JP7311124B2 - Information recording medium, transfer plate, manufacturing apparatus, and reading method - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information recording medium, transfer plate, manufacturing apparatus, and reading method.

A method of printing a two-dimensional code such as a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) as a general method of recording binary information using the surface of an object such as paper, concrete, wood, or metal plate as an information recording medium. is mentioned. Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 11-96278 discloses a method of adhering to the surface of an object a plate material formed with an uneven pattern corresponding to information data in which binary data is graphically represented. Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3203889 discloses a method of forming a two-dimensional code on a hard plate and attaching it to an object for use.

In the case of this method, for example, information can be obtained by optically reading a plate placed on the surface of the object using the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-139393.

JP-A-11-96278 Utility Model Registration No. 3203889 JP-A-6-139393

However, in the method described above, at least one of the two regions representing the two values of the binary information is colored black over the entire region or processed into a convex shape. represented in different ways. Therefore, the appearance of the surface of the information recording medium changes greatly from the appearance without the two-dimensional code. As a result, the user looking at the surface of the information recording medium may feel uncomfortable, or the appearance of the surface may be spoiled. Therefore, it is desired to record the binary information without greatly changing the appearance when the binary information is not recorded.

According to one embodiment, the information recording medium is an information recording medium having binary information recorded on its surface, wherein the first section indicating one value of the code representing the binary information in a plane is Represented by a first region of a surface having a first portion that is textured to give a different appearance to the surface and a second portion that is not textured, the code A second section showing the other value is represented by a second area where the surface is not surface-treated.

According to another embodiment, the transfer plate is for transferring to the surface of the information recording medium a shape indicating a code representing binary information in a plane, the transfer plate indicating one value of the code. A first region having a first textured portion and a second non-textured portion representing a first interval, and a second interval representing the other value of the code. , and a second region in which unevenness is not formed.

According to another embodiment, the manufacturing apparatus is a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a transfer plate for transferring a shape representing a code representing binary information in a plane onto the surface of an information recording medium. surface processing including unevenness is performed on a first portion including unevenness defined in advance corresponding to one value of a first region of the transfer plate surface corresponding to a first section indicating one value; No surface treatment is applied to the second portion of the region of , which does not include unevenness, and the second region of the transfer plate surface corresponding to the second section indicating the other value of the code.

According to another embodiment, the reading method is a reading method for reading binary information from an information recording medium having binary information recorded on the surface thereof, wherein the surface of the information recording medium has a surface of binary information. A first portion that is surfaced to give a different appearance to the surface and a second portion that is not surfaced, representing a first interval that represents the value of one of the codes that it represents. and a second area where surface processing is not applied to the surface, representing the second section indicating the other value of the code, and the information recording medium obtaining a photographed image of the surface; extracting a first region and a second region from the photographed image based on differences in color and/or brightness of the surface in the photographed image resulting from surface processing; The first part and the second part of the extracted first area are set to the first color according to the value corresponding to the first area, and the color of the second area is changed according to the corresponding value. obtaining an image representing the code from the captured image by making it a second color.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a photographed image of an information recording medium according to an embodiment photographed from the front. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a plane code representing binary information stored in an information recording medium. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing an example of forming holes (FIG. 3A) and an example of forming projections (FIG. 3B) as examples of surface processing applied to the first region of the information recording medium. . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a transfer plate. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a transfer plate manufacturing apparatus. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a reading method for reading binary information from an information recording medium. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining image transition in the reading method of FIG.

[1. Overview of Information Recording Medium, Transfer Plate, Manufacturing Apparatus, and Reading Method]

(1) The information recording medium included in the present embodiment is an information recording medium having binary information recorded on its surface. in a region of the surface having a first portion that is textured to give a different appearance to the surface and a second portion that is not textured and a second interval representing the value of the other of the codes is represented by a second area where the surface is untextured.

