JP2004237678A - Image forming apparatus, method of forming image, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of preventing fraudulent duplication of a document. <P>SOLUTION: A thermally reversible printing medium 21 has a thermally reversible recording layer by which visible information can be displayed or erased by reversibly switching between a coloring condition and an erasing condition by thermal energy. The image forming apparatus reads and analyzes embedded information written on the thermally reversible printing medium 21 such as the pros and cons of duplication, an authority of duplication, a term of confidentiality, and a characteristic of a printing medium when performing the duplication, and uses the result for controlling the duplication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral having a copier, a copy function, a printer function, and a facsimile function, and an image forming method, and more particularly to a technique for suppressing (prohibiting) illegal copying of a document.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A heat-reversible printing medium having a thermo-reversible recording layer capable of displaying and erasing visible information by reversibly changing the color-developed state and the decolored state by thermal energy is used as a print medium that replaces conventional paper. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-337767 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-233524
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above-mentioned prior art states that the use of the print medium promotes resource conservation and reuse, thereby reducing the deforestation of forests, and contributing mainly to environmental protection (ecology). By the way, in recent image forming apparatuses, there is an increasing demand for mounting a function capable of preventing unauthorized copying of a document.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that can prevent unauthorized copying of a document by using the print medium in a confidential (secure) field. It is aimed at.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 provides a thermoreversible recording layer capable of displaying and erasing visible information by reversibly changing a coloring state and a decoloring state by thermal energy. An image forming apparatus that reads out and analyzes embedded information including copy permission, copy authority, confidential period, and print medium characteristics written on a thermoreversible print medium at the time of copy, and uses the result for copy control. The most important feature.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, a scanner unit that optically reads the thermoreversible print medium and reads the embedded information written on the thermoreversible print medium. The main feature of the image forming apparatus is a control unit that analyzes the read embedded information and reflects the analyzed result in copy control.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the main feature is that the format of the embedded information is a two-dimensional image code format.
The invention according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, an image forming apparatus in which the format of the embedded information is a digital watermark format.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect is characterized in that, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has an attribute that cannot be copied, copying is prohibited. .
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, when the embedded information is analyzed, if the document is a document to which a copy right is set, a copy person is authenticated, and a right of copy is authorized. The main feature of the image forming apparatus is to permit copying if the user has the right, and to prohibit copying if the person does not have a valid copy right.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the main feature is the image forming apparatus in which the authentication is biometric authentication.
[0005]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has a confidential expiration date, the date and time are referred to. The main feature of the image forming apparatus is to prohibit copying if it occurs, and to permit copying if it is after the confidential period.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, if the result of the analysis of the embedded information indicates that the document has a copy prohibition attribute, the information including the apparatus, time, and location of the copy can be read. The main feature of the present invention is an image forming apparatus that additionally outputs on a hard copy by a character that can be used or a tint block pattern that can specify the information, a two-dimensional image code, or the like.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, the scanner unit has a function of heating and cooling the thermoreversible print medium, and heat-treats the entire document or a part of the document. The main feature of the image forming apparatus is that the entire document or a part of the document is rewritten or erased by performing the process.
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the image forming apparatus according to the tenth aspect, wherein as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has an attribute that cannot be copied, the entire document is erased by the scanner unit. Main features.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the tenth aspect, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has a confidential expiration date, the date and time are referred to. The main feature of the image forming apparatus is to prohibit copying when there is a document, permit copying when the document is after the confidential date, and rewrite the embedded information to delete the attribute of the confidential date.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a thermoreversible printing medium having a thermoreversible recording layer capable of displaying and erasing visible information can be optically changed by reversibly changing a coloring state and a decoloring state by thermal energy. Reading the embedded information including the propriety of copying, copying authority, confidential period, and print medium characteristics written on the thermoreversible print medium; analyzing the read embedded information; The most important feature is an image forming method including a step of reflecting an analysis result in copy control.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, a storage medium storing a computer-readable program for executing the image forming method according to the thirteenth aspect is the most important feature.
[0006]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the image forming apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 9 show an embodiment according to the image forming apparatus of the present invention.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the image forming apparatus of the present invention is applied to a multifunctional copying machine and is incorporated in an office LAN environment. As shown in FIG. 1, in this office LAN environment, a PC 2, a printer 3, an authentication server 4, a mail server 5, a file server / billing server 6, and the like are connected together with the multifunctional copying machine 1.
