JP2005184743A - Image processor, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decide whether a read document is a secret document by registering features of character strings in sentences that a secret document has in advance, without predetermining a specific character or mark for indicating the secret document and also without using any special paper sheets or the like, reading character strings from image data of the read document, and comparing the read character strings with the registered character strings. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor includes: a character recognizing means for recognizing characters included in image data; a character string recognizing means for recognizing the characters recognized by the character recognizing means as a series of character strings; a character string listing means for listing the recognized character strings; a character string collating means for collating the listed character strings with character strings in a character string registration table wherein previously registered character strings are stored; and a control means for referring to the result of the collation by the character string collating means and determining whether or not the read image data can be transferred. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus having a function of preventing copying and transfer of confidential documents.

  In recent years, in the office, with the advancement of digital technology, a document image is captured by a scanner to a computer and the captured image data is transferred to another computer or output to a printer or the like to obtain a hard copy, 2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus called a multifunction machine having functions of a copier, a facsimile machine, and a printer is widely used.

  In order to cope with such a situation, many proposals have been made for the purpose of preventing duplication and transfer of confidential documents that may be performed using the above-described system or image processing apparatus.

  In the past, in order to prevent copying of banknotes and securities, image data such as patterns and colors characterizing them is stored in advance in an image forming apparatus, and image data obtained by a document image reading means There is a proposal to determine whether or not copying is possible by performing pattern matching with the stored image data (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in a multi-function peripheral, hard copy output from image data sent from an information processing apparatus or image data read by a document image reading means is prohibited, and the image data is transferred to another apparatus. Prohibition is also common practice.

  In the case of banknotes, securities, etc., the patterns to be stored in advance are the characteristics and color composition of the symbols that they have, but in the case of business documents, instead of “top secret”, “copy prohibited” Proposals have been made to use specific characters or uniquely set secret marks (for example, Patent Document 2).

  In addition, instead of the above-described pattern matching, a code, a number, and the like are registered in advance in the image forming apparatus, and a code such as a barcode is assigned to the document at a specific position, A method of detecting a number or the like and collating it with a code or number registered in the image forming apparatus has also been proposed (for example, Patent Document 3).

  In such a method, a copy-prohibited object or a confidential document as a target is clear in advance, and a process for reading or detecting predetermined information characterizing these is prepared in advance and the process is executed.

  However, it is possible to bypass such prevention means by masking characters or marks for confidentiality written on business manuscripts.

To prevent such slip-through, a confidential document was created using paper pre-printed with hidden characters and marks that could not be recognized simply by looking at the document, and this confidential document was read and output. Sometimes, there is a method to make a specific character or pattern appear in the output image. However, there is a condition that a specific sheet must be used for the document, which is inconvenient for business activities.
JP-A-2-52384 JP 7-56484 A JP-A-5-165112

  The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and the purpose thereof is not to predetermine a specific character or mark for indicating a confidential document, and it is also possible to use special paper or the like. Without needing to register the characteristics of the character string in the sentence of the confidential document in advance, read the character string from the image data of the read document, and the read document is compared with the registered character string It is to determine whether it is a document.

The invention according to claim 1 is an image processing apparatus that reads an original by an image reading unit to acquire image data, and performs image processing.
Character recognition means for recognizing characters contained in the image data;
A character string recognition means for recognizing the character recognized by the character recognition means as a series of character strings;
A character string listing means for listing the character strings obtained by the character string recognition means;
A character string collating means for collating the character strings listed by the character string listing means with a character string in a character string registration table storing character strings registered in advance;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that determines whether transfer of the read image data is possible with reference to a collation result by the character string collation unit.

The invention according to claim 2 reads an original on which a character string to be registered in the character string registration table is printed by an image reading unit,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a character string registration unit that registers the read character string in the character string registration table.

The invention according to claim 3 reads, by the image reading unit, a document in which a mark readable by the image reading unit is attached to a character string in the document.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a character string registration unit that registers a character string to which a mark is added in the character string registration table.

The invention according to claim 4 is an image forming apparatus for outputting a hard copy from image data sent from an information processing device or image data read and acquired by a document image reading means,
Character recognition means for recognizing characters contained in image data;
A character string recognition means for recognizing the character recognized by the character recognition means as a series of character strings;
A character string listing means for listing the character strings obtained by the character string recognition means;
A character string collating means for collating the character strings listed by the character string listing means with a character string in a character string registration table storing character strings registered in advance;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that determines whether or not to output a hard copy with reference to a collation result by the character string collating unit.

