JPS62245495A - Coin identifier - 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 Technical Field This invention relates to a coin identification device that identifies the denomination and authenticity of a coin from the uneven pattern on the surface of the coin.

(b1 Summary of the Invention The coin identification device according to the present invention includes a coin conveyance path through which coins are conveyed along a sliding surface, a coin sensor array installed perpendicular to the sliding surface, and an uneven pattern on the coin surface. and pattern storage means for storing.

By detecting the tip of the coin being conveyed by the coin sensor array, it is possible to know the center passing position of the coin and the radius of the coin. Based on this detection, the diameter of one of the coins and the uneven pattern of the coin near the center are read (pattern reading means).

Authenticity is determined by searching the pattern storage means using the read concavo-convex pattern (authenticity determining means) By doing this, the denomination and authenticity of the coin can be accurately and quickly identified. .

tc+ Background of the Invention In conventional coin identification devices, the outer diameter, thickness, weight, etc. of an inserted coin are measured, and the coin is identified based on these measurement data. However, it is relatively easy to produce counterfeit coins with the same measurement data for these measurement items, and similar foreign coins also exist, so coin identification using this method is not perfect. . Furthermore, with the circulation of relatively expensive 500 yen coins, there is a need for a more accurate method for identifying descendant coins.

Therefore, a method has been proposed for identifying the denomination and authenticity of a coin from the uneven pattern on its surface, which has almost no similarities and is difficult to counterfeit.

However, since high-speed, real-time coin identification processing is required in vending machines, etc., the method of identifying authenticity and denomination by reading the uneven pattern on the entire surface of the coin is complicated and does not satisfy high-speed processing. I can't.

Therefore, a method can be considered to identify the denomination and authenticity of the coin by reading the uneven pattern of a specific part of the coin being transported, but it is not possible to determine the specific part of the coin being transported while it is being transported. It was extremely difficult.

(d1 Purpose of the Invention This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned current situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a coin identification device that can determine the authenticity and denomination of a coin by reading the uneven pattern of a specific part of the coin. With the goal.

<8) Structure and Effects of the Invention This invention provides that, since the coin is disc-shaped, the straight line connecting the leading end and the trailing end in the transporting direction is the diameter of the coin, and the diameter of the coin is the same as that between the sliding surface and the leading end in the transporting direction. Focusing on the fact that the distance is the radius of the coin, it is based on the fact that a specific part of the coin can be determined by detecting the tip of the coin in the direction of conveyance along the sliding surface. The present invention provides a coin identification device having a coin conveyance path in which coins are conveyed one by one along a sliding surface, and a sensor for detecting unevenness of coins on the coin conveyance path is attached to the sliding surface. A plurality of pattern storage means are arranged perpendicularly to the moving surface and store the unevenness of a part or all of the coin surface, and a sensor section including the sensor that first detected the coin to be conveyed detects a specific part of the coin surface. The present invention is characterized by comprising: a pattern reading means for reading the uneven pattern; and means for searching the pattern storage means with the uneven pattern read by the pattern reading means and identifying the denomination of the coin.

With the above configuration, according to the present invention, since the coin is conveyed along the sliding surface, the center of the coin passes through the position of the sensor that first detected the coin being conveyed, and the above-mentioned The radius of the coin can be determined by the distance between the position of the sensor that first detected the coin and the sliding surface.

From the radius of the coin, it is possible to determine the denomination of the coin if it is a genuine coin (genuine coin). Furthermore, by detecting the center passing position of the coin, it is possible to read the uneven pattern of one diameter or the vicinity of the center, which is a specific part of the coin, and the read uneven pattern and the uneven pattern are stored in the pattern storage means. The authenticity of the coin can be determined by comparing it with the uneven pattern.

In this way, a specific part of the coin is determined based on the detection by the coin sensor, and the authenticity is determined by reading the uneven pattern of this specific part, thereby quickly and accurately determining the denomination of the coin. Authenticity can be determined.

