Apparatus for validating currency items, and method of configuring such apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of testing a currency article, the method comprising taking multiple measurements of the article and applying acceptance criteria to digital representations of the measurements in order to determine whether the article belongs to a predetermined target class, characterised in that at least one of the digital representations is derived by processing a first digital value representative of the measurement using a plurality of calibration factors derived by a calibration operation in order to obtain a second digital value forming said digital representation.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A currency validator processes sensor measurements by transforming them using a linear function so that, following calibration, the measurements of an article resemble standard measurements. The acceptance criteria are gradually modified by a self-tuning operation. The validator can be re-configured to permit it to recognise a new class of articles by (a) deriving a standard set of acceptance criteria for the new class, and (b) altering the acceptance criteria to an extent determined by the extent to which acceptance criteria for a further class differ from standard acceptance criteria for that class, due to self-tuning.
75 Citations
12 Claims
- 1. A method of testing a currency article, the method comprising taking multiple measurements of the article and applying acceptance criteria to digital representations of the measurements in order to determine whether the article belongs to a predetermined target class, characterised in that at least one of the digital representations is derived by processing a first digital value representative of the measurement using a plurality of calibration factors derived by a calibration operation in order to obtain a second digital value forming said digital representation.
- 5. A method of configuring apparatus for validating currency articles, the apparatus having means for deriving a plurality of different measurements of an article and means for processing at least one of the measurements with calibration factors prior to applying acceptance criteria to the measurements in order to determine whether the article belongs to one of a number of predetermined classes, the method comprising causing the apparatus to measure each of a plurality of articles of different respective classes in order to derive a plurality of different measurements of the article, and deriving the calibration factors from the relationships between those measurements and corresponding standard measurements which are used also for calibration of other apparatuses.
-
7. A method of configuring a currency validator which is arranged to receive articles of currency and to determine whether each article belongs to one of a number of predetermined classes by taking measurements of the article and determining whether those measurements meet sets of acceptance criteria each associated with a respective class, the acceptance criteria of each set having been modified in dependence on measurements made by the validator of one or more articles which have been found to belong to the respective class;
characterised in that the method comprises rendering the apparatus capable of recognising that an article belongs to a further class by deriving a further set of acceptance criteria and modifying the criteria in accordance with the extent to which at least one other set of acceptance criteria has been modified. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 12)
-
11. A method of configuring a currency validator which is capable of modifying its acceptance criteria, the method comprising enabling the validator to recognise a new class of articles by (a) deriving a nominal set of acceptance criteria for the new class, and (b) altering the acceptance criteria to an extent determined by the extent to which acceptance criteria for a further class differ from nominal acceptance criteria for that class.
Specification