JP2006167986A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus which selects or generates secrecy information from secret level information and personal authentication in the case of outputting a copy and embeds the information as an electronic watermark into an image of the copy to be outputted, and which reads electronic watermark information embedded in the image in the case of reading the image of the copy and determines corresponding processing on the basis of the read electronic watermark information. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming apparatus has a living body authentication means and an electronic watermark generating means. The image forming apparatus realized includes a control means which selects or generates the secrecy information from personal information autheticated by the authentication means, sends the selected or generated secrecy information to the electronic watermark generating means, thereby controlling to embed the secrecy information as the electronic watermark in the image of the hard copy. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a facsimile machine, a scanner and a multifunction machine having a printer function.

  Many proposals have been made for managing the use of the image forming apparatus and maintaining confidentiality of documents processed by the image forming apparatus in response to the growing social needs.

  For example, there are known devices that require a user to input a password or input a fingerprint from a fingerprint reading unit prior to use of the image forming apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in order to deal with unauthorized copying of valuable materials such as banknotes and securities, or confidential documents unique to the user with a mark such as top secret, the image formation of the object that is prohibited from copying is imaged in advance. It is known that copying is prohibited or information related to copying at that time is saved so that it can be traced later when the image stored in the apparatus matches the characteristics of the stored image. (For example, see Patent Document 2).

  However, in order to keep the unique confidential information that the user outputs or owns more safely, the above-described method is not sufficient. When a copy with a digital watermark is embedded again, the watermark information embedded in the copy is read first, and a pre-set correspondence based on the result, for example, a copy prohibition is proposed (For example, refer to Patent Document 3).

However, each user has their own confidential information, and the documents to be handled are highly confidential, such as confidential documents, and low ones that want to limit the transmission range of information to some extent. There are various inconveniences when all of these are handled uniformly.
JP 2000-276018 A (first page) JP-A-8-9147 (page 1-2) JP 2004-72343 A (page 2-4)

  The present invention has been made in view of the situation as described above. When a copy is output, the confidential level information corresponding to the level of confidentiality of the confidential information to be output and personal authentication are used to conceal the information. When selecting or generating information and embedding the confidential information as an electronic watermark in an output copy image and reading the copy image, the electronic watermark information embedded in the image is read and read An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus that determines a corresponding process based on watermark information.

The above problems are solved by realizing the following claims.
(Claim 1)
An image forming apparatus having biometric authentication means and digital watermark generation means,
From the personal information authenticated by the biometric authentication means, select or generate confidential information,
Image formation comprising: control means for controlling to embed the confidential information as a digital watermark in a hard copy image by sending the selected or generated confidential information to the digital watermark generating means apparatus.
(Claim 2)
The control means includes security level information input from the operation display means of the image forming apparatus,
From the personal information authenticated by the biometric authentication means,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein secret information is selected or generated.
(Claim 3)
A digital watermark generation means for embedding confidential information selected or generated based on at least one of confidential level information and personal information input corresponding to a manuscript as a digital watermark in a hard copy image;
Digital watermark reading means for reading the digital watermark embedded in the hard copy;
Control for determining whether or not to output a hard copy based on at least one of the digital watermark decrypting means for decrypting the confidential information of the digital watermark read and the confidential level information obtained by the decryption and personal information Means,
An image forming apparatus comprising:
(Claim 4)
Providing biometric authentication means;
The control means includes
Personal information of the user authenticated by the biometric authentication means;
At least one information of confidential level information and personal information obtained by being read by the electronic watermark reading means and decrypted by the electronic watermark decoding means;
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein whether or not to output a hard copy is determined based on the information.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, by authenticating an individual through biometric authentication, a user who uses the image forming apparatus is managed, and further, based on personal information of a user who has been authenticated and permitted to use. In addition, the confidential information selected from the secret confidential information file or the confidential information obtained by encryption based on the personal information of the authenticated user is embedded as a digital watermark in the output copy image. An image forming apparatus capable of protecting personal information even when the digital watermark itself is read by the image forming apparatus is provided.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the function of the above-described image forming apparatus, there is a function of selecting or generating confidential information based on personal information and confidential level information input by the user during use. Since it is added, it is possible to embed a digital watermark corresponding to the level of confidentiality to be retained and the authority possessed by the individual in the output copy image.

