Automated document processing system using full image scanning

• US 6,678,402 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2002
• Issued: 01/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Mennie, Douglas U., Jones, John E., Jones, William J., Jones, Paul A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W.
• Application Number:
  US10/073,440
• Publication Number:
  US 20020122580A1
• Time in Patent Office: 701 Days
• Field of Search: 382/135, 382/217, 382/218, 382/318, 356/71, 209/534
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0425 the cheque being electronic only
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/108 Remote banking, e.g. home banking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/18 involving self-service terminals [SST], vending machines, kiosks or multimedia terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/00 General purpose image data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/127 with the intervention of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/274 Syntactic or semantic context, e.g. balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/04 Testing magnetic properties of the materials thereof, e.g. by detection of magnetic imprint G07D7/01 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/06 using wave or particle radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/1205 Testing spectral properties
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/20 : Testing patterns thereon G07D7/004, G07D7/005 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/20 : Automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/202 : Depositing operations within ATMs depositing in general G07D11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 19/207 : Surveillance aspects at ATMs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/04 : by paper currency

Abstract

A document processing system comprises an input receptacle for receiving documents. A transport mechanism receives the documents from the input receptacle and transports the documents past a full image scanner and a discrimination unit. An output receptacle receives the documents from the transport mechanism after being transported past the full image scanner and the discrimination unit. The full image scanner includes means for obtaining a full video image of said documents, means for obtaining a image of a selected area of said documents, and means for obtaining information contained in said selected area of said document. The discrimination unit includes means for determining the authenticity of said document. A system controller directs the flows of documents over the transport mechanism.

Claims

1. A currency identification system for receiving a stack of currency bills, rapidly counting and evaluating all the bills in the stack, and then delivering the bills to a single output receptacle comprising:

a bill transport mechanism for transporting bills, one at a time, from an input receptacle past a scanning section to a single output receptacle at a rate in excess of about 800 bills per minute;

said scanning section comprising at least two first-side sensors positioned so as to permit scanning of a bill along at least two laterally displaced segments on a first side of said bill, said first-side sensors being capable of detecting characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generating corresponding output signals representing analog variations in the detected characteristic information from which analog scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated, at least two of said sensors being laterally displaced relative to each other, said sensors being able to scan at a rate in excess of about 800 bills per minute, said scanning section including a full image scanner for obtaining a full image of said bills;

means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals, said at least one scanned pattern representing and approximating analog amplitude variations in said characteristic information along a segment of said bill;

a memory for storing at least one master pattern associated with each genuine bill which the system is capable of identifying, said at least one master pattern representing and approximating analog amplitude variations in characteristic information along a segment of an associated genuine bill; and

a signal processing means for performing a pattern comparison wherein at least one of said scanned patterns or portions thereof is compared with at least one of said master patterns or portions thereof;

said signal processing means generating an indication of the identity of said bill based on said pattern comparison when said bill is one that the system is capable of identifying.

2. The currency identification system of claim 1 wherein at least two of said sensors are stationary sensors.

3. The currency identification system of claim 2 wherein said stationary sensors are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

4. The currency identification system of claim 2 wherein said stationary sensors are optical sensors.

5. The currency identification system of claim 4

wherein said optical sensors are each contained within one or more scanheads, wherein said one or more scanheads include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of a respective one said at least two segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

6. The currency identification system of claim 5 wherein said strips are dimensioned so that at least 50 different strips can be scanned along a corresponding segment.

7. The currency identification system of claim 5 wherein said segments are each scanned in less than one tenth of a second.

8. The currency identification system of claim 1 further comprising:

a size detection sensor for retrieving size information from said bill;

a memory for storing master size information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said size comparison.

9. The currency identification system of claim 8 wherein said size information comprises either the length or the width, or both, of said bill.

10. The currency identification system of claim 8 wherein said size detection sensor is positioned upstream from said first-side sensors;

wherein said size comparison is performed before said pattern comparison;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said size comparison; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

11. The currency identification system of claim 8 wherein said size detection sensor is positioned upstream from said first-side sensors- wherein said size comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said first-side sensors;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said size comparison; and

wherein one or more of said first-side sensors are selected to scan said bill based on said size comparison or the output signals from one or more of said first-side sensors or derivations thereof are selected for the generation of scanned patterns based on said size comparison.

12. The currency identification system of claim 11 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

13. The currency identification system of claim 12 wherein said first-side sensors are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

14. The currency identification system of claim 12

further comprising one or more optical scanheads;

wherein said optical scanheads each include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of said segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

15. The currency identification system of claim 14 wherein said first-side sensors are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

16. The currency identification system of claim 1 further comprising:

a color detection sensor for retrieving color information from said bill;

a memory for storing master color information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a color comparison wherein said color information of said bill is compared with master color information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said color comparison.

