EP1763441B1 - Method and device for printing details onto a document - Google Patents

Method and device for printing details onto a document Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1763441B1
EP1763441B1 EP05775094A EP05775094A EP1763441B1 EP 1763441 B1 EP1763441 B1 EP 1763441B1 EP 05775094 A EP05775094 A EP 05775094A EP 05775094 A EP05775094 A EP 05775094A EP 1763441 B1 EP1763441 B1 EP 1763441B1
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EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
document
printed
information
printhead
printing
Prior art date
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Application number
EP05775094A
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German (de)
French (fr)
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EP1763441A2 (en
Inventor
Peter Liebenau
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Safe ID Solutions GmbH
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Safe ID Solutions GmbH
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Publication of EP1763441A2 publication Critical patent/EP1763441A2/en
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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangementsĀ  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/0095—Detecting means for copy material, e.g. for detecting or sensing presence of copy material or its leading or trailing end
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J11/00—Devices or arrangementsĀ  of selective printing mechanisms, e.g. ink-jet printers or thermal printers, for supporting or handling copy material in sheet or web form
    • B41J11/36—Blanking or long feeds; Feeding to a particular line, e.g. by rotation of platen or feed roller
    • B41J11/42—Controlling printing material conveyance for accurate alignment of the printing material with the printhead; Print registering
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J3/00—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed
    • B41J3/28—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers
    • B41J3/283—Typewriters or selective printing or marking mechanisms characterised by the purpose for which they are constructed for printing downwardly on flat surfaces, e.g. of books, drawings, boxes, envelopes, e.g. flat-bed ink-jet printers on bank books or the like

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method and a device for printing information in a document, in particular owner-specific information in a passport.
  • a passport is generally in the form of a bound booklet or booklet in which a legend is pre-printed on one side or two opposite sides indicating what kind of information about the passport holder's person in different areas of the page designated by the legend are.
  • edges of the form can be used to calculate the position of a field to be filled in and to print the desired information in the field.
  • Such a technique is in principle also useful for printing information in a passport or other official document, as long as it is ensured that the fields of the document to be filled in defined by the form are always in the same position with respect to its edges with sufficient accuracy. However, this requirement is not always met. One reason for this is the increasing density of information in a modern passport.
  • a passport between the printing of his sheets with the form and entering the owner-specific information in the fields of the form form passes through a plurality of processing steps, which make it difficult to the fields of form form exactly in the Regarding the edges of the passport too position.
  • the passport sheets After printing on the form, the passport sheets must be assembled into a booklet, provided with a durable cover and trimmed at the edges to create a blank pass.
  • the positions of the pre-pressure fields with respect to the edges of the pass can therefore easily fluctuate by a few millimeters. If this fluctuation is not compensated when filling out the passport with the personal information of the owner, it may happen that the personal details of the pre-printed legend are printed. They are then difficult to read and the pass consequently useless.
  • the object of the invention is to provide a method and a device which make it possible to efficiently print both machine-readable and high-density information and positioning accuracy into a document, in particular a booklet-type document such as a passport, without that this additional additional auxiliary devices are required.
  • the object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 or a device for carrying out the method as defined in claim 11.
  • a method having the features of claim 1 or a device for carrying out the method as defined in claim 11.
  • mutilation of the indication is precluded and, moreover, good machine readability of the first indication is ensured because a machine reading system determines the position of this Quickly and easily identify the location of the easily identifiable edges of the document.
  • a second indication is printed in a second field whose position is defined with reference to a graphic element detected in the document, so that an unwanted overlapping of such a second indication with the detected or another graphic element can be excluded. Therefore, a field to be printed with a second indication in the document can be made small, so that a large amount of information can be printed on a small area.
  • Official documents such as passports, are generally numbered or otherwise provided with information specific to each individual document of their kind, which allows the identification of the document before owner-specific information is entered in the document.
  • this document-individualizing information In order to make this document-individualizing information as tamper-proof as possible, it can be formed in particular by a perforation pattern. Since such a pattern is difficult to read for a human operator, it is useful for processing the documents if the finished document also carries the same individualizing information in print form. To create this pressure already in the production of the blank documents, an additional operation is required, which increases the cost of the blank documents.
  • a development of the method according to the invention makes it possible to save this operation by reading the individualizing information from the document and subsequently printing it back into the document.
  • the first indication may conveniently be printed in a machine-readable form.
  • the first item may conveniently be printed flanked by a filler character.
  • the document to be printed is conveyed and a first vertical edge of the document substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction is detected during conveying, for instance with the aid of a simple sensor fixed with respect to a conveyor; then document and printhead can be correctly positioned in relation to one another in this conveying direction simply by conveying the document a predetermined distance after detection of the first edge.
  • step A In order to capture the second edge and to position the print head with respect to it, preferably in step A a two-dimensional image of the document is generated and in this image the second edge is recognized.
  • the image can also be used to detect the first edge therein and to position the document and printhead perpendicular to it with respect to each other.
  • An apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention comprises at least one camera for producing an image of the document, but preferably at least two cameras, which are aligned to capture different sections of the document.
  • one camera may be aligned with a desired position of the two edges to be detected while the other is aligned with a desired position of the graphic feature to be detected.
  • the image capture can be limited to a small part of the surface of the document, whereby the amount of image data to be processed is kept small.
  • the smaller the slices to which the cameras are aligned the lower the resolution of the cameras required to achieve a given positioning accuracy of the printhead with respect to the document.
  • Two inexpensive cameras with a small number of pixels can therefore replace a single, considerably more expensive camera with many times the number of pixels without loss of positioning accuracy. Since the fields of view of the two cameras can be small, they can be placed close to the document to be printed, without requiring a complicated imaging optics, so that the device can be kept compact.
  • the device expediently comprises a UV source for illuminating the field of view of at least one camera in order to visualize the individualizing information.
  • the device may also be equipped with a radio interface which makes it possible to transmit at least a portion of the information to be printed in the document or with this meaningful information wirelessly to a data carrier of the document to be printed.
  • the printhead of the apparatus is preferably a piezoelectrically driven inkjet printhead. This operates at lower temperatures than, for example, a thermoelectrically driven printhead and therefore allows the use of ultraviolet radiation resistant pigment inks.
  • a passport (see Fig. 2 ) is conventionally in the form of a booklet or booklet 21 having a plurality of pages 23, 24 bound in an envelope 22, one or two pages 23 of which contain details of the identity of the holder and the remaining pages 24 in general for visas are released.
  • an in Fig. 1 introduced an international uniform format for passports designed to facilitate the automation of the verification of personal identity of passengers of different nationality in international transport.
  • the personal data of the holder are summarized on a single page 23 and are entered there together with a passport number in boxes 01 to 19.
  • the binding line 25 of the passbook 21 forms the upper edge of the page in the representation of Fig.
  • a machine-readable zone 20 is arranged on an outer edge of the side 23 facing away from the weld line 25.
  • each box is indicated by a pre-printed legend in its lower left corner, the text of which indicates the nature of the information entered in the box concerned and which should not be overprinted with this information.
  • Fig. 3 shows in a schematic view a printer for printing personal information in a passport.
  • the printer has a housing 32 shown here with the lid 31 open. From the left side of the housing 32 there is an abutment table 33 which is provided to place thereon a passport 21 to be printed.
  • the plant table 33 is part of a support plate 34 which extends transversely through the housing 32 to a discharge opening 57 on its right side.
  • the carrier plate 34 comprises a first plate section 36 looped around by two conveyor belts 35, a second plate section 37 extending parallel to the first plate section 36 at a slightly higher level than the latter, and a vertical web 38.
  • the waistband 25 of the passport is located above the first panel portion 36, close to the boundary with the second panel portion 37.
  • a rear portion 27 that holds all other sheets of the passbook 21 and the rear half of the envelope 26 lies on the conveyor belt 35 of the first plate portion 36.
  • an inlet opening 39 are from the housing 32 from guide webs 40 which serve not gradually completely flat sides of the opened Pcorrobuchs 21 gradually flat while this is fed by means of the conveyor belt 35 into the housing 32, so as to damage the Passbook on the inlet port 39 to prevent.
  • the guide webs 40 may be distributed over the entire width of the inlet opening 39; in the embodiment shown here, however, only two guide webs 40 above the higher plate portion 37 are present;
  • a radio antenna 41 is pivotally mounted to the housing 32, which serves to transfer data of the passport holder to a semiconductor memory to be transferred, which is incorporated together with an antenna in the rear cover half of the passport 21.
  • a plurality of pinch rollers 42 is mounted above each of the two conveyor belts 35, which are vertically movable and pushed down by a spring, not shown, to print the lying on the plate portion 36 rear portion 27 of the passport 21 to the conveyor belt 35 and to ensure a precise linear transport of passport 21.
  • the pressure rollers 42 are each pivotally connected via arms 43 to crossbars 44, which extend transversely to the conveying direction; but other types of attachment are possible.
  • An ink jet print head 45 is slidable in a manner known per se on a rail 46 transversely to the conveying direction of the passport book and carries four ink cartridges, a black cartridge 47 and three colored cartridges 48, which allow a color photograph of the passport holder to be printed in the passport.
  • Two cameras 49, 50 are mounted above the plate section 37 in the housing 32 and observe a respective indicated by a dashed outline field of view 51 on the plate portion 37, in the conveying direction in front of the movement range of the print head 45th
  • an optical sensor 52 is arranged on the plate section 37.
  • the sensor 52 is preferably designed as a light barrier, from which a light source above the plate section 37 is omitted in the figure and a photocell arranged in an opening of the plate section 37 is visible.
  • the printer When the printer is started and the conveyor belts 35 begin to convey the passport 21, its leading edge 28 is detected by the light barrier 52 when it interrupts the light incident on the photocell.
  • the conveying direction of the conveyor belt Is reversed at least once and the conveying speed is reduced to allow the passage of the leading edge 28 through the photocell a second or third time, each at a reduced speed, until the leading edge is placed with sufficient accuracy on the sensor 52.
  • the conveyor belts 35 are moved over a predetermined distance back in the original conveying direction, so that the leading edge 28 of the passport 21 comes to rest in the field of view 51 of the right camera 50.
  • the image provided by the camera 50 can be used to check its position based on the location of the leading edge 28 in this image; however, the primary purpose of the camera 50 is to capture a lateral edge 29 of the page to be printed. If the side to be printed on is the inside of the passbook 21, the lateral edge 29 to be detected lies mostly directly on the web 38; however, if the page 23 to be printed is one side of an inner sheet of the passport, its lateral edge 29 may be as shown in FIG Fig. 2 to be completely shifted with respect to the edge of the envelope 22.
  • a processor (not shown) connected to the camera 50 checks whether in the field of view 51, apart from the edge between web 38 and plate section 37, which is necessarily contained therein, a further line parallel to this edge can be identified is. If not, it is assumed that the side to be printed bears exactly on the web 38; otherwise, the other detected line is assumed to be the edge 29 of the page to be printed.
  • the processor may be part of the printer itself; but it can also belong to a host computer, which supplies the printer with the data to be printed in the passport book.
  • the processor can accurately estimate the position of the page to be printed in the printer, but not the location of the legends on the page in question, which can scatter according to manufacturing accuracy of passport 21 by a few millimeters.
  • the camera 49 is provided. In the field of view 51 of this camera 49 is located in Fig. 6 shown State at least the field 05 of passport 21, in which at this time a serial number of the passport is already registered.
  • the processor identifies the legend and uses its position and the known structure of page 23 to calculate the exact position of all printable areas of the fields 1 to 19. It also identifies the characters that make up the serial number of the field Passbook composed.
  • Passbook 21 will now be forwarded as in Fig. 7 shown so that it enters the movement range of the print head 45. Passbook 21 leaves photocell 52.
  • a printer control such as sensor 52
  • the controller to guide the printer before starting to print Position the edge exactly in relation to the printhead and to grasp the end of the page, then stop printing, eject the page, and initiate drawing in a new page. If such a conventional controller is used as the processor of the printer of the present invention, the passage of the trailing edge of the passbook 21 on the sensor 52 would cause the passbook to be ejected and attempt to retire.
  • a second sensor 53 is arranged on the conveying path of the passbook 21 shortly before reaching the print head 45.
  • Both sensors 52, 53 are connected to a common signal input of the microprocessor via a logical OR gate, which signals the processor as long as the presence of printable paper, as at least one of the two sensors 52, 53 detects the passbook 21. So it is possible to print in the passport until its trailing edge has passed the sensor 53, ie almost on the entire side surface.
  • a rod 56 is disposed above the plate portion 37 transversely to the conveying direction and rotates a plurality of rotatable cylindrical rollers 54.
  • the rod is stationary, so that between the rollers 54 and the plate portion 37, there is a gap 55 through which the portion 26 of the passport 21 overlying the plate portion 37 fits through with play.
  • the page 23 of the unfolded passport 21 presses from below against the rollers 54, so that its underside defines the height of the surface to be printed passport.
  • the rod 56 is arranged at a height such that the tops of both parts 26, 27 of the passport are at exactly the same level. It is thus possible, when printing, to have the print head 45 pass over both halves of the passbook in one go and to print both halves simultaneously with the same quality, line by line, if printing of both pages is provided for the type of pass concerned.
  • the processor calculates the position of the printable areas of all fields 1 to 19 and controls the printing of the information provided for entry in these fields when the print head is one of these areas happens.
  • the fields 1 to 19 which contain certain information such as name and place of birth of the passport holder or his photo for the perception by a human, ensures that this always in the right place, suitably oriented to the legend, but possibly in passport to pass fluctuating distances from its side edges, to be printed.
  • the detected position of the edges of the passport is used as a reference for positioning the print so that the individual characters of the machine-readable indicia always appear in a fixed, reproducible, local relationship to the edge of the printed surface. Therefore, a machine reading system initially only needs to grasp the edges of the passbook in order to decide exactly at which points of the page 23 are machine-readable characters. By selectively examining only these areas during character recognition, you can the machine reading of the passport book considerably simplified and thus accelerated.
  • the printed in the machine-readable zone 59 information may include at least a subset of the indicia printed in fields 1 through 19, including the preprinted number 60 of the passbook identified in the image from the camera 49. Areas of the machine-readable zone 20 which are not required for printing information are filled with filler characters 61.
  • the passport books to be printed do not have a serial number in field 05, eg. B. because they are uniquely identifiable by a perforated serial number 58 or, if available, stored in the semiconductor memory of the envelope and readable via the antenna 41 customization information, so one of the cameras 49, 50 are placed appropriately, so that the perforation 58 in their field of view 51 falls, or the individualization information can be read with the aid of the antenna 41 and then entered into the field 05 by the printer itself.

