this dust counter DCO is added.
If the number of l does not exceed 100 times, return to step [share] after extending IF for a predetermined time (for example, 1 sSeC) (
Sfutub ■0). Also, when the number of 4 in the dust counter DCO exceeds 100, the dust flag DAG in RAM33
is set on, a message indicating that cleaning of the detection surface 8 is required is displayed on the display section 35 (step 2), and the coin processing section 34 is immediately stopped (step 2). Also, if no dust is detected in step ①, the dust counter DCO is cleared to O and the dust flag D is cleared.
To reset AG to OFF, step O), after a predetermined time delay, return to step 0, and perform dust adhesion determination until ML<d. Note that the dust counter DCO is not reset every time a coin is processed or every time the power is turned on/off, but it constantly stores the count and is reset when no dust is detected. And the level ML of the magnetic signal
When ML<d, it means that the dirt determination of one coin C has been completed, and the normal flag NFLG is reset to OFF, and the process returns to step (2) to wait for the dirt determination of the next coin C (step oo).

In addition, when the conveyance of the coin C is interrupted in the coin passage 1 for a predetermined period of time (for example, 5 seconds) or more (step @), the light emitting lamp 1
The monitor light emitting means 25 detects the light intensity of 6, and compares the level of the monitor light reception signal from the monitor light receiving stage 25 with the light intensity determination level (step o), and if it is determined that the light intensity is insufficient, a lamp service flag is set. As soon as the FLG is set to ON, the display section 35 displays a lamp status indication, and the coin processing section 34 is immediately stopped (step 000).
>.

In addition, as soon as a dirty coin is detected by the detection unit, the lii! Currency office] IF
Although the coin dispenser is stopped, dirty coins may be disposed of in a separate area from normal coins. For example, in a circulating coin dispenser, the dirty coins are disposed of in a dedicated storage section and then dispensed again. In some coin sorting machines, dirty coins may be sorted and stored separately from normal coin denomination sorting.

Although the illumination range of the light from the optical detection section 2 was only a portion of the coin C as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the entire coin C may be illuminated for detection.

In addition, regarding the stain determination of coin C, if it is normal even once, it is determined that the coin C is not dirty.
The determination may be made several times between ≦b, and if the number of times it is determined to be soiled is greater than the number of times that it is determined to be normal, it may be determined that it is soiled.

In addition, each timing of a-b-c-d was judged from the level of the magnetic signal, but it would also be possible to detect the curing C conveyed by optical means and generate a timing signal. stomach.

In addition, the denomination of coin C to be judged for dirtiness is indicated by the denomination button.However, in coin counting and sorting places, the denomination is automatically determined by magnetic means or optical means and dirt is detected. zone, 6 values of dust detection zone per coin
It may also be possible to store the hard IFIC in the zone memory each time a sheet is conveyed, and to judge the hard IFIC that is continuously sent.

In the above embodiment, the detection unit 8 has a structure in which the light-emitting optical fibers 5 are arranged in several rows at predetermined intervals with respect to the light-receiving optical fibers 6 arranged almost entirely within the support frame 7. As shown in the figure and FIG.
They may be uniformly dispersed and arranged. Further, although the detection section 8 is square, it may be circular, and in this case, the light-emitting optical fibers 5 may be arranged in a ring shape in multiple layers.

In addition, in the above embodiment (1 light emitting and light receiving optical fibers 5.6 were bundled together and housed in the support frame 7,
As shown in the figure, the light emitting optical fiber 5 and the light receiving optical fiber 6 are separated and housed integrally in a support frame 7a, and the light emitting end 15a and the light receiving end 6a are opposed to each other at a predetermined angle, and the coin C is irradiated from the light emitting end 5a. The light reflected at the light receiving end 6a
Alternatively, the light may be received.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the detection surface, which is integrally formed with the light-emitting end of the light-emitting optical fiber that irradiates light and the light-receiving end of the light-receiving optical fiber that receives reflected light, is opposed to a circular object such as a coin. With the simple configuration of the system, it is possible to detect dirt on circular objects such as coins, and it is possible to uniformly sort dirty coins and other circular objects without the hassle of staff. It is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the main part thereof, Fig. 3 is a configuration diagram of the detection surface in A, and Fig. 4
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the random access memory,
FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram of each signal, FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the main part thereof, FIG. 7 is a flowchart thereof, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are modifications of the detection surface of the device of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the optical detection section of the apparatus of the present invention. 5... Optical fiber for light emission, 5a... Light emitting end, 6... Optical fiber for light reception, 6a... Light receiving end, 8... Detection surface, 9
...Transparent plate, 15.. Light emitting means, 18.. Light receiving means, C
...A coin as a circular object such as a coin. JP-A-61-2019Q (8)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A light-emitting means that emits light, a light-emitting optical fiber that enters the light of this light-emitting means from one end and irradiates it to a circular object such as a coin being conveyed from the other end, and a light-emitting optical fiber that emits light from the light-emitting optical fiber. It consists of a light-receiving optical fiber that transmits the light reflected by a circular object such as a coin from one light-receiving end to the other end, and a light-receiving means that receives the light emitted from the other end of the light-receiving optical fiber. 1. A detection device for a circular object such as a coin, characterized in that a detection surface is provided which integrally constitutes a light-emitting end of the light-emitting optical fiber and a light-receiving end of the light-receiving optical fiber, facing the surface of the equally circular object. (2) The detection surface is characterized by a transparent plate closely fixed to the detection surface in order to detect dust adhesion by detecting the amount of reflected light from dust adhering to the detection surface and comparing it with a predetermined dust adhesion judgment level. A detection device for a circular object such as a coin according to claim 1.