JP2013168104A - Dirt detection device, card reading device, automatic transaction device, and dirt detection method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the accuracy of dirt detection.SOLUTION: A dirt detection device 1 comprises a dirt determination unit 2, a first light reception unit 3, a second light reception unit 4, and a light source 5. The light source 5 is arranged so as to irradiate a dirt detection object 7 with light. The first light reception unit 3 is arranged so as to receive a direct reflection component in reflection light obtained by reflection of the irradiation light by the light source 5 on the dirt detection object 7. The second light reception unit 4 is arranged so as to receive an indirect reflection component in the reflection light. The dirt determination unit 2 has a function to determine the presence/absence of a dirt on a surface of the dirt detection object 7 using light reception information by the first light reception unit 3 and light reception information by the second light reception unit 4.

Description

  The present invention relates to a dirt detection device, a card reading device, an automatic transaction device, and a stain detection method for detecting dirt on an object surface.

  Automatic transaction machines such as automatic teller machines (ATMs) and ticket vending machines are often card readers that read information from cards owned by users (for example, cash cards and credit cards). Card reader). The card reader has, for example, a contact terminal (contact part) that contacts the card in order to read information from the card. If the contacted card portion is dirty, the contact terminal may become dirty due to the contamination. When the contact terminal is extremely dirty, a situation occurs in which the card reader cannot read information from the card.

  In consideration of such a situation, a technique for detecting a stain on the card surface has been proposed. For example, in the method proposed in Patent Document 1, the light emitting element 51 irradiates the surface of the card 50 with light as shown in FIG. The light receiving element 52 receives the reflected light, and the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the card 50 is determined based on the amount of light received by the light receiving element 52. That is, when the card surface is dirty, the amount of light received by the light receiving element 52 is reduced due to diffuse reflection due to the dirt. Thus, in Patent Document 1, the presence or absence of dirt on the card surface is determined based on the amount of light received by the light receiving element 52.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-116292

  By the way, there are cases where transparent and hard-to-find stains such as hand dust adhere to the card surface, and there is a possibility that the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot be detected depending on the type of stain.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its main object is to provide a dirt detecting device, a card reading device, an automatic transaction device, and a dirt detecting method capable of improving the accuracy of dirt detection.

The dirt detector of the present invention is
A light source that emits light toward the object to be detected;
A first light receiving unit provided at a position for receiving a direct reflection component in reflected light from the dirt detection target based on irradiation light of the light source, and outputting light reception information;
A second light receiving unit provided at a position for receiving an indirect reflection component in the reflected light and outputting light reception information;
And a stain determination unit that determines the presence / absence of contamination on the surface of the contamination detection object using the light reception information from the first light reception unit and the light reception information from the second light reception unit.

The card reader of the present invention is
A reading unit that contacts a card storing information and reads the information on the card;
Before the reading unit comes into contact with the card, the dirt detection device of the present invention that determines the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the card as a dirt detection object,
A controller for preventing the reading unit from contacting the card when the surface of the card is detected by the contamination detector.

  The automatic transaction apparatus of the present invention includes the card reader of the present invention.

The dirt detection method of the present invention is
Irradiate light toward the object to be detected,
Receiving a direct reflection component in the reflected light from the dirt detection object based on the irradiated light, and receiving an indirect reflection component in the reflected light;
Using the light reception information of the direct reflection component and the light reception information of the indirect reflection component, the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object is determined.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the accuracy of dirt detection and to prevent the occurrence of problems due to dirt.

It is a block diagram explaining 1st Embodiment concerning this invention. It is a figure which simplifies and shows the structure of 2nd Embodiment which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation example regarding the stain | pollution | contamination determination in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example of a relationship between the picked-up image obtained from a 1st light-receiving part and a 2nd light-receiving part, and dirt, respectively. It is a figure explaining the dirt detection method in patent documents 1.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1A is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of the dirt detection device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The dirt detection device 1 according to the first embodiment includes a dirt determination unit 2, a first light receiving unit 3, a second light receiving unit 4, and a light source 5. That is, the light source 5 is arranged so as to irradiate light toward the dirt detection target 7. The first light receiving unit 3 is arranged so as to receive a direct reflection component (regular reflection light) in the reflected light reflected by the dirt detection target 7 by the light emitted from the light source 5. The second light receiving unit 4 is arranged to receive an indirect reflection component (diffuse reflected light) in the reflected light. Each of the first light receiving unit 3 and the second light receiving unit 4 has a function of outputting light reception information.