Information recording media are, for example, paper, concrete, wood chips, metal plates, and the like. Binary information is information represented by two values, a first value and a second value, such as digital information represented by 0 and 1. , structures such as bridges, and those embedded and integrated in roads. Binary information is represented by a planar code, for example, by setting the first value to black and the second value to white. The planar code is, for example, a two-dimensional code such as a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) or a one-dimensional code such as a bar code. Also includes the code for The planar code consists of a first section indicating a first value and a second section indicating a second value, and binary information is represented by the arrangement of these sections.

Since the first region has a first portion and a second portion, the second portion of the first region has the same surface morphology as the second region. Therefore, the difference in appearance between the first region and the second region can be reduced. As a result, changes in the appearance of the surface are suppressed by recording binary information on the surface. Therefore, the aesthetic appearance is not greatly impaired. In addition, discomfort given can be suppressed.

(2) Preferably, the surface processing is processing for forming unevenness on the surface to produce shadows. As a result of this surface treatment, the area including the first portion with shadow and the second portion without shadow becomes the first area, and the area without shadow becomes the second area. Thereby, the appearance change of the surface caused by recording the binary information is suppressed to the appearance of shadows on the first portion.

(3) Preferably, the surface processing is processing for forming holes in the surface to produce shadows. As a result of this surface treatment, the area including the first portion with shadow and the second portion without shadow becomes the first area, and the area without shadow becomes the second area. Thereby, the appearance change of the surface caused by recording the binary information is suppressed to the appearance of shadows on the first portion. In addition, by this surface processing, when the surface is optically read, the shadow of the hole can be read without being affected by the environment such as ambient light. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in reading accuracy of binary information.

(4) Preferably, the code representing binary information in a plane is a two-dimensional code.

(5) Preferably, surface processing is applied to a plurality of positions within the first region. This makes it easier to detect the first area while suppressing changes in appearance.

(6) Preferably, the plurality of positions are positioned symmetrically with respect to the center of the first region. This does not limit the direction in which the information recording medium is optically read.

(7) Preferably, the information recording medium does not have a surface shape corresponding to the entire boundary between the first area and the second area. This further suppresses changes in appearance.

(8) The transfer plate included in the present embodiment is a transfer plate for transferring a shape indicating a code representing binary information on the surface of an information recording medium. and a first region having a first textured portion and a second non-textured portion representing a first interval indicating the value of the other of the codes and a second region in which unevenness is not formed. Thereby, binary information can be easily recorded on the surface of the information recording medium (1) to (7).

(9) A manufacturing apparatus included in the present embodiment is a manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a transfer plate for transferring a shape indicating a code representing binary information in a plane onto the surface of an information recording medium, surface processing including unevenness is performed on a first portion including unevenness defined in advance corresponding to one value of a first region of the transfer plate surface corresponding to a first section showing one value of , a second portion of the first region which does not include unevenness, and a second region of the transfer plate surface corresponding to the second section indicating the other value of the code are not subjected to surface processing. This makes it possible to easily manufacture the transfer plate of (8).

(10) A reading method included in the present embodiment is a reading method for reading binary information from an information recording medium having binary information recorded on its surface, wherein the surface of the information recording medium stores binary information. A first portion that is surfaced to give a different appearance to the surface and that is not surfaced, representing a first section representing one of the values of the code representing the surface. having a first region having a second portion and a second region having a non-textured surface representing a second interval indicative of the other value of the code; a step of obtaining a photographed image of the surface of the information recording medium; and a step of extracting a first region and a second region from the photographed image based on differences in surface color and/or brightness in the photographed image resulting from surface processing. setting the first part and the second part of the first area extracted from the photographed image to a first color corresponding to the value corresponding to the first area, and setting the color of the second area to the corresponding value; obtaining an image representing the code from the captured image by making it a second color according to the value of the code. Thus, binary information can be read from the information recording media (1) to (7).

