Method and apparatus for recognizing foreign material on bank notes

Abstract

A method and apparatus for recognizing foreign material (2), in particular adhesive objects, glue or joints, on or in bank notes (1), including detecting the thermal radiation (5) emanating from at least a partial area of the bank note (1): and recognizing foreign material (2) located on the bank note (1) on the basis of the detected thermal radiation (5). The invention is especially suitable for recognizing adhesive objects, in particular adhesive tape and joints, on bank notes since areas of a bank note with adhesive tape or joints differ very distinctly in their thermal properties from other areas of the bank note without adhesive tape.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.