Claims
- 1. Apparatus for the optical recognition of documents comprising:
- a transport system for transferring a document having a document transfer plane on which said document is placed, said transfer plane geometrically dividing the space in which it is contained into a first semi-space and a second semi-space;
- a first plurality of photoelectric elements in said first semi-space arranged in a spaced apart arrangement to sense light reflected from a zone across said transfer plane;
- a plurality of light sources in said first semi-space arranged for illuminating said zone, said plurality of light sources being subdivided according to their emission spectra into different color groups;
- a second plurality of photoelectric elements in said second semi-space arranged in a spaced apart arrangement to sense light transmitted through a zone across said transfer plane from said plurality of light sources;
- an energizing circuit for energizing said light sources; and
- an evaluation unit for processing sensor signals received from said photoelectric elements;
- wherein light reflected from said document to said first plurality of photoelectric elements is gathered under a first vision angle (.alpha.) which determines the width of said zone, and is gathered under a second vision angle (.beta.) which determines the length within said zone seen by each photoelectric element and further wherein light from a region of said zone at least partially overlaps at least one other region of said zone from which light is sensed by another photoelectric element.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the shortest distance between said light sources is smaller than the shortest distance between said photoelectric elements.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said light sources of said color groups are periodically ordered with a periodicity that is a function of their light emission intensity, thereby achieving a uniform illumination of said strip region.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising optics disposed in front of said photoelectric elements, for admitting light within said vision angles (.alpha., .beta.).
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a geometrical optical system disposed in front of said light sources for improving the illumination of said zone.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second vision angle (.beta.) is greater than the first vision angle (.alpha.).
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the color groups of said light sources are illuminated in sequence.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the light sources are subdivided according to their emission spectrum into different color groups.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising radiation sources used as light sources and disposed in said second semi-space, so as to effect a two sided illumination of said document.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein at least some of the radiation sources are infrared light sources.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said light sources are ordered in at least 3 periodically alternating color groups.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising an ultraviolet radiation source disposed in one of said semi-spaces.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein strips across the transfer plane adjacent to the sides of said zone are covered with a scattering material.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said zone of said transfer plane is covered with a scattering material.
- 15. A banknote validator comprising:
- a linear array of light sources, comprising a plurality of sub-arrays of light sources of different colors;
- a linear array of photosensors arranged to receive light reflected by said document from said light sources;
- a linear array of photosensors arranged in correspondence with said light sources for receiving light transmitted through said document from said light sources; and
- a transport system for moving said document past said linear arrays.
- 16. Apparatus for the optical recognition of documents comprising:
- a transport system for transferring a document having a document transfer plane on which said document is placed, said transfer plane geometrically dividing the space in which it is contained into a first semi-space and a second semi-space;
- a first plurality of photoelectric elements in said first semi-space arranged in a spaced apart arrangement to sense light reflected from a zone across said transfer plane;
- a plurality of light sources in said first semi-space arranged for illuminating said zone, said plurality of light sources being subdivided according to their emission spectra into different color groups;
- a second plurality of photoelectric elements in said second semi-space arranged in a spaced apart arrangement to sense light transmitted through a zone across said transfer plane from said plurality of light sources;
- an energizing circuit operatively connected to said light sources; and
- an evaluation unit for processing sensor signals received from said photoelectric elements;
- wherein light reflected from said document to said first plurality of photoelectric elements is gathered in at least two adjacent photoelectric elements under a first vision angle (.alpha.) which determines the width of said zone and is gathered under a second vision angle (.beta.) which determines the length within said zone seen by each photoelectric element, wherein the second vision angle (.beta.) is greater than the first vision angle (.alpha.).
- 17. Apparatus for the optical recognition of documents comprising:
- a first photoelectric element which senses light reflected from a first region of a zone across a document;
- a second photoelectric element which senses a second region of said zone wherein the first region at least partially overlaps the second region; and
- wherein the first and second photoelectric elements each have a first vision angle (.alpha.) which determines the width of each region and a second vision angle (.beta.) which determines the length of each region, and
- further comprising first and second photoelectric elements which sense light transmitted through said first and second regions, respectively.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the second vision angle (.beta.) is greater than the first vision angle (.alpha.).
- 19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the first and second photoelectric elements generate signals for evaluation.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising a transporter which transfers a document into the proximity of the photoelectric sensors.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising a plurality of light sources for illuminating the first and second regions.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 21 further comprising an evaluation unit for evaluating the signals generated by the photoelectric elements.
- 23. Apparatus for the optical recognition of documents comprising:
- a transport system for transferring a document along a document transport surface;
- a plurality of photoelectric elements arranged in a spaced apart arrangement to sense light from a region of said document; and
- a plurality of light sources ordered in periodically alternating color, wherein at least the light sources of a first color have a different light emission intensity than the light sources of a second color and at least the light sources of said first color being ordered with a first periodicity that is different than the periodicity of the light sources of the second color, thereby achieving a uniform illumination of said region.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
03005/91 |
Oct 1991 |
CHX |
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Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of allowed application Ser. No. 07/957,222 filed Oct. 6, 1992 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,813.
US Referenced Citations (16)
Foreign Referenced Citations (8)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0072236 |
Feb 1983 |
EPX |
0314312 |
May 1989 |
EPX |
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Oct 1989 |
EPX |
2647285 |
Apr 1976 |
DEX |
3705870 |
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DEX |
573634 |
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CHX |
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Oct 1976 |
GBX |
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GBX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
Armatic Bank-Note AL07 Reader Instruction Manual, (1989). |
Armatic Bank-Note Reader AL07 Instruction Manual, (1988), pp. 14-15. |
AL07 Engineering Drawings, (undated), 11 sheets. |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
957222 |
Oct 1992 |
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