JP4463017B2 - Image processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor capable of shortening time required for image processing by making it unnecessary to recognize the contents of an original image at the time of deciding an image whose duplication is to be inhibited. <P>SOLUTION: The image processor 1 receives an original format image for regulating a fixed area in which the arrangement state of a partial image such as characters is fixed in a plurality of images like a part for describing a title and an unfixed area in which the arrangement states of partial images are different in individual images such as parts for describing the contents of a document and an actual original image, and registers arrangement information indicating the arrangement state of the partial image corresponding to the fixed area and included in the area of the original image. When an image to be processed is received, the image processor 1 decides whether the received image is a specific image such as a confidential document whose duplication is to be inhibited or not, with the arranged information as criterion, and inhibits the processing of the image decided to be the specific image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&amp;NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that performs image processing such as copying of an accepted image and prohibits processing of the image when a specific image that should be prohibited from being copied is received.

  With the development of image processing technology, it has become possible to precisely copy images recorded on paper. In particular, by improving the image quality of color prints, it has become possible to create full-color copies with high image quality that cannot be easily distinguished from the original. Similarly, high-quality images can be transmitted by facsimile communication, and high-quality electronic image data can be created.

  As described above, since the image can be precisely duplicated by using an image processing technique such as image copying or image facsimile transmission, the current image processing apparatus has a special bill such as banknote or securities. A function for restricting copying of images is provided. In addition, since there are images that should not be copied other than special images, such as documents that describe personal information or trade secrets, a technology that prohibits copying of specific document images has been developed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for registering a specific image in advance and prohibiting image copying when the received document image is the same as the specific image. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for recognizing predetermined information described in a predetermined area of a document image and prohibiting processing of the document image in which the predetermined information is recognized. Further, in Patent Document 3, when a document image including information indicating registration of a specific image is read, the feature of the document image is registered as a specific image, and processing is prohibited based on the registered specific image. A technique for discriminating a manuscript image is disclosed.
JP-A-4-205274 JP-A-7-170361 JP-A-8-139920

  In the conventional technique for prohibiting copying of a specific document image, it is necessary to recognize the content of the received document image and determine whether or not the document image is a specific image. Even in the case of normal image processing such as copying an image that does not need to be prohibited from being copied, it is necessary to perform processing for recognizing and determining the content of the original image. There is a problem that it takes time. In addition, the features of the specific image registered with the conventional technology are images showing the mark of “top secret”, but these features are not always included in images that should not be copied. In the conventional technology, there is a problem in that copying of an image that should be prohibited from copying may not be prohibited.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for recognizing the contents of a document image when determining an image that should not be copied. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of reducing the time required for the above.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of reliably prohibiting copying of any image that needs to be prohibited from being copied.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of prohibiting duplication of a plurality of images having partially different contents.

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an accepting unit that accepts an image, a unit that processes the image accepted by the accepting unit, and a determining unit that determines whether the image received by the accepting unit is a specific image. An image processing apparatus comprising: a restricting unit that restricts processing of an image determined to be a specific image by the determining unit; and a fixed region in which an arrangement state of the partial images is fixed for each image, and the partial image An original format image in which an indefinite area whose arrangement state is different for each image is defined, an original accepting means for accepting an original image including a partial image, and a partial image included in the original image received by the original accepting means. An extraction unit that extracts an arrangement state, and an original received by the original reception unit as arrangement information indicating an arrangement state of a partial image included in the specific image Information indicating the stationary area and the indefinite area included in formatted image, and a storage means for storing arrangement information including information indicating the arrangement of parts of image extracted by the extracting unit, said determining means The image determination is performed based on the arrangement state of the partial images in the fixed area indicated by the arrangement information stored in the storage unit.

In the present invention, an image processing apparatus that receives and processes an image stores arrangement information indicating the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in a specific image that should be prohibited from being copied. When the image is received, it is determined whether or not the received image is a specific image using the arrangement information as a determination criterion, and processing of the image determined to be the specific image is prohibited.
In the present invention, an actual document image is received, the arrangement state of partial images such as characters is extracted, and arrangement information is created.
In the present invention, the arrangement information describes a fixed area where the arrangement state of partial images such as characters is fixed for a plurality of images, such as a part describing the title, date, or signature in the document, and the contents of the document. Information indicating the indefinite region where the arrangement state of the partial images is different for each image, such as a portion to be processed.
In the present invention, the original format image in which the fixed area and the undefined area are defined and the actual original image are received, and the arrangement state of the actual partial image included in the area corresponding to the fixed area is extracted to obtain the arrangement information. create.

