Check-actuated control mechanisms – Control mechanism actuated by check – other than coin – which... – By pliant currency
Patent
1996-09-25
1999-06-29
Bartuska, F. J.
Check-actuated control mechanisms
Control mechanism actuated by check, other than coin , which...
By pliant currency
356 71, G07D 700
Patent
active
059155183
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the detection of counterfeit objects The invention will be described primarily in the context of the detection of counterfeit banknotes, but all aspects of the invention are applicable also to other documents, such as passports, cheques and trading stamps.
The production of counterfeit banknotes is continually increasing as a result of continuing improvements in printing technology, particularly colour printing. Counterfeit notes are now being made which appear, to the unaided eye, virtually indistinguishable from a genuine note.
It would be desirable to provide a device to assist a person conducting cash transactions, such as a shop assistant or bank teller, in verifying the authenticity of a received banknote. Such devices exist, but they rely for their operation on the experience and judgement of the user, and in any event are not very reliable. There are banknote discriminators which make numerous precise measurements to determine both authenticity and denomination of a banknote, but although these can be reliable, they are expensive, bulky and not suitable for use in, e.g., a shop where a customer's banknotes would have to be fully inserted into the machine before verification. The present invention seeks to provide a device which solves these problems, preferably by providing apparatus which can reliably be used to verify authenticity of banknotes held by a user without requiring accurate positioning and measuring techniques. However, the invention is applicable also to automatic discrimination devices, such as those in which the notes are fully inserted into a machine to enable measurements to be made.
Genuine monetary notes are now generally made to a specific formulation such as security or unbleached paper. Counterfeit notes, on the other hand, are generally but not always made from bleached paper. It is known to differentiate bleached prom unbleached paper by viewing the paper under a source of ultraviolet radiation, such as an ultraviolet (UV) lamp which emits light having a wavelength which peaks in a band of from 300 to 400 nm.
Bleached paper includes chemical components which fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet radiation; that is, the molecules in the composition of the paper are excited and emit light at a longer wavelength which peaks in the band of from 400 to 500 nm. Because wavelengths of 300 to 400 nm generally lie outside the spectral region of the human eye and because wavelengths of from 400 to 500 nm lie within the spectral region, the phenomena of fluorescence allows some counterfeits to be detected with the human eye.
This process can be automated with the use of electronics by providing a sensor and a comparator which compares the intensity of the fluorescent light sensed with a reference level so as to provide an indication as to whether the paper is a likely counterfeit or not. Such an apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,224. However, some genuine money notes if washed acquire a deposit of chemicals which fluoresce and some counterfeit notes are made with paper containing little or no fluorescent materials and so the fluorescing phenomenon is not always an infallible way of deciding whether a note is counterfeit or not.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved method and apparatus of detecting counterfeit objects.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for detecting counterfeit objects comprising means for illuminating the object with light within a first wavelength band, a detector for detecting light from said object having a first wavelength within said first wavelength band and a second wavelength within a second wavelength band different from said first wavelength band and said second wavelength band including wavelengths at which counterfeit objects may fluoresce when exposed to light in said first wavelength band, comparison means for comparing the output of the detector with at least one reference level and decision means
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Baron Lydia J.
Hopwood John Goeffrey
Raphael Stephen Paul
Skipper Philip Robert
Tenenbaum Linda J.
Bartuska F. J.
Mars Incorporated
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