JP2010145482A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of creating an output material to which additional information except image information, for instance, information such as forgery prevention information is added, and reading the information without spoiling the originality of an original image. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus includes: an image forming means 103 which outputs an image converted from the luminance information of the original image to a recording medium; a conversion means 108 which converts the additional information to be added to the original image into a code; a control means 101 which allows the image forming means to output an additional image having unevenness corresponding to the code obtained by conversion by the conversion means to the predetermined position of the recording medium; a reading means 102 which reads the luminance information of the original image; and an unevenness detection means which detects the unevenness of the additional image added to the original image. The unevenness detection means detects the unevenness of the additional image, in conjunction with the operation of reading the luminance information of the original image by the reading means and the control means performs predetermined control, based on the additional information detected by the unevenness detection means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that forms an image by an electrophotographic system, an electrostatic recording system, or the like.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus capable of copying, an apparatus for adding unique information other than original image information, for example, copy prevention information of an output product has been proposed.

  For example, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a unit that detects a tint block pattern (background dot pattern) embedded in a background image included in image data of a document image from image data. Then, a means is provided for comparing the detected tint block pattern (background dot pattern) with a tint block pattern (background dot pattern) that prohibits output stored in the storage area and determining the identity thereof. This prohibits output of image data of the original image by checking the identity of the detected background pattern (background dot pattern) and the stored background pattern (background dot pattern) regardless of the type of the original image. Techniques for determining whether or not to do so have been proposed.

  In Patent Document 2, if a pattern for prohibiting printing on a recording sheet or transfer of image data relating to the image to another apparatus is formed on a document image, whether or not to prohibit the printing or transfer is determined. There has been proposed a device that makes the determination as desired by the administrator when determining.

  Patent Document 3 proposes an apparatus that performs user authentication, compares it with user information, compares the copy-forgery-inhibited pattern pattern with information on the recording means, and executes a predetermined copy prohibiting operation based on the comparison result. .

  In addition, when the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 4 detects that copy prohibition information is present in a document, the operator inputs an ID and checks whether or not copying is permitted, and copying cannot be performed. If it is determined that the user is an operator, the operator receives an input as to whether or not to continue copying from the operator. If it is continued, a notification is sent from the image forming apparatus to the administrator apparatus, and if the administrator who receives the notification permits, additional information (such as a tint block) indicating that the image data of the document is a temporary copy ), And an apparatus that permits copying of an original is proposed.

  In addition, illegal information such as counterfeiting of securities, etc. is performed as additional information other than the image information of the manuscript by superimposing a symbol unique to the image forming apparatus on the image with a certain amount of modulation on the image information. In this case, a technique is known that can specify the image forming apparatus used for counterfeiting.

For example, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 5 includes a generating unit that generates a predetermined pattern signal and a control unit that controls a modulation amount of the predetermined pattern signal generated by the generating unit based on an input density signal. An apparatus has been proposed that superimposes a predetermined pattern signal obtained by the control means on an input density signal.
JP 2004-274092 A JP 2004-200957 A JP 2007-124318 A JP 2007-212563 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-113107

  However, since these image forming apparatuses output an image in which an accompanying image such as a background pattern is added to the original image, the image is partially different from the original image, and the originality is impaired.

  The fact that an image that is not included in the original image is added and output is mainly because the necessary information of the original image is character information in a text-based business document, etc. Recognizable. However, when outputting a manuscript mainly composed of photographs and the like, if a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern or the like is added to the original image, an unnecessary copy-forgery-inhibited pattern image is added to the photograph image as necessary information of the original data, and the originality of the photograph image is obtained. Will be damaged.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above points, and creates an output product with additional information other than image information, for example, information such as anti-counterfeit information, without impairing the originality of the original image, and An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of reading information.

  The present invention has the following configurations (1) to (7) in order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object.

  (1) Image forming means for outputting an image converted from luminance information of an original image to a recording medium, conversion means for converting additional information to be added to the original image into a code, and conversion by the conversion means A control unit that causes the image forming unit to output an additional image having irregularities corresponding to a code to a predetermined position of the recording medium; a reading unit that reads luminance information of the original image; and an irregularity of the additional image added to the original image The unevenness detecting means detects the unevenness of the additional image in conjunction with an operation in which the reading means reads the luminance information of the document image, and the control means detects the unevenness. An image forming apparatus that performs predetermined control based on additional information that is inversely converted from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the detection unit.

