ES1066675U - Device for scanning and automatic document authentication. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for the automatic digitization and authentication of documents, where said device comprises: - a reading surface (8) for the placement of a document, comprising a support plane transparent to light; - an image sensor (2) adapted to capture an image of said document; - an optics (1) projecting said image on the sensor; - an optical path (9) extending between said reading surface (8) and said sensor (2), said optical path comprising a system of mirrors of first surface with at least two mirrors; - a lighting system (5) with at least one first light source (14) able to emit light in the spectrum not visible to the human eye; Characterized in that said optic (1) is located below one of said mirrors in a lateral zone exterior to the vertical of said reading surface (8) and because said lighting system (5) and said sensor (2) are located in differentiated areas of the device predetermined and selected so that the light emitted by said light source (14) does not directly affect the pick-up field of said sensor (2), thus avoiding unwanted reflections and reflections. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

Device for digitization and automatic document authentication.

Object of the invention

The invention relates to a device for the automatic document scanning and authentication semi-structured heterogeneous content associated with a system capable of extracting the information that they contain. The documents can be identity documents, tickets, checks, business cards, forms, etc. and can have text fields but also non-text fields. The invention also relates to a device for detection and the analysis of the security measures present in said documents, to authenticate them by determining if they are valid, fakes or have been tampered with.

Prior art

Personal identification through display of documents proving increasingly necessary in a larger number of places and establishments: hotels, casinos, airports, etc. In addition to this mandatory identification, it is also frequent that information related to the user, such as name, address, etc., be stored in a database or collated with this database. Sometimes there is also the obligation or need to verify the authenticity of the document that a user is presenting

In relation to this problem, every time they are appearing safer documents that present new measures of security. Some of them are security inks that appear at be illuminated with light sources of different wavelengths (IR or UV for example), holograms, inks that change color according to the angle of observation, microtexts, etc. They are also added Measures like magnetic strips, radio frequency tags, chips  smart, etc.

The increase in these security measures, from number of documents and the need for identification, makes it is necessary to use devices that allow reading so Automatic and fast document data, as well as analyze it to ensure its authenticity.

Different types of documents share common features, both in terms of its content of textual information as in their authentication marks. So for example, both banknotes and identity documents share the presence of visible patterns under the light UV and text in different forms: serial numbers, numbers of identification, name, ... It is for that reason that a system of document reading and validation can be used to extract the information from multiple types of documents and analyze your authenticity.

The most common device for acquiring The image of a document has been until now the scanner. In a scanner the image is obtained by means of a mechanical sweep in many cases, of a 1D sensor throughout the document. The main disadvantage of this type of process is the speed of transfer of information and mechanical wear of components of the device that makes it have a life limited

Considering only in the reader systems of Identity documents can be divided into two large groups: i) those who read only the characters of the ICAO encoding; ii) those who acquire a complete image of the document. The invention proposal would be included in the second group. With the full picture the document can address more complex and complete readings of all the information contained in it. In addition to being able to validate and acquire the different elements that are within the image and that do not entail a proper reading: photos, signatures or security elements distinctive to the type of document.

In this sense some document readers of identity complement the reading of the text fields with different types of lighting, in order to analyze different security elements that contain the documents. In these more complete readers encompasses the invention here describe.

Description of the invention

The proposed device comprises a reading surface, that is, a transparent support plane that allows the reading of the document deposited on it; a sensor image adapted to capture the image of said document; a optics projecting said image to the sensor; a UV filter that cuts unwanted wavelengths; an extended optical path between said reading surface and said sensor and a system of lighting with light sources in three spectral bands. Everybody The device elements are arranged and designed to optimize the dimensions of the device, its manageability and avoid the appearance of glare, shadows or reflections in the formation of the digital image. Thus, in the present invention the location of the lighting system and sensor in some areas differentiated from the default device and selected for that the light emitted by the different light sources does not affect directly in the sensor pickup field, thus avoiding shines and unwanted reflections. Specifically, the light sources are placed in shadow areas studied of the device. Any light source placed outside these shadow areas introduces rays of light into the optical path that are susceptible to cause annoying brightness in the image.

