JP2006251389A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus having an illicit output countermeasure function adapted to a practical and modern information system. <P>SOLUTION: A controller of the image forming apparatus connected to a plurality of clients via the LAN and the Internet starts printing by setting a prescribed copying limit level based on a user ID when an original manuscript is formed (S1). and prints the copying limit level code by a fluorescent transparent toner in superposition on the printed image (S2). At the time of copying, the controller discriminates the read copying limit level (S101 to S103); ends the processing without implementing the copying in case of copying prohibition (105); ends the processing by implementing the copying (104) in the case of copying permission; collates the inputted user ID in case of the presence of a copying limit (S106, S107); ends the processing without implementing the copying in case of collation NG (S108); implements the copying in the case of collation GOOD (S109), and notifies the information on the copied document ID, the number of copying sheets, and the name of a user carrying out the copying by E-mail to the user who prints the original document (S110). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus in which document security is improved so that an unspecified number of operators cannot freely perform copying.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multi Function Printer) is widely used as one of OA (office automation) devices related to information.
Such an MFP or the like is connected to a LAN (local area network), and image information is transmitted from a LAN terminal or a host device such as a personal computer, and printing (printing) based on the image information can be performed. In addition, many MFPs and the like have a built-in scanner, and the scanner and the printing (printing) unit are internally combined so that documents can be copied.

By the way, when such an MFP or the like can perform printing or copying without ensuring security, there is a problem that important information leaks to the outside.
Therefore, various apparatuses and methods have been proposed in order to prevent leakage of such confidential documents to the outside.

  For example, in some cases, printing prohibited characters such as “copy prohibited” and “confidential” are printed in a visible form on the document in advance, and when this is detected, the copying operation is stopped. Copying is easy and is therefore not an effective method.

  In addition, there are some that store the feature information of all the documents that are prohibited from being copied and stop the copying operation when the feature information is detected. However, a huge memory capacity is required to store the feature information. Not practical.

  Furthermore, in order to determine the source of a confidential document, information such as the identification information of the copying machine at the time of copying, information such as the copy date and time, and the like are added to the copy with a barcode, and the copied manuscript is edited or Some of them are designed to discriminate between normal documents and confidential documents even if they are tampered with.

  However, from the practical point of view, it is impossible to effectively determine an illegal copy of a document, and all of the above are not perfect for maintaining security.

Therefore, as a device having a practical security maintenance function, additional information for identifying a document such as the degree of confidentiality is embedded in the image portion of the document in an invisible manner by changing the pixel density. An image forming apparatus has been proposed in which additional information is read on the side, the number of copies of the original corresponding to the additional information is counted, and other processing is performed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1.)
JP 11-355557 A

  However, the technology of the above-mentioned patent document 1 does not consider any information system called an information network that has been remarkably developed in recent years just because it is an application of the old age (1992), and it is only a viewpoint of creating and copying a manuscript. Technology from.

Further, the method of embedding additional information in the image portion of the original and the method of reading it out are complicated, and in reality, this is an extremely difficult method requiring high technology and a large number of processing steps.
Further, although the copy history is accumulated on the image forming apparatus side, there is a problem that the original author cannot check the copy history information immediately.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having an illegal output countermeasure function that is practical and compatible with a modern information system in view of the above-described conventional situation.

The configuration of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below.
An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a reading unit that reads a document image including additional information for duplicate output, a read data storage unit that stores read data read by the reading unit, and a copy received from an external device. Received data storage means for storing document image data including additional information for output; additional information extraction means for extracting the additional information from the data stored in the read data storage means or the received data storage means; and Operator information input means for inputting operator information to be duplicated output directly or from an external device, operator information input by the operator information input means, and additional information extracted by the additional information extraction means Duplicate output of the read data or received data to compare the information and execute the duplicate output Duplicate output permission judging means for judging permission, and whether the read data or the received data is transmitted to the external connection device that is the input source of the operator information when the duplicate output is permitted by the duplicate output permission judging means A copy output means for outputting an image as a toner image on the transfer paper based on the read data or the received data, and the copy output means, when forming an image as a toner image on the transfer paper, The additional information includes a toner image forming unit that forms an invisible toner that is difficult to visually recognize under visible light, and forms a document image other than the additional information with visible toner, and further includes the duplication execution information by the duplication output unit as the read data or A copy execution information notifying means for sending a mail to the externally connected device of the original author of the received data is provided.

