JPH0662232A - Copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily and securely provide evidence data such as the type of the device, the object and how to copy before forged copy inhibited originals are sufficiently distributed. CONSTITUTION:A feature extracting means 4 extracts the specified feature of an image signal (p) from an image read part 1, and a storage means 7 stores the history information of the original prepared by a history preparing means 5 from the outputs of the feature extracting means 4 and the image read part 1. Thus, when the feature extracting means 4 extracts the feature of the specified original of the copy inhibited original such as a paper money or a security, the evidence data such as the type of the device and how to copy the specified original are surely remained in the storage means 7 and by periodically checking the history information in the storage means 7 at the time of maintenance or the like, the evidence data are easily provided before the forged copy inhibited originals are sufficiently distributed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine having a forgery preventing function for paper sheets such as banknotes, securities, and various kinds of cash vouchers whose copying is prohibited.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the hard copy of a copying machine or the like, technical development has been advanced for the purpose of forming an image faithful to an original, and as a result, in recent years, a reproduced image which is indistinguishable from the original image is formed. Color copiers that can do this are also commercially available.

If a reproduced image very close to the original image is obtained, it may be used for counterfeiting bills, securities, and the like. Conventionally, in order to prevent such forgery, it is determined by feature extraction whether the input image signal is an image signal of banknotes or securities whose copying is prohibited,
If it is determined that the image signal is copy prohibited,
Prevents counterfeiting by activating the copy protection function that stops the output image or performs conversion processing such as reduction processing and mirror image inversion before playing the image. The method (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-316783 image processing apparatus) has been adopted.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional copying machine, a copy of a copy-prohibited manuscript such as banknotes or securities cannot be found until a sufficient number of copies of the copy-prohibited manuscript can be found in the world. It cannot be quickly discovered as a forgery. Moreover, even if a counterfeit copy-prohibited manuscript is found, it is difficult to reliably obtain evidence data such as what was copied by what copying machine and how. .

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and makes it possible to easily and surely verify evidence data such as what model was used and how it was copied before a counterfeit copy-prohibited manuscript was sufficiently available in the world. An object is to provide an image forming apparatus that can be obtained.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a copying apparatus of the present invention provides an image reading means for reading an image of a document and outputting an electric image signal, and an image signal from the image reading means. From the image processing means for processing, the characteristic extracting means for extracting a specific characteristic of the image signal from the image reading means, the output of the characteristic extracting means and the image processing means, or the output of the characteristic extracting means and the image reading means. History creating means for creating history information of the original,
And a storage unit for storing the history information created by the history creating unit.

In addition to the above configuration, the copying apparatus of the present invention calculates, from the history information created by the history creating means, the cumulative value of the correlation with the characteristics of the document whose copying is prohibited, and this cumulative value is a constant value. It is provided with a copy preventing means for stopping the normal copy function when the above value or the correlation value is equal to or more than a predetermined value.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, the copying apparatus of the present invention initializes the history information stored in the storage means, and releases the copy prevention function of the copy prevention means which has stopped the normal copy function. It is equipped with.

Further, the copying apparatus of the present invention comprises, in addition to the above-mentioned configuration, a communication means capable of receiving an operation signal from an external line and controlling the releasing function of the releasing means to be enabled or disabled.

Further, the copy preventing means of the copying apparatus of the present invention, when the copy preventing operation is carried out, transmits the operation state to the external line via the communication means and also transmits the history information stored in the storing means. It is configured.

Further, the releasing means of the copying apparatus of the present invention is
By re-saving the history information stored in the storage means by the specific second storage means, the copy prevention function of the copy prevention means can be released.

Further, the releasing means of the copying apparatus of the present invention is
By transmitting the history information stored in the storage means to an external line via the communication means, the copy prevention function of the copy prevention means can be released.

[0013]

With the above construction, the image signal from the image reading means is subjected to image processing by the image processing means, and the specific feature of the image signal from the image reading means is extracted by the feature extracting means, and the output of the feature extracting means and Since the history information of the document created by the history creating means from the output of the image processing means or the output of the feature extracting means and the output of the image reading means is stored in the storage means,
If the feature extraction means performs the feature extraction of a specific original document such as banknotes or securities that is prohibited to copy, the evidence data such as what model and how the specific original document such as copy prohibited document was copied into the storage means. If the history information in the storage means is checked without fail, such as during maintenance, the counterfeit copy-prohibited manuscripts can be quickly found before they are sufficiently available in the world, and the evidence becomes clear. Also,
As a result, easy forgery of copy-prohibited documents is also suppressed.