In the image processing apparatus according to the present invention, the determination unit includes the arrangement state of the partial image in the fixed area included in the image received by the reception unit, and the fixed area indicated by the arrangement information stored in the storage unit. and arrangement of partial image it is determined whether match within a predetermined condition in the case of coincidence, the Rukoto the image which the reception unit receives the have a means for determining that the specific image Features.

  An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a unit that receives user identification information; and the storage unit stores the new arrangement information when the unit receives specific identification information. Means for permitting updating of the stored arrangement information.

  In the present invention, when registration information is registered and updated, identification information is received from the user, and identification information identifying a special user who has the authority to register and update the layout information is received. Allows registration and update of placement information.

  In the image processing apparatus according to the present invention, the document receiving means is a means for reading an image recorded on a recording sheet, and the restricting means outputs an image determined to be a specific image by the determining means. It is characterized by prohibiting.

  Further, the present invention is a copying apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, or a scanner apparatus that reads an image recorded on a recording sheet and prohibits processing of an original image when the read image is a specific image that should be prohibited from being copied.

  In the present invention, it is necessary to recognize the content of the original image at the time of determination by determining whether or not the image is a specific image based on the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in the image. Therefore, the time required for image processing can be shortened. Therefore, the processing efficiency of the image processing apparatus is improved. In addition, even if the image that should not be copied does not contain the characteristics of a specific image such as a “confidential” mark, it is determined that the image should not be copied based on the arrangement state of the partial images. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prohibit copying of an image that should be prohibited from being copied. Therefore, information security of the image processing apparatus is improved.

  In the present invention, since the arrangement information is generated and registered by receiving the actual original image and extracting the arrangement state of the partial images such as characters, the user can freely create the arrangement information. It becomes possible to prohibit not only special images such as securities but also arbitrary images such as confidential documents from being copied as necessary.

  In the present invention, image determination is performed based on information indicating a fixed area where the arrangement state of partial images is fixed for a plurality of images and an indefinite area where the arrangement state of partial images is different for each image. Therefore, it is possible to prohibit duplication of a plurality of images that are partially different in arrangement state of partial images such as characters, such as a plurality of documents having different description contents. Become. Accordingly, the information security of the image processing apparatus is further improved.

  Also, in the present invention, the registration and update of the arrangement information is permitted when the identification information for identifying the special user who has the authority to register and update the arrangement information is accepted. To prevent being done in the dark. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the convenience of the image processing apparatus and the deterioration of information security.

  Further, according to the present invention, the image processing apparatus of the present invention reads an image recorded on a recording sheet, and prohibits processing of an original image when the read image is a specific image that should be prohibited from being copied. Since the present invention is a facsimile apparatus or a scanner apparatus, it is possible to prevent leakage of confidential information such as personal information or trade secrets by copying an image or transmitting image data to the outside. Play.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an internal functional configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present invention. The image processing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 11 including a CPU that performs calculations and a RAM that stores temporary information associated with the calculations. Connected to the control unit 11 are a ROM 16 that stores a control program for controlling the image processing apparatus 1 and a management unit 17 that is a memory for storing management information for managing processing performed by the image processing apparatus 1. Has been. The control unit 11 is connected to an image reading unit 12 that reads an image recorded on a recording sheet and generates image data. The image reading unit 12 functions as a receiving unit and a document receiving unit according to the present invention.

  The control unit 11 is connected to a modem unit 151 that performs facsimile communication, and the modem unit 151 is connected to the public line network N2. The image processing apparatus 1 can transmit the image data generated by the image reading unit 12 to the other facsimile apparatus 3 by facsimile communication via the public line network N2 connected to the modem unit 151. In this way, the image processing apparatus 1 functions as a facsimile machine.

  The control unit 11 is connected to an image memory 142 that temporarily stores image data and an image forming unit 141 that forms an image from the image data stored in the image memory 142 and records the image on a recording sheet. . The image processing apparatus 1 stores the image data generated by the image reading unit 12 in the image memory 142, and the image forming unit 141 can form an image. In this way, the image processing apparatus 1 functions as a copying apparatus.

  The control unit 11 is connected to a communication unit 152 connected to the communication network N1. The communication unit 152 exchanges information with the personal computer (PC) 2 connected to the communication network N1 via the communication network N1. The image processing apparatus 1 can transmit the image data generated by the image reading unit 12 from the communication unit 152 to the PC 2. In this way, the image processing device 1 functions as a scanner device.

