JP3600289B2 - Seal identification device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a stamp discriminating apparatus for discriminating a stamp imprinted on a sheet, and more particularly to a stamp discriminating apparatus for discriminating a stamp by discriminating a position, a shape, and a color of the stamp.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a seal discriminating apparatus, an apparatus provided with a seal color cutoff filter for selectively cutting off only the seal color of a seal provided on a sheet is known. When discriminating a seal using this type of device, first, a sheet is irradiated with reference light, and the reflected light from the sheet is incident on the CCD via a seal color cutoff filter. Then, the two-dimensional data photoelectrically converted by the CCD is compared with standard data prepared in advance to perform data collation. As a result of the comparison, when the two-dimensional data matches the standard data, it is determined that the seal shape matches, and the seal is determined.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the case where the seal color cutoff filter is used as described above, light having a wavelength near the seal color is also cut off, so that even a color pattern slightly different from the seal color may be determined as a seal. Yes, there is a problem that accurate determination is not made.
[0004]
In addition, when the shape of a seal is determined using two-dimensional data as in the related art, there is a problem that much time is required for data collation and much time is required for determining the seal.
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stamp discriminating apparatus capable of accurately and quickly discriminating a stamp.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a stamp discriminating apparatus according to the present invention includes an illuminating unit that illuminates a sheet having a stamp of a certain stamp color, and a branching unit that branches a reflected light beam from the sheet into two systems. A seal color cutoff filter that selectively blocks only a seal color component included in one branched light beam, and a seal color transmission filter that selectively transmits only a seal color component included in the other branched light beam. A first conversion unit that photoelectrically converts the light component that has passed through the seal color cutoff filter, a second conversion unit that photoelectrically converts the light component that has passed through the seal color transmission filter, and the first conversion unit. A first AD converter that digitizes the output signal of the first AD converter, a second AD converter that digitizes the output signal of the second conversion means, and a digital signal output from the first AD converter. A first memory for storing a digital signal output from the second AD converter, a position of a seal serving as a reference for the paper sheet, a shape of the seal, and a shape of the seal. A third memory for storing the standard data of each color, the data of the paper sheet stored in the first memory, and the standard data of the reference seal position stored in the third memory. And the position of the seal is determined. If the position of the seal is determined, the first one-dimensional data extracted from the data of only the seal portion of the first memory and the data stored in the third memory. When the position of the seal for determining the shape of the seal is compared with the standard data at the same position and matches, it is determined that the shape of the seal matches, and the shape of the seal matches. If the second note above First and second integrated data obtained by preparing second one-dimensional data having the same coordinates as the first one-dimensional data stored in the storage unit and integrating the first and second one-dimensional data, respectively And determining whether the colors of the seals match by comparing each of the standard integrated values corresponding to the first and second integrated data for determining the color of the seal stored in the third memory. And a determining means for determining the seal by performing the operation.
[0007]
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the seal discrimination apparatus which concerns on this invention, the paper sheet which has a seal of a certain seal color is illuminated, and the reflected light is made to inject into a seal color cutoff filter and a seal color transmission filter. In the reflected light incident on the seal color cutoff filter, the seal color component contained in the reflected light is selectively blocked, and the light component passing through the seal color cutoff filter is converted into the first conversion means and the first AD converter. And stored in the first memory as a digital signal. In the reflected light beam entering the stamp color transmission filter, the stamp color component included in the reflected light beam is selectively transmitted here, and the light component that has passed through the stamp color transmission filter is converted by the second conversion unit and the second conversion unit. The digital signal is stored in the second memory via the AD converter. Each of the detection data stored in the first and second memories is supplied to a discriminating means, which discriminates the detected data in the third memory in advance, the position of the seal, the shape of the seal, and the color of the seal. The seal is discriminated based on the comparison result with the respective standard data.
[0008]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the stamp discriminating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a transport path 4 for transporting a sheet 2 on which a stamp as a discrimination target is stamped. Drive rollers 4a and 4b are provided on the transport path 4, and the paper sheet 2 can be transported along the transport path 4 in the main scanning direction indicated by an arrow A in the figure.
[0009]
A light source 6 is provided on one side of the transport path 4 as illumination means for irradiating the surface of the paper sheet 2 to be transported with a reference light beam. At a position where the light beam from the light source 6 is reflected by the paper sheet 2, a half mirror 8 is provided as a branching unit that branches the reflected light beam into two systems.