Further, as compared with the conventional method in which the output image is directly stopped when the copy is prohibited in the feature extraction,
When the credibility increases due to the accumulation of the correlation value from the history information of the storage means with the characteristics of the copy prohibited document by the copy prevention means,
Since the normal copy function is stopped when it is a copy-protected document, the frequency of malfunctions with respect to the copy-protected document is reduced, making it more reliable to determine whether the copy-protected document is a copy-protected document. Copying is surely prevented, and the problem that a normal image cannot be normally reproduced due to an erroneous determination as in the conventional case is eliminated.

Further, since the copy preventing function of the copy preventing means which has stopped the normal copy function can be canceled by the canceling means, the copying apparatus can again perform copying. Further, since the history information stored in the storage means can be initialized by using the releasing means, the storage capacity required for the storage means can be further reduced by initializing the storage means at the time of periodic maintenance. It becomes possible to set.

Furthermore, since the release function of the release means can be controlled to be enabled or disabled via the communication means by receiving an operation signal from an external line, it is possible to perform remote maintenance in a remote place. However, it is not necessary to go out one by one, and the release operation can be easily performed.

Further, since the copy prevention means transmits the operating state to the external line via the communication means at the time of the copy prevention operation and transmits the history information to the maker side, the maker side etc. Management is easy and quick.

Further, the releasing means re-saves the history information stored in the storage means by the specific second storage means, or the history information stored in the storage means via the communication means to the outside. Since the copy protection function of the copy protection means can be canceled only by sending it to the line, the cancel operation cannot be performed without permission, and the evidence data in the storage means is surely saved.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG.
The image reading unit 1 reads an image on a document and outputs an electrical color image signal p. The image processing unit 2 to which the image reading unit 1 is connected is connected to the image output unit 3, and the image reading unit 1
The image signal p from No. 1 is subjected to signal processing and output to the image output unit 3 as a necessary image forming signal q, and the image output unit 3 forms a color image on the recording paper.

Further, the feature extracting means 4 to which the image reading section 1 is connected is connected to the history creating means 5, and the feature extracting means 4 extracts a specific feature of the image signal p from the image reading section 1,
The characteristic data signal s is output to the history creating means 5. The history creating means 5 to which the characteristic extracting means 4, the operation panel 6 and the image reading section 1 are connected is connected to the storage means 7, and the characteristic data signal s of the characteristic correlation value data of the copy document and the ID from the operating panel 6 are connected. , A description file t composed of the date and time, the number of copies, and the image data p from the image reading unit 1 is created, and the description file t is stored in the storage means 7 as history information. If the characteristic data signal s of the characteristic correlation value data is small, the image data p may be deleted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the feature extracting means 4 in the copying apparatus of FIG. In FIG. 2, the color distribution coefficient generation circuit 8 is connected to the image discrimination circuit 9, and the R data, G data, and B data from the image reading unit 1 that are input are used to output the signals R, G, and B shown in FIG. Generate a histogram. In the generated histogram, an approximate expression (Equation 1) of each of the signals R, G, and B is obtained based on the least squares method, and the color distribution coefficient a ~ is obtained from the approximate expression (Equation 1).
o is required.

[0022]

F (R) = aR ⁴ + bR ³ + cR ² + dR + kr f (G) = gG ⁴ + hG ³ + iG ² + jG + kg f (B) = LB ⁴ + mB ³ + nB ² + oB + kb These color distribution coefficients a to o are coefficient signals. It is output from the color distribution coefficient generation circuit 8 to the image discrimination circuit 9 as u. Further, the pattern detection circuit 10 is connected to the image discrimination circuit 9 and detects the characteristic pattern of the document based on the input R data, G data, and B data from the image reading unit 1 and outputs the pattern signal v to the pattern detection circuit. Output from 10 to the image discrimination circuit 9. The image discrimination circuit 9 to which the color distribution coefficient generation circuit 8 and the pattern detection circuit 10 are connected is connected to the image characteristic pattern data 11 and the image color distribution coefficient data 12, and the pattern signal v, the pattern data signal w, and the coefficient signal u.
And the coefficient data signal x are correlated, and the correlation value is output to the history creating means 5 as the characteristic data signal s.

