KR100524851B1 - Sheet counting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a highly reliable sheet sorting device that can accurately determine the number of copies or sheets even when conveying sheets in various states due to improper conveyance such as overlap conveyance or meander conveyance and folding, damage, or defect of sheets. For the purpose of providing

The present invention provides a thickness sensor in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path along the conveying width direction of the identification conveying path for conveying sheets, and detected for each thickness detecting element of the thickness sensor. The number of sheets is determined by extracting the contour (outer shape) data of the sheets from the thickness data and comparing the extracted contour data with the contour basic data of the sheets serving as a reference stored by the storage means. It is done.

Description

Sheet fixing device {SHEET COUNTING APPARATUS}

Background of the Invention

Field of invention

The present invention relates to, for example, a method for determining sheets applied to an automatic deposit machine (ATM), a vending machine, and the like, and more particularly, even if there are overlap conveying, twisting (wrapping), folding, breakage, etc. of sheets. The present invention relates to a sheet type determining device capable of accurately determining the number and type of sheets.

Conventional technology

Generally, the conveyance path which conveys sheet | seats, such as a banknote, a banknote, paper, and a card, has the structure which combines the conveyance member, such as a conveyance roller and conveyance belts installed, and clamps sheets one by one.

As an example of detecting the number of sheets conveyed to such a conveying path, there is an apparatus already described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-266105.

In the above apparatus, as illustrated in FIG. 15A, the detection areas (three tracks) 153a, 153b, and 153c obtained by dividing the conveying width direction in three in the conveying process of the sheets 152 delivered to the conveying path 151. ) Is set. And the sheet conveyance state and the number of sheets at the time of conveyance based on the detection signal of the 1st thru | or 3rd thickness sensor 154a, 154b, 154c provided corresponding to each of these divided tracks, and the data from the image scanner which are not shown in figure. Check for detection.

By the way, as this kind of detection method, as shown in B of FIG. 15, the thickness amount per scan is made from the sensor data amount (integral value) of each thickness sensor 154a ... of the part which the sheet | seat 152 passed through. Calculate. And the number of sheets is estimated from the sensor data amount of each sensor 154a ....

In particular, all the sensor data of the respective detection areas of the three tracks 153a, 153b, and 153c are set as the conditions for determining the number of sheets. For this reason, it is recognized that one sheet sheet 152 is conveyed only when the number of sheets of all tracks matches.

However, as shown in Fig. 16A, when the sheet 152 meanders largely on the conveying path 151, the largely meandered sheet sheet 152 is the first and second tracks 153a and 153b. May pass through only the part of) and not pass through the part of the third track 153c.

In this case, even if the first and second thickness sensors 154a and 154b that detect the positions of the first and second tracks 153a and 153b detect the third, the third to detect the position of the third track 153c. The thickness sensor 154c does not detect it, and as a result, the number of sheets cannot be determined even though one sheet has passed, and there is a fear of incorrect counting.

In addition, as shown in Fig. 16B, the number of sheets 152 can be determined in the 2/3 track portion (for example, the first track 153a and the second track 153b). It may be set. In this case, as shown by the virtual line in the figure, it is also considered that the sheet | seat 152a passes only the remaining 1/3 track (3rd track 153c). For this reason, there is a possibility of incorrectly recognizing the number of sheets, and as a result, there is a fear of miscounting.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, even when the sheet 152 meanders and passes through the entire area of the three tracks 153a to 153c, when the meander is largely meandered, the end of the sheet is hardly caught by the end track. In the track and the end track, a difference occurs in the sensor data amounts 155a, 155b, and 155c for each track. For this reason, one piece is detected from the sensor data amounts 155a and 155c at both ends, and two pieces are detected from the central sensor data amounts 155b. As a result, the number of sheets cannot be determined, which causes a misdetection.

As another example, as already described, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-46842, an apparatus for determining a conveying medium having a thickness detecting mechanism and an image detecting mechanism in a conveying path is known. According to this apparatus, even when the meandering at the time of conveyance is severe or when plural sheets overlap, the type and number of sheets can be determined.

That is, the shape pattern and external shape of sheets are read by image detection mechanisms, such as an image reader, and the presence or absence of superimposition is checked from the output of the thickness detection mechanism. Then, the figure of sheets is extracted from the read outline shape, and the magnitude | size and number of sheets of sheets are calculated | required.