[2. Examples of information recording medium, transfer plate, manufacturing apparatus, and reading method]

[2.1 Details of Information Recording Medium]

The information recording medium 1 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes an area 10 having a surface shape representing binary information on the surface 1A. The information recording medium 1 is, for example, paper, concrete, a piece of wood, a metal plate, or the like, and includes those embedded and integrated into the walls of buildings, structures such as bridges, roads, and the like.

The information recording medium 1 can record binary information on the surface 1A. Binary information is information represented by two values, a first value and a second value, such as digital information represented by 0 and 1, for example. Binary information is represented by a plane code (hereinafter referred to as a plane code), for example, by setting the first value to black and the second value to white. Planar cords are not limited to planar cords, and include non-planar cords such as curved surfaces. A plane code is, for example, a one-dimensional code or a two-dimensional code. A one-dimensional code is, for example, a bar code. A two-dimensional code is, for example, a matrix type code or a stack type code. The matrix type two-dimensional code is, for example, a QR (Quick Response) code (registered trademark) as shown in FIG.

The surface of the information recording medium on which the plane code is represented may be curved. A plane code can also be formed by applying a surface treatment to the surface of a cylinder or a sphere. The information recording medium includes the walls of a building in which the planar code is embedded and integrated, structures such as bridges, roads, and the like.

The information recording medium 1 shown in FIG. 1 records binary information similar to the binary information represented by the plane code CO shown in FIG. 2 as an example. In FIG. 2, an area B, which is a partial area of the plane code CO, is enlarged. Referring to FIG. 2, the plane code CO has a first section (cell) C1 indicating "1" as the first value and a second section (cell) C1 indicating "0" as the second value. ) C2, and binary information is represented by the arrangement of these sections C1 and C2.

In FIG. 1, an area A corresponding to the area B of the planar code CO shown in FIG. 2 is shown enlarged. Referring to FIG. 1, area 10 on surface 1A of information recording medium 1 includes first area 11 representing first section C1 of plane code CO and second area 12 representing second section C2. has a surface shape arranged according to the arrangement of the first section C1 and the second section C2 in the planar code CO. The first area 11 has a first portion 13 where the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is processed and a second portion 14 where the surface is not processed. The second area 12 is an area where the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is not subjected to the surface treatment. Neither the first region 11 nor the second region 12 has surface features applied to the entire area of the boundary 15 of the regions.

The surface processing applied to the first region 11 is applied to a range smaller than the entire surface of the first region 11, and is different from the surface 1A of the second portion 14 where the surface processing is not performed. It is a process that gives it an appearance. Both the second portion 14 and the second region 12 have the same appearance because they are not subjected to surface processing, and maintain the original surface (main surface) of the information recording medium 1 . This reduces the difference in appearance between the first region 11 and the second region 12 . As a result, the first region 11 and the second region 12 can be distinguished from the image (photographed image) obtained by optically reading the surface 1A by the appearance due to the presence of the first portion, and the region 10 The appearance of the surface 1A does not change significantly due to the recording of the plane code CO. The smaller the ratio of the area of the surface-treated first portion 13 to the first region 11, the smaller the sense of discomfort. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the information recording medium 1 from being greatly spoiled or to give a sense of discomfort.

Surface processing is, for example, processing for forming holes (recesses) 13A in the first portion 13 of the surface 1A, as shown in FIG. 3A. A shade (shadow) is produced in the first portion 13 by this surface processing. This results in an appearance different from that of the second portion 14 and the second region 12 that are not surface-processed. That is, the area including the first portion 13 shaded by the hole 13A on the surface 1A can be identified as the first area 11, and the area without the shade can be identified as the second area 12 from the appearance of the surface 1A. Moreover, even if the first region 11 and the second region 12 do not have an appearance that indicates the boundary 15 between the regions, the first region 11 and the second region 12 can be distinguished from each other by the presence or absence of shadows. .

