JP4013408B2 - Scanner with RF reader - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for reading an image and IC chip information by a scanner and a method for changing the read image data when a printed matter including an IC chip is to be read.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a mechanism that prevents copying of special printed materials such as banknotes that are prohibited from being copied in a color copying machine is known. This is usually done when pattern matching is performed between the image data to be copied and the pre-registered image data before copying, and it is judged whether the printed material is copy-prohibited or not. This is realized by not performing the copying process.
[0003]
Further, as an image copying means, a method of capturing image data with a scanner in addition to a color copier and printing the captured data with a printer has become common.
[0004]
An IC chip is a means for giving additional information to the printed material. An IC chip is a memory element having a thickness of 0.25 to 0.76 mm, which is made of a flexible capacitor, a flexible LSI, a printed coil and anisotropic conductivity, and can be embedded in a printed material such as paper.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When an image is captured by a scanner and printed by a printer, there is no function for performing a copy prevention process for the read printed matter. A scanner is a device that simply scans the printed material that is the object to be read and only transmits the scanned image data. Image recognition processing such as pattern matching and changes to the captured data based on the results are performed by the scanner itself. Don't do that. For this reason, there is a problem in that even banknotes and other copy-prohibited printed materials can be taken in as they are and output from a printer to be copied. Even when printing is not performed by a printer, image data can be taken in as it is, so that a copy-prohibited printed matter can be stored as electronic data.
[0006]
When an IC chip is embedded in a printed material, copying can be prohibited or other additional information can be stored therein. However, since conventional scanners do not have IC chip reading means, such additional information cannot be read.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to provide a scanner that reads image data and IC chip information of a printed matter containing an IC chip, and transmits the changed image data without transmitting the image data as it is depending on the type. .
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an RF reader to read information in an IC chip embedded in a printed material to be read, and based on the information about the printed material stored in the IC chip. The read data is changed.
[0009]
The RF reader uses an antenna array in which multiple antennas are arranged, so that it can detect where the IC chip in the reading target exists, obtain information in the IC chip, and detect the coordinates where the IC chip is embedded. That's what you can do.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the scanner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0011]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a scanner main body 101, a printed matter to be read 106, and a scanner head 102. The scanner of the present invention includes an antenna array unit 104 serving as an RF reader in addition to an optical sensor unit 103 included in a conventional scanner in a scanner head 102. The antenna array unit 104 detects the IC chip 105 in the printed material 106 during scanning, and reads the information.
[0012]
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of the antenna array section 104 and the optical sensor section 103 of the scanner head 102. The optical sensor unit 103 has the same configuration as the optical sensor 201, the lens 202, the light source 203, the light shielding plate 204, and a conventional scanner head. The antenna array unit 104 is attached in parallel with the optical sensor unit 103, and the antenna 205 and the optical sensor unit 103 constituting the array are separated by an electrolytic shielding plate 206.
[0013]
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the scanner head 102 in more detail. 2 includes a light source 203 and an optical sensor 201 within a frame indicated by a dotted line, and the optical sensor 201 has a signal line and a control line for transmitting read data to the scanner body 101. A control line for controlling on / off of the light source is input from the scanner body 101 to the light source 203. Further, a motor unit 301 for moving the scanner head 102 itself in the scanning direction and a motor unit 302 for moving the optical sensor 201 are provided with control signal lines connected from the scanner body. The optical sensor 201 is integrated with a lens 202 (not shown in FIG. 3), and the reading object 106 on the line where the scanner head 102 is currently located is moved from one end to the other end by the optical sensor moving motor. , Exposure scanning.
[0014]
The antenna array unit 104 includes n antennas within a frame indicated by a one-dot chain line, and each antenna has a data line for transmitting the output and input of the antenna. The data line is input to the antenna selector 303 of the antenna, and the antenna selector 303 selects one of the antennas 1 to n by the antenna selection signal from the scanner body 101 and sends the data line from the A / D encoder 304. Is activated as an input to the A / D decoder 305. The antenna array unit 104 is sequentially activated from 1 to n by the antenna selector 303, and the presence of the scanner array 102 is confirmed by trying to access the IC chip 105 in the reading target 106 on the line where the scanner head 102 is currently located. Scan. When the exposure scanning or the IC chip scanning is completed for one line, the scanner head 102 is moved by one line in the head moving direction by the scanner head moving motor 301 and finally scans the entire reading object 106.