Abstract

Device for printing details on a document comprises units for acquiring two crossing edges (28, 29) of the document and calculating the position of a first field of the document to be printed, units for positioning a printing head on the first field and printing the details, units for acquiring a graphical element in the document, units for calculating the position of a second field to be printed and units for positioning the printing head on the second field to be printed. Preferred Features: The device further comprises a unit for reading information from the document and a unit for printing information in the document.

Description

Die vorliegende Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren und eine Vorrichtung zum Drucken von Angaben in ein Dokument, insbesondere von inhaberspezifischen Angaben in einen Reisepass.The present invention relates to a method and a device for printing information in a document, in particular owner-specific information in a passport.

Ein Reisepass hat im allgemeinen die Form eines gebundenen Hefts oder BĆ¼chleins, in welchem auf einer Seite oder zwei sich gegenĆ¼berliegenden Seiten eine Legende vorgedruckt ist, welche angibt, welche Art von Angaben zur Person des Passinhabers in verschiedenen, durch die Legende bezeichneten Bereichen der Seite einzutragen sind.A passport is generally in the form of a bound booklet or booklet in which a legend is pre-printed on one side or two opposite sides indicating what kind of information about the passport holder's person in different areas of the page designated by the legend are.

Es gibt eine Vielzahl von Anwendungen, bei denen individuelle Angaben in hierfĆ¼r vorgesehene Felder eines Formulars korrekt platziert gedruckt werden mĆ¼ssen, z.B. bei der automatischen Erstellung von Ɯberweisungsvordrucken, die ein Rechnungssteller einer Rechnung beilegen will. Hier mĆ¼ssen beispielsweise Rechnungsnummer, Kundennummer und/oder Rechnungsbetrag jeweils korrekt an einer hierfĆ¼r vorgesehenen Stelle des Formulars platziert werden, ohne sich mit vorgedrucktem Text oder anderen graphischen Elementen des Formulars zu Ć¼berschneiden. Bei einem im wesentlichen blattfƶrmigen Formular wie etwa einem ƜberweisungstrƤger ist dies vergleichsweise einfach mƶglich, da bei der Herstellung des Formulars das aufgedruckte Vordruckmuster mit einer geringen Toleranz in Bezug auf die Kanten des Formularblattes platziert werden kann. Es genĆ¼gt daher fĆ¼r die meisten Anwendungen, wenn eine zum AusfĆ¼llen des Vordrucks verwendete Druckmaschine in der Lage ist, die Lage der Kanten des Formulars mit hinreichender Genauigkeit zu erfassen oder Kanten des Formulars exakt in einer vorgegebenen Position zu platzieren, so dass in Kenntnis der Position der Kanten die Lage eines auszufĆ¼llenden Feldes berechnet und die gewĆ¼nschte Angabe in das Feld gedruckt werden kann.There are a variety of applications in which individual information must be printed correctly placed in designated fields of a form, for example, in the automatic creation of remittance forms that wants to settle a biller of a bill. For example, the invoice number, customer number and / or invoice amount must each be placed correctly at a designated place on the form without overlapping with pre-printed text or other graphic elements of the form. In a substantially sheet form, such as a remittance tray, this is comparatively easy because in the production of the form, the printed form pattern can be placed with a small tolerance with respect to the edges of the form sheet. Therefore, for most applications, when a press used to fill in the form is capable of detecting the position of the edges of the form with sufficient accuracy or placing edges of the form exactly in a predetermined position, it is sufficient to know the position The edges can be used to calculate the position of a field to be filled in and to print the desired information in the field.