The image color distribution coefficient data is composed of characteristic coefficients A to O of a function approximated by a quartic equation, and the correlation value here is a value obtained by normalizing the least square sum of each coefficient. These characteristic coefficients A to O are color distribution coefficients a to o, respectively.
It corresponds to. The correlation of the image patterns is performed, for example, by comparing for each coefficient in which the density distribution of the image pattern viewed from a plurality of angles is replaced with a characteristic function, like the color distribution coefficient, and the correlation value is the least square sum of each coefficient. Is a normalized value. The two normalized values are combined by the set mixing ratio, and become the final correlation value. A template matching method may be used to extract the features of the image pattern.

With the above configuration, the operation will be described below. First, the image reading unit 1 reads a document to be copied, and outputs R data, G data, and B data as the color image signal p to the image processing unit 2. The image processing unit 2 receives the color image signal p as an input, and outputs Y data, M data, C data, and K data to the generated image output unit 3 as an image forming signal q necessary for the image output unit 3. This image output unit 3
Forms a color image on a recording sheet according to the input image forming signal q.

Further, the characteristic extracting means 4 extracts a specific characteristic of the original from the image pattern of the image signal p from the image reading section 1 and outputs the characteristic data signal s to the history creating means 5. Here, the operation of the feature extraction means 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the color distribution coefficient generation circuit 8 uses the R data, G data, and B data from the image reading unit 1 that is input, as shown in FIG. A histogram of each of the signals R, G, B shown is generated. This generated histogram is an approximate expression (Equation 1) for each of the signals R, G, B based on the least squares method.
Is obtained, and the color distribution coefficients a to o are obtained. The color distribution coefficients a to o are output to the image discrimination circuit 9 as coefficient signals u. Further, the pattern detection circuit 10 detects the characteristic pattern of the document based on the input R data, G data, and B data from the image reading unit 1 and outputs the pattern signal v to the image discrimination circuit 9. The image discrimination circuit 9 calculates the degree of correlation between the pattern signal v and the pattern data signal w, and the coefficient signal u and the coefficient data signal x, and uses the correlation values as the characteristic data signal s from the characteristic extracting means 4 to the history creating means 5. Output to.

The history creating means 5 uses the characteristic data signal s of the characteristic correlation value data for the copy document and the operation panel 6.
The description file t including the ID, the date and time, the number of copies, and the image data p from the image reading unit 1 is created, and the description file t is stored in the storage unit 7 as history information. If the characteristic data signal s of the characteristic correlation value data is small, the image data p may be deleted.

Therefore, a particular feature of the image signal p from the image reading unit 1 is extracted by the feature extracting unit 4, and the document created by the history creating unit 5 from the output of the feature extracting unit 4 and the output of the image reading unit 1. Since the history information is stored in the storage means 7, if the characteristic extraction means 4 extracts a specific characteristic such as a manuscript whose copying is prohibited such as banknotes or securities, what kind of who is the specific manuscript such as a duplication prohibited manuscript and by whom? The evidence data such as how the
By periodically checking the history information in the storage means 7 at the time of maintenance or the like, it becomes possible to clarify the evidence data such as which machine was copied by whom and how before the forgery of the copy-prohibited manuscript was sufficiently available in the world. . Further, this also suppresses easy forgery of copy-prohibited documents.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of a copying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the image reading unit 21 reads an image of a document and outputs an electrical color image signal P. The image processing unit 22 to which the image reading unit 21 is connected is connected to the image output unit 23, processes the image signal P from the image reading unit 21, and outputs it to the image output unit 23 as a necessary image forming signal Q. The image output unit 23 forms a color image on a recording sheet. Image reading unit 21 and image processing unit described above
An image forming unit 24 is configured by 22 and the image output unit 23.