  (2) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the additional image output to a predetermined position of the recording medium by the control unit is a concavo-convex image recorded by a transparent body.

  (3) The difference between the convex portion and the concave portion of the additional image output to a predetermined position of the recording medium by the control means is 1 μm to 50 μm in height (1) or (2) The image forming apparatus described.

  (4) Whether or not the control unit performs image formation by collating additional information obtained by inverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detecting unit with information recorded in advance. The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein control for determination is performed.

  (5) The image forming apparatus further includes authentication means for authenticating the operator by reading the operator information of the operator, and the operator information read by the control means by the authentication means and the unevenness detection. The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein control is performed to determine whether or not to perform image formation by comparing the additional information read by the means with previously recorded information.

  (6) The control means collates the additional information obtained by inversely converting the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detection means with information recorded in advance, and adds an additional image not included in the original image. The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the image forming is performed additionally.

  (7) Image forming means for outputting an image converted from the luminance information of the original image to a recording medium, reading means for reading the luminance information of the original image, and an additional image added to a predetermined position of the original image An unevenness detecting means for detecting unevenness, wherein the unevenness detecting means detects the unevenness of the additional image in conjunction with the operation of the reading means reading the luminance information of the document image, and the control means An image forming apparatus, wherein predetermined control is performed based on additional information obtained by reverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the detecting means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to create an output product with additional information other than image information, for example, information such as forgery prevention information, without damaging the originality of the original image by the image forming apparatus. In addition, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that can perform a predetermined operation by reading the information.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail by way of examples. In addition, this invention is not limited at all by these Examples.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram in which the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment is configured for each function.

  The system control unit 101 includes a CPU and the like, and is a control unit that controls an operation sequence of each unit to be described later and controls the operation of the entire image forming apparatus. In addition, the system control unit 101 has a general-purpose interface (Ethernet (registered trademark), SCSI, RS232C, USB, etc.) 130 for connecting to an external device 131 such as a personal computer (PC), and is connected by a network cable. Is possible.

  The reading unit 102 detects the height of unevenness of an additional image other than a document image, an optical sensor that is a luminance detection unit (reading unit) such as an image sensor that reads luminance information of the document image, and the like. A detection means (unevenness detection means) is provided. The optical sensor reads the optical luminance information of the original image as digital image data at the time of copying. In addition, the height detection means determines the height of the unevenness of a code (hereinafter referred to as a bar code) having an uneven height formed with a transparent toner (hereinafter referred to as a clear toner) formed on the edge of the image as an additional image. The additional information added is read.

  The image forming unit 103 is composed of an image converted from luminance information and an additional image having a concavo-convex height converted from additional information by an electrostatic electrophotographic method using a photoreceptor and powder toner described later. A new original image is formed on the recording medium.

  The display / operation unit 104 includes various input operation means such as a numeric keypad, a start button, and a function key (not shown), and a display unit including a liquid crystal panel (not shown). The user operates the image forming apparatus with the operation unit, and displays the input information that has been operated and information that is notified to the user from the image forming apparatus.

  The user authentication unit 105 is an authentication unit for operator information for verifying and verifying the user information read by the ID card reading unit or the user ID input unit in which operator information (not shown) is recorded.

  The user information recording unit 106 records personal user information registered in advance and group user information associated with the personal user information, and stores authentication information as to whether or not copying is possible associated with these user information. .

  The height information processing unit 107 performs reverse conversion on the additional information added to the document image using a predetermined conversion method from the uneven height information of the additional image read by the reading unit, and then decodes the information.

  The additional information processing unit 108 associates a predetermined process recorded in advance with additional information decoded by inverse conversion from the unevenness information. For example, if copy prohibition information is added, it is determined to display copy prohibition on the display unit. At the time of output, additional information processing such as converting additional information to be added to the original document image into bar code information having a predetermined uneven height is performed.

  The image processing unit 109 performs density conversion, character processing, and image processing on the output image information according to the output characteristics of the printer. In addition, as additional means for converting the additional information reversely converted by the height converting means to add the additional image to the original document image into a bar code image that is a concavo-convex image and outputting it to a predetermined position on the recording medium. Process.