  The dirt determination unit 2 has a function of determining the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object 7 using the light reception information from the first light receiving unit 3 and the light reception information from the second light receiving unit 4.

  Since the dirt detection device 1 has the above-described configuration, the accuracy of dirt detection can be improved. That is, when there is dirt such as dust or dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object 7, diffuse reflection (diffuse reflection) occurs due to the dirt. For this reason, the light quantity of the direct reflection component (regular reflection light) in reflected light reduces. In addition, since opaque dirt such as dust has more diffuse reflection than transparent dirt such as hand dirt, when the opaque dirt is on the surface of the dirt detection object 7, there is transparent dirt such as hand dirt. The amount of indirect reflection component (diffuse reflected light) in the reflected light is increased compared to the case. In this way, a difference occurs in the change in the light amount of the direct reflection component and the indirect reflection component in the reflected light depending on the type of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection target 7.

  Thus, by paying attention to each of the direct reflection component and the indirect reflection component in the reflected light, a plurality of different pieces of information regarding the surface state of the dirt detection target 7 can be obtained. Therefore, by detecting (determining) the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object 7 based on the plurality of pieces of information, it is possible to detect dirt (dirt judgment) as compared with the case of judging based on one piece of information. Accuracy can be improved.

  Since the dirt detection accuracy can be improved as described above, the dirt detection device 1 of the first embodiment can detect dirt more reliably, thereby increasing the probability of preventing the occurrence of problems due to dirt. it can.

  FIG. 1B is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the card reading device provided with the dirt detection device 1 of the first embodiment described above. The card reading device 10 includes a control unit 11 and a reading unit 12 in addition to the dirt detection device 1. The reading unit 12 has a function of contacting a card storing information and reading the information on the card. Here, the dirt detection apparatus 1 has a function of determining the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the card as a dirt detection target before the reading unit 12 contacts the card.

  The control unit 11 has a control function for preventing the reading unit 12 from coming into contact with the card when the stain detection device 1 detects the stain on the surface of the card.

  When the card reading device 10 detects the dirt on the surface of the card, the card reading device 10 can prevent the reading unit 12 from coming into contact with the dirty card. For this reason, it is possible to prevent dirt from adhering to the reading unit 12 when the reading unit 12 contacts the dirty card. Thereby, the problem that the reading unit 12 cannot read information from the card due to dirt can be avoided.

  The card reading device 10 as described above may be incorporated into an automatic transaction device 14 as shown in FIG. By providing the card reading device 10, the automatic transaction device 14 can suppress the occurrence of the malfunction of the card reading device 10 due to the dirt of the reading unit 12. Thereby, the failure occurrence rate of the automatic transaction apparatus 14 can be reduced.

(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment according to the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a simplified configuration of the card reader according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The card reading device 20 of the second embodiment is incorporated in an automatic transaction device (for example, an automatic teller machine (ATM), a ticket vending machine, or a POS (Point Of Sales system) device) 21.

  The card reading device 20 according to the second embodiment has a function of reading information from a card 16 such as a cash card or a credit card that stores information. A terminal portion (contact portion) (not shown) for reading information is formed on the surface of the card 16.

  Further, the card reader 20 has a function of detecting that the surface of the terminal portion of the card 16 as the dirt detection target is dirty before reading information from the card 16.

  That is, the card reader 20 according to the second embodiment includes a storage unit 23, a control unit 24, a transport unit 25, a first light receiving unit 26, and a second light receiving unit as shown by a solid line in FIG. 27, a light source 28, and a reading unit 29.

  The transport unit 25 includes a mechanism for transporting the card 16 inserted into the card reading device 20 to the back side of the device or in the opposite direction (discharge direction).