In addition, since the holes 13A are formed in the surface 1A, when acquiring (optically reading) a photographed image of the surface 1A, which will be described later, the holes 13A in the surface 1A are not affected by the environment such as ambient light. A shadow arises. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the reading accuracy of the reading method described later. That is, the first area can be easily detected.

Preferably, the depth of the hole 13A from the surface 1A is about 1 mm. Preferably, when the information recording medium 1 is made of a material such as a metal plate whose surface 1A has a high reflectance, the depth of the hole 13A from the surface 1A is set to 1 mm or more. In this case, more preferably, the color density of the entire surface 1A is darkened, for example, black. As a result, it is possible to improve the reading accuracy of the reading method described later.

Moreover, preferably, the shape of the hole 13A is circular. This is because the influence of the position of the camera on the hole 13A during reading can be suppressed. Moreover, preferably, the side surface of the hole 13A should have a predetermined surface roughness or more. This is because shadows due to irregular reflection are more likely to occur when the side surfaces have surface roughness, making it easier to identify them from the photographed image of the surface 1A.

Surface processing is not limited only to processing for forming holes 13A in surface 1A. Other surface processing may be used as long as the surface processing has an appearance different from that of the surface 1A of the region where the surface processing is not performed. As another example of surface processing, as shown in FIG. 3B, processing may be performed to form projections (convex portions) 13B having a cross-sectional area smaller than the entire surface of the first region 11 on the surface 1A. This surface treatment also produces a shadow (shadow) 16 on the surface 1A as an appearance different from the surface 1A that is not subjected to the surface treatment. That is, the area including the first portion 13 with the shadow 16 on the surface 1A can be identified as the first area 11, and the area without the shadow 16 can be identified as the second area 12 from the photographed image of the surface 1A. Moreover, even if the first region 11 and the second region 12 do not have an appearance indicating the boundary 15 between the regions, the first region 11 and the second region 12 can be distinguished by the presence or absence of the shadow 16. can.

Even if the projections 13B are formed on the surface 1A, the shadows of the projections 13B on the surface 1A can be obtained without being greatly affected by the environment such as ambient light when acquiring (optically reading) a photographed image of the surface 1A, which will be described later. occurs. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the reading accuracy of the reading method described later. That is, the first area 11 can be easily detected.

The surface processing may be processing (concave processing or convex processing) of either the hole (concave portion) 13A in FIG. 3A or the projection (convex portion) 13B in FIG. may Further, as still another example of surface processing, printing of a pattern that replaces concave portions or convex portions may be used. Even if it is a pattern, it is possible to easily detect the first area while suppressing changes in appearance.

As shown in FIG. 1, at least two or more holes 13A are provided in the first region 11 as surface processing. That is, the surface processing is applied to multiple positions within the first region 11 . In other words, the first portions 13 are arranged at multiple positions within the first region 11 . This makes it easier to detect the first region 11 while suppressing changes in appearance.

Preferably, the total area of each surface treatment formed at a plurality of positions is 1/2 or less of the area of first region 11 . The smaller the total area of the surface treatment, the more the change in appearance is suppressed. On the other hand, when the total area of the surface processing becomes small, it becomes difficult to detect the first region 11 . Therefore, more preferably, while suppressing the area of each surface treatment, the number of positions subjected to surface treatment is increased within a range where the total area of the surface treatment satisfies 1/2 or less of the area of the first region 11. As a result, detection accuracy can be ensured while suppressing changes in appearance.

Preferably, the holes 13A are provided point-symmetrically with respect to the center in the first region 11 . In other words, the first portions 13 are arranged point-symmetrically with respect to the center in the first region 11 . In the example of FIG. 1, five holes 13A are provided in the first area 11, and they are arranged from the center of the rectangular first area 11 and from the center on the line segment connecting the center and each vertex. They are placed at equal lengths. This makes it possible to identify the first area 11 regardless of the orientation in which the area 10 is optically read.

