JP3032722B2 - Image processing device and determination device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a determination apparatus for determining whether an input image is a specific image and processing the input image in accordance with the result of the determination. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the improvement of color printing technology, counterfeiting of specific images such as banknotes and securities has occurred. To solve this problem, the identity between the image to be copied and the specific image is determined by pattern matching or the like,
A technique for controlling a copying operation according to the determination result has been proposed.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, since each processing means of the image processing apparatus such as a copying machine and the determination means of the specific image are manufactured at one time, for example, the design of a bill is changed. When a new kind of banknote is added, the entire image processing apparatus needs to correspond to the change. In addition, for devices that have already been put on the market, it is necessary to collect the devices and respond to changes,
The labor and expense required for this was large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has been made in consideration of modification of a specific image when processing the input image in accordance with the identity between the input image and the specific image. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing device and a determination device which are easy to cope with and can cope with an obstacle to the determination of identity.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention has the following arrangement.
That is, in an image processing apparatus having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, it is determined whether or not the input image is a specific image, and according to the determination result, the input image is a specific image. Connection means for connecting detachable determination means for generating a determination signal used to control the apparatus so as to prohibit faithful output of the input image when it is determined, and the image signal A signal transmission unit for supplying to the determination unit and receiving a determination signal from the determination unit; a control unit for controlling the processing of the input image by the processing unit based on the determination signal; And a recognizing means for recognizing the connection state of the determining means. According to the above configuration, the present invention provides an image processing apparatus having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, determining whether the input image is a specific image, and determining whether the input image is a specific image based on the determination result. When it is determined that the image is a specific image, detachable determination means for generating a determination signal used to control the apparatus so as to prohibit faithful output of the input image is connected, and the image signal is transmitted to the determination means. The determination unit receives the determination signal from the determination unit, controls the processing of the input image by the processing unit based on the determination signal, and recognizes the connection state of the removable determination unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a detachable determination device mounted inside an image processing apparatus having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, wherein the input image is a specific image. Is used to control the image processing apparatus to prohibit faithful output of the input image when the input image is determined to be a specific image in accordance with the determination result. Determining means for generating a determination signal to be provided, a signal transmission means for supplying the image signal from the image processing device to the determination means, and supplying a determination signal from the determination means to the image processing device, Processing means for causing the image processing device to recognize the connection of the determination device to the image processing device. With the above configuration, the determination apparatus of the present invention is mounted inside an image processing apparatus having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, and identifies the input image based on the image signal supplied from the image processing apparatus. It is used to determine whether an image is an image, and to control the image processing apparatus to prohibit faithful output of the input image when the input image is determined to be a specific image, according to the determination result. A determination signal is generated, the determination signal is supplied to the image processing device, and the image processing device is operated to recognize that the determination device is connected to the image processing device.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following embodiments, a copying apparatus is shown as an application example of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to various other apparatuses. In each device applicable to the present invention, a specific original such as a banknote or a securities is targeted for counterfeit prevention.

(First Embodiment) First, the configuration of the entire copying apparatus will be described.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the copying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 201 denotes an image scanner which reads a document and performs digital signal processing. Reference numeral 202 denotes a printer unit, which prints out an image corresponding to the document image read by the image scanner unit 201 on paper in full color.

In the image scanner section 201, 20
Reference numeral 0 denotes a mirror surface pressure plate, and a platen glass (hereinafter, “platen”)
The original 204 on the original 203 is irradiated by a lamp 205, guided to mirrors 206, 207, and 208, and has a three-line sensor or less by a lens 209.
An image is formed on the signal processor 10 as a full-color information red (R), green (G), and blue (B) component.
Sent to In addition, 205 and 206 are speeds v, 207,
Reference numeral 208 scans the entire surface of the document by mechanically moving at 1/2 V in the direction perpendicular to the electrical scanning direction of the line sensor. The signal processing unit 211 electrically processes the read image signal, decomposes the image signal into respective components of magenta (M), cyan (C), yellow (Y), and black (Bk), and sends them to the printer unit 202. Also, the image scanner unit 2
01 for one original scan (scanner), M,
One component of C, Y, and Bk is sent to the printer unit 202, and one printing operation is completed by a total of four document scans.

An M, C, Y or Bk image signal sent from the image scanner unit 201 is sent to a laser driver 212. The laser driver 212 modulates and drives the semiconductor laser 213 according to the sent image signal. The laser light is reflected by a polygon mirror 214, an f-θ lens 215,
Scanning is performed on the photosensitive drum 217 via the mirror 216.

Reference numeral 218 denotes a rotary developing unit, which includes a magenta developing unit 219, a cyan developing unit 220, and a yellow developing unit 22.
1. A black developing unit 222 is provided, and four developing units alternately contact the photosensitive drum 217 to develop an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 217 with toner. Reference numeral 223 denotes a transfer drum which winds a sheet fed from a sheet cassette 224 or 225 around the transfer drum 223 and transfers an image developed on the photosensitive drum 217 to the sheet.