  The reading unit 29 includes a contact terminal (not shown) that contacts the terminal unit of the card 16. The reading unit 29 has a function of reading information from the card 16 when the contact terminal contacts the terminal unit of the card 16.

  The light source 28 includes, for example, a light emitting diode (LED). In the second embodiment, the light source 28 is installed so as to irradiate light on the surface of the card 16 conveyed by the conveying unit 25 from an oblique direction.

  In the second embodiment, the first light receiving unit 26 is configured by a line camera (line sensor) and includes an image sensor 26A. The first light receiving unit 26 has a function of outputting shooting information (image information) based on the light received by the image sensor 26A as light reception information. The first light receiving unit 26 is installed so that the imaging element 26A can receive a direct reflection component (regular reflection light) in the reflected light on the surface of the card 16 based on the light emitted from the light source 28. The

  In the second embodiment, the card reader 20 determines whether or not the terminal portion of the card 16 is dirty as described above. Thus, the first light receiving unit 26 has the size (length) of a line camera that can photograph (scan) the terminal portion of the card 16 that is transported (sliding) by the transport unit 25. Yes.

  Similarly to the first light receiving unit 26, the second light receiving unit 27 is configured by a line camera (line sensor) and includes an image sensor 27 </ b> A. The second light receiving unit 27 has a function of outputting photographing information (image information) based on the light received by the image sensor 27A as light receiving information. The second light receiving unit 27 is installed so that the imaging element 27A can receive an indirect reflection component (diffuse reflected light) in the reflected light on the surface of the card 16 based on the light emitted from the light source 28. The Further, in the second embodiment, the second light receiving unit 27 also images the terminal portion of the card 16 being transported (sliding) by the transport unit 25 (scanning), similarly to the first light receiving unit 26. It has the size (length) of a line camera that can be used.

  The positions of the light source 28, the first light receiving unit 26, and the second light receiving unit 27 are arranged so as to obtain an appropriate image (information) that can be satisfactorily determined as described later. Determined by. For example, the angle θ between the light emitted from the light source 28 to the card 16 and the surface of the card 16, the portion 16 </ b> P irradiated with the light of the light source 28 on the surface of the card 16, and the image sensor 27 </ b> A of the second light receiving unit 27. The positional relationship with the light receiving surface is obtained in advance through experiments, simulations, and the like.

  The storage unit 23 includes a storage medium and has a function of storing a computer program and data.

  The control unit 24 has, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit (CPU) 24 has a function of controlling the overall operation of the card reading device 20 by reading a computer program stored in the storage unit 23 and executing the computer program. In the second embodiment, the control unit 24 has the following functions. That is, the control unit 24 includes a dirt determination unit 31, a conveyance control unit 32, a light source control unit 33, and a notification unit 34. In the second embodiment, the first light receiving unit 26, the second light receiving unit 27, the light source 28, and the stain determination unit 31 constitute the stain detection device 30.

  The conveyance control unit 32 has a function of controlling the operation of the conveyance unit 25. For example, the transport control unit 32 outputs, to the transport unit 25, a command to start transporting the card 16, a command to stop transport, information specifying a transport direction, information specifying a transport speed, and the like. . Based on these pieces of information, the transport unit 25 operates.

  The light source control unit 33 has a function of controlling turning on and off of the light source 28.

  The dirt determination unit 31 has a function of controlling operations related to the dirt determination of the card 16. For example, when the dirt determination unit 31 detects that the card 16 has been inserted based on information from a detection unit (not shown) that detects that the card 16 has been inserted into the apparatus, the dirt determination unit 31 performs control related to the dirt determination. Start operation. That is, the dirt determination unit 31 instructs the light source control unit 33 to start lighting the light source 28. In addition, the dirt determination unit 31 drives the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27, and further starts acquiring light reception information (imaging information) from the light receiving units 26 and 27, and further, a conveyance control unit 32 is instructed to start transporting the card 16 by the transport unit 25.

