CURRENCY BILL SENSOR ARRANGEMENT

• US 20090022390A1
• Filed: 07/17/2008
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Original Assignee: Cummins-Allison Corporation (Crane Company)
• Inventors: Jagielinski, Tomasz M., Yacoubian, Araz
• Granted Patent: US 8,331,643 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/135
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 11/50 Sorting or counting valuable papers
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/121 Apparatus characterised by sensor details

Abstract

A currency processing device for receiving a stack of U.S. currency bills and rapidly processing all the bills in the stack, the device comprising: an input receptacle adapted to receive a stack of U.S. currency bills of a plurality of denominations, the currency bills having a wide dimension and a narrow dimension; a transport mechanism positioned to transport the bills, one at a time, in a transport direction from the input receptacle along a transport path at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute with the narrow dimension of the bills parallel to the transport direction; a currency bill sensor arrangement positioned along the transport path, the currency bill sensor comprising: i) a multi-wavelength light source configured to emit a first wavelength of light and a second wavelength of light; ii) a cylindrical lens positioned to receive the first and second wavelengths of light from the multi-wavelength light source, the cylindrical lens illuminating an elongated strip of light on a surface of one of the plurality of currency bills, the cylindrical lens being configured to receive light reflected from the surface of the one of the plurality of currency bills; iii) a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected light, the photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected light; iv) a processor configured to receive the electrical signal generated by the photodetector; wherein, the processor is configured to determine whether the surface of the one of the plurality of currency bills is a primary surface or a secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

Claims

1. A currency processing device for receiving a stack of U.S. currency bills and rapidly processing all the bills in the stack, the device comprising:

an input receptacle positioned to receive a stack of U.S. currency bills of a plurality of denominations, the currency bills having a wide dimension and a narrow dimension;

a transport mechanism positioned to transport the bills, one at a time, in a transport direction from the input receptacle along a transport path at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute with the narrow dimension of the bills parallel to the transport direction;

a currency bill sensor arrangement positioned along the transport path, the currency bill sensor comprising;

i) a multi-wavelength light source configured to emit a first wavelength of light and a second wavelength of light;

ii) a cylindrical lens positioned to receive the first and second wavelengths of light from the multi-wavelength light source, the cylindrical lens illuminating an elongated strip of light on a surface of one of the plurality of currency bills, the cylindrical lens being configured to receive light reflected from the surface of the one of the plurality of currency bills;

iii) a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected light, the photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected light;

iv) a processor configured to receive the electrical signal generated by the photodetector;

wherein, the processor is configured to determine whether the surface of the one of the plurality of currency bills is a primary surface or a secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

2. The currency processing device of claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to modulate the first and second wavelengths of light on and off in an alternating manner.

3. The currency processing device of claim 1, wherein the first and second wavelengths of light are visible light.

4. The currency processing device of claim 1, further comprising one or more output receptacles positioned to receive currency bills from the transport mechanism after the currency bills pass the currency bill sensor arrangement.

5. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to denominate the plurality of currency bills based on information associated with the electrical signal at a rate in excess of 1000 bills per minute.

6. The currency bill sensing system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a series of the currency bills based on information associated with the electrical signal.

7. The currency bill sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first wavelength of light is between about 520 nanometers and 580 nanometers, and wherein the second wavelength of light is between about 605 nanometers and 665 nanometers.

8. The currency bill sensing system of claim 1, wherein the first wavelength of light is between about 520 nanometers and 580 nanometers, and wherein the second wavelength of light is between about 420 nanometers and 480 nanometers.

9. The currency bill sensing system of claim 1, wherein the multi-wavelength light source is further configured to emit a third wavelength of light, and wherein the first wavelength of light is red light, the second wavelength of light is green light, the third wavelength of light is blue light.