Eine solche Technik ist im Prinzip auch zum Drucken von Angaben in einen Reisepass oder ein anderes offizielles Dokument brauchbar, solange gewƤhrleistet ist, dass die durch den Formularvordruck definierten auszufĆ¼llenden Felder des Dokuments in Bezug auf dessen Kanten mit hinreichender Genauigkeit stets an der gleichen Position befinden. Diese Anforderung ist jedoch nicht immer zu erfĆ¼llen. Ein Grund hierfĆ¼r ist die zunehmende Informationsdichte in einem modernen Reisepass.Such a technique is in principle also useful for printing information in a passport or other official document, as long as it is ensured that the fields of the document to be filled in defined by the form are always in the same position with respect to its edges with sufficient accuracy. However, this requirement is not always met. One reason for this is the increasing density of information in a modern passport.

So wird z.B. erwogen, die FƤlschungssicherheit von offiziellen Personaldokumenten zu verbessern, indem die verschiedenen Angaben zur Person des Inhabers nicht nur in mit dem bloƟen Auge erkennbarer Form, sondern auch in codierter Form in ein solches Dokument aufgenommen werden, um durch einen Vergleich der mit bloƟem Auge erkennbaren Angaben mit den codierten Angaben eine FƤlschung erkennen zu kƶnnen. Um die Personenkontrolle im internationalen Reiseverkehr zu vereinfachen und zu beschleunigen, besteht das BedĆ¼rfnis, wenigstens einen Teil der Informationen zur Person des Inhabers auf einem solchen Dokument in fĆ¼r das maschinelle Lesen optimierter Form vorliegen zu haben. Auch wenn die Maschinenlesbarkeit der Angaben ihre Lesbarkeit mit bloƟem Auge nicht notwendiger Weise ausschlieƟt, ist sie selten fĆ¼r die visuelle Erfassung optimal, so dass im Interesse einer zĆ¼gigen Bearbeitbarkeit des Dokumentes nicht darauf verzichtet werden kann, die gleichen Angaben auch in einer fĆ¼r das Lesen durch einen menschlichen Bearbeiter optimierten Form anzubringen. AuƟerdem gibt es Bestrebungen, zusƤtzliche biometrische Informationen Ć¼ber den Inhaber in die ReisepƤsse einzutragen, die bisher noch nicht Ć¼blich sind. Die groƟe Menge an unterzubringender Information zwingt dazu, die zum Bedrucken mit dieser Information vorgesehenen Felder nicht grĆ¶ĆŸer als unbedingt nƶtig zu machen, d.h., die Positionstoleranz beim Drucken der Angaben in die Felder ist gering.For example, to improve the anti-counterfeiting security of official identity documents by including in the document the various personal identities not only in a form recognizable to the naked eye, but also in coded form, in order to compare the information visible to the naked eye be able to recognize a forgery with the coded information. In order to simplify and accelerate the control of persons in international travel, there is a need to have at least part of the owner's information on such a document in a machine-readable form. Even if the machine readability of the information does not necessarily preclude its readability with the naked eye, it is rarely optimal for visual capture, so that in the interests of speedy workability of the document can not be waived, the same information in one for reading through to attach a form optimized to a human operator. There are also efforts to enter additional biometric information about the holder in the passports, which are not yet common. The large amount of information to be accommodated makes it unnecessary to make the fields provided for printing with this information larger than necessary, that is, the positional tolerance when printing the indications in the fields is small.

Hinzu kommt, dass im Gegensatz zu aus einzelnen BlƤttern bestehenden Formularen ein Reisepass zwischen dem Bedrucken seiner Bƶgen mit dem Formularvordruck und dem Eintragen der inhaberspezifischen Information in die Felder des Formularvordrucks eine Vielzahl von Verarbeitungsschritten durchlƤuft, die es schwierig machen, die Felder des Formularvordrucks exakt im Bezug auf die Kanten des Reisepasses zu positionieren. Nach dem Bedrucken mit dem Formularvordruck mĆ¼ssen die BlƤtter des Reisepasses zu einem Heft zusammengefĆ¼gt, mit einem strapazierfƤhigen Umschlag versehen und an den RƤndern beschnitten werden, um einen Blankopass herzustellen. Die Positionen der Vordruckfelder in Bezug zu den Kanten des Passes kƶnnen daher leicht um ein paar Millimeter fluktuieren. Wenn diese Fluktuation beim AusfĆ¼llen des Passes mit den persƶnlichen Angaben seines Inhabers nicht kompensiert wird, kann es geschehen, dass die persƶnlichen Angaben Ć¼ber die vorgedruckte Legende gedruckt werden. Sie sind dann nur unter Schwierigkeiten lesbar und der Pass folglich unbrauchbar.In addition, in contrast to forms consisting of single sheets, a passport between the printing of his sheets with the form and entering the owner-specific information in the fields of the form form passes through a plurality of processing steps, which make it difficult to the fields of form form exactly in the Regarding the edges of the passport too position. After printing on the form, the passport sheets must be assembled into a booklet, provided with a durable cover and trimmed at the edges to create a blank pass. The positions of the pre-pressure fields with respect to the edges of the pass can therefore easily fluctuate by a few millimeters. If this fluctuation is not compensated when filling out the passport with the personal information of the owner, it may happen that the personal details of the pre-printed legend are printed. They are then difficult to read and the pass consequently useless.

Es wƤre zwar im Prinzip denkbar, die Position der in den Pass zu druckenden Angaben festzulegen, indem ein graphisches Element des Vordrucks wie etwa ein Wort der Legende erfasst wird und die Position der zu druckenden Angaben im Bezug auf dieses graphische Element festgelegt wird. Auch diese Lƶsung ist jedoch nicht vollauf befriedigend, weil dann nahe am Seitenrand zu druckende Angaben abgeschnitten sein kƶnnen. AuƟerdem ist ein maschinelles Lesen von Angaben, bei dem ein mit maschinenlesbaren Angaben bedruckter Teil des Dokuments durch einen Schlitz eines LesegerƤtes gefĆ¼hrt wird, erheblich erschwert oder gar unmƶglich, wenn die Position der maschinenlesbaren Angaben in Bezug auf die Kante des Dokuments zu sehr variiert.It would be conceivable, in principle, to determine the position of the information to be printed in the passport by detecting a graphic element of the form, such as a word of the legend, and determining the position of the information to be printed in relation to that graphic element. However, this solution is not fully satisfactory, because then near the edge of the page to be printed information may be cut off. In addition, machine reading of indications that a part of the document printed with machine-readable data is guided through a slot of a reading device is made considerably more difficult or even impossible if the position of the machine-readable data with respect to the edge of the document varies too much.

Aus der US 6,099,175 A ist die Verwendung eines TrƤgers in Form einer Kassette bekannt, in dem ein zu bedruckendes Ausweisdokument in aufgeklapptem Zustand gehalten und auch positioniert wird. Im Rahmen der Offenbarung der Lehre wird in der US 6,099,175 A ein Verfahren gemƤƟ dem Oberbegriff des Anspruchs 1 und eine Vorrichtung gemƤƟ dem Oberbegriff des Anspruchs 11 beschrieben.From the US 6,099,175 A The use of a carrier in the form of a cassette is known in which a document to be printed ID card is held in the unfolded state and also positioned. In the context of the disclosure of the doctrine is in the US 6,099,175 A a method according to the preamble of claim 1 and a device according to the preamble of claim 11 described.

Aufgabe der Erfindung ist, ein Verfahren und eine Vorrichtung zu schaffen, die es ermƶglichen, sowohl maschinell als auch mit bloƟem Auge lesbare Angaben in hoher Dichte und Positionierungsgenauigkeit in ein Dokument, insbesondere ein Dokument in Heftform wie etwa einen Reisepass, effizient zu drucken, ohne dass hierzu weitere zusƤtzliche Hilfsvorrichtungen erforderlich sind.The object of the invention is to provide a method and a device which make it possible to efficiently print both machine-readable and high-density information and positioning accuracy into a document, in particular a booklet-type document such as a passport, without that this additional additional auxiliary devices are required.

Die Aufgabe wird gelƶst durch ein Verfahren mit den Merkmalen des Anspruchs 1 bzw. eine Vorrichtung zur DurchfĆ¼hrung des Verfahrens, wie in Anspruch 11 definiert. Indem wenigstens eine erste Angabe in ein erstes Feld gedruckt wird, dessen Lage mit Bezug auf zwei Kanten des Dokuments definiert ist, wird eine VerstĆ¼mmelung der Angabe ausgeschlossen, und auƟerdem ist eine gute maschinelle Lesbarkeit der ersten Angabe gewƤhrleistet, weil ein maschinelles Lesesystem die Position dieser Angabe schnell und einfach anhand der Lage der leicht zu identifizierenden Kanten des Dokuments ermitteln kann. Wenigstens eine zweite Angabe hingegen wird in ein zweites Feld gedruckt, dessen Lage mit Bezug auf ein in dem Dokument erfasstes graphisches Element definiert ist, so dass eine ungewollte Ɯberschneidung einer solchen zweiten Angabe mit dem erfassten oder einem anderen graphischen Element ausgeschlossen werden kann. Ein mit einer zweiten Angabe zu bedruckendes Feld in dem Dokument kann daher klein gemacht werden, so dass eine groƟe Menge an Informationen auf kleiner FlƤche gedruckt werden kann.The object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 or a device for carrying out the method as defined in claim 11. By printing at least one first indication in a first field whose position is defined with respect to two edges of the document, mutilation of the indication is precluded and, moreover, good machine readability of the first indication is ensured because a machine reading system determines the position of this Quickly and easily identify the location of the easily identifiable edges of the document. At least on the other hand, a second indication is printed in a second field whose position is defined with reference to a graphic element detected in the document, so that an unwanted overlapping of such a second indication with the detected or another graphic element can be excluded. Therefore, a field to be printed with a second indication in the document can be made small, so that a large amount of information can be printed on a small area.

