Patent Publication Number: US-6903342-B2

Title: Banknote acceptor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a banknote acceptor and, more particularly to such a banknote acceptor, which uses infrared light to scan the image of the ink of the banknote to be verified, a charge-coupled device to pick up the scanned image, and a display unit to display the image picked up by the charge-coupled device for verification. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Follow fast development of high-tech, some evil persons may use high technology equipment to do criminal affairs, for example, to counterfeit banknotes, securities, passports, etc. It is not easy to verify the authenticity of banknotes, securities, passports, etc. visually. Even an experienced person may make a wrong verification when checking the authenticity of a banknote, security, or passport visually. In order to help people verify the authenticity of banknotes or the like, various banknote acceptors have been disclosed, and have appeared on the market. However, these banknote acceptors commonly use ultraviolet ray to scan the banknote to be verified. During scanning, ambient visible light may interfere with the scanning of ultraviolet ray, affecting the verification result. Further, regular banknote acceptors are commonly designed to verity domestic banknotes only. These banknote acceptors may not be able to verify the authenticity of foreign banknotes, securities, passports, etc. accurately. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been accomplished to provide an infrared banknote acceptor, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is the main object of the present invention to provide an infrared banknote acceptor, which uses infrared light to scan the image of the ink of the banknote or the like to be verified, so as to achieve high verification accuracy. It is another object of the present invention to provide an infrared banknote acceptor, which is practical for verifying the authenticity of banknotes, securities, passports, etc. issued from different countries. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the infrared banknote acceptor comprises a housing, the housing having a base adapted to hold the banknote to be verified, a light source adapted to emit an infrared light beam onto the banknote carried on the base of the housing for verification, an image pickup adapted to receive infrared light reflected by the ink of the banknote carried on the base of the housing for verification and to convert received infrared light signal into video signal, and a display unit adapted to receive and display the video signal outputted from the image pickup. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a banknote acceptor according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a side view in section of the banknote acceptor according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a circuit block diagram of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows the image of a banknote. 
       FIG. 4A  shows the image of the banknote of  FIG. 4  when scanned by the banknote acceptor according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  shows the image of another banknote. 
       FIG. 5A  shows the image of the banknote of  FIG. 5  when scanned by the banknote acceptor according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  shows the image of still another banknote. 
       FIG. 6A  shows the image of the banknote of  FIG. 6  when scanned by the banknote acceptor according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to FIGS.  1 ˜ 3 , a banknote acceptor is shown comprising a housing  1 , a light source  2 , an image pickup  3 , a display unit  4 . The light source  2 , the image pickup  3 , and the display unit  4  are respectively installed in the housing  1 . 
   The housing  1  comprises a base  11  adapted to receive the banknote  5  to be verified, a power sensor  12  provided in the surface of the base  11 , an upright back  13  located on the back side of the base  11 , and a top  14  forwardly extended from the top side of the upright back  13  and spaced above the base  1  at a distance, and an AC adapter  15  extended out of the upright back  13  for connection to an electric outlet. 
   The light source  2  is provided inside the top  14  of the housing  1 , comprising a downwardly extended infrared emitter  21  adapted to emit an infrared beam to the banknote  5  carried on the base  11 . 
   The image pickup  3  is a charge-coupled device module installed in the top  14  of the housing  1 , having a charge-coupled device  31  facing the base  11 . 
   When the user put the banknote  5  to be verified on the base  11 , the power sensor  12  is blocked and turned from “off” status to “on” status to start the light source  2  (the power sensor  12  is “on” when blocked from light, or “off” when receiving light), the image pickup  3 , and the display unit  4 . When stated, the infrared emitter  21  of the light source  2  emits an infrared beam onto the banknote  5 , and the charge-coupled device  31  of the image pickup  3  picks up light reflected by the ink of the banknote  5  and converts the received image of light into a video signal, which is then transmitted to the display unit  4  and displayed on the display screen  41  for enabling the user to visually check the authenticity of the banknote  5 . 
   FIGS. from  4  through  6 A show an application of the present invention to verify the authenticity of different banknotes  5  issued from different countries. The ink of a banknote  5  may be composed of multiple ink components that absorb or reflect infrared light. The infrared light reflected by a particular banknote  5  shows a particular image. Therefore, the invention verifies the authenticity of the banknote  5  put on the base  11  of the infrared banknote acceptor automatically and accurately within a very short time. 
   According to the aforesaid embodiment, an AC adapter is provided for receiving city power supply. Alternatively, a rechargeable battery can be used to provide the infrared banknote acceptor with the necessary working voltage. Further, a manual on/off switch may be used instead of the aforesaid power sensor. Because the invention uses infrared light to scan the banknote to be verified, it is free from the interference of ambient visible light. Therefore, the invention achieves high accuracy in verifying the authenticity of banknotes. 
   A prototype of infrared banknote acceptor has been constructed with the features of the annexed drawings of FIGS.  1 ˜ 3 . The infrared banknote acceptor functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier. 
   Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.