WO2010109819A1

WO2010109819A1 - Banknote discrimination device

Info

Publication number: WO2010109819A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/001924
Authority: WO
Inventors: 近藤崇
Original assignee: サンデン株式会社
Priority date: 2009-03-24
Filing date: 2010-03-18
Publication date: 2010-09-30
Also published as: JP2010224929A; JP5281451B2

Abstract

A banknote discrimination device allowing light amount adjustment processing to be performed easily while the device is being used. A banknote discrimination device is provided with: a light emitting element for applying light to an inserted banknote; a light receiving element for receiving the light transmitted through or reflected by the inserted banknote; and a control section which, after causing either the amount of the light emitted from the light emitting element or the amount of the light received by the light receiving element to be set to a predetermined amount at a predetermined timing, performs adjustment so that the other amount is within a predetermined range.

Description

Bill recognition device

The present invention relates to a banknote recognition device used in a vending machine or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of banknote identification device, a device including a light emitting means for irradiating light to an inserted banknote and a light receiving means for receiving light transmitted through or reflected by the inserted banknote is known (for example, a patent). Reference 1).

In this bill recognition device, for example, in order to prevent variation in detection characteristics of light due to individual differences or the like, light is emitted from the light emitting means to a reference paper having a predetermined transmittance or reflectance. A process of adjusting the amount of light so that the amount of light received by the light receiving means is within a predetermined range in the irradiated state is performed at the time of shipment.

JP-A-8-180238

By the way, the light emitting means or the light receiving means may be deteriorated in light emission accuracy or light detection accuracy due to a change in characteristics of the light emitting means or the light receiving means in accordance with a change in the installation environment of the bill recognition device. In this case, it is necessary for an operator or the like to perform light amount adjustment processing similar to that at the time of shipment. However, in the conventional example, complicated work such as performing light amount adjustment processing using a reference sheet is required. There was a risk that it would be less convenient during operation.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, The place made into the objective is to provide the banknote identification device which can perform a light quantity adjustment process easily at the time of operation.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light emitting means for irradiating the inserted bill with light, a light receiving means for receiving the light transmitted through or reflected by the inserted bill, and the light emitting means at a predetermined timing. And a control unit that adjusts the light quantity of the other light quantity and the light quantity received by the light-receiving means so that the other light quantity falls within a predetermined range.

As a result, after either one of the light amount emitted from the light emitting unit and the light amount received by the light receiving unit is set to a predetermined amount at a predetermined timing, the other light amount is adjusted to be within a predetermined range. Therefore, the light amount adjustment process can be automatically performed at a predetermined timing.

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of light can be adjusted automatically at a predetermined timing. For example, the operator can perform dimming processing using the reference paper at the time of shipment and after installation of the banknote recognition device. Complicated work such as performing is unnecessary. Therefore, the light amount adjustment process can be easily performed during operation, and the convenience for the operator can be improved. In addition, it is possible to reduce the work time for adjusting the light quantity at the time of product shipment.

Sectional drawing of the banknote identification device which shows one Embodiment of this invention 1 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. The figure which shows the control system structure which concerns on light quantity adjustment Flow chart showing the operation of the control unit for light intensity adjustment The figure which shows the time change of light emission quantity and light reception quantity

1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a bill recognition device, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit related to light amount adjustment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing temporal changes in the light emission amount and the light reception amount.

First, the mechanism of the banknote recognition device will be described with reference to FIGS.

1 and 2 includes a main frame 10, a base box 20, a front chute 30, a bill transport unit 40, a rear chute 50, a mask 60, and a bill storage cassette 70. I have.

The base box 20 has a box shape with an upper surface and a rear surface opened, and the front surface is fixed to the lower rear surface of the main frame 10. The base box 20 includes a vertically long rectangular banknote storage plate 21 for pushing inserted banknotes into the banknote storage cassette 70, a link mechanism 22 for moving the banknote storage plate 21 back and forth, a motor, a reduction gear, Storage drive means (not shown) having a drive lever, and a rear chute shaft support hole (not shown) provided on the left and right sides of the upper rear side so that the center line thereof faces in the left-right direction. .

