JP2006181807A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device which provides high-definition output by duplicating a paper in which the location of electronic data on a print is stored and a rewritable wireless tag is imbedded as copy and performing printing on the basis of the original electronic data rather than an optical read image. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming device has a means to read information of a rewritable information medium embedded in a sheet, a means to acquire logical site information in which electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the sheet is stored from the read information, an electronic data acquisition means to acquire electronic data corresponding to the image printed on the sheet on the basis of the logical site information, a means to form an image on the basis of the acquired electronic data, and a means to update information of a rewritable information medium embedded on the sheet. The electronic data acquisition means performs predetermined processing and further updates information of the rewritable information medium embedded on the sheet by the information updating means in accordance with conditions when required electronic data cannot be acquired on the basis of the logical site information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a copier capable of handling a paper embedded with an updatable information medium as a document.

  Until now, a copying machine optically reads a document and prints the scanned image.

  On the other hand, wirelessly recognized IC chips (RFID chips) such as IC cards used for regular railways and tags for shoplifting prevention are widely used. Currently, RFID chips that are read-only but very small at 0.4 mm square have been developed. Such fine chips are expected to be embedded in paper such as banknotes and securities.

Patent Document 1 proposes a paper product, a document management method, a document management system, office supplies, and office equipment in which a wireless tag is embedded.
JP 2002-120475 A

  However, a general office document that is copied by a conventional copier has not been proposed to use a fine wireless recognition IC chip.

  Further, in the invention proposed in Patent Document 1, a printing apparatus for storing an ID for identifying print contents in a wireless tag has been proposed. However, the copy function using the wireless tag and the electronic data used for printing are the original. There is no mention of processing when moving from place.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and copies a sheet of paper embedded with a rewritable wireless tag storing the location of electronic data of the printed contents as an original, and in an optically read image In addition, we provide an image forming device that can obtain high-quality output by printing based on the original electronic data. Provided is an image forming apparatus capable of quickly obtaining high-quality output from the next time by updating location information if possible.

In order to overcome the above problems, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes logical location information in which electronic data corresponding to at least an image printed on a paper is stored in a rewritable wireless tag embedded in the paper. Use the paper that stores the
・ Information reading means such as an antenna that reads information from the wireless tag,
Logical location information acquisition means such as a copier control CPU that obtains storage location information of the original data of the image printed on the paper from the read information of the wireless tag,
Electronic data acquisition means such as a copier control CPU that acquires electronic image data via a LAN,
-Image forming means such as an electrophotographic printer,
・ Equipped with an information updating means such as an antenna for updating the information of the wireless tag. If the electronic data of the image can be acquired via the LAN, printing is performed based on the information. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above.

  In more detail, the present invention can solve the above problems by the following configuration.

(1) In an apparatus for forming an image on a rewritable information medium embedded in a sheet, using as a document a sheet storing at least logical location information in which electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the sheet is stored.
Information reading means for reading information on a rewritable information medium embedded in paper;
Logical location information acquisition means for obtaining logical location information in which electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the paper is stored from information read by the information reading means;
Electronic data acquisition means for acquiring electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the paper based on the logical location information obtained by the logical location information means;
Image forming means for forming an image based on the electronic data acquired by the electronic data acquiring means;
Information updating means for updating information on a rewritable information medium embedded in paper;
The electronic data acquisition means performs predetermined processing when desired electronic data cannot be acquired based on the logical location information, and can be rewritten embedded in paper by the information update means according to conditions. An image forming apparatus for updating information on an information medium.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to execute printing from original electronic data in a copy operation by providing a system for storing an electronic data storage location of printed contents in a rewritable wireless tag and copying the embedded paper as a document. High quality copy is possible. In addition, even when the location of the electronic data changes, it is possible to cope with it, and by appropriately updating the contents of the wireless tag of the document, it is possible to print from high-quality and quick electronic data without the user being aware of it.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

[First Example]
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of the first embodiment. Reference numeral 101 denotes a color multifunction peripheral capable of handling the wireless tag-added document of this embodiment. Reference numeral 102 denotes an intranet using a 100Base-T network. A server 103 manages documents on the intranet 102. Reference numeral 104 denotes a client PC. A number of other multifunction devices, servers, PCs, and the like are connected to the intranet 102, which are omitted in this figure.

[Documents with wireless IC chip]
FIG. 2 shows a document with a wireless tag according to the present invention. A wireless tag 202 is embedded in the paper 201. This wireless tag is generally called a readable / writable RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag, and is miniaturized to about 0.2 mm and embedded in paper. The wireless tag stores a URL indicating the storage location of the original data of the print contents, a file size of the original data, a time stamp, and a checksum, as indicated by 203.