The invention according to claim 5 reads an original on which a character string to be registered in the character string registration table is printed by an image reading unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a character string registration unit that registers the read character string in the character string registration table.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, an image reading unit reads a document in which a mark readable by the image reading unit is attached to a character string in the document,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a character string registration unit that registers a character string to which a mark is added in the character string registration table.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect a confidential document without adding a specific mark or character for prohibiting copying, transfer of image data, or the like to the confidential document. Transfer of image data of a document can be prohibited.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the character string is extracted from the image data of the read confidential document without giving a specific mark or character to the confidential document, and collated with a pre-registered character string. In the image processing apparatus that prohibits image data transfer according to the result, the character string can be easily registered by causing the image reading unit to read the document on which the character string to be registered in the character string registration table is read.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the character string is extracted from the image data of the read confidential document without adding a specific mark or character to the confidential document, and collated with a pre-registered character string. In an image processing apparatus that prohibits image data transfer according to the result, a character string can be easily registered by causing the image reading unit to read a document in which a character string to be registered is marked.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to detect a confidential document without adding a specific mark or character for prohibiting copying, transfer of image data, etc. to the confidential document. Transfer of image data of a manuscript and creation of a hard copy can be prohibited.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the character string is extracted from the image data of the read confidential document without adding a specific mark or character to the confidential document, and collated with a pre-registered character string. In an image forming apparatus that prohibits image data transfer and hard copy output according to the result, a character string registered in the character string registration table is read by the image reading means, thereby easily registering the character string. be able to.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the character string is extracted from the image data of the read confidential manuscript without adding a specific mark or character to the confidential manuscript and collated with a pre-registered character string. In the image forming apparatus that prohibits image data transfer and hard copy output according to the result, the character string can be easily registered by causing the image reading unit to read the document in which the character string to be registered is marked.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a so-called multi-function device, which is a digital image forming apparatus G according to an embodiment of the present invention and has functions of a copying machine, a facsimile, and a printer.

  The image forming apparatus has an automatic document feeder ADF at the upper part of the main body. The sheet feeding unit 6, the fixing unit 7, the control unit C1, and the like are included.

  The automatic document feeder ADF feeds the documents placed on the document table 11 to the document conveying means 13 one by one by the document separating means 12, and the document conveying means 13 conveys the sent documents to the document discharging means 14. Then, the document discharge means 14 discharges the sent document to the document discharge table 15. The document image is read by a slit 21 provided in the document conveyance path, which is a document image reading position of the image reading unit 1.

  When reading images on both sides of the document, the document which has been read on the first surface is reversed by the document reversing means 16 having a pair of rollers, and is sent again to the document conveying means 13 to re-feed the second surface. Reading is done. The document that has been read is discharged to the document discharge table 15.

  The image reading means 1 is a means for reading a document image to obtain image data. The document image irradiated with light by the lamp 231 at the position of the slit 21 is a first mirror unit 23 and a second mirror unit 24. And an imaging lens 25 to form an image on the image sensor 26 which is a linear CCD. The signal output from the image pickup device 26 is A / D converted by the image processing unit of the control means C1, subjected to processing such as shading correction and image compression, and stored as image data in the memory M1.

  The image writing means 2 is an image carrier 31 that is rotated by being uniformly charged by a charging means 32 by a laser beam and a polygon mirror based on image data that has been called from the memory M1 and subjected to predetermined image processing. The electrostatic latent image corresponding to the original image is formed on the surface of the image carrier 31 by scanning the surface.

  The electrostatic latent image is reversely developed by the developing unit 34 of the image forming unit 3, and a toner image is formed on the image carrier 31.

  Corresponding to the timing of toner image formation, the paper P is fed from the manual paper feeding means 55 or the paper feeding means 5 having a cassette or tray for accommodating the paper P as a transfer material, and is fed by the transport roller 56. The image is conveyed and synchronized with the toner image formed on the image carrier by the timing roller 39, and sent out to the transfer area.

  In the transfer area, the toner image formed on the surface of the image carrier 31 is transferred to the paper P charged to the opposite polarity by the transfer means 35.

  The sheet P carrying the toner image is separated from the surface of the image carrier 31 by the action of the separation / elimination means 36 and sent to the fixing means 7.

  In the fixing unit 7, the paper P carrying the toner image is conveyed while being heated and pressurized by the heating roller 71 and the pressure roller 72, the toner image is fixed on the paper P, and is discharged from the apparatus by the discharge roller 63. The paper is discharged to a paper discharge tray 64.

