JP6539107B2 - IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, PROGRAM, AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a program, and an image processing method, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus, a program, and an image processing method for processing image data obtained by optically reading an image of a document.

  There are remarkable improvements in the performance of image reading apparatuses (scanners) incorporated in copying machines and copying machines in recent years. The document can be read and printed with a precision that is difficult to distinguish from the document. Such technological advances have caused another problem, for example, that even securities and confidential documents can be copied precisely.

  Various measures have been proposed so far for such problems. For example, in Patent Document 1, it is determined whether the image of the read document is a copy-prohibited document, the determination result is added to the image data as an identifier, and the subsequent image processing can be selected according to the identifier. . The last image processing includes the indication of the copy and the stop of printing.

JP 10-154257 A

  However, the read image of the entire area of the original is often used to determine the type of the original. Patent Document 1 analyzes an image obtained by actually reading the entire original, and determines the type of the original based on the analysis result. That is, in Patent Document 1, this means that the image data of the entire document is stored in the main body of the image reading apparatus at least once. Therefore, a malicious operator may be able to withdraw image data from the storage medium by some means. Therefore, there is a problem that a copy-prohibited document can be copied as a result by the malicious operator thus printing the processed image data as it is or appropriately processing it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus, program and image processing method capable of prohibiting reading and copying of a specific image before reading all originals. Do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is configured as follows.

In other words, storage means for storing data, the image reading unit obtained by reading a document part by part, the analyzing means when the image data corresponding to the portion is stored in the storage means for analyzing the image data A determination means for determining whether the original is a specific original based on the result of analysis by the analysis means, and the storage means when the original is determined to be a specific original by the determination means Control means for deleting the image data stored in the control unit and controlling the image reading unit to continuously execute partial reading of the document .

Also, look at the present invention from another aspect, obtained by reading an original by a portion by the image reading unit, an analyzing step of image data corresponding to the portion analyzes the image data at the time stored in the memory, A determination step of determining whether the document is a specific document based on the analysis result in the analysis step, and storing in the memory if the document is determined to be a specific document in the determination step And a control step of erasing the image data and controlling the image reading unit to continuously execute partial reading of the document .

  Therefore, according to the present invention, since the image processing apparatus can not store the entire read-prohibited document, it is possible to suppress reading or copying of the read-disabled document.

1 is an external perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the image processing apparatus (image reading apparatus) shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of an image reading operation of the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of image analysis. It is a flowchart which shows the processing detail of the step of acquiring the length of a document from the read image. It is a flowchart which shows the processing detail of the step of comparing the length of the presumed original with comparison value. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the image reading operation | movement according to the 1st modification of 1st Embodiment which the image reading apparatus shown to FIGS. 1-2 performs. It is a flowchart which shows the outline | summary of the image reading operation | movement according to the 2nd modification of 1st Embodiment which the image reading apparatus shown to FIGS. 1-2 performs. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of an image reading operation of the multifunction printer shown in FIG. 9;

  Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

  In this specification, “recording” (sometimes referred to as “printing (printing)”) is not limited to the case of forming significant information such as characters and figures, and may be significant meaningless. Furthermore, whether or not the image, pattern, pattern or the like is formed on the recording medium, or the medium is processed, is broadly represented regardless of whether it is manifested so that it can be perceived visually by humans.

  Also, "recording medium" refers not only to paper used in general recording devices, but also widely to those that can accept ink, such as cloth, plastic film, metal plate, glass, ceramics, wood, leather, etc. It shall be.

First Embodiment
<Hardware Configuration (FIGS. 1 and 2)>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image processing apparatus is in the form of an image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus) that optically reads an image of a document.

  The image reading apparatus includes an electric circuit board (not shown), a drive motor (not shown) for a sensor to be described later, and the like inside the case 100. At an upper portion of the housing 100, for example, a document table 110 which is supported by a member having a high light transmittance such as glass and on which a document is placed is provided. Further, an image reading unit 120 is provided which irradiates light to the document and reads an image of the document while moving the document table 110 in the lower part (the inside of the housing 100) in a predetermined direction. The image reading unit 120 includes an optical sensor that converts light received by a CIS, a CCD, or the like into an electrical signal. Further, in the image reading unit 120, for example, an LED that emits red, green, and blue light is used as a light source.

  Further, a pressure plate 130 for pressing the document placed on the document table 110 is provided outside the case 100, one end of the pressure plate 130 is attached to the outside of the case 100, and it can be rotated about its attachment portion. It has become.

  The reading operation of the image reading apparatus is started by the user pressing the execution button 140.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control configuration of the image processing apparatus (image reading apparatus) shown in FIG.

  The control unit 200 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and the CPU loads the control program stored in the ROM into the RAM and executes the control program to control the operation of each unit of the image reading apparatus. For example, when the user presses an execution button 140 to receive a document reading instruction, the control unit 200 controls the image reading unit 120 to execute an image reading operation. The document reading instruction can also be received from a host computer (hereinafter referred to as a host) connected to the image reading apparatus as an external device through an interface (not shown).

  An analog signal obtained by optically scanning a document by a photoelectric conversion sensor such as a CCD or CIS provided in the image reading unit 120 is converted into a digital image signal by image processing by the control unit 200, and image data is generated. Ru.

  The image storage unit 210 stores the image data obtained by the image processing in the image reading unit 120 line-sequentially. Therefore, the image data is accumulated in the image storage unit 210 as data aligned in the raster direction. The image storage unit 210 includes a memory such as a DRAM or an SRAM capable of storing large-capacity image data.

  The image analysis unit 220 analyzes the image data stored in the image storage unit 210. Details of the analysis will be described later. The comparison image information holding unit 230 stores information for comparing and evaluating image data obtained by reading a document. This information may be, for example, information representing a part of the image, or information indicating the “length” of the target reading prohibited document.