Next, the internal configuration of the multi-function copying machine 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-function copying machine 1 includes a scanner unit 10 for reading a document placed on a document table (not shown), and a facsimile for converting image data read by the scanner unit 10 into a format capable of facsimile communication. A communication / network unit 12 for transmitting image data converted by the facsimile unit 11 to a partner device; an image forming unit 13 for performing image processing on image data read by the scanner unit 10 and printing it on paper; When printing is performed by the unit 13, a paper transport unit 14 that transports paper to be printed, a control unit 15 that creates an embedded image for preventing unauthorized copying, transfers the embedded image to the image forming unit 13, and controls the above units, Microphone / speaker 16, authentication unit 1 for performing authentication if necessary It is provided.
Next, FIG. 3A shows an example in which unauthorized copy prevention information is invisiblely embedded in the thermoreversible print medium 21 by a digital watermark. FIG. 3B shows an example in which information is visually embedded in the thermoreversible print medium 21. In particular, the former is not recognized at first glance as containing watermark information. In both cases, the embedded information includes at least one of a document ID, whether or not copying is possible, a copying authority, and a confidential period.
[0007]
4 (a) to 4 (c) show a procedure in which a duplicator makes a copy of the thermoreversible print medium 21 in which the illegal copy prevention information is embedded by using the multifunctional copying machine 1. This will be described with reference to a flowchart.
First, it is detected whether or not unauthorized copy prevention information is embedded in an image read by the scanner unit 10 (step S10). If the unauthorized copy prevention information is not embedded (step S10 / NO), a copy of the read image is created as it is and output as a hard copy (step S16).
If unauthorized copy prevention information is embedded, the information is extracted and analyzed (step S11). If there is a copy attribute in the unauthorized copy prevention information, and the attribute is acceptable, a copy of the read image is created and output as it is (step S16). However, if the copy attribute is not possible (step S12 / YES), the analysis is performed in more detail.
First, it is checked whether or not a confidential term attribute exists (step S13), and if so, the term is checked (step S13 / YES, S14). The multifunctional copying machine 1 compares the built-in clock (not shown) with the extracted term data (step S15). If the term has expired (step S15 / YES), the multifunction copying machine 1 determines that disclosure / copying is permitted and outputs a hard copy. (Step S16). Conversely, if the result of the comparison indicates that the confidential date is before the expiration date (step 15 / NO), a message such as "This document is not permitted to be copied" is displayed on an operation panel (not shown), and copying is not performed ( Step S17).
On the other hand, when copying is not possible but the confidential term attribute does not exist (step S13 / NO), it is checked whether the authentication attribute exists (step S18). If the authentication attribute does not exist (step S18 / NO), a message such as "this document is not permitted to be copied" is displayed on an operation panel (not shown), and the document is not copied (step S17). If the authentication attribute exists (step S18 / YES), the copying authority is extracted (step S19), and the authentication unit 17 performs an authentication process (step S20).
In the first embodiment, fingerprint authentication is performed. First, the multi-function copying machine 1 collects fingerprint feature data of a duplicater via the authentication unit 17. The fingerprint feature data and the copy authority data are sent to the authentication server 4 to confirm whether or not copying is possible (step S20). As a result, if copying is possible (step S21 / YES), a hard copy is output (step S16). Conversely, if copying is not possible (step S21 / NO), it is displayed that copying is prohibited (S17).
In this way, illegal copying can be prevented. In the first embodiment, the original is the thermoplastic print medium 21, but the multifunctional copying machine 1 uses plain paper instead of the thermoplastic print medium 21 as the blank paper. However, since the illegal copy prevention information is transferred to the hard copy and left as it is, the illegal copy prevention information is lost even if the copied hard copy is copied again as a manuscript (child copy, grandchild copy, ...). There is no.
[0008]
(Embodiment 2)
Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The LAN, the multi-function copier 1 and the basic operation thereof are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore, the description of those portions will be omitted, and the main differences will be described.
In the first embodiment, when the copy is disabled as a result of the extraction and analysis of the illegal copy prevention information, a message such as "This document is not allowed to be copied" is displayed on an operation panel (not shown), and the copy is performed. No (step S17 in FIG. 4). In the second embodiment, even in such a case, a hard copy output is permitted as a result.