[2.2 Description of transfer plate]

In order to record the binary information represented by the plane code CO on the surface 1A of the area 10 of the information recording medium 1, the surface shape corresponding to the plane code CO is transferred to the area 10 of the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1. FIG. As an example, a transfer plate is used to transfer the surface shape to the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, the transfer plate 5 has a first portion and a surface processed corresponding to the surface processing of the first portion 13 of the first region 11 of the information recording medium 1 on the surface of the pedestal 54 . A first region 51 including a second portion corresponding to the second portion 14 not subjected to surface processing, and a surface processing corresponding to the surface processing of the second region 12 of the information recording medium 1. and a second region 52 that is not exposed.

The surface processing of the transfer plate 5 is, for example, projections 53 corresponding to the holes 13A. In the first area 51 of the transfer plate 5, as an example, a protrusion 53 is formed for forming a hole 13A in a portion corresponding to the first portion 13 of the first area 11 of the information recording medium 1. No protrusion 53 is formed in the portion corresponding to the portion 14 of 2 and the second region 52 .

The processed surface of the transfer plate 5 is pressed against the surface 1A of the area 10 of the information recording medium 1, so that the surface processed corresponding to the plane code CO is applied. Therefore, the first area 51 and the second area 52 are arranged on the surface of the pedestal 54 of the transfer plate 5 so as to correspond to the inverted planar code CO. A protrusion 53 is formed in the first region 51, and the first region 51 is pressed against the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1, so that the first portion of the first region 51 protrudes in the pressed region. A hole 13A corresponding to 53 is formed, and the area becomes the first portion 13 of the first area 11. As shown in FIG. Thereby, binary information can be easily recorded on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1. FIG.

[2.3 Description of transfer plate]

As shown in FIG. 5, the transfer plate 5 is manufactured from the material 5A by the manufacturing device 7. As shown in FIG. The manufacturing apparatus 7 has a manufacturing section 74 that manufactures the transfer plate 5 from the material 5A. The manufacturing department 74 is, for example, a 3D printer.

The manufacturing apparatus 7 includes a control section 70 including a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for controlling the manufacturing section 74, and a storage section 71 having a memory. The storage unit 71 stores a program 711 executed by the processor. A control signal from the control unit 70 is passed to the manufacturing unit 74 via a communication interface (I/F) 73 . Also, a plane code CO to be recorded on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is input from the input unit 72 . The input unit 72 is, for example, a scan, a camera, or the like.

The processor executes the program 711 so that the control unit 70 functions as a conversion unit 701 and a generation unit 702 . The conversion unit 701 converts the input plane code CO into the surface shape of the pedestal 54 . That is, the conversion unit 701 inverts the input plane code CO, and converts the first area 51 and the second area 52 corresponding to the first section C1 and the second section C2, respectively. It is arranged on the surface of the pedestal 54 and the surface shape of each region is determined. Therefore, the conversion unit 701 stores in advance the correspondence C between the value of the plane code CO and the surface shape. In the example of FIG. 5, the surface shape of the first region 51 corresponding to the value of "1" has projections 53, and the surface shape of the second region 52 corresponding to the value of "0" has no projections 53. Correspondence C is stored. Thereby, the conversion unit 701 can convert the input planar code CO into the surface shape of the transfer plate 5 .

Generation unit 702 generates a control signal for controlling manufacturing in manufacturing unit 74 from the conversion result of conversion unit 701 , and outputs the control signal to manufacturing unit 74 via communication I/F 73 . The transfer plate 5 is manufactured from the material 5A by controlling the driving of the manufacturing section 74 according to this control signal. Thereby, the transfer plate 5 can be manufactured easily.

