JP2009282811A - Personal information registration device and method thereof, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus, etc. which can simply register user information displayed on an IC card. <P>SOLUTION: Each of IC cards 2a to 2c has identification data which can be read by wireless communication and the identification data are individually provided to each of the respective IC cards 2a to 2c. Each of the IC cards 2a to 2c displays user information. A communication part 90 in the image forming apparatus 1 can read the identification data from each of the IC cards 2a to 2c by wireless communication and a scanner part 10 generates image data from an image including the user information of each of the IC cards 2a to 2c. A character recognition part 81 extracts characters on each of the IC cards 2a to 2c on the basis of the generated image data and a user information storage part 82 stores the user information extracted as the characters in association with the identification data read by the communication part 90. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to registration of information relating to an individual such as a user code and a name individually associated with each data record carrier in an apparatus such as an image forming apparatus using a data record carrier such as an IC card.

  One known image forming apparatus using an IC card restricts the use of a copy function to the user by using the IC card (see Patent Document 1). That is, here, the manufacturing number of the image forming apparatus is recorded on the IC card, and the user code and password are registered on the image forming apparatus side. When using the image forming apparatus, the user attaches an IC card to the card read / write unit of the image forming apparatus. Thus, when the serial number of the image forming apparatus to be used does not match the serial number read by the card read / write unit, subsequent operations by the user are prohibited. Further, even when the serial number of the image forming apparatus to be used matches the serial number read by the card read / write unit, the user code and password are prompted to be input from the operation panel. Even when these user codes and passwords are not registered in advance on the image forming apparatus side, user operations are prohibited.

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-59453 (FIG. 4, paragraphs 0013, 0014, etc.)

  However, in the conventional image forming apparatus as described above, registration of information relating to an individual such as a user code is complicated. In other words, the administrator who manages the image forming apparatus has to input the personal information from the operation panel of the image forming apparatus or the keyboard of the PC connected to the image forming apparatus and register it. . Therefore, for example, when inputting personal information for several hundred people, a great deal of time and labor are required.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a personal information registration apparatus and method for solving such a problem.

The personal information registration device according to claim 1 is a data record carrier in which each data record carrier is individually assigned to each data record carrier and has identification data that can be read by wireless communication, and displays personal information. A personal information registration device for registering the personal information above, comprising: communication means for reading the identification data from the data record carrier by wireless communication; and an image of the data record carrier containing the personal information, Image reading means for generating data, character recognition means for extracting characters on the data record carrier based on the image data generated by the image reading means, and the individual extracted as characters by the character recognition means Personal information storage means for storing information in association with the identification data read by the communication means.
The personal information registration device according to claim 2 is the personal information registration device according to claim 1, wherein the data record carrier displays the identification data, and the image reading means includes the identification data and the personal information. The image data is generated from an image of the data record carrier containing information, and the personal information storage means is the identification data extracted as characters by the character recognition means, and the identification read by the communication means Only when the data matches, the personal information extracted as characters by the character recognition means is stored.
The personal information registration device according to claim 3 is the personal information registration device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the personal information on the data record carrier stored in the personal information storage means and the data record carrier The information processing apparatus includes a transmission unit that transmits the identification data to an information management server that stores and manages the personal information.
The personal information registration device according to claim 4 is the personal information registration device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data record carrier is an IC card, and the personal information of the data record carrier. Is a name or employee ID number.
An image forming apparatus according to a fifth aspect includes the personal information registration apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects.
The personal information registration method according to claim 6 is a method in which a data record carrier is individually assigned to each data record carrier and has identification data that can be read by wireless communication and displays personal information. A personal information registration method for registering the personal information above, wherein the identification data is read from the data record carrier by wireless communication, and image data is generated from an image of the data record carrier containing the personal information And extracting characters on the data record carrier based on the generated image data, and storing the personal information obtained by the extraction of characters in association with the read identification data. And

  The personal information registration device of the present invention stores personal information on a data record carrier extracted as characters in association with identification data read from the data record carrier via wireless communication. Therefore, it is not necessary to input personal information using an input device such as an operation panel or a keyboard, and personal information can be registered easily.