After the four colors of M, C, Y, and Bk are sequentially transferred in this manner, the sheet passes through the fixing unit 226, and is discharged after the toner is fixed on the sheet.

<Image Scanner> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image scanner unit 201 according to the first embodiment. In the figure, 210-1, 210-2,
210-3 are red (R), green (G),
This is a CCD (solid-state imaging device) having blue (B) spectral sensitivity characteristics, and outputs a signal quantized to 8 bits representing 0 to 255.

Since the sensors 210-1, 210-2, 210-3 used in the present embodiment are arranged at a fixed distance, the delay elements 401, 40
2, the spatial shift is corrected.

Reference numerals 403, 404, and 405 denote log converters, each formed by a look-up table ROM or RAM, for converting a luminance signal into a density signal. Reference numeral 406 denotes a known masking and UCR (under color removal) circuit.
Although detailed description is omitted, Y, M, C, and Bk signals for output are sequentially output at a predetermined bit length, for example, 8 bits, for each reading operation, based on the input three primary color signals.

Reference numeral 407 denotes a known spatial filter which corrects the spatial frequency of an output signal. Reference numeral 408 denotes a density conversion circuit which corrects the density characteristics of the printer unit 202, and includes a look-up table ROM or RAM, similarly to the log converters 403 to 405. Reference numeral 409 denotes a specific document determination circuit which determines whether at least one of a plurality of specific documents is being read, and outputs a determination signal H as 0 or 1. That is, when it is determined that the input image corresponds to at least one of the plurality of specific documents, H = 1 is output, and otherwise, H = 0 is output.

Reference numeral 410 denotes an OR gate circuit, which performs a logical OR operation on the 8-bit output V of the density conversion circuit 408 and a determination signal H output from the determination circuit 409, respectively.
V ′ is output. As a result, when the determination signal H = 1, that is, when it is determined that the specific document is being read, the output is V ′ = FF regardless of the value of the input signal V.
(H: hexadecimal), and when the determination signal H = 0, that is, when it is not determined that the specific document is being read, the input signal V is output as it is as the output V ′.

<Timing Chart> FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the configuration of a thinning circuit according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of a frequency dividing circuit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a timing chart of signals in the main scanning direction in the first embodiment. HSYNC is a main scanning synchronization signal and is a signal for synchronizing the start of main scanning. CLK is an image transfer clock, and is a basic clock for various image processing in the present embodiment. Also C
LK ′ is obtained by dividing the frequency of the CLK signal by ４, and is a basic clock in the determination circuit 409. The SEL signal is a timing signal used in the above-described thinning circuit 301, and is generated by a circuit as shown in FIG. That is, the inverter 451 and the 2-bit counter 45
2. It comprises an inverter 453 and an AND gate 454. The 2-bit counter 452 is cleared (initialized) by an HSYNC signal which is a main scanning synchronization signal,
The CLK signal is counted, and the count value is output in two bits (D0, D1). The upper bit D1 of the count value is output as the CLK 'signal, and the logical product of the inverted signal of the lower bit D0 and the upper bit D1 is output as the SEL signal.

As a result, in the thinning circuit shown in FIG. 5, data is held by the CLK signal. Flip-flops 455, 456, 457 and 461, 462, 463;
Selectors 458, 459, 460, flip-flops 464, 465, 466 for holding data by CLK 'signal
As shown in FIG. 8, the thinning circuit constituted by the thinning circuit thins out the R (or G, B) signal transferred by the CLK signal at a rate of 1/4 and synchronizes with the CLK '. R ′ (or G ′, B ′) signal can be obtained.

<Determination Circuit> FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the determination circuit 409 according to the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 301 denotes a thinning circuit as shown in FIG. 5, which performs a process of thinning data in order to reduce the processing load of the determination circuit. Reference numeral 302 denotes a tinted matting table (hereinafter referred to as “tinted matching LUT”).
Matching of a plurality of types of target images, that is, specific originals and colors is performed. 303-1, 303-2, ..., 303-
Reference numeral 8 denotes a color judgment circuit composed of the same hardware. Each of the tint determination circuits includes an integrator 3 shown in FIG.
06, a register 307, and a comparator 308,
It is determined whether or not a specific image (color) that can be determined as a specific document exists in the document. The contents of the register 307 are different between 303-1 to 303-8. Reference numeral 309 denotes an OR circuit, which is a color determination circuit 303-1 to 303-8.
When it is determined that one or more of the outputs have a specific image, and when it is determined that the output “0” is absent, the output “1” is output as the determination signal H. In the present embodiment, the similarity determination signal is one bit, but a multi-valued determination signal indicating the similarity between the input image and the specific image may be output. To do so, register 307
And a plurality of slice levels may be set.

