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| Method and apparatus for document identification |
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| Document facing method and apparatus |
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| Method and apparatus for discriminating and counting documents |
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| Intelligent document handling system |
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| Color scanhead and currency handling system employing the same |
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| Method and apparatus for document processing |
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| Method and apparatus for discriminating and counting document |
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Method and apparatus for currency discrimination and counting
| Details |
Inventors: Raterman, Donald E.; Graves, Bradford T.; Stromme, Lars R.; Bauch, Aaron M.;
Assignee: Cummins-Allsion Corp. (Mt. Prospect, IL)
Primary Examiner: Boudreau; Leo
Assistant Examiner: Tran; Phuoc
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Arnold, White & Durkee
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. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for identifying and counting currency bills comprising a plurality of currency denominations.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus of the above kind which is capable of efficiently discrimating among and counting bills of several currency denominations at a high speed and with a high degree of accuracy.
A related object of the present invention is to provide such an improved currency discrimination and counting apparatus which is compact, economical, and has uncomplicated construction and operation.
Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, the objectives enumerated above are achieved by means of an improved optical sensing and correlation technique adopted to both counting and denomination discrimination of currency bills.
The technique is based on the optical sensing of bill reflectance characteristics obtained by illuminating and scanning a bill along its narrow dimension, approximately about the central section of the bill.
Light reflected from the bill as it is optically scanned is detected and used as an analog representation of the variation in the dark and light content of the printed pattern or indicia on the bill surface.
A series of such detected reflectance signals are obtained by sampling and digitally processing, under microprocessor control, the reflected light at a plurality of predefined sample points as the bill is moved across the illuminated strip with its narrow dimension parallel to the direction of transport of the bill.
Accordingly, a fixed number of reflectance samples is obtained across the narrow dimension of the note.
The data samples obtained for a bill scan are subjected to digital processing, including a normalizing process to deaccentuate variations due to "contrast" fluctuations in the printed pattern or indicia existing on the surface of the bill being scanned.
The normalized reflectance data represent a characteristic pattern that is fairly unique for a given bill denomination and incorporates sufficient distinguishing features between characteristic patterns for different currency denominations so as to accurately differentiate therebetween
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