JP2006155341A - Reader - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce processing time by quickly determining if a medium, such as a driver's license, is genuine through the detection of whether or not the medium is watermarked. <P>SOLUTION: The medium 2 captured, such as a membership card, is illuminated with white light from its front for normal illumination using a first light source 13, and is also illuminated with infrared light or the like from its back for watermark illumination. The first and second light sources 13, 14 are alternately turned on or off by means of a light source switch part 21. With one relative movement to the medium 2, a line sensor 15 scans and reads in a short time a normal image on a character recording part (symbol 2a in Figure 3) recorded on the surface of the medium for every predetermined number of reading lines, a face image printed using special ink, and a special image such as a watermark (symbols 2b, 2c in Figure 3). Based on whether or not the special ink is detected, a determination can be made as to whether or not the face image is fake. Based on whether or not there is the watermark 2c, a medium verifying part 25 immediately determines whether the medium 2 is genuine or fake. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading system for determining the authenticity of a card by reading information recorded on a medium such as a driver's license, a financial transaction card such as a cash card, and a membership card used for identification and certification.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an automatic contract system for issuing a financial card contract by issuing a cash card, a credit card or the like with a customer who has visited an unattended store of a financial institution has become widespread. At that time, the operator of the financial institution management center asks the customer to submit a driver's license or the like that remotely gives instructions and proves the identity of the customer, and captures the photograph of the face by taking it in the card issuing device installed in the unmanned store . At the same time, the identity of the customer is confirmed by comparing the identity video displayed by the in-store surveillance camera with the face photo of the driver's license. During such procedures, it also reads textual information such as the customer's name and address on the imported driver's license. A transaction card is issued when it is determined that the customer is the principal and the transaction conditions are met based on various personal information.

  By just taking a picture of your driver's license face and reading the text information, you can easily forge copies with the latest advanced copying technology, and the written text can be easily tampered with and misused. Therefore, the current situation is that it is not a sufficient decisive factor for identity verification. Therefore, as is well known, the driver's license is given a “watermark pattern” and “special ink printing” to prevent forgery and tampering. An image recognition apparatus has been proposed in which it is possible to determine whether it is genuine or counterfeit by reading the watermark pattern or special print section and to prevent unauthorized financial transactions.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-228561 discloses an image recognition technique in which a watermark is scanned and detected by irradiating light from the back of a driver's license. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-228561 discloses an image recognition technique that recognizes character information such as a name written on the front side by irradiating light from the front and back surfaces of the driver's license, and simultaneously recognizes the watermark pattern on the back side Is disclosed. Furthermore, the gazette of Patent Document 3 irradiates the driver's license with white light and infrared light having different wavelength bands, and absorbs or reflects the printed portion of the special ink with infrared light. An image recognition technique for identifying the authenticity of a license is disclosed.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-066273 JP 2000-011147 A JP 2002-42204 A

  However, in the case of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since light irradiation is performed from the back side of the driver's license, the so-called SN ratio, which is the input voltage / noise voltage ratio, is low in order to recognize the character information described on the front side. Therefore, high-precision character recognition cannot be performed. Further, in Patent Document 2, since the front side character recognition and the back side watermark recognition are to be executed by the same image processing, the character is covered with the watermark and the character recognition rate is greatly reduced. In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to perform two scans in which the character is recognized by illuminating from the front side and then the watermark is recognized by illuminating from the back side. However, since it is necessary to perform two scanning operations for one driver's license, it takes a long time for reading processing and image data transfer, and efficient and quick processing cannot be expected. Furthermore, also in the above-mentioned Patent Document 3, two scanning operations are required by switching between white light and infrared light, and basically, as in the problem of Patent Document 2, efficient processing cannot be expected.

  From the above, the object of the present invention is to quickly and accurately read personal information recorded on a medium while detecting the presence or absence of a watermark pattern for authenticity determination formed on the medium such as a driver's license, It is an object of the present invention to provide a reader capable of accurately determining the authenticity of a medium.