In this case, only the thickness detection is examined as to whether or not it is in an overlapping state, and the external shape is read by the image detection mechanism. In addition, regarding image detection, it is impossible to discriminate when the appearance information of the carrier medium is not taken from the image data. For example, when the banknote is discriminated, if the corner portion of the outline is not clear, it is difficult to confirm the judgment because the corner portion is used as a reference, and there is a problem that the number of sheets and the amount of money cannot be determined.

Specifically, when there is a completely concealed banknote 181 as shown in Fig. 18, the number of sheets and the amount of money cannot be determined. As another example, the same device as already described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-141547 is known, but this also only estimates how many banknotes are conveyed by stacking the thickness, and reads the external shape. Is performed with an optical line sensor in a one-dimensional array.

Therefore, even if there is a banknote 181 completely concealed as shown in Fig. 18 in which the outer corner portion of the conveying medium is not clear, the number of sheets and the amount of money cannot be determined. In addition, the overlapping state of banknotes is analyzed by superimposing the entire image of banknotes with respect to the entire conveyance mode image. There is nothing but further initiation.

Therefore, the present invention provides a sheet-type determining device that can accurately determine the number of sheets or types even when conveying sheets in various states due to improper conveying conditions such as overlap conveying or meandering conveying, and folding, breaking, or missing the sheets themselves. It aims to do it.

According to the present invention, a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through a conveying path are passed through a conveying path from a thickness sensor arranged over the entire width of the conveying path and a detection waveform detected for each thickness detecting element. Contour extracting means for extracting contour (outer shape) data representing the outline shape of the sheets, storage means for storing the outline basic data of the sheets used as a reference, contour data extracted from the outline extracting means, and the storage And a sheet determining device including a comparing means for comparing with the outline basic data stored in the means and a determining means for determining at least the number of sheets from the comparison result of the comparing means.

Here, sheets are a generic term for banknotes, gold stamps, paper, cards and the like.

As a result, the sheet conveyed by comparing the contour data which shows the external shape of the sheet | seat calculated | required from the detection waveform actually detected over the full length of a conveyance width direction with the contour basic data memorize | stored by the storage means is one piece conveyance. The number of passes of the overlapping conveyance can be determined.

In particular, the thickness sensor can subdivide and detect thickness data of the entire width by a plurality of thickness detection elements arranged over the entire width of the conveyance width direction of the sheet conveyance path. For this reason, the whole area | region in the conveyance width direction can be detected with high precision. And the outline shape of the sheet | seat which passes through can be correctly captured by the contour data extracted from these detection waveforms.

Moreover, the thickness distribution state and conveyance state of sheet | seat can be known clearly from both data of thickness data and contour data, and the number of passages can be determined with high precision. For this reason, even if the thickness of two pieces is detected, for example, it can be discriminated whether the part is by folding or overlapping conveyance.

Further, even if the corner portions of the sheets extracted by the contour extracting means are not clear, the three-dimensional data of the sheets including the thickness data can be obtained, so that the overlap state becomes clear, and the number of sheets can be accurately recognized.

Therefore, even if the sheets are conveyed meandering or if the sheets in the folded or missing state are conveyed, it is possible to reliably determine whether the sheet is conveyed or overlapped. For this reason, there is no possibility of incorrectly counting the number of sheets, and reliable counting management can be performed.

In yet another invention, a thickness sensor is provided in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through a conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path, and the conveying path is passed through a detection waveform detected for each thickness detecting element. Contour extracting means for extracting contour data representing the outline shape of sheets to be stored, storage means for storing outline basic data of sheets as a reference, outline data extracted from the outline extracting means, and storage in the storage means It is characterized in that it is a sheet-type determination apparatus which includes the comparison means for comparing with the outline | contour basic data which were made, and the determination means which determines at least the kind of sheet | seat from the comparison result of the said comparison means.

According to this, even if the conveyed sheets are in an inappropriate conveying state such as overlap conveying or meandering conveying, the kind of sheets can be accurately determined from the acquired data.

In yet another invention, a thickness sensor is provided in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through a conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path, and the conveying path is passed through a detection waveform detected for each thickness detecting element. Outline extracting means for extracting outline data indicating the outline shape of sheets to be conveyed, image data acquiring means provided corresponding to the conveying path, and acquiring the outline data of sheets by an image in a conveying process of the conveying path; Tolerance value calculating means for calculating an allowable value from the outline shape data and the outline data, Storage means for storing outline basic data of sheets as a reference, Computing the outline data and the outline basic data with the allowable value calculating means At least from a comparison result of the comparison means for comparison based on the accepted tolerance value and a comparison result of the comparison means. In that the sheets confirmation comprises a confirmation means for confirming the number of teuryu characterized.