According to invention of Claim 3,
An electronic watermark generation means for embedding confidential information selected or generated based on at least one of confidential level information and personal information input corresponding to a manuscript as an electronic watermark in a hard copy image, and hard copy A digital watermark reading means for reading the digital watermark embedded therein, a digital watermark decoding means for decoding the confidential information possessed by the read digital watermark, and the confidential level information obtained by the decoding, and at least of the personal information Based on one piece of information, an image forming apparatus that defines a corresponding process is realized.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, permission or non-permission of copying of confidential documents is determined based on the confidential level of the document and personal information, so that confidentiality settings suitable for the user's usage environment can be set. An image forming apparatus is realized.

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

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a digital image forming apparatus G according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus G has an automatic document feeder A at the upper part of the main body. The main body includes an image reading unit 1, an image writing unit 2, an image forming unit 3, an operation display unit 4, a paper feeding unit 5, a paper discharge unit. The sheet feeding unit 6, the fixing unit 7, the biological information input unit 8, the control unit C1, and the like are included.

  The automatic document feeder A feeds 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 information. 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 sensor 26 is A / D converted in the image processing unit of the control unit C1, subjected to processing such as shading correction and image compression, and stored as image data in the memory M.

  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 M 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.

  The operation display means 4 is a touch panel, which is a means for sending instruction information to the control means C1 when the user touches a predetermined position on the screen while viewing the displayed characters or figures, and is widely used. Is.

  The biometric information input means 8 is a fingerprint reading device that is a known technical means, and puts a finger designated by the user, for example, the index finger of the right hand on the reading portion of the biometric information input means 8 to characterize the fingerprint. The read fingerprint information is sent to the control means C1. The sent fingerprint information is processed by biometric authentication means, which is a program, to identify an individual. In the present embodiment, fingerprints are used as the biological information, but other biological information including voice may be used.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control relationship of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The control means C1 is a computer system including a CPU, a memory M, an arithmetic unit, an I / O port, a communication interface, etc. (not shown), and also has a circuit for driving each means. Yes. Each means is controlled by executing the program stored in the memory M.

  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 block diagram showing the flow of processing by each means according to the present invention. 3A shows a concept of a flow of processing for embedding predetermined information as a digital watermark in a copy image output from the image forming apparatus G, and FIG. 3B shows a case where the digital watermark is embedded. 3 shows a flow of processing for reading out embedded information from an image of a document.

  The secret information here means a character or a figure embedded as a digital watermark in an output copy image. Such secret information is selected or generated based on authenticated personal information. For example, when selecting, predetermined secret information is obtained by referring to a table in which a password or a figure corresponding to a personal code is registered in advance.

  When generating confidential information, for example, based on a personal code, characters and figures provided in advance are encrypted to be confidential information. As the encryption method, an appropriate method such as a public key method can be selected.

  The method of embedding the digital watermark of the confidential information by the digital watermark means is also a known technique, and an appropriate method can be selected.

  FIG. 4 is obtained by adding a flow as indicated by a dotted line referring to the confidential level information input from the operation display means 4 when selecting or generating confidential information to the conceptual diagram of FIG. .

  In this case, when secret information is generated, confidential level information input from the operation display unit 4 is referred to in addition to the authenticated personal information input from the biometric information input unit 8. The secret level here means a level in which the user has previously hierarchized the secret level or limited the transmission range, and is set in the memory M in the form of a table. For example, the highest confidentiality level prohibits all copying, the intermediate level prohibits copying of people other than managers or other than the designated department, and the lower level is copying of non-employees Levels such as prohibiting are performed, and a numerical value or sign representing each confidential level is provided. It should be noted that these level divisions are desirably set by the user himself / herself so as to suit the usage of the user's image forming apparatus.

  The method for selecting or generating the confidential information from the confidential level information is the same as that for the personal information described above. Further, new information may be generated from personal information and confidential level information, and confidential information may be selected or generated from this information.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in which the image forming apparatus G that selects or generates confidential information shown in FIG. 4A embeds a digital watermark in a copy image.

  First, the user places a predetermined finger on the biometric information input means 8 and inputs biometric information as fingerprint information (step S1). The input biometric information is sent to the control means C1, and biometric authentication that is a program is executed to perform biometric authentication that identifies an individual from the biometric information (step S2: Y). When an individual is specified, related personal information is extracted from a personal information file provided in the memory M in advance (step S3). If it is confirmed by confirmation of the personal information that the person is permitted to use the image forming apparatus G (step S4: Y), the operation display unit 4 receives a message prompting the input of confidential level information. Is displayed.