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings include portions that are schematically exaggerated for the purpose of easily showing the configuration.
(Best Embodiment)

An image forming apparatus which is the best embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this image forming apparatus, a configuration that allows user information on an IC card to be registered is added to the configuration of a conventionally known MFP (multifunctional peripheral device).
(1) The outline of the configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus as an MFP will be described. The image forming apparatus has a copy function, a print function, a scanner function, a fax function, and a box function, and any one of these functions The image processing according to is executed as one job. The user can register a plurality of jobs in this image forming apparatus, and image processing by each registered job is executed in parallel when necessary input / output devices do not compete.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a scanner unit 10, a printer unit 20, a facsimile communication unit 30, a communication interface 40, an HDD 50, an operation unit in order to execute image processing corresponding to each function described above. 60, a display unit 70 and a control unit 80 are provided. The image forming apparatus 1 is a kind of embedded system, and the control unit 80 is not shown, but includes a microprocessor, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an input / output interface, and the like, and each unit 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. , 60, 70.
The control unit 80 controls the operation of the entire image forming apparatus 1 based on a predetermined program in the ROM, so that image processing by each job is executed. In particular, the control unit 80 uses the RAM and the HDD 50 in the control unit 80 as the image processing memory. The image processing memory temporarily stores image data corresponding to input / output images, intermediate data generated by image expansion in the process of input / output, and the like.

The scanner unit 10 reads an image from a document, generates image data (binary data), and inputs the image data to a control unit 80 (image processing memory). More specifically, the scanner unit 10 may be of a flat bed type, which irradiates light on a document placed on the document table 10a and converts the reflected light into an electrical signal by an image sensor (not shown). An image signal is generated. Further, the scanner unit 10 is configured to perform A / D conversion or the like on the image signal and input the obtained image data to the control unit 80.
The printer unit 20 prints an image on a predetermined sheet based on the image data output from the control unit 80. Specifically, the printer unit 20 emits a laser beam modulated based on the image data output from the control unit 80 from a laser diode (not shown), and guides and condenses the laser beam to a photosensitive drum ( An electrostatic latent image is formed above (not shown). Subsequently, the printer unit 20 forms a toner image by supplying toner onto the photosensitive drum, and transfers the toner image onto the surface of the paper. The paper on which the image is printed is discharged onto a discharge tray (not shown).

The facsimile communication unit 30 transmits the image data output from the control unit 80 to the counterpart facsimile via the telephone line, and receives the image data from the counterpart facsimile and inputs the image data to the control unit 80. ing. That is, the facsimile communication unit 30 compresses and modulates the image data output from the control unit 80 while controlling the connection with the telephone line by the NCU (not shown), and transmits the image data to the counterpart facsimile. Further, the facsimile communication unit 30 demodulates and expands image data received from the other party facsimile, and inputs the image data to the control unit 80 while being connected to the telephone line by the NCU.
The communication interface 40 enables the image forming apparatus 1 to be connected to the LAN. A PC is connected to the LAN, and the image forming apparatus 1 can transmit and receive image data to and from the PC.

The HDD 50 is used not only for temporarily storing an image being processed as an image processing memory but also for executing a box function. The box function refers to temporarily storing image data obtained by the scanner unit 10 or image data received by the facsimile communication unit 30.
The operation unit 60 accepts registration of each job (image processing by the above various functions) from the user, and the display unit 70 displays a message for guiding the registration of each job to the user.
As described above, the image forming apparatus 1 operates as an MFP, and the user operates the image forming apparatus 1 to execute image processing by each function of a copy function, a print function, a scanner function, a fax function, and a box function. It is possible to make it.

(2) As described above, the image forming apparatus 1 not only functions as an MFP but also can register user information (personal information) on each of the IC cards 2a to 2c. Hereinafter, this characteristic part of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 includes a communication unit 90 in addition to the above-described units. The communication unit 90 performs wireless communication by RFID with the IC cards 2a to 2c, and can read and write data on the IC cards 2a to 2c. The communication unit 90 is provided inside or outside the image forming apparatus 1 within a range where radio waves (or electromagnetic waves) used for wireless communication reach from the IC cards 2a to 2c on the document table 10a of the scanner unit 10. Yes. Here, three IC cards are used, but one, two, or four or more cards may be used.

The IC card 2 (one of the IC cards 2a to 2c) may be used as an employee ID card as in the example of FIG. 2, and the user information such as the name “Taro Taro” and serial The identification data of the IC card 2 such as ID “012345789” is displayed. The user information is used to identify and identify the user, and the identification data is individually assigned to each IC card 2 to identify each IC card 2. In the above-described scanner unit 10 (previous FIG. 1), image data is generated from an image including these user information and identification data displayed on the IC card 2.
In addition, although not shown, the IC card 2 has a known configuration having an IC chip including a CPU, an EEPROM, a PSK demodulation circuit, and an antenna. Details of such an IC card are described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-38534. The IC card 2 stores identification data (serial ID) in its EEPROM or the like so that it can be read from the communication unit 90 of the image forming apparatus 1.

A program for user information registration executed by the control unit 80 of the image forming apparatus 1 mainly includes a character recognition unit 81 and a user information storage unit 82 as shown in FIG. The character recognition unit 81 extracts user information and identification data as characters (character code string) based on image data of an image including user information and identification data generated by the scanner unit 10. .
This character recognition process (optical character recognition, OCR) is a well-known technique, and is performed by pattern matching between a character portion of an image to be extracted and an image representing a character pattern stored in advance. The character part of is converted into a character code. These processes are described in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4012140 and Japanese Patent No. 3727974.