  The invisible toner that forms the additional information includes, for example, a fluorescent material that develops color when irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a predetermined wavelength and a transparent binder resin. The additional information is composed of information indicating a copy permission level, for example.

  According to the present invention, when forming an image, the additional information indicating the copy permission level is formed with the invisible toner that is difficult to visually recognize under visible light. Therefore, the additional information is added to the formed image by a normal printing process. Therefore, it is easy to add additional information.

  In addition, since the addition of the additional information is printing with invisible toner, it is difficult to remove the additional information from the document for the purpose of unauthorized copying, and it is easy to prevent confidential external leakage due to unauthorized copying.

  In addition, since the copy information is notified to the original author in real time via the information network, it is possible to quickly determine whether copy is appropriate and to deal with improper copying. Prevention becomes easy.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a multifunctional image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to simply as an MFP apparatus) as the first embodiment. An MFP apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a composite MFP apparatus having an electrophotographic secondary transfer tandem color image forming apparatus as a main part.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP apparatus 1 includes a scanner unit 6 including a document supply tray 2, a document pressing opening / closing lid 3, and a scanner body unit 5 having an operation panel unit 4 on the outer surface.

  Below that, an image forming main body 8 having a discharge tray 7 formed at the top is disposed, and a two-stage sheet feeder 9 is disposed at the bottom. The operation panel unit 4 includes a large number of operation keys 11 and a liquid crystal display device 12.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the internal configuration of the MFP apparatus 1. As shown in the figure, the image forming main body 8 of the MFP apparatus 1 is an electrophotographic secondary transfer tandem type color image forming apparatus, which includes five image forming sections 13, an intermediate transfer belt unit 14, and the above-described one. The sheet feeding unit 9 and the duplex printing transport unit 15 are configured.

The five image forming units 13 have a configuration in which five image forming units 16 (16M, 16C, 16Y, 16U, and 16K) are arranged in a multistage manner from right to left in FIG.
The three image forming units 16M, 16C, and 16Y on the upstream side (the right side in the drawing) of the five image forming units 16 are magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (subtractive three primary colors), respectively. A monocolor image is formed with the color toner of Y).

  The image forming unit 16U forms a transparent image of additional information using fluorescent transparent toner, which will be described in detail later. The image forming unit 16K forms a monochrome image using black (K) toner mainly used for dark portions of characters and images.

  Each of the image forming units 16 has the same configuration except for the color of the toner stored in the toner container. Accordingly, the configuration of the black (K) image forming unit 16K will be described below as an example.

  The image forming unit 16 includes a photosensitive drum 17 at the bottom. The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 17 is made of, for example, an organic photoconductive material. A cleaner 18, a charger 19, an optical writing head 21, and a developing roller 23 of a developing device 22 are arranged around the periphery of the photosensitive drum 17.

  The developing unit 22 is arranged in an upper toner container as shown by M, C, Y, U, and K in the drawing, magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), fluorescent transparent toner (U), black. (K) is accommodated, a toner replenishing mechanism for the lower part is provided in the middle part, the developing roller 23 described above is provided in the lower side opening part, and the toner stirring member and the developing roller 23 are provided inside. A toner supply roller that supplies toner, a doctor blade that regulates the toner layer on the developing roller 23 to a constant layer thickness, and the like are provided.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 14 includes a transfer belt 24 that extends in a substantially loop shape from substantially the left and right sides of the drawing at the center of the main body, and the transfer belt 24 that is stretched over the transfer belt 24. A driving roller 25 and a driven roller 26 that circulate in the counterclockwise direction in the figure are provided.

  The transfer belt 24 transfers the toner image directly to the belt surface (primary transfer) and conveys the toner image to the transfer position to the paper for further transfer (secondary transfer). The whole is called an intermediate transfer belt unit.