Here, the allowable value means that between the contour data and the contour basic data of the sheets used as a reference to determine the number of sheets, between the contour basic data of the sheets used as the reference and the data obtained by adding the allowable value to the contour basic data. If there is outline data, it is a value used as a value of the permissible range which can be judged to have matched the outline basic data.

According to this, the number of sheets is determined more accurately since the number of sheets is determined in comparison with the contour basic data based on the allowable value calculated from the external form data acquired by the image data obtaining means.

In yet another invention, a thickness sensor is provided in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through a conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path, and the conveying path is passed through a detection waveform detected for each thickness detecting element. Contour extracting means for extracting contour data indicating the outer shape of sheets to be described, storage means for storing contour basic data of sheets as a reference, and folding detection means for detecting the folding of sheets conveyed from the contour data And from the contour data, when the fold detection means detects that there is a fold, from the contour data, comparison means for creating expanded data that expands the detected fold, and comparing it with the contour basic data, and at least from a comparison result of the comparison means. It is a sheet | seat determination system containing the determination means which determines the number of sheets of sheets, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

Unfolding here means creating data by folding the line-symmetric figure with respect to the detected part of folding.

According to this, even in the folded sheets, the original state that is not folded can be seen from the expanded data. For this reason, the number of sheets can be firmly determined.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 shows a banknote processing apparatus 11 incorporated in an ATM, the banknote processing apparatus 11 provides a banknote conveying group 13 for conveying and processing a banknote on the upper side of the apparatus main body 12, The banknote accommodating group 14 which accommodates and extracts banknotes is provided in the lower side, and the upper and lower sides of the apparatus main body 12 are comprised by the conveyance system and the storage system.

The banknote conveyance group 13 of an upper side has an opening / closing opening 15 in the upper part of the apparatus main body 12, and delivers the banknote put into this opening / closing opening 15 to the identification part 16 which installed in the upper middle position. After identifying the authenticity, the amount of money, the number of copies, and the front and back, the delivery is made to the temporary holding unit 17 for temporary suspension. In the case where the received banknote is identified as the conveyance state of the back surface, when delivered to the front and rear reversal unit 18 and the front and rear are trimmed, the banknote is delivered to the temporary holding unit 17 and it is determined that the identification is poor. It is delivered to the return holding unit 19, temporarily suspended, and then returned to the original entrance / exit outlet 15. Then, from the temporary holding unit 17, an optimum storage timing for operation is selected and stored in the banknote storing group 14 on the lower side.

On the other hand, the banknote accommodating group 14 of the lower side is comprised by the fixed 1st-3rd stacker S1-S3, the operation | movement cartridge C1 and the recovery cartridge C2 which can be attached or detached. Among these, the first to third stackers S1 to S3 have a function of accumulating and dispensing bills, and value three kinds of amounts of 10,000 yen, 1,000 yen, and 5,000 yen. In the case of withdrawal, at the time of withdrawal, each sheet is delivered to the feeding identification unit 16 one by one from the stackers S1 to S3, and then the amount of money is checked and returned to the cashier 15.

In addition, the operation cartridge C1 distributes and stores the bills in the stackers S1 to S3 at the start of business or at the time of replenishing the bills, and collects the bills from the stackers S1 to S3 at the end of business or when it is full. In addition, the recovery cartridge C2 recovers rejected bills such as identification-defective bills and non-drawn bills generated at the time of deposit and withdrawal transactions or replenishment processing.

By the way, even if a banknote is conveyed in an improper state, the identification part 16 during the conveyance mentioned above has the banknote determination apparatus 21 mentioned later which determines how many sheets and what kind of money amount at that time are.

FIG. 2 shows the above-mentioned banknote determination apparatus 21, and this banknote determination apparatus 21 is shown in FIG. 2A on the identification conveyance path 22 of the identification part 16, for example. Similarly, the one-dimensional CCD image sensor 23 and the thickness sensor 24 are provided, and it is comprised so that the conveyed banknote A may be read by two types of detection means.

