JPS63185756A - Conveyed object detecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the life of a detecting device and completely detect a defect by intermittently driving an optical detecting device for an object being conveyed which is provided in a conveying passage until an object being conveyed is detected and continuously driving said device after detecting said object. CONSTITUTION:An optical detecting device consisting of a light emitting element 3A and a light receiving element 38 is provided in a conveying passage. The timer 12 of a microcomputer muC11 sends pulses to the base of a transistor Tr10 according to the program of a ROM 13 to intermittently drive the light emitting element 3A until an object being conveyed, e.g., a bill is detected on the conveying passage. When the light receiving element 38 detects the bill, the CPU of the muC11 switches the Tr10 over to continuous driving. Thereby, the life of the optical detecting device 3 is increased while preventing the erroneous operation due to the breakage of a bill and the like, securely detecting a defect.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a conveyed object detection device, which is incorporated into, for example, a banknote validating machine and is capable of detecting information regarding banknotes guided to the banknote validating machine. The present invention relates to a conveyed object detection device.

[Prior Art] FIGS. 6A and 6B show an example of a bill validator incorporating a conventional conveyed object detection device of this type. Here, 1 is a banknote validator, 2 is a banknote to be recognized, and 3 is a sensor disposed near the banknote insertion slot of the validator 1 to detect that a flat banknote 2 is inserted.

When the insertion is detected by the insertion detection sensor 3, the conveyance of the banknote 2 is started, and when the banknote 2 passes between the roller 4 and a magnetic sensor 5 disposed opposite to the roller 4, the magnetic field on the banknote 2 is detected by the sensor 5. After the banknote 2 is detected and information regarding the authenticity of the banknote 2 is obtained, the banknote 2 is further transported along the transport path 6 to a predetermined position.

However, the insertion detection sensor 3 in such a case is composed of, for example, a phototransistor, and a light-emitting element (not shown) that generates light supplied to the base of the light-receiving transistor is equipped with, for example, An intermittent drive signal as shown in FIG. 7 was supplied. That is, in this example, the lighting time TON is 20 m5ec,
Lights out time T. 1. is 140m5ec, and the minimum is 20m5ec and the maximum is 160m5e after the banknote is inserted.
Insertion can be detected within c. In this way, when the banknote 2 is detected in this state, a corresponding pulse signal is generated from the light-receiving transistor (Japanese Patent Application No. 1987-
(See No. 257067).

However, when the insertion detection sensor 3 is driven intermittently as in the conventional conveyed object detection device described above, although it is possible to accurately detect that the conveyed object such as a sheet of paper has been supplied to the discriminator 1, the conveyed object is After insertion, information regarding the conveyed object can only be obtained during the lighting period, so if the conveyed object is a damaged banknote, for example, and there is a tear in the middle, there is a risk that detection may not be possible.

Therefore, with reference to FIGS. 8A to 8C, problems in the case where the above-mentioned torn banknotes are detected will be explained.

Now, suppose that there is a tear as shown in FIG. 8A. Here, tears 7A and 7B at different locations are overlapped by solid lines and broken lines, and 8 is the sensor 3.
This is the scanning line. For example, if there is a tear 7A at the position of the solid line on the banknote 2, and if detection is performed by intermittent driving of the sensor 3 as shown in FIG. 8B, then when the sensor 3 is at the position of the tear 7A, the sensor 3 is driven Therefore, the tear 7A is not detected and is overlooked.

However, if the tear is as shown in 7B, then the sensor 3 is in the driving state as shown in FIG. 8C.
Break 7B is detected.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In other words, in the conveyed object detection device configured as described above, the sensor 3 is driven intermittently, so even if there is a defect or tear in the conveyed object such as a banknote, it will not be overlooked. Particularly in the case of banknote validating machines, etc., problems such as jams occurring due to acceptance of torn banknotes have been solved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a device that performs intermittent drive in order to extend its life.
In order to solve this problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyed object detection device that can not only accept a conveyed object but also recognize defects in its shape without overlooking it.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an optical detection system that is disposed in a conveyance path for objects to be conveyed and is capable of detecting objects to be conveyed guided into the conveyance path. a drive means capable of intermittent driving and continuous driving of the optical detection means; and a drive means that drives the detection means intermittently until the conveyed object is detected by the detection means;
The present invention is characterized by comprising means for controlling the driving means so as to continuously drive the sensing means after the time when the conveyed object is detected.