  When the paper P is turned upside down and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 64, the paper P is guided to the paper discharge refeed means 6 by the switching guide 62, and the paper P is switched back and sent to the discharge roller 63. .

  Further, when forming an image on both sides of the paper P, the paper P that has been fixed on the first side is guided to the paper discharge refeed means 6 by the switching guide 62 and reversed by the reversing unit 65. Then, the sheet is fed to a conveyance path 66 for paper feeding and used for image formation on the second surface.

  On the other hand, the surface of the image carrier 31 after the transfer of the toner image onto the paper P is prepared for the next image formation after the residual toner is removed by the cleaning means 37.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control relationship of the main part of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control means C1 is a computer system including a CPU (CPU1), a memory M1, and an arithmetic unit, an I / O port, a communication interface, etc. (not shown), and a control unit for driving each means. Also have.

  The character recognition means P1, the character string recognition means P2, the character string listing means P3, the character string collation means P4, the character string registration table P5, etc. are stored in the storage means M1 comprising RAM and ROM in the form of a program or table. Has been. Note that programs used for character recognition, character string recognition, character string listing, and character string collation are publicly known programs.

  The control unit C2 of the automatic document feeder 1 is also smaller in size than the control unit C1, but has a similar system configuration centered on the CPU. Control means C1 and control means C2 are connected by communication means T2 in this example.

  The control unit C1 is connected to a LAN or a public line via the communication unit T1, and can exchange data with other information devices.

  In addition, about the block which is not directly related to description of embodiment of this invention, description in a figure is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing for determining a copy-prohibited document or a confidential document by collating character strings according to the present invention.

  The document image read by the image reading unit 1 is stored as image data in a predetermined area of the memory M1 of the control unit C1 (step S1). The character portion in the data stored as the image data is recognized as a character by the character recognition means P1 and converted into a character code (step S2). Each encoded character is recognized as a character string having a certain meaning by the character string recognition means P2 (step S3). The recognized character strings (referred to as recognized character strings) are given a series of numbers by the character string listing means P3 and arranged as a list (referred to as recognized character string list), and the character strings in the recognized character string list Is set (NN) (step S4).

  From the character string registration table P5, registered character strings (referred to as registered character strings) and the total number of registered character strings (MM) are set in a predetermined area (step S5). A counter (K) for sequentially reading the recognized character strings from the recognized character string list and a counter (CNT) for counting the number of registered character strings that match the recognized character strings are reset (step S6).

  If 1 is added to the contents of K (step 7) and K is not greater than NN (step 8; N), the Kth recognized character string is read from the recognized character string list (step S9), and character string registration table P5 Are collated with all registered character strings read out from (step S10). If there is a match as a result of the collation (step S11; Y), 1 is added to CNT (step S12), and the process returns to step S7. If there is no match (step S11; N), the process directly returns to step S7.

  Next, when K is larger than NN (step S8; Y), that is, when collation of all recognized character strings is completed, CNT / MM is calculated, and the calculation result is based on a preset value 1 (V1). Is smaller (step S13; Y), an output permission flag is set (step S14). When CNT / MM ≧ V1 (step S13; N), a comparison with a preset second setting value (V2) is performed, and when smaller than V2 (step S15; Y), A warning flag is set (step S16), and if CNT / MM ≧ V2 (step S15; N), an output prohibition flag is set (step S17).

  In the above example, each flag is set based on how much the character string extracted from the manuscript matches the registered character string. If some of the character strings are specified by the operation display means 4 and one of the character strings extracted from the original matches with the specified character string, the percentage of matches The output prohibition flag may be set regardless of the above.

  When the output prohibition flag is set, the control unit C1 includes the image writing unit 2 and the communication unit so as to prohibit the hard copy output of the read original image and the transfer of the image data to another device. T1 is controlled. Furthermore, if the image data stored in the memory M1 or the like is overwritten with, for example, meaningless data, the confidentiality is further improved. When the warning flag is set, a warning is displayed on the operation display means 4, and control is performed to wait for an output instruction or an output prohibition instruction by the user. When the output permission flag is set Controls to execute normal hard copy output and image data transfer.

  The description with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 is given by taking as an example the case where image data is obtained from the image reading means 1 of the image forming apparatus G. However, in the case of an image processing apparatus such as a scanner that does not have image forming means. Is also adapted. Further, when image data is received from another information device via the communication means T1 and image formation is performed, that is, when the image forming apparatus G is used as a printer, the same applies except for the processing in step S1. Is omitted.

  Next, a method for registering a character string in the character string registration table P5 referred to in determining whether the document is a confidential document will be described.

  There are three methods for registering character strings.