[Color MFP internal block]
FIG. 3 shows an internal block diagram of the color multifunction peripheral 101 of the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a scanner, which optically reads a document, converts it into an electrical signal, and generates RGB (Red, Green, Blue) digital data in which each pixel has 8-bit luminance information. The raster data has a resolution of 600 dpi in both the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes image processing including input masking, log conversion from RGB to CMYK (Cyan Magenta, Yellow, blackK), output masking, and the like.

  A printer 303 forms a color image by electrophotography based on the received frame sequential CMYK data.

  A frame buffer 304 is a synchronous DRAM having a size of 384 MB. Raster image data fetched from the scanner is stored or written by the CPU 308.

  Reference numeral 305 denotes an operation unit of the color multifunction peripheral, which includes an LCD panel, a touch panel and buttons.

  Reference numeral 306 denotes an I / O port connected to the CPU bus 205, which controls the scanner 301, the printer 303, and the operation unit 305, inputs sensor signals, and displays them.

  Reference numeral 307 denotes a CPU bus.

  A CPU 308 controls the color multi-function peripheral, and uses Intel Pentium (registered trademark) III, 1 GHz.

  Reference numeral 309 denotes a ROM which contains software that runs when the system is booted. It is connected to the CPU bus 307.

  A work RAM 310 is a 128 MB synchronous DRAM. Actually, it is composed of a 512 MB synchronous DRAM memory module together with the frame buffer 304. It is connected to the CPU bus 307.

  Reference numeral 311 denotes a SCSI controller. It is connected to the CPU bus 307.

  Reference numeral 312 denotes a 3.5 inch 80 GB hard disk drive connected to the SCSI controller 311.

  A network I / F controller 313 is connected to the CPU bus 307. It is connected to an external 10BaseT or 100BaseT Ethernet (registered trademark) network to exchange data.

[Copy operation]
The copy operation will be described with reference to FIG. When copying, the scanner 301 reads an original and generates RGB raster image data. The image processing 302 converts it into one of CMYK, develops it with the printer 303, and outputs it to paper. This operation is repeated in the order of MCYK to form a color image.

[Print operation]
The printing operation will be described with reference to FIG. When the user executes printing from the PC 104 to the color multifunction peripheral 101 using the printer driver, the color multifunction peripheral 101 receives a job described in Postscript or PDF via the network I / F 313 and stores it in the work RAM 310. . The CPU 308 interprets the description of the postscript, generates a raster image, and stores it in the frame buffer 304. The raster image is developed by the printer 303 and output to paper. This operation is repeated in the order of MCYK to form a color image.

[Scanner section]
FIG. 4 shows a scanner unit of the color multifunction peripheral 101 of the present invention. Above the platen glass 404 is a DF (Document Feeder) portion, and below is a photoelectric conversion portion. Reference numeral 401 denotes a document tray. Reference numeral 402 denotes a document feed roller, 403 a feed belt, 405 an RFID reading antenna, 406 an RFID write antenna, 407 a document discharge roller, and 408 a document discharge tray. 409 is a halogen lamp, 410 is a mirror, 411 is a lens, and 412 is a CCD.

  A document placed on the document tray 401 is fed by a feed roller 402 and fed onto a platen glass 404 by a feed belt 403. In the meantime, if there is a wireless tag on the paper by the RFID reading antenna 405, the information is read. When an original is set on the original platen glass 404, the halogen lamp 409 is turned on, the reflected light irradiated on the original is reflected by the mirror 410, and photoelectrically converted by the CCD 412 through the lens 411. Thereby, the optically read image is converted into electrical data. When a high-D conversion unit such as a halogen lamp 409 moves rightward in the drawing to read all the originals, the transfer belt 403 is operated, and the originals are discharged to the original discharge tray 408 by the discharge rollers 407. In the meantime, the contents of the wireless tag on the document sheet are rewritten by the RFID writing antenna 406 as necessary.

[Copy processing using wireless tags]
FIG. 5 shows a processing flow of the copying operation of the color multifunction peripheral 101 of the first embodiment. In 501, the RFID tag of the original paper is read by the RFID reading antenna 405. In 502, it is determined whether or not there is a wireless tag. If the wireless tag cannot be detected, the conventional optical copy is performed at 514. If the wireless tag can be detected, the URL of the electronic data is acquired from the data read in 503. In step 504, it is checked whether there is electronic data in the URL via the network I / R 313 or the intranet 102. If there is electronic data, the electronic data is acquired at step 505 and printed at 506. If there is no electronic data of the URL, a search is made at 507 as to whether or not the electronic file of the original data exists in another location via the Network I / R 313 and the intranet 102.

