JPH09198479A - Code, information display medium provided with code, method for preparing code and method for reading code - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a code to be easily in harmony in terms of design without making it be noticed that the code is a management number visually. SOLUTION: This code is composed of a character, a graphic, a symbol or the combination of them. The respective pieces of picture element information in the matrix of the picture of the code are respectively replaced with the picture element information of the picture 1 and the picture element information of the picture 2. Then, the picture element information of the picture 1 and the picture element information of the picture 2 after replacement are respectively arranged in the matrix so as to make the positions in the matrix of the picture element information before the replacement and the picture element information after the replacement correspond to each other and the picture 1 and the picture 2 are formed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a code that is given to a document or the like and is not recognized as a code at first glance, an information display medium having the code, a method for creating the code, and a method for reading the code. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following measures have been taken for documents that are inconvenient to be copied, such as confidential documents and important documents. First, when characters such as "invalid" and "copy" which are difficult to visually recognize are printed on a document and are copied by a copying machine, these characters may appear. Secondly, there is one in which characters and the like are printed in a color close to the color of the paper so that the characters and the like are difficult to see when copied.

Thirdly, there is one in which an individual management number is printed on a document so that the owner of the copied document can be specified. In this way, the copy itself is not prevented, but even when the copy is made, the copy source can be traced by the management number. here,
The management number is generally printed by a barcode or OCR character.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, in the first method, even if a character such as "invalid" is displayed during copying, the intention to suppress copying is copied. There is a problem in that the image is copied by a method that avoids the display of characters such as "invalid" because it is immediately understood by the person. In addition, the second method has made it possible to copy with high precision as the copying performance of the copying machine has been improved in recent years, and there is a problem that copying can be performed using such a copying machine. It was

Further, in the third method, if the control number of another document is different from the control number, it becomes clear that the document is unique to the document. Therefore, the number is hidden or tampered with. There was a problem that it would be copied. Also,
Displaying barcodes and OCR characters on documents has a problem in terms of design.

An object of the present invention is to provide a code that is easy to fuse in design, without visually recognizing it as a management number.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 provides each pixel information in a predetermined matrix of an image of a character, a figure or a symbol or a code consisting of a combination thereof. The pixel information is replaced with a predetermined number of two or more pixel information, and the predetermined number of pixel information after replacement is replaced by the predetermined number so that the positions of the pixel information before replacement and the pixel information after replacement correspond to each other. And a predetermined number of images formed when the images are arranged in a matrix.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized by comprising a base material portion capable of displaying information by printing, printing, or handwriting, and the code according to claim 1 displayed on the base material portion. To do.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, each pixel information in a predetermined matrix of an image of a character, a figure or a symbol or a code consisting of a combination thereof is randomly or predetermined number of two or more based on a predetermined calculation. Substituting pixel information, and arranging the predetermined number of pixel information after replacement in the predetermined number of matrices so that the positions of the pixel information before replacement and the pixel information after replacement correspond to each other in the matrix. According to the above, a code including the predetermined number of images is created.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a method for reading the code according to the first aspect, wherein each pixel information in the predetermined matrix of the predetermined number of displayed images is read and the predetermined number of images is read. The predetermined number of pieces of pixel information corresponding to the positions in the matrix are converted into one piece of pixel information based on a predetermined calculation, and the positions in the matrix of the pixel information before conversion and the pixel information after conversion correspond to each other. An image of a code is formed by arranging the converted pixel information in a matrix, and the code is read from the image.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a code according to the present invention. (A) in the figure
Shows the number "0" as an example of the code image. This number is divided into a plurality of areas (30 in this embodiment)
It is arranged on a matrix composed of. In this case, the pixel information of the lower left area (1,1) in the figure is represented by f (1,1), and the pixel information in each area is represented by "0" for white and "1" for black. Therefore, for example, f
(1,1) = 0 and f (4,2) = 1. Next, the pixel information in each of these areas is replaced with a plurality of pixel information. In this embodiment, the case of replacing with two pieces of pixel information is shown.

FIG. 2 is a table showing pixel information of images before and after replacement. When the pixel information of the code image is “0”, the replacement is performed so that the pixel information of the image 1 is different from that of the image 2, that is, the pixel information of the image 1 and the image 2 are “0” and “1”, respectively. Alternatively, it is replaced with "1" and "0". If the pixel information of the code image is “1”, the pixel information of the image 1 and the image information of the image 2 should be the same, that is, the image 1 and the image 2.
The pixel information of and is replaced with "0" and "0" or "1" and "1", respectively. Here, which one is replaced is arbitrary, and it may be replaced randomly or may be replaced based on a predetermined rule.

Then, the pixel information of the image 1 is arranged in the matrix so that the pixel information of the code image and the pixel information of the image 1 correspond to each other in the matrix.
To form Similarly, from the pixel information of the image 2, the image 2
To form In FIG. 1, pixel information f (1,
1) = 0 is replaced with pixel information f1 (1,1) = 0 of image 1 and pixel information f2 (1,1) = 1 of image 2, and pixel information f (4,2) of the code image is replaced. = 1, pixel information f1 (4, 2) = 0 of image 1 and code image f2 of image 2
An example in which (4, 2) = 0 is substituted is shown.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an embodiment of the information display medium provided with the formed images 1 and 2. The information display medium 10 is made of paper material, synthetic paper, resin sheet, or the like. Then, the above-mentioned image 1 and image 2 are printed as a code for specifying the information display medium 10. Examples of the information display medium 10 include those which are inconvenient to be copied, such as secret documents and important documents. Although the image 1 and the image 2 are arranged in parallel in this embodiment, they may be arranged at any position. When the code is created and displayed on the information display medium 10 as described above, the code can be added without being aware of the code (management number) unique to the information display medium 10.
In addition, there is a decorative effect on the design of the information display medium 10.

