JPH1178314A - Recording medium, its reading regenerating device, and forgery prevention method for recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent forgery by printing information for discriminating genuineness from forgery on a recording medium on which main information is recorded and discriminate the genuineness from forgery for the recording medium based on the information for discriminating the genuineness from forgery. SOLUTION: Character information as subinformation for discriminating genuineness from forgery is printed on the surface of a card 1, and the main information and the subinformation are read by a CCD line sensor 2 and a pickup lens 3 as a common reading means. The printing information read and recognized by a printing information reading means is compared with the preset character information in a genuineness and forgery discriminating circuit, and in the case both are conformed to each other, the card 1 is discriminated as 'genuineness' and the main information is output, while in the case of they are not conformed to, the card 1 is discriminated as 'forgery'.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a recording medium suitable for bank cards, credit cards, card-type electronic money, and the like, a reading and reproducing apparatus therefor, and a method for preventing forgery of the recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a method of recording optically readable information on a card-shaped recording medium. In recent years, the density of this type of optical card has been increasing. Also,
With the spread of high-density optical recording media and the recent increase in the performance of personal computers, opportunities for recording important information have increased. Magnetic cards and IC cards are known as other cards.

[0003]

However, a high-density recording medium has a great advantage that large-capacity information can be recorded, but has a high added value, so that a loss when forged is large. There is. In particular, counterfeiting and plagiarism of national, regional, and global security information, such as media containing customer bank deposit information and electronic money, as well as state secrets and military information, can pose a serious crisis. . Therefore, it is desired that such a high-density recording medium is not used by anyone other than an authorized user. In order to solve such a problem, various copy protection methods using encryption have been proposed. However, it is often possible to decipher the data by carefully analyzing them over time, leading to a fundamental solution. Not in.

[0004] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium capable of preventing forgery, an apparatus for reading and reproducing the same, and a method for preventing forgery of the recording medium.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, information for authenticity determination is printed on a recording medium on which main information is recorded, and based on the print information for authenticity determination. Thus, the authenticity of the recording medium is determined. That is, according to the present invention, a recording medium on which information for authenticity determination is printed is provided.

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for reading and reproducing a recording medium for reading main information recorded on a recording medium on which information for authenticity determination is printed, wherein the information for authenticity determination is read. Reading means, authenticity judgment means for judging the authenticity of the recording medium based on the information for authenticity judgment read by the reading means, and when the authenticity judgment means has been determined to be true, There is provided an apparatus for reading and reproducing a recording medium having a restoring means for restoring main information as true.

Further, according to the present invention, a step of printing information for authenticity determination on a recording medium on which main information is recorded, a step of reading the information for authenticity determination, A method for preventing forgery of a recording medium, comprising the steps of: determining the authenticity of a recording medium based on the information described above, and restoring the main information as true when it is determined to be true.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a recording medium and a reading / reproducing apparatus therefor according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the reading and reproducing apparatus of FIG.

A card 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an optical card for recording and reproducing main information using light as an example. On the surface of the card 1 shown in FIG. 1, character information "high-density optical card HOC" is printed as sub-information for judging authenticity, and these print information and main information are respectively stored in the CCD line sensor 2 and the pickup lens 3. Is read by At this time, the main scanning direction of the print information is scanned by the CCD line sensor 2, and the sub-scanning direction is scanned by moving the card 1 in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Note that the present invention can be applied to recording and reproduction using magnetism and the like, in addition to light, and to a system in which an IC chip is built in. In this case, the pickup lens 3 is used to read main information. Instead, other reading means is required.

FIG. 2 functionally shows the main structure of the reading / reproducing apparatus. The main information reading means 4 reads main information A recorded on the card 1, and the print information reading means 5 prints the main information A on the card 1. The “high-density optical card HOC” is read as the print information B, and is recognized by image recognition software (not shown). The authenticity judgment circuit 6 compares the print information read and recognized by the print information reading means 5 with the character information "high-density optical card HOC" set in the reading / reproducing apparatus in advance, and when they match, the card is determined. 1 is determined as "true" and the main information is output.
On the other hand, if they do not match, the card 1 is determined to be "false" and displayed, returned to the slot in which the regular card is inserted and rejected, or moved to another slot.