  In order to achieve the above object, a reading apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a plurality of illumination means for illuminating the same medium, one line sensor for capturing each piece of image information emitted from each illumination means, Switching means for switching the illumination operations of the plurality of illumination means, the switching means switching the plurality of illumination means while alternating every predetermined number of lines, and the line sensor has the same image information in each illumination means It captures on the image surface.

  Therefore, in the reading apparatus according to the first aspect, the irradiation light from the plurality of illumination means is alternately switched for each predetermined number of lines by the switching means, and is recorded on the medium surface by one reading scanning operation by the line sensor. A normal image such as personal information and a special image such as a watermark pattern are alternately read and acquired as one image data in which the two types of images are alternately arranged. For one medium, reading scans that are alternated for each line are completed with a relative movement of only one line sensor, thereby shortening the processing time. An example of a medium provided with a watermark pattern is a driver's license, etc., and a normal image of personal information such as the name and address of a license holder recorded and a special image of a watermark pattern alternately continuous. Image data is acquired.

  Further, in the reading device according to claim 2, when the switching unit turns on one of the plurality of illumination units in synchronization with the scanning cycle of the line sensor, the other one illumination unit is switched off or dimmed. Are alternately performed for each line or for a plurality of lines. Therefore, for example, personal information recorded on a medium is illuminated by one of the illumination means in synchronization with reading scanning for several lines, and reading scanning for several lines is also performed for a watermark pattern or the like. The other illumination means is illuminated in synchronism with the illumination, and when one illumination means is turned on, the other illumination means is extinguished, or the irradiation on / off switching is performed. When one illuminating means is turned on, the other illuminating means is not necessarily extinguished and turned off, and the illuminance can be reduced to reduce the light.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the irradiation range of the plurality of illumination means is the entire area of the medium or an arbitrary partial area. That is, the line sensor scans a normal image such as personal information and a special image such as a watermark pattern alternately and finely, for example, for each line, so that it is sufficient to irradiate only a necessary range. For example, if the watermark pattern or the like is read quickly and reliably at the initial stage of scanning finely alternately, it is not necessary to scan the entire medium at that stage if it is for determining the authenticity of the medium. That is, the irradiation range may be a part of the whole. Further, the line sensor can read image information for at least one reading line of the medium, can be configured with a general-purpose small and inexpensive one, and can read at least one line of the medium. The image information is read in a short time and with high definition without scanning the entire medium.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the shading correction table is switched in accordance with irradiation by a plurality of illumination means. That is, if each acquired image information such as personal information or watermark pattern is corrected by referring to the shading correction table, when connected to the host computer of the host device, the monitor screen or display of the host device Display clear and high-definition on the screen.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the reading device, any one of the plurality of illuminating units is arranged at a position facing the line sensor, and the line sensor scans the light emitted from the one illuminating unit and transmitted through the medium. I try to be possible. That is, if one of the illuminating means is disposed at a position opposite to the line sensor and the light emitted from one of the illuminating means is infrared light or ultraviolet light, the line sensor transmits the irradiating light from directly opposite the light. It can be received and scanned.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the reading device according to the sixth aspect, wherein the light transmitted through the medium has a specific wavelength, and is provided with a printing unit made of special ink that transmits, reflects, or absorbs the specific wavelength light. The line sensor detects special ink in the printing unit during scanning for each line and shoots an image of the line sensor by irradiation from one of the illumination means provided. Therefore, in this case, for example, when a face photograph is printed with special ink on the medium, for example, infrared light having a specific wavelength is irradiated from one of the illumination means provided at the position opposed to the line sensor. If the special ink of the face photograph is transparent to infrared light, it is detected that the face photograph disappears when irradiated with infrared light, so that it is detected that the special ink is being used. As a result, the special ink is detected during scanning of each line of the line sensor by irradiating infrared light from one of the illumination means. When the special ink is detected, the face photograph is determined to be authentic.

  Further, in the reading device according to claim 7, when one of the plurality of illuminating units changes the irradiation angle and irradiates the embossed pattern formed on the medium, an image in which the embossed pattern is emphasized is acquired. I am doing so. Therefore, if an embossed relief pattern is formed on the medium, for example, a shadow is formed on the relief by irradiating the relief pattern on the relief pattern with an irradiation angle from an oblique direction. The image of the embossed embossed pattern is acquired by scanning the shadow.