The link mechanism 22 has a pair of left and right upper links 22a whose upper ends are rotatably connected to the bill storage plate 21 and whose lower ends are rotatably connected to the base box 20, and each upper end is a base box. 20, a pair of left and right lower links 22b that are rotatably connected to the bill storage plate 21, and an operation shaft 22c that is common to the upper link 22a and the lower link 22b. Have. A drive lever of a storage drive means is engaged with the operation shaft 22c. As the drive lever moves back and forth, the link mechanism 22 changes its form and translates the bill storage plate 21 back and forth.

The entire front chute 30 has a substantially rectangular shape, and its front surface is fixed to the upper rear surface of the main frame 10. The front chute 30 has an upper curved part 31 projecting to the rear side, a lower curved part 32 projecting to the front side, and is rotatable at intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a part thereof is exposed to the rear side. A total of four rollers 33, a bill transport unit mounting portion (not shown), and a substrate 34 provided on the lower front side, a part of which is exposed to the rear side. And a light emitting element 35.

Further, of the four rollers 33 in total, the two rollers 33 on the right side correspond to the upper and lower positions on the front side of the endless belt 43 on the right side of the banknote transport unit 40, and the exposed portions thereof contact the endless belt 43. The two rollers 33 on the left side correspond to the upper and lower positions on the front side of the endless belt 43 on the left side of the banknote transport unit 40 and the exposed portions are in contact with the endless belt 43.

The entire bill transport unit 40 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is detachably attached to the bill transport unit mounting portion of the front chute 30. The banknote transport unit 40 includes a unit main body 41, a pulley 42 rotatably provided on the upper left and right of the unit main body 41, a pulley 42 rotatably provided on the lower left and right of the unit main body 41 through a common rotation shaft, The two pulleys 42 on the left side, the two endless belts 43 wound around the two pulleys 42 on the right side, and the lower pulley 42 on the left side are coaxially connected so as to face both sides of the bill PM in the width direction. The driven gear (not shown) and the substrate 44 provided on the front side in the unit main body 41 are provided such that a part thereof is exposed to the front side and faces the light emitting elements 35 of the front chute 30. In addition, a total of two light receiving elements 45 and a total of six light receiving elements 47 provided on the substrate 46 provided on the rear side in the unit main body 41 so that a part thereof is exposed on the rear side. A has.

The entire rear chute 50 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The rear chute 50 includes a curved portion 51 protruding to the front side, a total of four rollers 52 provided so as to be rotatable at intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, and a part of which is exposed to the front side, A total of six light emitting elements 54 provided so as to be partially exposed to the front side of the substrate 53 provided on the inner front side and facing each light receiving element 47 of the banknote transport unit 40, a motor, Conveying drive means (not shown) having a reduction gear and a drive gear, support pieces 55 provided on the left and right sides of the lower surface, and shafts provided on the support pieces 55 so that their center lines are directed in the left-right direction. Part 55a. The rear chute 50 is attached to the base box 20 so that the left and right shaft portions 55a are rotatably inserted into the left and right shaft support holes of the base box 20, and can be opened and closed by a rotating operation with the shaft support point as a fulcrum. Yes.

Further, of the four rollers 52 in total, the two rollers 52 on the right side correspond to the upper and lower positions on the rear side of the endless belt 43 on the right side of the banknote transport unit 40, and the exposed portions contact the endless belt 43. The two rollers 52 on the left side correspond to the upper and lower positions on the rear side of the endless belt 43 on the left side of the banknote transport unit 40, and the exposed portions are in contact with the endless belt 43. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower left and right two rollers 52 are rotatably provided on the protruding piece 50b, and each center line is substantially the same as the center line of the lower two left and right pulleys 42. At the same height, each roller 52 can hold the inserted banknotes in cooperation with the left and right endless belts 43.

Furthermore, the drive gear of the transport drive means meshes with the driven gear of the banknote transport unit 40 with the rear chute 50 closed. That is, each endless belt 43 of the banknote transport unit 40 rotates in a predetermined direction based on the rotational force transmitted from the drive gear of the transport drive means to the driven gear of the banknote transport unit 40 to transport the banknote.

The mask 60 has a box shape with an open rear surface, and the rear surface is fixed to the front surface of the main frame 10. The mask 60 includes a horizontally long bill insertion slot 61 extending from the front surface to the rear surface, and a curved portion 62 projecting rearward from the rear end lower portion of the bill insertion slot 61.