FIG. 3 shows another example of a process for judging the authenticity of the card 1 based on both the main information and the print information and displaying the judgment result. First, initialization is performed (step S1), and then a signal A from the main information section of the card 1 and a signal B from the printing section are read (step S2). Next, it is determined whether the reading of the signal A is normal (step S3). If the reading is normal, the process proceeds to step S4 to determine whether the reading of the signal B is normal.
If it is not normal, the process proceeds to step S6, where it is determined that the product is counterfeit, and a message to that effect is displayed. If the reading of the signal B is normal in step S4, it is determined that the signal is genuine and a display to that effect is displayed (step S5). If not, the process proceeds to step S6, where it is determined that the signal B is counterfeit. An indication to that effect is made.

Here, the simplest method for determining the signal B from the printing unit in step S4 is a method for determining only whether or not the printing area is printed, but a more advanced method is to determine the character string " This is a method of determining only the character string “HOC” in the “high-density optical card HOC”. A more advanced method is to determine the character type when performing character recognition by the print information reading means 5, for example, "true" when determining the character string "HOC" with a Heisei-Kaku Gothic font, and for other types. May be determined as “false”, and the print color of the character string “HOC” may also be determined.

FIG. 4 shows another example in which the character string "HOC" is printed in an arbitrary typeface and identification information indicating the typeface is embedded in the main information section. In this example, the character string "HOC" is printed on the authentic card 1 in any one of four types, ie, Heisei-Kaku Gothic, Holy Mincho, HG orthographic, and Ryomin Lite. 5
An identification code indicating the typeface is embedded in the bit. Then, the authenticity determination circuit 6 shown in FIG. 2 compares the typeface identification code in the main information with the typeface of the character string "HOC", and determines that the typeface is "false" if they do not match.

In the present invention, since the print information is used for authenticity determination, it can be determined as "false" even if only the main information is correctly forged. In addition, the type of printing is not only characters,
There are extremely wide variations of fonts, colors, etc.
Since it is virtually infinite, accurately counterfeiting it can be tedious and can be manufactured very easily for legitimate manufacturers. In addition, since the authorized manufacturer knows which part of the front side printing of the card 1 is the printing information for authenticity determination, only that part is carefully printed with high precision. You just need to inspect. On the other hand, since the forger does not know which part of the front side printing of the card 1 is the printing information for authenticity judgment, the counterfeiter must print the entire surface of the card 1 with high precision. If the genuine product is multicolor printing, forgery becomes very difficult.

Further, since the CCD line sensor 2 is used, almost all printed matter can be read, and infinite print information can be recognized only by incorporating image recognition software. Note that another reading sensor may be used instead of the CCD line sensor 2. FIG. 5 shows an example in which a capacitance sensor 7 is used instead of the CCD line sensor 2,
In this case, since the resolution of the capacitance sensor is lower than that of the CCD line sensor 2, it is desirable to use a simple pattern, for example, a barcode-like print information for authenticity determination. Alternatively, print information for authenticity determination may be magnetically printed on the card 1 and read by a magnetic sensor.

Further, according to the present invention, it is only necessary to print the print information for authenticity determination on an existing magnetic card, optical card, card-type electronic money, or the like. Also, regardless of the type of printing, a dye obtained by mixing a resin such as a pigment or a dye may be used. The color, thickness, and amount of mixing may be arbitrarily selected according to the reading method of the print information reading means 5 and the sensitivity. Luminescent paints and fluorescent paints have a special color spectrum, and do not have a large amount of distribution, so that they have high anti-counterfeiting effects. When the capacitance sensor 7 is used (FIG. 5), it is desirable that the difference between the capacitance of the printed substrate of the card 1 and the capacitance of the printed pattern is large. For example, the printed substrate contains a resin and the printed film contains metal powder. It is desirable to select a resin (metallic paint). Instead of a paint, a metal thin film may be stuck or vapor phase film formation (e.g., vapor deposition) may be performed. When a magnetic sensor is used, it goes without saying that a magnetic paint is desirable, but the magnetic paint may be attached or vapor-deposited.