Further, in the reading apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the operation of acquiring each piece of image information by the plurality of illumination units can be turned on / off by the same apparatus. Therefore, for example, a device that reads and scans a normal image such as a facial photograph or characters and a device that scans and scans a special image such as a watermark pattern or a raised pattern are processed separately by the same device.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the reading device, each piece of image information acquired for each of a plurality of illumination means is transferred as one continuous image data to a remote device or a host device, and the received image data is illuminated by these devices. Each image information for each means is divided into screen display, file creation, and storage processes separately. Therefore, in this case, by connecting to a remote device or a host computer, which is a host device, and systemizing, different types of normal images and special images of the read medium are converted into one continuous image data. When transferring to a higher-level device or the like, different types of image information are transmitted as such single image data, thereby suppressing an increase in transmission / reception amount (traffic). In the host device, after the transferred image data is received, the normal image and the special image are completely divided into files, or stored in a dedicated address memory, for example, so that each identification can be made. Image quality setting management so that the rate and recognition rate do not deteriorate.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the reading device, each piece of image information acquired for each of the plurality of illumination means is stored on one continuous address, and is transferred for each of the illumination means at the time of transfer to the remote device or the host device. Each image information is divided and read from the address. Therefore, when there is a request for obtaining desired image information from, for example, a host device from a state in which the image information acquired for each illumination means is stored in one continuous address, the corresponding image from that address The information is divided and read out, and transferred to a host device or the like so that it can be provided.

According to a eleventh aspect of the present invention, the image information acquired for each of the plurality of illumination units is divided and stored for each of the illumination units on a plurality of continuous addresses. Therefore, in this case, by storing the image information for each illumination unit on different addresses, information management is performed by reading out necessary image information as necessary and making it into a file.

  As described above, according to the reading device according to claim 1 of the present invention, a normal image such as personal information recorded on a medium and a special image such as a watermark pattern are alternately read by one scanning scan by the line sensor. Processing time can be shortened by being able to capture on the image surface. In addition, since the image information of each illumination means such as a normal image and a special image is read alternately and separately, the identification rate and recognition rate of each image increase. For example, if the medium is a membership card or a driver's license, Accurate authentication processing is possible.

Further, according to the reading device of the second aspect, for example, for personal information recorded on the medium, one line or several lines of the line are scanned by the reading unit, and the illumination unit 1 is adjusted accordingly. One illuminates from the media surface. Further, by scanning one line or several lines for a watermark pattern or the like formed on the medium, and illuminating one of the other illumination means from the back of the medium accordingly, one of the illumination means When lighting, irradiation on / off switching is performed such that one of the other illumination means is extinguished. By synchronizing light source switching and scanning, image information such as personal information and watermark patterns can be distinguished and captured with high definition. In addition, since it is sufficient to irradiate at least one line area or a plurality of line areas, one of the other illumination means is completely turned off or the illuminance is turned on when one of the illumination means is turned on according to the state. Can be reduced.

According to the reading device of the third aspect, it is not necessary that the irradiation range on the medium is the entire medium during scanning. That is, since the line sensor scans finely alternately for each line, for example, it is sufficient to irradiate only the area on the medium necessary for such line scanning, and the scanning can be performed with high precision. If the watermark pattern or the like is quickly and reliably read at the initial stage of scanning, it is not necessary to scan the entire remaining area of the medium at that stage if it is to determine the authenticity of the medium. That is, the scanning range may be a part of the whole, and the reading time can be shortened accordingly. When a specific example of a medium is a driver's license, it is not necessary to scan the entire area of the driver's license with a line sensor. Can be improved.

According to the reading device of the fourth aspect, if gradation correction is performed with reference to the shading correction table for each image information such as a character recording unit and a watermark pattern, high-definition is performed on the monitor screen or display screen of the host device. Can be displayed clearly, and the judgment work efficiency and the like can be improved.

