JP2007215106A - Image judgment apparatus and image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To confirm whether operation to read a specific image included in an input image is normally performed. <P>SOLUTION: When initiating or resetting the apparatus, image data of a prestored specific image are read out and these image data are outputted to an image processing unit. A device control unit determines whether the input image data are image data of the specific image. When the specific image is detected, it is confirmed that the apparatus is operated normally, and an image processing operation is allowed. When the specific image cannot be detected, the presence of an abnormality is determined. The operation of the apparatus is restricted and the occurrence of the abnormality is notified. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus having a security function for restricting processing such as copying by determining the presence or absence of a specific image representing checking information such as copy prohibition in an input image.

  Various information is recorded on documents such as manuscripts and certificates. In order to protect the security of this information, for example, measures such as prohibiting unauthorized copying are taken. In view of this, the image processing apparatus protects information by providing a security function for prohibiting copying of confidential documents.

For example, as described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in order to execute copy prohibition, a specific image representing restraint information such as copy prohibition is added and recorded in the confidential document. The image processing apparatus reads an image of a confidential document and determines whether the read image includes a specific image. When a specific image is detected, copying is prohibited.
JP 2000-165575 A JP 2001-189855 A

  As described above, the image processing apparatus has an image determination apparatus that determines whether a specific image is included in the input image. This image determination apparatus operates when an image is input. Therefore, when used for a long period of time, even if an abnormality occurs in the image determination apparatus, there is a risk of using it without noticing. If the image determination apparatus does not operate normally, unauthorized copying is performed and information is leaked.

  Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the operation of the image determination apparatus. The service person can confirm the operation by actually operating it using a dedicated document. However, the user cannot confirm himself / herself and may continue to use the device even though it is not operating normally, which is not preferable in terms of security.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that can easily perform an operation check of an image determination apparatus and can always perform a normal operation.

  The present invention relates to a determination unit that determines whether a specific image is included in an input image, a generation unit that generates a specific image, and an operation confirmation unit that confirms whether the determination unit can detect the generated specific image. It is equipped with.

  In response to an instruction from the operation confirmation unit, the generation unit generates a specific image, and the specific image is output to the determination unit. The determination unit determines whether the input image is a specific image. If it can be determined that the image is a specific image, it can be confirmed that the image determination is operating normally. When the specific image cannot be determined, it can be confirmed that the image determination operation is abnormal.

  The operation confirmation unit issues an instruction to the generation unit at a time other than the time of image input. For example, the generating means generates a specific image at the time of starting or resetting. Therefore, when an image is input and processed, it can be ensured that the image determination is operating normally, and a specific image can be detected.

  Here, the generation of the specific image by the generation means is to output the image data of the specific image to the determination means. Therefore, the generating means has image data of a specific image. By outputting the image data to the determining means, a specific image is generated. Alternatively, the generation unit includes a test board on which a specific image is formed, reads the specific image on the test board, and generates the image data. Then, the image data of the specific image is output to the determination unit. This also means that the generation means has generated a specific image. In this way, image determination is performed based on the actually input specific image. Along with this, it is possible to check the operation of image determination.

  An image processing apparatus that performs image determination includes processing control means for restricting image processing when a specific image is included in an input image. Therefore, when it is confirmed that the specific image has been detected as a result of the operation confirmation, an operation determining means is provided that permits the operation on the image. That is, when it is confirmed as normal as a result of the operation check, a series of operations from input of the image to processing and output can be executed. If the input image includes a specific image, image processing such as copy prohibition and image data output prohibition is restricted. When the specific image is not included, such regulation is not performed.

  On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the specific image cannot be detected, the operation determining means restricts the operation on the image and informs the outside that the specific image cannot be detected. As a result of the operation check, when it is confirmed that there is an abnormality, even if a specific image is included in the input image, this cannot be detected. In such a case, since there is a security problem, the operation from image input to output must be restricted.

  When the image determination is performed by actually inputting the specific image, the operation determination unit confirms that the specific image cannot be detected, and notifies the outside as an abnormality of the image input unit. That is, the fact that the specific image cannot be detected as a result of the operation confirmation using the actual specific image can be clarified that the image is not input correctly. Therefore, the cause of the abnormality can be specifically notified.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily check whether image determination for detecting a specific image operates normally. Therefore, since normal image determination can always be performed, it is possible to execute operations such as copy prohibition based on a specific image. Therefore, the user can use the device with peace of mind, and the security of the device can be improved.

  An image processing apparatus of this embodiment is shown in FIG. The image processing apparatus is a digital multi-function peripheral having a copy mode, a printer mode, a scanner mode, and a facsimile mode, and includes an image reading unit 1 that reads a document and inputs image data, an operation unit 2 that receives user input, An image forming unit 3 that prints input image data, a hard disk device 4 that stores image data, a communication unit 5 that performs data communication with an external device, and a FAX modem 7 that communicates with a facsimile device 6 A management unit 8 that stores control information and setting information for the entire apparatus, and a device control unit 9 that controls the entire apparatus.