17. The currency identification system of claim 16 wherein said color detection sensor is positioned upstream from said first-side sensors;

wherein said color comparison is performed before said pattern comparison;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said color comparison; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

18. The currency identification system of claim 16 wherein said color detection sensor is positioned upstream from said first-side sensors;

wherein said color comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said first-side sensors;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said color comparison and wherein one or more of said first-side sensors are selected to scan said bill based on said color comparison or the output signals from one or more of said first-side sensors or derivations thereof are selected for the generation of scanned patterns based on said color comparison.

19. The currency identification system of claim 18 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

20. The currency identification system of claim 18 wherein said first-side sensors are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

21. The currency identification system of claim 19

wherein said first-side sensors are optical sensors;

wherein said optical sensors are each contained within one or more scanheads, wherein said one or more scanheads include at least one tight source for illuminating a strip of a respective one of said at least two segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

22. The currency identification system of claim 21, wherein said first-side sensors are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

23. The currency identification system of claim 19 further comprising:

at least two second-side sensors positioned so as to permit scanning along at least two segments on a second side of said bill, said second-side sensors being capable of detecting characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generating corresponding output signals representing variations in the detected characteristic information from which scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated, at least two of said second-side sensors being laterally displaced relative to each other;

wherein said second-side sensors are included within said sensor selection or output signal selection.

26. The currency identification system of claim 1 further comprising:

a size detection sensor positioned upstream from said first-side sensors for retrieving size information from said bill;

a memory for storing master size information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying;

wherein said size comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said first-side sensors;

wherein said generation of said preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill is additionally based on said size comparison; and

wherein said selection of one or more first-side sensors to scan said bill or the selection of the output signals from one or more first-side sensors for the generation of scanned patterns is additionally based in said size comparison.

27. The currency identification system of claim 1 further comprising at least two laterally moveable scanheads.

28. The currency identification system of claim 27 wherein said moveable scanheads are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

29. The currency identification system of claim 27 wherein said moveable scanheads are optical scanheads.

30. The currency identification system of claim 29

wherein said optical scanheads each include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of said segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprise means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as a bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

31. The currency identification system of claim 30 wherein said strips are dimensioned so that at least 50 different strips can be scanned along a corresponding segment.

32. The currency identification system of claim 30 wherein said segments are each scanned in less than one tenth of a second.

33. The currency identification system of claim 30 further comprising:

a bill transport mechanism for transporting a currency bill to be scanned along a transport path;

a bill separating station for receiving currency bills from a bill accepting station and feeding said bills, one at a time, to said bill transport mechanism, said bill transport mechanism transporting bills from said bill separating station to a stacking station; and

wherein said optical scanheads are located between said bill separating and stacking stations.

34. The currency identification system of claim 33 wherein said bill transport mechanism transports bills from said bill separating station to said bill stacking station at a rate in excess of about 800 bills per minute.

35. The currency identification system of claim 27 further comprising:

a size detection sensor for retrieving size information from said bill;

a memory for storing master size information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said size comparison.

36. The currency identification system of claim 35 wherein said size information comprises either the length or the width, or both, of said bill.

37. The currency identification system of claim 35 wherein said size detection sensor is positioned upstream from said moveable scanheads;

wherein said size comparison is performed before said pattern comparison;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said size comparison; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

38. The currency identification system of claim 35 wherein said size detection sensor is positioned upstream from said moveable scanheads;

wherein said size comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said moveable scanheads;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said size comparison; and

wherein the lateral positioning of one or more of said moveable scanheads is adjusted based on said size comparison so as to permit scanning of selected segments of said bill.

39. The currency identification system of claim 38 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

40. The currency identification system of claim 39 wherein said moveable scanheads are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

41. The currency identification system of claim 39

wherein said moveable scanheads are optical scanheads;

wherein said optical scanheads each include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of said segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

42. The currency identification system of claim 41 wherein said moveable scanheads are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

43. The currency identification system of claim 27 further comprising:

a color detection sensor for retrieving color information from said bill;

a memory for storing master color information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a color comparison wherein said color information of said bill is compared with master color information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said color comparison.

44. The currency identification system of claim 43 wherein said color detection sensor is positioned upstream from said moveable scanheads;

wherein said color comparison is performed before said pattern comparison;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said color comparison; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

45. The currency identification system of claim 43 wherein said color detection sensor is positioned upstream from said moveable scanheads;

wherein said color comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said moveable scanheads;

wherein said signal processing means generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said color comparison; and

wherein the lateral positioning of one or more of said moveable scanheads is adjusted based on said color comparison so as to permit scanning of selected segments of said bill.

