JPH09147172A - Method for reading and inspecting printed matter and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a large quantity of authenticity judgement without depending on the material properness of printed matter and at one time by binarizing an input image, leaving a binary image for only the part corresponding to the printing area of the part to which a latent image is applied, confirming the presence or absence of the shape of the left binary image and performing the authenticity judgement. SOLUTION: When the input image 9 for printed matter (a body to be inspected) is binarized, the partial low density of the picture element group 11 corresponding to the printing area 7 of the part to which a latent image is applied and the picture element group 10 corresponding to the printing area 8 of the part to which the latent image is not applied is eliminated and the high density picture element of the picture element group 10 corresponding to the printing area 8 of the part to which the latent image is not applied is left without being eliminated. Thus, a binary image 12 can be obtained for only the part corresponding to the printing 8 of the part to which the latent image is not applied. Therefore, printed matter in which this binary image is left is judged as a genuine one and printed matter in which the binary image is not left is judged as a forgery. Thus, a large quantity of authenticity can be judged without depending on the material properness of printed matter and at one time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a latent image, which is normally invisible to the naked eye, to a collection pattern of curved lines of a printed matter which requires forgery and alteration prevention, and mechanically detects the applied latent image. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reading and inspecting a printed matter, which enables true / false determination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Counterfeiting and falsification prevention are important factors in printed matter such as securities such as banknotes, stock certificates and bonds, various certificates and important documents. These countermeasures for counterfeiting and alteration of printed matter mainly use a method that uses a pattern that makes extensive use of geometric patterns for design, and if any means are applied to the printed matter, a latent image that can not be recognized visually will appear. There is such a method. Typical examples of the former are those using geometric patterns such as a tint block, a color pattern, and a relief pattern, which are widely used for designing printed matters such as securities, and forgery and alteration using the geometric pattern. As a preventive measure, a pattern is basically formed by a set of curved drawing lines having a constant drawing line width. These patterns add design characteristics such as the design of printed matter, and use colors that are difficult to reproduce by a photolithography machine or a photocopier, or create complicated curved lines for scanning input / output of a photocopier and a scanner. , The role as a counterfeit prevention measure is enhanced by generating moiré, but recently, with the advent of highly functional photoengraving machines or copying machines, there is a drawback that they do not bring sufficient anti-counterfeiting and alteration prevention effects. is there.

Of the latter typical examples in which some means and action are applied to the above-mentioned printed matter, the most frequently used forgery / alteration prevention measure is a series of measures generally referred to as copy prevention image lines. With this technology, the latent image formed on the printed matter cannot be visually recognized, and the latent image appears when the image is copied by a copying machine. For example, a latent image on the surface of which fine characters, which are halftone dots of 85 lines and 30%, are displayed is printed by using silver ink, and then, in a blank area other than this latent image, a rougher or denser than the latent image ( For example, 150 lines 30
%) Printed with a halftone dot and a printed pattern such as a tint pattern or a tint pattern on the upper surface of the latent image, which is suitable for preventing forgery by copying (JP-A-57-20395). In addition, a latent image is printed on the surface of the paper with halftone dots, a background with the same density as the latent image is printed simultaneously with a line, and a decorative pattern on the upper surface of the latent image including the background is of a light color that is not reproduced by copying. By overprinting with transparent ink, the surface of the printed matter is finished in a good appearance, and when copied, the pattern disappears, the background is reproduced and the latent image is not reproduced, and the density difference between the background and the latent image becomes obvious. A printed material suitable for copy prevention, which can be seen at a glance as a copied material (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-79991).
Gazette), which further comprises a latent image consisting of 150 lines and 10% halftone dots, and 50 to 60 lines 1 on the white ground around the latent image.
Using a latent image plate with a background consisting of about 0% lines
A dark color is printed on the surface of the paper, and an overprint plate with a wavy pattern consisting of parallel lines that forms a moire pattern when it interferes with the background lines is used. Overprinting creates a moire pattern on the surface of the printed matter that is dazzling to the naked eye, making it difficult to identify the presence of a latent image.When applied to a copier, the latent image and waveform pattern are not reproduced, but only the background is reproduced. As a result, the latent image is recognized as distinguished from the background, and a latent image cam-image method for preventing copy in printed matter (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-8738).
No. 0) is disclosed.

