Apparatus and system for imaging currency bills and financial documents and method for using the same

• US 8,467,591 B1
• Filed: 04/13/2010
• Issued: 06/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Csulits, Frank M., Jones, William J., Mennie, Douglas U., Anderson, Matthew L., Klein, Robert J., Jaeger, Ralf H., Badalamenti, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W
• Application Number:
  US12/758,904
• Time in Patent Office: 1,162 Days
• Field of Search: 382/135, 382/218, 209/534, 356/71, 194/302, 340/5.86
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/042 characterized in that the payment protocol involves at least one cheque
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/1085 involving automatic teller machines [ATMs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/146 Aligning or centring of the image pick-up or image-field
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/148 Segmentation of character regions
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0047 using checkcodes, e.g. coded numbers derived from serial number and denomination
• 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 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/202 using pattern matching

Abstract

A batch of currency bills is received, transported, and imaged to produce image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the currency bills. Serial numbers are extracted from the image data for each of the currency bills. Each extracted serial number is compared with a plurality of serial numbers in a first currency bill database to determine if a currency bill associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill. Each extracted serial number is further compared with a plurality of serial numbers in a second currency bill database to determine if one of the plurality of currency bills associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill.

Claims

1. A method of processing currency bills comprising:

receiving a plurality of currency bills in an input receptacle of a document processing system, each currency bill including a respective serial number;

transporting the plurality of currency bills along a transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle to an output receptacle;

imaging each of the plurality of currency bills with an image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the plurality of currency bills;

extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the currency bills;

simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the plurality of currency bills, comparing extracted serial numbers with a plurality of serial numbers in a first currency bill database to determine if a currency bill associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill; and

comparing each extracted serial number with a plurality of serial numbers in a second currency bill database to determine if one of the plurality of currency bills associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the plurality of currency bills:

(1) determining that at least one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the first act of comparing and (2) displaying on a display unit of the document processing system a visually readable image of at least a portion of the at least one suspect currency bill using the image data associated with the suspect currency bill.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped:

(1) determining that at least one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing and (2) displaying on a display unit of the document processing system a visually readable image of at least a portion of the at least one suspect currency bill using the image data associated with the suspect currency bill.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first act of comparing is a real-time comparison and the second act of comparing is a post-processing comparison.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, in the document processing system, the communication; and

in response to the receiving the communication, alerting an operator of the document processing system that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the alerting includes making a noise using a speaker of the document processing system, displaying a suspect notice on a display device of the document processing system, or both.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

determining that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving, in the document processing system, the communication; and

in response to the receiving the communication, alerting an operator of the document processing system that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the alerting includes making a noise using a speaker of the document processing system, displaying a no suspect match notice on a display device of the document processing system, or both.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the serial numbers in the first currency bill database are different from all of the serial numbers in the second currency bill database.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the serial numbers in the first currency bill database is the same as one of the serial numbers in the second currency bill database.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the plurality of currency bills includes receiving U.S. currency bills.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the first act of comparing or the second act of comparing.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database is associated with high-priority suspect currency bills and the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database is associated with low-priority suspect currency bills.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first currency bill database includes at least about ninety percent fewer serial numbers than the second currency bill database.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the first currency bill database includes at least about ninety-nine percent fewer serial numbers than the second currency bill database.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the first currency bill database includes up to about one hundred serial numbers and the second currency bill database includes at least about one hundred serial numbers.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein all of the serial numbers in the first currency bill database are different from all of the serial numbers in the second currency bill database.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that a first one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the first act of comparing and determining that a second one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a computer that is communicatively connected to the document processing system.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the first currency bill database includes at least about seventy percent fewer serial numbers than the second currency bill database.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 600 currency bills per minute.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 800 currency bills per minute.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1200 currency bills per minute.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 1200 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 200 DPI×

200 DPI.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the plurality of currency bills includes U.S. currency bills and the document processing system has a footprint of less than about two square feet and a weight of less than about thirty pounds.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 600 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 400 DPI×

400 DPI.

33. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped, determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing;

after the determining, re-receiving at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills in the input receptacle of the document processing system, the at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills being re-run bills;

re-transporting the re-run bills along the transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle;

re-imaging each of the re-run bills with the image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the re-run bills;

re-extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the re-run bills;

comparing each re-extracted serial number with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill;

determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill; and

in response to the determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches, flagging the one of the re-run bills associated with the re-extracted serial number matching the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the flagging includes off-sorting the one of the re-run bills to a reject output receptacle.

