US 6,636,624 B2 · Method and apparatus for currency discrimination and counting · patentgrep

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Abstract

An improved method and apparatus for discriminating between currency bills of different denominations uses an optical sensing and correlation technique based on the sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension. A series of detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as a currency bill is moved across an illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill. The sample data is subjected to digital processing, including a normalizing process, whereby the reflectance data represents a characteristic pattern that is unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for discriminating between different currency denominations. A plurality of master characteristic patterns are generated and stored using original bills for each denomination of currency to be detected. The pattern generated by scanning a bill under test and processing the data samples is compared with each of the prestored master patterns to generate, for each comparison, a correlation number representing the extent of similarity between corresponding ones of the plurality of data samples for the compared patterns. Denomination identification is based on designating the scanned bill as belonging to the denomination corresponding to the stored master pattern for which the correlation number resulting from pattern comparison is determined to be the highest, subject to a bi-level threshold of correlation.

Drawings

Claims6

Dependent claims

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a denomination discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denominations of said bills of different denominations independently of the dimensions of the bills;
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less that a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill.

7 more elements

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying U.S. currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a denomination discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denominations of U.S. bills of a plurality of denominations;
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill.

7 more elements

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a denomination discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denomination of each said bills, including bills of plurality denominations, bills of at least two of said plurality of denominations having the same dimensions;
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less that a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill.

7 more elements

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denominations of said bills;
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
said discriminating unit comprising a detector positioned along the transport path between the input bin and the output bin, and a processor, the detector generating a characteristic information output signal in response to detected characteristic information, the characteristic information output signal being electrically coupled to the processor, the processor receiving the characteristic information output signal generating a denomination signal in response thereto, and wherein the processor generates a scanned patterned from each of the bills based on the characteristic information output signal and determines the denomination of a bill by comparing the scanned pattern generated from the bill with master patterns associated with different denominations of bills, the mater patterns being stored in a memory;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less that a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill.

8 more elements

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a denomination discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denominations of said bills;
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
said denomination discriminating unit comprising a detector positioned along the transport path between the input bin and the output bin, and a processor, the detector generating an image characteristic information output signal in response to detected characteristic information, the output signal being associated with images associated with the bills, the characteristic information output signal being electrically coupled to the processor, the processor receiving the image characteristic information output siganl and generating a denomination signal in response thereto;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less that a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance no greater than narrow dimension of a bill.

8 more elements

A compact currency evaluation device for identifying currency bills of different denominations comprising:

a housing;
an input bin mounted to said housing;
a discriminating unit in said housing adapted to determine the denominations of said bills by scanning images associated with the bills:
an output bin mounted to said housing;
a transport path for transporting bills through said housing from said input bin past said discriminating unit and to said output bin, said transport path being oriented relative to said input bin such that bills are redirected through an angle greater than 90° in the direction of the output bin to reach said transport path from said input bin;
a first roller having one portion extending into said input bin and another portion extending into said transport path, said first roller redirecting said bill from said input bin to said transport path;
a first transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first roller by distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less that a narrow dimension of a bill;
a second transport roller located along said transport path and spaced apart from said first transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which each of said rollers contacts a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill;
and
at least one stacker wheel having one portion extending into said transport path and another portion extending into said output bin, said stacker wheel being located along said transport path and spaced apart from said second transport roller by a distance such that respective lines along which said stacker wheel and said second transport roller contact a bill in said transport path are spaced apart along said transport path by a distance less than the narrow dimension of a bill.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description17,693 words

Summary1,780 words

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates, in general, to currency identification. The invention relates more particularly to a method and apparatus for automatic discrimination and counting of currency bills of different denominations using light reflectivity characteristics of indicia printed upon the currency bills.

#2. Description of the Related Art

Brief description of the drawings19 figures

#Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the conceptual basis for the optical sensing and correlation method and apparatus, according to the system of this invention;

#FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic perspective illustration of the successive areas scanned during the traversing movement of a since bill across the scanhead;

Detailed description15,439 words

#While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

#Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a functional block diagram illustrating the optical sensing and correlation system according to this invention. The system 10 includes a bill accepting station 12 where stacks of currency bills that need to be identified and counted are positioned. Accepted bills are acted upon by a bill separating station 14 which functions to pick out or separate one bill at a time for being sequentially relayed by a bill transport mechanism 16, according to a precisely predetermined transport path, across an optical scanhead 18 where the currency denomination of the bill is scanned, identified and counted at a rate in excess of 800 bills per minute. The scanned bill is then transported to a bill stacking station 20 where bills so processed are stacked for subsequent removal.

#The optical scanhead 18 comprises at least one light source 22 directing a beam of coherent light downwardly onto the bill transport path so as to illuminate a substantially rectangular light strip 24 upon a currency bill 17 positioned on the transport path below the scanhead 18. Light reflected off the illuminated strip 24 is sensed by a photodetector 26 positioned directly below the strip. The analog output of photodetector 26 is converted into a digital signal by means of an analog-to-digital (ADC) convertor unit 28 whose output is fed as a digital input to a central processing unit (CPU) 30.