In the printed matter according to the above publications, a latent image is formed by the density of an image group (hereinafter referred to as a screen pattern) in which dots and lines such as lines and dots are continuously arranged at a constant cycle, and a printed surface is formed. The entire pattern is a screen pattern with uniform density. When a printed matter having the latent image is copied by a copying machine, a density difference occurs between a densely constructed screen pattern that is not reproduced and a coarsely structured screen pattern that is reproduced, resulting in a coarsely structured screen pattern that is reproduced. By contrast, the latent image portion of the screen pattern having a dense structure that is not reproduced is exposed so that it can be seen at a glance as a copy. However, in all of the above publications, a screen pattern having a uniform density over the entire printing surface is used. Therefore, even with the naked eye, different screen patterns on the same printing surface cause different images due to different screen shapes and a latent image caused by the screen pattern. There is a drawback that the existence of the latent image can be identified by the interference portion with the boundary line of. Therefore, as a method for solving the above-mentioned drawbacks, all of the above publications and the like provide different patterns, light-colored transparent ink, and light-color overprinting in order to camouflage the latent image, but the above methods identify latent images. Although it is effective in making it difficult, it has a drawback that the number of steps increases and it is not economical.

Therefore, as a method of solving the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, the inventors of the present invention use a latent image formed of a pattern of halftone dots or lines on the surface of the paper and the latent image around the latent image. A printed matter suitable for copy prevention, which is characterized by cam framing, such as a white circular pattern having different density and a concentric pattern in which a halftone dot percentage of a partial screen pattern is increased with respect to the entire screen pattern (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 4- No. 170569), another pattern for camouflaging a latent image, a light-colored transparent ink, and a printed matter in which a light-color overprint is not performed and the latent-image pattern on which the latent image is applied are not visually recognizable. Provided. However, as described above, in all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, a latent image is formed by a screen pattern, and therefore, a different pattern or a light-colored transparent ink or a light-colored overprint is not required for the camouflage. It is impossible to make an image-printed monochromatic print streak pattern itself into a freely designed pattern like a stipple pattern, or to make an artistic printed matter with a decorative effect. Further, since all of the above-mentioned prior art methods must be a screen pattern consisting of dots and lines such as lines and the density of lines, a tint block,
It has a drawback that it is not suitable for use in existing products such as securities such as banknotes, stock certificates, bonds, etc., which frequently use color patterns.

Therefore, as a method of sufficiently compensating for the drawbacks of the copy protection methods described in (1) to (3) above, the inventors of the present invention apply a collective pattern of curved lines to form a single line and a latent image on the non-latent image portion. The part with two or more lines is used to represent the marked area, and the two or more lines of the latent image have a total drawing width of the two or more lines that is not the latent image. The line width of the main line is equal to the line width of the line, and the line is branched from one line without the latent image, and the boundary line between the line without the latent image and the line with the latent image is curved. A method for producing a copy-preventing pattern, which is a straight line that intersects with a straight line tangent to the basic curve at the intersection of the basic curve forming the aggregate pattern of the image lines and the outline of the latent image, and a printed matter thereof Invented and filed a patent application No. 6-206140). Furthermore, on the same date as the application of the present application, a patent application has been filed for a method of forming a copy protection pattern and a printed matter thereof, which are further improvements of the above invention. When a printed matter having the pattern of the present invention is reproduced by a copying machine, a portion having a latent image represented by two or more lines cannot be reproduced due to the resolution of the copying machine, and a portion not having a latent image represented by one line is not reproduced. It becomes possible to discriminate between true and false by the difference in shade.
As a result, due to the camouflage, it is possible to create banknotes, stock certificates, securities such as bonds, various certificates, important documents, etc. The present invention provides a method for producing a copy-preventing pattern and a printed matter, which does not require overprinting, and has an effect of preventing forgery and alteration by a copying machine.