35. The method of claim 33, wherein the flagging includes stopping the re-transporting such that the one of the re-run bills is the last currency bill transported to the output receptacle.

36. A method of processing currency bills in a document processing system, comprising:

displaying a plurality of database selection elements, each of the database selection elements being associated with a different suspect database, each of the suspect databases including a plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a first selection of a first one of the database selection elements associated with a first suspect database to be used in a real-time comparison, the first suspect database being associated with a first plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a second selection of a second one of the database selection elements associated with a second suspect database to be used in a post-processing comparison, the second suspect database being associated with a second plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a plurality of currency bills in an input receptacle of the document processing system, each currency bill including a respective serial number;

transporting the plurality of currency bills along a transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle to an output receptacle;

imaging each of the plurality of currency bills with an image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the plurality of currency bills;

extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the currency bills;

simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the currency bills, comparing extracted serial numbers with the first plurality of suspect serial numbers to determine if a currency bill associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill; and

after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped, comparing each extracted serial number with the second plurality of suspect serial numbers to determine if one of the plurality of currency bills associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising determining that at least one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the first act of comparing or the second act of comparing.

38. The method of claim 37, further comprising in response to the determining that at least one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill, displaying on a display unit of the document processing system a visually readable image of at least a portion of the at least one suspect currency bill using the image data associated with the suspect currency bill.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the first plurality of suspect serial numbers is associated with high-priority suspect currency bills and the second plurality of suspect serial numbers is associated with low-priority suspect currency bills.

40. The method of claim 36, wherein the first plurality of suspect serial numbers includes at least about 90 percent fewer serial numbers than the second plurality of suspect serial numbers.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein the first plurality of suspect serial numbers includes at least about 99 percent fewer serial numbers than the second plurality of suspect serial numbers.

42. The method of claim 36, wherein the first plurality of suspect serial numbers includes up to about 100 serial numbers and the second plurality of suspect serial numbers includes at least about 100 serial numbers.

43. The method of claim 36, wherein all of the serial numbers in the first plurality of suspect serial numbers are different from all of the serial numbers in the second plurality of suspect serial numbers.

44. The method of claim 36, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

45. The method of claim 36, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 1200 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

46. The method of claim 36, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system, the method further comprising:

determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

47. The method of claim 36, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system, the method further comprising:

determining that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

48. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped, determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing;

after the determining, re-receiving at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills in the input receptacle of the document processing system, the at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills being re-run bills;

re-transporting the re-run bills along the transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle;

re-imaging each of the re-run bills with the image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the re-run bills;

re-extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the re-run bills;

comparing each re-extracted serial number with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill;

determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill; and

in response to the determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches, flagging the one of the re-run bills associated with the re-extracted serial number matching the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill.

49. A method of processing currency bills in a document processing system, comprising:

displaying a plurality of database selection elements, each of the database selection elements being associated with a different suspect database, each of the suspect databases including a plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a first selection of a first one of the database selection elements associated with a first suspect database to be used in a real-time comparison, the first suspect database being associated with a first plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a second selection of a second one of the database selection elements associated with a second suspect database to be used in a post-processing comparison, the second suspect database being associated with a second plurality of suspect serial numbers;

receiving a plurality of currency bills in an input receptacle of the document processing system, each currency bill including a respective serial number;

transporting the plurality of currency bills along a transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle to an output receptacle;

imaging each of the plurality of currency bills with an image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the plurality of currency bills;

extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the currency bills;

simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the currency bills, comparing extracted serial numbers with the first plurality of suspect serial numbers to determine if a currency bill associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill; and

after a portion of the plurality of currency bills have been transported to the output receptacle, comparing each extracted serial number with the second plurality of suspect serial numbers to determine if one of the plurality of currency bills associated with an extracted serial number is a suspect currency bill.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising determining that a first one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the first act of comparing and determining that a second one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing.

51. The method of claim 49, wherein the first act of comparing is a real-time comparison and the second act of comparing is a post-processing comparison.

52. The method of claim 49, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a computer that is communicatively connected to the document processing system.

53. The method of claim 49, wherein the first plurality of suspect serial numbers includes at least about 70 percent fewer serial numbers than the second plurality of suspect serial numbers.

54. The method of claim 49, wherein the portion of the currency bills includes less than all of the plurality of currency bills.

55. The method of claim 49, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

56. The method of claim 49, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 1200 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

57. The method of claim 49, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system, the method further comprising:

determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

58. The method of claim 49, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system, the method further comprising:

determining that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing; and

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that none of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect bill.

59. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped, determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a suspect currency bill based on the second act of comparing;

after the determining, re-receiving at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills in the input receptacle of the document processing system, the at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills being re-run bills;

re-transporting the re-run bills along the transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle;

re-imaging each of the re-run bills with the image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the re-run bills;

re-extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the re-run bills;

comparing each re-extracted serial number with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill;

determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill; and

in response to the determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches, flagging the one of the re-run bills associated with the re-extracted serial number matching the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a suspect currency bill.

60. A method of processing currency bills, comprising:

receiving a plurality of currency bills in an input receptacle of a document processing system, each currency bill including a respective serial number;

transporting the plurality of currency bills along a transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle to an output receptacle;

imaging each of the plurality of currency bills with an image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the plurality of currency bills;

extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the currency bills;

simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the plurality of currency bills, comparing extracted serial numbers with a plurality of serial numbers in a first currency bill database to determine if a currency bill associated with an extracted serial number is a currency bill of interest; and

comparing each extracted serial number with a plurality of serial numbers in a second currency bill database to determine if one of the plurality of currency bills associated with an extracted serial number is a currency bill of interest.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database, the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database, or both are associated with genuine currency bills.

62. The method of claim 60, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database, the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database, or both are associated with stolen currency bills.

63. The method of claim 60, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database, the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database, or both are associated with currency bills used in a ransom.

64. The method of claim 60, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database, the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database, or both are associated with currency bills deposited in a customer account.

65. The method of claim 60, wherein the plurality of serial numbers in the first currency bill database, the plurality of serial numbers in the second currency bill database, or both are associated with currency bills used to purchase drugs.

66. The method of claim 60, further comprising simultaneously to the transporting of a portion of the plurality of currency bills:

(1) determining that at least one of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest based on the first act of comparing and (2) displaying on a display unit of the document processing system a visually readable image of at least a portion of the at least one currency bill of interest using the image data associated with the currency bill of interest.

67. The method of claim 60, wherein the first act of comparing is a real-time comparison and the second act of comparing is a post-processing comparison.

68. The method of claim 60, wherein the second act of comparing is performed in a second document processing system that is communicatively connected to the document processing system.

69. The method of claim 68, further comprising:

determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest based on the second act of comparing;

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest;

receiving, in the document processing system, the communication; and

in response to the receiving the communication, alerting an operator of the document processing system that the one of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest.

70. The method of claim 68, further comprising:

determining that none of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest based on the second act of comparing;

in response to the determining, transmitting, from the second document processing system, a communication indicative that none of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest;

receiving, in the document processing system, the communication; and

in response to the receiving the communication, alerting an operator of the document processing system that none of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest.

71. The method of claim 60, wherein the first currency bill database includes up to about one hundred serial numbers and the second currency bill database includes at least about one hundred serial numbers.

72. The method of claim 60, wherein the first currency bill database includes at least about seventy percent fewer serial numbers than the second currency bill database.

73. The method of claim 60, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute.

74. The method of claim 60, wherein the acts of transporting, imaging, and extracting are performed at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 100 DPI×

100 DPI.

75. The method of claim 60, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 1000 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 200 DPI×

200 DPI, and wherein the plurality of currency bills includes U.S. currency bills and the document processing system has a footprint of less than about two square feet and a weight of less than about thirty pounds.

76. The method of claim 60, wherein the transporting includes transporting each of the plurality of currency bills in a wide-edge leading manner at a rate of at least about 600 currency bills per minute and wherein the imaging includes obtaining image data that is reproducible as a visually readable image having a resolution of at least 400 DPI×

400 DPI.

77. The method of claim 60, further comprising:

after the transporting of the currency bills has stopped, determining that one of the plurality of currency bills is a currency bill of interest based on the second act of comparing;

after the determining, re-receiving at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills in the input receptacle of the document processing system, the at least a portion of the plurality of currency bills being re-run bills;

re-transporting the re-run bills along the transport path, in a serial fashion, from the input receptacle;

re-imaging each of the re-run bills with the image scanner positioned adjacent to the transport path to produce image data, the image data being reproducible as a visually readable image of at least a portion of each of the re-run bills;

re-extracting the serial numbers from the image data for each of the re-run bills;

comparing each re-extracted serial number with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a currency bill of interest;

determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches with the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a currency bill of interest; and

in response to the determining that one of the re-extracted serial numbers matches, flagging the one of the re-run bills associated with the re-extracted serial number matching the serial number of the one of the plurality of currency bills determined to be a currency bill of interest.