  Furthermore, the dirt determination unit 31 instructs the conveyance control unit 32 to stop conveyance of the card 16 by the conveyance control unit 32 at a predetermined conveyance stop timing, and instructs the light source control unit 33 to turn off the light source 28. To do. Further, the dirt determination unit 31 stops the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27, and ends the acquisition of light reception information (imaging information) from the light receiving units 26 and 27. The said conveyance stop timing is a timing which can assume that the 1st light-receiving part 26 and the 2nd light-receiving part 27 finished image | photographing the terminal part in the card | curd 16 in conveyance. For example, a sensor is provided for detecting that the card 16 has been transported to the position where the terminal portion has been photographed (the photographing end position). The dirt determination unit 31 determines that it is the conveyance stop timing when it is detected that the card 16 has been conveyed to the photographing end position based on the sensor information from the sensor. Alternatively, a time (shooting time) required for the card 16 to be transported to the shooting end position after the card 16 starts to be transported is obtained in advance. The dirt determination unit 31 may determine that it is the conveyance stop timing when it is detected by, for example, a timer that the shooting time has elapsed since the conveyance of the card 16 was started.

  Thereafter, the dirt determination unit 31 starts an operation of determining the presence / absence of dirt in the terminal portion of the card 16 using the light reception information (shooting information) from the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27.

  For example, the stain determination unit 31 generates a captured image of the terminal unit of the card 16 based on the light reception information from the first light receiving unit 26. Then, the dirt determination unit 31 performs image processing (for example, binarization processing) on the captured image, and extracts a contour in the captured image. Thereafter, the dirt determination unit 31 reads the reference image of the terminal unit given in advance to the storage unit 23. The reference image is a clear outline image of the terminal portion with no dirt on the surface. The dirt determination unit 31 compares the reference image with the contour image by the image processing, and determines the degree of coincidence between the contour image by the photographing and the reference image. Then, when the contour image obtained by photographing differs from the reference image beyond the allowable range, it is assumed that the contour of the terminal portion is not clearly photographed due to contamination. , It is determined that there is a high probability that the terminal portion is dirty (“dirty”).

  On the other hand, the stain determination unit 31 extracts luminance information for each pixel of a captured image (for example, a black and white image) based on the light reception information from the first light receiving unit 26, and the extracted luminance is determined as a predetermined stain determination. Compare the threshold for The dirt determination unit 31 determines that the extracted luminance is “dark” when the extracted luminance is equal to or lower than the threshold value. On the other hand, when the extracted luminance is higher than the threshold value, the dirt determination unit 31 determines “bright”. Then, the dirt determination unit 31 counts the number of pixels determined to be “dark”.

  Then, when the stain determination unit 31 detects that the number of pixels determined to be “dark” is equal to or greater than a predetermined allowable stain value, the contamination determination unit 31 determines that the terminal portion is “dirt”. That is, when the terminal portion is dirty, the diffuse reflection (diffuse reflection) at the terminal portion increases, and the brightness of the regular reflection light decreases. Therefore, the dirt determination unit 31 determines the presence or absence of dirt based on the brightness level (brightness / darkness).

  Further, the stain determination unit 31 receives the light received by the first light receiving unit 26 when both the stain presence / absence determination based on the contour image obtained by photographing and the stain presence / absence determination based on the luminance information of the pixel are both “stained”. It is determined that the dirt presence / absence determination based on the information is “dirty”.

  The dirt determination unit 31 performs the presence / absence determination of dirt based on the light reception information of the second light receiving unit 27 as in the case of the presence / absence determination of dirt based on the light reception information of the first light receiving unit 26 described above.

  Then, the stain determination unit 31 determines that “contamination is present” in one or both of the determination of the presence / absence of contamination based on the light reception information of the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27. Confirm that there is “dirt” on the surface.

  In addition, when the dirt determination unit 31 determines that “dirt is present” in both of the dirt presence / absence determinations based on the light reception information of the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27, the terminal unit of the card 16 is used. It is determined that there is no dirt on the surface that hinders information reading.

  Furthermore, when “dirty” is determined as described above, the dirt determination unit 31 outputs the determination result to the notification unit 34. In addition, the dirt determination unit 31 is configured to eject the card 16 from the card reading device 20 toward the transport control unit 32 so as not to contact the reading unit 29 with the terminal unit of the card 16 for which “dirty” is determined. Outputs the transport command. Thereby, the dirty card 16 is ejected from the card reading device 20 by the conveyance unit 25 by the control operation of the conveyance control unit 32, and the card 16 is prevented from coming into contact with the reading unit 29.