Further, in the above-mentioned copy protection methods (1) to (3), since the image lines are formed by a simple screen pattern, the desk top publishing (hereinafter DT)
Due to the remarkable progress of the technology (referred to as P.), a large-scale criminal organization possessing an excellent DTP system can obtain a counterfeit product that is comparable to the genuine product. It is difficult to create a copy-preventing printed matter having a latent image similarly, even if an excellent DTP system is used, because the image line configuration is higher than those of the copy-preventing methods of. However, by using the characteristic that the printed matter produced by the above-mentioned copy protection method has high invisibility of the latent image by the naked eye, the unskilled person creates the image with a single line from the beginning so that the image is visually approximated. It is highly conceivable to create a forged copy-forgery-inhibited pattern or a tint block pattern having a line, that is, an image line represented by a single line as in the past.

That is, the characteristic of the counterfeit is that the latent image component of the image line is lost. However, since it is common knowledge that latent images cannot be visually identified, there is a risk that a counterfeit product will be mistakenly recognized as a genuine product unless the printed matter is carefully observed, and there is a risk that fraudulent acts will be confused. ing. Therefore, an effective authenticity discrimination method is to copy the counterfeit product using a copying machine under normal copying conditions. That is, since these counterfeits have already lost the latent image component of the image lines even when copied by a copying machine, the latent image does not appear as if a real printed matter was copied. However, since the authenticity of a forged product is visually confirmed by a copying machine, it is not enough to easily perform a large amount of confirmation work at one time.

As a solution to such a problem, a machine reading inspection method capable of processing a large amount and at a high speed in authenticity discrimination is widely adopted. Today, the machine reading inspection method for printed matter is magnetic ink, infrared reflection absorption ink. , Functional inks such as fluorescent inks, fibers forming printing media,
These technologies, such as detection of materials such as materials and chemicals, are caused by specific electromagnetic waves that cannot be detected by humans, and in many cases, they depend on material suitability when producing printed matter, and in terms of production cost. It can only be given to products that are economically viable. Therefore, as a method that does not particularly consider the production cost of the printed matter, an optical reading method for a pattern on the printed matter to which a printing material such as a visible general printing ink is applicable is desirable. OCR, OMR, bar code, two-dimensional code, and the like are known as optical reading methods that are relatively easy to apply, but these optical reading methods must use encoded print images, and of course, existing When used in products, changes in design and specifications are required. In addition, these optical reading methods are also widely available in the market, and since the code can be seen as a printed image line, there is a risk that the code will be deciphered by an intelligent criminal. Is insufficient. Therefore, by a method for preventing forgery and forgery that does not depend on the material suitability of printed matter, it is possible to discriminate the authenticity by machine-reading the pattern having the copy protection suitability suitable for securities such as banknotes, stock certificates, bonds, various certificates and important documents. It is desired to develop an effective inspection method technology.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and by applying a latent image, which is usually invisible to the naked eye, to a collective pattern of curved lines, it is possible to perform overprinting for camouflage. Applicability of the printed material by easily detecting the latent image on the copy-prevented printed matter which is not required and has the effect of preventing forgery and alteration by a copying machine and which cannot be visually identified on the tint block and color pattern. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reading inspection method for printed matter and a device therefor that can perform a large amount of authenticity determination at one time without depending on the above.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems A first invention of the present invention is:
