KR101384906B1 - Apparatus and method for processing image - Google Patents

Abstract

The image processing apparatus includes a processing memory, a plurality of image sensors for acquiring and recording a media image in the processing memory, a processing unit for calculating a degree of twist of the obtained media image of each of the plurality of image sensors, and a plurality of image rotating units. The plurality of image rotation units respectively correspond to the plurality of image sensors. Each image rotating unit rotates the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor based on the degree of twisting. The processing unit is hardware separate from the plurality of image rotations.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING IMAGE [0002]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for rotating an image of a medium such as a check or bill, and a financial device including such an apparatus.

Generally, a financial instrument is a device that processes a financial business desired by a customer. The financial instrument can deposit and withdraw the medium or automatically transfer the medium. For example, the financial instrument may deposit or withdraw bills or checks.

When the financial device processes the deposit and withdrawal of the medium, it is necessary to acquire an image of the medium and to obtain various information from the image. In addition, since a front image and a back image of a medium need to be obtained, and various types of image sensors can be used, a plurality of media images can be obtained in relation to one medium.

On the other hand, when a typical financial device recognizes a medium or normal right by recognizing a medium, an image of a medium is obtained using an image scan sensor or the like and is determined using the acquired image. Since the media may be distorted within the financial device, the media image obtained when the financial device recognizes the media may be distorted, and the accuracy of media recognition when the media is recognized using the image of the twisted media as it is Can be lowered. Therefore, the financial device needs to rotate and recognize the obtained media image when the media is distorted.

However, when a plurality of image scan sensors are utilized in a financial device to obtain a plurality of media images, a central processing unit such as a recognizer for recognizing a medium twists the plurality of media images input from the plurality of image scan sensors in turn. Since the degree is calculated and each media image is rotated, the time required for rotation becomes long. That is, when one central processing apparatus processes and recognizes a plurality of media images, the plurality of media images are processed one by one, so that processing time is long until all media images are processed and recognized. As a result, the transaction processing time of the financial device is long, which causes inconvenience to the user.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an image processing apparatus and method for reducing the time required to rotate a plurality of media images.

An image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a processing memory; A plurality of image sensors for acquiring and recording a media image into the processing memory; A processing unit for calculating a degree of twist of the media image acquired by each of the plurality of image sensors; Each of the plurality of image rotating parts corresponding to the plurality of image sensors, the media image obtained by the corresponding image sensor being read from the processing memory, and rotating based on the degree of twisting; The hardware is separate from the image rotation.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing an image, the method including: obtaining a plurality of media images through a plurality of image sensors and storing the plurality of media images in a processing memory; Calculating, via a processing unit, each twist degree of the plurality of media images stored in the processing memory; And rotating each of the plurality of media images through a plurality of image rotations, based on each degree of twist of the plurality of media images, wherein the processing unit is hardware separate from the plurality of image rotations. .

The processing unit is dedicated to the calculation of the torsion of the media image, and the plurality of image rotators directly access the memory to acquire and rotate the media image, so that one processing unit is responsible for both the torsion calculation and the media image rotation. The total time taken for the rotation of can be greatly reduced. This may shorten the service time of the financial device, and may provide an effect of improving user convenience.

1 is a perspective view of a financial device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a block diagram of a financial device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view schematically showing a discriminating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view schematically showing the operation of the discriminating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to exemplary drawings. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the drawings, the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference symbols as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the difference that the embodiments of the present invention are not conclusive.

In describing the components of the embodiment of the present invention, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are intended to distinguish the constituent elements from other constituent elements, and the terms do not limit the nature, order or order of the constituent elements. When a component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "connected" to another component, the component may be directly connected or connected to the other component, Quot; may be "connected," "coupled," or "connected. &Quot;

A financial device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be a financial device that obtains various media such as banknotes, securities (including checks), giro, coins, gift certificates, etc. and processes and / or withdraws such as deposits, Such as processing such as issuance of paper money, release of paper money, release of gift certificate, and the like. Examples of such financial instruments include an automated teller machine (ATM) such as a cash dispenser (CD), a cash recycling machine, and the like. However, the financial instrument is not limited to the above-described example, and may be various devices for automating the financial business such as FIS (Financial Information System).