On the surface of the pedestal 54 of the transfer plate 5, the projection 53 is formed in the first area 51 corresponding to the value "1" after the planar code CO is inverted, and the second area 53 corresponding to the value "0" is formed. No protrusion 53 is formed in the region 52 of . Therefore, by pressing the surface side of the pedestal 54 against the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1, the first portion 13 of the first region 11 formed with the holes 13A and the second portion 14 not formed with the holes 13A are formed. and a second region 12 is formed. In other words, binary information representing the plane code CO can be recorded on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 simply by pressing the transfer plate 5 against the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 .

The method of transferring the surface shape to the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is not limited to the method using the transfer plate 5 described above. As another example, a processing machine such as a drill, a laser processing machine, or a water jet processing machine may be used to process the surface shape such as the holes 13A on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1. FIG. When the information recording medium 1 is a material such as concrete that is embedded and integrated in the walls of an existing building, a structure such as a bridge, or a road, even in an integrated state, it can be processed by such a processing machine. Binary information representing the plane code CO can be recorded on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 by processing.

[2.4 Reading method]

Binary information representing the plane code CO recorded on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is read by a computer by the reading method shown in FIG. First, a computer that reads binary information acquires a photographed image of the area 10 on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 (step S101). The photographed image is obtained, for example, by photographing the surface 1A in color with a camera. In step S101, the photographed image of FIG. 1 is obtained.

Next, the obtained color image is converted to grayscale (step S103). Since the hole 13A is formed in the first portion 13 of the first area 11 of the information recording medium 1, in the photographed image, the first portion 13 has a black shadow, and the second portion 14 and the second area 12 are the colors of the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 . By the processing in step S103, the first portion 13 becomes a gray block due to the shadow, and the second portion 14 and the second area 12 are lighter in color than the first portion 13 because the shadow is not included. As an example, the image of FIG. 1 becomes the grayscale image shown in step S103 of FIG.

Next, edges are detected from the obtained grayscale image (step S105). Edges correspond to boundaries between the first portion 13 and the second portion 14 and the second region 12 . In step S105, a differentiation filter is applied to the grayscale image obtained in step S103 in order to extract a portion (high frequency component) with a large color change as an edge. A differential filter is, for example, a Sobel filter. Through the processing in step S105, the grayscale image shown in step S103 of FIG. 7 becomes the edge image shown in step S105.

Next, the obtained edge image is binarized (step S107). In step S107, for example, high-frequency portions are converted into white blocks, and low-frequency portions with small color changes are converted into black blocks. As a result, the first area 11 is generally converted into a white block, and the second area 12 into a black block. By the processing in step S107, the edge image shown in step S105 of FIG. 7 becomes the binary image shown in step S107.

Next, the obtained binary image is subjected to expansion and contraction processing (step S109). In step S109, high-frequency blocks are generated by subjecting the binary image obtained in step S107 to expansion and contraction processing. The expansion processing and reduction processing in step S109 are an example of processing for unifying the color of each region, and are an example of processing for making each region black or white as a whole. As a result, the entire first area 11 becomes a white block, and the entire second area 12 becomes a black block. By the processing in step S109, the binary image shown in step S107 of FIG. 7 becomes the image shown in step S109. As shown in FIG. 7, the processing in step S109 converts the high-frequency small dotted line pattern into the plane code solid line pattern.

Next, noise is removed from the image obtained in step S109 by smoothing the image obtained in step S109 (step S111). In step S111, a median filter is applied as an example. By the process of step S111, the image after the expansion and contraction processing shown in step S109 of FIG. 7 becomes the smoothed image shown in step S111. As shown in FIG. 7, the processing in step S111 removes noise that hinders decoding from the image after dilation and erosion processing.

Next, black and white reversal processing is performed on the smoothed image obtained in step S111 (step S113). In step S107, the high-frequency part is converted to white and the low-frequency part is converted to black. This is because in order to express white in the same way as the predefined plane code CO, it is necessary to invert black and white. In step S113, the first area 11 and the second area 12 are extracted based on the color difference between white and black. Alternatively, in step S113, the first region 11 and the second region 12 may be extracted based on the difference in brightness (brightness/darkness contrast). Alternatively, the first region 11 and the second region 12 may be extracted based on a combination of color difference and lightness difference. By the processing in step S113, the smoothed image, which is a binary image, shown in step S111 of FIG. 7 becomes an image in which black and white are reversed as shown in step S113.