  The notification unit 34 is configured to notify the owner (device user) of the card 16 that the terminal portion of the card 16 is dirty when “dirty” is confirmed by the stain determination unit 31. Yes. For example, the notification unit 34 issues a command to display a message on the display equipped in the automatic transaction apparatus 21 informing that “there is dirt, so the terminal portion of the card 16 should be cleaned”.

  The control unit 24 drives the transport unit 25 by the control operation of the transport control unit 32 when it is determined that the surface of the terminal unit of the card 16 is clean as a result of the stain determination by the stain determination unit 31 as described above. To do. As a result, the card 16 is conveyed further to the back side of the card reader 20. Then, the reading unit 29 contacts the terminal unit of the card 16 and reads information from the card 16.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example related to the dirt determination in the card reader 20. An operation example of the card reading device 20 (control unit 24) will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the control unit 24 detects that the card 16 has been inserted into the card reading device 20, the control unit 24 turns on the light source 28 (step S1). Moreover, the control part 24 drives the 1st light-receiving part 26 and the 2nd light-receiving part 27, and starts acquisition of the light reception information from these light-receiving parts 26 and 27 (step S2). Furthermore, the control unit 24 starts transporting the card 16 by driving the transport unit 25 (step S3).

  Thereafter, the control unit 24 determines whether or not the conveyance stop timing has come (step S4). Thereby, when it is judged that it is not a conveyance stop timing, the control part 24 continues acquisition of light reception information (step S5), and repeats the determination operation regarding the said conveyance stop timing.

  If the control unit 24 determines that the conveyance stop timing has come, it stops the conveyance of the card 16 by stopping the conveyance unit 25 (step S6). Moreover, the control part 24 stops the 1st light-receiving part 26 and the 2nd light-receiving part 27, stops acquisition of light reception information, and also turns off the light source 28 (step S7).

  Then, the control part 24 determines the presence or absence of the stain | pollution | contamination in the terminal part of the card | curd 16 based on the acquired light reception information (step S8). Then, as a result of the determination, the control unit 24 determines whether or not there is dirt (step S9). If it is determined that there is no dirt, the operation related to the dirt determination is terminated. In addition, when it is determined that there is dirt, the control unit 24 notifies that there is dirt (step S10), and then ends the operation regarding the dirt determination.

  In the second embodiment, the presence / absence of contamination on the surface of the card 16 is determined using both light reception information of the direct reflection component (regular reflection light) and the indirect reflection component (diffuse reflection light) of the reflected light. For this reason, the accuracy of determination of the presence or absence of dirt can be increased.

  For example, it is assumed that eight terminal portions 38 as shown in FIG. 4A are formed on the surface of the card 16. It is assumed that dirt 40 and 41 as shown in FIG. The dirt 40 is an opaque dirt such as dust. The dirt 41 is a transparent dirt such as dirt or oil. In such a case, the photographed image by the second light receiving unit 27 is an image as shown in FIG. 4D, for example. That is, since the diffuse reflection due to the transparent dirt 41 is smaller than the diffuse reflection due to the opaque dirt 40, the opaque dirt 41 is not included in the photographed image by the second light receiving unit 27 based on the diffuse reflected light (indirect reflection component). Is hard to appear. In other words, the captured image based on the indirect reflection component is an image close to visual observation.

  On the other hand, the photographed image by the first light receiving unit 26 is an image as shown in FIG. 4C, for example. That is, since diffuse reflection occurs due to the dirt 40 and 41 and specular reflection light is reduced, an image captured by the first light receiving unit 26 based on the specular reflection light (direct reflection component) is opaque regardless of the type of dirt. Not only dirty dirt 40 but also transparent dirt 40 appears.

  As described above, since the state information on the surface of the card 16 obtained from the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27 is different, the contamination determination on the surface (terminal portion) of the card 16 based on a plurality of pieces of different information. By performing this, the accuracy of the dirt determination can be improved.