[0010]
On one of the optical paths branched by the half mirror 8, a seal color cutoff filter 12 (hereinafter simply referred to as a cutoff filter 12) capable of selectively blocking only a light component of the seal color (a light component having the same wavelength as the color of the seal). ) Is provided via a condenser lens 11, and a CCD 14 is provided on the optical path downstream of the cutoff filter 12. On the other optical path branched by the half mirror 8, a stamp color transmission filter 16 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a transmission filter 16) capable of selectively transmitting only a stamp color light component passes through the condenser lens 15. The CCD 18 is similarly provided on the optical path downstream of the transmission filter 16. Note that the CCDs 14 and 18 are CCDs acting as conversion means (or detection means) and serving as line sensors extending in a sub-scanning direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the paper sheets 2. The entire surface of the paper sheet 2 is scanned by being transported in the scanning direction.
[0011]
The output terminals of the CCDs 14 and 18 are connected to amplifiers 22 and 24, respectively, and the output terminals of the amplifiers 22 and 24 are connected to first and second AD converters 26 and 28, respectively. The memories 32 and 34 are connected to the AD converters 26 and 28, respectively, and the memories 32 and 34 are connected to a processor 36 as determination means.
[0012]
The seal discriminating apparatus configured as described above operates as follows.
When a reference light beam from the light source 6 is applied to the surface of the paper sheet 2 conveyed along the conveyance path 4, the reflected light beam from the paper sheet 2 is incident on the half mirror 8. A part of the reflected light beam incident on the half mirror 8 is passed through as it is, and the rest is reflected substantially at right angles, and the light beam is split into two systems.
[0013]
One light beam split into two systems passes through a cutoff filter 12 via a condenser lens 11 and then enters a CCD 14 where it is photoelectrically converted. On the other hand, the other split light beam passes through a transmission filter 16 via a condenser lens 15 and then enters a CCD 18 where it is photoelectrically converted.
[0014]
The output signals that are photoelectrically converted and output by the CCDs 14 and 18 are respectively amplified by amplifiers 22 and 24, digitized by AD converters 26 and 28, and stored in memories 32 and 34. Then, the digitized data stored in the memories 32 and 34 are read out one by one by the processor 36 and processed by the processor 36 to determine the seal.
[0015]
Next, the seal discriminating operation of the processor 36 will be described with reference to FIG.
When determining the stamp, the processor 36 first determines the stamp position of the paper sheet 2 as shown in step 41 using the data stored in the memory 32 (the data passed through the cutoff filter 12). When the stamp position is determined, the stamp data of only the portion where the stamp exists is extracted, and one-dimensional data at a predetermined position is extracted from the stamp data as shown in step 42.
[0016]
The extracted one-dimensional data is compared with standard data (one-dimensional data serving as a determination reference) at the same position prepared in advance, as shown in step 43, and the shape of the seal is determined based on the comparison result. . That is, when the one-dimensional data matches the standard data (step 44), the shape match is determined, and when the one-dimensional data does not match the standard data (step 45), the shape mismatch is determined. .
[0017]
When the shape is determined in this way, the color of the seal is determined as shown in step 46. When determining the seal color, the above-described one-dimensional data is prepared, and one-dimensional data similarly extracted from the data stored in the memory 34 (the data that has passed through the transmission filter 16) is prepared. Each data is integrated, and these integrated values are compared with corresponding standard integrated values prepared in advance. Then, a color match is determined only when both of the two integrated values match the standard integrated value (step 47), and otherwise, a color mismatch is determined (step 48).
[0018]
As described above, the seal position is determined, the seal shape is determined to be identical, and the seal color is determined only when the seal color is determined (step 49).
Next, the above-described method of determining the stamp position will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.
[0019]
When determining the stamp position of the stamp stamped on the paper sheet 2, first, the two-dimensional data of the paper sheet 2 stored in the memory 32 is read into the processor 36. Then, the processor 36 adds this data along the sub-scanning direction of the paper sheet 2 to obtain one-dimensional data along the main scanning direction of the paper sheet 2 having an output distribution as shown in the graph of FIG. It is calculated (step 51).
[0020]
Next, a predetermined range (A1 to A2) along the main scanning direction, which is a range where a seal should exist, is read from a memory (not shown), and only data within this range is left, and other data is stored. Is excluded, and the data is limited to the range of A1 to A2 (step 52).
[0021]
Then, as shown in step 53, the length B of the stamp data within this range is calculated, and the lower limit value BL and upper limit value BH of B determined in advance in consideration of the error are read from a memory (not shown). It is determined whether or not B is between BL 1 and BH as shown in FIG. If B is within this range (BL to BH), it is determined that a stamp is present, and the stamp position along the main scanning direction is specified within the range C as shown in step 55. If B is out of the range (BL 1 to BH 2), it is determined that there is no seal, as shown in step 56, and the determination operation is terminated.
