Devices and method for the production of sheet material

• US 20050150740A1
• Filed: 12/19/2002
• Published: 07/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
• Original Assignee: Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
• Inventors: Krombholz, Markus, Hildebrandt, Thomas, Kretschmar, Friedrich, Schroeder-Bergen, Eckart, Bellersheim, Fabiola, Seysen, Martin, Kaule, Wittich, Hoffmann, Lars, Liebler, Ralf, Dichtl, Marius, Giering, Thomas, Heim, Manfred, Stein, Dieter, Wunderer, Bernd, Holl, Norbert, Finkenzeller, Klaus, Schuetzmann, Juergen, Voellmer, Christian, Schneider, Walter, Hobmeier, Ralf, Pillo, Thorsten, Reiner, Harald, Steinkogler, Alexander
• Granted Patent: US 7,849,993 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 194/207
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 2033/46 with electrical circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/29 Securities; Bank notes
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/485 by electronic processing means
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/01 Testing electronic circuits therein
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 1/06 Coins specially adapted to operate coin-freed mechanisms

Abstract

The invention relates to sheet material having an electrical circuit and to apparatuses and methods for processing said sheet material. The present invention describes sheet material having an electrical circuit as well as apparatuses and methods for processing same, which reduce the effort required for processing the sheet material and/or facilitate processing and/or improve it and/or make it more reliable. For this purpose, the sheet material has at least one electrical circuit, with energy and/or data being transmitted from the apparatus to the electrical circuit and/or from the electrical circuit to the apparatus and at least part of the transmitted data being used for processing.

Claims

1. An apparatus for processing sheet material, in particular banknotes, that has at least one electrical circuit, characterized by a checking device for the transfer of energy and/or data to the electrical circuit of the sheet material and/or for the reception of energy and/or data from the electrical circuit of the sheet material, with at least part of the transferred energy and/or data being used for the processing.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the checking device is designed to record and/or determine and/or check one or more properties, such as the authenticity and/or the denomination and/or the aggregate value and/or the serial number and/or other individual data and/or the life history of the sheet material from the transferred data.

3. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device is equipped with the following transfer methods either alone or in combination:

A contact-type coupling, a noncontacting coupling, an inductive coupling, a capacitive coupling, a galvanic coupling via contacts, a coupling by means of an electrical field, a coupling by a magnetic field, an optical coupling by electromagnetic waves, a coupling by deformation, such as piezoelectric elements, a coupling by electromechanical elements, a coupling by sound and/or a coupling by heat.

4. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device has at least one coupling unit, such as an electrode to the capacitive coupling, a magnet for producing a magnetic field, a coil for inductive coupling, a light source for optical coupling, in particular for illuminating a photo cell and/or a photodiode of the sheets, and/or a sound source, in particular an ultrasonic source, in order to irradiate an electric element of the sheet material that reacts to sound, such as a piezoelectrical element, with the coupling unit preferentially being provided in a base surface on which the sheets are provided stacked for a measurement and/or integrated in another component of the processing apparatus, such as a singler and/or a transport path and/or a sensor path and/or a stacker and/or a temporary memory and/or a deposit means.

5. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that a plurality of different transfer methods is available to the checking device in each case for the reception of energy and/or data of the sheet circuit and/or for the transfer of energy and/or data to the sheet circuit.

6. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that selection of one or more of the different transfer methods is dependent on a control signal that is preferentially transferred to the circuit of the sheet material from the processing apparatus or to the processing apparatus of the circuit from the sheet material.

7. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device for the reception of energy and/or data of the sheet circuit has a receiving unit that can use the same and/or another transfer method such as for the transfer of energy and/or data to the sheet circuit.

8. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device for the reception of energy and/or data from the sheet circuit has a receiving unit that is situated in the same and/or another processing section of the processing apparatus as a transmitting unit for the transfer of energy and/or data to the sheet circuit.

9. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device for the reception of energy from the sheet circuit and/or for the transfer of energy to the sheet circuit can use the same and/or another transfer method as for the reception of data from the sheet circuit and/or for the transfer of data to the sheet circuit.

10. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device for the reception of energy and/or data from the sheet circuit can use an optical coupling and that it can use an inductive and/or capacitive coupling for the transfer of energy and/or data to the sheet circuit.

11. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can measure the properties of a plurality of sheets with a stationary stack of sheets and/or with a moving stack of sheets and/or the properties of individual sheets with stationary and/or moving individual sheets.

12. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the sheets of the sheet material can be transported and/or processed, in particular tested, both individually and in a stack in the apparatus.

13. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can successively measure the properties of individual sheets and/or simultaneously measure the properties of several sheets, in particular all sheets.

14. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can address, e.g. activate, several circuits of different sheets simultaneously and/or in serial succession, and/or that several circuits of different banknotes that are addressed can simultaneously and/or in serial succession send response signals back to the processing apparatus.

15. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can not activate a circuit of one of the sheets until a circuit of another of the sheets to be processed has already sent out a response signal.

16. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that, in particular when an optical and/or inductive coupling is used to transfer energy and/or data to the sheet circuit, the position of the coupling field of the processing apparatus is moved, in particular in the stacking direction of the stack being checked so that the different sheets in a stack can be addressed successively.

17. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that, in particular when an inductive coupling is used to transfer energy and/or data from the processing apparatus to the sheet circuit, the strength of the coupling field of the processing apparatus can be increased selectively during the checking operation so that the different sheets in a stack can be addressed successively.

18. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the transfer of data can be effected via single-stage and/or multi-stage modulation of the transferred signal, in particular when optical coupling is used, and/or via load modulation, e.g. of the transferring energy, and/or via changing coefficients of optical transmission, reflection and/or absorption.

19. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that when optical coupling is used, the spectral composition and/or time behavior, in particular the duration, level, intervals and/or sequence of pulse of the light signals emitted by or, as the case may be, received from the sheet material depends on the data to be transferred.

20. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized by a light source to irradiate an individual photodiode of a sheet or several photodiodes of several sheets of a stack.

21. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can initially determine individual data, such as a serial number of one or more sheets, such as via the reception of data from the sheet circuits, in order to then be able to selectively address individual sheet circuits or a subset of all of the sheet circuits in a further step.

22. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can transfer data on the life history of the sheets to the sheets.

23. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can transfer an authentication signal to the sheet circuit to obtain authorization for carrying out certain processing operations such as reading and/or modifying the contents of a memory of the circuit.

24. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized by a singler for separating sheet material, which can remove one sheet at a time from a stack of sheet material, with the checking device designed such that the transfer of energy and/or data between the circuit situated on a sheet that is to be pulled off and the device takes place before and/or as the sheet is being pulled from the stack.

25. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that means for securing transfer of the data, such as encryption or a digital signature of the transferred data are provided.

26. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can communicate with the circuit of the sheet material via both or only one of the two frequencies when sheet material with several coupling elements of different coupling frequencies is used.

27. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can only communicate with the circuit of the sheet material via the other frequency if and only if a communication at one of the two coupling frequencies of the coupling elements fails.

28. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can alter the circuit at a certain point in time following application to or, as the case may be, incorporation in the sheet material such that the writing of data is prevented in all or part of the memory areas of the circuit.

29. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can deactivate the circuit of a checked sheet and/or at least interrupt one of possibly several connecting lines that are connected with the circuit during or after a checking operation, preferentially dependent on the result of the check.

30. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can irradiate an oscillating circuit of the sheet material with an alternating field and that signals produced by the oscillating circuit and received by the checking device can be evaluated so as to check the sheet material, for e.g. authenticity.

31. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can check the presence and/or the form and/or a surface structure, e.g. a surface pattern, and/or the position and/or the distribution with several circuits in or, as the case may be, on the sheet material as an authenticity feature.

32. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can measure and evaluate the temperature, such as the heat distribution of the sheet material, or another quantity derived from same, when the sheet material is checked.

33. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that, in order to examine the contents of a container, the checking device can compare data about the contents of the container, which are stored in a memory of the container, with data about the contents of the container, which are stored in a memory of the sheet material circuit of at least one of or all of the sheets in the container.

34. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that, in a processing operation, the checking device can transmit data to a container, which are intended for writing into the sheets in the container, so that these data will be stored temporarily in a memory of the container in order to write the data to the corresponding memory of at least one of the sheets only at a later point in time after completion of the processing operation, e.g. during removal of the sheets contained therein.

35. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that a circuit can be applied to or, as the case may be, incorporated into a band already during production of the band or only during or after a banding operation during which a stack of sheets is provided with a band.

36. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device has a device for generating an alternating magnetic field that can penetrate a stack of banknotes to be checked, preferentially in the stacking direction and/or perpendicular to the stacking direction.

37. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the frequency of an alternating magnetic field generated by the device corresponds to a mechanical resonance frequency of a magnetostrictive element of the sheet material or to a mechanical resonance frequency of a compound material of the sheet material with the magnetostrictive element.

38. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can perform an anticollision detection procedure in the processing apparatus and/or in the sheet material circuit during a checking operation.

39. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the apparatus further has a pressing device, which can compress the sheets for a stack measurement and/or the apparatus further has an aligning device, which can align the sheets such that they are flush with reference to one or two edges disposed perpendicularly to one another.

40. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device has a sonic sensor for detecting sound waves that are radiated from a sonic source connected with the sheet material circuit, such as a reciprocal piezoelectric element of the sheet material.

41. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that there is/are one or more keys and/or sets of keys, which can be used alternatively, for encryption of data to be stored and/or transferred and/or for forming of a digital signature of data to be stored and/or transferred.

42. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can include individual data, such as a serial number of the sheet material, in an encrypted or, as the case may be, signed set of data of other data of the sheet material or, as the case may be, for the sheet material.

43. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can forward data of the circuit of the sheet material to be checked to a spatially removed evaluation unit for checking purposes, which can evaluate the data and send a check result back to the processing apparatus.

44. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can, in one check, preferentially, in every check of sheet circuits, transfer to such sheet circuits a new identification number for storage in a memory area of the sheet circuit provided for this purpose, with the identification number preferentially also being able to be stored in an external data base situated outside the sheet material together with individual data, such as the serial number of the respective sheet.

45. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device can compare the identification number and the individual data from the memory of the sheet material with associated data in the external data base in a checking operation.

46. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that the checking device or the external data base can regenerate and/or select the identification number from a set of predetermined identification numbers at the time of the checking operation.

47. An apparatus according to at least one of the prior claims, characterized in that, in addition to the identification number, the checking device can also transfer to the sheet circuit a time stamp and/or a location stamp of the current checking operation and/or of one or more preceding checking operations for storage in a memory area of the sheet circuit provided for this purpose and/or to store same in a memory of the checking device.

48. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the newly generated identification number and/or the newly generated time stamp and/or location stamp depends on the current or a previous identification number and/or on the current or a previous time stamp and/or location stamp.

49. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that there are several external databases, and that the checking device can select one of the external databases for a subsequent check evaluation by means of a predetermined selection criterion which depends e.g. on the identification number and/or the time stamp and/or the location stamp.

50. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can evaluate data obtained by a data transmission between the processing apparatus and the sheet material circuit, in dependence on data which stems from other checking operations that were performed independently of the sheet material circuit.

51. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can compare data from the memory of the sheet material circuit with data, which are specific to the respective paper of the sheet material and/or feature substances contained therein.

52. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can refer to data obtained by a data transmission between the processing apparatus and the sheet material circuit for adjusting checking parameters of other checking operations performed independently of the sheet material circuit.

53. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a checking operation, preferentially in every checking operation, wherein sheet material is rated or classified as still fit for circulation, the checking device can transmit data to the sheet material circuit, which cause an irreversible, local change of the sheet material, whereby the data about the change can preferentially be stored in a memory of the circuit of the sheet material, and/or the checking device itself can perform such an irreversible, local change of the sheet material.

54. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device is formed such that a transmission of data and/or energy from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit and/or from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus is always possible independently of the orientation of the checking device of the sheet material and/or the transport direction (T1, T2) of the sheet material with reference to the checking device, i.e., e.g. both in longitudinal transport and in transverse transport of the sheet material.

55. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device has several segments which can alternatively be electrically interconnected, and/or the checking device of the processing apparatus is formed by a singler, for example by a separating roll, and/or the checking device of the processing apparatus has a device which produces a rotating and/or traveling electrical and/or magnetic field.

56. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, during transport of sheets in the processing apparatus, the checking device can determine the position of the sheets in the processing apparatus in dependence on data, in particular on individual data, which are transmitted to the processing apparatus from the sheet material circuit.

57. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can use data which are transmitted to the processing apparatus from the sheet material circuit for detecting several picks and/or the state of the sheets.

58. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, during or after a checking operation, the checking device can transmit data to the sheet material circuit for storage in a memory of the sheet material circuit, whereby the data relate to the checking operation.

59. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a checking operation, the checking device can compare paper data with circuit data of the sheet material.

60. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the processing apparatus has a singler, a sensor and a stacker, and sheet material can be transported directly from the singler to the stacker without a separate sensor path.

61. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that a stack of sheets is clamped on one side by means of a clamping device, and that on the other side, a mechanism can single the sheets clamped on one side, and the sheet material circuits can be addressed by the checking device during the singled state.

62. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized by a sensor, such as a limpness sensor or hole sensor, wherein the sheet material to be checked is deformed for measurement of paper properties, whereby the bending additionally serves the purpose of supplying energy to the sheet material circuit and/or of transmitting data of the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus.

63. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the processing apparatus has separate transport paths for single sheet processing and for stack processing.

64. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that containers for transporting sheet material within the processing apparatus can be transported.

65. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that a processing apparatus with combined individual and stack processing has one or more output stations from which containers with sheet material deposited therein can be outputted from the apparatus for removal of the containers and/or the sheets contained therein, whereby the output stations each have assigned thereto one or more filling stations, wherein the containers are filled with sheet material before they are transported to the associated output station.

66. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in part of the or all the individual processing parts of the processing apparatus, such as the singler, the sensor path, the stacker or the interjacent transport paths, which are preferentially realized as modular units, only at most one deposit and/or one stack of sheet material can always be contained at the same time.

67. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in the apparatus, a physical separation is given by spatial spacing of different deposits during the processing of several deposits in the processing apparatus.

68. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that there is a separating means for separating a number of sheets into two subsets, whereby the separating means is equipped with an electrical circuit which has the same communication interface as the sheet material.

69. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that separating means can prevent communication of the checking device with the sheet material circuits of one of the two subsets.

70. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that a sensor for checking properties of the sheet material circuit is mounted in the same and/or a spatially spaced different area, such as in the same or, as the case may be, different module cases or processing parts, in comparison with a sensor for checking paper properties of the sheet material.

71. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that a unit for reading data from a memory of the sheet material circuit is disposed in the same and/or a spatially spaced different area as a unit for writing data to the memory of the sheet material circuit.

72. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the writing unit is downstream of the reading unit and/or the writing unit is downstream of a sensor device, which can measure properties of the circuit and/or of the paper of the sheet material.

73. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a processing operation, the checking device can only write data and/or transmit data to the sheet material circuit for writing to a part of the basically functioning memories of the sheet material circuits, which e.g. are to be checked once again and/or have been checked as false or suspicious.

74. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in the processing apparatus, there are a plurality of reading units for reading individual data from the sheet material circuits in the transport path of the sheet material so that the position and identity of transported sheets can be clearly traced.

75. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can perform at least one or all checks of the sheet material, such as a check of the authenticity of the sheet material, only in dependence on data transmitted from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus.

76. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that a correlation of transaction data upon a deposit and/or disbursement of sheet material with measurement data for checking the associated sheet material can be performed, and that the correlation data can preferentially be stored in a memory of the sheet material circuit of at least one of the sheets of the sheet material and/or in a memory of the processing apparatus and/or in an external database.

77. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, independently of an evaluation of signals for transmitting data and/or energy to the sheet material circuit, the checking device can determine whether a sheet material circuit is present at a predetermined position and/or in a predetermined form and/or at a predetermined location on or, as the case may be, in the sheet material paper.

78. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a processing operation, the checking device can perform different checking operations at different speeds on a sheet material and/or perform different checking operations at separate times.

79. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can perform checking operations prior to an intermediate storage of the checked sheet material at a higher speed than checking operations after the intermediate storage.

80. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized by an input means for input of a stack of sheet material by an operator, and a final stacker, such as a cassette, from which inputted sheet material can no longer be removed by the operator, whereby the inputted sheets can be checked by a checking unit connected to the checking device and transported directly from the input means to the final stacker, in particular in the stacked state.

81. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a processing apparatus having a sheet material output function, a checking unit, which can determine the serial number or other individual data of the sheets transported from the sheet material pocket to the output pocket, is interposed between a sheet pocket and an output pocket.

82. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the banknote processing apparatus is part of a cash register, a tabletop unit, a manual checking device, a purse and/or a pocket checking device.

83. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized by one or more stacker, such as storage pockets and/or cassettes, whereby the checking device is designed for automatically checking the stock of sheet material having a sheet material circuit in all of or some of the stacker.

84. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can register all sheets having an operable sheet material circuit in the stacker and/or can register each removal and/or input of such sheets having an operable sheet material circuit into the stacker or, as the case may be, out of the stacker.

85. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the checking device can ascertain whether sheets of only one kind, such as banknotes of only one denomination, are present in the stacker.

86. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the processing apparatus is a separate and preferentially portable cash register unit, which can both detect goods to be bought in a purchase transaction and check banknotes for authenticity at least.

87. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the memory of the sheet material circuit can store data about the intended use of the sheet material.

88. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that, in a processing operation, the sheet material can subsequently be provided with an additional electrical circuit.

89. An apparatus according to at least one of the previous claims, characterized in that the additional circuit has different properties from the sheet material circuit, whereby the communication interfaces are preferentially identical.

132. A container according to claim 131, characterized in that the container has a processing apparatus or at least one component of a processing apparatus according to at least one of claims 1 to [?].

133. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 132, characterized in that the container is used in a processing apparatus according to at least one of claims 1 to [?] for receiving processed sheet material and/or outputting contained sheet material from the container.

134. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 133, characterized in that the circuits of the sheet material in the container can communicate directly with an external processing apparatus according to at least one of claims 1 to [?].

90. A method for processing sheet material, in particular banknotes, which has at least one electrical circuit, having a processing apparatus, characterized in that energy and/or data are transmitted from the apparatus to the electrical circuit and/or from the electrical circuit to the apparatus, whereby at least part of the transmitted data is used for processing.

91. A method according to claim 90, characterized in that one or more properties, such as of the authenticity and/or the denomination and/or the total value and/or the serial number or other individual data and/or the life history of the sheet material, are determined from the transmitted data and/or checked.

92. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 91, characterized in that the properties of several sheets are measured with the stack at rest and/or with the stack moving, and/or the properties of singled sheets are measured with the sheets at rest and/or moving, and/or the properties of single sheets are measured successively and/or the properties of several, in particular all, sheets are measured simultaneously, and/or several circuits of different sheets are addressed, such as activated, by the processing apparatus simultaneously and/or serially one after the other, and/or several circuits of different addressed sheets send back response signals to the processing apparatus simultaneously and/or serially one after the other.

93. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 91, characterized in that a circuit of one of the sheets is only activated when a circuit of another of the sheets has already emitted a response signal, and/or the circuit of a first sheet can receive data and/or energy which is emitted by the circuit of a second, in particular an adjacent, sheet in a stack, and the circuit of the first sheet is preferentially activated in dependence on the received signal of the second sheet.

94. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 93, characterized in that the sheets of the sheet material are transported and/or processed, in particular checked, in the apparatus both singly and in stacked form.

95. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 94, characterized in that, for transmitting energy and/or data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus and/or from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit, contact-type or contactless coupling, inductive coupling, capacitive coupling, galvanic coupling via contacts, coupling by an electrical field, coupling by a magnetic field, optical coupling by electromagnetic waves, coupling by deformation, such as piezoelectric elements, coupling by electromechanical elements, coupling by sound and/or coupling by heat are used alone or in combination.

96. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 95, characterized in that the same and/or a different transmission method is used for transmitting energy and/or data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus as that used for transmitting energy and/or data from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit, and/or the same and/or a different transmission method is used for transmitting energy from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus and/or from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit as that used for transmitting data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus and/or from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit.

97. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 96, characterized in that several different transmission methods are available for transmitting energy and/or data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus and/or for transmitting energy and/or data from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit.

98. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 97, characterized in that the selection of one or more of the available different transmission methods is effected in dependence on a control signal which is preferentially transmitted to the circuit of the sheet material from the processing apparatus or to the processing apparatus from the circuit of the sheet material.

99. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 98, characterized in that, in particular in the case of optical and/or inductive coupling for transmitting energy and/or data from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit, the position of the coupling field of the processing apparatus is moved, in particular in the stacking direction of the stack to be checked, to permit different sheets in a stack to be addressed successively.

100. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 99, characterized in that, in particular in the case of inductive coupling for transmitting energy and/or data from the processing apparatus to the sheet material circuit, the strength of the coupling field of the processing apparatus is increased specifically during the checking operation to permit different sheets in a stack to be addressed successively.

101. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 100, characterized in that individual data, such as the serial number, of one or more sheets are first determined, e.g. by a data transmission from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus, so that, in a further step, single sheet material circuits or a subset of all sheet material circuits can be addressed specifically by the processing apparatus.

102. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 101, characterized in that data about the life history of the sheet material are stored in a memory of the circuit of the sheet material.

103. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 102, characterized in that an authentication signal is transmitted to the circuit by the processing apparatus to receive from the circuit a right to perform certain processing operations, such as to read and/or change the memory contents of a memory of the circuit.

104. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 103, characterized in that during or after a checking operation, preferentially in dependence on the result of the check, the circuit of a checked sheet is deactivated and/or at least one of optionally several connecting leads connected to the circuit is interrupted.

105. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 104, characterized in that, in the case of sheet material having several coupling elements with different coupling frequencies, the apparatus communicates with the circuit of the sheet material on both or only one of the two frequencies, and preferentially communicates with the circuit of the sheet material on the other frequency only when communication on one of the two frequencies of the coupling elements fails.

106. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 105, characterized in that, at a certain point in time after application to or incorporation into the sheet material, the circuit is changed so as to prevent data from being written into all or some of the memory areas of the circuit.

107. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 106, characterized in that an oscillating circuit of the sheet material is exposed to an alternating field, and signals produced by the oscillating circuit are evaluated for checking the sheet material, e.g. for authenticity.

108. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 107, characterized in that, for checking the contents of a container, data about the contents of the container, which are stored in a memory of the container, are compared with data about the contents of the container, which are stored in a memory of at least one of or all of the sheets in the container.

109. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 108, characterized in that, in a processing operation, data intended to be written in the sheets of a container are transmitted to the container and stored intermediately in the memory thereof, so that the data are not written into the corresponding sheets until a later point in time after completion of the processing operation, e.g. upon removal of the sheets contained therein.

110. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 109, characterized in that a circuit is already applied to or incorporated into a band during production of the band or only after a banding operation wherein a stack of sheets is provided with a band.

111. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 110, characterized in that, in a checking operation, a method of anticollision detection is performed in the processing apparatus and/or in the sheet material circuit.

112. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 111, characterized in that, for a stack measurement, the banknotes are pressed together and/or aligned flush according to one or two mutually perpendicular edges.

113. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 112, characterized in that data intended for transmission and/or for writing to a memory of the sheet material and/or of the processing apparatus are encrypted and/or digitally signed, whereby there are preferentially one or more keys and/or sets of keys, which are alternatively used, for encrypting data to be stored and/or transmitted and/or for forming a digital signature of data to be stored and/or transmitted, and/or preferentially individual data, such as a serial number of the sheet material, are included in an encrypted or, as the case may be, signed data set of other data.

114. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 113, characterized in that a checking operation is evaluated by the processing apparatus passing on data of the circuit of the sheet material for checking purposes to a spatially remote evaluation unit, which evaluates the data and sends back a check result to the processing apparatus.

115. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 114, characterized in that, in a check, preferentially in every check, of sheet material circuits, a new identification number is stored in a specially provided memory area of the sheet material circuit, with the identification number preferentially also being stored together with individual data, such as the serial number of the respective sheet, in an external database located outside the sheet material.

116. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 115, characterized in that, in a checking operation, the identification number and the individual data from the memory of the sheet material are compared with associated data in the external database, with the check being performed completely or partly, either in the sheet material circuit and/or in the processing apparatus and/or in the external database.

117. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 116, characterized in that, at the time of the checking operation, the identification number is newly generated and/or selected from a set of predetermined identification numbers and/or that, in addition to the identification number, a time stamp and/or a location stamp of the momentary checking operation and/or of previous checking operations are stored, which are preferentially stored in the memory of the sheet material and/or in the external database.

118. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 117, characterized in that there are several external databases, and one of the external databases is selected for a subsequent check evaluation by means of a predetermined selection criterion which depends e.g. on the identification number and/or the time stamp and/or the location stamp.

119. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 118, characterized in that data obtained by a data transmission between processing apparatus and sheet material circuit are evaluated in dependence on data which stems from other checking operations performed independently of the sheet material circuit, and/or data obtained by a data transmission between the processing apparatus and the sheet material circuit are used for adjusting checking parameters of other checking operations performed independently of the sheet material circuit.

120. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 119, characterized in that data from the memory of the sheet material circuit are compared with data which are specific to the respective paper of the sheet material and/or feature substances contained therein.

121. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 120, characterized in that, in a checking operation, preferentially in every checking operation, wherein the sheet material is rated or classified as still fit for circulation, the sheet material is subjected to an irreversible, local change of the sheet material, with the data about the change preferentially being stored in a memory of the circuit of the sheet material.

122. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 121, characterized in that, during a transport of sheets in the processing apparatus, the position of the sheets in the processing apparatus is determined in dependence on data, in particular individual data, which are transmitted to the processing apparatus from the sheet material circuit, and/or data about the checking operation are written into a memory of the sheet material circuit during or after a checking operation, and/or paper data are compared with circuit data of a sheet during a checking operation.

123. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 122, characterized in that a transmission device of the sheet material circuit is supplied, by deformation of the sheet during singling of the sheets clamped on one side, with energy which comes from a transmission device of the processing apparatus and/or from the sheet material circuit itself, such as an associated piezoelectric element.

124. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 123, characterized in that a physical separation is performed by spatial spacing of different deposits during the processing of several deposits in the processing apparatus.

125. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 124, characterized in that separating means are equipped with electrical circuits which have the same communication interface and/or communication interfaces as the sheet material, and/or separating means for separating sheets into two subsets are used, which can prevent communication of the processing apparatus with the sheet material circuits of one of the two subsets.

126. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 125, characterized in that, in a processing operation, data which e.g. are to be checked once again and/or have been checked as false or suspect of forgery, are written only into a part of the basically operating memories of the sheet material circuits.

127. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 126, characterized in that a correlation of transaction data is performed upon a deposit and/or a disbursement of sheet material with measurement data for checking the associated sheet material and the correlation data preferentially being stored in a memory of the sheet material circuit of at least one of the sheets of the sheet material and/or in a memory of the processing apparatus and/or of an external database.

128. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 127, characterized in that, in a processing operation on a sheet material, different checking operations are performed at different speeds and/or different checking operations are performed at separate times, in particular, checking operations before an intermediate storage of the checked sheet material take place at higher speeds than checking operations after intermediate storage.

129. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 128, characterized in that data about the intended use of the sheet material are stored in the memory of the sheet material circuit, and/or there are different access rights for reading from and/or writing to the memory, in particular different memory areas, of the circuit of the sheet material for different users or, as the case may be, user groups.

130. A method according to at least one of claims 90 to 129, characterized in that the sheet material is subsequently provided with an additional electrical circuit in a processing operation.

131. A container, such as a safe or a cassette or a band for storing and/or transporting sheet material, comprising at least one electrical circuit and a transmission device for transmitting energy and/or data from the circuit of the container to an apparatus, which is formed for processing the container, and/or for receiving energy and/or data from such an apparatus.

135. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 134, characterized in that the contents of the container, such as the number, denomination and/or total value of the contained sheets, can be registered and optionally checked by the container itself.

136. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 135, characterized in that data, such as about the contents of the container, can be stored in a memory of the container and/or a memory of at least one of or all of the sheets in the container.

137. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 136, characterized in that, following a query from an external processing apparatus, the container can provide data about the sheets contained therein and/or write data into a memory of the circuit of the sheets contained therein.

138. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 137, characterized in that the container is so formed that, in a processing operation, it can accept data intended to be written into the sheets, hold them in its memory and write the intermediately stored data into the corresponding sheets only at a later time after completion of the processing operation, e.g. upon removal of the sheets contained therein.

139. A container according to at least one of claims 131 to 138, characterized in that the transmission device of the container for transmitting energy and/or data to an external processing apparatus is based on the same and/or a different transmission method compared to a transmission device for communication with the sheet material circuits in the container.

140. Sheet material having at least one electrical circuit, comprising a device for transmitting and/or receiving energy and/or data to or, as the case may be, from an apparatus for processing the sheet material, with at least part of the transmitted energy or data being used for processing.

141. Sheet material according to claim 140, characterized in that there is a unit for transmitting energy and/or data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus and another unit for receiving energy and/or data from the processing apparatus.

142. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 141, characterized in that the unit for transmitting energy and/or data from the sheet material circuit to the processing apparatus works according to the same or a different transmission method compared to the receiving unit, and/or there are different transmission units which make available different alternatively selectable transmission methods.

143. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 142, characterized in that the circuit has at least one memory, with the memory preferentially having several memory areas that are separate from one another and can be written to and/or read from only once and/or many times.

144. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 143, characterized in that an authentication system is provided which has data about different access authorizations for different users or, as the case may be, user groups for reading and/or changing memory contents of a memory of the circuit, with the authentication system preferentially being connected to a maloperation counter.

145. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 144, characterized in that there are one or more keys and/or sets of keys for encrypting data to be stored and/or transmitted and/or for forming a digital signature of data to be stored and/or transmitted.

146. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 145, characterized in that the circuit has one or more logical switches, and preferentially data related to a switching process can be stored, assigned to the respective switch.

147. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 146, characterized in that one or more different individual data which are characteristic of the particular banknote are stored and/or can be stored in the memory.

148. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 147, characterized in that a memory of the sheet material circuit contains paper data specific to the particular sheet, and/or circuit data about the circuit are incorporated in the paper and/or applied to, e.g. printed on, the paper as information, and/or the memory of the sheet material circuit stores data specific to the particular banknote, the paper data and circuit data of the particular banknote correlate, and/or these correlated data are incorporated into the paper and/or applied to, e.g. printed on, the paper as information.

149. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 148, characterized in that the sheet material circuit has a detection device, such as a device for evaluating an input voltage of the circuit, to permit detection of a data transmission from other sheets in a stack to a processing apparatus.

150. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 149, characterized in that at least one transmission device for optically transmitting energy and/or data is provided, which has an optical transmitter, such as a light-emitting diode, and/or at least one photodiode for sending and/or receiving light, and/or the sheet material has a photocell and a light source, the photocell preferentially being located on one side of the sheet material and the light source on the other side thereof.

151. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 150, characterized in that the photodiode is applied to a luminescent element, such as a single-layer or multilayer LISA element, which is optionally provided with a reflective coating, and/or the photodiode is applied to a light source, in particular a luminous surface, and/or the spectral composition and/or the time behavior, in particular the duration, height, spacing and/or sequence of pulse, depends on emitted light signals from the data to be transmitted.

152. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 151, characterized in that the sheet material has incorporated therein or applied thereto elements with a “

shape memory”

effect and/or piezoelectric effect and/or magnetostrictive effect, such as a composite material out of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric substances, and/or one or more capacitive coupling surfaces.

153. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 152, characterized in that the capacitive coupling surface has connected thereto an inductance Lp of defined value, which can preferentially be alternatively switched on or off, and/or the voltage occurring on an element with a piezoelectric effect is used for voltage supply to the circuit, and/or the frequency of the voltage occurring on the element with a piezoelectric effect is used as the reference frequency for producing a clock frequency of the circuit.

154. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 153, characterized in that the paper of the sheet material has a magnetic substance having a magnetic permeability significantly greater than the relative permeability of paper without said magnetic substance, and the magnetic substance is preferentially incorporated into and/or applied to the paper, such that the inductance of a coil as a coupling element of the circuit is increased and/or the substance exhibits a magnetic behavior that is direction-dependent.

155. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 154, characterized in that the sheet material has receivers for light and/or ultrasound for supplying the circuit with energy by irradiation of light or ultrasound, and/or one or more sensors for measuring environmental influences are incorporated in or applied to the sheet material

156. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 155, characterized in that the position of the circuit varies in the case of several sheets, e.g. in the case of banknotes of one currency and/or of the same or different denominations, and/or the circuit has an area of from 5 to 95% of the sheet material, preferentially from 50 to 90% or, as the case may be, 70 to 90%, and/or the circuit is located below an optically variable element.

157. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 156, characterized in that the sheet material has several coupling elements, such as a first antenna coupled directly with the circuit and a second antenna coupled with the first antenna for coupling to the processing apparatus, the several coupling elements preferentially having different coupling frequencies, which are preferentially selected specifically to the currency and/or denomination.

158. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 157, characterized in that the circuit has an integrated circuit and/or a memory and/or an electrical oscillating circuit, and/or the circuit is connected conductively via at least one line to at least one conductive capacitive coupling surface as an electrode, and/or the sheet material has one or more galvanic contact surfaces on one or both sides in each case, and/or the sheet material is provided with one or more integrated electro-optical and/or acoustic display devices, and/or the sheet material has electrical resistors for defined production of heat, and/or the circuit has a device for producing a load modulation and/or a device for voltage regulation and/or a device for anticollision detection.

159. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 158, characterized in that upon and/or after emission of a signal which the circuit emits following an external query from the processing apparatus, said circuit changes to an operating state in which it no longer reacts to the query from the processing apparatus.

160. Sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 159, characterized in that the sheet material has a variable denomination which is stored in a memory of the sheet material circuit.