According to the reading device of the fifth aspect, if one of the illumination means is disposed at a position opposite to the line sensor and the light emitted from the illumination means is transmitted through the medium, the line sensor Since the transmitted light is received from the opposite side, the scanning accuracy can be improved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the case of a medium in which a face photograph is printed with special ink, the special ink is transmitted from the illumination means facing the line sensor as in the fifth aspect. For example, when light of a specific wavelength such as infrared light is irradiated, the facial photographic image does not appear to disappear, and the infrared light is transmitted and the watermark pattern is raised. In this way, when the line sensor detects the presence of special ink, it can be determined that the face photo is not a forgery, such as an affixed copy photo, and that the person is authentic, and the surface is raised. A watermark pattern image can be taken.

Further, according to the reading device of the seventh aspect, when an uneven relief pattern such as embossing is formed on the medium, one illumination angle of the illuminating means is irradiated to the relief pattern obliquely. By doing so, it is possible to acquire a clear and emphasized embossed pattern image in which a shadow is formed.

Further, according to the reading device of claim 8, for example, a device for reading a normal image such as a character record is the same as a device for reading a special image such as a special ink printing unit, a watermark pattern and a raised pattern. This is a device, and maintenance management such as device maintenance is reduced and work efficiency is improved as compared with processing of reading of plural types of images by separate devices.

Further, according to the reading device of the ninth aspect, when the system is connected to a remote device or a host computer which is a host device, a different type of normal image or special image of the read medium is stored as one. By transferring the data as continuous image data to the host device, etc., the increase in traffic can be suppressed and the load can be reduced and the normal image and special image can be completely divided into files by the host device, etc. There is an effect that the image quality can be set and managed so that the identification rate and the recognition rate are not deteriorated by being stored in the dedicated address memory.

According to the reading device of the tenth aspect, from the state where the image information acquired for each illumination unit is stored in one continuous address, for example, the host device is requested to provide the designated image information. In this case, the corresponding image information can be divided and read efficiently from the address, and can be quickly transferred and provided to the host device.

Further, according to the reading device of the eleventh aspect, by storing the image information for each illumination unit on different addresses, information management is facilitated by reading out necessary image information as needed and making it into a file. Become.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a reading apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show an embodiment of a reading apparatus according to the present invention. The apparatus 1 has an image input unit 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the image input unit 10 has a carry-in roller 12 for carrying the medium 2 taken in from the medium take-in port 11 to the reading position, and is vertically opposed to a conveyance path on the downstream side of the carry-in roller 12. The 1st light source 13 and the 2nd light source 14 which are the illumination means said by this invention are arrange | positioned in the position. Further, the line sensor 15 is arranged facing the conveyance path in the form of incorporating the first light source 13. This line sensor 15 is a kind of image sensor, has a photoelectric conversion unit that optically reads one-dimensional image information and converts it into an electrical signal, and is configured using a photodiode as a detection element of the sensor unit. ing. Accordingly, the line sensor 15 records at least one reading line in the sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction when the direction of movement in the transport direction during reading scanning of the medium 2 is the main scanning direction. The image is scanned and moved relative to the medium 2. In this case, high-definition reading is possible from a distance close to or in close contact with the conveyed medium 2.

In addition, a carry-out roller 16 is disposed in the conveyance path on the downstream side of the line sensor 15 so that the medium 2 that has finished scanning is discharged and returned to the return position to the customer. In addition to the carry-in and carry-out rollers 12 and 16, a transport mechanism unit 17 is configured including a drive system such as a transport belt and a drive motor.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the medium 2 is made of paper or synthetic resin formed into a sheet-like card size, and the member number, issue date, member name, and address are recorded in the information recording area on the surface of the medium. A character recording section 2a in which personal information is recorded is provided, and a face photograph section 2b in which a member's own face photograph is printed with special ink is provided. In addition, the base material of the medium 2 has an arbitrary shape when the irradiated light is transmitted, and in the present embodiment, a material is used so that the watermark 2c emerges. In this case, the watermark 2c is spaced evenly over several lines. It is formed with. Further, the material of the medium 2 is preferably a material with little transmitted light spot in order to recognize the character recording portion 2a of personal information. The face photograph portion 2b is provided for personal identification, and is an image printed with special ink that transmits infrared light with special wavelength light, for example, so that SN degradation due to transmitted light spots can be avoided. It is preferable to do.