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described on the assumption that the financial instrument is a financial automatic instrument. However, this assumption is only for convenience of explanation, and the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the financial automation equipment.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a financial instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a financial instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the financial device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention may communicate with a host server 2. The financial instrument 1 can transmit financial processing information to the host server 2 and receive customer information or the like from the host server 2. [ The host server 2 may store the financial transaction information received from the financial institution 1.

The financial instrument (1) includes a main body (10) having a plurality of parts built therein. The main body 10 includes a media input / output unit 13 capable of depositing or withdrawing banknotes and checks together.

The media input / output unit 13 includes a media storage space accessible by a customer, and the storage space can be opened and closed by a closure member such as a shutter or a cover, As shown in Fig. A plurality of banknotes and a plurality of checks may be simultaneously inserted into the media input / That is, the media input / output unit 13 serves as a common input / output unit for bill and check, and can input one or more kinds of banknotes and checks to the media input / output unit 13 in a bundle unit including a single sheet. Further, one or more kinds of banknotes and checks may be discharged to the media input / output unit 13 in units of bundles. The bill and the check may be input to the media input / output unit 13 in the same direction or may be extracted from the media input / output unit 13. Further, the bill and the check can be deposited regardless of the direction of the front and back of the bill and the check. Of course, the media input / output unit 13 may include separating means for separating the inputted bundle of banknotes or checks in a sheet-by-sheet manner.

Here, the fact that the bill and the check are inserted or extracted in the same direction means that the bill and the check are inserted or extracted in the lateral direction or the longitudinal direction. The lateral direction means a direction parallel to the short side of the banknote or check, and the longitudinal direction means a direction parallel to the long side of the banknote or check. The fact that the bills and the checks are independent of the front-back direction of the check means that the bills and the front face or the back face of the check do not matter whether they face upward or not.

The financial instrument 1 further includes a passbook entry / exit section 14 for entering and leaving a passbook, a card entry / exit section 15 for entering / leaving the card, and a customer display section 16 capable of displaying financial processing information .

The financial instrument 1 may further include a distinguishing unit 20. The distinguishing unit 20 can identify the type of medium or identify a defective medium when storing or withdrawing the medium. In the present embodiment, the discriminating unit 20 can discriminate between the state of a bill and the state of a check. Between the media input / output unit 13 and the discrimination unit 20, a transfer unit 19 for transferring bills and checks in common may be disposed. The discrimination unit 20 may include at least one of an optical character reader (OCR) and a magnetic ink character reader (MICR).

The financial instrument 1 may further include a paper currency temporary accumulation unit 30 in which bank notes are temporarily accumulated. The banknote temporary accumulation unit 30 temporarily stores the banknotes stored through the media input / output unit 13 when the customer intends to deposit banknotes into the financial instrument 1. [ The banknotes accumulated in the banknote temporary accumulation unit 30 are transferred to the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 to be described later when the customer finally decides to store banknotes.

The financial instrument 1 may further include a media storage box 40 for storing media. The media storage 40 may include one or more banknote storage boxes 41, 42, 43 and one or more check storage boxes 44. In this specification, it is noted that the number of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42, 43 and the check storage box 44 is not limited.

In the bill holders 41, 42 and 43, a media inlet for introducing the transferred bills and a media outlet for ejecting bills accumulated in the bill holders 41, 42 and 43 to the outside are formed. Can be. In general, the media inlet and the media outlet may be formed at the upper end of a box constituting the external appearance of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43.

In addition, in the inside of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43, media collecting means for collecting banknotes transferred from the outside of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 side by side, And a pick-up means for transferring the media to the outside of the storage boxes 41, 42 and 43. That is, the banknotes stored in the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 can be discharged to the outside, and the deposited banknotes can be stored in the banknote storage box. Specific configurations of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42, and 43 may be implemented with known configurations. In this specification, it is noted that the structure of the banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43, whether the banknotes can be discharged and whether or not the banknotes can be deposited are not limited to the examples described above.

The banknote storage box 40 may be formed to be long in a direction parallel to the gravity direction so that the medium can be accumulated in the gravitational direction and may be disposed in the lower portion of the inside of the financial device 1. [ When a plurality of banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 are provided in the financial instrument 1, a plurality of banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 may be arranged in a horizontal direction. As another example, the plurality of banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 may be arranged in the vertical direction.

