JP6320265B2 - Printing method and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printing method and a recording medium.

  In laser engraving printing, which prints by irradiating a recording medium such as polycarbonate with a laser, when printing on a recording medium such as an ID card (identification card), lasers are applied to multiple layers in the recording medium. Irradiation is performed to color the plurality of layers, and a face image, character information, and the like are printed. In laser engraving printing, face images, character information, and the like are printed by coloring a plurality of layers of a recording medium, thereby obtaining an effect that information printed on a ticket cannot be rewritten.

JP 2008-154106 A

  By the way, in laser engraving printing, when a face image, character information, or the like is printed on the same part of the recording medium (hereinafter referred to as overprinting), the part expands. It is easily recognized that printing has been performed. For this reason, in laser engraving printing, it is necessary to make it difficult to easily recognize that security printing has been performed by processing a part of the recording medium, such as deliberately expanding the portion to be printed.

  Also, in laser engraving printing, when printing white characters realized by the melt-type intermediate transfer printing method, it is necessary to develop the same part of the recording medium twice, so that the first color was developed. There is a possibility that information disappears by the second color development.

In the printing method of the embodiment, the first information is printed by irradiating the recording medium with a laser having a first wavelength for coloring the recording medium, and the first information is printed on the recording medium. for at least a portion the second area of printing the second information represented by the micro-characters by irradiating a laser of a second wavelength for stamping the different from the first wavelength and the recording medium.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an entire ID certificate issuing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a printing process for an ID certificate by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cross section of an ID certificate printed by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of print processing for an ID certificate by the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of printing processing for an ID certificate by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an ID certificate issuing system to which a printing method and a recording medium according to the present embodiment are applied will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an entire ID certificate issuing system according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ID certificate issuing system according to the present embodiment includes a host computer 101, a personal information database 102, an input device 103, and an ID certificate issuing device 104. The host computer 101, the input device 103, and the ID certificate issuing device 104 are connected to each other via a network 105 such as the Internet.

  The host computer 101 is configured by an information processing apparatus such as a general-purpose computer. The host computer 101 also has personal information (eg, information printed on an ID card 204 (see FIG. 2)) such as a passport issued from an ID card issuing device 104 (to be described later). The personal information database 102 for storing the face image of the applicant of the ID certificate 204) is connected.

  The input device 103 is a device for inputting personal information to be printed on the ID certificate 204 (see FIG. 2). In the present embodiment, the input device 103 includes image processing such as a scanner that reads and outputs the face image of the applicant of the ID certificate 204 from an image output from a digital camera that captures the face of the applicant of the ID certificate 204. A device 107 is connected. The input device 103 stores personal information such as a face image output from the image processing apparatus 107 in the personal information database 102 via the host computer 101. In the present embodiment, the input device 103 adds micro character information to personal information and stores it in the personal information database 102. Here, the micro character information may be the same information as at least a part of the personal information, or may be information different from the personal information.

  The ID certificate issuing device 104 receives personal information to be printed on the ID certificate 204 (see FIG. 2) from the personal information database 102 via the host computer 101. The ID certificate issuing device 104 includes a printing unit 200 (see FIG. 2) that prints the received personal information on the ID certificate 204. The ID certificate issuing device 104 issues an ID certificate 204 in which personal information is printed by the printing unit 200.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 200 included in the ID certificate issuing device 104 includes a printing control unit 201 that controls the entire printing unit 200 and a laser control device 202 that controls a laser unit 203 described later. And a laser unit 203 that prints personal information by irradiating the ID card 204 with a laser. As shown in FIG. 2, the ID certificate 204 is an example of a recording medium composed of polycarbonate or the like.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a printing process for an ID certificate by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a cross section of an ID certificate printed by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  The laser control device 202 controls the laser unit 203 to irradiate the ID certificate 204 with a laser having a first wavelength for coloring the ID certificate 204, as shown in FIG. Personal information 205 (an example of first information) including face image 205 a and character information 205 b is printed on ID certificate 204.