Offizielle Dokumente wie ReisepƤsse sind im allgemeinen durchnummeriert oder in anderer Weise mit einer fĆ¼r jedes Einzeldokument seiner Art spezifischen Information versehen, die die Identifikation des Dokuments ermƶglicht, noch bevor inhaberspezifische Angaben in das Dokument eingetragen werden. Um diese das Dokument individualisierende Information mƶglichst manipulationssicher zu machen, kann diese insbesondere durch ein Perforationsmuster gebildet sein. Da ein solches Muster fĆ¼r einen menschlichen Bearbeiter schlecht lesbar ist, ist es zur Verarbeitung der Dokumente zweckmƤƟig, wenn das fertige Dokument die gleiche individualisierende Information darĆ¼ber hinaus noch in gedruckter Form trƤgt. Um diesen Druck bereits bei der Herstellung der Blankodokumente zu erzeugen, ist ein zusƤtzlicher Arbeitsgang erforderlich, was die Kosten der Blankodokumente steigert. Eine Weiterbildung des erfindungsgemƤƟen Verfahrens erlaubt es, diesen Arbeitsgang einzusparen, indem die individualisierende Information aus dem Dokument gelesen und diese anschlieƟend wieder in das Dokument gedruckt wird. Da zum Lesen der individualisierenden Information eine Kamera eingesetzt werden kann, die ohnehin zur Erfassung einer Kante und/oder eines graphischen Elements des Dokuments benƶtigt wird, und das Drucken der individualisierenden Information in Verbindung mit dem Bedrucken der benutzerspezifischen Angaben erfolgen kann, verursacht das Drucken der das Dokument individualisierenden Information keine nennenswerten Kosten.Official documents, such as passports, are generally numbered or otherwise provided with information specific to each individual document of their kind, which allows the identification of the document before owner-specific information is entered in the document. In order to make this document-individualizing information as tamper-proof as possible, it can be formed in particular by a perforation pattern. Since such a pattern is difficult to read for a human operator, it is useful for processing the documents if the finished document also carries the same individualizing information in print form. To create this pressure already in the production of the blank documents, an additional operation is required, which increases the cost of the blank documents. A development of the method according to the invention makes it possible to save this operation by reading the individualizing information from the document and subsequently printing it back into the document. Since a camera can be used to read the individualizing information, which is required anyway for detecting an edge and / or a graphic element of the document, and the printing of the individualizing information can take place in conjunction with the printing of the user-specific information, the printing causes the document individualizing information no significant costs.

Wie bereits angegeben, kann die erste Angabe zweckmƤƟigerweise in einer maschinenlesbaren Form gedruckt werden. Um das Maschinenlesen zu erleichtern, genauer gesagt, um einer lesenden Maschine das Auffinden der Angabe zu erleichtern, kann die erste Angabe zweckmƤƟigerweise von FĆ¼llzeichen flankiert gedruckt werden.As already indicated, the first indication may conveniently be printed in a machine-readable form. In order to facilitate the reading of the machine, more precisely in order to make it easier for a reading machine to find the item, the first item may conveniently be printed flanked by a filler character.

Vorzugsweise wird in Verbindung mit der Erfassung der zwei Kanten das zu bedruckende Dokument gefƶrdert und eine zur Fƶrderrichtung im wesentlichen senkrechte erste Kante des Dokuments wird wƤhrend des Fƶrderns, etwa mit Hilfe eines einfachen in Bezug auf eine Fƶrdereinrichtung ortsfesten Sensors, erfasst; dann kƶnnen Dokument und Druckkopf in dieser Fƶrderrichtung korrekt in Bezug zueinander positioniert werden, indem einfach das Dokument nach Erfassung der ersten Kante um eine vorgegebene Wegstrecke weiter befƶrdert wird.Preferably, in connection with the detection of the two edges, the document to be printed is conveyed and a first vertical edge of the document substantially perpendicular to the conveying direction is detected during conveying, for instance with the aid of a simple sensor fixed with respect to a conveyor; then document and printhead can be correctly positioned in relation to one another in this conveying direction simply by conveying the document a predetermined distance after detection of the first edge.

Um die zweite Kante zu erfassen und den Druckkopf in Bezug auf sie zu positionieren, wird vorzugsweise in Schritt A ein zweidimensionales Bild des Dokuments erzeugt und in diesem Bild die zweite Kante erkannt.In order to capture the second edge and to position the print head with respect to it, preferably in step A a two-dimensional image of the document is generated and in this image the second edge is recognized.

Wenn gewĆ¼nscht, kann das Bild auch genutzt werden, um darin die erste Kante zu erkennen und Dokument und Druckkopf senkrecht zu dieser in Bezug aufeinander zu positionieren.If desired, the image can also be used to detect the first edge therein and to position the document and printhead perpendicular to it with respect to each other.

Eine Vorrichtung zur DurchfĆ¼hrung des erfindungsgemƤƟen Verfahrens umfasst wenigstens eine Kamera zum Erzeugen eines Bilds des Dokuments, vorzugsweise allerdings wenigstens zwei Kameras, die ausgerichtet sind, um verschiedene Ausschnitte des Dokuments zu erfassen. So kann etwa eine Kamera auf eine gewĆ¼nschte Position der zwei zu erfassenden Kanten ausgerichtet sein, wƤhrend die andere auf eine gewĆ¼nschte Position des zu erfassenden graphischen Merkmals ausgerichtet ist. So kann die Bilderfassung auf einen kleinen Teil der OberflƤche des Dokuments beschrƤnkt bleiben, wodurch die Menge an zu verarbeitenden Bilddaten klein gehalten wird. AuƟerdem ist die zur Erzielung einer gegebenen Positioniergenauigkeit des Druckkopfs in Bezug auf das Dokument erforderliche Auflƶsung der Kameras umso geringer, je kleiner die Ausschnitte gewƤhlt werden, auf die die Kameras ausgerichtet sind. Zwei preiswerte Kameras mit geringer Pixelzahl kƶnnen daher ohne Verlust an Positioniergenauigkeit eine einzelne, erheblich teurere Kamera mit um ein Vielfaches grĆ¶ĆŸerer Pixelzahl ersetzen. Da die Blickfelder der zwei Kameras klein sein kƶnnen, kƶnnen diese nahe am zu bedruckenden Dokument platziert werden, ohne dass eine komplizierte Abbildungsoptik erforderlich wird, so dass die Vorrichtung kompakt gehalten werden kann.An apparatus for carrying out the method according to the invention comprises at least one camera for producing an image of the document, but preferably at least two cameras, which are aligned to capture different sections of the document. For example, one camera may be aligned with a desired position of the two edges to be detected while the other is aligned with a desired position of the graphic feature to be detected. Thus, the image capture can be limited to a small part of the surface of the document, whereby the amount of image data to be processed is kept small. In addition, the smaller the slices to which the cameras are aligned, the lower the resolution of the cameras required to achieve a given positioning accuracy of the printhead with respect to the document. Two inexpensive cameras with a small number of pixels can therefore replace a single, considerably more expensive camera with many times the number of pixels without loss of positioning accuracy. Since the fields of view of the two cameras can be small, they can be placed close to the document to be printed, without requiring a complicated imaging optics, so that the device can be kept compact.

Wenn die zu lesende das zu bedruckende Dokument individualisierende Information mit einer unter Ultraviolettbeleuchtung sichtbaren Farbe bedruckt ist, umfasst zweckmƤƟigerweise die Vorrichtung eine UV-Quelle zum Ausleuchten des Blickfeldes wenigstens einer Kamera, um die individualisierende Information sichtbar zu machen.If the document to be personalized is printed with information that is visible under ultraviolet illumination, the device expediently comprises a UV source for illuminating the field of view of at least one camera in order to visualize the individualizing information.

Die Vorrichtung kann ferner mit einer Funkschnittstelle ausgestattet sein, die es ermƶglicht, wenigstens einen Teil der in das Dokument zu druckenden Informationen oder mit dieser bedeutungsgleiche Informationen drahtlos an einen DatentrƤger des zu bedruckenden Dokuments zu Ć¼bertragen.The device may also be equipped with a radio interface which makes it possible to transmit at least a portion of the information to be printed in the document or with this meaningful information wirelessly to a data carrier of the document to be printed.

Der Druckkopf der Vorrichtung ist vorzugsweise ein piezoelektrisch angetriebener Tintenstrahldruckkopf. Dieser arbeitet bei niedrigeren Temperaturen als beispielsweise ein thermoelektrisch angetriebener Druckkopf und ermƶglicht daher die Verwendung von gegen Ultraviolettstrahlung bestƤndigen Pigmenttinten.The printhead of the apparatus is preferably a piezoelectrically driven inkjet printhead. This operates at lower temperatures than, for example, a thermoelectrically driven printhead and therefore allows the use of ultraviolet radiation resistant pigment inks.