  The image reading unit 1 functions as an image input unit that inputs an image, and includes an image sensor such as a CCD 10 and a document detection sensor 11 that detects a document set on a document table or an automatic document feeder (ADF). Image data of an image read by the CCD 10 is output to the image forming unit 3.

  The operation unit 2 includes an input unit 12 including various input keys and a display unit 13 such as a liquid crystal display. The operation unit 2 operates the entire apparatus and inputs various settings, and displays input contents and the operation status of the entire apparatus. Is done.

  The image forming unit 3 includes a local memory 20 for storing input image data, a printing unit 21 having a laser scanning unit, a paper feeding unit 22 having a manual feed tray and a cassette tray, and a discharge unit having a paper discharge tray. A paper portion 23. As the local memory 20, a readable / writable semiconductor memory such as an SDRAM or a flash memory is used. The local memory 20 is divided into an area for storing input image data and an area for storing image data for output. Instead of dividing and using one local memory 20, two local memories 20 may be used for input and output, respectively.

  The input image data is stored in the local memory 20. The local memory 20 stores image data by overwriting old image data with new image data. The image data is subjected to image processing such as compression, expansion, and processing by the image processing unit 24 and is stored in the local memory 20. The image processed image data is output to the printing unit 21, the hard disk device 4, or the device control unit 9. The printing unit 21 prints an image on a recording sheet supplied from the paper feeding unit 22 based on the image data stored in the local memory 20.

  In this way, printing and outputting an image is one of the processes of the input image, and therefore the image forming unit 3 functions as an image processing unit together with the image processing unit 24.

  The communication unit 5 is connected to a router, a switching hub, and the like via a LAN cable, and is connected to a network formed by the information processing apparatus 30 such as a personal computer or a server. The network is connected to the Internet via a communication line such as a telephone line network or an optical fiber. The communication unit 5 transmits / receives data to / from the information processing apparatus 30 in the network, and transmits / receives data and electronic mail to / from the external information processing apparatus 30 and the facsimile apparatus 31 via the Internet. The FAX modem 7 is connected to the telephone line network via a telephone line, and performs facsimile communication with the external facsimile apparatus 6. Thus, since image data is input through the communication unit 5 or the FAX modem 7, these also function as image input means. Further, since transmitting image data to the outside is one of the processes of the input image, the communication unit 5 and the FAX modem 7 function as image processing means.

  When there is an input from the operation unit 2 or a data input from an external device, the device control unit 9 controls each unit based on information stored in the management unit 8 and processes the input image data. That is, any one of a copy mode, a printer mode, a scanner mode, and a facsimile mode is executed on the input image data, and the input image data is output in a desired form.

  The hard disk device 4 is storage means for temporarily storing image data. When the image data is stored in the hard disk device 4 by the encryption / decryption unit 25, the image data is encrypted. When image data is read from the hard disk device 4, the image data is decoded.

  Further, the hard disk device 4 stores management information regarding data processing as data other than image data. The management information includes filing management information, transmission destination management information, and history management information. The filing management information is a list of files in which input image data is stored. The transmission destination management information is a list of transmission destinations in facsimile communication. The history management information is a list of executed processing contents.

  An erasing unit 32 for erasing image data of the hard disk device 4 is provided. The image data to be erased is data stored in the processing work area. The device control unit 9 controls the operation of the erasing unit 32 after processing and outputting the image data. The erasure means 32 overwrites random data or meaningless data, or erases the data to make the stored image data unreadable so that the original image cannot be reproduced. To do. Note that the erasing unit 32 may also invalidate the image data by erasing the old image data by overwriting or erasing the image data in the local memory 20. The management information stored in the hard disk device 4 is not deleted unless there is a command from the device control unit 9.

  Next, the operation when each mode is executed will be described. First, in the copy mode, image data of a document read by the image reading unit 1 is output as a copy from the image forming unit 3. Specifically, the image of the original set at the reading position is read by the CCD 10. The image data output from the CCD 10 is subjected to image processing on the local memory 20 by the image processing unit 24 and completed as an output image. Once transferred from the local memory 20 to the hard disk device 4, it is stored. When there are a plurality of documents, the reading and storing operations are repeated.

  Thereafter, based on the processing contents instructed from the operation unit 2, the image data stored in the hard disk device 4 is sequentially read out at an appropriate timing and sent to the local memory 20. The image data is transferred from the local memory 20 to the printing unit 21 in accordance with the writing timing to the printing unit 21, and the image is printed on the sheet material supplied from the paper feeding unit 22. 23 is discharged.