10. A U.S. currency processing device for receiving a stack of U.S. currency bills and rapidly processing all the bills in the stack, the device comprising:

an input receptacle positioned to receive a stack of U.S. bills of a plurality of denominations, the bills having a narrow dimension and a wide dimension;

a transport mechanism comprising a transport drive motor and transport rollers, the transport mechanism being positioned to transport the bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle along a transport path in a transport direction;

a currency bill sensor arrangement positioned along the transport path, the currency bill sensor comprising;

i) a first light source;

ii) a second light source;

iii) a controller configured to modulate the first and second light sources on and off in an alternating manner;

iv) a cylindrical lens positioned to receive modulated light from the first and second light sources, the cylindrical lens having light focusing characteristics in one direction that illuminates an elongated strip of the modulated light onto a surface of one of the plurality of currency bills, the cylindrical lens being positioned to receive modulated light reflected from the surface of the currency bill;

v) a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected modulated light from the cylindrical lens, the photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected modulated light;

vi) a processor configured to receive the electrical signal generated by the photodetector;

wherein, the processor is configured to determine whether the surface of the one of the plurality of currency bills is a primary surface or a secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

11. The currency processing device of claim 10, wherein the transport mechanism is adapted to transport the bills at a rate in excess of 500 bills per minute with their narrow dimension parallel to the transport direction.

12. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to denominate the plurality of currency bills based on the electrical signal at a rate in excess of 1500 bills per minute.

13. The currency bill sensing system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a series of the currency bills based on information associated with the electrical signal at a rate in excess of 1500 bills per minute.

14. A currency processing device, comprising:

an input receptacle configured to receive a stack of currency bills;

a transport mechanism configured to move the currency bills in a serial manner along a transport path;

a currency bill sensor arrangement positioned along the transport path, the currency bill sensor comprising;

i) a multi-wavelength light source configured to emit a first wavelength of light and a second wavelength of light;

ii) a cylindrical lens positioned adjacent the transport path and is configured to receive the first and second wavelengths of light from the multi-wavelength light source, the cylindrical lens illuminating an elongated strip of light on a surface of each of the plurality of currency bills, the cylindrical lens being configured to receive light reflected from the surfaces of the plurality of currency bills;

iii) a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected light, the photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected light; and

iv) a processor configured to receive the electrical signal generated by the photodetector;

wherein, the processor is configured to determine whether a surface of each of the currency bills is a primary surface or a secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

15. The currency processing device of claim 14, wherein the transport mechanism moves the currency bills along the transport path at a rate of at least about 1000 bills per minute and wherein the processor is configured to determine a face-orientation of the bills at a rate of at least 1000 bills per minute.

16. The currency processing device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to denominate the bills at a rate of 1000 bills per minute.

17. The currency processing device of claim 14, further comprising a controller configured to modulate the first and second wavelengths of light on and off in an alternating manner.

18. The currency bill sensing system of claim 14, wherein the multi-wavelength light source is further configured to emit a third wavelength of light, and wherein the first wavelength of light is red light, the second wavelength of light is green light, the third wavelength of light is blue light.

19. A currency bill sensor arrangement, the sensor comprising:

a first light source;

a second light source;

a controller configured to modulate the first and second light sources on and off in an alternating manner;

a cylindrical lens positioned to receive modulated light from the first and second light sources, the cylindrical lens directing the modulated light onto a surface of a currency bill having two opposing surfaces including a primary surface and a secondary surface, the cylindrical lens being positioned to receive modulated light reflected from the currency bill;

a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected modulated light from the cylindrical lens, the photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected modulated light; and

a processor configured to receive the electrical signal generated by the photodetector;

wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the surface of the currency bill is the primary surface or the secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

20. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the first and second light sources are LED light sources.

21. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the first light source emits a first wavelength of light and the second light source emits a second wavelength of light.

22. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to split the electrical signal into a first wavelength component and a second wavelength component, the processor being configured to denominate the currency bill based on at least one of the first wavelength component, the second wavelength component, or an average of the first and second wavelength components.

23. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to filter the electrical signal to produce an average reflectance signal, the processor being configured to denominate the currency bill based on the average reflectance signal.

24. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to split the electrical signal into a first wavelength reflectance component and a second wavelength reflectance component, the processor configured to determine the difference signal between the first wavelength reflectance component and the second wavelength reflectance component to be used in determining whether the surface of the currency bill is the primary surface or the secondary surface.

25. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to split the electrical signal into a first wavelength reflectance component and a second wavelength reflectance component, the processor configured to determine the difference signal between the first wavelength reflectance component and the second wavelength reflectance component to be used in determining a series of the currency bill.

26. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 25, wherein the processor is configured to determine the series of the currency bill using the difference signal divided by an average reflectance signal.

27. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the cylindrical lens has a diameter between about 2 and 8 millimeters.

28. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the cylindrical lens has a diameter between about 3 and 6 millimeters.

29. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the cylindrical lens has a diameter of about 5 millimeters.

30. The currency bill sensor arrangement of claim 19, wherein the cylindrical lens has a diameter of about 3.8 millimeters.

31. A currency bill sensing system, comprising:

a red light emitting diode;

a green light emitting diode;

a cylindrical lens positioned to receive red and green light from the red and green light emitting diodes, the cylindrical lens having light focusing characteristics in one direction that illuminates an elongated strip of the light onto a surface of a currency bill, the cylindrical lens being positioned to receive red and green light reflected from the currency bill; and

a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected red and reflected green light from the cylindrical lens;

wherein the photodetector is positioned between the red light emitting diode and the green light emitting diode;

the photodetector, the red light emitting diode, and the green light emitting diode being positioned above a surface of the currency bill;

the cylindrical lens being positioned between the photodetector and the surface of the currency bill to facilitate the illumination of the elongated strip of red or green light.

32. The currency bill sensing system of claim 31, further comprising a controller for modulating the red and green light emitting diodes on and off in an alternating manner.

33. The currency bill sensing system of claim 31, wherein the elongated strip of red or green light is elongated in a first direction and narrow in a second direction.

34. The currency bill sensing system of claim 33, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to a direction of movement of the currency bill in the currency bill sensing system.

35. The currency bill sensing system of claim 31, wherein the elongated strip of red or green light has a first dimension and a second dimension, the first dimension being between about 6 millimeters and 50 millimeters, the second dimension being between about 2 millimeter and 0.1 millimeters.

36. A currency bill sensing system, comprising:

a first optical sensor comprising;

i) one or more first light sources for emitting a first wavelength of light and a second wavelength of light;

ii) a first cylindrical lens; and

iii) a first photodetector;

a second optical sensor comprising;

i) one or more second light sources for emitting the first wavelength of light and the second wavelength of light;

ii) a second cylindrical lens; and

iii) a second photodetector; and

a controller for modulating the one or more first light sources and the one or more second light sources on and off in an alternating manner such that only one light source emits only one wavelength of light at any given moment;

wherein the first cylindrical lens receives modulated light from the one or more first light sources;

the first cylindrical lens being positioned to direct the modulated light onto a first surface of a currency bill, the first cylindrical lens further being positioned to receive modulated light reflected from the first surface of the currency bill; and

wherein the second cylindrical lens is positioned to receive modulated light from the one or more second light sources;

the second cylindrical lens being positioned to direct the modulated light onto a second surface of the currency bill;

the second cylindrical lens further being positioned to receive modulated light reflected from the second surface of the currency bill.

37. The currency bill sensing system of claim 36, wherein the one or more first light sources includes a first light source and a second light source and wherein the one or more second light sources includes a third light source and a fourth light source.

38. The currency bill sensing system of claim 37, wherein the first light source emits a first wavelength of light, the second light source emits a second wavelength of light, the third light source emits the first wavelength of light and the fourth light source emits the second wavelength of light.

39. The currency bill sensing system of claim 38, wherein the first wavelength of light is red and the second wavelength of light is green.

40. The currency bill sensing system of claim 38, wherein the first wavelength of light is blue and the second wavelength of light is green.

41. The currency bill sensing system of claim 36, wherein the one or more first light sources is a first multi-wavelength light source, and wherein the one or more second light sources is a second multi-wavelength light source.

42. The currency bill sensing system of claim 41, wherein the first multi-wavelength light source emits a first wavelength of light, a second wavelength of light, and third wavelength of light, and the second multi-wavelength light source emits the first wavelength of light, the second wavelength of light, and the third wavelength of light.

43. The currency bill sensing system of claim 42, wherein the first wavelength of light is red, the second wavelength of light is green, and the third wavelength of light is blue.

44. The currency bill sensing system of claim 36, wherein a portion of the modulated light directed onto the second surface of the currency bill is transmitted through the currency bill such that the first cylindrical lens receives a portion of the modulated transmitted light.

45. The currency bill sensing system of claim 44, wherein the modulated light reflected from the first surface and the modulated light transmitted through the currency bill are received by the first photodetector from the first cylindrical lens;

the first photodetector generating an electrical signal in response to the received reflected and transmitted modulated light.

46. The currency bill sensing system of claim 36, wherein the received modulated light reflected from the first surface is received by the first photodetector from the first cylindrical lens, and wherein the received modulated light reflected from the second surface is received by the second photodetector from the second cylindrical lens.