(El Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the vicinity of the coin conveyance path of a coin identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention. At the entrance of the conveyance path, there is a coin regulating lever on the right side toward the conveyance direction (arrow in the figure). 3 is provided. This coin regulation lever 3 is pivotally supported by a fulcrum 3a on the right side wall surface of the conveyance path, and is biased toward the inside of the conveyance path by a coil spring 4. , the coins being conveyed are conveyed along the sliding surface 2 on the left side of the conveyance direction.A conveyance belt 5 is installed opposite the bottom surface 1 of this conveyance path.This conveyance belt 5 and The distance from the bottom surface 1 is approximately the thickness of a coin 6.6', and when the conveyor belt 5 rotates, the coin 6.6' located under the conveyor belt 5
is conveyed according to this rotation.

Further, near the rear end of the conveyor belt 5, a plurality of coin sensors 7 are arranged perpendicularly to the sliding surface 2. This coin sensor is a magnetic sensor that can detect minute changes in magnetic permeability in the vicinity. By measuring minute changes in magnetic permeability, it is possible to detect the distance to the coin, that is, the unevenness of the coin surface.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control section of the coin identification device. CPU10, which is a control device, has a ROMI that stores control programs, etc. 1. RAM 12 for storing reading data of the uneven pattern of coins, etc.; A sensor interface 13 that receives input from the coin sensor 7 and a transmission interface 14 that transfers data such as coin identification results to other control devices are connected.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detection output of the uneven pattern of a coin by the coin sensor 7. This device reads the uneven pattern of one diameter of the coin.

This uneven pattern is read by the coin sensor that first detects the coin being conveyed. That is, since the coin is conveyed along the sliding surface 2, the center of the coin passes (the diameter passes) over the coin sensor that detects the tip of the coin.

A partial sectional view of the coin is shown in the lower part of the figure. Since the coin sensor is made up of a magnetic sensor as described above, the output value increases as the distance from the coin becomes shorter. Therefore, when the convex part of the coin is on this sensor, the output is high, and when the concave part is on this sensor, the output is low.

Further, when no coin is detected, the output of this coin sensor is at O level. Such analog detection output is binarized using a boundary value, and the concavo-convex pattern read data is shown in the upper row. The thus binarized signal is stored in a buffer in the RAM 12 as data for reading the concavo-convex pattern of this coin.

FIG. 4(A) is a partial configuration diagram of the RAM 12. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a concavo-convex pattern storage area and a buffer set in FIG. Buffer (between areas 1: hereinafter referred to as “area M”)
i J is referred to as r M i J) is an area for storing the concavo-convex pattern read data. The surface unevenness pattern for each denomination is stored in the unevenness pattern storage area (M2). The concavo-convex pattern stored for each denomination is a concavo-convex pattern for a plurality of diameters at each minute angle on both the front and back sides of the coin, as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section of the coin identification device. Step nl (hereinafter referred to as "Step ni")
- is called 'n i4. ) until one of the coin sensors 7 detects a coin. When a signal is sent from the coin sensor that first detected a coin, a temporary denomination is determined from the position of the coin sensor (n2). That is, the radius of the coin is determined from the distance between the sliding surface 2 and the coin sensor that first detected the coin, and from this radius, the denomination of the coin is determined if it is a genuine coin. If the calculated radius is smaller than the radius of the smallest coin (generally 50 yen) that can be identified by this coin identification device, and if it is larger than the radius of the largest coin (generally 500 yen) In this case, it is determined that the coin cannot be identified, and the identification operation is stopped and the operation ends (n3, n9).

When the provisional denomination is determined in n2, the process proceeds to n4, and the uneven pattern read data detected by the coin sensor that first detected the coin is stored in the buffer (Ml) (n4).

This uneven pattern reading data is compared with the uneven pattern of the corresponding denomination (temporary denomination) stored in the uneven pattern storage area (M2) (n5), and if there is a match, it is considered as a genuine coin of that denomination. Make a judgment and end the operation (n6.n7)
. Furthermore, if there is no match, it is determined that the coin is counterfeit and the operation ends (n6, n8).

Other embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8.