46. The currency identification system of claim 45 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

47. The currency identification system of claim 46 wherein said moveable scanheads are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

48. The currency identification system of claim 46

wherein said movable scanheads are optical scanheads;

wherein said optical scanheads each include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of said segments of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

49. The currency identification system of claim 48 wherein said moveable scanheads are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

50. The currency identification system of claim 46 further comprising:

at least two second-side scanheads so as to permit scanning along at least two segments on a second side of said bill, said second-side scanheads being capable of detecting characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generating corresponding output signals representing variations in the detected characteristic information from which scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated, at least two of said second-side scanheads being laterally displaced relative to each other;

wherein said second-side scanheads are included within said lateral positioning of one or more of said moveable scanheads.

53. The currency identification system of claim 46 further comprising:

a size detection sensor positioned upstream from said moveable scanheads for retrieving size information from said bill;

a memory for storing master size information associated with genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying; and

signal processing means for performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying;

wherein said size comparison is performed before said bill is scanned by said moveable scanheads;

wherein said generation of said preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill is additionally based on said size comparison; and

wherein said lateral positioning of one or more of said moveable scanheads is adjusted additionally based on said size comparison so as to permit scanning of selected segments of said bill.

54. The currency identification system of claim 1 further comprising:

at least two second-side sensors positioned so as to permit scanning along at least two segments on a second side of said bill, said second-side sensors being capable of detecting characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generating corresponding output signals representing analog variations in the detected characteristic information from which analog scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated, at least two of said second-side sensors being laterally displaced relative to each other.

55. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein at least two of said first-side sensors and at least two of said second-side sensors are stationary sensors.

56. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein at least two of said first-side scanheads and at least two of said second-side scanheads are moveable scanheads.

57. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein at least two of said first-side sensors and at least two of said second-side sensors are positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

58. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein at least two of said first-side sensors and at least two of said second-side sensors are optical sensors.

59. The currency identification system of claim 58

wherein said optical sensors are each contained within one or more scanheads, wherein said one or more scanheads include at least one light source for illuminating a strip of a respective one of said at least two segments on said first side of said bill and said at least two segments on said second side of said bill, and at least one detector for receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said means for generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises means for sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

60. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein said master patterns are generated by scanning only a single side of genuine bills of the plurality of genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying and wherein a valid identity indication is generated only when a match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning one side of said bill and one of said master patterns and no match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning the other side of said bill and any of said master patterns.

61. The currency identification system of claim 54 wherein two sets of master patterns are generated for genuine bills which the system is capable of identifying, a first side set generated by scanning genuine bills on one side thereof and a second side set generated by scanning genuine bills on an opposing side thereof;

and wherein a valid identity indication is generated only when a match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning one side of said bill and one of said first side master patterns and another match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning the other side of said bill and a second side master pattern associated with the bill-type indicated by the first side master patterns comparison.

62. The currency identification system of claim 1 wherein said signal processing means generates a correlation number for each of said pattern comparisons and wherein said indication of the identity of said bill is based upon a determination of which pattern comparison has the highest correlation number.

24. The currency identification system of 23 wherein the output from said color detection sensor is used to determine the face orientation of said bill.

25. The currency identification system of claim 24 wherein (1) said first-side sensors or output signals therefrom or (2) said second-side sensors or output signals therefrom are selected based on said determination of said face orientation.

51. The currency identification system of 50 wherein the output from said color detection sensor is used to determine the face orientation of said bill.

52. The currency identification system of 51 wherein the lateral positioning of one or more of (1) said first-side scanheads or (2) said second-side scanheads is adjusted based on said determination of said face orientation so as to permit scanning of selected segments of said bill.

63. A currency identification method, comprising:

receiving a stack of currency bills at an input receptacle;

transporting the bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle to an output receptacle at a rate in excess of about 800 bills per minute;

scanning the transported bills along at least two laterally displaced segments on a first side of said bill to detect characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generate corresponding output signals representing analog variations in the detected characteristic information from which analog scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated;

obtaining images of said bills;

generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals, said at least one scanned pattern representing and approximating analog amplitude variations in said characteristic information along a segment of said bill;

storing at least one master pattern associated with each genuine bill which the system is capable of identifying, said at least one master pattern representing and approximating analog amplitude variations in characteristic information along a segment of an associated genuine bill;

performing a pattern comparison wherein at least one of said scanned patterns or portions thereof is compared with at least one of said master patterns or portions thereof; and

generating an indication of the identity of said bill based on said pattern comparison.