The image processing means 22 is a history creating means.
The image processing means 22 outputs the reduced image signal E to the history creating means 25. Further, the feature extracting means 26 to which the image reading section 21 is connected is configured similarly to the feature extracting means 4 of FIG. 1, extracts a specific feature of the image signal P from the image reading section 21, and outputs the feature data signal S. Output to the history creating means 25. The history creating means 25 to which the image processing section 22 and the feature extracting means 26 are connected is connected to the storage means 27 and
It is connected to the operation panel 29 via 28 and the reduced image signal E
Then, the description file T is created from the characteristic data signal S of the characteristic correlation value data, the ID from the operation panel 29, the date and time, and the number of copies, and the history information is stored in the storage means 27.

Here, FIG. 5 shows a file configuration diagram of an example of the description file T. As shown in FIG. 5, the first block is the header of the description file T, and the size information of each block used in the description file T, the validity of the block,
Describe invalidity. The information described in the invalid block is lost, but the block size exists. The second block is the history number, and the third block is the user's I
D, the fifth block is the number of copies, and the sixth block is the copy date and time, and these are input via the bus 28 by the operation panel 29. Further, the feature data signal S is input to the fourth block by a correlation value between the specific image feature registered in advance and the feature of the copy document, and the seventh block receives the copy document from the image processing unit 22. The reduced image signal E of is input. If the feature data signal S that is the correlation value signal is small, the reduced image data E of the seventh block may be deleted.

Further, the copy prevention means 30 is connected to the storage means 27 and the control section 31 via the bus 28, and the control section 31 is connected to the image forming means 24 via the bus 28 and the storage means 27.
When the cumulative value of the correlation value with the feature of the copy prohibited document is equal to or more than a certain value or the correlation value is equal to or more than a predetermined value, the control unit 31
The normal copying function of the image forming means 24 is stopped via the. Further, the control unit 31 communicates with the communication means 32 via the bus 28.
When the copy prevention means 30 is operated, the operation state of the copy prevention function is transmitted to the external line via the communication means 32 and the history information stored in the storage means 27 is transmitted.

Further, the releasing means 33 is connected to the copy preventing means 30 and releases the copy preventing means 30 by a release signal Y from the releasing means 33. Control unit 31 to which copy preventing means 30 is connected
Is connected to the image forming unit 24 and the storage unit 28, and the released copy preventing unit 30 outputs a stop release signal to the control unit 31, and the control unit 31 releases the stop state of the image forming unit 24 and the storage unit. Initialize 27. Further, the communication means 32 is connected to the releasing means 33 via the bus 28 and receives an operation signal from an external line to enable or disable the releasing means 33.
The control unit 31 is composed of a CPU, a ROM for storing a program, a RAM for a work register, and the like. The operation from the operation panel 29, the copy prevention unit 30, and the communication unit 32.
The control unit 31 is configured to perform the corresponding control operation by the release means 33.

Further, the second storage means 34 as an external storage means is composed of a floppy or an IC card of the manufacturer side, and the second storage means 34 is operated by the operation panel 29 to make the first storage means 27. Content can be saved again,
The copy protection means 30 is released via the release means 33 by this re-save.

With the above configuration, the operation will be described below. First, the original to be copied is read by the image reading unit 21, and R data, G data, and B data are output to the image processing unit 22 as a color image signal P. The image processing unit 22 receives the color image signal P as input, and generates Y data, M data, C data, and K data as an image forming signal Q required for the image output unit 23. These Y data, M data, and C data,
The K data is output to the image output unit 23. This image output unit 23
Then, a color image is formed on the recording sheet by the input image forming signal Q.

Further, the reduced image signal E is output from the image processing means 22 to the history creating means 25. Here, the reduced image signal E output from the image processing means 22 will be described.
In the image processing means 22, the monochromatic image Mo is obtained from the image signal P.
No generation, image enlargement / reduction, and image binarization processing are performed. This monochromatic image Mono is Mono = (R + 2G +
B) / 4, and the generated monochromatic image Mono is binarized with a preset threshold value. For example, a monochrome signal is 8-bit data from 0 to FF (HEX), and if the threshold value is 7F (HEX), the data is 7F.
If it is larger than (HEX), it becomes "1", and if the data is 7F (HEX) or less, it becomes "0". As a result, the monochromatic image data Mono becomes a binary image represented by the data of "0" and "1". The enlargement / reduction of the image of the binarized binary image is performed by, for example, the n division method,
The logical sum method, the nearest neighbor method, the projection method, and the distance inverse proportion method are used. The image signal E reduced by the image processing means 22 is output to the history creating means 25.