Weitere Merkmale und Vorteile der Erfindung ergeben sich aus der nachfolgenden Beschreibung von AusfĆ¼hrungsbeispielen unter Bezugnahme auf die beigefĆ¼gten Figuren. Es zeigen:

Fig. 1
den Aufbau einer Seite eines Reisepasses nach Empfehlung der ICAO;
Fig. 2
einen aufgeschlagenen Reisepass;
Fig. 3
eine schematische Draufsicht auf eine erfindungsgemƤƟe Vorrichtung zum Bedrucken eines Reisepasses;
Fig. 4
einen schematischen Schnitt durch die Vorrichtung entlang der Linie IV-IV aus Fig. 3;
Fig. 5
eine Seitenansicht der Vorrichtung;
Fig. 6
eine Draufsicht auf die Vorrichtung unter Weglassung des GehƤuses zum Zeitpunkt der Erfassung einer fĆ¼hrenden Kante eines zu bedruckenden Reisepasses; und
Fig. 7
die Vorrichtung wƤhrend des Bedruckens des Reisepasses.
Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. Show it:
Fig. 1
the construction of a page of a passport as recommended by the ICAO;
Fig. 2
an open passport;
Fig. 3
a schematic plan view of an inventive device for printing a passport;
Fig. 4
a schematic section through the device along the line IV-IV Fig. 3 ;
Fig. 5
a side view of the device;
Fig. 6
a plan view of the device omitting the housing at the time of detection of a leading edge of a passport to be printed; and
Fig. 7
the device during the printing of the passport.

Ein Reisepass (siehe Fig. 2) hat herkƶmmlicherweise die Form eines Hefts oder BĆ¼chleins 21 mit einer Mehrzahl von in einen Umschlag 22 eingebundenen Seiten 23, 24, von denen ein oder zwei Seiten 23 von der ausstellenden Behƶrde eingetragene Angaben Ć¼ber die Person des Inhabers enthalten und die Ć¼brigen Seiten 24 im allgemeinen fĆ¼r Sichtvermerke freigelassen sind. Einem Vorschlag der Internationalen Zivilluftfahrtorganisation ICAO zufolge soll in Zukunft ein in Fig. 1 dargestelltes international einheitliches Format fĆ¼r ReisepƤsse eingefĆ¼hrt werden, das eine Automatisierung der ƜberprĆ¼fung der Personalien von Reisenden unterschiedlicher NationalitƤt im grenzĆ¼berschreitenden Verkehr erleichtern soll. Diesem Vorschlag zufolge sind die Angaben zur Person des Inhabers auf einer einzigen Seite 23 zusammengefasst und dort zusammen mit einer Passnummer in Feldern 01 bis 19 eingetragen. Die Bindenaht 25 des Passbuches 21 bildet den oberen Rand der Seite in der Darstellung der Fig. 1; eine maschinenlesbare Zone 20 ist an einem von der Bindenaht 25 abgewandten AuƟenrand der Seite 23 angeordnet. Durch die Platzierung der maschinenlesbaren Zone 20 am Rand der Seite 23 ist es mƶglich, den Rand der Seite 23 zum automatischen Lesen an einen Anschlag eines automatischen LesegerƤtes anzulegen.A passport (see Fig. 2 ) is conventionally in the form of a booklet or booklet 21 having a plurality of pages 23, 24 bound in an envelope 22, one or two pages 23 of which contain details of the identity of the holder and the remaining pages 24 in general for visas are released. According to a proposal by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an in Fig. 1 introduced an international uniform format for passports designed to facilitate the automation of the verification of personal identity of passengers of different nationality in international transport. According to this proposal, the personal data of the holder are summarized on a single page 23 and are entered there together with a passport number in boxes 01 to 19. The binding line 25 of the passbook 21 forms the upper edge of the page in the representation of Fig. 1 ; a machine-readable zone 20 is arranged on an outer edge of the side 23 facing away from the weld line 25. By placing the machine-readable zone 20 at the edge of the page 23, it is possible to apply the edge of the page 23 for automatic reading to a stop of an automatic reading device.

In der Praxis sind die Felder 01 bis 19 abweichend von der Darstellung der Fig. 1 nicht durch vorgedruckte Linien voneinander abgegrenzt. Vielmehr ist jedes Feld lediglich durch eine vorgedruckte Legende in seiner linken unteren Ecke bezeichnet, deren Text die Art der in das betreffende Feld eingetragenen Angaben bezeichnet und die mit diesen Angaben nicht Ć¼berdruckt werden dĆ¼rfen.In practice, the fields 01 to 19 are different from the representation of Fig. 1 not delimited by preprinted lines. On the contrary, each box is indicated by a pre-printed legend in its lower left corner, the text of which indicates the nature of the information entered in the box concerned and which should not be overprinted with this information.

Fig. 3 zeigt in einer schematischen Ansicht einen Drucker zum Drucken von personenbezogenen Angaben in einen Reisepass. Der Drucker hat ein hier mit aufgeklapptem Deckel 31 gezeigtes GehƤuse 32. Von der linken Seite des GehƤuses 32 steht ein Anlagetisch 33 ab, der vorgesehen ist, um darauf ein zu bedruckendes Passbuch 21 zu platzieren. Der Anlagetisch 33 ist Teil einer TrƤgerplatte 34, die sich quer durch das GehƤuse 32 bis zu einer Ausgabeƶffnung 57 an dessen rechter Seite erstreckt. Wie insbesondere in der Seitenansicht der Fig. 5 zu erkennen, umfasst die TrƤgerplatte 34 einen von zwei Fƶrderriemen 35 umschlungenen ersten Plattenabschnitt 36, einen zweiten Plattenabschnitt 37, der sich parallel zum ersten Plattenabschnitt 36 auf einem geringfĆ¼gig hƶheren Niveau als dieser erstreckt, und einen vertikalen Steg 38. Ein Vorderteil 26 des zu bedruckenden Passbuchs 21, das die vordere HƤlfte des Umschlags 22 und eine zu bedruckende Seite 23 (bei der es sich um die vordere Innenseite des Umschlags 26 oder die Seite 2, d.h. die RĆ¼ckseite des ersten Blatts des Passes handeln kann) umfasst, liegt auf dem zweiten Plattenabschnitt 37 auf, die seitliche Kante der vorderen UmschlaghƤlfte berĆ¼hrt den Steg 38. Die Bindenaht 25 des Passbuchs befindet sich Ć¼ber dem ersten Plattenabschnitt 36, nahe an der Grenze zum zweiten Plattenabschnitt 37. Ein Hinterteil 27, das alle anderen BlƤtter des Passbuches 21 und die hintere HƤlfte des Umschlags 26 umfasst, liegt auf den Fƶrderriemen 35 des ersten Plattenabschnitts 36. Der Hƶhenunterschied zwischen den Plattenabschnitten 36 und 37 gleicht den Dickenunterschied zwischen den auf den verschiedenen Plattenabschnitten liegenden Teilen 26, 27 des Passbuchs 21 aus, so dass es mƶglich ist, bei der weiteren Verarbeitung des Passbuchs 21 die zwei aufgeschlagenen Seiten zum Bedrucken auf eine gleiche Hƶhe zu bringen. Fig. 3 shows in a schematic view a printer for printing personal information in a passport. The printer has a housing 32 shown here with the lid 31 open. From the left side of the housing 32 there is an abutment table 33 which is provided to place thereon a passport 21 to be printed. The plant table 33 is part of a support plate 34 which extends transversely through the housing 32 to a discharge opening 57 on its right side. As in particular in the side view of Fig. 5 1, the carrier plate 34 comprises a first plate section 36 looped around by two conveyor belts 35, a second plate section 37 extending parallel to the first plate section 36 at a slightly higher level than the latter, and a vertical web 38. A front section 26 of the document to be printed Passbook 21, which includes the front half of the envelope 22 and a side 23 to be printed (which may be the front inside of the envelope 26 or the side 2, ie the back of the first sheet of the pass), lies on the second The waistband 25 of the passport is located above the first panel portion 36, close to the boundary with the second panel portion 37. A rear portion 27 that holds all other sheets of the passbook 21 and the rear half of the envelope 26 lies on the conveyor belt 35 of the first plate portion 36. Der H The difference in height between the plate portions 36 and 37 compensates for the difference in thickness between the parts 26, 27 of the passport 21 located on the different plate portions, so that it is possible to further equalize the two open sides for further processing of the passport 21 bring.