  Next, the laser controller 202 controls the laser unit 203 to irradiate the ID certificate 204 with a laser having a second wavelength that is different from the first wavelength and imprints on the ID certificate 204. Information (an example of second information) 206 is printed on the ID certificate 204. At that time, as shown in FIG. 3B, the laser control apparatus 202 uses a second area (this embodiment) that is at least a part of the first area that is an area for printing the personal information 205 on the ID card 204. Then, the third region identical to the region printed with “1”, which is a part of the character information 205b, is irradiated with the laser of the second wavelength to obtain the micro character information 206: “1 2 3 4”. Print (overprint).

  In the present embodiment, when the micro character information 206 is overprinted on the personal information 205, the ID certificate 204 is irradiated with the second wavelength laser for marking the ID certificate 204. As shown in FIG. 4, the third area on which the micro character information 206 is printed is engraved in comparison with the other areas of the ID card 204. Thus, even if the micro character information 206 is overprinted on the personal information 205 printed on the ID certificate 204, the area where the micro character information 206 is printed can be prevented from expanding. It is possible to prevent the micro-character information 206 from being easily recognized as being overprinted (so-called security printing).

  In this embodiment, a part of the first area where the personal information 205 is printed on the ID card 204 is used as the second area. However, at least a part of the first area where the personal information 205 is printed on the ID card 204. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the entire first area where the personal information 205 is printed on the ID card 204 may be used as the second area.

  In the present embodiment, the third region is the same region as the second region. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as the region including the second region is the third region. The micro character information 206 may be printed by irradiating a laser having the second wavelength to a third region including a part of the two regions.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the laser control apparatus 202 prints micro character information 206 different from the character information 205b printed in the second area, but the present invention is not limited to this. For the second area, the same second information as the character information 205b printed in the second area may be printed.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of print processing for an ID certificate by the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the print controller 201 receives an ID certificate from the personal information database 102 via the host computer 101 when an issuance instruction for instructing the issuance of the ID certificate 204 is input from an external device such as the host computer 101. The personal information of the applicant who issues 204 is received (step S501).

  Furthermore, the print control unit 201 receives the micro character information added to the received personal information from the personal information database 102 via the host computer 101 (step S502). In the present embodiment, the print control unit 201 receives the micro character information added to the personal information in the personal information database 102. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, preset image information or Image information corresponding to the received personal information (for example, at least a part of the received personal information) may be acquired as micro-character information.

  Next, the print control unit 201 performs an editing process on the received personal information and micro character information, and generates a ticket image that is an image of the ID certificate 204 on which the personal information and the micro character information are printed ( Step S503).

  When the ticket surface image is generated by the printing control unit 201, the laser control device 202 controls the laser unit 203 to irradiate the ID certificate 204 with the laser of the first wavelength, and the personal information in the ticket surface image is obtained. Printing is performed (step S504). When the printing of the personal information is completed, the laser control device 202 controls the laser unit 203 to change the wavelength of the laser emitted from the laser unit 203 from the first wavelength to the second wavelength (step S505).

  Here, the first wavelength is a wavelength for coloring the ID card 204 as described above. On the other hand, the second wavelength is different from the first wavelength and is a wavelength for imprinting on the ID certificate 204 as described above. In general, engraving on the ID card 204 requires a larger energy than when the ID card 204 is colored. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is assumed that the second wavelength is longer than the first wavelength.

  After changing the wavelength of the laser emitted from the laser unit 203 from the first wavelength to the second wavelength, the laser control device 202 controls the laser unit 203 to irradiate the ID certificate 204 with the second wavelength laser. Then, the micro character information in the ticket image is printed on the third area that is the same as the second area of at least a part of the first area where the personal information is printed in the ID card 204 (step S506). As a result, the laser control device 202 changes the wavelength of the laser emitted from the laser unit 203 to the ID card 204 to the second wavelength, and then shaves the surface of the third region to embed micro character information. Execute.

  As described above, according to the ID certificate issuing device 104 according to the first embodiment, the micro character information is printed even if the micro character information is overprinted on the personal information printed on the ID certificate 204. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the personal information from being easily recognized that the micro-character information is overprinted (so-called security printing).