Further, the feature extraction means 26 extracts a specific feature of the original from the image pattern of the image signal P from the image reading section 21 and outputs the feature data signal S to the history creation means 25. Then, the history creating means 25 uses the feature data signal S of the feature correlation value data from the feature extracting means 26 of the copied document, the reduced image signal E from the image processing unit 22, the ID from the operation panel 29, the date and time. , A description file T composed of the number of copies and a storage means for storing the description file T.
Stored as history information in 27.

Further, the copy preventing means 30 checks the history of the fourth block showing the characteristic correlation value with the copy prohibited document from the history information of the plurality of description file data stored in the storage means 28, The cumulative value of the correlation value of the history information is calculated. When the cumulative value is equal to or greater than a certain value or the correlation value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, that is, the cumulative value calculated by the copy prevention unit 30 is larger than a preset value, and the credibility of the copy prohibited document is increased. At this time, or when it is determined that a document that is clearly prohibited is copied, a copy function stop signal is output to the control unit 31 via the bus 28, and the control unit 31 causes the image forming unit 24 to perform the copy function stop signal. Stop the normal copying function of. As a result, it is possible to reduce the frequency of malfunctions with respect to copy-prohibited originals, as compared with the conventional method of activating the copy-prevention function for directly stopping the output image from the feature extraction means 26, and determining whether the copy-prohibited originals are present or not. Is more reliable, and a large number of copy-prohibited documents are reliably prevented. In this case, the normal stop of the copying function is realized by stopping the operations of the image reading unit 21 and the image output unit 23, but the image processing unit 22 changes the color or eliminates the color. It is also possible to perform processing such as enlarging / reducing an image so that the copy looks like a forgery at first glance.

The control unit 31 also generates an operation signal for notifying the communication unit 32 that the copy prevention unit 30 has operated, and further reads the description file data from the storage unit 27 and sends it to the communication unit 32. The communication means 32 transmits this to the manufacturer or the like via an external line. On the other hand, the manufacturer can immediately check the status of the copier, the original document read, the copying status, etc. from a remote location by reporting information from the copier, and can quickly detect the circulation of counterfeit banknotes. You can quickly identify the model. Therefore, the manufacturer can easily and quickly manage the history information.

Further, the copy preventing operation of the copy preventing means 30 can be canceled by the cancel signal Y output from the canceling means 33 to the copy preventing means 30, and the released copy preventing means 30 is controlled by the control section 31.
Generate a stop release signal to release the stop state of the copy function. By this stop release signal, the control unit 31 causes the image forming unit
The stop state of 24 is released, and the description file T stored in the storage means 27 is initialized via the bus 28. As a result, the copying apparatus can perform the copying operation again,
Also, the required storage capacity of the storage means 27 can be set smaller. Further, the communication means 32 receives an operation signal transmitted by a maker or the like through an external line, and sends a release control signal to the release means 33 to enable or disable the release function.
If the manufacturer determines that the document that is clearly prohibited is copied from the reduced image data of the description file T,
The canceling means 33 is disabled so that the copy preventing means 30 cannot be canceled. Enable it for manuscripts that are not prohibited,
The copy prevention means 30 can be released by an operation signal from the manufacturer. As a result, it is possible to immediately deal with the copying machine from a remote place.

In addition, by the operation from the operation panel 29, the control unit 31 identifies the manufacturer side, for example, a floppy disk having a specific encryption key, an IC card having a specific encryption key, and the like.
Releasing the description file T of the storage means 27 in the second storage means 34 such as the specific floppy disk, the specific IC card, or the medium capable of storing information also enables the releasing means 33.
Can be enabled. In this way, copy protection means
30 transmits the description file T stored in the storage means 27 to the manufacturer side, or a specific floppy disk on the manufacturer side,
It cannot be canceled unless it is saved again in the second storage means 34 such as a specific IC card.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, the output of the feature extracting means and the output of the image processing means for extracting the specific features of the image signal from the image reading means, or the output of the feature extracting means, Since the history creating means for creating the history information of the original from the output of the image reading means and the storage means for storing the history information are provided, forgery of the copy-inhibited original by periodical history information check during maintenance, etc. It is possible to make sure that the evidence data such as how and how a specific manuscript such as a duplication prohibited manuscript has been duplicated in the storage means before it is fully available to the public. It is also possible to suppress easy forgery.