The curved pattern is expressed as a single line for the part without a latent image, with two or more lines for the part with a latent image, and two or more lines for the part with a latent image are The total line width of the two or more lines is equal to the line width of the line of the single line where the latent image is not applied, and is branched from the line of the line where the latent image is not applied, and In an image line that is a set of two or more lines of the portion on which the latent image is applied, at a portion where the image lines of each set intersect, either one of the image lines of each set The image lines of are deleted within the area between the image lines of the other set of image lines, and the boundary line between the image area where the latent image is not applied and the image area where the latent image is applied is A printed matter having a copy-preventing pattern that is a straight line that intersects the basic curve at the intersection of the basic curve that forms the aggregate pattern and the outline of the latent image and that intersects at a right angle. Then, the copy prevention pattern is inputted as an image by an optical image input device, and the image signal obtained by the image processing is subjected to image processing to obtain image information corresponding to an image line of a latent image portion on the input image, At the stage when the image information corresponding to the image lines of the part where the latent image is not applied on the input image is removed by binarization and the pixel group corresponding to the image line of the part where the latent image is applied can be completely removed. This is a method for inspecting the reading of a printed matter in which a binary image is left only in a portion corresponding to an image line of a portion where a latent image is not applied, and whether the remaining binary image shape is present or not is discriminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a genuine binary image shape remaining in a position corresponding to an image line of a portion not subjected to a latent image, which is recorded in advance in the authenticity determining section, and the pixel group is removed. This is a method for inspecting the reading of a printed matter for making a genuine / counterfeit determination by comparing the suitability of the binary image shape remaining at the position corresponding to the image line of the portion where the subsequent latent image is not applied.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the set pattern of curved lines is expressed by a single line for a portion without a latent image and with two or more lines for a portion with a latent image, and a portion with a latent image. The line width of two or more lines is the part where the total line width of the line of two or more lines is equal to the line width of the line of one line where the latent image is not applied and where the latent image is not applied. In an image line that is branched from one line and further has a set of two or more lines of the latent image-applied portion, at a portion where the image lines of each set intersect each other, The lines of either one of the lines are deleted within the range between the lines of the lines of the other line, and the lines of the image without the latent image and the line with the latent image are deleted. Border of
For a printed matter having a copy protection pattern that is a straight line that intersects at a right angle with a straight line that is in contact with the basic curve at the intersection of the basic curve that forms the collective pattern of curved lines and the outline of the latent image, An optical image input unit for inputting an image to form an image, and a portion having a latent image on the input image by binarizing the image signal input by the optical image input unit An image processing unit for removing a pixel group at a position corresponding to the image line of FIG. 2 and a binary image shape remaining at a position corresponding to the image line of the portion not subjected to the latent image obtained by the image processing unit, Alternatively, the printed matter reading inspection apparatus includes a genuineness / counterfeit determination unit that determines authenticity by comparing and collating, and a display unit that displays a result determined by the genuineness / counterfeit determination unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, of the two or more image lines of the latent image-applied portion, the image line widths of the binary images corresponding to one image line are adjacent to each other in the image line width direction. 2 which is less than the pixel distance and corresponds to the image line of the part where the latent image is not applied
The reading inspection device for the printed matter, wherein the resolution of the optical image input unit is set so that the image width of the value image is formed by pixels having an adjacent pixel distance or more.