[0022]
As described above, when the stamp position along the main scanning direction is determined, this data is added along the main scanning direction considering only the data within the range C, and the output distribution as shown in the graph of FIG. Is calculated in the sub-scanning direction (step 57).
[0023]
Next, a predetermined range (D1 to D2) in the sub-scanning direction, which is a range in which a seal should exist, is read from a memory (not shown), and only data within this range is left, and other data is stored. Is excluded, and the data is limited to the range of D1 to D2 (step 58).
[0024]
Then, as shown in step 59, the length E of the stamp data within this range is calculated, and the lower limit value EL and upper limit value EH of E determined in advance in consideration of the error are read from a memory (not shown). It is determined whether E falls between EL and EH as shown in FIG. If E is within this range (EL to EH), it is determined that a stamp is present, and the stamp position along the sub-scanning direction is specified within the range E as shown in step 61. If E is out of the range (EL to EH), as shown in step 62, it is determined that there is no seal, and the determination operation ends.
[0025]
As described above, when the stamp position in the main scanning direction is specified within the range C and the stamp position in the sub-scanning direction is specified within the range E, as shown in step 63, the stamp position of the paper sheet 2 is changed. Is determined. The data of only the determined stamp position is stored again in the memory 32 as the stamp data.
[0026]
Next, determination of the shape of the seal will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
When determining the shape of the seal, first, the seal data of only the seal portion stored in the memory 32 is read into the processor 36, and the seal data is enlarged as necessary. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, one-dimensional data (one-dimensional data along the line 70) at a predetermined position in the stamp data is extracted (step 71). The extracted one-dimensional data is compared with reference data (standard data serving as a reference at the same position as the one-dimensional data) prepared in advance in a memory (not shown), and the two data are collated (step 72).
[0027]
Then, as shown in step 73, it is determined whether or not the two data match. As a result, if the two data match (step 74), it is determined that the shapes match, and the two data Do not match (step 75), it is determined that the shapes do not match.
[0028]
Next, the determination of the seal color will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
When determining the stamp color, as described above, one-dimensional data from the memory 32 is prepared, and one-dimensional data from the memory 34 is prepared similarly (step 81). When one-dimensional data is extracted from the memory 34, data having the same coordinates as the one-dimensional data extracted from the memory 32 is extracted. Thereby, the one-dimensional data extracted from the data passing through the cutoff filter 12 and the one-dimensional data extracted from the data passing through the transmission filter 16 are extracted under the same conditions. Then, as shown in step 82, integrated data is prepared by integrating each of the prepared one-dimensional data.
[0029]
On the other hand, the lower limit value SCL and the upper limit value SCH of the integral data obtained by integrating the cutoff data serving as the reference on the cutoff filter side, the lower limit value SPL and the upper limit value SPH of the integrated data obtained by integrating the reference transmission data on the transmission filter side, Is stored in a memory (not shown) in advance. Then, as shown in step 83, SCL, SCH, SPL, SPH are read out and compared with each of the above-mentioned integral data. As shown in step 84, the integral data SC on the cutoff filter side is between SCL and SCH. It is determined whether or not the integration data SP 1 on the transmission filter side is between SPL and SPH.
[0030]
As a result, it is determined that the seal colors match only when each of the integrated data is within the above range (step 85), and otherwise it is determined that the seal colors do not match (step 86). That is, since the output value of the data that has passed through each filter is changed depending on the wavelength (color) of the light beam incident on the CCD, a part of the seal data is extracted and the integrated value is compared to determine the seal color. it can.
[0031]
As described above, the stamp discriminating apparatus according to the present embodiment branches the reflected light from the paper sheet into two systems, one of which passes through the seal color cutoff filter, and the other of which is the seal color transmission filter. Is passing through. Then, the light beam passing through each filter is digitized after photoelectric conversion, and the position and shape of the seal are determined using the one-dimensional data extracted from the data on the cutoff filter side, and the one-dimensional data on the cutoff filter side and the transmission filter side are determined. The color of the seal is determined using the one-dimensional data.
[0032]
Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine a seal, particularly, a seal color. Further, by performing the discrimination using one-dimensional data, the discriminating operation can be sped up as compared with the conventional discrimination using two-dimensional data.
[0033]
If the background color of a seal imprinted on a paper sheet is black or a pattern with a lot of black, combining the data after passing through the cutoff filter and the transmission filter to obtain more accurate one-dimensional data It becomes possible to determine the seal. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a stamp position discriminating operation in a stamp discriminating operation according to another embodiment. A case where data after passing through the above-mentioned cutoff filter and transmission filter will be described with reference to this drawing. The configuration of this apparatus is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 1, and the processing in the processor 36 is different.
