Optical coin discrimination systems and methods for use with consumer-operated kiosks and the like

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United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 9036890
APP PUB NO 20130322730A1
SERIAL NO

13489043

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)

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Abstract

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Systems and associated methods for optical coin discrimination are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for discriminating coins includes obtaining a digital image of a coin, identifying the outline of the coin using a suitable algorithm, and determining the diameter of the coin using the outline of the coin. The method of this embodiment further includes generating a rectangular image of the coin using, for example, a log-polar transform, generating a series of, for example, Fourier transforms from the rectangular image, and identifying spectral peak locations and intensities in the Fourier transform results. The diameter of the coin, spectral peak location, spectral peak intensity of the coin and/or other aspects of the coin can then be compared to known values for different coins to discriminate the coin.

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddress
COINSTAR FUNDING LLC1800 114TH AVE SE BELLEVUE WA 98004

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Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Borg, Jeffrey A Newcastle, US 1 11
Harrington, Timothy P Sammamish, US 2 12
Martin, Douglas A Woodinville, US 51 1734

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