Detection of the presence of an item using reflection characteristics

摘要

The present invention provides an apparatus for detecting presence or otherwise of an item comprising at least two regions having different optical characteristics, said apparatus comprising: an emitter operative to illuminate a measuring region of said apparatus with electromagnetic radiation; and a detector located and operative to receive electromagnetic radiation reflected from said measuring region of said apparatus and operative to output a signal corresponding to a measured characteristic of said electromagnetic radiation reflected from said measuring region, wherein said apparatus is operative to compare said measured characteristic with a set of pre-defined characteristics, and further wherein if said measured characteristic is consistent with at least one of said pre-defined characteristics, the apparatus is operative to output a signal indicative of presence or otherwise of one of said at least two regions of said item in said measuring region.;Also provided is a method for detecting presence or otherwise of an item comprising at least two portions having different optical characteristics, and a banknote counting apparatus comprising the detection apparatus and operative to implement the method.

主权项

1. A detection apparatus for detecting presence or otherwise of an item comprising at least two regions having different optical characteristics, said apparatus comprising:
an emitter operative to illuminate a measuring region of said apparatus with electromagnetic radiation; and a detector located and operative to receive electromagnetic radiation reflected from said measuring region of said apparatus and operative to output a signal corresponding to a measured characteristic of said electromagnetic radiation reflected from said measuring region, wherein said apparatus is operative to compare said measured characteristic with a set of pre-defined characteristics and determine whether said measured characteristic is consistent with at least one of said pre-defined characteristics, wherein the pre-defined characteristics comprise one or more of a first range of values corresponding to expected detector output signal values if an opaque or semi-opaque region of the item is located in the measuring region; a second range of values corresponding to expected detector output signal values if a transparent or semi-transparent region of the item is located in the measuring region; and a third range of values corresponding to expected detector output signal values if no item is present in the measuring region, and wherein the apparatus is operative to output a signal indicative of presence or otherwise of one of said at least two regions of said item in said measuring region.