As shown in FIG. 2 (B), the above-mentioned identification conveying path 22 drives conveying rollers R1 and R2 facing up and down hypothesized in the conveying width direction, and guides them to a horizontally long horizontal state. The banknotes A which have been drawn are sandwiched at the rear end one by one and conveyed. At this time, the driving of the conveying rollers R1 and R2 transmits a rotational force from a conveying motor (not shown) and rotates at a constant speed.

The CCD image sensor 23 is provided along the conveyance rollers R1 and R2 described above over the entire width of the conveyance width direction, and acquires the external form data of the banknote which passes here by an image.

In the conveyance width direction of the identification conveyance path 22, the thickness sensor 24 arrange | positions the some thickness detection element 25 densely and linearly on the conveyance upper surface side over the whole width | variety in order to raise the resolution, and opposes, Similarly, the sensor-adaptive roller R3 is provided in the conveyance lower surface side over the full width of a conveyance width direction. The thickness of the banknote A when the banknote A was guided from the horizontal direction and passed between the upper and lower facing surfaces of the thickness detecting element 25 on the upper surface side and the sensor-adaptive roller R3 on the lower surface side. Detect operation.

FIG. 3 shows the internal structure of one thickness detecting element 25 constituting the thickness sensor 24, A in FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the front of the thickness detecting element 25, and FIG. 3B is a thickness. The cross section of the side surface of the detection element 25 is shown.

Each thickness detecting element 25 presses the T-shaped movable metal piece 33 attached to the lower portion of the socket main body 31 with the coil spring 32 downward and protrudes from the lower surface of the socket main body 31, An output terminal 35 having a magnetic coil 34 embedded therein protrudes from an upper surface of the socket body 31, and the output terminal 35 is connected to a control unit.

The above-described thickness detecting element 25 has a detection configuration of a proximity sensor, and the detecting operation is movable by moving the metal piece 33 up and down by the stretching action in the vertical direction of the coil spring 32, At the time of passage, the movable metal piece 33 is pushed upward by the banknote thickness. The amount of mechanical displacement at the time of being pushed up and displaced is converted into a voltage change in the magnetic coil 34 provided on the upper part of the socket body 31 (the change in the distance between the movable metal piece 33 and the magnetic coil 34). Is output from the output terminal 35 as an electrical thickness detection signal.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the thickness sensor 24 in a linearly arranged state in which a plurality of thickness detection elements 25 are densely attached to the elongated socket body 31 arranged in the conveying width direction at regular intervals. A of 4 shows the top view which shows the arrangement state of the output terminal 35, and B of FIG. 4 has shown the side view which shows the arrangement state of the movable metal piece 33. As shown in FIG.

When the thickness sensor 24 mentioned above is used, the thickness data of the full width can be subdivided and detected by the some thickness detection element 25 arrange | positioned over the full width of the conveyance width direction of the identification conveyance path 22. As shown in FIG. . For this reason, the whole area | region in the conveyance width direction can be detected with high precision, and the thickness distribution state of the whole banknote A which passes through the position of the thickness sensor 24 is correctly captured. Thereby, the outline of the three-dimensional banknote mentioned later can be extracted.

FIG. 5 shows a control circuit block diagram of the banknote determination device 21, which includes a contour extraction section 51 connected to the thickness sensor 24, and a tolerance calculation section connected to the CCD image sensor 23. As shown in FIG. And 52, a volume calculating section 53, a storing section 54, a contour comparing section 55, and a determining section 56. As shown in FIG.

In the above-described contour extracting section 51, the thickness data obtained by subdividing the conveyance width direction of the banknote A detected for each thickness detecting element 25 constituting the thickness sensor 24 can be obtained. Contour data indicating the outline shape of the banknote is extracted from the bill.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a detection waveform detected for each thickness detecting element 25, and the detection waveform is output as the temporal change of the output voltage according to the thickness of the bill from the thickness detecting element 25 together with the conveyance of the bill. .

For example, as shown in Fig. 6 (A), when two banknotes A1 and A2 of the same size are stacked and conveyed in a state in which they are obliquely shifted, each thickness detecting element of the thickness sensor 24 is carried out. In the carrier width direction, the output waveform detected from (25) can obtain one detection waveform W1 and two detection waveforms W2. From these waveform data, the thing which overlapped conveyance generate | occur | produced and the state which overlapped obliquely can be extracted correctly.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), when two sheets of banknotes A3 and A4 having different sizes are conveyed in the overlapped state as one sheet, they are detected from each thickness detecting element 25 of the thickness sensor 24. One detected waveform W3 and two detected waveforms W4 can be obtained in the conveyed width direction. In this case as well, it is possible to accurately extract that the overlap conveyance has occurred and the two overlapped states of different sizes from the waveform data.