The check deposit box 44 may be disposed horizontally with the plurality of banknote storage boxes 41, 42 and 43. As another example, the check deposit box 44 may be disposed in the vertical direction together with the plurality of banknote storage boxes 41, 42, and 43. The check deposit box 44 may store a check for withdrawal. The structure of the check deposit box 44 will be described later with reference to the drawings.

The financial instrument 1 may further include a check deposit box 54. The checks deposited in the check deposit box 54 may be stored normally. The check deposit box 54 and the check deposit box 44 may be separate separate modules. As another example, the check deposit box 54 and the check deposit box 44 are provided in a single storage box, but a space inside a single storage box stores a check for depositing and a check for withdrawal is stored As shown in Fig.

The banknote 1 includes a first collection box 50 in which a banknote or check determined to be defective in the depositing process is stored and a second collection box 50 in which a banknote or check determined to be defective in the withdrawal process is stored 52), and a collecting replenishment (60). The first collecting box 52 and the second collecting box 52 are provided in a plurality of numbers, respectively, and can be used as a check collecting box and a paper money collecting box, respectively.

The recovery replenishment unit 60 replenishes paper money or checks to the paper currency storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 or the check storage box 44 or replaces the paper currency notes or check from the paper currency storage boxes 41, 42 and 43 or the check storage box 44, Or withdraw the check. Alternatively, the financial instrument 1 may further include a third collection box (not shown) in which the non-receiving medium is collected when the customer has taken the medium discharged to the media input / output unit 13 for withdrawal .

In the financial instrument 1 of the present invention, the collection boxes 50 and 52 and the collection box 60 may be omitted. Further, there is no limitation on the number of the collection boxes (50, 52) and the collection box 60.

Although not shown, the financial instrument 1 may further include a staff operation unit for the staff member to confirm the status information of the financial instrument 1 or to input a command. The yard operation part may be provided on the rear part of the financial instrument 1 as an example. The yard operation unit may include a display unit for inputting a command by a touch method and displaying a screen, or an input unit for inputting a command and a display unit for displaying information. Since the yaw operation portion structure can be implemented by a known technique, a detailed description will be omitted.

3 is a view schematically showing a discriminating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the discriminating unit 20 includes a plurality of image sensors 21, a plurality of image sensor controllers 22a, a plurality of image rotating units 22b, a processing unit 23, and a processing memory 24. It includes.

The plurality of image sensors 21 respectively acquire a plurality of media images. Each of the plurality of image sensors 21 acquires a media image and directly accesses the processing memory 24 using direct memory access (DMA) technology, thereby providing a direct memory access area of the processing memory 24. The acquired media image can be recorded.

The plurality of image sensors 21 may obtain a plurality of media images for one medium. The plurality of image sensors 21 may be disposed in the discriminating unit 20 so as to obtain a plurality of media images for one medium. Some of the plurality of image sensors 21 may acquire a media image of the front side of one medium, and others of the plurality of image sensors 21 may acquire a media image of the back side of one medium.

Each of the plurality of image sensors 21 may acquire an image of the front or back side of the medium. Each of the plurality of image sensors 21 may have a type.

In one embodiment, one of some of the plurality of image sensors 21 may have a first type, and the other of some of the plurality of image sensors 21 may have a second type. One of the other of the plurality of image sensors 21 may have a first type, and the other of the other of the plurality of image sensors may have a second type. An image sensor having a first type may acquire a media image using visible light, and an image sensor having a second type may acquire a media image using infrared light.

For example, if the discriminating unit 20 has four image sensors 21, the first image sensor and the second image sensor have a type of acquiring images using visible light, and the third image sensor and the fourth image. The sensor has a type of acquiring an image using infrared rays, the first image sensor and the third image sensor acquire an image of the front side of the medium, and the second image sensor and the fourth image sensor acquire an image of the back side of the medium. can do.

If the plurality of image sensors 21 acquires an image of one medium, the images may be acquired at a parallax without acquiring images simultaneously.

The plurality of image sensor controllers 22a and the plurality of image rotating parts 22b may be implemented as one chip, two or more chips, or may be implemented as separate chips. In this case, the chip may be a field programmable gate array (FPGA) 22.