The banknote storage cassette 70 has a box shape with an upper surface and a front surface opened, and is detachably attached to the base box 20. The banknote storage cassette 70 includes a vertically long rail 71 provided on the left and right of the front opening, and a vertically long rectangular cassette that is slightly larger in the left-right width than the left-right distance between the rails 71 and is disposed on the rear side of the rails 71. A plate 72, a truncated conical coil spring 73 that urges the cassette plate 72 forward, a hook lever (not shown) for mounting and releasing the bill storage cassette 70 in the base box 20, and the hook lever And a notch 74 for operating from the rear side.

In the banknote identification device described above, when the rear chute 50 is in the closed position, the banknote transport unit 40 is in a state where the front and rear thereof are sandwiched between the front chute 30 and the rear chute 50, and the upper bending portion 31 and the bending portion. Due to the presence of 51, an inverted U-shaped bill passage BP (see FIG. 2) including a boundary surface between each endless belt 43 and each

roller

33, 52 is formed around the bill transport unit 40. The front lower end of the banknote passage BP communicates with the rear end of the banknote insertion slot 61 via the curved portion 62 of the mask 60.

Next, a control system configuration relating to the light amount adjustment of the banknote recognition apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

The banknote recognition apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 101 including a computer having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and light emission that transmits a drive signal to each of the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 based on a control signal from the control unit 101. And a detector 103 that converts the detection signals of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 into signals that can be handled by the control unit 101 and sends the signals to the control unit 101.

Each

light emitting element

35, 54 is formed of a light emitting diode or the like, and irradiates the inserted bill with light based on a drive signal of the light emitting driver 102. Each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 includes a photodiode, a phototransistor, and the like. When receiving light transmitted through the inserted bill, the amount of received light is sent to the detector 103 as a detection signal. Each light emitting element 35 and each light receiving element 45 are used to determine that a bill has been inserted, and each light emitting element 54 and each light receiving element 47 determine the authenticity and denomination of the bill. It is used to do.

The memory (not shown) of the control unit 101 stores a program related to bill conveyance, data necessary for control of bill conveyance, and the like. In addition, the control unit 101 according to the present embodiment sends a control signal to the light emission driver 102 and the detector 103 and executes a program related to banknote transport based on a signal input from the detector 103 to perform the desired banknote transport. Do. Further, the control unit 101 performs a light amount adjustment process described later at a predetermined timing.

When receiving the control signal from the control unit 101, the light emitting driver 102 sends a current having a preset magnitude as a drive signal to each of the

light emitting elements

35 and 54. In addition, when the light emitting driver 102 receives a predetermined light emission amount adjustment signal from the control unit 101, the light emitting driver 102 causes a current smaller than normal, that is, a current smaller than a preset current to flow through each of the

light emitting elements

35 and 54. The amount of light emitted from each light emitting

element

35, 54 can be set to a predetermined amount lower than usual.

The detector 103 includes a well-known amplifier circuit, A / D conversion circuit, and the like. When the detection signal of each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 is received, the detector 103 converts the detection signal into a signal that can be handled by the control unit 101 and then the control unit 101. To send. In addition, when the detector 103 receives a predetermined light reception amount adjustment signal from the control unit 101, the detector 103 amplifies or attenuates the detection signal of each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 to thereby receive the amount of light received by each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47. Can be adjusted. The light amount adjusted by the detector 103 is sent to the control unit 101 after being converted into a signal that can be handled by the control unit 101.

Below, in the banknote identification device which concerns on this embodiment, the operation | movement at the time of adjusting the light quantity of each light emitting

element

35,54 and each light receiving

element

45,47 is demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4, and FIG. .

First, at a predetermined timing (step S1), the control unit 101 sets the amount of light emitted from each light emitting

element

35, 54 to a predetermined value (step S2). Here, the predetermined timing is a timing such as when the power is turned on, when a banknote abnormality occurs or every predetermined time has elapsed, and it is possible to arbitrarily set at which timing the processing after step S2 is performed. Further, the control unit 101 transmits a predetermined light emission amount adjustment signal to the light emission driver 102. On the other hand, when the light emission driver 102 receives the light emission amount adjustment signal (ta in FIG. 5A), the light emission driver 102 irradiates the

light emission elements

35 and 54 with a smaller current than normal. Is set to a predetermined amount (Xb in FIG. 5A) lower than normal (Xa in FIG. 5A). It is preferable that the predetermined amount (Xb) is set approximately equal to the amount of light transmitted or reflected through the inserted banknote.