  The control unit 11 is connected to an operation unit 13 that receives an operation from a user. The operation unit 13 includes display means such as a liquid crystal panel for displaying information necessary for operation, and input means such as a touch panel or a numeric keypad on which information such as a control command is input by a user operation. The control unit 11 is connected to a storage unit 18 made of a hard disk or an optical disk. The storage unit 18 stores the image data generated by the image reading unit 12.

  The image processing apparatus 1 according to the present invention forms an image with the image forming unit 141 when the image reading unit 12 reads a specific image that should not be copied, such as a confidential document in which personal information or a trade secret is described. The processing, processing for transmitting image data from the modem unit 151 by facsimile communication, or processing for prohibiting processing for transmitting image data from the communication unit 152 is performed. The control unit 11 is connected to a registration unit (storage unit) 19 in which information necessary for prohibiting copying of a specific image is registered. The registration unit 19 includes storage means such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk, and stores arrangement information indicating the arrangement state of the partial images included in the specific image. The arrangement information is a determination criterion for determining whether or not the image read by the image reading unit 12 is a specific image. The registration unit 19 stores identification information for identifying a special user who has the authority to newly register or update the arrangement information.

  The arrangement information stored in the registration unit 19 indicates the arrangement state of partial images such as characters, symbols, or figures included in a specific image that should not be copied, such as confidential documents, in one specific image. It shows whether it is arranged. The content of confidential documents is often described according to a predetermined format, and the arrangement state of the characters to be described even if the described content is changed, such as the title position, date position, and signature position in the document Is often fixed. In this way, by using the arrangement information indicating the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in a specific image such as a confidential document as a determination criterion, a large number of specific images can be determined regardless of the contents.

  Next, processing performed by the image processing apparatus 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of arrangement information registration processing performed by the image processing apparatus 1 of the present invention. The control unit 11 of the image processing apparatus 1 executes the following processing according to a control program stored in the ROM 16.

  The control unit 11 of the image processing apparatus 1 monitors the reception of the arrangement information registration instruction by the operation unit 13 when the user operates the operation unit 13 (S101). When the arrangement information registration instruction is not accepted (S101: NO), the monitoring of the arrangement information registration instruction is continued. When the operation unit 13 receives an arrangement information registration instruction (S101: YES), the control unit 11 sends a request for identification information for identifying a special user having authority to register the arrangement information to the operation unit 13. Output to the display means (S102). Next, the control unit 11 monitors the reception of the identification information by the operation unit 13 when the user operates the input unit of the operation unit 13 (S103). When the identification information is not received (S103: NO), the control unit 11 returns the process to step S102. When the identification information is received by the operation unit 13 (S103: YES), the control unit 11 determines whether or not the received identification information is legitimate identification information that matches the identification information stored in the registration unit 19. Determine (S104). When the received identification information is not valid identification information (S104: NO), the control unit 11 causes the display unit of the operation unit 13 to output error information indicating that the identification information is not valid (S105), The process returns to step S102.

  When the received identification information is valid identification information that matches the identification information stored in the registration unit 19 (S104: YES), the control unit 11 determines that the arrangement of the partial images is fixed, Then, a request for a document format image including an indefinite area where the arrangement of partial images is indefinite is output to the display means of the operation unit 13 (S106).

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a document format image. The document format image is, for example, an image showing a format for describing a confidential document. In such a format, as in the part describing the title, date, or signature, the area where the character is placed is fixed in principle in any document and the part describing the contents of the document. In other words, a region where a character is arranged is different depending on an individual document, for example, when a long sentence is described or a large number of short sentences are described by bullets. As described above, the document format image requested by the image processing apparatus 1 includes a fixed area where the arrangement state of partial images such as characters is fixed for a plurality of images and an indefinite area where the arrangement state of the partial images is different for each image. It is an image containing. As shown in FIG. 3, the user creates an image in which an indefinite area is designated in the image, and causes the image processing apparatus 1 to read the created image as a document format image.

  Next, the control unit 11 places the original of the original format image on the image reading unit 12 so that the user can read the original format image on the image reading unit 12. The reception of the original is monitored (S107). If no document format image document is received (S107: NO), monitoring of document format image document reception is continued. When a document of a document format image is received (S107: YES), the control unit 11 monitors the reception of the document format image reading instruction by the operation unit 13 when the user operates the operation unit 13 (S107: YES). S108). When the reading instruction is not received (S108: NO), the control unit 11 continues monitoring the reception of the reading instruction of the original format image.