[Function] According to the present invention, since the presence or absence of the transported object is detected by intermittent driving until the transported object is introduced, the service life can be extended, and after that, the continuous drive is detected by the signal indicating the presence of the transported object. Since the detection by continuous driving is continued until the operation related to the detection of the transported object is completed, it is possible to contribute to providing information not only about the presence or absence of the transported object but also about its shape.

[Examples] Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail and specifically based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention. Here, 3^ is a light emitting diode, 3B is a light receiving transistor, and lO is a transistor that drives the light emitting diode 3A. Further, 11 includes a central processing unit CPU and a timer 12,
The microcomputer is a microcomputer that performs a series of identification operations according to the present invention based on a program stored in the ROM 13, and also performs operations related to, for example, identifying the authenticity of banknotes, storing them, and refunding them. Furthermore, 14 and 15
16 is a capacitor and a load resistor provided between the output signal line of the light-receiving transistor 3B and the ground, and 16 is a resistor provided for the drive circuit of the sensor 3.

In this example, until the insertion of a banknote is detected by the insertion detection sensor 3, an intermittent drive signal KQ is generated as shown in FIG. The light-emitting element 3A is supplied with the light-emitting element 3A intermittently. The intermittent timing may be as shown in FIG. 7, for example. Next, when a banknote is inserted while the intermittent drive signal KQ is being supplied in this way, the detection signal v5 from the sensor 3 is
The level becomes high as shown in the figure. Therefore, in this example, it is determined that a banknote has been inserted at this point, and the detection signal Vs
With the rise of , the intermittent drive by the timer 12 is stopped and the light emitting diode 3A is turned on continuously, so that the detection signal vS is continuously kept at a high level as shown in FIG. 2B.

Next, a situation in which a detection signal is generated when a damaged banknote is transported in the transported object detection device configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C. That is,
When banknotes 2 as shown in FIG. 3A are transported (intermittent)
The drive signal Q changes to a continuous signal when the leading edge of the banknote 2 is detected as shown in FIG. 3B, while the detection signal v3
is at a high level at this stage. However, at the stage when the banknote 2 has been conveyed to the position where the tear 7 exists, the detection signal vS from the sensor 3 becomes a low level as shown in FIG. 3C, so this signal indicates that the banknote 2 is damaged. For example, the host device can be made to perform a return operation.

In addition, in general banknote validating machines, when the banknotes are determined to be genuine, the 18 banknotes are transported from the recognition position to the standby position, where the banknotes are temporarily held and then either collected or refunded. It is customary to perform actions corresponding to each command. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, at (B), a genuine note output signal is output indicating that the bill is genuine, and then at (C), a signal for commanding collection and refund is output. The refund operation will be carried out, but
Until these series of operations are completed, the drive signal KQ is maintained in a continuous drive state without interruption as shown in (A).

Next, the detection operation according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. First, in step S1, the intermittent timer is cleared as an initial process, and in step S2, it is determined whether the "on" time of the intermittent timer is set to 20m5ec or less, and if it is set to 20m5ec or less, the process proceeds to step S3. The driving pulse KQ is output, and furthermore, in step S4, the intermittent timer is set to 10 to 20 m5ec.
Determine whether or not it is held.