  The intermediate transfer belt unit 14 includes a belt position control mechanism 27 in the loop of the flat loop-shaped transfer belt 24. The belt position control mechanism 27 includes a primary transfer roller 28 made of a conductive foam sponge that presses against the lower peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 17 via the transfer belt 24.

The belt position control mechanism 27 includes four primary transfer rollers 28 corresponding to the four image forming units 16M, 16C, 16Y, and 16U of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and fluorescent transparent toner. The primary transfer roller 28 corresponding to the black (K) image forming unit 16K is rotated and moved around the saddle-shaped support shaft at the same cycle, and the rotational movement cycle is different from the cycle of the four primary transfer rollers 28. Rotate to move.

  As a result, the transfer belt 24 is separated from the photosensitive drum 17, and the full color mode (all four primary transfer rollers 28 are in contact with the transfer belt 24) and the monochrome mode (primary transfer rollers 28 corresponding to the image forming unit 16K). Only the contact with the transfer belt 24) and all non-transfer mode (all five primary transfer rollers 28 are separated from the transfer belt 24).

  In the intermediate transfer belt unit 14, a belt cleaner unit 29 is disposed further upstream of the uppermost image forming unit 16 </ b> M in the belt moving direction on the upper surface, and is flat so as to be almost along the entire lower surface. A thin waste toner collecting container 30 is detachably disposed.

  The paper feed unit 9 includes two paper feed cassettes 31 arranged in two upper and lower stages. In the vicinity of the paper feed opening (right side in the drawing) of the two paper feed cassettes 31, respectively, a paper take-out roller 32, A feeding roller 33, a separating roller 34, and a standby conveyance roller pair 35 are disposed.

  In the paper conveyance direction (vertical direction in the figure) of the standby conveyance roller pair 35, a secondary transfer roller 36 that is in pressure contact with the driven roller 26 via the transfer belt 24 is disposed, and a secondary transfer portion to the paper is arranged. Forming.

  A belt-type heat fixing device 37 is disposed downstream (upward in the drawing) of the secondary transfer portion, and the sheet after fixing is fixed to the belt-type heat fixing device 37 further downstream of the belt-type heat fixing device 37. And a pair of discharge rollers 41 for discharging the discharged sheet to a discharge tray 7 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus.

  The duplex printing conveyance unit 15 includes a start return path 42a branched from the intermediate conveyance path between the carry-out roller pair 38 and the paper discharge roller pair 41 in the right lateral direction in the figure, and then an intermediate return path 42b bent downward. A terminal return path 42c that bends in the left lateral direction opposite to the above and eventually reverses the return sheet, and three return roller pairs 43a, 43b, and 43c arranged in the middle of these return paths are provided. . At the outlet of the end return path 42c, a pair of carry-in rollers 44 is disposed inside the main body.

  Incidentally, in this example, the belt cleaner unit 29 disposed on the upper surface portion of the intermediate transfer belt unit 14 includes a lower cleaning roller 45, an upper intake roller 46, and a conveying screw 47 disposed in two stages. The lower cleaning roller 45 abuts against the upper surface of the transfer belt 24 to scrape and remove the waste toner, and the take-in roller 46 takes over the waste toner removed by the cleaning roller 45 and accumulates it in the belt cleaner unit 29, thereby conveying the screw 47. The accumulated waste toner is conveyed to the upper part of the dropping cylinder 48 and is sent to the waste toner collecting container 30 through the dropping cylinder 48.

  In order to bring the cleaning roller 45 into pressure contact with the transfer belt 24 with an appropriate pressure, a pressure roller 49 is provided on the intermediate transfer belt unit 14 side to press the transfer belt 24 toward the cleaning roller 45 from below. ing.

  The collection of such waste toner is not limited to using the cleaning roller 45 as in this example, and for example, a cleaning brush, a cleaning blade, or the like is also used. In particular, when using a cleaning blade, the friction resistance between the cleaning blade and the transfer belt can be kept constant in response to changes in the temperature and humidity environment to maintain a good cleaning action at all times. Necessary.

(Embodiment 2)
Here, the fluorescent transparent toner accommodated in the developing device 22 of the image forming unit 16U will be described as a second embodiment.