  If an instruction to read the original format image is received (S108: YES), the control unit 11 causes the image reading unit 12 to read the original format image (S109), and the fixed area specified in the read original format image. Then, the indefinite area is recognized (S110). Although FIG. 3 shows the original format image in which the indefinite area is designated, conversely, the original format image in which the fixed area is designated may be read to recognize the fixed area and the indefinite area. Also, an image in which no fixed area or indefinite area is specified in the image is read as an original format image, and the user operates the operation unit 13 or the PC 2 to specify the fixed area or indefinite area, thereby reading the read original format. The form which performs the process by which the fixed area | region or indefinite area | region contained in an image is prescribed | regulated may be sufficient.

  Next, the control unit 11 displays a request for a manuscript image in which an actual partial image is included in a fixed area and an indefinite area included in the manuscript format image, such as a document in which characters are described in the format, on the operation unit 13 It is made to output to a means (S111). FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a document image. The document image is a confidential document in which actual contents are described, for example. Partial images such as characters are actually placed, and include partial images placed in fixed areas such as titles, dates, or signatures, and partial images placed in undefined areas such as document descriptions .

  Next, the control unit 11 monitors the reception of the document by the image reading unit 12 when the user places the document on the image reading unit 12 in order to cause the image reading unit 12 to read the document image (S112). ). If no document is received (S112: NO), monitoring of document reception is continued. When a document is received (S112: YES), the control unit 11 monitors reception of a document image reading instruction by the operation unit 13 when the user operates the operation unit 13 (S113). When the reading instruction is not received (S113: NO), the control unit 11 continues monitoring the reception of the reading instruction of the document image.

  When an instruction to read an original image is received (S113: YES), the control unit 11 causes the image reading unit 12 to read the original image (S114), and the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in the read original image Is extracted (S115). FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a result of extracting a partial image. It is extracted at which position in the document image a partial image such as a character is arranged. Next, the control unit 11 creates arrangement information including information indicating the arrangement state of the extracted partial image and information indicating the fixed area and the indefinite area, and causes the registration unit 19 to store the created arrangement information (S116). The process is terminated.

  When updating the arrangement information stored in the registration unit 19, the user operates the operation unit 13 to input identification information and updates the operation unit 13 by operating the operation unit 13 as in the case of new registration. The layout information to be specified is temporarily deleted from the registration unit 19, and new layout information is stored in the registration unit 19 in the same manner as the above-described processing.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure in which the image processing apparatus 1 of the present invention reads an original and performs image processing. The control unit 11 of the image processing apparatus 1 executes the following processing according to a control program stored in the ROM 16.

  The control unit 11 monitors reception of an image processing instruction at the operation unit 13 when the user operates the operation unit 13 (S21). When the image processing instruction is not received (S21: NO), the control unit 11 continues monitoring the reception of the image processing instruction. When the image processing instruction is received by the operation unit 13 (S21: YES), the control unit 11 determines whether the image reading unit 12 has received the document when the user places the document on the image reading unit 12. Determine (S22). If the image reading unit 12 has not received a document (S22: NO), the control unit 11 returns the process to step S21. When the image reading unit 12 accepts a document (S22: YES), the control unit 11 causes the image reading unit 12 to read a document image (S23), and reads the document image to generate image data generated by the storage unit 18. (S24).

  Next, the control unit 11 extracts the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in the read document image, and the partial image arrangement state indicated by the arrangement information stored in the registration unit 19 is the partial image arrangement state. (S25). At this time, the control unit 11 compares the arrangement state of the partial images in the fixed area, and determines whether or not the arrangement state in the document image matches the arrangement state indicated by the arrangement information within a predetermined condition. When the arrangement state of the partial image matches the arrangement information (S25: YES), since the document image is a specific image that should not be copied, the control unit 11 provides information indicating that image processing cannot be performed to the operation unit 13. (S26), the image data of the document image stored in the storage unit 18 is deleted (S27), and the process is terminated. If the arrangement state of the partial image does not match the arrangement information (S25: NO), this is a case where the document image is not a specific image. Therefore, the control unit 11 performs processing for forming an image in the image forming unit 141, the modem unit 151. Then, image processing such as processing for transmitting image data by facsimile communication or processing for transmitting image data from the communication unit 152 is performed (S28), and the processing ends.