A fifth aspect of the invention is the method for inspecting the reading of the printed matter, wherein the remaining binary image shape is visualized on a CRT monitor to make a true / false decision.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is the method for inspecting the reading of the printed matter, wherein the area of the fractional pixels remaining in the portion opposite to the portion where the image lines on which the latent image of the copy protection pattern is formed intersects is removed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in order to remove a small number of pixels remaining in a portion opposite to a portion where an image line having the latent image of the copy protection pattern intersects, the image processing unit is provided with an area removal processing unit. And a reading inspection device for the printed matter.

An eighth aspect of the present invention provides an image in which an image processing unit further expands a connected component of pixels having the residual binary image shape to give a new pixel group, thereby enhancing an image state. It is a method of reading and inspecting the printed matter, which enables output to a CRT monitor.

In a ninth aspect of the invention, the image processing section expands the connected components of the pixels having the residual binary image shape and outputs a new pixel group as a visible image to the display section. It is a reading inspection device for the printed matter provided with a CRT monitor.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is the method for reading and inspecting the printed matter, wherein authenticity is determined by outputting the visible image with a printer.

An eleventh invention is a reading inspection device for the printed matter, which is provided with a printer in a display section for outputting the visible image and discriminating the authenticity.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A method for inspecting and reading a printed matter according to the present invention includes a curved line assembly pattern in which a portion without a latent image is a single line and a portion with a latent image is a double line image or more. The line width of a line with two or more lines in the latent image is expressed by the line, and the total line width of the lines with two or more lines is the line width of the line of one line without the latent image. And an image line that diverges from a single line of a portion on which a latent image is not applied, and further forms a set of two or more lines of the portion on which the latent image is applied, the image lines of each set are At the intersection of the lines, one of the lines of the lines of each set is deleted within the range between the lines of the lines of the other line, and no latent image is applied. The boundary line on the image line between the part and the latent image is directly connected to the basic curve at the intersection of the basic curve that forms the aggregate pattern of curved lines and the contour line of the latent image. On the other hand, a printed matter having a copy protection pattern that is a straight line intersecting at a substantially right angle is input as an image with a CCD camera or an optical scanner, and the image signal obtained by inputting is subjected to image processing to form a latent image on the input image. The image information corresponding to the image line of the marked part and the image information corresponding to the image line of the part which is not subjected to the latent image on the input image are binarized to remove the image information of the part where the latent image is applied. When the corresponding pixel group is completely removed, it is determined that the binary image remains in the portion corresponding to the image line of the portion where the latent image is not applied, and the non-remaining binary image is forged. Furthermore, the remaining after removal 2
If the value image shape is proper in comparison with the true binary image shape that is recorded in advance in the authenticity determination section and remains at the position corresponding to the image of the portion not subjected to the latent image, Those for which improperness is determined to be forged. Further, by expanding the remaining connected components of pixels having the binary image shape, the latent image formed on the printed matter is reduced to 2
Since a visible image can be displayed on the CRT monitor as a value image, the latent image on the printed matter can be easily visually recognized and the authenticity can be determined. Furthermore, since the visible image can be output by a printer as needed for confirmation, for example, when it is determined that the image is forged, more reliable authenticity determination can be performed.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A method for reading and inspecting printed matter according to the present invention is
As shown in the system flowchart of FIG. 1, an optical image input unit for inputting a copy protection pattern on a printed matter as an image and an image of a latent image portion on the input image by binarizing the image are displayed. The image processing unit for removing the image information located and expanding the image, the authenticity determination unit for recognizing, comparing or collating the binary image shape remaining in the portion not subjected to the latent image, and the determination unit. Display the judgment result of
A method for inspecting the authenticity of the copy prevention pattern on the printed matter to be inspected by a printed matter reading / inspection device including a display unit for displaying the binary image shape as a visible image on a CRT monitor or a printer as necessary. However, the devices such as the optical image input device (CCD camera or optical scanner) and the image processing device used in the reading inspection device for the printed matter of the present invention are not particularly limited and can be general-purpose devices. Further, the image processing method for the recognition and the comparison and collation in the binary image shape in the authenticity determination unit can be a generally used pattern recognition method, a threshold method or the like. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an example using a colorful pattern, which is an aggregate pattern of curved lines, which is often used for securities such as banknotes, stock certificates, bonds, etc. It is not limited.

First, as a printed matter suitable for the reading inspection method of the printed matter of the present invention, the conventional printed matter (1) shown in FIG.
While the color pattern (2) is formed by the single line image (3), the color pattern (5) of the printed matter (4) has a latent image as shown in FIG. 3 as an example. It is composed of a double-line image (7) of the part (6) and a single-line image (8) of the part where the latent image is not applied. The image width of each of the two-line image lines (7) in the portion to which the latent image is applied is 58 μm, and the one-line image line (8) to which the latent image is not applied has an image line width of 116 μm. Thus, the inner spacing of the double line image (7) in the latent imaged portion is 50 μm. In the printed matter (4), a commercially available coated paper (SK coat) is used as a paper, and a commercially available offset ink (gray) having a rheology suitability of the ink of generally suitable viscosity of 99 poise and tack value of 4.4 is used. Offset printing is carried out, and the solid density of the image line is 0.36, and the density of the paper is 0.09.