Oberhalb einer Einlassƶffnung 39 stehen von dem GehƤuse 32 FĆ¼hrungsstege 40 ab, die dazu dienen, nicht vƶllig flach liegende Seiten des aufgeschlagenen PƤssbuchs 21 allmƤhlich flach zu drĆ¼cken, wƤhrend dieses mit Hilfe der Fƶrderriemen 35 in das GehƤuse 32 eingezogen wird, um so eine BeschƤdigung des Passbuchs an der Einlassƶffnung 39 zu verhindern. Die FĆ¼hrungsstege 40 kƶnnen Ć¼ber die gesamte Breite der Einlassƶffnung 39 verteilt sein; bei dem hier gezeigten AusfĆ¼hrungsbeispiel sind jedoch nur zwei FĆ¼hrungsstege 40 oberhalb des hƶher gelegenen Plattenabschnittes 37 vorhanden; oberhalb des Plattenabschnitts 36 ist eine Funkantenne 41 schwenkbar an dem GehƤuse 32 montiert, die dazu dient, Daten des Passinhabers an einen Halbleiterspeicher zu Ć¼bertragen, der zusammen mit einer Antenne in die hintere UmschlaghƤlfte des Passbuchs 21 eingearbeitet ist.Above an inlet opening 39 are from the housing 32 from guide webs 40 which serve not gradually completely flat sides of the opened PaƟbuchs 21 gradually flat while this is fed by means of the conveyor belt 35 into the housing 32, so as to damage the Passbook on the inlet port 39 to prevent. The guide webs 40 may be distributed over the entire width of the inlet opening 39; in the embodiment shown here, however, only two guide webs 40 above the higher plate portion 37 are present; Above the plate section 36, a radio antenna 41 is pivotally mounted to the housing 32, which serves to transfer data of the passport holder to a semiconductor memory to be transferred, which is incorporated together with an antenna in the rear cover half of the passport 21.

Im Innern des GehƤuses 32 ist Ć¼ber jedem der beiden Fƶrderriemen 35 eine Mehrzahl von Andruckrollen 42 angebracht, die vertikal beweglich und durch eine nicht gezeigte Feder abwƤrts gedrĆ¼ckt sind, um das auf dem Plattenabschnitt 36 liegende Hinterteil 27 des Passbuchs 21 an die Fƶrderriemen 35 anzudrucken und so einen prƤzisen linearen Transport des Passbuchs 21 zu gewƤhrleisten. Im gezeigten AusfĆ¼hrungsbeispiel sind die Andruckrollen 42 jeweils Ć¼ber Arme 43 schwenkbar an Querstangen 44 angelenkt, die sich quer zur Fƶrderrichtung erstrecken; doch sind auch andere Arten der Anbringung mƶglich.In the interior of the housing 32, a plurality of pinch rollers 42 is mounted above each of the two conveyor belts 35, which are vertically movable and pushed down by a spring, not shown, to print the lying on the plate portion 36 rear portion 27 of the passport 21 to the conveyor belt 35 and to ensure a precise linear transport of passport 21. In the illustrated embodiment, the pressure rollers 42 are each pivotally connected via arms 43 to crossbars 44, which extend transversely to the conveying direction; but other types of attachment are possible.

Ein Tintenstrahldruckkopf 45 ist in an sich bekannter Weise an einer Schiene 46 quer zur Fƶrderrichtung des Passbuchs verschiebbar und trƤgt vier Tintenpatronen, eine schwarze Patrone 47 und drei farbige Patronen 48, die es erlauben, ein farbiges Foto des Passinhabers in den Pass zu drucken.An ink jet print head 45 is slidable in a manner known per se on a rail 46 transversely to the conveying direction of the passport book and carries four ink cartridges, a black cartridge 47 and three colored cartridges 48, which allow a color photograph of the passport holder to be printed in the passport.

Zwei Kameras 49, 50 sind Ć¼ber dem Plattenabschnitt 37 in dem GehƤuse 32 montiert und beobachten ein jeweils durch einen gestrichelten Umriss angedeutetes Blickfeld 51 auf dem Plattenabschnitt 37, in Fƶrderrichtung vor dem Bewegungsbereich des Druckkopfs 45.Two cameras 49, 50 are mounted above the plate section 37 in the housing 32 and observe a respective indicated by a dashed outline field of view 51 on the plate portion 37, in the conveying direction in front of the movement range of the print head 45th

In Fƶrderrichtung zwischen den zwei Kameras ist ein optischer Sensor 52 am Plattenabschnitt 37 angeordnet. Der Sensor 52 ist vorzugsweise als Lichtschranke ausgebildet, von der eine oberhalb des Plattenabschnitts 37 liegende Lichtquelle in der Fig. weggelassen ist und eine in einer Ɩffnung des Plattenabschnitts 37 angeordnete Fotozelle sichtbar ist.In the conveying direction between the two cameras, an optical sensor 52 is arranged on the plate section 37. The sensor 52 is preferably designed as a light barrier, from which a light source above the plate section 37 is omitted in the figure and a photocell arranged in an opening of the plate section 37 is visible.

Wenn der Drucker in Gang gesetzt wird und die Fƶrderriemen 35 beginnen, das Passbuch 21 zu fƶrdern, wird dessen fĆ¼hrende Kante 28 von der Lichtschranke 52 erfasst, wenn sie den Lichteinfall auf die Fotozelle unterbricht. Um eine exakte Erfassung der fĆ¼hrenden Kante 28 zu ermƶglichen, kann vorgesehen werden, dass, wenn diese zum ersten Mal den Sensor 52 passiert hat, die Fƶrderrichtung der Fƶrderriemen 35 wenigstens einmal umgekehrt und die Fƶrdergeschwindigkeit verringert wird, um den Durchgang der fĆ¼hrenden Kante 28 durch die Lichtschranke ein zweites oder drittes Mal, jeweils mit reduzierter Geschwindigkeit, zu ermƶglichen, bis die fĆ¼hrende Kante mit hinreichender Genauigkeit am Sensor 52 platziert ist.When the printer is started and the conveyor belts 35 begin to convey the passport 21, its leading edge 28 is detected by the light barrier 52 when it interrupts the light incident on the photocell. In order to enable an exact detection of the leading edge 28, it may be provided that, when this has passed the sensor 52 for the first time, the conveying direction of the conveyor belt Is reversed at least once and the conveying speed is reduced to allow the passage of the leading edge 28 through the photocell a second or third time, each at a reduced speed, until the leading edge is placed with sufficient accuracy on the sensor 52.

Wenn dies geschehen ist, werden die Fƶrderriemen 35 Ć¼ber eine vorgegebene Entfernung wieder in der ursprĆ¼nglichen Fƶrderrichtung bewegt, so dass die fĆ¼hrende Kante 28 des Passbuchs 21 im Blickfeld 51 der rechten Kamera 50 zu liegen kommt. Das von der Kamera 50 gelieferte Bild kann benutzt werden, um anhand der Lage der fĆ¼hrenden Kante 28 in diesem Bild deren Position zu Ć¼berprĆ¼fen; in erster Linie dient die Kamera 50 jedoch dazu, eine seitliche Kante 29 der zu bedruckenden Seite zu erfassen. Wenn die zu bedruckende Seite die Umschlaginnenseite des Passbuchs 21 ist, liegt die zu erfassende seitliche Kante 29 meist unmittelbar an dem Steg 38 an; wenn jedoch die zu bedruckende Seite 23 eine Seite eines inneren Blatts des Passbuchs ist, so kann deren seitliche Kante 29, wie in Fig. 2 zu erkennen, durchaus in Bezug auf die Kante des Umschlags 22 verschoben sein. Um die seitliche Kante 29 des zu bedruckenden Blattes zu erfassen, Ć¼berprĆ¼ft ein an die Kamera 50 angeschlossener Prozessor (nicht dargestellt) ob in dem Blickfeld 51 auƟer der zwangslƤufig darin enthaltenen Kante zwischen Steg 38 und Plattenabschnitt 37 eine weitere, zu dieser Kante parallele Linie identifizierbar ist. Wenn nein, wird angenommen, dass die zu bedruckende Seite exakt an dem Steg 38 anliegt; anderenfalls wird die andere erfasste Linie als die Kante 29 der zu bedruckenden Seite angenommen.When this is done, the conveyor belts 35 are moved over a predetermined distance back in the original conveying direction, so that the leading edge 28 of the passport 21 comes to rest in the field of view 51 of the right camera 50. The image provided by the camera 50 can be used to check its position based on the location of the leading edge 28 in this image; however, the primary purpose of the camera 50 is to capture a lateral edge 29 of the page to be printed. If the side to be printed on is the inside of the passbook 21, the lateral edge 29 to be detected lies mostly directly on the web 38; however, if the page 23 to be printed is one side of an inner sheet of the passport, its lateral edge 29 may be as shown in FIG Fig. 2 to be completely shifted with respect to the edge of the envelope 22. In order to detect the lateral edge 29 of the sheet to be printed, a processor (not shown) connected to the camera 50 checks whether in the field of view 51, apart from the edge between web 38 and plate section 37, which is necessarily contained therein, a further line parallel to this edge can be identified is. If not, it is assumed that the side to be printed bears exactly on the web 38; otherwise, the other detected line is assumed to be the edge 29 of the page to be printed.

Der Prozessor kann Bestandteil des Druckers selbst sein; er kann aber auch zu einem Host-Computer gehƶren, der den Drucker mit den in das Passbuch zu druckenden Daten versorgt.The processor may be part of the printer itself; but it can also belong to a host computer, which supplies the printer with the data to be printed in the passport book.