<Integrator> FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the integrator 306 according to the first embodiment. In the figure, reference numerals 501 and 505 denote flip-flops for storing data at the rising timing of the CLK 'signal. 50
Reference numeral 2 denotes a multiplier which receives an 8-bit two-input signal (A, B) and outputs an 8-bit signal (AXB / 25) as a multiplication result.
5) is output. A multiplier 503 receives a 1-bit input signal (A) and an 8-bit input signal (B),
An 8-bit output signal (AXB) is output as a result of the multiplication. An adder 504 receives an 8-bit 2-input signal (A, B) and outputs an 8-bit signal (A + B) as an addition result.

As a result, in the present integrator, an 8-bit output signal y1 is represented by the following equation (1) with respect to the binary input signal x1. That is,

[0025]

Yi = (α / 255) yi−1 + β · xi−1 (1) where α and β are preset constants, and are set according to the magnitudes of these values. Various characteristics of the integrator 306 are determined.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams for explaining the input and output of the integrator 306 according to the first embodiment.

For example, FIG. 9 shows an example of input and output of the integrator when α = 247 and β = 8. That is, for an input xi-1 as shown in FIG. 9, an output yi as shown in FIG. 10 is output.

Here, an input in which the surroundings are almost "0", such as points 701 and 702, but which are "1" even though the surroundings are almost "0", or the surroundings are almost "1", such as the point 703. An input that is "0" despite the presence of noise
It is considered to be. This is processed by the integrator 306, and an appropriate threshold value as shown by a point 704 is set in the register 307 of FIG. 3, and the output yi of the integrator 306 is binarized. Can be removed.

<Processing Result> FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the processing result according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 9, 80
Reference numeral 1 denotes a document, and a specific image 803 to be determined in the apparatus exists in a part of the image. This is an output result 802 when this is copied in the present apparatus. Specific image 80
The portion corresponding to No. 3 is painted black like the invalid portion shown at 804, and the portion corresponding to the specific image 803 cannot be copied normally, that is, recognizable.

As described above, forgery of a specific original such as a bill is prevented by detecting a specific original by the determination circuit 409 of the present embodiment and preventing normal copying of that part. Can be.

Next, the judgment circuit 409 will be specifically described.

FIG. 1 shows a decision circuit 40 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the connection form of FIG. 9, and FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the main operation of image processing according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an image determination board for determining the degree of similarity with the above-mentioned specific document.
Indicates a scanner control board. Image judgment board 101
Is a circuit unit for performing image determination. In the present embodiment, this circuit unit alone is configured as a single substrate. The scanner control board 102 has the image processing unit of FIG. 3 described above mounted thereon, but excludes the CCDs 210-1 to 210-3. Further, the CPU 103 for controlling the scanner unit 201 and the peripheral circuits are mounted on the scanner control board 201. And the image determination board 101
And the scanner control board 102 are connected by a connector (not shown).

The image determination board 101 is the scanner control board 1
If the connection is properly connected to 02, the connection recognition signal 108 becomes “0”. If the image determination board 101 is not connected, the connection recognition signal 108 becomes "1".

Here, the operation will be briefly described.

When the copy start key is pressed, the CPU 103 of the scanner control board 102 sets the I / O port 1
Connection recognition signal 108 connected to input port 06
By reading the state (step S1), the presence or absence of the image determination board 101 is checked (step S2).
If the connection recognition signal 108 is “1”, that is, if it is determined that the image determination board 101 is not connected,
The CPU 103 sets the output port of the I / O port 106 to "0" (step S3). As a result, the image signal V 'is gated by the AND gate 107, and all its outputs become "0". At this time, the CPU 103 simultaneously displays an error message such as "copy not possible" on the operation unit (not shown) of the image scanner unit 201, and controls not to perform the copy operation (step S4). In the operation unit, the error display includes display by lighting (or blinking) of a lamp or display of characters by a liquid crystal display. Also, a warning by voice may be used. Image determination board 1 described above
The connection check of 01 is performed every time the copy start key is pressed. Of course, if the image determination board 101 is securely connected, the operation according to the normal recognition of the specific original is executed as described above.

In this way, even if the image determination board 101 is removed, the fact can be detected and copying can be prohibited.

(Second Embodiment) In the above-described first embodiment, an example of a copying apparatus including an image scanner unit and a printer unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, the present invention may be applied to an apparatus having a communication function such as a facsimile (hereinafter, referred to as “FAX”).