Next, the image of the object to be inspected (printed matter) is input as a 400 ppi continuous tone image in the image input section. Since the adjacent pixel distance of the resolution at this time is 64 μm, the image line width of each of the two-line image lines (7) in the portion where the latent image is formed is 58 μm, which is shorter than the adjacent pixel distance, and no latent image is formed. The image width of the image line (8) of the portion is 116 μm, which is longer than the distance between adjacent pixels. As a result, the input image (9) shown in FIG. 4 has a pixel group (10) corresponding to the image line (8) in the part where the latent image is not applied due to the influence of resolution, and a double line in the part where the latent image is applied. A density difference occurs in the pixel group (11) corresponding to the image line (7), the pixel group (10) becomes dark and the pixel group (11) becomes light. FIG. 5 shows an image cross section (A) of the pixel group (10) corresponding to the image line (8) of the portion not subjected to the latent image in FIG. 4 and a double line image line (7) of the portion subjected to the latent image. 3] is a diagram showing a density distribution of an image cross section (B) of a pixel group (11) corresponding to FIG. Input image in this example (9)
Concentration levels of 0 to 255 (0 is high concentration of 255
Is a low concentration. ), The density level of the pixel located in the center of the pixel group (11) corresponding to the double-line image line (7) of the latent image-applied portion is about 210, and the image of the portion not subjected to the latent image is shown. The density level of the pixel located at the center of the pixel group (10) corresponding to the line (8) was about 190. Therefore, in order to remove the pixel group (11) corresponding to the double-line image line (7) in the latent image-applied portion, the binarization threshold value is set to 200. Corresponding to the pixel group (11) existing in the range of the density level and corresponding to the image line (7) of the double line of the portion where the latent image is applied, and the image line (8) of the portion where the latent image is not applied. Pixel group (1
In 0), all of the low density pixels become 255, which is the minimum density. When this input image (9) is binarized with the threshold value 200, as shown in FIG. 6, the image line group (11) corresponding to the double line image (7) of the latent imaged part, and Pixel group (10) corresponding to the image line (8) of the portion where the latent image is not applied
The low-density pixels are partially removed, and the high-density pixels of the pixel group (10) corresponding to the image line (8) on which the latent image is not applied remain without being removed. As a result, the binary image (12) is obtained only in the portion corresponding to the image line (8) of the portion not subjected to the latent image. Therefore, the one in which the binary image remains is determined to be authentic, and the one in which the binary image does not remain is determined to be counterfeit. Further, since the binary image shape remaining in the portion where the latent image is not applied is an authentic shape as shown in the schematic view of FIG. 6, the authentic binary image shape described above is changed to that of FIG. By storing the image in the genuine image file of the authenticity determination unit and comparing and collating with the image shape of the inspection object sent from the image processing unit, the authenticity of the counterfeit product similar to the image configuration applicable to the present invention can be obtained. False discrimination is also possible.

Further, according to the present invention, in counter operations such as banking, immigration control examination, etc., the visual inspection by the presence of the inspector is also an important element in the authenticity determination, so that the reading inspection of the printed matter is performed as a latent image. Although it is possible to perform visualizing by visually confirming it, a binary image (12) is formed on a portion corresponding to the image line (8) on which the latent image is not formed.
7 is obtained, and the color pattern (5) of the printed matter (4) is tentatively visualized at the stage when the authenticity determination is possible, FIG.
The applied latent image becomes a visualized state as shown in FIG. The feature of the image lines of the inspected object (printed matter) used in the present invention is that the set pattern of the curved image lines is one line for the part without the latent image and two or more lines for the part with the latent image. An image with two or more lines in the latent image is represented by a line, and the total line width of the lines with two or more lines is the image of one line of the line without the latent image. In an image line that is equal to the width and branches from a single line on which a latent image is not applied, and further forms a set of two or more lines on the latent image applied part, the image lines for each set In the present invention, the image lines of either one of the image lines of each set are deleted within the area inside the image lines of the other set at the intersecting portions. When the entire copy protection pattern of No. 1 is viewed, even if it seems that there is a portion intersecting with the curved line in the pattern, it is actually the portion where the latent image is applied. Streaked intersection of each other does not exist. Therefore, since the high density and the increase in the number of pixels in the intersecting portion are prevented, after binarization, the portion (13) where the image line (7) of the two lines of the latent image portion in FIG. 3 intersects. ), The remaining pixel group (13 ') in FIG.
The number of lines is one of the two lines or more of the lines on which the latent image has been applied, and the number of lines of the lines intersects each other. The image of one set is binarized and shrinks the printed matter which is not deleted within the range between the lines of the image of the other set, and remains by the method of creating the copy protection pattern previously invented and applied. The feature is that the removal amount of the pixel group is remarkably smaller than that of the removal amount of the pixel group, which can further improve the visibility in the inspection.