The sensor is a two-dimensional matrix sensor which allows you to capture an image and transform it into a format digital. Using a camera instead of a scanner speeds up the capture process substantially, being able to acquire more documents in the same period of time. It also allows you to control the acquisition parameters, such as the time of exposure or gain, to adapt it to the type of light and type of document to analyze.

The optics allow to project the exterior light, and therefore the environment, on the sensor. This component is specially selected to obtain a correct face image to its subsequent analysis and optimize the final volume necessary to The device design. Capturing a document with a camera, requires a separation between the document and the sensor, which It is fixed by the optics used. Distance range focal points that this optics can have is limited by quality that you want to get in the picture. It is interesting that the image has the sufficient quality, so that automatic reading techniques that will be applied later on said image, can extract The data correctly. To get good images is it is necessary that the distance between the document and the camera be large compared to the size of the document. The making of a apparatus with this restriction results in a large device and impractical. To maximize this distance while maintaining a small device size, a set of mirrors with a certain geometry. So, said mirror game it comprises a first mirror on the inclined optics with respect to the horizontal or base of the device and a second mirror faced with the first, under the reading surface. It is important that these Mirrors are first surface. Unlike mirrors conventional, the first surface mirrors have been undergoing a special coating process that ensures that the percentage of reflected light is very close to 100% and does not present double reflection problems.

The lighting system is composed of Three different types of LEDs, integrated in the same device: Visible light LEDs, LEDs with a dominant wavelength focused on ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) LEDs. LEDs They have a number of advantages over other light sources: they are small, have greater mechanical resistance, have a low consumption and high durability and a response time almost instant. These characteristics make them desirable for this device. Thus, due to their low consumption, they make unnecessary a external power supply, being able to power the device directly from the connection to the computer. His short time of response allows them to be turned on and off quickly. In addition, they can be used multiplexed, alternating LEDs that are active at any given time. A controller is the responsible for turning on each of the types of LEDs.

The position and number of LEDs are designed to achieve uniform illumination in the support area of the Document, free of glare and reflections. Specifically, in the present invention the LEDs corresponding to the ultraviolet spectrum are they are located in two outdated alignments, while the LEDs corresponding to the visible light are located in alignment interspersed with the LEDs corresponding to the spectrum infrared. Anyway this position and quantity are not fixed, adapting to each specific final geometry. It's very important avoid placing LEDs in prohibited areas, where the light of the LEDs directly enter the sensor pickup field causing important reflections in the image. To improve the uniformity of light a light diffuser element is placed in front of the LEDs. The wavelengths of the LEDs are not fixed and can be changed according to needs; going to depend on the type of material that contains the ink or substrate to analyze.

Additionally in the optics of the device has added a UV filter that eliminates wavelengths corresponding to ultraviolet. This filter removes these unwanted wavelengths, limiting wavelengths that reach the camera to the visible and infrared. The use of this Filter has two advantages: on the one hand it eliminates UV light reflected from the document that can be of such intensity that it prevents see the fluorescence of the document, and on the other hand, avoid image blur due to not being able to focus properly on such a wide wavelength range.

The device object of this invention is is associated with a system capable of identifying the type of document automatically, extract textual and non-textual information of the document from images captured under visible light by the human eye, and to validate safety features of the document from the images captured under visible light, the light emitted in the ultraviolet spectrum and the light emitted in the infrared spectrum close to visible.

Some documents have a label attached RFID (radio frequency identification) or a microchip that allows to receive and respond to requests from a sender-receiver or reader respectively. If of personal identification documents these labels or microchips contain information related to the bearer of the document. The device of the present invention is found associated with a system capable of communicating with a reader of radio frequency or microchip capable of extracting information contained in a radio frequency identification tag or microchip attached to the document and compare it with the printed data of the document by adding an extra verification of the validity of said document.

Brief description of the drawings

The above and other advantages and features will be more fully understood from the following detailed description of some embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, which should be taken as a title illustrative and not limiting, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of the invention showing those shadow zones (in relation to the reflected light) where the system could be advantageously located of lighting.

Fig. 3 is a circuit board scheme which constitutes the lighting system.

Fig. 4 is a schematic side view of the invention showing the range and trajectory of the light emitted by the lighting system.

Detailed description of an embodiment example

Next, the operation of the invention based on the figures shown. In This case will refer to any document of personal identification but it can be extended as commented to  Any other type of document.