The image shown in step S113 of FIG. 7 is an image showing a two-dimensional code, which is a conventional QR code (registered trademark). That is, by the above processing, the information recorded by arranging the first area 11 and the second area 12 on the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 is read and decoded into the original plane code CO. Therefore, when the image in step S113 is obtained, the binary information indicated by the plane code CO is obtained by executing a general plane code reading process (step S115). That is, by performing the processes of steps S101 to S113 described above by a computer, binary information can be obtained from the surface 1A of the information recording medium 1 by a general plane code reading process.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible.

1: information recording medium 1A: surface 5: transfer plate 5A: material 7: manufacturing apparatus 10: area 11: first area 12: second area 13: first portion 13A: hole 13B: protrusion 14: second Part 15 : Boundary 16 : Shadow 51 : First area 52 : Second area 53 : Protrusion 54 : Base 70 : Control unit 71 : Storage unit 72 : Input unit 73 : Communication I/F
74: manufacturing unit 701: conversion unit 702: generation unit 711: program A: area B: area C: correspondence relationship C1: first section C2: second section CO: plane code

Claims (8)

An information recording medium having binary information recorded on its surface,
A first section indicating one of the values of the code representing the binary information in a plane is a region of the surface, which is subjected to surface processing so as to have a different appearance with respect to the surface. A second section representing the other value of the code, represented by a first region having a portion of 1 and a second portion not subjected to the surface treatment, wherein the surface treatment is applied to the surface. Represented by a second area not treated,
The first portion is a hole formed depthwise from the surface, the hole having a depth that causes the first portion to be shaded in the appearance of the surface, wherein the shade: having a different appearance with respect to said surface,
The second portion is a portion of the surface where the shadow due to the hole does not occur.
Information recording medium. 2. The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the code representing the binary information in a plane is a two-dimensional code. The holes are formed at a plurality of positions within the first region.
3. The information recording medium according to claim 1 or 2 . 4. The information recording medium according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of positions are positioned symmetrically with respect to the center of the first area. 5. The information recording medium according to claim 1, which does not have a surface shape corresponding to the entire boundary between the first area and the second area. A transfer plate for forming the information recording medium according to claim 1 by transferring a shape indicating the code representing the binary information in a plane onto the surface of the information recording medium ,
a projection for forming the hole in the first portion of the information recording medium;
The protrusions are not formed in the portions corresponding to the second portion and the second region of the information recording medium.
transfer plate. A manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the transfer plate according to claim 6 ,
The transfer plate surface is configured to be surface-processed to form the protrusions.
Manufacturing equipment. A reading method for reading binary information from an information recording medium having binary information recorded on its surface,
The surface of the information recording medium is surface-processed so as to have a different appearance from the surface, which represents a first section indicating one value of a code representing the binary information in a plane. With respect to said surface, said and a second region that is not surface-treated,
The first portion is a hole formed depthwise from the surface, the hole having a depth that causes the first portion to be shaded in the appearance of the surface, wherein the shade: having a different appearance with respect to said surface,
The second portion is a portion of the surface where the shadow due to the hole does not occur,
The reading method is
causing shadows due to the holes on the surface of the information recording medium;
obtaining a photographed image by photographing the first area including the shadow caused by the hole and the second area not including the shadow on the surface of the information recording medium ;
Extracting the first region and the second region from the captured image based on the difference in color and/or brightness of the surface according to the presence or absence of the shadow caused by the hole in the captured image ;
setting the first part and the second part of the first area extracted from the photographed image to a first color according to the value corresponding to the first area; obtaining an image representing the code from the photographed image by setting the color of the region to a second color according to the corresponding value.

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