How do bill validators work?

As vending machines gained wide popularity, some people started misusing them by inserting counterfeit currency in the vending machines. Besides that, another problem that most vending customers had to face with the traditional vending machines was the requirement of exact change in order to obtain goods out of them. Vending business owners felt an urgent need to:

• Verify the bills and
• Introduce easy payment options

The solution for these problems was invented in the form of bill validators or acceptors. They accept payment after determining the authenticity of the currency. It serves wide customer base because in contrast to the coin accepting vending machines, these can accept bills as well and do not rely on coin mechanism alone. The parameters for detection are different for each coin or paper money. Thus, the detectors must be programmed accordingly.

Let’s understand the working of bill detectors in brief:
The detectors scan flexible currency using optical and magnetic sensors. Upon validation, the bill validator will inform the vending machine controller (VMC) or other host device of a credit via a parallel or serial interface. Various interfaces exist for the host device, which includes:

• A single-line pulse interface
• A multi-line parallel interface
• A multi-line binary interface and
• Serial interfaces such as CCTalk and MDB (multidrop bus )

The technologically improved bill acceptors and validators extend the capability of the vending machines. These devices were extremely susceptible to failures and jamming in the past due to folded or damaged notes but the bill acceptance rate has increased with the introduction of features such as automatic jam ejection and automatically adjusting sensors. Cleaning cards are also available in order to keep the bill acceptors clean and ensure their smooth functioning.

Advanced bill acceptor in Planet Antares vending machines has led to efficient currency handling and convenience of the consumers and provides greater returns to vending business owners.