However, at this time, the ID of the copied device and the information of the copy date and time are additionally written on the hard copy. FIG. 5A shows an example in which the information is additionally written in a format that is readable in a visible manner. FIG. 5B shows an example in which a specific pattern generated from the information is additionally written in a format that is not readable (here, a tint block pattern). By leaving traces of unauthorized copying in this way, tracing of unauthorized copying is facilitated.
[0009]
(Embodiment 3)
Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The LAN, the multi-function copier 1 and the basic operation thereof are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description of those portions will be omitted, and the differences will be mainly described.
In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the scanner unit 10 of the multi-function copying machine 1 is provided with a thermal head 10-1 for performing a heating / cooling process on the thermoreversible print medium 21. ing. Thus, the thermoreversible print medium 21 prepared as a document can be reprocessed by the thermal head 10-1.
Now, a procedure of making a copy of the thermoreversible print medium 21 in which the unauthorized copy prevention information is embedded by using the multi-functional copying machine 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. The basic flow of this flowchart is almost the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in the first embodiment, if the copy is disabled as a result of the extraction and analysis of the illegal copy protection information, the operation panel (not shown) displays “This document is A message such as "copying is not permitted" is displayed, and copying is not performed (step S17 in FIG. 4).
However, in the third embodiment, in such a case, the original is passed through the thermal head 10-1 provided in the scanner unit 10 and subjected to a heating / cooling process, thereby returning the original to a blank state and erasing all the originals. (Step S22). In this way, illegal copying can be prevented.
Here, the thermoreversible print medium 21 is supplemented a little. This thermoreversible print medium 21 has a thermal hysteresis characteristic as shown in FIG. First, the temperature is plotted on the horizontal axis, and the concentration is plotted on the vertical axis, and it is assumed that it is in the initial state S1. When the medium is heated (S2), the color develops when the temperature reaches a certain temperature T2 (S3), and then rapidly cooled (S4), and the state of color development is maintained even if the temperature decreases (S5). Writing of characters and images on the thermoreversible print medium 21 is performed according to this principle. In order to erase the data written in this manner, it is necessary to heat again (S6), raise the temperature to a certain temperature T2 (S7), and then cool it again (S1). By controlling this thermal cycle, writing and erasing can be performed repeatedly.
[0010]
(Embodiment 4)
Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The LAN, the multi-function copier 1 and the basic operation thereof are substantially the same as those of the third embodiment, and therefore, the description of those portions will be omitted, and differences will be mainly described. Further, in the fourth embodiment, the original is the thermoreversible print medium 21 in which the unauthorized copy protection information based on the two-dimensional image code as shown in FIG. 3B is embedded. It is assumed that the item “thermoreversibility” is also included as a media attribute.
First, it is detected whether or not unauthorized copy prevention information is embedded in the image read by the scanner unit 10. If the unauthorized copy prevention information is embedded, the information is extracted and analyzed. If there is a copy attribute in the unauthorized copy prevention information and the attribute is not possible, the analysis is performed in more detail.
First, it is checked whether a confidential term attribute exists (step S13), and if so, the term is checked (step S13 / YES, S14). The multifunctional copying machine 1 compares the built-in clock (not shown) with the extracted term data (step S15). If the term has expired (step S15 / YES), the multifunction copying machine 1 determines that disclosure / copying is permitted and outputs a hard copy. (Step S16).
At this time, if possible, a change process is performed on the document. In other words, if the confidentiality period has passed and it may be published / copied, the confidentiality period attribute of the embedded unauthorized copy protection information no longer makes sense. Therefore, first, the medium attribute is checked to determine whether rewriting is possible (step S23). If the original cannot be rewritten, or if the rewriting is possible but the rewriting method is different, or if the recording medium is a heat irreversible medium (only erasing can be performed by heating, etc.) (step S23 / NO), the hard disk is left without any operation Copy output is performed (S16).
However, when rewriting is possible with a thermoplastic print medium as in the fourth embodiment (step S23 / YES), the extracted unauthorized copy protection information is deleted from the unnecessary security term attribute and updated. By passing a document through the thermal head 10-1 provided in the scanner unit 10 and performing a heating / cooling process, the embedded portion (the portion of the two-dimensional image code) of the unauthorized copy prevention information of the document is updated. The information is rewritten to the illegal copy prevention information (S24). In this way, illegal copying is prevented, and the security level is flexibly changed over time.