Fig. 7 shows an example of contour extraction of banknotes, and a description will be given of the contour extraction processing of banknotes when two banknotes A1 and A2 of the same size described in Fig. 6A are conveyed in an obliquely shifted state. do.

When waveform data from each thickness detecting element 25 at the time of overlap conveyance is obtained, as shown in Fig. 7A from the waveform data, the waveform data is combined and the data between the thickness detecting elements 25 is combined. The three-dimensional figure 71 is generated by complementary processing by a straight line. The vertices (edges) of the three-dimensional figure 71 are connected in a straight line, and as shown in Fig. 7B, the outline of the stacked banknotes is extracted.

Fig. 8 shows an example of contour extraction of banknotes in different cases, and outline extraction of banknotes when two banknotes A3 and A4 having different sizes described in Fig. 6B are conveyed in the overlapped state as one sheet. The processing will be described.

When the waveform data at the time of overlap conveyance is obtained, as shown in FIG. 8A from the waveform data, waveform data from each thickness detection element 25 is combined and data between each thickness detection element 25 is obtained. Is complemented by a straight line to generate a three-dimensional figure 81. The vertices of the three-dimensional figure 81 are connected by a straight line, and the outline of the banknote conveyed by the overlap is extracted.

When the resolution of the thickness sensor itself (proportion to the spacing of the plurality of thickness detection elements 25) is about several millimeters, the above-described complementation process of the waveform data supplements the data between the detection elements by linearly supplementing the three-dimensional outline. Find with precision In this case, the tighter the interval between the thickness detection elements 25 is, the higher the resolution becomes.

On the other hand, in the comparison between the contour data and the contour basic data of the storage unit 54, the allowable value calculating unit 52, if there is contour data between the contour basic data and the data obtained by adding the allowable value to the contour basic data, the contour is determined. A tolerance value is calculated as a value of an allowable range which can be judged to have corresponded to the basic data.

Here, the allowable value is calculated from the difference between the outline data of the banknote image acquired from the CCD image sensor 23 and the outline data described above.

In this case, even when the resolution of the thickness sensor itself is low, for example, the tolerance value is calculated from the difference with the appearance data of the high resolution image, and the comparison with the contour basic data is performed based on the tolerance value. High precision can confirm the number of purchases and the amount of money.

Fig. 9 shows an example of image data acquisition from the CCD image sensor 23. When the two banknotes A1 and A2 of the same size are conveyed in an obliquely shifted state, the banknotes of the banknotes with the CCD image sensor 23 overlapped are shown. The image data 91 is acquired, the binarization process of the image data 91 is performed, and the external shape of a banknote is determined. In this determination, the outline of the bill can be determined by finding the corners of the rectangle of the bill from the image data 91.

The allowance calculation unit 52 calculates the difference between the image data (appearance data) and the outline data already described. For example, since the image data of the CCD image sensor has a better resolution than the thickness sensor, it is performed by combining both data of the image data and the contour data.

As a result of calculating the difference (thickness sensor data-image data) between the contour data from the image data of the CCD image sensor and the contour data from the thickness sensor, when there is a difference of, for example, 2 mm in the banknote long side direction, the contour data And the contour basic data in the storage unit 54, the tolerance value of 2 mm is added and compared in the banknote long side direction of the contour basic data.

Specifically, when the banknote long side direction is extracted to 121 mm from the contour data and the banknote long side direction is extracted to 119 mm from the image data, the allowable value is calculated to be 121-119 = 2 mm. For this reason, in the comparison with the contour basic data 120 mm, the allowable value 2 mm is added, and if it is within the range of 120 mm to 122 mm, it is determined that the amount of money matches the contour basic data.

The volume calculator 53 compares the volume calculated from the thickness data and the contour data with the three-dimensional data of the conveyed bills with the volume basis data stored in the storage unit 54, so as to compare the number of bills and the amount of bills. Can be correctly recognized.

The storage unit 54 stores the outline basic data and the volume basic data, which serve as a reference for the length, volume, and the like determined for each of the money bills.