The fluorescent transparent toner of the present invention contains a binder resin and a fluorescent substance. The binder resin can be selected from a wide range including known ones.
Specific examples include styrene-based shelves such as polystyrene, styrene-acrylic acid ester copolymers, styrene-methacrylic acid copolymers, and styrene-butadiene copolymers, saturated polyesters, unsaturated polyester resins, and epoxy resins. Phenolic resin, coumarone resin, xylene resin, vinyl chloride resin, polyolefin resin and the like can be exemplified, and two or more of these resins may be used in combination.

Of these resins, styrene resins, polyester resins, epoxy resins, and olefin resins are preferable.
The fluorescent transparent toner in this example contains, for example, a binder resin made of a polyester resin having a softening point of 70 to 150 ° C. synthesized from a diol and a polyvalent carboxylic acid, and a fluorescent material.

  This fluorescent transparent toner does not contain any coloring material. A polyester resin having a softening point of 70 to 150 ° C. synthesized from this diol and polyvalent carboxylic acid is particularly preferably used because of its excellent transparency.

As the fluorescent substance, organic or inorganic fluorescent dyes, fluorescent pigments, and the like that are colored by irradiation with ultraviolet rays having a predetermined wavelength can be used.
Examples of the organic fluorescent material include 9,10-dianilinoanthracene and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldazine, and examples of the inorganic fluorescent material include zinc oxide and zinc sulfide, which are excellent in transparency. In particular, inorganic fluorescent materials such as zinc oxide and zinc sulfide are preferable.

  Since the fluorescent transparent toner of the present invention contains a fluorescent substance, it is colorless under visible light and cannot recognize the recorded information. Colored and recorded information by fluorescent transparent toner can be visualized.

  The addition amount of the fluorescent substance is preferably in the range of 2 to 4 parts by mass, particularly preferably in the range of 2.5 to 3.5 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the resin. Two or more fluorescent substances may be added in combination.

  Moreover, you may add a well-known charge control agent as needed. As the charge control agent, for example, a quaternary ammonium salt or a salt-forming compound thereof is preferable for obtaining a positively chargeable toner, and a metal complex or metal complex of salicylic acid or alkylsalicylic acid is preferable for obtaining a negatively charged toner. In addition, a shelf-containing potassium salt compound is preferable. The addition amount of these charge control agents is preferably in the range of 0.01 to 20 parts by mass.

  Furthermore, various waxes may be added to the transparent fluorescent toner of the present invention as a release agent for improving thermal characteristics. The transparent fluorescent toner of the present invention may contain inorganic fine particles such as silica, titania and alumina as a fluidity improver in the range of 0.01 to 5 parts by mass.

The transparent fluorescent toner of the present invention is used as a non-magnetic one-component developer, but in some cases, it can be mixed with a carrier and used as a two-component developer.
The transparent fluorescent toner according to the present invention can be manufactured by various manufacturing methods. Generally, it can be manufactured by the following manufacturing method.

  First, a resin, a fluorescent substance, and, if necessary, a charge control agent, wax, a fluidity improver, and the like are uniformly mixed using a Henschel mixer or the like. Next, this mixture is melt-kneaded using a kneader, an extruder, a roll mill or the like.

  Next, the kneaded material is coarsely pulverized using a hammer mill, a cutter mill, or the like, and then finely pulverized using a jet mill, a type 1 mill, or the like. Thereafter, the finely pulverized product is classified by a DS (dispersion classifier), a zigzag classifier or the like. The average particle size of the toner obtained by classification is preferably 3 to 18 μm. In some cases, silica may be further dispersed in the classified product using a Henschel Kimiser.

An embodiment in which the transparent fluorescent toner according to the present invention is manufactured and used in the MFP apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described below.
100 parts by mass of an unsaturated polyester resin (softening point 120 ° C.) synthesized from dionyl and a polyvalent carboxylic acid, 1.5 parts by mass of a charge control agent (LR-147 manufactured by Nippon Carlit), 2 parts by mass of a polypropylene resin, And 5 parts by mass of zinc oxide fine powder (ZnO: Zn) were mixed with a Henschel mixer, melt-kneaded with a hot roll mill, and cooled.