  Similarly, when printing a plurality of read image data, the image data is stored in the hard disk device 4 in units of pages as output images, and sent from the hard disk device 4 to the local memory 20 in accordance with the output mode. The image data in the local memory 20 is repeated for the number of output sheets, and transferred to the printing unit 21 in accordance with the writing timing to the printing unit 21.

  In the printer mode, the image data output from the information processing apparatus 30 is output from the image forming unit 3. That is, the image data from the information processing apparatus 30 is received by the communication unit 5. The device control unit 9 sends the input image data to the local memory 20, develops it as image data to be output for each page, and temporarily stores it in the hard disk device 4. Then, the image data is sent from the hard disk device 4 to the local memory 20 and transferred to the printing unit 21 in the same manner as in the copy mode, and the image is printed on the sheet material.

  In the scanner mode, the image data of the document read by the image reading unit 1 is communicated to an arbitrary information processing apparatus 30 through a network. That is, the image data output from the CCD 10 is processed on the local memory 20 to be completed as an output image, and is temporarily stored in the hard disk device 4. Then, when transmitting, the image data is sent from the hard disk device 4 to the local memory 20, and the device control unit 9 establishes communication with the transmission destination in the network designated via the operation unit 2, and the communication unit 5. To send the image data to the desired destination. Further, the image data is transmitted to the external information processing apparatus 30 and the facsimile apparatus 31 from the network via the network by the communication unit 5. Further, the device control unit 9 transmits image data from the FAX modem 7 to the facsimile apparatus 6 through a telephone line by the same operation in the facsimile mode.

  When the processing of the image input from the image input unit is completed as described above, the erasing unit 32 erases the image data stored in the hard disk device 4.

  The image processing apparatus includes an image determination apparatus that determines the presence or absence of a specific image in the input image. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the device control unit 9 performs an image determination unit 40 that determines whether or not a specific image is included in the input image, and a processing operation for the input image according to the determination result. And a processing control means 41 for determining. The specific image is an image representing check information such as copy prohibition and output prohibition. For example, the image is a combination of characters such as “copy prohibited” and “confidential” and a predetermined pattern. Or the image of only a character and the image of only a predetermined pattern may be sufficient. Image data for such a specific image is input in advance and stored in the hard disk device 4 or a nonvolatile memory.

  The image determination unit 40 compares the image data of the input image with the image data of the specific image, and when the image data corresponding to the specific image is detected in the input image data, the specific image is included. When it cannot be detected, it is determined that the specific image is not included. That is, the image determination means 40 constitutes a part of the image determination device.

  The determination result of the image determination unit 40 is output to the process control unit 41. The process control means 41 regulates the process for the input image when the specific image is included. Depending on the instructed mode, copying is prohibited, image data transmission is prohibited, or facsimile transmission is prohibited. When the specific image is not included, the designated mode is executed. When the processing is restricted as described above, the display unit 13 displays that the restriction is informed.

  The device control unit 9 also includes an operation confirmation unit 42 that confirms whether the image determination unit 40 is operating normally, and an operation determination unit 43 that determines whether to allow or restrict image processing according to the confirmation result. have. This operation check is performed when the input image is not processed.

  An image signal generation unit 44 that generates a specific image is provided in the image reading unit 1. The image signal generation unit 44 stores image data of a specific image in a nonvolatile memory, and generates the specific image by outputting the image data according to an instruction from the device control unit 9.

  The operation confirmation unit 42 confirms whether the specific image generated by the image signal generation unit 44 can be detected. The operation determining unit 43 allows the processing operation when it is confirmed that the image determining unit 40 has detected the specific image. When it is confirmed that it cannot be detected, the processing operation is limited, and the outside is notified through the display unit 13 and the communication unit 5 that there is an abnormality. Therefore, the image signal generation unit 44 and the operation confirmation unit 42 also constitute part of the image determination apparatus.

  The operation confirmation procedure will be described with reference to FIG. First, when the power is turned on or reset, the device is activated. The operation check is started at the start-up. In the device control unit 9, the operation confirmation unit 42 instructs the image signal generation unit 44 to start in response to the activation signal or the reset signal. In response to this instruction, the image signal generation unit 44 reads the image data of the specific image from the nonvolatile memory and outputs the image data to the image processing unit 24. The image processing unit 24 performs signal processing on the input image data, and the image data is stored in the local memory 20.

  In the device control unit 9, the image determination unit 40 first checks whether image data has been input, and determines whether the image data stored in the local memory 20 is image data of a specific image. When it is confirmed that the image is a specific image, the operation determination unit 43 allows execution of image processing. As a result, normal operation of the apparatus is started, initialization operations such as cleaning and preheating in the printing unit 21 are performed, and the operation check is completed.