  When the user inputs confidential level information from the operation display means 4 (step S5), the confidential information selection (generation) means that is a program includes predetermined information included in the personal information, such as a password, and confidential level information, for example, Secret information is selected from a secret information file provided in advance from information such as confidential information, or secret information is generated from information such as a password and confidential information (step S6).

  When the confidential information is selected or generated, the document placed on the automatic document feeder A is sent out, and the document image is read by the image reading means 1 (step S7). The original image is temporarily stored in a predetermined area in the memory M of the control means C1, and then called by the digital watermark embedding means, and the above-mentioned selected or generated confidential information is embedded as an electronic watermark in the original image. (Step S8).

  The document image in which the confidential information is embedded is processed as an output image and sent to the image writing means 2 (step S9).

  By such a flow process, the image forming apparatus G outputs a hard copy having an image in which confidential information is embedded as a digital watermark.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the image forming apparatus G shown in FIG. 4B that reads a document in which confidential information is embedded and determines a corresponding process.

  First, the user places a predetermined finger on the biometric information input means 8 and inputs biometric information that is fingerprint information (step S20). The input biometric information is sent to the control means C1, and biometric authentication that is a program is executed to perform biometric authentication that identifies an individual from the biometric information (step S21: Y). When an individual is specified, related personal information is extracted from a personal information file provided in the memory M in advance (step S22). If it is confirmed by confirmation of the personal information that the person is permitted to use the image forming apparatus G (step S23: Y), a message permitting copying is displayed on the operation display means 4, A document image is read (step S24). The read original image is temporarily stored in a predetermined area in the memory M of the control means C1, and then called again by the electronic watermark reading means. Whether there is confidential information embedded in the original image as the electronic watermark. Is determined (step S25). If there is confidential information (step S25: Y), the confidential information is decrypted by the confidential information decoding means (step S26). The secret information decoding method of the secret information decoding means corresponds to the secret information selection (generation) method adopted by the secret information selection (generation) means.

  Personal information that has already been authenticated and acquired, and personal information and confidential level information obtained by decrypting the confidential information correspond to the confidential information processing file provided in advance. Processing is determined (step S27). For example, when the confidential level information “copy prohibited” is embedded as confidential information as a digital watermark from the read original, the image forming apparatus G prohibits copy output of the original. If it is controlled and the confidential level is confidential, it is determined from the personal information whether the individual is a person in the department, and permission or non-permission of copy output is determined.

  Also, from the personal information of the authenticated individual, all copy output is permitted or not permitted, or copy output is permitted or not permitted based on the set confidentiality level. You may do it. In addition, a copy output form, for example, information transfer to another apparatus, a standard for limiting the number of hard copies to be output, and the like may be provided to determine whether copy output is permitted or not permitted.

  If copy permission is determined (step S28: Y), a copy permission flag is set (step S29) and the process routine is exited.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control relationship of the image forming apparatus. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the flow of the process by each means. It is a block diagram which shows the flow of a process by each means when security level information is added. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process which embeds a digital watermark in a copy image. It is a flowchart which shows the flow which reads a digital watermark and determines a corresponding | compatible process.

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 8 Biometric information input means A Automatic document feeder C1 Control means G Image forming apparatus M Memory

Claims (4)

An image forming apparatus having biometric authentication means and digital watermark generation means,
From the personal information authenticated by the biometric authentication means, select or generate confidential information,
Image formation comprising: control means for controlling to embed the confidential information as a digital watermark in a hard copy image by sending the selected or generated confidential information to the digital watermark generating means apparatus. The control means includes security level information input from the operation display means of the image forming apparatus,
From the personal information authenticated by the biometric authentication means,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein secret information is selected or generated. A digital watermark generation means for embedding confidential information selected or generated based on at least one of confidential level information and personal information input corresponding to a manuscript as a digital watermark in a hard copy image;
Digital watermark reading means for reading the digital watermark embedded in the hard copy;
Control for determining whether or not to output a hard copy based on at least one of the digital watermark decrypting means for decrypting the confidential information of the digital watermark read and the confidential level information obtained by the decryption and personal information Means,
An image forming apparatus comprising: Providing biometric authentication means;
The control means includes
Personal information of the user authenticated by the biometric authentication means;
At least one information of confidential level information and personal information obtained by being read by the electronic watermark reading means and decrypted by the electronic watermark decoding means;
4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein whether or not to output a hard copy is determined based on the information.

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