  For such a medium 2, the first light source 13 irradiates the character recording part 2a and the face photograph part 2b from the surface side of the medium 2 for normal image illumination (hereinafter simply referred to as normal illumination). In this example, a white LED (light emitting diode) is used. The second light source 14 emits infrared light or ultraviolet light (hereinafter referred to as watermark illumination) from the back side of the medium 2 to the face photograph portion 2b and the watermark pattern 2c for special image illumination. It has become.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the apparatus 1 can be configured by the following units connected to the image input unit 10. The control device 18 controls the entire device. The control device 18 controls the operation of the transport mechanism unit 17 including the carry-in / out rollers 12 and 16 for transporting the medium 2 and is a switching means in the present invention. A certain light source switching unit 19 is instructed to turn on and off the first and second light sources 13 and 14. The control device 18 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs necessary control based on a signal of image information read and detected by the line sensor 15, and reads and writes image data and various information for each address. Memory such as ROM and RAM is also provided.

  The light source switching unit 19 is configured by a switch opening / closing circuit including a switch element and a contact for switching the illumination operation of the first and second light sources 13 and 14, and is based on a switching instruction signal from the control device 18. The light source 13 and the second light source 14 are switched by sending an on / off signal. In this case, the light source switching unit 19 turns off the second light source 14 when the first light source 13 is turned on, or turns on the second light source 14 when the first light source 13 is turned off. The line sensor 15 synchronizes with the scanning period for each reading line.

  In addition, the apparatus 1 can include an image information acquisition unit 20. The image information acquisition unit 20 functions as a sampling unit connected to the control device 18, and from the normal image read from the character recording unit 2a of the medium 2 by scanning with the line sensor 15, the face photograph unit 2b, and the watermark pattern 2c. The read special image is captured as one piece of image information that is alternately continuous.

  On the other hand, the apparatus 1 configured as described above can transmit and receive image information data acquired from the medium 2 via an I / F unit (interface), for example, a remote operation or instruction at a remote management center. It can be systematized by connecting to a host computer of the host device 30 or the like.

The host device 30 can be configured by, for example, the following units to execute the following processing. The host device 30 includes an image division processing unit 31, and one continuous image information in which normal images and special images alternately captured by the image information acquisition unit 20 of the reading device 1 are included in the image division processing unit 31. It is transferred as image data. The image division processing unit 31 can perform division processing into one original normal image and special image from one transferred image data. By transferring one continuous image information in which the normal image and the special image are alternated as one image data from the reading device 1 to the remote host device 30, the overhead is shortened as much as possible, and the speed is increased. The increase in the number of sent and received traffic is suppressed. In such an image division processing unit 31, the divided normal image and special image can be displayed as separate image data on a monitor screen (not shown) of the display unit, and the file generation process can be performed. That is, in the image division processing unit 31, the normal image read from the character recording unit 2a as the personal information recording unit and the special image read from the special ink printed face photo unit 2b for authenticity determination and the watermark pattern 2c are each completely completed. By dividing the file into files, the image quality can be easily set and the data processing efficiency is improved. Overhead generally refers to processing in which basic software manages programs and controls hardware, and the time spent for this is called overhead time.

In addition, the host device 30 includes a shading correction unit 32, and refers to a shading correction table for each image data of a normal image and a special image divided into files by the image division processing unit 31. Tone correction (contrast adjustment) can be performed. Furthermore, the host device 20 includes a medium authenticity determination unit 33. In the medium authenticity determination unit 33, based on the normal image and the special image that have been tone-corrected by the shading correction unit 32, that is, the normal image of the character recording unit 2a, and the special image of the face photograph unit 2b and the watermark pattern 2c, It is determined whether the medium 2 such as a membership card is genuine or counterfeit. The determination result of the medium authenticity determination unit 24 can be displayed on a monitor screen or the like, and the operator can check the screen display contents in a management center or the like equipped with the host device 30.