Therefore, in order to effectively operate the visibility, the area removal processing section shown in FIG. 1 removes the residual pixel group (13 ') formed of a small number of pixels. As a result, it is possible to obtain a binary image (12) in which the latent image portion is completely removed as shown in FIG. Further, in order that the authenticity judge can easily recognize at first glance whether it is a genuine article or a fake article, the contour portion (of the connected component of the pixel of the binary image (12) shown in the enlarged view of the latent image boundary portion in FIG. 9 ( A new pixel group (15) is evenly applied to 14) to perform expansion processing. As a result,
The latent image formed on the printed matter (4) of FIG. 10 becomes an expanded image (16) as shown in FIG. 10, that is, the latent image becomes a binary image of a visible image, and C
By outputting the result to the RT monitor, it is possible to easily determine whether it is true or false. Furthermore, since the binary image of the visible image can be output by a printer as needed for confirmation when it is determined to be counterfeit, for example, the person in charge of inspecting the counter work can easily determine whether the image is true or false. It is possible to double-check whether the machine is true or false and whether it is true or false.

[0028]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION In the conventional authenticity discrimination of printed matter, as a machine reading inspection method capable of processing a large amount and at a high speed, functional inks such as magnetic ink, infrared reflection absorption ink, fluorescent ink, and fibers forming a printing medium, Although it depends on the material suitability such as detecting the material by the material, chemicals, etc., the reading inspection method of the printed matter of the present invention is applied to the printing material applicable to the commonly used printing ink. It is an optical reading method for the printed pattern,
Securities such as banknotes, stock certificates, bonds, certificates, important documents such as tint block, color pattern, relief pattern, etc. A reading inspection method and device that can effectively detect the latent image on the printed matter and effectively prevent the counterfeit production by the copying machine, and do not depend on the material suitability of the printed matter. It is possible to discriminate between true and false. In addition, by outputting the image that visualizes the latent image in the printed matter to the CRT monitor, the inspector of the counter operation such as banking, immigration control, etc. can easily make a true / false decision. It enables double confirmation of authenticity discrimination.
Further, for example, for confirmation when it is determined that the image is counterfeit, the visualized image can be output by a printer as necessary, so that more reliable authenticity determination is possible and is generally called low resolution. Since it can be handled by the system, an inexpensive reading inspection device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a system flow chart of a printed matter reading inspection apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of a printed matter having a conventional color pattern and the pattern.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a printed matter having a copy-preventing color pattern of the present invention and the pattern.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image input by a reading inspection device for printed matter.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing image cross sections of a portion with a latent image and a portion without a latent image.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a state where pixels remain.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a binary image in which a latent image is removed with a remaining pixel group.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a binary image in which a residual pixel group and a latent image are completely removed.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a latent image boundary portion obtained by performing expansion processing on a binary image from which a latent image has been removed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a binary image obtained by performing expansion processing on the binary image from which the latent image has been removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Printed matter with a conventional crest pattern 2 Conventional crested pattern 3 Drawing line of a crested pattern of a conventional printed matter 4 Printed matter with a crested pattern 5 Latent imaged crested pattern 6 Latent image The applied part 7 The image line of the latent imaged part 8 The image line of the part not applied latent image 9 The input image 10 The pixel group corresponding to the image line of the part not applied latent image 11 The image of the part applied latent image Pixel group corresponding to the line 12 Binary image corresponding to the image line of the part without the latent image 13 Part where the image line with the latent image intersects 13 'Remaining pixel of the part with the image line with the latent image intersecting Group 14 Contour part of connected component of binary image pixel corresponding to image line of non-latent image 15 Pixel group generated by dilation processing 16 Dilated image A Pixel group corresponding to image line of non-latent image Image cross section B Image cross section of pixel group corresponding to the image line of the portion to which the latent image is applied