For example, when the amount of money used to be conveyed is two amounts of money, the volume is 840 mm when the thickness 0.1 mm of the A amount of money transported in the horizontal direction and the length of 70 mm x 120 mm in the length and breadth. If the thickness of the B liquid type is 0.1 mm and the length and length are 60 mm x 110 mm, the volume is 660 mm3. And both of these are memorize | stored for a determination criterion.

The outline comparing unit 55 compares the outline data actually detected with the outline basic data stored in the storage unit 54 to determine the bill.

Fig. 10 shows an example of the banknote discrimination processing, and as shown in Figs. 10A and 10B, the outline data of the banknote is extracted from the detection waveform acquired from the thickness sensor 24. Figs. The extracted outline data is compared with the outline basic data stored in the storage unit 54.

As a result, as shown in Fig. 10 (c), two types of A amounts of money stored in the storage unit 54 and quadrangles of different sizes not stored in the storage unit 54 (50 mm x 100 mm). ) Is obtained. Therefore, it is possible to determine that squares of different sizes are invalid data.

11 shows another banknote discrimination processing example, and as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the outline data of the banknote is extracted from the detection waveform acquired from the thickness sensor 24. The extracted outline data is compared with the outline basic data stored in the storage unit 54.

As a result, as shown in Fig. 11C, a rectangle having the same size as the A amount of money and the B amount of money stored in the storage unit 54 is obtained. Thereby, it can be discriminated that two different amounts of money are conveyed in overlap.

The deciding part 56 combines the volume data of the banknote computed by the volume calculating part 53, and the comparison result compared with the outline comparison part 55. As shown in FIG. At this time, if it is within an error range, the number of sheets and the amount of money are determined.

For example, as already described with reference to Fig. 10, when determining the number of purchases or the amount of money at the time of occurrence of a banknote of the same size, the data obtained by calculating two types of A value and the volume calculated by the volume calculator 53 It is judged whether or not it is within the range of 840 μs × 2 ± volume allowance. At this time, if the value is within the error range (within the allowable range), it can be determined by two pieces of A amount of money.

Similarly, when determining the number of purchases or types of amounts of money when bills of different sizes have already been described in Fig. 11, the data obtained by calculating the amounts of A amounts and types of amounts B and the volume calculated by the volume calculating unit 53 are 840 ㎣ + 660 ㎣ ± Determines whether the volume is within the allowable range. At this time, if it is a value within an error range, it can determine with two banknotes of A amount type and B amount type.

In the determination, although the number of sheets can be predicted to some extent by any of the data of the volume and the contour, the determination accuracy is further increased by using the two data. In addition, even when the meandering becomes large, since the contour data indicating the outline shape of the bill can be extracted from the thickness data of the thickness sensors arranged over the entire width of the conveying path, the number of sheets with high accuracy and the amount of money can be determined. Done.

Fig. 12 shows a detection example when the folded banknote has been conveyed, and as shown in Fig. 12 (A), when the banknote in the corner folded (a) state has been conveyed, the image of the banknote is transferred to the CCD image sensor. Read by (23).

In the read CCD image sensor 23, as shown in Fig. 12B, non-rectangular image data 121 having a corner folded shape is obtained.

Further, in the thickness sensor 24, as shown in Fig. 12C, non-rectangular outline data 122 having a corner folded shape is obtained.

When extracting the contour data 122 having the corner fold, the contour extracting section 51 expands the corner fold a portion of the contour data along the contour, as shown in Fig. 12D. By comparing this development data with the outline base data in the outline comparing section 55, the inquiry can be confirmed.

In the contour comparing section 55, the contour data 122 which is not rectangular cannot be inquired and checked with the contour basic data of the storage section 54, and the thickness of the triangle portion where the upper right corner is folded is doubled in the figure. The occurrence of edge folding can be detected. In this case, development data is created by performing development as described later. As a result, the determination unit 56 can accurately determine the number of copies and the amount of money even if the corner folded bills are conveyed.

Fig. 13 shows the above-described development algorithm of the corner folded bill, graphically displays the contour data of the corner folded bill, and finds each vertex number and the number of branches connected to it at that time.

In this case, since there are six vertices (edges) of the corner folded bills, the vertices are numbered 1 to 6 and the matrix display (vertex number, number of branches) is used.