  Each component described above is connected by a bus 120.

[Function of Image Forming Unit 103]
In this embodiment, an image forming unit is used that forms a chromatic image by a one-drum type developing device including a plurality of developing units held by a rotating member with respect to one photosensitive member. However, the 1-drum system is an example showing one form, and can be implemented without any problem even in a tandem-type image forming apparatus using a separate photoconductor for each color, and does not limit the present invention.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration of the one-drum image forming unit 103 of this embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, a rotating body 18 includes a developing device 1 having a black developing device 1K, a yellow developing device 1Y, a magenta developing device 1M, a cyan developing device 1C, and a clear toner developing device 1T. The 18 rotation shafts 18a can be freely rotated by a motor (not shown).

  When a black toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28, toner development is performed by the black developing device 1K at the development position P1 close to the photosensitive drum 28. Similarly, when forming a yellow toner image, the rotating body 18 is rotated 72 ° in the direction of the arrow R1, and the developing position P5 of the yellow developing device 1Y is arranged at the developing position P1 shown in FIG. Develop. Magenta, cyan, and clear toner toner images are formed in the same manner.

  Next, an image forming operation will be described. However, the developing device 1 in the following means the black developing device 1K, the yellow developing device 1Y, the magenta developing device 1M, the cyan developing device 1C, and the clear toner developing device included in the rotating body 18 as described above. A general term for 1T.

  In FIG. 2, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28 by exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 28 charged by the primary charger 21 with a laser 22 at a resolution of 600 dpi (600 pixels per inch). The electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28 by the developing device 1 containing predetermined toner, and the toner image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24 by the first transfer bias by the first transfer charger 23a. Is transferred to.

  When full-color image formation is performed, first, a black toner image is formed on the photosensitive drum 28 by placing the black developing device 1K at the development position P1, and the black toner image is primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24. To do.

  Next, the rotating body 18 is rotated 72 ° in the direction of the arrow R1, and the developing position P5 of the yellow developing device 1Y is arranged at the developing position P1 in the drawing to form a yellow toner image on the photosensitive drum 28. . Then, the yellow toner image is primarily transferred onto the black toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 24 and superimposed.

  Similar to the operation of the yellow developing unit 1Y described above, the developing position P4 of the magenta developing unit 1M and the developing position P3 of the cyan developing unit 1C are sequentially rotated to perform primary transfer, and the luminance is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24. A full-color image is formed with colored toner based on information.

  Finally, the rotator 18 is rotated 72 ° so that the developing position P2 of the clear toner developing device 1T is arranged at the developing position P1 in the drawing, and the uneven height information converted from the additional information is displayed on the photosensitive drum 28. A clear toner image is formed as the additional image. Then, the clear toner image on the photosensitive drum 28 is superimposed on the colored toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 24 and is primarily transferred.

  Thereafter, the full-color image and the clear toner image that are primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 24 by the second transfer bias of the second transfer charger 23 b are collectively applied to the recording paper 27 on the transfer paper transport belt 25. Next transferred.

  The recording paper 27 to which the toner image has been transferred is peeled off from the transfer paper transport belt 25 and transported to the fixing device 26, and is pressed / heated by the fixing device 26 to form a fixed image.

  Further, the residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 28 after the primary transfer is removed by the first cleaner 29a, and the residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 24 after the secondary transfer is removed by the second cleaner 29b. Prepare for the next image formation.

[Operation during image formation]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in which the system control unit 101 performs image formation with additional information added in this embodiment. Hereinafter, an operation flow at the time of image formation for adding additional information will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 according to steps 300 to 307. Incidentally, although the image copy prevention information is used as an example of the additional information, the present invention is not limited thereto.

  When the user first performs an image forming operation using the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment, the system control unit 101 starts an operation as to whether or not to add copy prevention information to an output image (300). The image forming apparatus acquires image data of the original (301). The image data digitized by the user's operation from the personal PC that is the external device 131 shown in FIG. 1 or the information device on the network is relayed via an interface 130 of the system control unit 101 via an information transmission means such as a network cable. get. Then, the system control unit 101 determines whether or not to add copy prevention information (302). When adding copy prevention information to an image to be output, a copy prevention command is issued by selecting a copy prevention button from the operation screen displayed on the PC screen. In addition, when designating a user to be prevented from copying, an individual user or a group user recorded in advance in the user information recording unit 106 is selected together with information including performing copy prevention for each user.