The processing unit 23 may be hardware separate from the plurality of image sensor controllers 22a and the plurality of image rotating parts 22b.

When the plurality of image sensor controllers 22a and the plurality of image rotating parts 22b are implemented as one chip, the chips may be hardware separate from the processing unit 23.

The plurality of image sensor controllers 22a respectively correspond to the plurality of image sensors 21. Each of the plurality of image sensor controllers 22a controls the media image acquisition of the corresponding image sensor. Each of the plurality of image sensor controllers 22a controls media image acquisition of the corresponding image sensor so that the corresponding image sensor acquires the media image, and direct memory access (DMA) technology to the processing memory 24. Direct access using the data recording medium to record the acquired media image in the direct memory access area of the processing memory 24.

The processing unit 23 calculates the degree of twist of the media image acquired by each of the plurality of image sensors 21 and provides information about the calculated degree of twist to the image rotating part corresponding to the image sensor. When more than a certain size of the total size of one medium is recorded in the processing memory 24, the processing unit 23 may analyze the media image of the predetermined size to calculate the degree of twist of the media image. When the processing unit 23 has a single core, when a certain size or more of the total size of one media image is recorded in the processing memory 24 and the processing unit 23 is not calculating the degree of twist of the other media image The processing unit 23 may analyze the media image of the constant size to calculate the degree of twist of the media image. The processing unit 23 may sequentially calculate the degree of twist of the plurality of media images acquired by the plurality of image sensors 21.

The plurality of image rotating parts 22b respectively correspond to the plurality of image sensors 21. Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b rotates the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor. In this case, each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b may rotate the media image based on the degree of twist calculated by the processing unit 23. The plurality of image rotating parts 22b respectively rotate the plurality of media images acquired by the plurality of image sensors 21 in parallel. Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b may rotate the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor while the other image rotating part rotates the media image. Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b reads part or all of the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor by directly accessing the DMA area of the processing memory 24, and processes part or all of the read media image in the processing unit. It rotates based on the degree of twist calculated by (23), and part or all of the rotated media image can be directly accessed and recorded in the DMA area of the processing memory 23. In this way, rotation of the media image does not raise the utilization of the processing unit 23. That is, the processing unit 23 may not be involved in the rotation of the media image but may be dedicated to the torsion calculation.

Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b may read and rotate the entire media image from the processing memory 24, but the processing memory 24 may process the media image in units of blocks or lines even before the entire media image is obtained. You can also read from and rotate.

Processing memory 24 may be volatile memory. In particular, the processing memory 24 may be a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Processing memory 24 may be main memory that is directly accessed by processing unit 23.

4 is a view schematically showing the operation of the discriminating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the plurality of image sensors 21 acquires a plurality of media images with a parallax, the plurality of media images are recorded with a parallax in the processing memory 24 as well.

In FIG. 4, it is assumed that when 25% of the entire media image is obtained, the processing unit 23 can calculate the degree of twist with that 25% media image.

Thus, when 25% of the CIS1 media image is written to the processing memory 24, the processing unit 23 starts calculating the degree of twist of the CIS1 media image.

On the other hand, immediately after 25% of the CIS2 media image is recorded in the processing memory 24, the processing unit 23 calculates the degree of twist of the CIS1 media image, and thus until the completion of the calculation of the degree of twist of the CIS1 media image, the CIS2 media image is completed. Can not calculate the degree of torsion.

As shown in FIG. 4, the processing unit 23 is dedicated to the calculation of the degree of twisting of the media image, the plurality of image rotators 22b are responsible for rotating the media image, and the plurality of image rotators 22b are responsible for the DMA. By accessing the memory by using the above, the total time required can be greatly reduced as compared to the case where one processing unit 23 is responsible for both twisting calculation and media image rotation. This may shorten the service time of the financial device, and may provide an effect of improving user convenience.

5 is a flowchart illustrating an image processing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The plurality of image sensors 21 respectively acquire a plurality of media images and record them in the processing memory 24 (S101). The plurality of image sensors 21 may acquire a plurality of media images with a parallax.

