The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 17, April 25, 2004, Article 24

U.S. MONEY PRINTING  AUTOMATION DETAILED

  Alan Luedeking alerted us to the following article in
  "Automation World" magazine about automated visual
  inspection systems at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and
  Printing.  It was published in the March 2004 issue (p46).
  The article is lengthy and I recommend reading the full
  version, which include images of some of the equipment
  discussed..  Here are some excerpts.

  "Like all printers, the BEP must verify that its printed materials
  are clear and accurate.

  However, the BEP also needs to ensure that various security
  measures are in place to help deter counterfeiting and to allow
  the government to account for all bank notes. To help meet
  these demanding requirements, the BEP converted several of
  its inspection stations from human operators spot checking
  currency to automated visual inspection of each note."

  "In order to reduce or eliminate inconsistencies associated
  with physical note size and the location of engraved images
  on the chrome intaglio printing plates on which the currency is
  printed, the BEP?s Production Engineering group developed
  a Plate Measurement Device (PMD).  The PMD uses state-
  of-the-art positioning technology and machine vision to
  automatically measure the layout pattern of the security
  features on these plates.  The engraved artwork and
  registration marks are gauged before production to verify plate
  accuracy?which is essential for precise print registration ?
  and afterwards, so that any distortion caused by prolonged
  intaglio printing is identified."

  "... the Production Engineering group developed a vision-based
  note measurement system that automatically measures and
  records 27 note registration features (137 data points) on each
  cut bill. These include substrate size, intaglio print size and
  position (on both sides) and positions of the seals and serial
  numbers. Measuring banknotes in reflected light is quite
  challenging, as the intaglio printing process is somewhat variable
  by nature, and finding print edges consistently on the fine
  engraved artwork is very difficult."

  "The Production Engineering team is currently making
  improvements to the existing systems to gain even greater
  reductions in print variability and to inspect even more
  sophisticated security features. The group continually makes
  improvements to its processes for quality assurance and
  security purposes, and machine vision plays an important role
  in this regard. The data received from these inspection systems
  also will be instrumental in implementing future security or
  design changes."

  To read the full article, see: Full Article

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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