[0015]
A schematic configuration of the antenna array unit 104 and the antenna selector 303 is shown in FIG. The antenna is a dipole antenna 401, and a voltage supply line to each dipole antenna is connected to an A / D encoder 304 and an A / D decoder 305 via a tri-state gate 402 constituting the selector unit 303. The antenna selection signal is a gate signal of the tri-state gate 402, and the gate to any one antenna is opened and connected to the A / D encoder 304 and the A / D decoder 305. The A / D encoder 304 converts the RF reader transmission signal, which is a digital signal from the scanner body 101 side, into an analog signal for the antenna, and the A / D decoder 305 receives the analog signal state read from the antenna from the IC chip 105. The response is transmitted to the scanner body 101 side as a digital IC chip reading signal.
[0016]
The operation will be described below.
[0017]
Before optically scanning the object to be read, a pre-scan is performed to check whether the object has an IC chip. FIG. 5 shows an IC chip pre-scan algorithm.
[0018]
First, initial setting ST513 is performed. Here, the transfer algorithm change flag and the IC chip read success flag are initialized (cleared), and the storage area for holding the read information in the IC chip is initialized. A storage area for IC chip information is provided for each of the antennas 1 to n and as a dummy area used for determination by the first antenna, in addition to the number of antennas. In addition to the IC chip information storage area for each antenna, an area for storing IC chip information as additional information is provided and initialized.
[0019]
Next, the position of the scanner head is moved to the scan start point (ST501). In ST502, a variable i that determines which antenna of the antenna array is selected is assigned to 1 and initialized. In ST503, the i-th antenna selection signal is activated and the others are inactive according to the variable i, and the RF reader transmission signal and the IC chip reading signal access only the antenna i.
[0020]
After that, at ST504, information reading from the IC chip is attempted using the antenna i. If there is no response and reading fails, it is determined that there is no IC chip, clears the IC chip reading success flag, and proceeds to ST506 in the ST505 conditional branch. When the IC chip information is successfully read, the IC chip read information of the antenna i is stored and a read success flag is set. In ST505, this flag branches to ST508. ST508 checks whether there is information that prohibits copying in the stored IC chip information. If copying is prohibited, branches to ST509 and sets a flag to change the transfer algorithm of read image information during optical scanning. . After setting the flag, the IC chip information is stored as additional information other than the image information in ST514.
[0021]
After that, proceed to ST506 and continue IC chip pre-scan. If copying is not prohibited, the transfer algorithm change flag is not set and the process proceeds to ST514, where the IC information is stored as additional information, and the process returns to ST506. In ST506, the variable i is incremented, and if it is n or less which is the last antenna number, the process returns to ST503 in the conditional branch of ST507 and tries to read the IC chip information again with the next antenna. If the last antenna number is exceeded, it is determined that the IC scan for that line has been completed, and the process branches to ST510 to move the head to the next line. After moving the head, it is determined in ST511 whether or not that is the end point of scanning. If it is not the end point, the process returns to ST502, the variable i is initialized to 1 again, and the IC scan of the line is started. If it is the end point, the process branches to ST512, the scanner head is moved to the scan start point, and the IC chip pre-scan ends.
[0022]
FIG. 6 shows the positional relationship between the scanner head 102 and the IC chip 105 when the IC chip information is successfully read. When the IC chip 105 exists in the IC chip detection range 603 of the antenna i601 in the antenna array 104, the IC chip reading is successful. The amount of movement of one line of the scanner head 104 has a margin within the IC chip detection range of one antenna, and the IC detection range before movement overlaps that after movement. In addition, the IC chip detection range 605 of the adjacent antenna i + 1 indicated by 602 in the figure also overlaps with the IC chip detection range 603 of the antenna i601. As a result, the readable area of the scanner is the IC chip detection range without any gap. It is supposed to be buried. In this case, the antenna i601 may detect the IC chip in the next line after detecting the IC chip in a certain line due to the overlap of the IC chip detection range. In addition, the same IC chip may be detected by the adjacent antenna i + 1602.