An outline of an example is shown in Fig. 1 preferred embodiment of the invention for reading and Validation of identity documents. In this Fig. 1 you can distinguish a reading surface 8 for the placement of a document comprising a light transparent support plane, an image sensor 2 adapted to capture the image of said document, an optics 1 that projects the image on said sensor, a UV filter 3 that eliminates unwanted wavelengths, a lighting system 5 comprising three light sources (which will detail later), an optical path 9, which extends between said reading surface 8 and said sensor 2, said said comprising optical path a first surface mirror system for Avoid double reflections in the image.

Said mirror system is formed by a first mirror 7a on the optics 1 inclined with respect to the horizontal or base of the device and a second mirror 7b under the Reading surface facing the same angle. It is observed in said Fig. 1 that said optics 1 is located below the first mirror 7a in a lateral area outside the vertical of the reading surface 8.

Also, the lighting system 5 is located in said outer lateral area to the vertical of the reading surface 8 to the side and slightly above the optics 1, said lighting system 5 and sensor 2 being located in differentiated zones of the predetermined device and selected so that the light emitted by the different sources of light does not directly affect the sensor pickup field 2, thus avoiding unwanted glare and glare. Specifically, the light sources are placed in shaded areas (absence of incidence of reflected light) of the lighting system studied Of the device.

In the embodiment described the image of the document is projected to sensor 2 through optical path 9. The area of the document to read, which for an embodiment concrete has dimensions of 130 mm x 90 mm, is projected in the mirror 7b, which projects the image in the mirror 7a, which at in turn projects the image in optics 1, passing through the optical filter 3, and the latter projects it on sensor 2. The optical path 9 is this projection path. UV filter 3 can be placed both between optics 1 and sensor 2 and in front of the optics, getting the same effect. In addition, the device proposed also includes a light diffuser 4 arranged in front of the light sources that increases the homogeneity of the illumination. This diffuser may not be placed in front of all or some of the light sources, reducing homogeneity achieved, but allowing an increase in brightness. For a specific embodiment example, the sensor 2 used is of CMOS technology and allows capturing the entire reading surface 8 on a 3.2 MPixels sensor 2 with a dimension of 6.59 x 4.90 mm. In the Fig. 1 is also schematically illustrated a carrier plate of an electronics associated with sensor 1, which is responsible for transform these images into digital signals to be transferred to a computer via a port 10 in this case USB 2.0.

On the other hand, Fig. 2 is an auxiliary figure which indicates zones 19a and 19b where it is not advisable to place the lighting system 5, since in said zones 19a and 19b they can produce light reflections that reach sensor 2 due to reflections in the document support that come in the way optical document 9. The shadow areas are also shown 18a, 18b and 18c, in which the system of lighting without producing these reflections. It is chosen as optimum zone for the 18th lighting system, that is to say an area outer side to the vertical of the reading surface (8) at a side and slightly above the optics (1), being the only one allows to illuminate the entire reading surface 8 and Do it with sufficient uniformity.

A scheme of a plate is illustrated in Fig. 3 of lighting that is an example of the lighting system 5 of this invention. In it you can distinguish three sources of light formed by sets of LEDs that emit visible light 15, UV light 14 and IR light 16 respectively. The LEDs corresponding to UV light 14 is located in two outdated alignments, while the LEDs corresponding to visible light 15 are they are located in alignment interspersed with the LEDs corresponding to IR light 16.

The lighting system 5 is powered and controlled by electronics 6 associated with sensor 2 through a connector 17. It also has two LEDs 13 that indicate the status of the device. Images captured under visible light allow identify the type of document as well as extract the information textual and non-textual document: name, address, photo, signature, etc., while those captured under visible light, UV and IR allow validate some of the security features of the document. The visible LEDs are white and the dominant wavelengths of the LEDs not visible for this embodiment are 375 nm (UV) and 880 nm (IR), wavelengths adapted to the response of the desired characteristics of the document. UV filter 3 added it has a cutting length of 390 nm, and filters the lengths not ultraviolet effects that cause image alterations by blur and saturation, and does not affect the components of the visible or infrared light.

