Partial read confirmation method

• US 6,697,511 B1
• Filed: 08/20/2002
• Issued: 02/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cash Processing Solutions, Inc. (De La Rue PLC)
• Original Assignee: Currency Systems International, Inc. (De La Rue PLC)
• Inventors: Haycock, Richard Glen
• Primary Examiner(s): Au, Amelia M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, MARTIN E
• Application Number:
  US10/223,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20040037456A1
• Time in Patent Office: 553 Days
• Field of Search: 382/135, 382/140, 382/229-31, 382/137, 382/105, 705/43, 235/379, 902/11, 902/12, 902/14, 902/17, 209/534
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/274 Syntactic or semantic context, e.g. balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/17 Apparatus characterised by positioning means or by means responsive to positioning

Abstract

Methods for identifying a note with a partial OCR of one or more characters in the note'"'"'s serial code. The methods record the characters read and associates each character read with its field position in the serial code. The method can use this information or combine the character and field information with positional information of the note within a stack in order to identify a note with a reasonable degree of statistical probability.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a note having a serial code, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of the note'"'"'s serial code from a scanned image of the note;

(b) identifying the field position of said at least one character read;

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read, identifying the note by using the at least one readable character and the respective field position of said at least one readable character, wherein the position of the at least one readable character is not known prior to reading the at least one readable character; and

(d) identifying the note to a position in a stack of notes.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the serial code characters are identified using an optical character recognition device.

3. A method for identifying a note having a serial code, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of the note'"'"'s serial code from a scanned image of the note;

(b) identifying the field position of said at least one character read; and

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read, identifying the note by using the at least one readable character and the respective field position of said at least one readable character, wherein the position of the at least one readable character is not known prior to reading the at least one readable character, and

wherein the position is correlated to account information when the note is distributed.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the serial code characters are identified using an optical character recognition device.

5. A method for identifying a note having a serial code, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of the note'"'"'s serial code from a scanned image of the note;

(b) identifying the field position of said at least one character read;

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read identifying the note by using the at least one readable character and the respective field position of said at least one readable character, wherein the position of the at least one readable character is not known prior to reading the at least one readable character; and

wherein the position is correlated to account information when the note is deposited.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the serial code characters are identified using an optical character recognition device.

7. A method for correlating a partially read serial code to a note, comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of a serial code;

(b) identifying the field position of at least one character read;

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one unreadable character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read wherein the field positions of the at least one readable character and the at least one unreadable character are not known prior to reading the at least one character of the serial code, comparing said at least one readable character and said respective field position with said complete serial code, wherein if said complete serial code contains said at least one readable character in said field position, then said partially read serial code correlates with said complete serial code; and

(d) identifying the note by its position in a stack of notes.

8. A method for correlating a partially read serial code to a note, comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of a serial code;

(b) identifying the field position of at least one character read;

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one unreadable character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read wherein the field positions of the at least one readable character and the at least one unreadable character are not known prior to reading the at least one character of the serial code, comparing said at least one readable character and said respective field position with said complete serial code, wherein if said complete serial code contains said at least one readable character in said field position, then said partially read serial code correlates with said complete serial code; and

(d) identifying account data to the note when distributed.

9. A method for correlating a partially read serial code to a note comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one character of a serial code;

(b) identifying the field position of at least one character read;

(c) responsive to a determination that at least one unreadable character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read wherein the field positions of the at least one readable character and the at least one unreadable character are not known prior to reading the at least one character of the serial code, comparing said at least one readable character and said respective field position with said complete serial code, wherein if said complete serial code contains said at least one readable character in said field position, then said partially read serial code correlates with said complete serial code; and

(d) identifying account data to the note when the note is deposited.

10. A method for identifying notes distributed from an automated teller machine wherein said notes each have a serial code that comprises a series of random characters having no mutual dependency, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) reading at least one readable character of a note'"'"'s serial code;

(b) identifying a field position in the serial code of the at least one readable character, wherein the field position of the at least one readable character is not known prior to reading the at least one readable character;

(c) recording the field position and the character;

(d) correlating account data with the recorded character and field position data and identifying the note by its position in a stack of notes;

(e) comparing a complete serial code to said recorded character and field position data to determine if there is a match, wherein a match may be determined even though at least one character other than said at least one readable character of said serial code cannot be read.

11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the reading of step (a) and the identifying of step (b) occurs before the notes are installed in the automated teller machine.

12. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the note is identified in step (c) by eliminating all serial codes not having said at least one character located in said field position.