  Further, in the second embodiment, as described above, the presence / absence of dirt is determined by performing the two dirt judgments of the dirt presence / absence determination based on the contour image obtained by photographing and the dirt presence / absence judgment based on the luminance information of the pixels. It has been confirmed. Thereby, the accuracy of the dirt determination can be further improved. For example, when the terminal portion of the card 16 is changed to a dark color due to aging, the stain determination based on the luminance information of the pixel is used to change the color even though it is not dirty. There is a possibility that the stain determination unit 31 may determine that “dirt exists”. Even in such a case, in the second embodiment, the dirt determination unit 31 performs the dirt presence / absence determination based on the contour image, and the dirt presence / absence determination does not determine that “dirt is present”. is assumed. Thereby, the contamination presence / absence determination method in the second embodiment can prevent erroneous detection of the contamination presence / absence determination due to the discoloration of the terminal portion of the card 16.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment according to the present invention will be described below. In the description of the third embodiment, the same components as those of the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description of common portions is omitted.

  The card reader 20 of the third embodiment has a cleaning unit 36 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2 in addition to the configuration shown in the second embodiment. Except for the configuration related to the cleaning unit 36, the configuration is the same as that of the second embodiment.

  The cleaning unit 36 has a function of cleaning the terminal portion of the card 16. For example, the cleaning unit 36 has a function of blowing air toward the terminal portion of the card 16. Thereby, the dust etc. adhering to the terminal part of the card | curd 16 can be blown away. The cleaning unit 36 may have a function of wiping the terminal portion of the card 16 with a cloth containing a cleaning liquid. As a result, dirt such as dirt adhering to the terminal portion of the card 16 can be removed. As described above, there are various configurations that can be employed in the cleaning unit 36. Here, an appropriate configuration that takes installation space, maintenance, and the like into consideration is employed for the cleaning unit 36.

  The cleaning unit 36 is disposed at a position where the terminal portion of the card 16 can be cleaned while the card 16 is being conveyed from the place where the dirt determination is performed toward the reading unit 29.

  In the third embodiment, since the cleaning unit 36 is provided as described above, the contamination determination unit 31 of the control unit 24 determines that “contamination is present” in the terminal unit of the card 16 and determines the conveyance unit. Instead of ejecting the card 16 by 25, the following control is performed. That is, the dirt determination unit 31 outputs a command for transporting the card 16 by the transport unit 25 to the cleaning position by the cleaning unit 36 to the transport control unit 32 when “dirt” is confirmed in the terminal portion of the card 16. To do. Thereby, the conveyance control unit 32 drives the conveyance unit 25 to start conveyance of the card 16.

  In addition, when the dirt determination unit 31 detects that the card 16 has been transported to the cleaning position by the cleaning unit 36 using, for example, a sensor, the dirt determination unit 31 temporarily stops the transport of the card 16 and starts the cleaning operation. To the cleaning unit 36.

  In the third embodiment, since the cleaning unit 36 is provided in addition to the configuration of the second embodiment, the card reader 20 removes the dirt when the dirt on the terminal part of the card 16 is detected. be able to. Thereby, the card reader 20 can prevent the trouble of the reading unit 29 due to the dirt of the card 16 and can eliminate the trouble of removing the dirt of the card 16 on the user.

(Fourth embodiment)
The fourth embodiment according to the present invention will be described below. In the description of the fourth embodiment, the same components as those in the second and third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions of common portions are omitted.

  In the fourth embodiment, the stain determination unit 31 has a function of detecting that the terminal portion of the card 16 is dirty and determining the type of the stain. That is, as described above, transparent dirt such as hand dust appears in the photographed image by the first light receiving unit 26 based on the direct reflection component (regular reflection light), whereas the indirect reflection component (diffuse reflection light). It is difficult to appear in a captured image by the second light receiving unit 27 based thereon. Further, opaque dirt such as dust appears in the captured images of both the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27. As described above, the appearance of dirt in each captured image of the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27 differs depending on the type of dirt. Using this fact, the dirt determination unit 31 determines (discriminates) the type of dirt. For example, when “dirt” is confirmed in the terminal portion of the card 16 and dirt that does not appear in the image captured by the second light receiving unit 27 is present in the image captured by the first light receiving unit 26, The dirt determination unit 31 determines that there is transparent dirt such as hand dirt. In addition, the stain determination unit 31 is a case where “contamination is present” is confirmed in the terminal unit, and when there is a stain appearing in the captured images of both the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27, The dirt determination unit 31 determines that the dirt is an opaque dirt such as dust.