Next, a method of reading a code from this image will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a code reading method. The reading device 20 is
An optical sensor 21, a conversion device 22, a computer 23, and a display device 24 that are electrically connected to each other are provided. The optical sensor 21 reads the two images displayed on the information display medium 10 by optical means. The two read images are transmitted to the conversion device 22. The conversion device 22 is for electrically and logically converting these pieces of information into specifications suitable for input to the computer 23. Then, the information converted here is transmitted to the computer 23.

The computer 23 transfers the transmitted information to
The first image is converted based on a predetermined calculation. The computer 23 develops each of the two images on the memory according to a predetermined processing program. Then, check for the presence or absence of dots at relative positions from the image reference point,
Perform the operation. The calculation here is a calculation for obtaining the pixel information of the code image from the pixel information of the image 1 and the image 2 in the table shown in FIG. That is, in each area of the matrix similar to FIG. 1, when the pixel information of the image 1 and the image 2 is the same, the pixel information of the code image is calculated as “1”, and the pixel information of the image 1 and the image 2 is calculated. , The pixel information of the code image is calculated as “0”.

Next, the pixel information after the operation is arranged in the matrix so that the pixel information of the code image obtained by the operation and the pixel information of the image 1 and the image 2 correspond to each other in the matrix, and the code information is arranged in the matrix. Form an image. As a result, the code image shown in FIG. 1 is converted again.
Then, the calculation result is stored in the memory. Further, the obtained image is recognized as a code. Further, this image is displayed by the display device 24.

As a result, the code displayed on the display device 24 can be visually read.
In addition, when using it as a control number during manufacturing,
Instead of displaying on the display device 24, the alignment with other printed materials and the context of the document are confirmed according to the program. As described above, when a copy of the information display medium 10 is circulated, the owner of the copied document can be specified and the copy source can be traced.

Next, another embodiment (modification) of the present invention is as follows. (1) The code is not limited to numbers, and various images can be used from characters, figures (including pictures and patterns), symbols, or combinations thereof. (2) The matrix on which the code image is arranged may have any number of regions. However, when copied, the image deteriorates and the reading accuracy decreases, so it is preferable to configure one area to be large.

(3) The number of images after replacement of the card image is not limited to two, and may be three or more. 3 after the replacement image
If there are more than two, an arithmetic expression may be appropriately determined and an image may be created according to the arithmetic expression. The more replaced images, the more difficult the code is to decipher, but the higher the accuracy of the images needs to be kept. (4) Also, one or more of the replaced images can be displayed in an inverted manner.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the code displays a management number or the like, it is possible not to be visually conscious of such a thing. Also, the cord can have a decorative effect. According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if a copy of the information display medium is circulated, the copy source can be traced using the code as a clue.

According to the third aspect of the invention, even when the code displays a management number or the like, it is possible to create a code that is not visually recognizable as such. Furthermore, it is possible to create a code with a decorative effect. According to the invention of claim 4, the code according to claim 1 can be quickly read by mechanical means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a cord according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing pixel information of images before and after replacement.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an information display medium provided with formed images 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a code reading method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Information Display Medium 20 Reading Device 21 Optical Sensor 22 Conversion Device 23 Computer 24 Display Device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Pixel information in a predetermined matrix of an image of a character, a figure or a symbol or a code consisting of a combination thereof is replaced with a predetermined number of pixel information of 2 or more, and the pixel information before replacement is replaced. The predetermined number of images formed when the predetermined number of pixel information after replacement are arranged in the predetermined number of matrices so that the positions in the matrix of the subsequent pixel information correspond to each other are provided. Code to be. 2. Information having a code, comprising: a base material part capable of displaying information by printing, printing, or handwriting; and the code according to claim 1 displayed on the base material part. Display medium. 3. Pixel information in a predetermined matrix of an image of a character, a figure or a symbol or a code consisting of a combination thereof is replaced with a predetermined number of pixel information of 2 or more at random or based on a predetermined calculation. , By arranging the predetermined number of pixel information after replacement in the predetermined number of matrices so that the positions of the pixel information before replacement and the pixel information after replacement correspond to each other in the matrix, A method of creating a code, which is characterized by creating a code composed of the image of. 4. The method for reading a code according to claim 1, wherein each pixel information in the predetermined matrix of the predetermined number of displayed images is read, and the positions of the predetermined number of images in the matrix correspond to each other. The predetermined number of pieces of pixel information are converted into one piece of pixel information based on a predetermined calculation, and the converted pixels are arranged so that the positions of the pixel information before conversion and the pixel information after conversion correspond in the matrix. A code reading method comprising forming an image of a code by arranging information in a matrix and reading the code from the image.