Next, the control unit 101 adjusts the amount of light until the amount of light received by each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 falls within a predetermined range (steps S3 and S4). More specifically, the control unit 101 transmits a predetermined received light amount adjustment signal to the detector 103. On the other hand, when the detector 103 receives the received light amount adjustment signal, the detector 103 amplifies or attenuates the respective detection signals of the respective

light receiving elements

45 and 47 to adjust the amount of light received by each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47. The control unit 101 determines the light amount adjusted by the detector 103, and repeats the processes of steps S3 and S4 until the light amount falls within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ light receiving amount ≧ Yb in FIG. 5B).

Then, when the received light amount falls within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ received light amount ≧ Yb in FIG. 5B) (tb in FIG. 5B), the control unit 101 sends the control signal to the light emitting driver 102. And the amount of light emitted from each of the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 is set to a normal value (Xa in FIG. 5A) (step S5).

In this manner, after the light amount emitted from each light emitting

element

35, 54 is set to a predetermined amount (Xb) at a predetermined timing, the light amount of each light receiving

element

45, 47 is within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ light reception). (Amount ≧ Yb), the light amount adjustment process can be automatically performed at a predetermined timing.

As described above, according to the banknote identification device according to the present embodiment, the light amount can be automatically adjusted at a predetermined timing. For example, the operator uses the reference paper at the time of shipment and after installation of the banknote identification device. Complicated work such as dimming processing becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the light amount adjustment process can be easily performed during operation, and the convenience for the operator can be improved.

Further, the control unit 101 sets the light amount emitted from the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 to a predetermined amount (Xb) lower than normal (Xa) at a predetermined timing, and then the light amounts of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 are set. Since the adjustment is made to be within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ light receiving amount ≧ Yb), even when the bill is not inserted, for example, the light amount of each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 based on the transmitted light amount or the reflected light amount when the bill is inserted. Can be adjusted, and the adjustment accuracy of the light quantity can be improved.

Further, the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 or the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 are provided in plural, and the control unit 101 sets the amount of light emitted from each of the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 to a predetermined amount (Xb) at a predetermined timing. After that, the light amounts of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 are adjusted so as to be within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ light receiving amount ≧ Yb), so that the light amount adjustment of each element can be performed collectively, and the light amount adjustment processing Efficiency can be improved.

In addition, the said embodiment is only a specific example of this invention, and this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the light amount adjustment process is automatically performed using the light emitting driver 102 and the detector 103, but the light amount adjustment process may be manually performed using a variable resistor or the like. . In the above embodiment, each of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 is configured to receive the transmitted light of the inserted banknote, but may be configured to receive the reflected light of the inserted banknote.

Further, in the above embodiment, after the light amounts emitted from the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 are set to a predetermined amount (Xb), the light amounts of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 are within a predetermined range (Ya ≧ light receiving amount ≧ Yb), but after the light amounts of the

light receiving elements

45 and 47 are set to a predetermined amount, the light amounts irradiated from the

light emitting elements

35 and 54 are within a predetermined range. You may adjust.

Since the adjustment of the amount of light can be automatically performed at a predetermined timing, it is suitable as a banknote identification device having excellent workability related to the adjustment of the amount of light during operation or product shipment.

35, 54 ... Light emitting element, 45, 47 ... Light receiving element, 101 ... Control unit, 102 ... Light emitting driver, 103 ... Detector.

Claims

A light emitting means for irradiating the inserted bill with light;
A light receiving means for receiving light transmitted through or reflected by the inserted bill;
Control means for adjusting one of the light quantity emitted from the light emitting means and the light quantity received by the light receiving means to a predetermined amount at a predetermined timing, and adjusting the other light quantity to be within a predetermined range; A bill discriminating apparatus comprising:
The control means includes
The light amount of the light receiving unit is adjusted to be within a predetermined range after the light amount irradiated from the light emitting unit is set to a predetermined amount lower than normal at the predetermined timing. Banknote recognition device.
A plurality of the light emitting means;
The control means
At one of the predetermined timings, one of the light amount emitted from each light emitting unit and the light amount received by the light receiving unit is set to a predetermined amount, and then the other light amount is adjusted to be within a predetermined range. The banknote identification device according to claim 1.
A plurality of the light receiving means;
The control means
At one of the predetermined timings, after setting one of the light amount emitted from the light emitting means and the light amount received by each light receiving means to a predetermined amount, the other light amount is adjusted to be within a predetermined range. The banknote identification device according to claim 1.