Method and apparatus for improved coin, bill and other currency acceptance and slug or counterfeit rejection

A money validation apparatus having a means for comparing tested item data to item acceptance criteria having an outer limit to validate an inserted item as a genuine item, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit items, comprising:

• means for defining anti-cheat criteria suitable for sensing a counterfeit item that has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance criteria;
• means for testing an item and generating characteristic data;
• means for comparing the item characteristic data to the anti-cheat criteria;
• means for adjusting the acceptance criteria for the genuine item to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit items if the characteristic data for the inserted item is within the anti-cheat criteria;
• and
• means for utilizing the adjusted acceptance criteria to test a subsequently inserted item.

A coin validation apparatus which utilizes acceptance criteria having an outer limit to validate an inserted item as a genuine coin, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeits, comprising:

• an inductive sensor for sensing data corresponding to at least one coin characteristic;
• a processing and control circuit connected to the sensor for defining anti-cheat criteria suitable for sensing a counterfeit item that has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance criteria, for adjusting the acceptance criteria to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit items, for readjusting the acceptance criteria and for controlling system operation;
• a memory connected to the processing and control circuit for storing the anti-cheat criteria and the acceptance criteria;
• comparison circuitry for comparing sensed data from a tested item to the acceptance criteria and to the anti-cheat criteria;
• and
• gating means under control of said processing and control circuit for accepting coins whose data matches the acceptance criteria.

A method for operating a self-tuning money validator, which uses acceptance windows that have an outer limit to validate inserted items, to prevent tracking of the acceptance windows toward counterfeit money distributions, comprising:

• defining an anti-cheat window suitable for sensing counterfeit items which has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of an acceptance window for each item type;
• testing an item and generating characteristic data;
• comparing the characteristic data to the anti-cheat windows;
• adjusting the acceptance window for an item type to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit items if the characteristic data falls within an anti-cheat window corresponding to that item type;
• and
• using the adjusted acceptance window to validate subsequently inserted items.

A method of operating a self-tuning coin validator which utilizes at least one acceptance window having an outer limit for each coin type to be validated, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit coins, comprising:

• defining an anti-cheat window suitable for sensing counterfeit coins which has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance criteria for each coin type;
• testing an item and generating characteristic data;
• comparing the characteristic data to the anti-cheat windows;
• adjusting the acceptance window of a coin type to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit items if the characteristic data falls within an anti-cheat window for that coin type;
• and
• utilizing the adjusted acceptance window to test subsequently inserted items.

A method of operating a self-tuning banknote validator which utilizes at least one acceptance window having an outer limit for each banknote type to be validated, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit banknotes, comprising:

• defining an anti-cheat window suitable for sensing counterfeit banknotes which has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance criteria for each banknote;
• testing an inserted item and generating characteristic data;
• comparing the characteristic data to the anti-cheat windows;
• adjusting the acceptance window of a banknote type to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit banknotes if the characteristic data falls within an anti-cheat window for that banknote type;
• and
• utilizing the adjusted acceptance window to test subsequently inserted items.

A self-tuning coin validator, which uses coin acceptance windows having an outer limit to validate different coin types, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit coins, comprising:

• means for defining an anti-cheat window for each coin type suitable for sensing counterfeit coins which has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance window;
• sensor means for testing an inserted item and for generating characteristic data;
• comparison means for comparing the characteristic data to the anti-cheat windows;
• means for adjusting an acceptance window for a coin type to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit coins if the characteristic data falls within an anti-cheat window for that coin type;
• and
• means for utilizing the adjusted acceptance window to test subsequently inserted items.

A self-tuning banknote validator, which uses banknote acceptance windows having an outer limit to validate different banknote types, to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit banknotes, comprising:

• means for defining an anti-cheat window for each banknote type suitable for sensing counterfeit banknotes which has a parameter falling close to the outer limit of the acceptance window;
• sensor means for testing an inserted item and for generating characteristic data;
• comparison means for comparing the characteristic data to the anti-cheat windows;
• means for adjusting an acceptance window for a banknote type to reduce the acceptance of counterfeit banknotes if the characteristic data falls within an anti-cheat window for that banknote type;
• and
• means for utilizing the adjusted acceptance window to test subsequently inserted items.