JP2006146478A - Print server device, print authentication system and print authentication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print authentication system or the like having a simple authentication means at the time of receiving an output form. <P>SOLUTION: Identification information constituted of a print client and a print acceptance number is integrated into a two-dimensional bar code at the time of accepting a print job, and the image of the two-dimensional bar code is divided, and one divided half-ticket 81 is printed on a print acceptance slip 8 at a client side, and the other half-ticket 71 is printed on an output form 7 at a center printer side, so that the image of the two-dimensional bar code can be handled as a tally, and the both tallied images are read, and restored into the original two-dimensional code and is decoded when an output form is transferred. Thus, it is possible to perform simple authentication. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a print server device, a print authentication system, and a print authentication device suitable for a print processing system in which a large center printer is arranged in the center to process print requests from many users in various departments such as accounting / general affairs. In particular, the present invention relates to a print server device, a print authentication system, and a print authentication device that can perform authentication when receiving an output form requested to be output to a center printer.

  In recent years, a print processing system has been realized in which a large number of users have jointly printed various forms using a large center printer. In this print processing system, printing of forms requested for output to the center printer has been completed. However, when collecting this, the print requester of each department himself / herself confirmed and received the printed contents of the form.

  The operation of receiving a form by looking at the contents printed by the client himself is judged by the client, so there is a possibility that personal information forms such as salary details and addresses may be taken home or stolen by mistake.

  In order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to perform security management such as human biometric authentication / IC card that can enter / exit the printer room, but management of entering / exiting the printer room is possible, There was a problem that it was difficult to manage the forms to be taken home. In order to manage qualified persons using the IC card, prior registration is always required, and in the case of redeeming with a simple print receipt, forgery is easy and authentication preparation and authentication are difficult.

The following patent publications can be cited as documents describing techniques related to the conventional printer system.
JP-A-7-334604

As mentioned above, in the conventional print processing system, when the output form is delivered, the requester often collects it by confirming the output contents, and there is a possibility that another form is taken over or the form is taken out illegally. There was a bug that there was.
There were also illegal takeaways due to counterfeiting of print request forms.

  An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-described disadvantages of the prior art, and a print server device, a print authentication system, and a print authentication that can prevent a mistake in taking out a form or theft when exchanging an output request form. Is to provide a device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a print server device, a print authentication system, and a print authentication device that do not require pre-registration management of an output requester and can reduce management man-hours.

In general, a two-dimensional barcode is reproduced by compensating for unclear portions from a combination of data included in this code and redundant information with an error correction code, even if the image is stained or blurred. It is possible. Therefore, even if an image on which a two-dimensional code is printed is divided into two parts and they are overlapped, the unclear part of the boundary can be reproduced, and so-called tally usage is possible.
The present invention uses the characteristics of the two-dimensional bar code, a center printer that prints a form based on a request from the client, and a two-dimensional bar code in which information is displayed in a vertical and horizontal mosaic pattern with alternating black and white cells A print authentication apparatus that reads and authenticates the contents of the print request, and a print server apparatus that is connected to a plurality of client terminals and includes a print reception database that stores a reception number field from the requester and an authentication result authentication field. A two-dimensional barcode corresponding to the identification information such as the receipt number from the client and the name of the client is created and divided, and the divided two-dimensional barcode stub is printed by the center printer and the divided A first function for printing the other two-dimensional barcode stub with a printer connected to the client's terminal, and the one and the other two-dimensional barcode stubs. The image data obtained by synthesizing only taken image authentication result by the authentication device, the first characterized in that it comprises a second function of storing the authentication field of the print receipt database.

  The present invention is also connected to a center printer that performs form printing based on a request from a client, a print authentication device that authenticates a two-dimensional barcode image, and a plurality of client terminals. A print authentication system comprising a print server apparatus including a print reception database for storing a reception number field and an authentication result authentication field. The print server apparatus includes a two-dimensional bar corresponding to a reception number and a client name from a client A code is created, image-divided, one of the divided two-dimensional barcode stubs is printed by the center printer, and the other divided two-dimensional barcode stub is printed on the client's terminal A first function for printing by a printer connected to the printer, and the print authentication device synthesizes the read images of the one and the other two-dimensional barcode stubs. Image data the synthesis is the second feature in that it has a function of determining whether it is possible authentication.