161. A method for producing sheet material or an intermediate product for use in the production of sheet material, characterized in that the sheet material is sheet material according to at least one of claims 140 to 160 or an intermediate product, in particular according to at least one of claims 181 to 183.

162. A method according to claim 161, characterized in that a part or the total circuit is incorporated into the paper and/or applied thereto in the course of papermaking and/or subsequently, before and/or in the course of the printing of the paper, e.g. by mixing the circuit into a printing ink, and/or after completion of the printing of the paper.

163. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 162, characterized in that the sheet material circuit is prepared on or in a transfer element which is applied to or incorporated into the sheet material e.g. by gluing, and the transfer element either remains there after application of the circuit in or to the sheet material as a component of the sheet material or is removed again.

164. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 163, characterized in that the transfer element, e.g. in the form of a carrier foil, is provided preferentially before mounting of the circuits, with a metallization which is optionally connected electroconductively with the circuit.

165. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 164, characterized in that the circuit is produced completely or partly by printing technology, such as by means of conducting or conductive polymers or on the basis of thin amorphous or polycrystalline silicon layers (α

-Si, p-Si), on a base, such as the sheet material or the transfer element.

166. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 165, characterized in that the circuit is produced on the basis of a combination of methods of semiconductor technology and polymer electronics, with components that are operated in the high-frequency range preferentially being produced from semiconductor technology, and components that are operated in a low frequency range from polymer electronics.

167. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 166, characterized in that, when the circuit is produced on a base by printing technology, the base has areas made of different materials which have different affinities to printing inks.

168. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 167, characterized in that, when the circuit is produced by printing technology on a base, such as the sheet material paper itself or the transfer element, this is smoothed e.g. by means of calendering, by coating or providing a primer coating, before application or incorporation of the circuit, and/or the base of the circuit is embossed e.g. by steel gravure printing.

169. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 168, characterized in that, after papermaking and/or printing, one or more different individual data, which are characteristic of the particular sheet, are stored in a memory of the circuit.

170. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 169, characterized in that all single copies of a printed sheet are provided with the circuits one after the other or in one overall step.

171. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 170, characterized in that the circuits are incorporated into a depression for printing ink on a printing plate by being incorporated into the depression e.g. through an opening of the printing plate.

172. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 171, characterized in that the circuits are applied to the printed sheets with the help of rolls, such as insertion rolls or press rolls, which are provided from the outside and/or inside with the circuits to be inserted.

173. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 172, characterized in that the sheet material or the transfer element has one or more depressions into which the circuits and/or their contact surfaces are washed, and/or the circuits and/or their contact surfaces are incorporated into the depressions by the action of vibration.

174. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 173, characterized in that a magnetic substance having a magnetic permeability, which is significantly greater than the relative permeability of the paper without this magnetic substance is added to the paper during or after papermaking, with the magnetic substance preferentially being incorporated in and/or applied to the paper such that the inductance of a coil as a coupling element of the circuit is increased, and/or the magnetic substance is present in the form of a semifinished product, which is optionally fastened to a transfer element and is provided on the paper or incorporated into the paper, e.g. a depression or a through hole in the paper, either during or after papermaking.

175. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 174, characterized in that a papermaking screen for producing a paper web from paper pulp or a transport path for transporting a paper web has one or more magnets, which bind an applied magnetic substance in locally limited areas of the paper web.

176. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 175, characterized in that several coupling elements for the circuit with different coupling frequencies are incorporated into or applied to the paper and/or, when a first antenna coupled directly with the circuit and a second antenna coupled with the first antenna for coupling to an external processing apparatus are incorporated into or applied to the paper, the coupling frequency of the second antenna is selected specifically to the currency and/or denomination.

177. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 176, characterized in that at least one property, such as a resonant frequency of the circuit of the sheet material, is specifically detuned during papermaking, before, during and/or after printing.

178. A method according to at least one of claims 161 to 177, characterized in that, during production, paper data are coupled with circuit data, and the resulting data are written to a memory of the circuit and/or associated information applied to and/or incorporated into the paper, e.g. printed, and/or paper data written to the memory of the circuit and/or information associated with circuit data applied to and/or incorporated into the paper, e.g. printed.

179. An apparatus for use in the production of sheet material or for use in production of an intermediate product for use in the production of sheet material, characterized in that the apparatus is designed for carrying out the method according to any of claims 161 to 178.

180. An apparatus according to claim 179, characterized by a printer unit having a depression for incorporating printing ink, with said depression preferentially having an opening.

181. An intermediate product, such as a transfer element, for use in production of sheet material according to any of claims 140 to 160, having an electrical circuit on or in the intermediate product, which is to be applied to or incorporated into the sheet material.

182. An intermediate product according to claim 181, characterized in that the intermediate product has one or more depressions for incorporation of the circuit and/or of its contact surfaces, and/or the intermediate product has further visually visible and/or machine detectable security elements.

183. An intermediate product according to claim 181 and/or claim 182, characterized in that the intermediate product, e.g. in the form of a carrier foil, is provided with metallization which is optionally connected electroconductively to the circuit.