The device has a push button outside easy access that allows the automatic start of reading and validation. It also has a cover 12 that allows to isolate the outdoor device avoiding light interference Exterior. Although the algorithms are robust to this type of interferences, it is necessary to avoid them in the case of analysis with not visible light.

With reference now to Fig. 4, it is shows how the light emitted by the lighting system 5 affects both directly on the reading surface 8, circulating the light between the mirrors, as on the mirror 7b which reflects in turn the light to said reading surface 8. In the case of visible light 15 and IR light 16, the emission angle of both is sufficiently wide enough to illuminate the entire reading surface 8. Without However, the emission angle of UV light 14 is smaller and does not allow cover the entire surface 8, which is why UV 14 LEDs, as discussed above when doing reference to Fig. 3, they are distributed in two outdated alignments, one of these alignments focusing directly to the reading surface 8 and the other alignment focusing on the mirror 7b, which in turn reflects the light on the reading surface 8. In this way, two zones of complementary lighting comprising the entire surface 8.

A subject matter expert could introduce changes and modifications in the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims.

Claims (17)

1. Device for digitization and automatic document authentication, where said device understands:

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a reading surface (8) for the placement of a document, comprising a support plane transparent to light;

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a image sensor (2) adapted to capture an image of said document;

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a optics (1) projecting said image on the sensor;

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a optical path (9) extending between said reading surface (8) and said sensor (2), said optical path comprising a system  of first surface mirrors with at least two mirrors;

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a lighting system (5) with at least a first light source (14) suitable for emitting light in the spectrum not visible by the eye human;

characterized in that said optics (1) is located below one of said mirrors in a lateral area outside the vertical of said reading surface (8) and that said lighting system (5) and said sensor (2) are located in differentiated areas of the device predetermined and selected so that the light emitted by said light source (14) does not directly affect the pick-up field of said sensor (2), thus avoiding unwanted glare and reflections. 2. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that said lighting system (5) is located in said lateral area outside the vertical of the reading surface (8) on one side and slightly above the optics (1). Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said lighting system (5) comprises at least a second light source (15) capable of emitting visible light by the human eye. Device according to claim 3 characterized in that said lighting system (5) comprises at least a third light source (16) capable of emitting light in the spectrum not visible by the human eye. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that said first light source (14) emits in a dominant wavelength centered on the ultraviolet spectrum. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said third light source (16) emits in the infrared spectrum. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that said mirror system comprises a first mirror (7a) on the optics (1) inclined with respect to the horizontal or base of the device and a second mirror (7b) under the reading surface. Device according to claim 4 characterized in that said first (14), second (15) and third (16) light sources comprise electroluminescent diodes or LEDs. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that said LEDs corresponding to the first light source (14) are located in two outdated alignments. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that said LEDs corresponding to the second light source (15) are located in an alignment interspersed with the LEDs corresponding to the third light source (16). Device according to claim 9, characterized in that one of said two LED alignments corresponding to the first light source (14) focuses directly on the reading surface (8), while the other LED alignment of the same light source (14) focuses on said second mirror (7b), said mirror (7b) reflecting in turn said first light source (14) to the reading surface (8). 12. Device according to claim 4 characterized in that said second (15) and third (16) light sources are emitted both on the reading surface (8,) circulating the light between the mirrors, and on said second mirror (7b), which in turn reflects said light sources (15, 16) to the reading surface (8). 13. Device according to claim 4 characterized in that said first (14), second (15) and third (16) light sources of the lighting system (5) are located in shaded areas of the device. 14. Device according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that it comprises a light diffuser element (4) arranged in front of said first (14), second (15) and third (16) light sources of the lighting system (5) which Increase the homogeneity of lighting. 15. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a UV filter (3) that eliminates unwanted wavelengths. 16. Device according to claim 5 characterized in that it is associated with a system capable of identifying the type of document, extracting textual and non-textual information from the document from the images captured under said second light source (15), and capable of validating security features of the document from the images captured under said first (14), second (15) and third (16) light sources of the lighting system (5). 17. Device according to any of the preceding claims characterized in that it is associated with a system capable of communicating with a radiofrequency or microchip reader capable of extracting information contained in a radio frequency or microchip identification tag attached to the document and comparing it with the data document forms by adding extra verification of the validity of said document.