(1. 2)

(2, 2)

(3, 3): can be retracted because the number of branches is 3

(4, 2)

(5, 3): can be retracted because the number of branches is 3

(6, 2)

It becomes

As a result, since the refolding is possible at the position of the number 3 of the branches (the refolding is possible at the positions of the vertex numbers 3 and 5 in FIG. 13), each side of the triangle of the upper right triangle is the side of the thickness 2 from the above-described thickness data. In the case of being expanded from the outline and the outline data, the refolding position of the corner fold portion is determined by applying to the condition for the outline to become a rectangle.

When there are no two vertices corresponding to the number 3 of the aforementioned branches, or when there are four or more vertices, it is considered that there is an overlap in the banknote.

The processing operation in the case of confirming the number of bills and the amount of money by using the bill settlement device 21 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a banknote passes through the identification conveyance path 22, the thickness of the banknote which passes through it is detected by the thickness sensor 24, and the image of a banknote is acquired by the CCD image sensor 23 (step n1).

The outline extraction unit 51 extracts outline data representing the outline shape of the bill from the detection waveform detected for each thickness detection element 25 of the above-described thickness sensor 24 (step n2).

Further, in the tolerance calculation unit 52, the tolerance is calculated from the difference between the outline data obtained from the image of the banknote acquired by the CCD image sensor 23 and the outline data extracted by the outline extraction unit 51 described above (step). n3).

The outline base data and the outline data which have received the calculated allowable value are compared by the outline comparison section 55 (step n4).

At this time, from the comparison result, it is judged by the outline comparing unit 55 whether the banknote is folded (step n5),

If it is determined that there is no bill folded, the amount of money and the number of sheets are estimated (step n6).

In addition, the volume calculating unit 53 calculates the volume from the thickness data and the contour data (step n7).

From the comparison result of comparing the obtained volume with the volume basic data stored in the storage unit 54, it is determined whether or not the volume is within the allowable range in the determination unit 56 (step n8).

At this time, if it is within the allowable range, it is determined that the banknote can be determined, and the amount and the number of the amount of money are determined (step n9).

By the way, when it determines with being out of an allowable range in step n8 mentioned above, it rejects because it is undeterminable.

Further, even when it is determined that there is a folding in step n5 described above, when it is determined that the folded portion cannot be expanded, reject processing is performed.

By the way, even if it is determined in the above step n5 that there is a fold, if it is data that can be folded and developed by the line-symmetric figure (step n10),

The development data which developed the folding of a banknote is produced | generated, it converts into the normal banknote without a folding | folding, and data processing is carried out, and the process after step n6 which was already described is performed, and the determination of the kind and quantity of a banknote is carried out. (Step n11).

Thus, since the thickness sensor 24 subdivides the whole width of the conveyance width direction of the identification conveyance path 22 into the some thickness detection element 25, and detects the thickness data of the full width, the whole width of the conveyance width direction is detected. The area can be detected with high accuracy.

And the three-dimensional outline of a banknote can be captured correctly by extracting the outline data which shows the outline shape of a banknote from this thickness data. For this reason, even without image data, the number of sheets and amount of money can be determined correctly.

In addition, even when the banknote is conveyed with a completely concealed banknote as shown in FIG. 18, the number of bills and the amount of money can be accurately determined from the three-dimensional data of the banknote.

As described above, when the banknote determination device is assembled to the identification unit of the ATM that handles the banknote, the banknote determination device is formed by the plurality of thickness detection elements arranged over the entire width of the conveyance width direction of the identification transport path. Since the thickness data is subdivided and detected, the entire area in the conveyance width direction can be detected with high accuracy, and banknotes can be accurately captured regardless of meandering conveyance. For this reason, there is no possibility of making an erroneous determination by non-passing, and highly reliable coefficient management can be performed.

In addition, even without image data, the number of bills and the amount of money can be accurately determined, and even in the case of returning or carrying banknotes which are completely concealed as shown in FIG. Since the data can be obtained, it is possible to accurately determine the number of bills and the amount of money.

In correspondence with the configuration of the present invention and the configuration of the above-described embodiment,

The sheet determination apparatus of this invention corresponds to the banknote determination apparatus 21 of embodiment,

Likewise below,

The conveyance route corresponds to the identification conveyance route 22,

Sheets correspond to bills A, A1, A2, A3, A4,

The contour extracting means corresponds to the contour extracting section 51,

The storage means corresponds to the storage unit 54,

The comparing means and the folding detecting means correspond to the contour comparing section 55,

The determination means corresponds to the determination unit 56,

The image data acquisition means corresponds to the CCD image sensor 23,

The tolerance calculation unit corresponds to the tolerance calculation unit 52, but the present invention can be applied based on the technical idea shown in the claims, and is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

According to the present invention, by acquiring the three-dimensional outline of sheets from the detection waveform of the thickness sensor, it is possible to determine the high-reliability sheet number of sheets and the kind of sheets.