  Next, the operation of the reading apparatus according to the above-described embodiment will be described based on the time chart of FIG. 4 and the flowchart of FIG.

  First, when it is detected that the medium 2 has been taken in from the medium take-in port 11 of the image input unit 10, the carry-in roller 12 is driven to carry the medium 2 (step: S1). The medium detection sensor (not shown) monitors whether the medium 2 has entered the scanning start section, that is, the imaging section by the line sensor 15 (step: S2), and when it enters (Yes), scanning by the line sensor 15 is synchronized with the timing. Start, that is, imaging is started (step: S3). In synchronization therewith, the first light source 13 of the normal illumination is turned on by receiving the ON signal from the light source switching unit 21, and the character recording unit 2a is normally illuminated by irradiating white light from the surface side of the medium 2. The line sensor 15 scans and reads a normal image from the character recording unit 2a in synchronization with the illumination (step: S4).

  In step S5, in the sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction that is the conveyance direction of the medium 2, the light source is matched with the scanning cycle in which the line sensor 15 moves from the first reading line to the second reading line. In response to the ON signal from the switching unit 21, the second light source 14 is turned on and lights up. This second light source 14 illuminates irradiation from the back side of the medium 2 with infrared light, which is a specific example of light of a specific wavelength referred to in the present invention, as watermark illumination means (step: S6). In synchronization with the watermark illumination by the infrared light irradiation, the line sensor 15 reads and scans the face photograph portion 2b and the watermark pattern 2c (step: S7). When the watermark illumination by the second light source 14 is turned on, the normal illumination by the first light source 13 is turned off. In this way, the normal illumination by the first light source 13 and the watermark illumination by the second light source 14 are alternated, and one continuous image information in which two types of normal images and special images are alternately connected is acquired by imaging. .

In the next step S8, the control device 18 monitors whether or not the line photographic part 2b and the watermark pattern 2c are imaged by the line sensor 15, and the scanning of the area of the face photographic part 2b and the watermark pattern 2c is performed. If completed (No), it is monitored whether or not the medium 2 passes through the imaging section and is discharged from the carry-out roller 16 (step: S9). When it is detected that the imaging section has been passed (No), imaging by scanning is terminated (step: S10), the illumination is turned off, and a series of medium recognition processing is terminated (step: S11).

  During the processing in the above steps or after the processing is completed, the authenticity determination of the read medium 2 is executed as follows.

As shown in the face photograph image example of FIG. 6, in this case, when the line sensor 15 moves once in the main scanning direction, the first light source 13 performs normal illumination on the first line of the reading line. At the line, watermark illumination is performed by the second light source 14, and normal illumination and watermark illumination are alternately performed every other line. The image information acquisition unit 20 acquires continuous image information in which the normal image of the character recording unit 2a read by the line sensor 15 and the special image of the face photograph unit 2b and the watermark pattern 2c are alternately continuous. Since the scanning end point from the scanning start end of one line is determined between the start flag and the end flag, continuous image information in which a normal image for one line and a special image for one line are connected for each start flag and end flag is obtained. Can do. The image information acquisition unit 20 converts the acquired continuous image information into one image data for transfer, and transfers it to the image division processing unit 31 in the remote host device 30. The image division processing unit 31 completely divides the transferred image data into an initial normal image and a special image from the respective start flag and end flag, executes processing such as file creation, and writes it to the address memory. Store. In addition, the shading correction unit 32 reads, for example, a normal image or a special image from such a memory for each image, and corrects it by dark part compensation or the like with reference to the shading correction table.

Next, the medium authenticity determination unit 33 determines whether the medium 2 such as the member card is authentic or counterfeit based on the special images of the face photograph part 2b and the watermark pattern 2c that have been subjected to the shading correction. At this time, as shown in FIG. 7 (a) and FIG. 7 (b), the face photograph image of the face photograph portion 2b (FIG. 7a) and the watermark pattern image of the watermark pattern 2c (FIG. 7b) are separated. If displayed, it is possible to clearly identify the face photograph image and the watermark pattern image, and the presence / absence check becomes very easy, and it is possible to efficiently determine whether the image is genuine or counterfeit.