In FIG. 6, this embodiment is a coin identification device similar to the above embodiment, but an image sensor 8 is used in this device instead of the coin sensor 7, which is a magnetic sensor. This image sensor 8 is constructed of a COD and is installed below an opening 1a formed in the bottom surface of the conveyance path. A condensing lens 9 provided in the opening 1a forms an image of the concave-convex pattern on the surface of the coin passing through this conveyance path on the image sensor 8, so that it can be read as image data. Other parts that are the same in the configuration as in the above embodiment are given the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 7 shows the method of reading the uneven pattern of a coin in this device. When the leading edge of a coin 60 being conveyed reaches a part of the image sensor 8 and the element 8a detects the leading edge of the coin, this 8a and The radius of this coin 60 is measured by the distance from the sliding surface 2. Based on this radius, the timing at which the center of the coin moves to the center of this image sensor 8 is determined. Further, a reading section 8b that reads the uneven pattern on the coin surface is determined from the position of the element 8a. This reading section 8b is determined to be a square area that can read the uneven pattern near the center of the coin. The control section buffers the concavo-convex pattern read by the reading section 8b at the timing as concavo-convex pattern read data in a buffer (Ml).

FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) are diagrams showing a partial configuration of the RAM and a method for determining a pattern of protrusions and recesses on a coin, respectively. The buffer (M 1
) and uneven pattern storage area for each denomination of coins (M2
'). However, the uneven pattern stored in this uneven pattern storage area (M2') is
) As shown in Figure (B), which is a small circular uneven pattern centered on the center of the coin, when the uneven pattern of the coin being conveyed is read, this uneven pattern reading data and the uneven pattern storage area are The authenticity of this coin is determined based on the match/mismatch with the concave/convex pattern stored in (M2'), but this match/mismatch is determined by rotating one of the concave/convex patterns to see if there is a matching position. This is done by making a judgment. If there is no matching uneven pattern on the front and back sides of a coin of the temporary denomination determined from the radius of the coin, the coin is determined to be a counterfeit coin.

The flowchart showing the operation of the control section of this embodiment is similar to the operation of the previously shown embodiment. The coin sensor 7 or the image sensor 8 and n4 correspond to the pattern reading means of the present invention, and n5 It corresponds to the authenticity identification means of the invention.

In this way, according to this coin identification device, the denomination and authenticity of a coin can be determined based on the uneven pattern on the surface of the coin, so that highly accurate coin identification can be performed.

In addition, the coin sensor is installed perpendicular to the sliding surface of the conveyance path, and the radius of the coin can be determined from the position of the sensor where the coin was first detected. The coin type can be determined, and the authenticity of the coin can be determined based on the uneven pattern of a portion of the coin, thereby increasing the processing speed. By doing this, high-speed real-time processing becomes possible, and it can contribute to improving the coin processing capacity of vending machines and the like as high-value coins such as 500 yen coins become popular.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a coin identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a control section of the coin identification device, and Fig. 3 shows coins installed on the conveyance path of the coin identification device. FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) are diagrams showing a method of reading the uneven pattern of the sensor; FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) are respectively a partial configuration diagram of the RAM of the coin identification device and a diagram showing the reading line of the uneven pattern stored in this RAM; FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control section of the coin identification device. Further, FIG. 6 is a partial configuration diagram of a coin identification device which is another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method of reading the uneven pattern of a coin by the coin identification device which is another embodiment of the above.
FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) are diagrams showing a partial configuration of the memory of the coin identification device according to the other embodiment and the range of the uneven pattern stored in the uneven pattern storage area of this memory. 1-coin conveyance path bottom surface, 2-sliding surface, 3-coin regulation lever, 7-coin sensor, 8-image sensor, 9-lens.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a coin identification device having a coin transport path in which coins are transported one by one along a sliding surface, a plurality of sensors for detecting irregularities of coins are arranged perpendicular to the sliding surface on the coin transport path. a pattern storage means for storing the unevenness pattern of part or all of the coin surface; and a pattern reading means for reading the unevenness pattern of a specific part of the coin surface with a sensor section including a sensor that first detected the coin being conveyed. A coin identification device comprising: an authentication device that searches the pattern storage device using the concavo-convex pattern read by the pattern reading device, and identifies the authenticity of the coin.