  In the present embodiment, the printing unit 200 uses one laser unit 203 and changes the wavelength of the laser emitted from the one laser unit 203 to the ID card 204, thereby printing personal information and micro character information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and printing of personal information and printing of micro character information may be performed using a plurality of laser units 203. Specifically, the printing unit 200 irradiates the ID certificate 204 with a laser having the first wavelength from the first laser unit among the plurality of laser units 203, prints personal information on the ID certificate 204, and In the laser unit 203, a second laser unit other than the first laser unit is irradiated with a laser having a second wavelength to the ID certificate 204, and micro character information is printed on the ID certificate 204.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 above, the laser control device 202 controls the laser unit 203 and irradiates the ID certificate 204 with the first wavelength laser to print personal information. The ID certificate 204 is irradiated with the second wavelength laser to print (engrave) the micro character information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ID certificate 204 is irradiated with the second wavelength laser. Then, after printing the micro character information, the personal information may be printed by irradiating the ID certificate 204 with the laser of the first wavelength.

(Second Embodiment)
In this embodiment, in the ID certificate, the second region is irradiated with a laser having the second wavelength to the third region including at least a part of the second region of the first region on which the personal information is printed. This is an example in which the same information as the printed personal information is printed (marked) as micro-character information. In the following description, description of the same parts as those in the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of printing processing for an ID certificate by a printing unit included in the ID certificate issuing apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the present embodiment, the laser control apparatus 202 irradiates the ID certificate 204 with the second wavelength laser from the laser unit 203, and prints the second region in which “1”, which is a part of the character information 205b, is printed. For the same third area, as shown in FIG. 6, the same micro character information 601 as the second information printed in the second area (that is, “1” which is a part of the character information 205b): “ 1 ”is printed (engraved).

  Thus, according to the ID certificate issuing device 104 according to the second embodiment, micro-character information can be overprinted on any personal information printed on the face of the ID certificate 204. The scope of security printing can be expanded.

  As described above, according to the first and second embodiments, it is possible to prevent the personal information from being easily recognized as being overprinted with micro character information (so-called security printing).

  Note that the program executed by the ID certificate issuing device 104 of the present embodiment is provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like. The program executed by the ID certificate issuing device 104 of the present embodiment is a file in an installable format or an executable format, such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or the like. You may comprise so that it may record and provide on a computer-readable recording medium.

  Furthermore, the program executed by the ID certificate issuing apparatus 104 of the present embodiment may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. Further, the program executed by the ID certificate issuing apparatus 104 of the present embodiment may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

  The program executed by the ID certificate issuing device 104 according to the present embodiment has a module configuration including the above-described units (print control unit 201 and laser control device 202), and actual hardware includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit). ) Reads out the program from the ROM and executes it, whereby the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device, and the print control unit 201 and the laser control unit 202 are generated on the main storage device.

  Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Host computer 102 Personal information database 103 Input device 104 ID certificate issuing device 105 Network 107 Image processing device 200 Printing unit 201 Print control unit 202 Laser control device 203 Laser unit 204 ID certificate 205 Personal information 205a Face image 205b Character information 206, 601 Micro character information

Claims (8)

The first information is printed by irradiating the recording medium with a laser having a first wavelength for coloring the recording medium,
For the second area of the at least a portion of the first region for printing the first information in said recording medium, by irradiating the laser of the second wavelength for marking said different from the first wavelength and the recording medium Print second information expressed in micro characters ,
A printing method including that.   The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the second information that is the same as the first information printed in the second area is printed on the second area.   The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the second information different from the first information printed on the second area is printed on the second area.   4. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein the second information is printed by irradiating the recording medium with the laser having the second wavelength longer than the first wavelength. 5. A recording medium,
A first region on which the first information is printed by being irradiated with a laser having a first wavelength for coloring the recording medium;
Wherein the first at least part of the realm of the region, the second information laser of the second wavelength for stamping the different and the recording medium and the first wavelength is represented by irradiated with micro characters printed A second region,
A recording medium.   The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the second information printed in the second area is the same information as the first information printed in the second area.   The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the second information printed in the second area is information different from the first information printed in the second area.   The recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the second information is information printed by irradiating the recording medium with a laser having the second wavelength longer than the first wavelength.

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