[0023]
FIG. 7 schematically shows the relationship between the IC chip position and the detection range that can overlap when the antenna i detects the IC chip on the line t. IC chip detection range at line t of antenna i is range A, range of antenna i + 1 at line t is range B, IC chip detection range at line t + 1 next to antenna i is range C, antenna i Assuming that the range of the +1 line t + 1 is range D, if an IC chip is detected in range A,
1 ・ ・ ・ A∩ (~ B∪ ~ C∪ ~ D)
2 ... A∩B
3 ... A∩C
4 ... A∩D
Among them, duplicate detection occurs at a position corresponding to the second to fourth positions in the determinations in the ranges B, C, and D. However, the shape of the IC chip detection range is arbitrary, but the IC chip detection range of antenna i does not overlap with antenna i + 2, nor does it overlap with the detection range of antenna i at line t + 2. Shall.
[0024]
In order to remove such redundant IC chip detection redundancy, the IC chip information read by the immediately preceding antenna is the same as the information read by the currently selected antenna or one line of the currently selected antenna. If it is the same as the read information in minutes ago, it is sufficient to clear the read success flag as it is a duplicate read.
[0025]
FIG. 8 shows a more detailed algorithm for reading IC chip information (corresponding to ST504 in FIG. 5). The IC chip information is read in ST801. If the reading is unsuccessful, the process branches to ST808 in the branch of ST802, and the reading success flag is cleared there. Next, in ST810, the IC chip information storage area for antenna i is cleared. In the case of reading failure, the process ends here, and the process proceeds to the next step (ST505 in FIG. 5). If the reading is successful, branch to ST803 in ST802. In ST803, the read information is the same as the previous read information on the same line, or is compared with the IC chip storage area of antenna i-1.
[0026]
If i = 1, the area that has been initialized as a dummy area is treated as the 0th area (in this case, since it is not the same, it does not branch to ST809). If they are the same, the process branches to ST809 and the reading success flag is cleared. If they are different, proceed to ST804. Here, the comparison is made with the IC chip storage area of the antenna i, but this is a comparison with the storage of read information by the antenna i one line before. If the read information is the same, the process branches to ST809 and the read success flag is cleared. If they are different, proceed to ST805 and set a successful reading flag. After the read success flag is set in ST805 or ST809, the IC chip information read in ST806 is stored in the IC chip read information storage area of antenna i. Next, in ST807, the y-coordinate and the antenna number i where the IC chip that has read the current line of the scanner head 102 is stored as x-coordinates, and the process ends.
[0027]
After the IC chip pre-scan is finished, an optical scan of the reading object 106 is performed. The optical scanning operation is the same as that of a conventional scanner. As described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the reflected light of the light irradiated to the reading object 106 by the light source 203 is collected by the lens 202 and converted into a signal by the optical sensor 201. The optical sensor 201 moves from one end of the scanner head 102 to the other end, scans for one line, and after the scan for one line is completed, moves the scanner head 102 in the head movement direction and reads it. The entire object 106 is scanned.
[0028]
When transferring the data sent from the optical sensor 201, the scanner body 101 determines whether or not the image information transfer algorithm change flag at the time of IC chip pre-scanning is set. Instead of using this transfer method, the data is transferred using a different algorithm according to the copy prohibition information. The transfer algorithm in this case may have some variations, such as missing part or all of the data during transfer or intentionally adding noise to the data. Further, instead of changing the image transfer algorithm, part or all of the data from the optical sensor may not be received. FIG. 11 shows a conceptual diagram of data transfer algorithm change of copy-prohibited image and transfer image data. After transferring the image information, the IC chip information is transferred as additional information.
[0029]
The antenna array unit does not have to be integrated with the scanner head. FIG. 9 shows an embodiment in which an antenna array 901 is attached to the back of the scanner cover, and a plurality of antennas are arranged in a plane parallel to the reading scanning surface. Since the IC chip can be pre-scanned only by selecting the antenna without moving the scanner head 902, the processing speed is increased. Specifically, the antenna selector 1001 has a matrix as shown in FIG. 10, and instead of moving the scanner head in ST501 of the IC chip prescan process in FIG. 5, the first line is selected as a line selection signal, and ST510 Instead of moving the line, the IC chip is scanned by changing the line number by one. In the antenna arrays of FIGS. 9 and 10, a loop antenna having a wide detection range may be used instead of a dipole antenna.