64. The currency identification method of claim 63 wherein said laterally displaced segments are laterally positioned in a symmetrical fashion relative to a central axis of said bill.

65. The currency identification method of claim 63:

wherein said scanning includes illuminating a strip of a respective one said at least two segments of said bill, and detecting reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein said generating includes sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill moves, each output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

66. The currency identification method of claim 65 wherein said strips are dimensioned so that at least 50 different strips can be scanned along a corresponding segment.

67. The currency identification method of claim 65 wherein said segments are each scanned in less than one tenth of a second.

68. The currency identification method of claim 63 further comprising:

determining size information for said bill;

storing master size information associated with genuine bills which are capable of identification; and

performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said size comparison.

69. The currency identification method of claim 68 wherein said size information comprises either the length or the width, or both, of said bill.

70. The currency identification method of claim 68 wherein determining size is performed before generating scanned patterns;

wherein said performing a pattern comparison includes generating a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on determined size; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

71. The currency identification method of claim 68 wherein determining size is performed before generating scanned patterns;

wherein said performing a pattern comparison includes generating a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on determined size; and

wherein one or more laterally displaced segments are scanned based on said size comparison.

72. The currency identification method of claim 71 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

73. The currency identification method of claim 63 further comprising:

detecting color information from said bill;

storing master color information associated with genuine bills which are capable of being identified; and

performing a color comparison wherein said color information of said bill is compared with master color information associated with at least one of the genuine bills and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said color comparison.

74. The currency identification method of claim 73 wherein performing color comparison occurs before performing pattern comparison;

wherein the color comparison generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

75. The currency identification method of claim 73 wherein performing color comparison occurs before scanning;

wherein the color comparison generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill; and

wherein one or more laterally displaced segments are scanned based on said color comparison.

76. The currency identification method of claim 75 wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

78. The currency identification method of claim 63 further comprising:

retrieving size information from said bill before scanning;

storing master size information associated with genuine bills which are capable of being identified;

performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills;

wherein performing size comparison occurs before scanning; and

generating a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill based on said size comparison; and

wherein one or more laterally displaced segments are scanned based on said size comparison.

79. The currency identification method of claim 78 further comprising:

performing a size comparison wherein said size information of said bill is compared with master size information associated with at least one of the genuine bills and wherein said identity indication is additionally based on said size comparison.

80. The currency identification method of claim 78 wherein said size information comprises either the length or the width, or both, of said bill.

81. The currency identification method of claim 78 wherein performing size comparison occurs before said pattern comparison;

wherein the size comparison generates a preliminary set of potential matching bills for said bill; and

wherein said at least one of said master patterns of said pattern comparison is chosen from said preliminary set.

82. The currency identification method of claim 63 further comprising:

scanning along at least two segments on a second side of said bill to detect characteristic information from said bill along said segments and generate corresponding output signals representing analog variations in the detected characteristic information from which analog scanned patterns of characteristic information may be generated.

83. The currency identification method of claim 82

wherein scanning includes illuminating a strip of a respective one of said at least two segments on said first side of said bill and said at least two segments on said second side of said bill, and receiving reflected light from a corresponding illuminated strip on said bill;

wherein said output signals represent variations in the intensity of reflected light;

wherein generating at least one scanned pattern from said output signals comprises sampling said output signals at preselected intervals as said bill is moved past a corresponding scanhead, each of said output signal samples being proportional to the intensity of the light reflected from a different strip of a corresponding segment; and

wherein said at least one master pattern is a master pattern of reflected light intensity signal samples.

84. The currency identification method of claim 80 wherein said master patterns are generated by scanning only a single side of genuine bills of the plurality of genuine bills which are capable of being identified and wherein a valid identity indication is generated only when a match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning one side of said bill and one of said master patterns and no match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning the other side of said bill and any of said master patterns.

85. The currency identification system of claim 82 wherein two sets of master patterns are generated for genuine bills which are capable of being identified, a first side set generated by scanning genuine bills on one side thereof and a second side set generated by scanning genuine bills on an opposing side thereof, and wherein a valid identity indication is generated only when a match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning one side of said bill and one of said first side master patterns and another match is found between a scanned pattern generated by scanning the other side of said bill and a second side master pattern associated with the bill-type indicated by the first side master patterns comparison.

86. The currency identification method of claim 63 wherein said processing includes generating a correlation number for each of said pattern comparisons and wherein said indication of the identity of said bill is based upon a determination of which pattern comparison has the highest correlation number.

77. The currency identification method of 73 wherein the output from said color detection sensor is used to determine the face orientation of said bill.