Anhand des von der Kamera 50 gelieferten Bildes kann der Prozessor die Lage der zu bedruckenden Seite im Drucker exakt einschƤtzen, nicht aber die Lage der Legenden auf der betreffenden Seite, die je nach Fertigungsgenauigkeit des Passbuchs 21 um ein paar Millimeter streuen kann. Um eine solche Legende zu erfassen, ist die Kamera 49 vorgesehen. Im Blickfeld 51 dieser Kamera 49 liegt im in Fig. 6 gezeigten Zustand wenigstens das Feld 05 des Passbuchs 21, in welches zu diesem Zeitpunkt eine laufende Nummer des Passbuches bereits eingetragen ist. In dem von der Kamera 49 gelieferten Bild identifiziert der Prozessor die Legende und berechnet aus deren Position und dem bekannten Aufbau der Seite 23 die exakte Lage aller bedruckbaren Bereiche der Felder 1 bis 19. AuƟerdem identifiziert er die Zeichen, aus denen sich die laufende Nummer des Passbuches zusammensetzt.On the basis of the image supplied by the camera 50, the processor can accurately estimate the position of the page to be printed in the printer, but not the location of the legends on the page in question, which can scatter according to manufacturing accuracy of passport 21 by a few millimeters. To capture such a legend, the camera 49 is provided. In the field of view 51 of this camera 49 is located in Fig. 6 shown State at least the field 05 of passport 21, in which at this time a serial number of the passport is already registered. In the image provided by the camera 49, the processor identifies the legend and uses its position and the known structure of page 23 to calculate the exact position of all printable areas of the fields 1 to 19. It also identifies the characters that make up the serial number of the field Passbook composed.

Das Passbuch 21 wird nun weiterbefƶrdert, wie in Fig. 7 gezeigt, so dass es in den Bewegungsbereich des Druckkopfs 45 gelangt. Dabei verlƤsst das Passbuch 21 die Lichtschranke 52. Die meisten Tintenstrahldrucker, die zum Bedrucken von einzelnen Bƶgen ausgelegt sind, haben einen mit einer Druckersteuerung verbundenen Sensor wie den Sensor 52, um es der Steuerung zu ermƶglichen, vor dem Beginn des Bedruckens einer Seite deren fĆ¼hrende Kante exakt in Bezug auf den Druckkopf zu positionieren, und um das Ende der Seite zu erfassen, um dann den Druck abbrechen, die Seite auswerfen und das Einziehen einer neuen Seite veranlassen zu kƶnnen. Wenn eine solche konventionelle Steuerung als der Prozessor des erfindungsgemƤƟen Druckers eingesetzt wird, so hƤtte der Durchgang der nacheilenden Kante des Passbuchs 21 am Sensor 52 zur Folge, dass das Passbuch ausgeworfen wird und versucht wird, ein neues einzuziehen. Da einerseits das Format eines Passbuches klein ist im Vergleich zu einer Ć¼blichen DIN A4-Seite und andererseits der Abstand zwischen dem Sensor 52 und dem Druckkopf 45 fast so groƟ wie die SeitenlƤnge des Passbuches sein muss, um die Kameras 49, 50 unterbringen zu kƶnnen, wƤre ein Bedrucken des Passbuches nur auf einem sehr kleinen Teil der Seiten mƶglich. Um dieses Problem zu umgehen und dennoch den erfindungsgemƤƟen Drucker so weit wie mƶglich aus preiswerten Standard-Druckerkomponenten realisieren zu kƶnnen, ist ein zweiter Sensor 53 auf der Fƶrderstrecke des Passbuches 21 kurz vor Erreichen des Druckkopfs 45 angeordnet. Beide Sensoren 52, 53 sind mit einem gemeinsamen Signaleingang des Mikroprozessors Ć¼ber ein logisches Oder-Gatter verbunden, welches dem Prozessor solange das Vorhandensein von bedruckbarem Papier signalisiert, wie wenigstens einer der beiden Sensoren 52, 53 das Passbuch 21 erfasst. So ist es mƶglich, in das Passbuch zu drucken, bis seine nacheilende Kante den Sensor 53 passiert hat, d.h. fast auf der gesamten SeitenflƤche.Passbook 21 will now be forwarded as in Fig. 7 shown so that it enters the movement range of the print head 45. Passbook 21 leaves photocell 52. Most inkjet printers designed to print single sheets have a sensor connected to a printer control, such as sensor 52, to allow the controller to guide the printer before starting to print Position the edge exactly in relation to the printhead and to grasp the end of the page, then stop printing, eject the page, and initiate drawing in a new page. If such a conventional controller is used as the processor of the printer of the present invention, the passage of the trailing edge of the passbook 21 on the sensor 52 would cause the passbook to be ejected and attempt to retire. Since, on the one hand, the size of a passport is small compared to a standard DIN A4 page, and on the other hand, the distance between the sensor 52 and the print head 45 must be almost as long as the page length of the passport to accommodate the cameras 49, 50, printing the passport would only be possible on a very small part of the pages. In order to circumvent this problem and still be able to realize the printer according to the invention as far as possible from inexpensive standard printer components, a second sensor 53 is arranged on the conveying path of the passbook 21 shortly before reaching the print head 45. Both sensors 52, 53 are connected to a common signal input of the microprocessor via a logical OR gate, which signals the processor as long as the presence of printable paper, as at least one of the two sensors 52, 53 detects the passbook 21. So it is possible to print in the passport until its trailing edge has passed the sensor 53, ie almost on the entire side surface.

Zwischen dem Sensor 53 und dem Bewegungsbereich des Druckkopfs 45 ist Ć¼ber dem Plattenabschnitt 37 quer zur Fƶrderrichtung eine Stange 56 angeordnet, die eine Vielzahl von drehbaren zylindrischen Rƶllchen 54 dreht. Die Stange ist ortsfest, so dass zwischen den Rƶllchen 54 und dem Plattenabschnitt 37 ein Spalt 55 existiert, durch welchen der Ć¼ber dem Plattenabschnitt 37 liegende Teil 26 des Passbuchs 21 mit Spiel hindurchpasst. Dabei drĆ¼ckt die Seite 23 des aufgeklappten Passbuchs 21 von unten gegen die Rƶllchen 54, so dass deren Unterseite die Hƶhe der zu bedruckenden OberflƤche des Passbuches definiert. ZweckmƤƟigerweise ist die Stange 56 in einer solchen Hƶhe angeordnet, dass die Oberseiten beider Teile 26, 27 des Passbuches auf exakt gleichem Niveau liegen. So ist es mƶglich, beim Bedrucken den Druckkopf 45 in einem Zug Ć¼ber beide HƤlften des Passbuches hinwegfahren zu lassen und Zeile fĆ¼r Zeile beide HƤlften gleichzeitig mit gleicher QualitƤt zu bedrucken, falls fĆ¼r den betreffenden Typ von Pass ein Bedrucken beider Seiten vorgesehen ist.Between the sensor 53 and the moving area of the print head 45, a rod 56 is disposed above the plate portion 37 transversely to the conveying direction and rotates a plurality of rotatable cylindrical rollers 54. The rod is stationary, so that between the rollers 54 and the plate portion 37, there is a gap 55 through which the portion 26 of the passport 21 overlying the plate portion 37 fits through with play. Here, the page 23 of the unfolded passport 21 presses from below against the rollers 54, so that its underside defines the height of the surface to be printed passport. Conveniently, the rod 56 is arranged at a height such that the tops of both parts 26, 27 of the passport are at exactly the same level. It is thus possible, when printing, to have the print head 45 pass over both halves of the passbook in one go and to print both halves simultaneously with the same quality, line by line, if printing of both pages is provided for the type of pass concerned.

Anhand der aus dem Bild der Kamera 49 gewonnenen Kenntnis Ć¼ber die Lage der Legende des Feldes 05 berechnet der Prozessor die Lage der bedruckbaren Bereiche sƤmtlicher Felder 1 bis 19 und steuert das Drucken der zum Eintragen in diese Felder vorgesehenen Angaben, wenn der Druckkopf einen dieser Bereiche passiert. So ist fĆ¼r die Felder 1 bis 19, die zur Wahrnehmung durch einen Menschen bestimmte Angaben wie etwa Name und Geburtsort des Passinhabers oder dessen Foto enthalten, gewƤhrleistet, dass diese stets an der richtigen Stelle, passend orientiert zur Legende, aber in evtl. von Pass zu Pass schwankenden AbstƤnden von dessen Seitenkanten, gedruckt werden. Beim Drucken in die maschinenlesbare Zone 20 hingegen wird die erfasste Position der Kanten des Passbuchs als Referenz zum Positionieren des Drucks benutzt, so dass die einzelnen Zeichen der maschinenlesbaren Angaben stets in einer festen, reproduzierbaren ƶrtlichen Beziehung zum Rand der bedruckten FlƤche erscheinen. Ein maschinelles Lesesystem braucht daher zunƤchst nur die RƤnder des Passbuches zu erfassen, um genau zu entscheiden, an welchen Stellen der Seite 23 sich maschinenlesbare Zeichen befinden. Indem bei der Zeichenerkennung gezielt nur diese Bereiche untersucht werden, kann das maschinelle Lesen des Passbuches erheblich vereinfacht und damit beschleunigt werden. Die in der maschinenlesbaren Zone gedruckten Angaben 59 (siehe Fig. 2) kƶnnen wenigstens eine Teilmenge der in die Felder 1 bis 19 gedruckten Angaben einschlieƟlich der in dem Bild von der Kamera 49 identifizierten vorgedruckten Nummer 60 des Passbuches enthalten. Nicht zum Drucken von Angaben benƶtigte Bereiche der maschinenlesbaren Zone 20 sind mit FĆ¼llzeichen 61 ausgefĆ¼llt.On the basis of the knowledge of the location of the legend of the field 05 obtained from the image of the camera 49, the processor calculates the position of the printable areas of all fields 1 to 19 and controls the printing of the information provided for entry in these fields when the print head is one of these areas happens. For the fields 1 to 19, which contain certain information such as name and place of birth of the passport holder or his photo for the perception by a human, ensures that this always in the right place, suitably oriented to the legend, but possibly in passport to pass fluctuating distances from its side edges, to be printed. On the other hand, when printing into the machine-readable zone 20, the detected position of the edges of the passport is used as a reference for positioning the print so that the individual characters of the machine-readable indicia always appear in a fixed, reproducible, local relationship to the edge of the printed surface. Therefore, a machine reading system initially only needs to grasp the edges of the passbook in order to decide exactly at which points of the page 23 are machine-readable characters. By selectively examining only these areas during character recognition, you can the machine reading of the passport book considerably simplified and thus accelerated. The printed in the machine-readable zone 59 information (see Fig. 2 ) may include at least a subset of the indicia printed in fields 1 through 19, including the preprinted number 60 of the passbook identified in the image from the camera 49. Areas of the machine-readable zone 20 which are not required for printing information are filled with filler characters 61.