Further, the cumulative correlation value with the characteristics of the copy prohibited document is calculated from the history information, and the normal copying function is stopped when the cumulative value becomes a certain value or more or the correlation value is more than a predetermined value. By providing the copy prevention means, it is possible to reduce the frequency of erroneous operations for determining whether or not a copy-prohibited document is present, and it is possible to reliably prevent multiple copies of a copy-prohibited document. It is also possible to eliminate the problem that the normal image cannot be normally reproduced due to an error.

Further, by providing the releasing means for releasing the copy preventing function of the copy preventing means which has stopped the normal copying function, the copying apparatus in which the normal copying function is stopped by the copy preventing means is used again. You can Further, by using the canceling means to initialize the history information stored in the storage means, the required storage capacity of the storage means can be set smaller.

Furthermore, by providing a communication means capable of receiving the operation signal from the external line and controlling the canceling function of the canceling means to be valid or invalid, even for a remote place where maintenance or the like cannot be performed easily. The releasing operation can be easily performed without the need to visit each person.

Further, when the copy prevention operation is performed, the operation state is transmitted to the external line via the communication means and the copy prevention means for transmitting the history information stored in the storage means is provided. You can easily and quickly manage the history information.

Further, the history information stored in the storage means is restored by the specific second storage means, or the history information stored in the storage means is transmitted to the external line via the communication means. By providing the release means for releasing the copy protection function of the copy protection means, it is possible to prevent the release operation from being performed without permission, and it is possible to surely save the evidence data in the storage means. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a feature extraction means 4 in the copying apparatus of FIG.

3 is a histogram of each signal R, G, B from the image reading unit 1 in the copying apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a copying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a file configuration diagram showing an example of a description file T stored in a storage means 27 in the copying apparatus of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,21 Image reading unit 2,22 Image processing unit 4,26 Feature extraction means 5,25 History creation means 7,27 Storage means 8 Color distribution coefficient generation circuit 9 Image discrimination circuit 10 Pattern detection circuit 11 Image feature pattern data 12 Image Color distribution coefficient data 24 Image forming means 30 Copy preventing means 31 Control section 32 Communication means 33 Releasing means 34 Second storage means

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazushi Ono 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) In Kai Kai, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture 1006 Kadoma, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. 72) Inventor Tomoko Suetake 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor ▲ Kuwa ▼ Yasuhiro Hara 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An image reading means for reading an image of an original and outputting an electrical image signal, an image processing means for processing an image signal from the image reading means, and a specific image signal from the image reading means. A feature extracting means for extracting features, a history creating means for creating history information of the document from the feature extracting means output and image processing means output, or the feature extracting means output and image reading means output, and the history creating means. A copying machine comprising a storage unit for storing created history information. 2. A cumulative value of a correlation value with the characteristics of the copy-prohibited original document is calculated from the history information created by the history creating means,
2. The copying apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising copy preventing means for stopping a normal copying function when the cumulative value is a predetermined value or more or the correlation value is a predetermined value or more. 3. A copying apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a releasing means for initializing the history information stored in the storing means and releasing the copy preventing function of the copy preventing means which has stopped the normal copying function. 4. A copying machine according to claim 3, further comprising a communication means capable of receiving an operation signal from an external line and controlling the releasing function of the releasing means to be enabled or disabled. 5. The copy preventing means, when the copy preventing operation is performed, transmits an operation state to an external line via the communication means and transmits history information stored in the storing means. The described copying machine. 6. The copy according to claim 3, wherein the canceling means can cancel the copy preventing function of the copy preventing means by re-storing the history information stored in the storing means by the specific second storing means. apparatus. 7. The canceling means can cancel the copy preventing function of the copy preventing means by transmitting the history information stored in the storage means to an external line via the communication means. Copying device.