  Next, the kneaded product was coarsely pulverized using a hammer mill, finely pulverized by an air jet method, and then classified so as to have a particle size of 5 to 20 μm by a dispersion classifier to obtain a classified product. To 100 parts by mass of this classified product, 1.5 parts by mass of hydrophobic silica was dispersed with a Henschel mixer to obtain a transparent fluorescent toner.

  This transparent fluorescent toner was filled in one of the developing units 22 corresponding to the photosensitive drum 17 of the printer unit (non-magnetic one-component developing type color image forming apparatus) of the MFP apparatus 1 shown in FIGS.

The other developing units 22 were filled and filled with normal original Y, M, C, and K color toners used in the color image forming apparatus.
When printing was performed with such a color image forming apparatus, the printed portion was not visible under visible light, and the portion printed with fluorescent transparent toner was colored bright blue green under ultraviolet light irradiation.

  FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing an example of a printing form using a fluorescent transparent toner that develops a clear blue-green color only under ultraviolet irradiation as described above. FIG. 5A shows an example in which additional information 51 using fluorescent transparent toner is printed on the Y, M, C, and K color toner images printed on the paper 50.

  As a printing form of the additional information 51, a normal character or numerical code, a two-dimensional code, or the like can be used. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, additional information may be printed with a barcode (additional information) 52 in the margin of the paper 50.

  Note that FIGS. (A) and (b) show an example of printing additional information using fluorescent transparent toner in a state where it can be seen for convenience of explanation. The print is invisible below.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, an overall system configuration in the security keeping mechanism of the present invention using the MFP apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described as a third embodiment. First, an internal system configuration of the MFP apparatus 1 itself will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the internal system configuration of the MFP apparatus 1 described above. As shown in the figure, the MFP apparatus 1 includes a printer controller unit 53, a head controller unit 54, and an I / F (interface) unit 55 that are connected to each other via a bus to form a central control unit.

  The printer controller 53 is connected to an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM) 56, a ROM (read only memory) 57, and a user management unit 58, and further connected to a high-pressure unit 59, a temperature / humidity sensor 61, and a concentration sensor 62. .

  The ROM 57 stores a control program for the printer controller unit 53 to control the entire MFP apparatus 1. The EEPROM 56 temporarily stores, for example, additional information described later included in image information input from the outside via the I / F unit 55. The user management unit 58 stores a user ID (to be described later) of the user of the MFP apparatus 1, a copy restriction level data table, a usage history, and the like.

  The I / F unit 55 is connected to a network unit 63, a FAX unit 64, a scanner unit 65, and an image processing unit 66 to which image information is input from the outside. The operation panel unit 4 shown in FIG. It is connected. Connected to the image processing unit 66 is an HDD (hard disk driver) 67 that drives an HD (hard disk) that records and holds image data and the like.

Further, the optical controller 21 (21U, 21K, 21C, 21M, 21Y) shown in FIG. 2 is connected to the head controller 54.
The I / F unit 55 receives an image signal from an external host device via the network unit 63, and receives a FAX signal from an external FAX device or a PC (personal computer) from the telephone line via the FAX unit 64. A scanner input RGB signal (same for CMY signals) from a copy document input or input via the scanner section 65 is input.

  In the I / F unit 55, these various image signals are subjected to color matching processing, converted into C, M, Y, U, and K, binarized or multi-valued, and then sent to the head controller unit 54. .

The head controller unit 54 drives each optical writing head 21 (21U, 21K, 21C, 21M, 21Y) to execute printing.
FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of the security mechanism in this example. In the figure, the configuration of the MFP apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 4 is shown in a simplified block diagram. The MFP apparatus 1 shown in the figure has a configuration in which a scanner unit 65 and a printer unit 69 are controlled by the MFP main unit 68 with the MFP main unit 68 as a center.