That is, since the watermark illumination emitted from the second light source 14 is infrared light, the medium authenticity determination unit 33 determines that the medium 2 is an authentic card if it can be confirmed that the face photograph image of the face photograph part 2b has disappeared. It is judged that. At this time, since the face photograph image disappears in the face photograph portion 2b, an image in which the watermark pattern 2c is embedded is obtained, so that the watermark pattern 2c can be easily recognized. On the other hand, for example, in the case of a forged member card in which a watermark pattern 2c exists but a photograph copied to the face photograph portion 2b is pasted, the face photograph image is not lost in the image obtained from the watermark pattern 2c. That is, since the watermark pattern 2c is buried in the pasted copy photo, it is difficult to recognize whether or not the watermark pattern 2c exists. Therefore, the medium authenticity determination unit 33 can easily determine that the medium 2 is counterfeit. In addition, the character recognition unit 2a other than the face photograph unit 2b can obtain an image of the watermark pattern 2c. In this way, if the watermark pattern 2c is checked and the watermark pattern 2c is confirmed, the medium authenticity determination unit 33 can determine that the card is an authentic card. Since the character recording portion 2a is not printed with special ink that transmits infrared light, the most effective illumination can be used to make the watermark pattern 2c stand out.

As described above, in this embodiment, the face photograph image of the face photograph portion 2b printed with the special ink is detected, the watermark image of the watermark pattern 2c is detected, and the character recognition image of the character recording portion 2a is detected. The reading scanning in the three stages of detection can be performed by only one scanning operation of the line sensor 15, and the processing time is simply reduced to 1/3 as compared with the case of reading scanning separately. The

In addition, in the case where the illumination from the first light source 13 is performed with color illumination, it is necessary to switch between red, green, and blue color illuminations. The processing time can be reduced to about 33% compared to the conventional 200%. The present invention states that when the first light source 13 is turned on, the second light source 14 can be turned off or dimmed, or vice versa. In this way, it is possible to reduce the illuminance of one of the illuminating means to reduce the illuminance, and the normal illumination by the first light source 13 and the watermark illumination by the second light source 14 are turned off at the same time. Thus, if appropriate shading correction is performed, the disappearance of the facial photographic image can be confirmed, and the processing time can be reduced by setting in this way.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, the following embodiments are also possible.

As shown in FIG. 2, as the plurality of illumination means in the present invention, the two structures of the first and second light sources 13 and 14 are shown. However, visible light, infrared light, passports and bills are used. An embodiment in which a third light source for alternately irradiating irradiation light having different wavelengths such as ultraviolet light effective for identification, and further, fourth, fifth,.

Further, as in each of the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the control and the structure for alternately switching the normal illumination by the first light source 13 and the watermark illumination by the second light source 14 for each line. For example, if a normal image by the character recording unit 2a is acquired in the region from the first line to the third line, the special image of the face photograph unit 2b and the watermark pattern 2c is not necessarily acquired in the third line. It is not necessary to perform scanning scanning that alternates one line.

In addition, when the medium 2 has a relief pattern formed by unevenness as in embossing, the irradiation by one of the first and second light sources 13 and 14 is given an angle, and the relief pattern is slanted. Irradiate from. An embodiment is also possible in which a shadow is formed on the embossed pattern, and an embossed image of the embossed pattern can be acquired by scanning the shadow so that identification and recognition can be easily performed at the time of determination or the like.

Further, as an example of the medium, in addition to the membership card, for example, in the driver's license shown in FIG. . In addition, although an example in which light of a specific wavelength such as white light or infrared light is transmitted and detected is shown, a medium or special ink that absorbs the specific wavelength can also be imaged. In addition, a wavelength pattern that is difficult to capture with normal illumination, such as a tint block formed on a medium, can be highlighted using extraction illumination that matches that wavelength. In addition, even when the front side of the medium is printed with special ink and the back side is printed with normal ink, the image can be captured simultaneously with one image scanner, that is, the line sensor of this example, and the image by the transmitted light from the back side. Can be obtained.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, in the image data transfer destination host device 30 or another remote device, the image division processing unit 31 uses the normal image of the character recording unit 2a, the face photograph unit 2b, and the watermark pattern 2c. Although a mode has been described in which the special image is completely separated and filed, the image division processing unit 31 may be provided in the apparatus 1 instead of the host apparatus side. In this case, one image data acquired by the present apparatus 1 is stored in the address, and when the host apparatus 30 or the like is requested to provide information on the special image of the face photograph portion 2b or the watermark pattern 2c, that is, the medium 2 In a case where it is not necessary to obtain all of the entire information, an embodiment in which only the face photo image and watermark image read from the address are transferred to the host device 30 with a minimum capacity and at a high speed is also possible. It is.