  In this embodiment, the file name, file size, time stamp, and checksum in the URL stored in the wireless tag are used to search for a matching file. In step 508, it is determined whether there is electronic data. If the electronic data is found, electronic data is acquired in step 509, and printing is performed using the electronic data in step 510. Then, at 511, the wireless tag of the document is updated with the information of the newly found electronic data using the RFID writing antenna 406. If electronic data is not found at 508, optical copy is performed as usual at 512, and the RFID tag antenna 406 is used to erase information on the wireless tag of the document at 513.

[Other Examples]
If the electronic data is not found in the flow of FIG. 5, the electronic data is searched for in step 507. good.

  In addition, the wireless tag is updated / erased in steps 511 and 513 of the flow in FIG. It may be a process of looking up.

  These may be interfaces that allow the user to make a decision on the spot, or may be interfaces that set operations in advance.

  In the above embodiment, the storage location of the original data of the image printed on the paper is stored. However, part or all of the electronic data of the image data may be stored.

The figure which shows the system configuration | structure of a 1st Example. The figure which shows the radio | wireless tag containing paper of 1st Example. Internal block diagram of the color MFP of the first embodiment The figure which shows the scanner part of the color compound machine of 1st Example. Copy processing flow using the wireless tag of the first embodiment

Explanation of symbols

101 Color MFP 102 Intranet 103 Server 104 Client PC
201 Paper 202 Wireless tag 203 Wireless tag recorded content 301 Scanner 302 Image processing 303 Printer 304 Frame buffer 305 Operation unit 306 I / O port 307 CPU bus 308 CPU
309 ROM
310 RAM
311 SCSI controller 312 Hard disk 313 Network I / F controller 401 Document tray 402 Document feed roller 403 Feed belt 404 Document platen glass 405 RFID reading antenna 406 RFID write antenna 407 Document discharge roller 408 Document discharge tray 409 Halogen lamp 410 Mirror 411 Lens 412 CCD

Claims (12)

In an apparatus for forming an image on a rewritable information medium embedded in a sheet as a manuscript by storing at least logical location information in which electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the sheet is stored,
Information reading means for reading information on a rewritable information medium embedded in paper;
Logical location information acquisition means for obtaining logical location information in which electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the paper is stored from information read by the information reading means;
Electronic data acquisition means for acquiring electronic data corresponding to an image printed on the paper based on the logical location information obtained by the logical location information means;
Image forming means for forming an image based on the electronic data acquired by the electronic data acquiring means;
Information updating means for updating information on a rewritable information medium embedded in paper;
The electronic data acquisition means performs predetermined processing when desired electronic data cannot be acquired based on the logical location information, and can be rewritten embedded in paper by the information update means according to conditions. An image forming apparatus for updating information on an information medium.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the electronic data acquisition unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on logical location information, it is stored in a rewritable information medium embedded in a document sheet. An image forming apparatus that erases logical location information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image reading unit that optically reads an image of a document and generates image data;
The image forming unit forms an image based on the image data generated by the image reading unit when the electronic data acquiring unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on the logical location information. Forming equipment.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the electronic data acquisition unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on the logical location information, the electronic data acquisition unit may request a desired logical location based on the logical location information. An image forming apparatus characterized in that an image forming unit forms an image based on electronic data at a logical location if the electronic data is searched for and found.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the electronic data acquisition unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on logical location information, the user asks whether or not to search, and the user performs a search process. If desired, the logical location information is searched for the presence of desired electronic data in other logical locations, and if found, the image forming means can use the electronic data in the logical location to An image forming apparatus for forming an image.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic data acquisition unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on the logical location information, but may be desired at another logical location based on the logical location information. If there is no electronic data, the logical location information stored in the rewritable information medium embedded in the original paper is updated to the logical location where the desired electronic data was found. An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic data acquisition unit cannot acquire desired electronic data based on the logical location information, but may be desired at another logical location based on the logical location information. If there is no electronic data, the logical location information stored in the rewritable information medium embedded in the original paper is updated to the logical location where the desired electronic data was found. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a user's judgment as to whether or not to do so is updated when the user desires to update.   7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electronic data acquisition unit searches for desired electronic data in another logical location based on logical location information. An image forming apparatus using a file name as a search key.   7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electronic data acquisition unit searches for desired electronic data in another logical location based on logical location information. An image forming apparatus using a file size as a search key.   7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electronic data acquisition unit searches for desired electronic data in another logical location based on logical location information. An image forming apparatus using a file type stamp as a search key. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4,
When the electronic data acquisition means searches based on the logical location information for the presence of desired electronic data in another logical location, it uses at least a part of the contents of the file as a search key. An image forming apparatus.   2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rewritable information medium embedded in the paper stores all or part of electronic data corresponding to the image printed on the paper. apparatus.

Images