  Further, the present invention relates to a center printer that prints a form based on a request from a client and a print reception that is connected to a plurality of client terminals and stores a reception number field from the client and an authentication field of an authentication result. In a print authentication apparatus that is connected to a print server apparatus including a database and authenticates a two-dimensional barcode image, the center printer prints the two-dimensional barcode imagewise in accordance with an instruction from the print server apparatus. One two-dimensional barcode stub is combined with the image data of the other two-dimensional barcode stub printed by the printer connected to the client's terminal, and the two-dimensional barcode is based on the combined image data. The third feature is that the authentication is performed and the authentication result is reported to the print server apparatus.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the identification information including the print requester and the print acceptance number is converted into a two-dimensional barcode, the image of the two-dimensional barcode is divided, and one divided stub is printed on the client side. By printing the other stub on the center printer side and handling the two-dimensional barcode image as a tally, it is possible to prevent mistakes in taking out the form and theft when exchanging the output request form. Pre-registration management of the output requester is not necessary, and management man-hours can be reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a print server device, a print authentication system, and a print authentication device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a center printer system to which this embodiment is applied, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a print server device, a center printer, and an authentication device according to this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a print acceptance database according to this embodiment. 4 is a view showing one sheet printed according to this embodiment, FIG. 5 is a view showing the other sheet printed according to this embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the correspondence between the both sheets. Is a diagram showing the result of combining both sheets, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the authentication processing operation according to this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the center printer system to which the present embodiment is applied includes a print server device 1 that performs print processing management such as reception of print processing and scheduling of print processing, and print received by the print server device 1. A center printer 2 for mass printing at high speed for printing data, an authentication device 3 for authenticating take-out permission for forms output by the center printer 2, and a client for requesting the print server device 1 for print processing. A plurality of PCs (terminals) 5, a printer 6 for low-volume printing connected to each of the PCs 5 for output by a client, and a LAN 4 for connecting the plurality of PCs 5 to the print server device 1, a plurality of clients It is configured to perform centralized control of print processing from the PC.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the print server apparatus 1 includes a server control apparatus 101 that receives print output and controls the center printer 2 and the authentication apparatus 3, and a print reception database 102 that manages the received print output requests. The center printer 2 includes a print control device 201 that performs print control, a print unit 202 that prints on a form, and a print cutter control unit 203 that divides an output form for each print job. An image reading unit 301 for reading the divided two-dimensional code images simultaneously or individually, and an image to be decoded as one two-dimensional code by combining the half two-dimensional code images read by the image reading unit 301 An analysis processing unit 302 and an authentication processing unit 303 that performs authentication processing based on the analysis information analyzed by the image analysis processing unit 302 Obtain.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the print acceptance database 102 of the print server apparatus 1 indicates that a print job acceptance date / time field 1021, a print job acceptance number field 1022, and a print job acceptance slip have been sent to the client terminal. The receipt form sending field 1023, the print field 1024 indicating completion of the requested printing, and the authentication field 1025 indicating that the authentication at the time of receiving the output form has been performed are stored.

  The print server device 1 according to the present embodiment refers to the print acceptance database 102 and issues a print command for the paper 7 shown in FIG. 4 to be described later on the first page of the print paper when the center printer 2 performs the printing process. Then, a print command for the receipt slip 8 shown in FIG. 5 to be described later is issued to the PC 5 of the user who has requested the print processing via the LAN 4.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the output print sheet 7 printed by the center printer 2 that has received the print command has a print job reception number 72, a print requester name 73, and a print job identification on the first page. A two-dimensional code stub 1 (reference numeral 71) on which a part of a two-dimensional code image storing information (half in this example) is printed, and extends in a direction parallel to the cutting line of the two-dimensional code stub 1. A reference line 75 is printed.

  The print acceptance form 8 printed by the printer 6 of the PC 5 that has received the print command is the remaining part of the two-dimensional code image (residual) sent from the print server device 1 in response to the print request, as shown in FIG. A two-dimensional code stub 2 (reference numeral 81), a reference line 85 extending in a direction parallel to the cutting line of the two-dimensional code stub 2, a print job receipt number 82, and a print requester Name 83 is printed.