  A scanner input RGB signal (or CMY signal) read from the document 71 is input to the MFP main unit 68 from the scanner unit 65. The printer unit 69 is a structural block collectively showing the head controller unit 54 and the optical writing heads 21 (21U, 21K, 21C, 21M, 21Y) shown in FIG. 4, and the original document or copy document 72 is externally provided. Printed out.

  The MFP main unit 68 includes a FAX unit 64 shown in FIG. 4 and a security print control unit 70 as a new configuration block. The security printing control unit 70 includes the printer controller unit 53, the EEPROM 56, the user management unit 58, the network unit 63, and the like shown in FIG.

  As described above, a FAX signal from an external FAX device (not shown), a PC (personal computer), or the like is input to the FAX unit 64 of the MFP main unit 68 from the telephone line 73. A LAN 74 is connected to the security print control unit 70 via the network unit 63 shown in FIG.

  A plurality of client PCs are connected to the LAN 74, although not particularly shown, including client PCs 75-1 (client PC1) and 75-2 (client PC2).

  The LAN 74 is connected to the Internet 77 via a router 76. As a result, in the MFP apparatus 1 of the present example, various external devices such as the client PCs 75-1 and 75-2, the PC on the Internet 77, etc. via the LAN 74 or via the LAN 74, the router 76 and the Internet 77. Network communication between the two.

  By the way, in the system of this example, it is assumed that the document 71 read by the scanner unit 65 is printed by the MFP apparatus 1 of this example. That is, additional information 51 or 52 as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is printed in advance in the print image of the document 71 read by the scanner unit 65 in order to maintain security.

  In the additional information 51 or 52, the document ID of the document is set in the security print control unit 70 when the document 71 is printed, and the copy restriction recorded in the user management unit 58 shown in FIG. This is copy restriction level data set as print information by the optical writing head 21U with reference to a data table indicating levels and a user ID input by a person who operates the MFP apparatus 1 to perform copying.

  The original document (71 or 72) is printed out from the printer unit 69, and the additional information 51 or 52 is also printed on the copy document (72) of the original document. A print history may be printed as additional information as necessary.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of a data table indicating the copy restriction level recorded in the user management unit 58. As shown in FIG. In the copy restriction level data table 78 shown in the figure, for easy understanding, the employee ID code is displayed in the leftmost column in five stages, that is, “part-time job”, “staff”, “manager”, “department head”. And “Executive Officer”. In the upper part, the copy restriction levels are indicated by codes “1” to “6”.

  The copy restriction level “1” allows copying to all user ID code owners (copy ○). The copy restriction level “2” is copy-prohibited (copy ×) only when the user ID code is “part-time job”, and copying is permitted for other user ID code owners.

  The copy restriction level “3” is copy-prohibited (copy ×) when the user ID code is “part-time job” or “staff”, and copying is permitted for other user ID code owners. .

  In this way, the copy restriction level itself increases as the numerical value of the copy restriction level code increases. At the copy restriction level “5”, copying is permitted only when the user ID code is “officer”. All copying is prohibited. The copy restriction level “6” is the highest copy restriction level, and copying is prohibited for all employees.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts of processing operations by the MFP main unit 68 for document creation and copying in the security mechanism of this example having the above-described configuration.
FIGS. 8A and 8B show the display displayed on the liquid crystal display device 12 of the operation panel unit 4 of the MFP apparatus 1 in the processing of document creation and copying by the MFP main unit 68 in the above-described security mechanism. It is a figure which shows an example.

First, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7A, when printing of a document is started, a copy restriction level is set and printing is started (S1).
In this process, the user ID input in advance of the person who prints the document by operating the MFP apparatus 1 is referred to, and a copy restriction level corresponding to the input user ID is set.

  This copy restriction level is automatically set. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an appropriate copy restriction level can be set by an operator using the operation keys regardless of his / her user ID level. You may make it do.

  Subsequently, the MFP main unit 68 prints the original while superimposing it on the image on which the original is formed (or may be a margin part), and performs copy restriction printing (S2). The document printing process is terminated.

  The copy restriction printing is performed by the copy restriction level automatically determined by the input user ID or the copy restriction level set by the input from the operation key, that is, the copy restriction level codes “1” to “1” shown in FIG. 6 ”is a process of printing any code number of“ 6 ”by the image forming unit 16U having the optical writing head 21U.