FIG. 6 shows a case where the present invention is applied to an optical card. The surface of the plastic substrate 10 is embossed by etching or the like to form main information as optical information of unevenness, and a reflective film 11 is formed thereon for reading the main information, and the reflective film 11 is formed thereon. A protective film 12 for preventing scratches is formed. This structure is a general optical card, and a coating film or the like is further printed on the protective film 12 in a predetermined pattern to form a printed film 1.
3 is formed. As a printing method of the printing film 13, known screen printing or offset printing can be used.

Here, if a simple repetition pattern such as a bar code is used as print information, it is highly likely that even an ordinary person will recognize it as important information.
For the purpose of preventing forgery, it is necessary to hide such print information so that it cannot be visually recognized. When using the capacitance sensor 7 or the magnetic sensor, the concealing film 14 may be further formed flat on the printed film 13 as shown in FIG. In this case, if the concealing film 14 is formed to be too thick, the sensor output is reduced. Therefore, a thin material having a high concealing effect, for example, a resin containing titania (white paint) or a resin containing carbon black (black paint) is effective. Further, a leveling agent may be mixed with the paint in order to form the masking film 14 flat. Similarly, a known screen printing or offset printing can be used for the printing method of the masking film 14. Further, label printing for visual recognition may be further performed on the concealing film 14.

The print information may use a pattern such as a one-dimensional barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, or a two-dimensional QR code instead of characters. Also, patterns such as pictures and symbols may be used. In the above embodiment, the read-only medium has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to a recording / reproducing medium using magneto-optical or phase change instead. The present invention can be applied to a medium from which information is sequentially erased. Further, by combining two or more of the above embodiments, forgery can be further prevented.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information for authenticity determination is printed on the recording medium on which the main information is recorded, and the information on the recording medium is authenticated based on the information for authenticity determination. Since falsification is determined, forgery can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a recording medium and a reading / reproducing apparatus thereof according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of the reading and reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining another authenticity determination process of the reading and reproducing apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing print fonts and their identification information in a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a main configuration diagram showing a reading and reproducing apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a recording medium according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional view showing a modification of the recording medium of FIG. 6;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Card (recording medium) 2 CCD line sensor (reading means) 3 Pickup lens 4 Main information reading means 5 Print information reading means 6 Authentication circuit (authentication determining means, restoration means) 7 Capacitance sensor (reading means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G11B 7/24 572 G07F 7/08 Z

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A recording medium on which information for authenticity determination is printed. 2. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed with a luminescent paint. 3. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed with a fluorescent paint. 4. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed with a resin containing metal powder. 5. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed with a resin containing magnetic powder. 6. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is formed of a metal film. 7. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein said information for authenticity determination is formed of a magnetic film. 8. A concealing film covering the resin is formed flat on the resin.
The recording medium according to any one of the above. 9. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein said concealing film is formed of a resin containing titania. 10. The recording medium according to claim 9, wherein said concealing film is formed of a resin containing carbon black. 11. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed by predetermined characters. 12. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed with a picture. 13. The recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed as a barcode. 14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information for authenticity determination is printed in one of a plurality of predetermined fonts, and identification information of the font is embedded in the main information. The recording medium according to any one of the above. 15. An apparatus for reading and reproducing a recording medium for reading main information recorded on a recording medium on which information for authenticity determination is printed, comprising: a reading unit for reading the information for authenticity determination; Authenticity determining means for determining the authenticity of the recording medium based on the information for authenticity determination read by the means; and when the authenticity determining means determines that the information is true, the main information is restored as true. And a restoring means for reading and reproducing the recording medium. 16. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said authenticity judging means recognizes the information for authenticity judging read by said reading means and judges false if the information is different from a predetermined typeface. Reading and reproducing apparatus for recording media. 17. A method according to claim 1, wherein said authenticity determining means determines that the information for authenticity determination read by said reading means is false if the identification information of the typeface embedded in said main information is different from the typeface embedded in said main information. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made.
6. A reading and reproducing apparatus for a recording medium according to claim 5. 18. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the reading unit is any one of a CCD line sensor, a capacitance sensor, and a magnetic sensor. 19. A step of printing information for authenticity determination on a recording medium on which main information is recorded, a step of reading the information for authenticity determination, and recording based on the information for authenticity determination. A method for preventing forgery of a recording medium, comprising: determining whether the medium is authentic; and, when determined as true, restoring the main information as true.