  In particular, the two-dimensional code stub 1 (reference numeral 71) of the output printing paper 7 printed by the center printer 2 in this embodiment and the two-dimensional code stub 2 (reference numeral 81) printed on the print acceptance slip 8 by the printer 6 are as follows. As a pair, as shown in FIG. 6 in which the sheet 7 and the receipt slip 8 are arranged side by side, the two are combined to form one two-dimensional barcode.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the combined two-dimensional barcode recognizes the receipt number and the name of the client as shown in the two-dimensional code content example 901 by the image reading unit 301 reading the sheet 7 and the receipt slip 8 side by side. It is something that can be done.

  Here, the two-dimensional barcode will be described. The two-dimensional barcode to which the present embodiment is applied is a QR code in which information is represented in a vertical and horizontal mosaic pattern by alternating black and white cells (cells), and is shown in FIG. In this example, a cutout symbol is set in the upper and lower corners and a lower left corner, and a data area composed of a plurality of cells is set in a rectangular area surrounded by the three cutout symbols. For example, 30% of the data area is set by a high-performance error correction function. It is known as a standard that can restore or identify data even if the data is damaged.

Therefore, when the two-dimensional barcode is read by overlapping the two-dimensional barcode stub 71 shown in FIG. 4 and the two-dimensional barcode stub 81 shown in FIG. 5 as shown in FIG. A standard that can be restored or identified as one two-dimensional barcode by an error correction function is provided. In particular, in the present embodiment, the reference lines 75 and 85 are printed in parallel to the cut surfaces of the stub 71 and the stub 81 so that when the reference lines 75 and 85 are read simultaneously or individually, the reference lines 75 and 85 are used as a reference. By recognizing the stub data with reference to an imaginary line separated by a predetermined distance and combining them, the error correction function can restore or identify as one two-dimensional barcode.
<Description of operation>

  Next, the print authentication operation according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the authentication processing operation according to the present embodiment. In this processing, first, two two-dimensional code stubs are read simultaneously by the image reading unit 301 (step S801), and read in step S801. The binarization processing (step S802) by the image analysis processing unit 302 for the image, the detection of the vertex portion of the binarized data (step S803), and the outline of the two-dimensional code of both stubs are determined. Cutout processing (step S804), processing for synthesizing the images of both image data (stubs) whose contours have been determined (step S805), and adding the error correction function from the image data synthesized in step S805 to add 2 The dimension code decoding process (step S806) is sequentially executed.

  Next, this process determines whether or not the decrypted data recognized in step S806 can be authenticated (step S807). If the authentication is impossible, the process displays the authentication disabled display (step S809) and ends the process. When authentication is possible, authentication “complete” is set in the authentication field 1025 of the print acceptance database 102 (step S808), and the process is completed.

  As described above, the image analysis processing unit 302 according to the present embodiment reads the two-dimensional barcode stub as image data, performs a cutting process for determining the contour of the image data, and then combines the image data of the two stubs. The two-dimensional barcode is operated by performing a decoding process on the synthesized two-dimensional barcode while performing an error correction function. These processes are performed in addition to the print server apparatus 1 and the like. The configuration may be performed.

  The error correction function described above extracts, for example, a horizontal synchronization pattern and a vertical synchronization pattern included in an image obtained by reading a two-dimensional barcode as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-334604. Calculate the coordinates, and the coordinates of the intersection of the straight line that passes through the center coordinate of each horizontal sync pattern and is parallel to the vertical sync pattern sequence, and the straight line that passes through the center coordinate of each vertical sync pattern and is parallel to the horizontal sync pattern sequence In the recognition process for calculating each of the preset straight lines and the coordinates of the intersection with the sampling position as the sampling position, determining whether the pixel at the sampling position is white or black in the calculated order, and obtaining 1 and 0 bit data corresponding thereto, Sampling position calculation means for calculating a sampling position and its array number, and a sample where the calculated sampling position has already been sampled. A sampling position determining means; a data sampling means for sampling data at an unsampled position; and an aligning means for arranging the sampled data according to an array number, wherein the sampling position calculating means comprises: The sampling position and the corresponding array number are calculated, the sampling position determination means determines whether the calculated sampling position is a sampling position that has already been sampled, the data sampling means samples the data at the unsampled position, The alignment means is realized by reconstructing the original data from the data sampled from each image when one two-dimensional code is divided into two and read by aligning the sampled data according to the array number You It is possible.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a form output request is made, reception data including identification information such as a reception number and a requester name is two-dimensionally encoded, and the generated two-dimensional code image is divided into two parts. The receipt containing the image is sent to the client's terminal, the other image data is printed on the first sheet of the user output form, treated as a tally, and after the requester prints the sent receipt, the form Is read by the image reading means (such as a two-dimensional code scanner) of the print authentication device together with the other half of the other two-dimensional code printed on the first sheet of the form. If the authentication is successful, the requester and the output form can be verified.