  Here, if the device control unit 9 cannot detect the input of the image data even after the predetermined time has elapsed, the operation determining unit 43 determines that there is an abnormality in the image reading unit 1 or the image processing unit 24, and Limit operation. For example, only some operations such as copy prohibition, scan prohibition, and data transmission prohibition are prohibited. In this case, the print mode can be executed and printing by facsimile reception is also possible. Note that instead of prohibiting some operations, all operations for processing an image may be prohibited.

  Then, the operation determining unit 43 notifies the administrator of the information processing apparatus 30 of the occurrence of the abnormality through the network and displays an error on the display unit 13. Thereafter, error processing is executed to eliminate the abnormality.

  Also, when the image data is input but the specific image cannot be confirmed, the operation determination unit 43 determines that there is an abnormality in the image determination as described above. Then, operation restriction, notification, and error processing are performed.

  As described above, the operation check is always performed before the image processing is performed. When an image including a specific image is input after confirming that it is normal, necessary restrictions such as copy prohibition are performed. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent information from leaking outside by obstructing copying of confidential documents and external data transmission.

  As another embodiment of the operation check, a specific image is actually input and an image determination simulation is performed. As shown in FIG. 4, the image reading unit 1 is provided with a test plate 50 on which a specific image is formed. In the figure, 51 is a first scanning unit, 52 is a second scanning unit, 53 is an imaging lens, 54 is a shading plate, and 55 is a document table. Reference numeral 56 denotes a document feeding mechanism such as ADF.

  The test plate 50 is provided side by side with the shading plate 54 and is disposed outside the reading area. Therefore, when reading a normal image, the specific image on the test board 50 is not read. When performing the operation check, the first scanning unit 51 moves to the test plate 50, and a specific image is read. Image data of the read specific image is output to the image processing unit 24. Thereafter, the operation check is performed in the same manner as described above.

  In this way, the specific image is generated by actually performing the scan. Since the operation can be checked according to the actual operation, it becomes easy to clarify the cause when there is an abnormality in the image determination. That is, it can be determined that there is a cause of the abnormality in the image reading unit 1, and this can be notified, and the abnormality can be quickly resolved.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, many corrections and changes can be added to the said embodiment within the scope of the present invention. The image processing apparatus may be a multi-function machine having a copy mode and a facsimile mode, or may be a dedicated machine having only a single mode such as a copier, a printer, or a facsimile machine. Further, as the generating means for generating the specific image, the image data of the specific image may be transmitted from an external information processing apparatus. As a time for confirming the operation, the apparatus is not used and enters the energy saving mode or the standby mode, and is performed when returning from these modes. Alternatively, a schedule for confirming the operation is determined, and if no image processing is performed at that time, the operation confirmation is executed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a multifunction peripheral that is an embodiment of an image processing apparatus of the present invention. Control block diagram for performing image processing in image processing apparatus Operation check flowchart The figure which shows the image reading part provided with the generating means which generate | occur | produces a specific image

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading part 2 Operation part 3 Image formation part 4 Hard disk apparatus 5 Communication part 8 Management part 9 Device control part 24 Image processing part 40 Image determination means 41 Process control means 42 Operation confirmation means 43 Operation determination means 44 Image signal generation part 50 Test board

Claims (9)

A determination unit that determines whether the input image includes a specific image; a generation unit that generates the specific image; and an operation check unit that confirms whether the determination unit can detect the generated specific image. An image determination apparatus characterized by that. The image determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation confirmation unit generates a specific image at a time other than the time of image input. The image determination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit has image data of a specific image and outputs the image data to the determination unit. 3. The generating means includes a test board on which a specific image is formed, and the generating means reads the specific image on the test board and outputs image data of the specific image to the determining means. The image determination apparatus described. An image input means for inputting an image; an image processing means for processing the input image; a determination means for determining whether the input image includes a specific image; An image processing apparatus including a processing control means for restricting the processing, a generation means for generating a specific image, an operation confirmation means for confirming whether the determination means can detect the generated specific image, and a detection An image processing apparatus comprising: an operation determining unit that permits an operation on an image when it is confirmed. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when it is confirmed that the specific image cannot be detected, the operation determining means limits the operation on the image and notifies the outside that the specific image cannot be detected. . The image processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the generation means has image data of a specific image, and the operation confirmation means causes the determination means to output the image data from the generation means. The generating means has a test board on which a specific image is formed, and the generating means uses the image input means to read the specific image on the test board and determine the image data of the specific image according to an instruction from the operation confirmation means. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image processing apparatus outputs the information to a means. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation determining means notifies the outside of the image input means as an abnormality when it is confirmed that the specific image cannot be detected.

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