  As described above in detail, in the present invention, when arrangement information indicating the arrangement state of partial images such as characters included in a specific image that should be prohibited from copying is registered and an image to be processed is received, it is accepted. Whether or not the image is the specific image is determined using the arrangement information as a determination criterion, and processing of the image determined to be the specific image is prohibited. By determining whether or not the image is a specific image based on the arrangement state of the partial images such as characters included in the image, it is not necessary to recognize the contents of the document image at the time of determination, and thus it is necessary for image processing. Time can be shortened. Therefore, the processing efficiency of the image processing apparatus is improved. In addition, even if the image that should not be copied does not contain the characteristics of a specific image such as a “confidential” mark, it is determined that the image should not be copied based on the arrangement state of the partial images. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prohibit copying of an image that should be prohibited from being copied. Therefore, information security of the image processing apparatus is improved.

  Further, in the present invention, since the arrangement information is generated and registered by receiving the actual original image and extracting the arrangement state of the partial images such as characters, the user can freely create the arrangement information. In addition to special images such as securities, copying of arbitrary images such as confidential documents can be prohibited as necessary. In the present invention, the image is determined based on information indicating a fixed area where the arrangement state of the partial images is fixed for a plurality of images and an indefinite area where the arrangement state of the partial images is different for each image. Therefore, it is possible to prohibit the duplication of a plurality of images having partially different arrangement states of partial images such as characters, such as a plurality of documents having different description contents. Accordingly, the information security of the image processing apparatus is further improved.

  In the present invention, when registration information is registered and updated, identification information is received from the user, and identification information identifying a special user who has the authority to register and update the layout information is received. The registration and update of the arrangement information is permitted to prevent the registration and update of the arrangement information from being performed in a dark manner. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the deterioration of the convenience of the image processing apparatus and the deterioration of information security.

  Furthermore, the image processing apparatus 1 of the present invention is a copying apparatus, facsimile apparatus, or scanner apparatus that prohibits processing of an original image when the original image read by the image reading unit 12 is a specific image that should be prohibited from being copied. It is possible to prevent leakage of confidential information such as personal information or trade secrets by copying images or transmitting image data to the outside.

  In this embodiment, the document format image and the document image are read to create the layout information. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the document image is read to read the layout information. The form which performs the process to produce may be sufficient. In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatus 1 is a multi-function machine having a plurality of functions of a copying apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a scanner apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the copying apparatus, facsimile apparatus, Also, it may be a device having a single function of the scanner device.

2 is a functional block diagram showing an internal functional configuration of the image processing apparatus of the present invention. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process of registration information registration which the image processing apparatus of this invention performs. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a document format image. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a document image. FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the result of having extracted the partial image. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the image processing apparatus of the present invention reads a document and performs image processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing apparatus 11 Control part 12 Image reading part (reception means, manuscript reception means)
19 Registration section (storage means)

Claims (4)

An accepting means for accepting an image, a means for processing the image accepted by the accepting means, a determining means for determining whether the image accepted by the accepting means is a specific image, and the specific image by the determining means An image processing apparatus including a limiting unit that limits processing of an image determined as
A document format image in which a fixed area in which the arrangement state of partial images is fixed for each image, an indefinite area in which the arrangement state of partial images is different for each image is defined, and a document image including the partial images Manuscript accepting means for accepting;
Extracting means for extracting the arrangement state of the partial images included in the document image received by the document receiving means;
As the arrangement information indicating the arrangement of partial image included in the specified image, the fixed area and the information indicating the unstable region the document receiving unit is included in the original format image received, as well as parts component extracted by the extracting unit Storage means for storing arrangement information including information indicating the arrangement state of the image,
The image processing apparatus, wherein the determination unit is configured to determine an image based on an arrangement state of partial images in the fixed area indicated by the arrangement information stored in the storage unit. The determination means includes
The arrangement state of the partial image in the fixed area included in the image received by the reception unit and the arrangement state of the partial image in the fixed area indicated by the arrangement information stored in the storage unit are within a predetermined condition. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that determines whether or not the images match, and determines that the image received by the receiving unit is a specific image when they match. Means for accepting user identification information;
A means for allowing the storage means to store the new arrangement information or to update the arrangement information stored in the storage means when the means accepts specific identification information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The document receiving means is means for reading an image recorded on a recording sheet,
4. The image processing according to claim 1, wherein the restricting unit is configured to prohibit output of an image determined to be a specific image by the determining unit. 5. apparatus.

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