If it is determined that the temperature is maintained at 10 to 20 m5eC, the intermittent timer is normally driven, and therefore, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the banknote 2 has been inserted. If it is determined that the banknote 2 has been inserted, the process proceeds to step S6, where the intermittent timer stops intermittent operation,
KQ is switched to a continuous drive signal and banknotes are identified in step S7. Note that the banknote identification operation here also includes the operation of finding tears in the banknote, and the authenticity of the banknote 2 is determined in the next step S8, but if there is a tear, it is first checked in FIG. 3C. Since a detection signal as shown is generated, it is determined that this is not true.

Thus, in step S8, the authenticity of the banknote 2 is determined including the above-mentioned operations, and if it is determined to be true, the process proceeds to step S9, where a genuine bill delivery signal is output, and in step S10, the manual input of the collection signal is performed. If it is determined that there is, a collection operation is performed in step 511, the output of the continuous drive signal is temporarily stopped in the following step 512, and the intermittent timer is cleared in step 513, and the process proceeds to step S2. return.

Also, in step S2, the intermittent timer is set to 20m5ec.
If it is determined that it is not set as below, step 5
14, the drive pulse KQ is not output, and the process further proceeds to step 515, where it is determined whether or not the intermittent timer is 160m5ec or more, and if it is, the intermittent timer is reset at step 516, and the process returns to step S2. If the timer is not 160m5ec or more, continue to step S2
Return to Furthermore, if it is determined in step S4 that the intermittent timer is not set to 10 to 20 m5ec, the process returns to step S1 and the intermittent timer is cleared.

Further, if there is no receipt input in step 510, there may be a need for a refund, so the process branches to step 517 to determine whether or not a refund has been input, and if it is determined that there is no refund input, repeat step S10. However, if it is determined that there is a refund input, the process proceeds to step 518 to perform a refund operation, and then proceeds to step 512.

In the above explanation, the insertion detection sensor 3 could only detect a tear on one side, but depending on the arrangement of the light-emitting element and light-receiving element, it is possible to detect a tear at both ends or at the center. Needless to say, it can be configured as follows.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to extend the service life by intermittent driving, and to detect defects, etc. in the transported object by continuous driving after insertion is detected by the insertion detection sensor. becomes possible, and if applied to banknote recognition machines,
By detecting torn banknotes, jams can be prevented in advance.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the conveyed object detection device of the present invention; FIGS. 2A and 2B are waveform diagrams of the sensor drive signal and banknote detection signal, respectively; FIGS. 3A, 3B, and Figure 3c shows a torn banknote.
A series of explanatory diagrams showing the timing of generation of drive signal output and detection signal output for the banknote, FIG. 4 is a time chart diagram when a banknote recognition operation is performed in the banknote validator according to the present invention, and FIG. A flowchart of the banknote identification operation according to the invention, FIG. 6A is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional conveyed object detection device,
6B is a plan view of FIG. 6A, FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing an example of an intermittent drive signal of a sensor in a conventional conveyed object detection device, and FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C are FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating that in a conventional conveyed object detection signal driven by an intermittent drive signal as shown in FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Banknote validator, 2... Banknote, 3... Insertion detection sensor, 3A... Light emitting diode, 3B... Light receiving transistor, 7, 7A, 7B... Tear, 10... Transistor, 11...Microcomputer, 12...Timer. Figure 2A Figure 3A Figure 3B Figure 30 Figure 6A Figure 6B

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) Optical detection means disposed in a conveyance path for a conveyed object and capable of detecting the conveyed object guided into the conveyance path; intermittent driving of the optical detection means; and a drive means capable of continuous driving; and a drive means that drives the detection means intermittently until the object to be transported is detected by the detection means, and continuously drives the detection means after the time when the object to be transported is detected. and means for controlling the drive means. 2) The conveyed object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the optical detection means is a reflective photosensor. 3) The conveyed object detection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the conveyed object is a sheet of paper. 4) In the conveyed object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, during a predetermined period within an intermittent drive period of the optical detection means by the drive means,
A conveyed object detection device comprising a setting means for setting a detection period of the conveyed object by the optical detection means.