As a result, a manuscript is produced in which additional information indicating a copy restriction level that is colorless under visible light and cannot be visually recognized is superimposed on the print image.
Next, copying of an original (including ordinary printed matter) will be described.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7B, when someone tries to make a copy of a document (printed material), the scanner unit 65 starts image scanning of the document (S101).
Then, the scanner unit 65 detects an image copy restriction level (S102).

  In this process, first, the image data acquired by the scanner unit 65 is converted into CMYK data by the image processing unit 66. At the same time, a portion printed with fluorescent transparent toner is searched. This search is a process of reading print data emitted by irradiation with ultraviolet light having a predetermined wavelength.

Then, the security printing control unit 70 determines the copy restriction level (S103).
Here, if there is no copy restriction code, that is, if the copy restriction level printing is not detected in step S102, this copy original is a general printed matter (copying is permitted in S103). Copying is executed (S104), and this copying process is terminated.

On the other hand, when the copy restriction code 51 or 52 as shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B is detected in the process S102, first, the number of levels of the copy restriction code is read.
If the number of levels of the copy restriction code is “6”, it indicates the level at which copying is prohibited (copying is prohibited in S103). In this case, the security print control unit 70 displays the liquid crystal display on the operation panel unit 4. “Copy prohibited document” is displayed on the apparatus 12, and the copying process is terminated without executing copying (S105).

  On the other hand, when the number of levels indicated by the detected copy restriction code 51 or 52 is other than “6”, that is, “1” to “5” (there is a double restriction in S103), the security print control unit 70 then The user is requested to input a user ID code (S106).

  In this process, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), "" user ID "" is input to the liquid crystal display device 12 of the operation panel unit 4. "79" or as shown in Fig. 8 (b), "To copy this document, you need a" copy release key "." Please enter. Is displayed.

  Following this, the user inputs the user ID, that is, the copy, to the input data display window 81 below the message 79 or 79 ′ of the liquid crystal display device 12 by using the operation key 11 on the right side of the operation panel unit 4. Enter the release key.

  The security print control unit 70 reads the operation event of the operation key 11 by the user, reads the user ID number, and further refers to the copy restriction level data table 78 shown in FIG. Determine whether permission is available.

If the user level is not permitted (S107 is NG), the copying process is terminated without executing copying (S108).
As an example of the user level that cannot be permitted, for example, when the number of levels indicated by the copy restriction code 51 or 52 of the additional information read from the copy document 71 is “3”, the MFP apparatus 1 is being operated. When the user ID of the user indicates “staff” or “part-time job”, the user level is not permitted.

If it is determined in step S107 that the user level allows copying (S107 is GOOD), first, copying is performed (S109).
Then, information such as the copied document ID number, the number of copies, and the name of the copied user is notified to the user who printed the original document (copy original) by e-mail via LAN (or the Internet in the case of an outside officer). (S110) to complete this copying process.

In this case, additional information including the document ID of the original document is printed on the paper to be copied with fluorescent transparent toner.
As described above, according to the image forming apparatus constituting the confidential security device of the present invention, when printing the original document, the document ID and the copy restriction level code are printed with the fluorescent transparent toner that is not visible under visible light. When copying the original document, permission / non-permission of copying is determined from the above-described copy restriction level code read from the original document and the user ID input from the operator of the image forming apparatus.

  As described above, since the copy restriction level code of the present invention is printed with fluorescent transparent toner that is not visible under visible light, an unauthorized user restricts the copy, particularly when printed over a normal image. It is not possible to copy the code by falsifying the level code printing part.

  Furthermore, in this example, information such as the copied document ID number, the number of copies, and the name of the copied user is notified to the user who printed the original document (copy original) by e-mail via LAN or the Internet. The actual state of copying can be managed in real time by the person who created the original document, thereby further improving the security of the document.