The processing unit 23 calculates the degree of twist of each of the plurality of media images stored in the processing memory 24 (S103). When more than a certain size of the total size of one media image is recorded in the processing memory 24 and the processing unit 23 is not calculating the degree of twist of the other media image, the processing unit 23 is the media of that size. The image may be analyzed to calculate the degree of distortion of the media image.

Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b reads part or all of the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor by directly accessing the DMA area of the processing memory 23 (S105).

Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b rotates part or all of the read media image based on the degree of twist calculated by the processing unit 23 (S107).

Each of the plurality of image rotating parts 22b records part or all of the rotated media image by directly accessing the DMA area of the processing memory 23 (S109).

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. That is, within the scope of the present invention, all of the components may be selectively coupled to one or more of them. In addition, although all of the components may be implemented as one independent hardware, some or all of the components may be selectively combined to perform a part or all of the functions in one or a plurality of hardware. As shown in FIG. The codes and code segments constituting the computer program may be easily deduced by those skilled in the art. Such a computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, readable and executed by a computer, thereby realizing an embodiment of the present invention. As the storage medium of the computer program, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, a carrier wave medium, or the like may be included.

Furthermore, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or "having" described above mean that a component can be implanted unless otherwise specifically stated, But should be construed as including other elements. All terms, including technical and scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used terms, such as predefined terms, should be interpreted to be consistent with the contextual meanings of the related art, and are not to be construed as ideal or overly formal, unless expressly defined to the contrary.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas falling within the scope of the same shall be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

Processing memory;
A plurality of image sensors for acquiring and recording a media image into the processing memory;
A processing unit for calculating a degree of twist of the media image acquired by each of the plurality of image sensors;
A plurality of image rotating parts respectively corresponding to the plurality of image sensors and rotating based on the degree of twisting after reading the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor from the processing memory;
The processing unit is hardware separate from the plurality of image rotations,
The processing unit sequentially calculates the degree of twist of the media image acquired by each of the plurality of image sensors,
The plurality of image rotating units rotate the plurality of media images obtained by the plurality of image sensors in parallel, respectively.
Each image rotation unit rotates the media image while the rotation of the other media image is performed,
The plurality of image rotating parts are implemented in one chip
Image processing device. The method of claim 1,
Each of the plurality of image rotating parts
Read part or all of the media image acquired by the corresponding image sensor in direct access to the processing memory,
Rotate part or all of the read media image based on the degree of twist calculated by the processing unit,
To record part or all of the rotated media image in direct access to the processing memory
Image processing device. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The one chip
A plurality of image sensor controllers respectively corresponding to the plurality of image sensors;
Each of the plurality of image sensor controllers controls acquisition of a media image of a corresponding image sensor.
Image processing device. The method of claim 1,
The one chip is a field programmable gate array
Image processing device. The method of claim 1,
The plurality of image sensors acquire a media image of one medium.
Image processing device. 8. The method of claim 7,
Some of the plurality of image sensors acquire a media image of the front side of the one medium,
The rest of the plurality of image sensors to obtain a media image of the back of the one medium
Image processing device. 9. The method of claim 8,
One of the plurality of image sensors has a first type,
Another one of some of the plurality of image sensors has a second type,
One of the other of the plurality of image sensors has a first type,
The other one of the other of the plurality of image sensors has a second type
Image processing device. A method of processing an image by an image processing apparatus,
Acquiring and storing the plurality of media images in the processing memory through the plurality of image sensors;
Calculating, via a processing unit, each twist degree of the plurality of media images stored in the processing memory; And
Rotating each of the plurality of media images through a plurality of image rotation units based on each degree of twist of the plurality of media images,
The processing unit is hardware separate from the plurality of image rotations,
The processing unit sequentially calculates the degree of twist of the media image acquired by each of the plurality of image sensors,
The plurality of image rotating units rotate the plurality of media images obtained by the plurality of image sensors in parallel, respectively.
Each image rotation unit rotates the media image while the rotation of the other media image is performed,
The plurality of image rotating parts are implemented in one chip
Image processing method. 11. The method of claim 10,
Rotating the plurality of media images
Read some or all of each media image by accessing the processing memory directly,
Rotate part or all of the read media image based on the degree of twist calculated by the processing unit,
To record part or all of the rotated media image in direct access to the processing memory
Image processing method.

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