  In the fourth embodiment, the notification unit 34 may notify not only that the card 16 is soiled but also the type of the card 16 based on the determination result of the stain determination unit 31. . The cleaning unit 36 includes a cleaning unit according to the type of dirt that can be determined, and the card 16 is cleaned with a cleaning unit suitable for the type of dirt based on the determination result of the dirt determination unit 31. It is good.

  In the fourth embodiment, when the card 16 is dirty, it is possible to determine the type of the dirt, so that the card reader 20 can be further developed.

(Other embodiments)
In addition, this invention is not limited to the 1st-4th embodiment, Various embodiment can be taken. For example, in the 2nd-4th embodiment, the card reader 20 has shown the example integrated in the automatic transaction apparatus 21. FIG. On the other hand, the card reader 20 may be provided with a mode used alone. In this case, the card reading device 20 may be provided with a display, for example, and may be configured to display a message indicating that the display is dirty.

  In the second to fourth embodiments, the card reading device 20 has a notification unit 34. On the other hand, when the card reading device 20 includes the cleaning unit 36, the cleaning unit 36 causes the card 16 to become dirty without notifying the card owner (device user) of the card 16. Can be prevented from occurring. For this reason, it is not necessary to notify the user that the card 16 is dirty. Therefore, in such a case, the card reading device 20 may omit the notification unit 34.

  Further, the light source 28 may be configured to irradiate the card 16 with parallel light. Furthermore, in the second to fourth embodiments, the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27 are constituted by line cameras. Instead, the first light receiving unit 26 and the second light receiving unit 27 may be configured by cameras having other configurations.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,30 Dirt detection apparatus 2,31 Dirt determination part 3,26 1st light-receiving part 4,27 2nd light-receiving part 5,28 Light source 10,20 Card reader 14,21 Automatic transaction apparatus 16 Card 34 Notification part 36 Cleaning part

Claims (8)

A light source that emits light toward the object to be detected;
A first light receiving unit provided at a position for receiving a direct reflection component in reflected light from the dirt detection target based on irradiation light of the light source, and outputting light reception information;
A second light receiving unit provided at a position for receiving an indirect reflection component in the reflected light and outputting light reception information;
A stain detection apparatus comprising: a stain determination unit that determines the presence / absence of stain on the surface of the stain detection object using the light reception information from the first light reception unit and the light reception information from the second light reception unit. The first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit are cameras that output image information as the light receiving information,
The stain determination unit includes an image of the surface of the stain detection object based on image information respectively output from the first light receiving unit and the second light receiving unit, and image information for determination given in advance. Based on the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object,
The dirt detector according to claim 1. The stain determination unit further determines the type of stain on the surface of the stain detection object based on the difference between the light reception information by the first light receiving unit and the light reception information by the second light receiving unit.
The dirt detection device according to claim 1 or 2. A reading unit that contacts a card storing information and reads the information on the card;
The dirt detection device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the card as a dirt detection object is determined before the reading unit contacts the card.
A card reading device comprising: a control unit that prevents the reading unit from coming into contact with the card when the surface of the card is detected by the dirt detection device.   The card reading device according to claim 4, further comprising a cleaning unit that cleans the surface of the card when the stain is detected on the surface of the card. A card reader according to claim 4,
An automatic transaction apparatus comprising: a notifying unit for notifying that a surface of a card is soiled when the soil detection device in the card reading device detects the surface of the card.   An automatic transaction apparatus comprising the card reader according to claim 5. Irradiate light toward the object to be detected,
Receiving a direct reflection component in the reflected light from the dirt detection object based on the irradiated light, and receiving an indirect reflection component in the reflected light;
Using the light reception information of the direct reflection component and the light reception information of the indirect reflection component, the presence or absence of dirt on the surface of the dirt detection object is determined.
Dirt detection method.

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