APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING BANK NOTES AND OTHER DOCUMENTS IN AN AUTOMATED BANKING MACHINE

An apparatus and method for determining a type and/or a condition of a note passing through the apparatus includes a note transport (12) which moves the note past sensing assemblies (18). Each sensing assembly includes emitters (32). Each of the emitters produces radiation at a different wavelength. The sensing assemblies include a reflectance detector (20) and a transmission detector (22) which are disposed on opposed sides of the passing note. The emitters direct radiation onto test spots (34) on the passing note. Reflectance values are generated from radiation reflected from each type of emitter to the reflectance detector. Transmission values are generated from radiation transmitted from an emitter through each test spot to the transmission detector. A control circuit produces a sensed value set including the reflectance and transmission values from each of the emitters in each of the sensing assemblies. The control circuit also determines an angle of skew of the passing note. Memories (138) include templates of values corresponding to transmission and reflectance values for known note types in a number of note positions. The control circuit generates stored value sets from the templates and skew angle. The control circuit further calculates a value representative of a level of correlation between the sensed value set and each of the stored value sets. The control circuit determines the highest level of correlation between all the stored value sets which is indicative of the note type and/or a condition thereof Various types of sensing assemblies can be used including sensing assemblies that are also suitable for capturing image data from notes or instruments processed in an automated banking machine.