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A set pattern of curved lines is represented by a single line for a portion without a latent image and two or more lines for a portion with a latent image, and two or more lines for a portion with a latent image. The line width of the line is equal to the line width of the line of the single line where the latent image is not applied, and the line width of the line of two or more lines is equal to the line width of the line where the latent image is not applied. In an image line that is branched and further has a set of two or more lines of the latent image-applied portion, at a portion where the image lines of each set intersect with each other, The lines of either one of the lines are deleted within the range between the lines of the lines of the other line, and the boundary lines on the lines between the part without the latent image and the part with the latent image are deleted. , A mark having a copy protection pattern that is a straight line that intersects at a right angle with a straight line that is tangent to the basic curve at the intersection of the basic curve that forms the collective pattern of curved lines and the contour line of the latent image The copy protection pattern is input as an image to a printed matter by an optical image input device, and the image signal obtained by inputting is subjected to image processing, so that an image line of a portion on which a latent image is formed on the input image corresponds. The image information and the image information corresponding to the image lines of the input image where the latent image is not applied are removed by binarization, and the pixel groups corresponding to the image lines of the latent image are completely removed. At the stage where the image is formed, the binary image is left only in the portion corresponding to the image line of the portion not subjected to the latent image, and the presence / absence of the remaining binary image shape is confirmed to make a true / false determination. Read inspection method for printed matter. 2. A true binary image shape remaining in a position corresponding to an image line of a portion not subjected to a latent image, which is previously recorded in a true / false determination unit, and a latent image after removal of the pixel group. 2. The method for inspecting the reading of a printed matter according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the binary image shape remaining at the position corresponding to the image line of the non-printed portion is compared to determine whether it is true or false. 3. An optical image input section for inputting an image to image the copy protection pattern, and binarizing an image signal input by the optical image input section. An image processing unit for removing the pixel group corresponding to the image line of the latent image on the input image and remaining at the position corresponding to the image line of the non-latent image part obtained by the image processing unit The above-mentioned claim, characterized by comprising a true / false determination unit for determining true / false by recognizing, comparing, or collating the binary image shape, and a display unit for displaying a result determined by the true / false determination unit. Item 1. A reading inspection device for printed matter according to items 1 and 2. 4. In the image line width direction of a binary image corresponding to the image line of one line among the image lines of two or more lines of the latent imaged portion, the image line width is less than the adjacent pixel distance. The optical image input unit of the optical image input unit is configured such that the image line width is constituted by pixels having an adjacent pixel distance or more in the image line width direction of the binary image corresponding to the image line of the portion where the latent image is not applied. The reading inspection device for printed matter according to claim 3, wherein a resolution is set. 5. The method for inspecting the reading of printed matter according to claim 1, wherein the remaining binary image shape is visualized on a CRT monitor to make a true / false decision. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fractional pixels remaining in a portion opposed to a portion where an image line having the latent image of the copy protection pattern intersects are removed in area.
Item 5. A method for inspecting reading of printed matter according to item 5 above. 7. The image processing unit is provided with a processing unit for area removal in order to remove a small number of pixels remaining in a portion opposite to a portion where an image line having the latent image of the copy protection pattern intersects. The printed matter reading / inspection apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: 8. An image processing unit expands a connected component of pixels having the residual binary image shape to give a new pixel group, thereby providing a new pixel group on a CRT monitor as an image in which a state of a visible image is further emphasized. The method for reading and inspecting a printed matter according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5, and 6, which enables output. 9. An image processing unit performs CR expansion on a connected component of pixels having the residual binary image shape, and outputs a CR image to a display unit to output a new pixel group as a visible image.
4. The T-monitor according to claim 3, further comprising a T monitor.
The reading inspection device for printed matter according to the items 4, 4, and 7. 10. The printed matter according to any one of claims 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8, wherein the visible image is output by a printer for authenticity determination. Reading inspection method. 11. The printer according to claim 3, wherein a printer is provided on the display unit for outputting the visible image and determining whether the image is true or false. Inspection device for printed materials.