Wenn die zu bedruckenden PassbĆ¼cher keine Seriennummer im Feld 05 haben, z. B. weil sie durch eine einperforierte Seriennummer 58 oder, falls vorhanden, eine in dem Halbleiterspeicher des Umschlags gespeicherte und Ć¼ber die Antenne 41 lesbare Individualisierungsinformation eindeutig identifizierbar sind, so kann eine der Kameras 49, 50 passend platziert werden, so dass die Perforation 58 in ihr Blickfeld 51 fƤllt, oder die Individualisierungsinformation kann mit Hilfe der Antenne 41 gelesen und anschlieƟend von dem Drucker selbst in das Feld 05 eingetragen werden.If the passport books to be printed do not have a serial number in field 05, eg. B. because they are uniquely identifiable by a perforated serial number 58 or, if available, stored in the semiconductor memory of the envelope and readable via the antenna 41 customization information, so one of the cameras 49, 50 are placed appropriately, so that the perforation 58 in their field of view 51 falls, or the individualization information can be read with the aid of the antenna 41 and then entered into the field 05 by the printer itself.

Claims (17)

  1. Method for printing information in a document (21) having defined fields to be filled, comprising the steps of:
    a) detecting two crossing edges (28, 29) of the document (21);
    b) calculating the position of a first field (20) of the document (21) to be filled with a first information (60) based on the position of the detected edges (28, 29);
    c) positioning a printhead (45) at a first field (20) of the document (21) to be printed and printing the first information (60);
    d) detecting a graphical element in the document (21);
    e) calculating the position of a second field (01, 02, ..., 19) to be printed in the document (21) based on the position of the detected graphical element; and
    f) positioning the printhead (45) at the second field (01, 02, ..., 19) to be printed in the document (21) and printing the second information,
    characterized by the further steps carried out after step a) or step d):
    g) reading an information (05, 58) from the document (21) which individualizes the document;
    h) printing the individualizing information in the document (21).
  2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that in step d) a character recognition is performed with the individualizing information (05, 58) formed by alphanumeric characters and that in step h) the recognized characters are printed using a character configuration that differs from the read characters.
  3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the individualizing information read in step g) is a pattern of perforation (58).
  4. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the individualizing information read in step g) consists of alphanumeric characters printed with a color which is only visible under irradiation by UV light.
  5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first information (60) is printed in a machine-readable format.
  6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first information (60) is printed flanked by filling characters (61).
  7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second information is printed in a format visible to the naked eye.
  8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in step a) the document (21) is transported and an edge which is substantially perpendicular to the first edge (28) of the document (21) during the transport is detected, and that step c) comprises the further transport of the document (21) by a predetermined distance in the transport direction after the detecting.
  9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in step a) a two-dimensional image of the document (21) is generated and at least one of the two edges (28, 29) is recognized in the image.
  10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in step a) it is distinguished between an edge of an envelope (22) of the document (21) and a neighboring edge (29) of the page (23) of the document (21) to be printed, and that in step c) the edge (29) of the page (23) is used for positioning the printhead (45) with respect to the document (21).
  11. Apparatus for performing a method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a movable printhead (45), at least one camera (49, 50) for detecting two crossing edges (28, 29) of the document (21) and a graphical element, and a control unit for positioning the printhead (45) at a first field (20) of the document (21) to be printed based on the detected edges and at a second field (01, 02, ..., 19) in the document (21) based on the graphical element, characterized in that the camera (49, 50) is adjusted to detect information (05, 58) from the document (21) individualizing the document (21), and that the movable printhead (45) is adapted to print the individualizing information in the document (21).
  12. Apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises at least two cameras (49, 50) which are adjusted to detect different portions of the document (21).
  13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that it comprises a transport means (34, 35) for transporting documents (21) to be printed to the printing area of the printhead (45).
  14. Apparatus according to claim 13, characterized in that a sensor (52, 53) for detecting an edge (28) of the document (21) which is arranged transverse to the transport direction is arranged at the transport means (34, 35).
  15. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that it comprises a UV source for illuminating the field of vision of at least one camera with ultraviolet light.
  16. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that it comprises a radio interface (41) for the wireless communication with a data carrier of a document (21) to be printed.
  17. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 16, characterized in that the printhead (45) is an inkjet printhead.
EP05775094A 2004-06-07 2005-06-04 Method and device for printing details onto a document Active EP1763441B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE102004027678A DE102004027678A1 (en) 2004-06-07 2004-06-07 Method and device for printing in a document
PCT/EP2005/006011 WO2005120850A2 (en) 2004-06-07 2005-06-04 Method and device for printing details onto a document

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1763441A2 EP1763441A2 (en) 2007-03-21
EP1763441B1 true EP1763441B1 (en) 2011-02-23

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EP04016211A Withdrawn EP1604835A1 (en) 2004-06-07 2004-07-09 Method and apparatus for printing in a document
EP05775094A Active EP1763441B1 (en) 2004-06-07 2005-06-04 Method and device for printing details onto a document

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Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP04016211A Withdrawn EP1604835A1 (en) 2004-06-07 2004-07-09 Method and apparatus for printing in a document

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US (1) US20090096820A1 (en)
EP (2) EP1604835A1 (en)
JP (1) JP2008501556A (en)
AT (1) ATE499216T1 (en)
DE (2) DE102004027678A1 (en)
ES (1) ES2362431T3 (en)
MX (1) MXPA06014302A (en)
WO (1) WO2005120850A2 (en)

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* Cited by examiner, ā€  Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE102009049655B4 (en) * 2009-10-09 2011-09-22 Bundesdruckerei Gmbh Method and device for pageing documents
IL202028A (en) * 2009-11-10 2016-06-30 Icts Holding Company Ltd Product, apparatus and methods for computerized authentication of electronic documents
DE102011006929A1 (en) * 2011-04-07 2012-10-11 Thieme Gmbh & Co. Kg Method and device for printing at least one printed material
EP3015270B1 (en) * 2014-10-31 2020-09-09 SURYS GmbH Automatic desktop printer for security booklet documents
CN115320254B (en) * 2022-06-30 2023-10-24 äæžę™“äøœ Printer capable of printing bound paper book and printing method

Family Cites Families (8)

* Cited by examiner, ā€  Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
AU5620080A (en) * 1979-03-07 1980-10-30 Vydec Inc. Determining position of paper in typewriter
GB2197824B (en) * 1984-05-18 1988-10-26 Unisys Corp Passbook printer
US5211424A (en) * 1991-08-15 1993-05-18 Prc Inc. Secure passport document and method of making the same
GB2315708A (en) * 1996-07-31 1998-02-11 Eastman Kodak Co A passport booklet printed with a penetrating ink
DE59800407D1 (en) * 1998-05-05 2001-02-01 Maurer Electronics Gmbh Method and cassette for labeling a booklet-like object in a labeling station
US6269169B1 (en) * 1998-07-17 2001-07-31 Imaging Automation, Inc. Secure document reader and method therefor
US6783067B2 (en) * 2000-01-28 2004-08-31 Datacard Corporation Passport production system and method
US20030116630A1 (en) * 2001-12-21 2003-06-26 Kba-Giori S.A. Encrypted biometric encoded security documents

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US20090096820A1 (en) 2009-04-16
DE502005011001D1 (en) 2011-04-07
EP1604835A1 (en) 2005-12-14
DE102004027678A1 (en) 2005-12-22
EP1763441A2 (en) 2007-03-21
MXPA06014302A (en) 2007-05-04
ES2362431T3 (en) 2011-07-05
WO2005120850A2 (en) 2005-12-22
ATE499216T1 (en) 2011-03-15
WO2005120850A3 (en) 2006-02-23
JP2008501556A (en) 2008-01-24

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