Further, the obtained one image data is divided into a normal image by white light irradiation from the first light source 13 and a special image by infrared light irradiation from the second light source 14, and for each of the illumination means. It can also be filed by storing it on multiple corresponding addresses. Accordingly, an embodiment in which only necessary image information of the normal image and the special image is read at any time and the information management is made efficient is possible.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to a few embodiments, and various other embodiments and combinations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The functional block diagram which shows the structure of the reader of embodiment by this invention. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically illustrating a configuration of an image input unit according to the embodiment. The membership card which is an example of a medium of an embodiment. The time chart of embodiment. The operation | movement flowchart of embodiment. The figure which shows the aspect by which normal illumination and watermark illumination were alternately performed in the partially enlarged face photograph image acquired from the medium face photograph part of embodiment. The figure (a), (b) is a figure which shows the face photo image and watermark part image which were isolate | separated of embodiment. Driver's license shown as another medium example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reader 2 Member card of medium example 2a Character information part 2b Face photograph part 2c Watermark pattern 10 Image input part 11 Medium inlet 12 Medium carry-in roller 13 1st light source (illuminating means)
14 Second light source (illumination means)
15 Line sensor 16 Unloading roller 17 Conveying mechanism 18 Control device 19 Light source switching unit (switching means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Image information acquisition part 30 Host apparatus 31 Image division process part 32 Shading correction part 33 Medium authenticity determination part

Claims (11)

  A plurality of illuminating means for illuminating the same medium, one line sensor for capturing each piece of image information based on light emitted from each illuminating means, and a switching means for switching the illumination operation of the plurality of illuminating means, A switching device, wherein the switching means switches between the plurality of illumination means for every predetermined number of lines, and the line sensor captures image information of each illumination means on the same image plane.   The switching means performs switching for turning off or dimming the other illumination means when one of the plurality of illumination means is turned on in synchronization with the scanning cycle of the line sensor, for each line or a plurality of lines. The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reading is alternately performed every time.   The reading apparatus according to 1 or 2, wherein an irradiation range of the plurality of illumination units is an entire area or an arbitrary partial area of the medium.   The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shading correction table is switched in accordance with irradiation by the plurality of illumination units.   Any one of the plurality of illuminating means is disposed at a position facing the line sensor, and the line sensor can scan the light emitted from the one illuminating means and transmitted through the medium. The reading device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The light transmitted through the medium has a specific wavelength, and a printing unit using special ink that transmits, reflects, or absorbs the specific wavelength light is provided. From one of the illumination units provided at a position facing the line sensor The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the line sensor detects special ink in the printing unit during scanning for each line and picks up an image of the special ink by scanning. .   6. The image emphasizing the embossed pattern is obtained by irradiating the embossed pattern formed on the medium while changing one irradiation angle of the plurality of illumination units. The reading device according to any one of the above. The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation for acquiring each piece of image information by the plurality of illumination units can be turned on and off by the same apparatus. Each piece of image information acquired for each of the plurality of illumination means is transferred as one continuous image data to a remote device or a host device, and the device divides the received image data into each piece of image information for each illumination means. The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each process of screen display, file creation, and storage is performed separately. Each piece of image information acquired for each of the plurality of lighting means is stored on one continuous address, and each piece of image information for each lighting means is divided and read from the address at the time of transfer to the remote device or host device. The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 9. The reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each piece of image information acquired for each of the plurality of illumination units is divided and stored for each illumination unit on a plurality of continuous addresses. .