[0034]
That is, after passing through the cutoff filter 12, the two-dimensional data of the paper sheet 2 stored in the memory 32 is read into the processor 36 (step 91). Then, after passing through the pass filter 16, the two-dimensional data of the paper sheet 2 stored in the memory 34 is read into the processor 36 (step 92).
[0035]
Then, the processor 36 integrates these two-dimensional data and calculates one-dimensional data along the main scanning direction of the paper sheet 2 having an output distribution as shown in FIG. 4 (step 93). In calculating the one-dimensional data, the one-dimensional data is obtained by, for example, performing an exclusive OR operation on the data from the memories 32 and 34 and adding the data output in the sub-scanning direction. After this step 93, processing is performed as in steps 52 to 56 as described with reference to FIG.
[0036]
When the stamp position along the main scanning direction is specified in the range C in step 55, after passing through the cutoff filter 12, the two-dimensional data of the paper sheet 2 stored in the memory 32 is read into the processor 36 again ( Step 94). Then, after passing through the pass filter 16, the two-dimensional data of the paper sheet 2 stored in the memory 34 is read again into the processor 36 (step 95).
[0037]
Then, the processor 36 integrates these two-dimensional data and calculates one-dimensional data along the main scanning direction of the paper sheet 2 having the output distribution as shown in FIG. 5 (step 96). In the calculation of the one-dimensional data, for example, data output by taking an exclusive OR of the data from the memories 32 and 34 is added along the main scanning direction in consideration of only the data in the range C. can get. After step 96, processing is performed as in steps 58 to 63 as described with reference to FIG. 3, and the stamp position is determined.
[0038]
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, the detection means in this embodiment is not limited to the CCD as the line sensor described above, but may be an area CCD. The one-dimensional data extracted from the seal data can be extracted from an arbitrary position, and a plurality of data may be extracted for the purpose of improving the discrimination accuracy. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the reflected light beam from the paper sheet is branched into two systems, and the paper sheet is simultaneously scanned by the two CCDs. However, the two CCDs separately scan the paper sheet. Is also good.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, since the seal discriminating apparatus of the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to accurately and quickly discriminate a seal.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a stamp discriminating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of a processor incorporated in the apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a stamp position discriminating operation in stamp discrimination.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of determining a stamp position of a sheet along a main scanning direction.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a process of determining a stamp position of a sheet along a sub-scanning direction;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a stamp shape discriminating operation in stamp discrimination.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing extracted stamp data and its one-dimensional data.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a stamp color discriminating operation in stamp discrimination.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a stamp position determining operation according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 paper sheets, 4 transport path, 4a, 4b transport roller, 6 light source, 8 half mirror, 11, 15 condenser lens, 12 seal color cutoff filter, 14, 18 CCD, 16 Seal color transmission filters, 22, 24 ... amplifiers, 26, 28 ... AD converters, 32, 34 ... memories, 36 ... processors.

Claims (1)

  An illuminating means for illuminating a sheet having a seal of a certain seal color;
  Branching means for branching reflected light from the paper sheet into two systems;
  A seal color cutoff filter that selectively blocks only a seal color component included in one of the branched light beams,
  A seal color transmission filter that selectively transmits only the seal color component included in the other branched light beam,
  First conversion means for photoelectrically converting the light component passing through the seal color cutoff filter;
  Second conversion means for photoelectrically converting the light component passing through the seal color transmission filter;
  A first AD converter for digitizing an output signal from the first conversion means,
  A second AD converter for digitizing an output signal from the second conversion means,
  A first memory for storing a digital signal output from the first AD converter;
  A second memory for storing a digital signal output from the second AD converter;
  A third memory for storing respective standard data of the position of the seal, the shape of the seal, and the color of the seal as a reference for the paper sheet;
  The position of the seal is determined based on the data of the sheet stored in the first memory and the standard data of the position of the seal as a reference stored in the third memory, and the position of the seal is determined. If so, the first one-dimensional data extracted from the data of only the seal portion of the first memory and the same position as the position of the seal for determining the shape of the seal stored in the third memory If they match with each other, it is determined that the shapes of the seals match, and if the shapes of the seals match, the first memory stored in the second memory is determined. The second one-dimensional data having the same coordinates as the one-dimensional data is prepared, and the first and second integrated data obtained by integrating the first and second one-dimensional data, respectively, are stored in the third memory. To determine the stored color of the seal Discriminating means for discriminating the stamp by determining whether the color of the stamp by comparing the standard integration value corresponding to the first and second integrated data each match,
  A seal discriminating device comprising:

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