1 is an internal configuration diagram of a banknote processing apparatus embedded in an ATM.

2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a bill determination device.

3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the thickness detecting element;

4 is an external view showing a thickness sensor.

5 is a control circuit block diagram of a banknote confirmation device.

6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of extracting contour data;

7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of extracting three-dimensional outlines of bills;

8 is an explanatory diagram showing a three-dimensional outline extraction example of another bill.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image data acquisition from a CCD image sensor;

10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of discrimination processing of banknotes.

11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of discrimination processing of other bills;

12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of discrimination processing of folded bills;

Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an expansion algorithm of folded bills;

14 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a banknote confirmation device.

15 is a transport explanatory diagram showing a transport detection structure of a conventional sheet;

FIG. 16 is a transport explanatory diagram showing a transport detection example when a conventional sheet is meandered largely; FIG.

17 is an explanatory view of a conveyance diagram showing an example of error counting of a conventional sheet;

18 is a conveyance explanatory diagram showing a completely conveyed state of a conventional banknote;

♠ Explanation of the symbols for the major symbols in the drawings.

21: Banknote Confirmation Device 22: Identification Return Path

23: CCD image sensor 24: thickness sensor

25 thickness detecting element

Claims (7)

A thickness sensor in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through the conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path; Outline extracting means for extracting outline data representing an outline shape of sheets passing through a conveying path from the detected waveforms detected by the thickness detecting elements; Storage means for storing outline (appearance) basic data of sheets used as reference; Comparison means for comparing the outline data extracted from the outline extracting means with the banknote outline (appearance) basic data stored in the storage means; And a determining means for determining at least the number of sheets from the comparison result of the comparing means. A thickness sensor in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through the conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path; Outline extracting means for extracting outline data representing an outline shape of sheets passing through a conveying path from the detected waveforms detected by the thickness detecting elements; Storage means for storing outline (appearance) basic data of sheets used as reference; Comparison means for comparing the outline data extracted from the outline extracting means with the banknote outline (appearance) basic data stored in the storage means; And a determining means for determining at least the kind of sheets from the comparison result of the comparison means. A thickness sensor in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through the conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path; Outline extracting means for extracting outline data representing an outline shape of sheets passing through a conveying path from the detected waveforms detected by the thickness detecting elements; Image data acquiring means which is provided in correspondence with the conveying path and acquires the external form data of sheets by an image in the conveying process of the conveying path; Tolerance value calculating means for calculating a tolerance value from the appearance data and the outline data; Storage means for storing outline (appearance) basic data of sheets used as reference; Comparison means for comparing the outline data extracted from the outline extracting means with the banknote outline (appearance) basic data stored in the storage means; And a determining means for determining at least the number of sheets from the comparison result of the comparing means. A thickness sensor in which a plurality of thickness detecting elements for detecting the thickness of sheets passing through the conveying path are arranged over the entire width of the conveying path; Outline extracting means for extracting outline data representing an outline shape of sheets passing through a conveying path from the detected waveforms detected by the thickness detecting elements; Storage means for storing outline (appearance) basic data of sheets used as reference; Fold detection means for detecting fold of sheets conveyed from the contour data; Comparison means for creating expanded data that has developed the detected fold from the outline data and comparing it with banknote outline (appearance) basic data stored in the storage means when the fold detection means detects that there is a fold; And a determining means for determining at least the number of sheets from the comparison result of the comparing means. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 4, The deciding means compares the size data of the sheets in the outline data with the size data of the sheets in the outline basic data stored in the storage means by the comparing means, and the comparison result is the same number. Is determined as the number of sheets, the sheet sheet determining apparatus. The method of claim 2, The deciding means compares the size data of the sheets in the outline data with the size data for each type of the sheets in the outline basic data stored in the storage means by the comparing means, and the comparison result is determined. A sheet-type determining device characterized in that the matched type is determined as the type of sheet. The method of claim 4, wherein And the fold detection means detects that there is a fold when the contour data contains non-rectangular data.