  Next, in order to add copy prevention information, barcode data formed of clear toner is formed by the additional information processing unit 108 (303). In addition, when specifying a user who is to be prevented from copying, along with the copy prevention information for each user, based on the individual user or group user ID information recorded in advance in the user information recording unit 106, the individual unit or group unit Copy prohibition information is formed as barcode data. The barcode data formed in step 303 is converted into uneven image data having a predetermined height as a barcode image by the image processing unit 109 and added as a clear toner barcode 401 to a predetermined position of the original image data ( 304). As shown in FIG. 4A, the position at which the clear toner barcode 401 as additional information is recorded is recorded in predetermined margins on the top, bottom, left and right of the recording paper 27 so as not to cover the original image. The By recording the clear toner barcode 401 in the top, bottom, left, and right margins, the clear toner barcode 401 can be provided by providing a reading portion at the reference end of the set, regardless of which direction the document is set in the top, bottom, left, or right directions. Can be read.

  Next, the image data processed by the image processing unit 109 in step 303 is transferred to the image forming unit 103 (305). Then, the image forming unit 103 starts an image forming operation for forming the image data to which the clear toner barcode 401 including the copy prevention information processed in step 305 is added or an image as it is on the recording paper 27. (306). When the image formation is completed, the system control unit 101 ends the process of adding the copy prevention information (307).

  FIG. 4A shows image data output by adding a barcode of copy protection information to a predetermined position based on the flowchart of FIG. 3 of the present embodiment to the original image data shown in FIG. 4B. FIG. As an example, a diagram is shown in which copy prohibition information is added to business texts at predetermined margins in the upper, lower, left, and right directions.

  A clear toner barcode 401 illustrated in FIG. 4A is a barcode including copy prohibition information added to the original image in FIG. The bar code shown in the figure is shown in black for the sake of explanation, but is actually not visible because it is formed of clear toner having irregularities with a height of 1 μm to 50 μm.

  The clear toner barcode 401 is preferably formed with a predetermined height of unevenness of 1 μm to 50 μm as the uneven height of the clear toner after fixing. When the uneven image height of the clear toner is less than 1 μm, it is difficult to detect the height and noise is likely to be placed thereon, so the accuracy is low. When the uneven image height of the clear toner is greater than 50 μm, The originality of the manuscript will be easily lost. In this embodiment, control is performed so that the clear toner barcode 401 is formed so that the height of the convex portion of the clear toner after fixing is 5 μm to 20 μm.

[Operation of Reading Unit 102]
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a reading device (sheet feed scanner) provided with a height detection unit of the present embodiment.

  The configuration and function of the reading apparatus in FIG. 5 will be described along the conveyance path of the original P.

  The document P is set to the near reference by contacting the image P of the document P upward on the document stacking tray 601 on the front surface of the apparatus (right side in the drawing) with the butting plate on the near side. The set originals P are separated one by one by the separation unit 602, and the reading operation is started in conjunction with the operation start timing at which the original is introduced into the reading unit by the conveying roller pair 605.

  When the document P transported by the transport roller pair 605 passes through the U-turn path 609 of the paper path, it is introduced into a reading unit composed of a height detection unit and an image reading unit. First, the clear toner barcode 401 formed on the edge of the document P is read by the height detection means 608 of the height detection unit, and then the content of the document is read by the image sensor of the image reading unit 603 that reads luminance information. Has been read.

  The sensor used for the height detection means 608 is preferably a means excellent in displacement resolution in the height direction, and for example, a known laser displacement meter (trade name: LK-G08, manufactured by Keyence Corporation) is suitable. In this example, a laser displacement meter using a red semiconductor laser having a spot diameter of φ20 μm, a focal length of 8 mm, a height resolution of 0.01 μm, and a sampling frequency of 50 kHz was used.

  The cross-sectional view of FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the cross section of the height detection unit in FIG. The document P that has passed through the curved U-turn path 609 of the paper path is introduced into the facing roller 804 and is introduced into the height detection unit. A height detection means 608 is provided at the opposite portion of the counter roller 804 at the center, and conveys the document P while pressing the image surface against the glass transparent window 805 at the opposite portion of the opposite roller 804.