The user information storage unit 82 stores the user information extracted as characters by the character recognition unit 81 in association with the identification data of the IC card 2 on a predetermined user information file. The user information file is stored in the HDD 50. In the user information file, for each of the IC cards 2a to 2c, the correspondence between the user information of the user possessing each IC card 2a to 2c and the identification data of the IC card 2a to 2c is held.
The user information storage unit 82 will be described in detail. In the character recognition unit 81, user information and identification data displayed on each of the plurality of IC cards 2 on the document table 10a are extracted as characters, and in the communication unit 90, each of these IC cards 2 has. The identification data is read at the same timing. Only when the identification data of one IC card 2 extracted as characters matches one of the read identification data of a plurality of IC cards 2, the user information storage unit 82 2 of the extracted user information is stored.

  That is, user information and identification data are displayed on the IC card 2, and character codes of the extracted user information and identification data are temporarily stored for each IC card 2. Therefore, even if the images of a plurality of IC cards 2 are read together, the user information can be registered as long as the association between the user information and the identification data is maintained. If one piece of identification data based on the character code does not match any of a plurality of pieces of identification data received by wireless communication, the user information is not registered. Surely done. For example, when two or more IC cards 2 are mistakenly stacked and placed on the document table 10a, the user information is displayed only for the IC card 2 that displays identification data that has been appropriately character-coded. User information is not registered for other IC cards 2 registered.

The image forming apparatus 1 having these configurations operates as follows when registering user information. FIG. 3 shows a procedure of user information registration processing executed by the control unit 80. Prior to this user information registration, a person who performs the registration (image forming apparatus 1 or user information manager or IC card issuer) places an IC on the document table 10a of the scanner unit 10 (FIG. 1). The cards 2a to 2c are placed side by side as appropriate.
When user information registration is instructed to the image forming apparatus 1 by a predetermined operation from the operation unit 60, in step 1 (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S), the scanner unit 10 performs a plurality of operations on the document table 10a. A single IC card 2 is scanned. In the scanner unit 10, image data of one image including the plurality of IC cards 2 is generated. In subsequent S2, this image data is read from the scanner unit 10 to the control unit 80 and temporarily stored in the above-described image processing memory (RAM of the control unit 80 or the HDD 50).

In S3, the character codes of the user information and the identification data are extracted from the temporarily stored image data by the number of the number of IC cards 2 by the character recognition process. In S4, the character data of the user information and the identification data is temporarily stored. Saved. In the example of the IC card 2 in FIG. 2, the character code for a predetermined number of characters that continues from the keyword “name:” to the line feed is used as character data representing user information, and the predetermined number of characters following the keyword “ID:”. The character code for the minute is temporarily stored as character data representing the identification data.
In the next S5, the identification data is sequentially received from the plurality of IC cards 2 on the document table 10a by the communication unit 90.

  In S6, it is determined whether one of the identification data extracted from the image temporarily stored in S4 is included in the plurality of identification data received in S5 and matches one of them. When the extracted identification data is included as one of the plurality of received identification data (Yes in S6), in S7, the user information of the IC card 2 having this identification data is The information is registered on the information file, and the process proceeds to S8. If the extracted identification data is not included in the received plurality of identification data (No in S6), the process in S7 is skipped, and the process proceeds to S8.

  In S8, it is determined whether or not the determination process in S6 has been performed for all the identification data for the number of IC cards 2 temporarily stored in S4. If the processing at S6 has not been performed for all the identification data (No at S8), the target identification data is updated to that of another IC card 2, and the processing from S6 is repeated. When the process in S6 is performed for all the identification data (Yes in S8), the user information registration process ends.

As described above, in the image forming apparatus 1, the user information on one IC card 2 extracted as characters is registered in association with the identification data of the IC card 2. Therefore, the administrator does not need to input user information using an input device such as an operation panel or a keyboard, and can easily register user information.
Further, in the image forming apparatus 1, the identification data is extracted from the image of the IC card 2 together with the user information, and separately, the identification data of the IC card 2 is received by the communication unit 90. Since the registration of user information is performed only when these two pieces of identification data match, the user information of a plurality of IC cards 2 placed on the document table 10a is stored. Registration is surely performed in a lump.

  In other words, by utilizing the anti-collision characteristic of the IC card 2, user information can be registered for a plurality of IC cards 2 at once. Even if a plurality of IC cards 2 are randomly arranged on the document table 10a so that two or more of them overlap, user information and identification data represented on one IC card 2 are not displayed. The user information of the IC card 2 can be registered as long as it is character-coded without hindrance and the identification data is received.