  According to the present invention, two-dimensional barcode stubs are printed on the center printer side and the requester side, respectively, and when the user receives a printed form, the center printer side and the client side receive the two-dimensional barcode code. It is possible to authenticate whether the printed form and the user match by judging whether the stubs can be physically combined and recognized, so that when handing out the output form, another form is taken wrongly or illegally. Can be prevented from being taken out.

  In the embodiment, an example in which one center printer is provided has been described. However, the present invention is the same even when a plurality of center printers are connected for each type / size of form. In addition, the division of the two-dimensional barcode is not limited to the division into two equal parts, but the ratio (one of which is 31) is such that at least one of the two-dimensional barcode stubs does not reproduce information (error correction). % To 71%). In addition, although the example in which the stubs are physically bonded is described as the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to separately read the printed images and combine them as images in the authentication device. Is possible.

1 is a configuration diagram of a center printer system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 1 is a block diagram of a print server device, a center printer, and an authentication device according to the present embodiment. The block diagram of the printing acceptance database by this embodiment. The figure which shows one paper printed by this embodiment. The figure which shows the other paper printed by this embodiment. The figure for demonstrating correspondence of the said both sheets. The figure which shows the synthetic result of the said both sheets. The flowchart figure of the authentication processing operation by this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1: Print server device, 2: Center printer, 3: Authentication device, 6: Printer, 7: Output printing paper, 8: Printing receipt slip, 71: Dimension barcode stub, 72: Reception number, 73: Requester name 75: reference line, 81: dimension barcode stub, 82: reception number, 83: client name, 85: reference line, 101: server control device, 102: print reception database, 201: print control device, 202: Printing unit 203: Print cutter control unit 301: Image reading unit 302: Image analysis processing unit 303: Authentication processing unit 901: Example of dimension code content 1021: Reception date / time field 1022: Reception number field 1023: Reception slip sending field, 1024: print field, 1025: authentication field.

Claims (3)

A center printer that prints a form based on a request from a client, an authentication device that reads and authenticates a two-dimensional barcode image, and an identification information field and authentication from the client that are connected to a plurality of client terminals. A print server device including a print acceptance database for storing a result authentication field,
A two-dimensional barcode corresponding to the identification information from the client is created, divided as an image, one of the divided two-dimensional barcode stubs is printed by the center printer, and the other divided two-dimensional A first function for printing a bar code stub by a printer connected to the client terminal;
A print server comprising a second function of storing an authentication result by the authentication device of image data obtained by combining the read images of the one and the other two-dimensional barcode stubs in an authentication field of the print acceptance database. apparatus. A center printer that performs form printing based on a request from a requester, an authentication device that authenticates a two-dimensional barcode image, and a plurality of requester terminals, and an identification information field and authentication result from the requester A print authentication system comprising a print server device including a print acceptance database for storing an authentication field of
The print server device creates a two-dimensional barcode corresponding to the identification information from the client, divides it as an image, prints the divided two-dimensional barcode stub by the center printer, and A first function of printing the other two-dimensional barcode stub with a printer connected to the client terminal;
The print authentication system, wherein the print authentication device has a function of combining the read images of the one and the other two-dimensional barcode stubs and authenticating and determining the combined image data. A print server including a center printer that performs form printing based on a request from a requester and a print acceptance database that is connected to a plurality of requester terminals and stores an identification information field from the requester and an authentication result authentication field. A print authentication device connected to the device for authenticating a two-dimensional barcode image,
In accordance with an instruction from the print server device, one two-dimensional barcode stub printed by a center printer by dividing a two-dimensional barcode, and the other two-dimensional barcode printed by a printer connected to the client's terminal A print authentication device comprising: combining image data of stubs, authenticating a two-dimensional barcode based on the combined image data, and reporting an authentication result to the print server device.

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