  A laser unit 801 is a laser head that emits a laser for height measurement. The emitted laser light is applied to the clear toner barcode 401 of the document P through an optical system. Detection light diffused and reflected from the uneven image of the barcode of the document P in the light receiving unit 802 for detection is detected by the light receiving unit through the imaging optical system 803. The light receiving unit 802 uses a light detection element such as a CCD, and the height fluctuation of the uneven image is detected as a position fluctuation on the CCD element.

  The opposing roller 804 facing the height detection unit applies pressure from the back side of the document P to improve the detection accuracy of the height detection means, and also has paper transportability while being pressurized. Can be detected. The facing roller 804 has a length that is equal to or greater than the maximum size width of the paper, and the glass transparent window 805 at the facing portion is also disposed with the same length.

  The height detection means 608 is disposed only on the front side of the reading apparatus because the clear toner barcode 401 is recorded at the end portions of the upper, lower, left, and right margins of the document P. For this reason, the clear toner barcode 401 recorded at two positions on the edge of the document P set on the near side reference can be reliably detected. The laser of the height detecting means 608 emits light at the timing when the clear toner barcode 401 is introduced into the height detecting unit with reference to the operation start timing at which the original P is introduced into the reading unit. The height information is read by the light detection element of the light receiving unit 802 for a predetermined time until the reading of the uneven height of the clear toner barcode 401 is completed.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the sensor output signal of the unevenness of the clear toner barcode 401 read by the height detecting means 608 described above. The height output value on the vertical axis of the graph is the height information of the concavo-convex image detected by the height detection means, and is read as height information about the toner height of 1 μm to 20 μm with respect to the paper. The coordinate position on the horizontal axis is a notation corresponding to the coordinates on the document calculated from the paper conveyance speed and the sampling frequency.

  The read height information is binarized and converted into a digital signal by the height information processing unit 107 with a predetermined height as a threshold value. In this embodiment, a convex portion having a height of 3 μm or more is determined as a convex portion (high level) of the toner, and a concave portion (paper surface) having a height of less than 3 μm is determined as a concave portion (low level) of the toner and binarized. . In addition, you may binarize by setting the middle of the average value of a convex part and the average value of a recessed part as a threshold value.

  The document stacking tray 601 shown in FIG. 5 is configured to be set on the near side reference, and the height detection means 608 disposed at the near end of the near side has clear toner bars formed at both ends of the document. Either of the codes 401 can be detected.

  The original P discharged from the height detection unit is then conveyed to the image reading unit 603. The content of the conveyed document P is read by an image sensor in the image reading unit 603, and in order of pages on a document discharge tray 607 below a document stacking tray 601 for document setting on the front surface of the apparatus by a pair of discharge rollers 606. Stacked downward.

[Reading of copy prevention information and copy operation]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation flow from when the reading apparatus according to this embodiment performs reading of an original document and reading of copy prevention information in a copying operation to perform a copying operation based on the copy prevention information. It is. Hereinafter, the control flow of the copy prevention operation will be described in steps 500 to 510 with reference to the cross-sectional view of the reading apparatus (sheet feed scanner) of FIG. 5 described above. Note that although reading of copy prevention information of an additional image that has been converted into a barcode as additional information has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited thereto.

  In response to the user operation, the system control unit 101 starts reading an original and at the same time, starts an operation for reading copy prevention information included in the original (500). First, the user sets the original P on the front side of the reading apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and operates the copy start button. The set originals P are separated one by one by the separation unit 602, the originals are introduced into the reading unit 102 by the conveying roller pair 605, and the reading operation is started (501). The document transported by the transport roller pair 605 in FIG. 5 uses the clear toner barcode 401 formed at the end of the document P by the height detection means 608 provided at the end of the U-turn path 609 shown in FIG. Read (502). The read uneven height information is binarized and converted into a digital signal by the height information processing unit 107 using a predetermined height as a threshold value (3 μm in this embodiment).

  The document P whose height information is detected is then conveyed to the image reading unit 603, and the content of the document is read as luminance information by the image sensor in the image reading unit 603 (503). Thereafter, the original P is stacked on the original discharge tray 607 by the discharge roller pair 606.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the unevenness height information of the clear toner barcode 401 read by the height detection means 608 is set at a predetermined height by the height information processing unit 107 as a threshold (3 μm in this embodiment). It is binarized and decoded into a digital signal (504). Then, it is transferred to the additional information processing unit 108 as restored additional information.