47. The currency bill sensing system of claim 46, wherein the first photodetector generates a first electrical signal in response to the received modulated light reflected from the first surface, and wherein the second photodetector generates a second electrical signal in response to the received modulated light reflected from the second surface.

48. The currency bill sensing system of claim 47, further comprising a processor configured to:

i) receive the first and second electrical signals, and

ii) make a first surface determination of whether the first surface of the currency bill is a primary surface or a secondary surface of the currency bill based on the first electrical signal.

49. The currency bill sensing system of claim 48, wherein the processor is further configured to:

i) determine a confidence level associated with the first surface determination of whether the first surface is the primary or secondary surface of the currency bill, wherein the confidence level is derived from information associated with the first electrical signal;

ii) if the confidence level is below a predetermined threshold, make a second surface determination of whether the second surface of the currency bill is the primary surface or the secondary surface based on the second electrical signal; and

iii) compare the first surface determination and the second surface determination;

wherein if the first surface determination is that the first surface is one of the primary surface or the secondary surface and the second surface determination is that the second surface is the opposite of the first surface determination, then the processor indicates that the first surface or the second surface of the currency bill is either the primary surface or the secondary surface, otherwise the processor indicates an error.

50. The currency bill sensing system of claim 49, wherein the processor is configured to indicate whether the first surface of the currency bill is either the primary surface or the secondary surface and whether the second surface is the primary surface or the secondary surface.

51. The currency bill sensing system of claim 50, wherein the first surface and the second surfaces are opposites.

52. A currency bill sensing system, comprising:

a multi-wavelength light emitting diode arrangement configured to emit a first wavelength of light, a second wavelength of light, and a third wavelength of light;

a cylindrical lens positioned to receive the first, second, and third wavelengths of light from the multi-wavelength light emitting diode arrangement, the cylindrical lens having light focusing characteristics in one direction for illuminating an elongated strip of light onto a surface of a currency bill, the cylindrical lens being configured to receive light reflected from the currency bill; and

a photodetector positioned to receive the reflected light from the cylindrical lens;

wherein the photodetector is positioned adjacent the multi-wavelength light emitting diode arrangement;

the cylindrical lens being positioned between the photodetector and the surface of the currency bill to facilitate the illumination of the elongated strip of light.

53. The currency bill sensing system of claim 52, wherein the first wavelength of light is about 635 nanometers.

54. The currency bill sensing system of claim 52, wherein the second wavelength of light is about 550 nanometers.

55. The currency bill sensing system of claim 52, wherein the third wavelength of light is about 450 nanometers.

56. The currency processing device of claim 52, further comprising a controller for modulating the multi-wavelength light emitting diode arrangement such that the multi-wavelength light emitting diode arrangement only emits the first wavelength of light, the second wavelength of light, and the third wavelength of light in an alternating manner.

57. A currency bill sensing system, comprising:

a first wavelength light source;

a second wavelength light source;

a controller for modulating the first and second wavelength light sources on and off in an alternating manner;

a waveguide for guiding the first and second wavelength light, the waveguide having a first end and a second end;

a cylindrical lens for receiving modulated light from the second end of the waveguide, the cylindrical lens directing the modulated light onto a surface of a currency bill having two opposing surfaces including a primary surface and a secondary surface, the cylindrical lens further receiving modulated light reflected from a surface of the currency bill; and

a photodetector for receiving a portion of the reflected modulated light from the cylindrical lens, the photodetector adjacent the waveguide;

wherein the first and second wavelength light sources are coupled to the first end of the waveguide such that substantially all of the emitted light enters the first end of the waveguide.

58. The currency bill sensing system of claim 57, further including a processor configured to receive an electrical signal generated by the photodetector, the electrical signal generated in response to the received reflected light, the processor being configured to determine whether the surface of the currency bill is the primary surface or the secondary surface based on the electrical signal.

59. The currency bill sensing system of claim 58, wherein the processor is further configured to denominate the currency bill based on the electrical signal.

60. The currency bill sensing system of claim 57, wherein the waveguide has a first dimension, a second dimension, and a third dimension, the light generally propagating from the first end to second end of the waveguide in the third dimension, the second dimension being narrower that the first dimension to allow the modulated light to expand in the first direction.

61. The currency bill sensing system of claim 57, wherein the waveguide is formed from a sheet of plastic or from glass.