Each of the above-described first to fourth embodiments is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In a narrow sense, the term "digital watermark" refers to a watermarking process performed on electronic data such as an electronic file, but in the present invention, what is embedded in a hard copy is called an electronic watermark. It may be called "data hiding".
[0011]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first to twelfth aspects of the present invention, the reversible change of the color-developed state and the decolored state by thermal energy enables the display and erasing of visible information. At the time of copying, the embedded information including the propriety of copying, copying authority, confidentiality period, and printing medium characteristics written on the thermoreversible printing medium having the recording layer is read and analyzed at the time of copying, and the result is used to control copying. Therefore, illegal copying of the document can be suppressed. According to the eighth and twelfth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to prevent unauthorized copying of a document and to cope with a change in security over time.
According to the thirteenth aspect, a thermoreversible printing medium having a thermoreversible recording layer capable of displaying and erasing visible information by reversibly changing a coloring state and a decoloring state by thermal energy. Optically reading the embedded information, the step of reading the embedded information including the propriety of copying written on the thermoreversible print medium, the copy authority, the confidential period, and the print medium characteristics, and the step of analyzing the read embedded information. And a step of reflecting the result of the analysis in the copy control.
According to the fourteenth aspect, the image forming method according to the thirteenth aspect can be easily performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing environment in which a multi-function copying machine according to the present invention is incorporated.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the multi-function copying machine shown in the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a thermoreversible print medium in which illegal copy prevention information is incorporated.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a thermoreversible print medium in which illegal copy prevention information is incorporated.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multi-function copying machine according to a third embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure according to the third embodiment;
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining characteristics of the thermoreversible print medium according to the third embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure according to the fourth embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Multifunction copier 2 PC
3 Printer 4 Authentication Server 5 Mail Server 6 File Server / Billing Server 10 Scanner Unit 11 Fax Unit 12 Communication / Network Unit 13 Imaging Unit 14 Paper Transport Unit 15 Control Unit 16 Microphone / Speaker 17 Authentication Unit 21 Thermoreversible Print Medium

Claims (14)

The reversibility of the color-developed state and the decolored state by thermal energy allows the display and erasure of visible information to be performed. An image forming apparatus comprising: reading out and analyzing embedded information including an authority, a confidential period, and a print medium characteristic at the time of copying; and using the result to control copying. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanner unit optically reads the thermoreversible print medium and reads the embedded information written on the thermoreversible print medium, and analyzes the read embedded information. A control unit for reflecting the analysis result in copy control. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format of the embedded information is a two-dimensional image code format. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the format of the embedded information is a digital watermark format. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has an attribute that cannot be copied, copying is prohibited. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document is a document for which a copy right is set, the copy person is authenticated and the person has a valid copy right. An image forming apparatus, wherein copying is permitted in such a case, and is prohibited if the user is not authorized to perform the copying. 7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the authentication is biometric authentication. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document is a document with a confidential date, the date and time are referred to, and if the document is before the confidential date, the document is copied. An image forming apparatus which prohibits copying and permits copying after the secret expiration date. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has a copy prohibition attribute, the information including the device, time, and location of the copy is converted into readable characters or the information. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern and a two-dimensional image code are added to a hard copy and output. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the scanner unit has a function of performing heating and cooling processing on the thermoreversible print medium, and performing a heat treatment process on the entire document or a part of the document to thereby perform the entire document. Alternatively, an image forming apparatus characterized by rewriting or erasing a part of a document. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein, as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document has a copy prohibition attribute, the entire document is erased by the scanner unit. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein as a result of the analysis of the embedded information, if the document is a document for which a confidential period is set, the date and time are referred to, and if the document is before the confidential period, the document is copied. An image forming apparatus, wherein copying is permitted when the security expiration date has passed, and the embedded information is rewritten to erase the security expiration attribute. Optically reading a thermoreversible print medium having a thermoreversible recording layer capable of displaying and erasing visible information by reversibly changing a coloring state and a decoloring state by heat energy; Reading embedded information including the propriety of copying, copying authority, confidential period, and print medium characteristics written on the non-volatile print medium, analyzing the read embedded information, and using the analysis result to control copying. An image forming method. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program for executing the image forming method according to claim 13.

Images