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a copying apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure,
Reference numeral 1101 denotes an image scanner having the same configuration and function as the image scanner 201 in FIG.
Reference numeral 02 denotes a printer unit having the same configuration and function as the printer unit 202 in FIG. 1105 is a determination circuit having the same configuration and function as the determination circuit 409 of FIG.
1103 and 1104 are OR gate circuits having the same configuration and function as 410. Reference numeral 1107 denotes a connection recognition signal having the same meaning as the connection recognition signal 108 in FIG.
Reference numeral 1106 denotes a bus selector, which is an image scanner unit 1
101, a printer unit 1102, and a communication line. Image data is transferred in the following three ways depending on the connection method. That is, (1) the image scanner unit-the printer unit (during operation of the copying machine), (2) the image scanner unit-the communication line (during the fax transmission operation), and (3)
Communication line-printer unit (at the time of FAX reception operation).

Here, the output image of the image scanner unit 1101 and the input image of the printer unit 1102 are processed by the AND gates 1108 and 1109 based on the determination result of the connection recognition signal 1107, so that the substrate of the determination circuit 1105 is processed. Is removed, copying operation, FA
X transmission operation and FAX reception operation can all be prohibited.

As described above, since the connection recognition signal 1107 indicating the connection state of the image determination board can control not only the copy output but also all the output operations including the output to the communication line, for example, the image determination board can be controlled on the user side. Even if is removed, the output of the specific image of the specific document is automatically prevented, and forgery can be reliably avoided. Note that the substrate for the specific document determination may be a plurality of substrates. In that case, at least one
The image processing operation may be prohibited when one substrate is removed. The printer is not limited to a laser beam printer, but may be an ink jet printer or a thermal transfer printer. Further, the method of determining the degree of similarity with the specific document is not limited to the above example, and for example, matching of a predetermined shape pattern may be used.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, when processing an input image in accordance with the identity between the input image and the specific image, it is easy to deal with alteration of the specific image, There is an effect that it is possible to provide an image processing device and a determination device that cope with interference with the determination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection form of a determination circuit 409 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the configuration of the copying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an image scanner unit 20 according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a determination circuit 409 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a thinning circuit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing a configuration of a frequency dividing circuit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an integrator 306 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a timing chart of signals in the main scanning direction according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating input and output of an integrator 306 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating input and output of an integrator 306 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing result according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating main operations of image processing according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a copying apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image determination board 102 Scanner control board 103 CPU 104 ROM 105 RAM 106 I / O port 107, 1108 AND gate 108, 1107 Connection recognition signal 210-1 to 210-3 CCD 200 Mirror pressure plate 201, 1101 Image scanner unit 202, 1102 printer unit 203 platen 204 document 205 lamp 206, 207, 208 mirror 209 lens 210 3 line sensor 211 signal processing unit 212 laser driver 213 semiconductor laser 214 polygon mirror 215 f-θ lens 216 mirror 217 photosensitive drum 218 rotating developing device 219 magenta Developing section 220 Cyan developing section 221 Yellow developing section 222 Black developing section 223 Transfer drum 224, 225 Paper cassette 226 Fixing unit 01 Thinning-out circuit 302, 302 'ROM 303-1 to 303-8 Tint determination circuit 306 Integrator 307 Register 308 Comparator 309 OR circuit 401, 402 Delay 403-405 Log converter 406 Masking / UCR circuit 407 Space filter 408 Density Conversion circuit 409 Judgment circuit 410, 1103, 1104 OR gate circuit 451, 453 Inverter 452 2-bit counter 454 AND gate 455-457, 461-466 Flip flop 501, 505 Flip flop 458-460 Selector 502, 503 Multiplier 504 Adder 801 802 Output result 803 Specific original 804 Invalid image 1105 Judgment circuit 1106 Bus selector

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Eiji Ota 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kenichi Ota 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) reference Patent flat 2-288468 (JP, a) JP Akira 61-70690 (JP, a) JP flat 4-232589 (JP, a) (58 ) investigated the field (Int.Cl. ⁷ H04N 1/40-1/409 H04N 1/46-1/62 G06T 1/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, wherein it is determined whether or not the input image is a specific image, and the input image is specified according to a result of the determination. A connection unit for connecting a detachable determination unit that generates a determination signal used to control the apparatus so as to prohibit a faithful output of the input image when the image is determined to be an image; A signal transmission unit for supplying a signal to the determination unit and receiving a determination signal from the determination unit; a control unit for controlling processing of the input image by the processing unit based on the determination signal ; Recognition means for recognizing the connection state of the detachable determination means
The image processing apparatus characterized by having and. 2. A detachable determination device mounted inside an image processing device having processing means for processing an image signal representing an input image, wherein the determination device determines whether the input image is a specific image. Generating a determination signal used to control the image processing apparatus to prohibit faithful output of the input image when the input image is determined to be a specific image according to the determination result. and determination means, the image signal from the image processing apparatus is supplied to said determining means, and a signal transmitting means for supplying a determination signal from said determining means to the image processing apparatus, the image processing of the determination unit The connection to the device is
And a processing means for causing the processing device to recognize the determination device.