  The additional information processing unit 108 determines whether or not the additional information restored by the height information processing unit 107 includes copy prohibition information (505). In the case of a normal print output to which no copy prohibition information is added, there is no output as height information. In this case, it is determined that the copy is not prohibited, and a normal image forming operation is started in step 509. To do. However, if it is determined that the copy prohibition information is added to the additional information, the additional information processing unit 108 prohibits the user information added to the barcode unevenness height information and the user who is currently performing the copy operation. (506). In the user information recording unit 106, ID information of individual users and group users is recorded in advance, and copy prohibition information in units of individuals and groups is added as a barcode to the manuscript at the time of image formation.

  It is determined whether or not the user who is currently performing the copying operation is a copying permitted user (507). If the user is a prohibited user recorded in the document, the document cannot be copied on the liquid crystal panel of the display unit. Is displayed (508), and the copying operation is prohibited. In addition, a message indicating that the document in the reading unit is to be removed is displayed, and when it is detected that the document has been removed, the reading device is reset and enters a normal copy standby state.

  Next, if it is determined in step 505 that the document has no copy prevention information, image formation is started based on the luminance information of the document. If it is determined that the user is not a prohibited user who has copy prevention information and is recorded on the original in step 507, the original luminance information and the copy prevention information are obtained by the same method as the normal image forming operation. Both image forming operations are started based on the additional information (509). After the image formation, the system control unit ends the control of the copying operation (509).

  According to the present invention described above, even when copy prohibition information or information prohibiting or permitting copy for each user is added to the output, the clear toner barcode 401 is not visually recognized. Therefore, it is possible to perform image formation and copying without impairing the originality of the original image.

  Although the addition of image copy prevention information is used as an example of the additional information, the present invention is not limited thereto.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, a reading device (flat head scanner) using a document table and a pressure plate is used as a document reading portion, and the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment.

[Function of reading unit 102]
FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view of the reading unit 102 of the reading apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 9B is a view of the document table viewed from the upper part on the document glass side. Hereinafter, the reading unit will be described with reference to FIGS.

  A document (not shown) placed on the document glass 901 shown in FIG. 9A is pressed by the pressure plate 911. The document image illuminated by the illumination lamp 913 disposed on the first mirror base 912 as the scanning optical unit is reflected to the second and third mirror bases 915 by the first mirror 914 similarly disposed on the first mirror base 912. The Then, the light is reflected to the second mirror 916 and the third mirror 917, collected by a lens 918 as an image forming unit, and imaged by a CCD sensor 919 as a reading element (reading unit). The first and second mirror stands, which are moving scanning means, are supported by rails (not shown), and the optical path length from the original glass surface to the CCD sensor is always constant as the optical motor 910 rotates. As shown, it can be moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

  For the height detection means 920, the same detection element as in Example 1 was used. As shown in FIG. 9B, the height detecting means 920 is installed at the end of the document table, and is scanned when the document is read in conjunction with the mirror table. Since the original P is set with the upper left corner P0 of the original glass as a reference, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 9B, the original P is recorded in the upper, lower, left and right margins of the original shown in FIG. Any one of the clear toner barcodes 401 can be detected.

  The image forming operation for adding additional information and the reading operation are the same as those in the flowcharts in FIGS. 3 and 8 showing the control flow of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  As other embodiments using the function for adding additional information and the reading function of the present invention, the following various forms are possible.

  (1) The author can manage the copy permission by notifying that the height information and user information added to the manuscript are copied to the manuscript of the manuscript via a network such as a LAN. .

  (2) The number of times of copying can be recorded in the unevenness height information added to the manuscript to manage the number of times of copying, and the manuscript author sets the number of times of recording first. When copying a manuscript for which the number of times of copying is set, the number of times of copying is displayed on the display unit, and the copied material is copied with information reduced by one from the number of times of copying recorded on the manuscript. It is.

  (3) Adding confidential information to the uneven height information to be added to the original, and adding new information to the copy by referring to the information recorded in advance or the information stored on the network and the user information of the operator Add additional images and print. For example, even if a manuscript image distributed to the general public is copied, only the same manuscript image is copied and output. However, when a specific user copies, the confidential information encrypted is added to the additional image. A form in which the image is output as an additional image is possible.