(Other embodiments, etc.)
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated by specific embodiment, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. The present invention can be implemented by changing the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention.
a. For example, the IC card 2 or the image forming apparatus 1 stores a user's name (or employee ID number, user code, etc.) and a password, and the image forming apparatus 1 operates each function by the user. In doing so, the display unit 70 may prompt the user to enter a name and a password. That is, in response to this, the user inputs a name and the like and a password from the operation unit 60. Then, the entered name and password are identical to either one read from the IC card 2 to the image forming apparatus 1 or stored in advance on the image forming apparatus 1 side, or both of them. If so, allow the use of each function.
The writing of the user ID such as the name to the IC card 2 can be performed when the user information is registered in the image forming apparatus 1.

b. By allowing user information to be registered in addition to the function as an MFP as in the image forming apparatus 1 described above, the scanner unit normally provided in the MFP can be used effectively. On the other hand, it is also possible to configure a dedicated personal information registration apparatus that excludes the function as the MFP from the image forming apparatus 1.
c. It is assumed that user information and identification data are displayed on the IC card 2 (FIG. 2). Unlike this, the IC card 2 may not display the identification data. Even in this case, the user information can be registered more quickly and easily than before by placing the IC cards 2 on the document table 10a one by one. That is, in this image forming apparatus (or the personal information registration apparatus), user information is converted into character codes by a process corresponding to the process of the character recognition unit 81 described above. At the same time, the user information obtained from the image of the IC card 2 is automatically associated with the identification data read by the communication unit 90 in a process corresponding to the process of the user information storage unit 82, Information is stored in storage means such as the HDD 50. Here, since only one IC card 2 is placed on the document table 10a, the user information and the identification data are associated with each other without any trouble.

d. The registration of user information is completed with one image forming apparatus 1. Instead, a plurality of image forming apparatuses (or personal information registration apparatuses) are connected to an external user information management server via the communication I / F 40 (FIG. 1), and user information is managed on the user information management server side. Registration and management thereof may be performed. In this case, the image forming apparatus includes a transmission unit that transmits data including user information and identification data related to the IC card 2 to the user information management server, and the user information management server is transmitted. Store and manage data.
e. When the number of pieces of identification data extracted by the character recognition unit 81 and the number of pieces of identification data read by the communication unit 90 do not match, an error display indicating that is performed by a display unit such as the display unit 70. It is also possible to do so.
f. The user information is the name of the person who owns the IC card 2, but instead of this, in addition to this, an employee ID number, user code or other user ID, or mobile phone number, date of birth, gender, An address, work place, etc. may be used.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the IC card which is used with this device Flow chart showing the flow of user information registration processing executed in this device

Explanation of symbols

1 ………………………… Image forming apparatus 2, 2 a to 2 c ...... IC card (data record carrier)
10 …………………… Scanner (image reading means)
20 …………………… Printer 30 …………………… Facsimile communication unit 40 …………………… Communication I / F
50 …………………… HDD
60 …………………… Operation unit 70 …………………… Display unit 80 …………………… Control unit 81 …………………… Character recognition unit (character recognition means)
82 …………………… User information storage (personal information storage)
90 …………………… Communication department (communication means)

Claims (6)

A data record carrier is provided to each data record carrier individually, has identification data that can be read by wireless communication, and displays personal information. An individual for registering the personal information on the data record carrier An information registration device,
Communication means for reading the identification data from the data record carrier by wireless communication;
Image reading means for generating image data from an image of the data record carrier containing the personal information;
Character recognition means for extracting characters on the data record carrier based on the image data generated by the image reading means;
A personal information registration apparatus comprising: personal information storage means for storing the personal information extracted as characters by the character recognition means in association with the identification data read by the communication means. The data record carrier is for displaying the identification data;
The image reading means generates the image data from an image of the data record carrier containing the identification data and the personal information,
The personal information storage means is extracted as a character by the character recognition means only when the identification data extracted as a character by the character recognition means matches the identification data read by the communication means. The personal information registration apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the personal information is stored.   Transmitting means for transmitting the personal information on the data record carrier stored in the personal information storage means and the identification data of the data record carrier to an information management server for storing and managing the personal information The personal information registration device according to claim 1, wherein the personal information registration device is a personal information registration device.   The personal information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data record carrier is an IC card, and the personal information of the data record carrier is a name or an employee ID number. Registration device.   An image forming apparatus comprising the personal information registration device according to claim 1. A data record carrier is provided to each data record carrier individually, has identification data that can be read by wireless communication, and displays personal information. An individual for registering the personal information on the data record carrier An information registration method,
Reading the identification data from the data record carrier by wireless communication;
Generating image data from an image of the data record carrier containing the personal information;
Based on the generated image data, extract characters on the data record carrier,
A personal information registration method, wherein the personal information obtained by the character extraction is stored in association with the read identification data.

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