  First, a character string to be registered in advance is created by an appropriate information processing device such as a personal computer, and the character string data is transferred to the image forming apparatus G and stored in the character string registration table P5 of the storage unit M1. This is a general method.

  Second, a user creates a document in which a character string to be registered is written in advance, reads the created document with the image reading unit 1, extracts a character string from the obtained image data, and registers the character string. This is a method of registering in the table P5.

  Third, the user previously assigns an appropriate mark that can be read by the image reading means 1 such as underline or painting to a character string to be registered in the text of the document, and the document to which the mark is added is displayed on the image layer. This is a method of registering a character string added with a mark from image data read by the reading means 1 and read in the character string registration table P5.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for registering a character string in the character string registration table P5 according to the second method.

  First, a character string registration job is activated by the operation display means 4 (step S20). When a message prompting the start of a job and the next operation is displayed on the operation display means 4, a pre-prepared document is read by the image reading means 1 (step S21).

  The read original is subjected to character recognition by the character recognition means P1 (step S22), and the image information is converted into character information. The character information is collected as a character string by the character string recognition means P2 (steps S23 and S24), and the recognized character strings are displayed on the operation display means 4 as a character string list (step S25).

  The user confirms the displayed character string list, and if the confirmation result is “NO” (step S26; N), the original is read again, and if “YES” (step S26; Y) A registration instruction is issued by the operation display means 4. By this instruction, the displayed character string list is registered in the character string registration table P5 (step 27).

  Note that the character string recognition in the third registration method is not performed by the character string recognition means P2, but recognizes the character string based on the given mark and the character recognized. The flow is the same as in the second registration method.

  In this way, the user can easily register a character string in the character string registration table P5 that is referred to in order to determine whether or not the document is a confidential document. For example, it becomes easy to register individual character strings for confidential documents such as planning, research, production, sales, and personnel.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of character strings registered in the character string registration table P5.

  FIG. 5 (1) is an example of a character string common to companies, FIG. 5 (2) is an example of a character string effective in the factory ordering department, and FIG. 5 (3) is an example of a character string effective in the research and development department. It is. There is no particular limitation on the number of character strings to be registered.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus (multifunction machine) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a control relationship of main parts of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow which determines a copy prohibition document and a confidential document. It is a flowchart which shows the flow which registers a character string into a character string registration table. Fig. 5 (1) is an example of a registered character string common to companies, Fig. 5 (2) is an example of a registered character string effective in the factory ordering department, and Fig. 5 (3) is an effective registered character string in the research and development department. It is a column example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading means 2 Image writing means 3 Image forming means 4 Operation display means 5 Paper feed means 6 Paper discharge refeed means 7 Fixing means G Image forming apparatus C1 Control means C2 Control means M1 Memory P1 Character recognition means P2 Character string recognition Means P3 Character string listing means P4 Character string collating means P5 Character string registration table T1 communication means T2 communication means ADF Automatic document feeder

Claims (6)

An image processing apparatus that reads an original by an image reading unit to acquire image data, and performs image processing,
Character recognition means for recognizing characters contained in the image data;
A character string recognition means for recognizing the character recognized by the character recognition means as a series of character strings;
A character string listing means for listing the character strings obtained by the character string recognition means;
A character string collating means for collating the character strings listed by the character string listing means with a character string in a character string registration table storing character strings registered in advance;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a control unit that determines whether or not the read image data can be transferred with reference to a collation result by the character string collation unit. A document on which a character string to be registered in the character string registration table is printed is read by an image reading unit,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a character string registration unit that registers the read character string in the character string registration table. An image reading means reads a document in which a mark readable by the image reading means is attached to a character string in the document,
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a character string registration unit that registers a character string to which a mark is added in the character string registration table. An image forming apparatus that outputs a hard copy from image data sent from an information processing device or image data obtained by reading by an original image reading means,
Character recognition means for recognizing characters contained in image data;
A character string recognition means for recognizing the character recognized by the character recognition means as a series of character strings;
A character string listing means for listing the character strings obtained by the character string recognition means;
A character string collating means for collating the character strings listed by the character string listing means with a character string in a character string registration table storing character strings registered in advance;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that determines whether or not to output a hard copy with reference to a collation result by the character string collating unit. A document on which a character string to be registered in the character string registration table is printed is read by an image reading unit,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: a character string registration unit that registers the read character string in the character string registration table. An image reading means reads a document in which a mark readable by the image reading means is attached to a character string in the document,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a character string registration unit that registers a character string to which a mark is added in the character string registration table.

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