1 is an external perspective view of an image forming apparatus (MFP) as Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an internal configuration of an image forming apparatus (MFP) as Embodiment 1. FIG. (a), (b) is a figure which shows the example of the printing form by the fluorescence transparent toner which color-emits vivid blue-green only under ultraviolet irradiation as Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an internal system configuration of an MFP used for a security mechanism as a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is an overall system configuration diagram of a confidentiality holding mechanism as a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a data table indicating a copy restriction level recorded in a user management unit of an image forming apparatus (MFP) as Embodiment 3. (a), (b) is a flowchart of the processing operation by the MFP main part for the manuscript preparation and the copying in the security mechanism as the third embodiment. (a), (b) is a figure which shows the example of the display displayed on the liquid crystal display device of the operation panel part of MFP apparatus in the document preparation and copy processing operation by the MFP main part in a security mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

1 MFP
2 Document Feeding Tray 3 Document Pressing Opening / Closing Cover 4 Operation Panel 5 Scanner Body 6 Scanner 7 Paper Discharge Tray 8 Image Forming Body 9 Paper Feed 11 Operation Key 12 Liquid Crystal Display 13 Image Forming Unit 14 Intermediate Transfer Belt Unit 15 Transport unit for duplex printing 16 (16M, 16C, 16Y, 16U, 16K) Image forming unit 17 (17m, 17c, 17y, 17u, 17k) Photosensitive drum 18 Cleaner 19 Charger 21 (21M, 21C, 21Y, 21U, 21K) Optical writing head 22 Developing device 23 Developing roller 24 Transfer belt 25 Drive roller 26 Drive roller 27 Belt position control mechanism 28 Primary transfer roller 29 Belt cleaner unit 30 Waste toner collection container 31 Paper feed cassette 32 Paper take-out roller 33 Feeding Roller 34 Whispering roller 35 Machine transport roller pair 36 Secondary transfer roller 37 Belt type heat fixing device 38 Unloading roller pair 41 Discharge roller pair 42a Start return path 42b Intermediate return path 42c End return path 43a, 33b, 33c Return roller pair 44 Incoming roller pair 45 Cleaning Roller 46 Pick-up roller 47 Conveying screw 48 Falling cylinder 49 Pressing roller 50 Paper 51 Additional information 52 Bar code (additional information)
53 Printer controller section 54 Head controller section 55 I / F (interface) section 56 EEPROM (electrically erasable programable ROM)
57 ROM (read only memory)
58 User management unit 59 High-pressure unit 61 Temperature / humidity sensor 62 Concentration sensor 63 Network unit 64 FAX unit 65 Scanner unit 66 Image processing unit 67 HDD (hard disk driver)
68 MFP main unit 69 Printer unit 70 Security print control unit 71 Document 72 Original document or copy document 73 Telephone line 74 LAN
75-1, 73-2, ... Client PCs 1, 2, ...
76 router 77 internet 78 copy restriction level data table 79 message 81 input data display window

Claims (3)

Reading means for reading a document image including additional information for reproduction output;
Read data storage means for storing read data read by the reading means;
Received data storage means for storing document image data including additional information for duplicate output received from an external device;
Additional information extraction means for extracting the additional information from the data stored in the read data storage means or the received data storage means;
Operator information input means for inputting operator information to be subjected to the duplicate output directly or from an externally connected device;
The operator information input by the operator information input means and the additional information extracted by the additional information extraction means are compared to determine whether to permit the duplicate output of the read data or the received data to be subjected to the duplicate output. Copying output permission determination means to
When the duplicate output is permitted by the duplicate output permission judging means, the read data or the received data is transmitted to the external connection device that is the input source of the operator information, or based on the read data or the received data Duplication output means for outputting an image as a toner image on transfer paper;
With
The duplicate output means includes:
When forming an image as a toner image on the transfer paper, the image forming apparatus includes a toner image forming unit that forms the additional information with an invisible toner that is difficult to visually recognize under visible light, and forms a document image other than the additional information with visible toner.
Further, it comprises a copy execution information notification means for sending a copy execution information by the copy output means to the external connection device of the original author of the read data or received data,
An image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the invisible toner that forms the additional information includes a fluorescent material that develops color when irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a predetermined wavelength and a transparent binder resin.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional information is information indicating a copy permission level.