Functional block diagram of the image forming apparatus according to the first embodiment. Sectional view of a one-drum system image forming unit according to the first embodiment Flowchart of an image forming operation for adding copy prevention information according to the first embodiment. Copy image according to the first embodiment, (a) an image with a copy prevention information barcode added, (b) an original image Sectional drawing of the reading apparatus (sheet feed scanner) provided with the height detection means based on the present Example 1. FIG. Sectional drawing of the height detection part of the reader which concerns on this Example 1. FIG. Sensor output signal detected by the height detecting means according to the first embodiment Flowchart of operation for reading copy prevention information according to the first embodiment A reading device (flat head scanner) provided with a height detection unit according to the second embodiment, (a) a sectional view of the reading device, and (b) a top view of the document table.

Explanation of symbols

P Document P0 Document reference position P1 on the document table P1 1K development position P2 1T development position P3 1C development position P4 1M development position P5 1Y development position R1 Rotating body rotation direction 1 Development device 1C Cyan developer 1K Black developer 1M Magenta developer 1T Transparent toner developer 1Y Yellow developer 18 Rotating body 18a Rotating shaft 23a Primary transfer 23b Secondary transfer 24 Transfer belt 26 Fixing device 27 Recording paper 28 Photosensitive drum 101 System control unit ( Corresponding to control means)
102 Reading unit (corresponding to reading means and unevenness detecting means)
103 Image forming unit (corresponding to image forming means)
104 Display / operation unit 105 User authentication unit (corresponding to authentication means for reading operator information)
106 User information recording unit 107 Height information processing unit (corresponding to conversion means)
108 Additional information processing unit 109 Image processing unit 120 Bus 130 Interface 131 External device 401 Clear toner barcode (corresponding to code, uneven image, and additional image)
601 Document tray 602 Separating unit 603 Image reading unit 605 Conveying roller pair 606 Discharge roller pair 608 Height detection means 609 U-turn path 801 Laser unit 802 Light receiving unit 803 Imaging optical system 804 Opposing roller pair 805 Glass transparent window 901 Document glass 910 Optical motor 911 Pressure plate 912 First mirror base 913 Illumination lamp 914 First mirror 916 Second mirror 917 Second and third mirror base 918 Lens 919 CDC sensor 920 Height detection means

Claims (7)

Image forming means for outputting an image converted from luminance information of a document image to a recording medium;
Conversion means for converting additional information to be added to the document image into a code;
Control means for causing the image forming means to output an additional image having irregularities corresponding to the code converted by the converting means to a predetermined position of the recording medium;
Reading means for reading luminance information of the document image;
Unevenness detecting means for detecting unevenness of the additional image added to the document image,
In conjunction with the operation in which the reading unit reads the luminance information of the document image, the unevenness detecting unit detects the unevenness of the additional image,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs predetermined control based on additional information obtained by reverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detection unit.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional image output to a predetermined position of the recording medium by the control unit is a concavo-convex image recorded by a transparent body.   3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a difference between a convex portion and a concave portion of the additional image output to a predetermined position of the recording medium by the control unit is 1 μm to 50 μm in height.   Control in which the control means determines whether or not to perform image formation by comparing additional information obtained by inverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detecting means and information recorded in advance. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The image forming apparatus further includes an authentication unit that authenticates the operator by reading the operator information of the operator,
Control for determining whether or not to perform image formation by comparing the operator information read by the authentication means with the additional information read by the unevenness detection means and information recorded in advance by the control means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is performed.   The control means collates the additional information obtained by inverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detecting means with information recorded in advance, and adds an additional image that is not in the original image. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image formation is performed. Image forming means for outputting an image converted from luminance information of a document image to a recording medium;
Reading means for reading luminance information of the document image;
An unevenness detecting means for detecting unevenness of an additional image added to a predetermined position of the original image,
In conjunction with the operation in which the reading unit reads the luminance information of the document image, the unevenness detecting unit detects the unevenness of the additional image,
An image forming apparatus characterized in that the control means performs predetermined control based on additional information obtained by inverse conversion from the unevenness information of the additional image detected by the unevenness detection means.

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