[0030]
With the method described above, the scanner according to the present invention can detect an IC chip embedded in an object to be read, read the information, and prohibit the direct acquisition of image data based on the information. Data can be changed and sent. In addition, information in the IC chip and embedded coordinates can be detected, and these can be transferred as additional information.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
According to the scanner of the present invention, since it is configured as described above, it is possible to detect the IC chip in the reading object and read the information.
[0032]
In addition, the information in the IC chip can change the read data depending on whether or not the read data of the target printed matter is copy-prohibited, so that it cannot be directly transferred, so that the copy-prohibited printed matter can be stored as electronic data. There is an effect of solving.
[0033]
Also, by transferring the information in the IC chip and its coordinates as additional information other than image data, it can be used as the original information when performing secondary information processing on the image data at the transfer destination. There is an effect.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a scanner body, a printed matter to be read, and a scanner head.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing cross sections of an antenna array section 104 and an optical sensor section 103 of the scanner head.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the scanner head in more detail.
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an antenna array unit and a selector.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an IC chip pre-scan algorithm.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a scanner head and an IC chip when IC chip information is successfully read.
FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the positions of IC chips that can overlap and the detection range in antenna i + 1 and antenna i + 1 at antenna i + 1 and line t + 1 when antenna i detects an IC chip at line t. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a more detailed algorithm for reading IC chip information (corresponding to ST504 in FIG. 5).
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment in a case where an antenna array is attached to the back side of a scanner cover and a plurality of antennas are arranged in a plane parallel to the reading scanning surface.
10 is a schematic configuration diagram of an antenna array unit and a selector in the case of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of data transfer algorithm change and transfer image data of a copy prohibited image.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 ... Scanner body, 102 ... Scanner head, 103 ... Optical sensor part, 104 ... Antenna array part, 105 ... IC chip, 106 ... Reading object, 201 ... Optical sensor, 202 ... Lens, 203 ... Light source, 204 ... Light-shielding plate 205 ... Antenna, 206 ... Electrolytic shielding plate, 301 ... Motor for moving the scanner head, 302 ... Motor for moving the optical sensor, 303 ... Antenna selector, 304 ... A / D encoder, 305 ... A / D decoder, 401 ... Dipole antenna , 402 ... Tristate gate, 601 ... Antenna i, 602 ... Antenna i + 1, 603 ... IC chip detection range of antenna i, 604 ... IC chip detection range in the next line of antenna i, 605 ... Antenna i + 1 IC chip detection range, 901 ... antenna array, 902 ... scanner head, 1001 ... antenna selector, 1002 ... A / D encoder, 1003 ... A / D decoder, 1004 ... FET switch, 1005 ... tristate gate, 1101 ... reading pair Things, 1102 ... transfer image by normal transfer algorithm, 1103 ... transferred image by the image transfer algorithm change (noise adding), 1104 ... image transfer algorithm changes the transfer image by (missing data) or read discontinuation of the optical sensor.

Claims (10)

First and second detection means for detecting an IC chip in an object to be read as image data;
Obtaining means for obtaining information stored in the IC chip;
Based on the acquired information, comprising change transmission means for changing and transmitting the read image data,
The first and second detection means are scanners that overlap the detection ranges of the IC chip.   The scanner according to claim 1, wherein the first detection unit is a first antenna, and the second detection unit is a second antenna. Wherein the first and second detecting means, when detecting duplicate the IC chip, the second detecting means, clears the read success flag of the second detecting means, according to claim 2, wherein Scanner.   The scanner according to claim 1, wherein it is prohibited to directly acquire the read image data.   The scanner according to claim 1, wherein information is newly added to the read image data and transmitted.   The scanner according to claim 2, wherein the first and second antennas are arranged in the image data reading and scanning direction.   The scanner according to claim 2, wherein the first and second antennas detect coordinates where the IC chip exists.   The scanner according to claim 2, wherein the first and second antennas are arranged in a plane parallel to the reading scanning plane.   An antenna for detecting an IC chip in an object to be read as image data;
  Obtaining means for obtaining information stored in the IC chip;
  Based on the acquired information, comprising change transmission means for changing and transmitting the read image data,
  The antenna detects the IC chip in each case before the scanner moves by one line and after the scanner moves by one line, and overlaps each detection range in each case. Let the scanner.   The scanner according to claim 9, wherein when the antenna detects the IC chip redundantly, the reading success flag of the antenna after moving by the one line is cleared.

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