  These pieces of information can be scaled appropriately in accordance with the reading resolution at the time of reading an original. Further, in this embodiment, the comparison image information holding unit 230 also holds the signal value when the pressure plate 130 is read in order to determine the presence or absence of the document.

<Overall operation (Fig. 3)>
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the image reading operation of the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. The control of this operation is executed by the CPU of the control unit 200.

  First, in step S300, the document is partially read line-sequentially based on the reading instruction. In step S301, the image data obtained by reading the document is stored in the image storage unit 210, and the image analysis unit 220 To analyze.

  In step S302, it is determined based on the analysis result whether the read document is a read-prohibited document. Here, if it is determined that the read document is a read-prohibited document, the process proceeds to step S303, the image reading operation is stopped, and image data stored in the image storage unit 210 can not be reused. Erase all or part.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the read document is not a read-prohibited document, the process proceeds to step S304, and accumulation of image data is continued as it is. Then, in the next step S305, it is determined whether the image reading operation has ended. Here, if it is determined that the image reading operation has ended, the process ends, and if it is determined that the image reading operation has not ended, the process advances to step S306 to continue partial reading of the image.

  A plurality of options may be available for the image format for storage here. This is a method of accumulating image data acquired in one as it is in RGB color components. In this case, although the image data as read is stored, it has an aspect that the amount of data is large. The other is the case where image data is irreversibly compressed as in the JPEG format. In this case, although the amount of data is small, high frequency components in the image obtained as a result of image formation are discarded. The difference between image formats can be used, for example, as follows.

  First, when acquired by the image reading unit 120 and temporarily stored in the image storage unit 210, the RGB color components are stored as they are. As a result, it is possible to analyze with highly accurate image data at the time of analysis. On the other hand, if the read original is not a read-prohibited original as a result of analysis, it is stored as image data that has been irreversibly compressed, such as JPEG format.

  By executing such a process, it is possible to store only the image data with degraded accuracy in the case of an erroneous determination. This means that while non-read originals such as banknotes include fine and high-density patterns, fine-grain and high-density patterns are not necessary for such documents as more general documents and natural photographs. Using In fact, in the case of a document such as a bill, it may be recognized as a forgery, even if the image is a degradation that does not notice the degree of degradation with the naked eye, for a general image.

<Image analysis (Figs. 4 to 6)>
Here, the details of the image analysis shown in step S301 will be described.

  This image analysis is intended to determine, for example, whether a read original is a security represented by a bill. In the following, in particular, a bill will be described as an example of a reading prohibited document (specific document).

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the image analysis in step S301.

  First, in step S400, the length of the document is acquired from the read image. The processing details of this step will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in step S500, the signal value of the first pixel among the pixels constituting the image read line-sequentially line by line and the read signal value of the pressure plate 130 held in the comparison image information holding unit 230 Compare.

  Next, in step S501, using the comparison result, it is determined whether the acquired pixel value is from the pressure plate 130 or from a document. Here, if the signal value data of the read pixel and the read signal value of the pressure plate 130 are not substantially the same, the process proceeds to step S502. In step S502, the number of pixels (count number) determined not to be the pressure plate 130 is incremented by +1, and then the process proceeds to step S503. On the other hand, if the signal value data of the read pixel and the read signal value of the pressure plate 130 are substantially the same, it is determined that the pixel has not read the document, and the process proceeds to step S503.

  In step S503, it is checked whether the determination on all line data at the time of image reading has been completed. Here, if it is determined that the determination has not been completed, the process returns to step S500. On the other hand, if it is determined that the determination is ended, the process proceeds to step S504. In step S504, the length of the document is estimated based on the count value.

  Returning to FIG. 4, the description will be continued. After estimation of the document length in step S400, in step S401, the document length estimated in step S400 is compared with a comparison value. The processing details of this step will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in step S600, the length of the document obtained in step S400 is compared with the length in the longitudinal direction of the read-prohibited document held in the comparison image information holding unit 230 to be compared. Next, in step S601, the result of the comparison is evaluated. Here, if it is determined that the both substantially match, the process proceeds to step S604. On the other hand, when it is determined that the two do not substantially match, the process proceeds to step S602.

  In step S602, the length of the document obtained in step S400 is compared with the length in the short direction of the reading prohibited document held in the comparison image information holding unit 230 to be compared, and in step S603, the comparison is performed. Evaluate the results. Here, if it is determined that the both substantially match, the process proceeds to step S604, determines that the document is a bill, and reflects the determination result in the determination process of step S403. On the other hand, when it is determined that the both do not substantially match, the process proceeds to step S605, determines that the document is not a bill, and reflects the determination result in the determination process in step S403.

  Returning to FIG. 4 again, the explanation will be continued. In step S403, it is determined based on the determination result in FIG. 6 whether the document is a bill. Here, if it is determined that the read document is a bill, the process proceeds to step S404. On the other hand, if it is determined that the read document is not a bill, the process proceeds to step S405. In any case, the determination result is obtained and used for the determination in step S302.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, the document is partially read, the image obtained from the partial document is analyzed, the length of the document is obtained, and the read document is, for example, a bill It can be determined whether or not the document is such a read prohibited document. When the read document is a read-prohibited document, the image data obtained by reading the document can be partially or erased so that it can not be reused.

First variation (FIG. 7)
In the first embodiment described above, since the determination of the read original is performed only once by image analysis, there is a problem that the determination is not always accurate. Therefore, by performing a plurality of image analysis, the read original is determined. The determination may be made multiple times.

  FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an outline of the image reading operation according to the first modification of the first embodiment which the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 2 executes. The control of this operation is executed by the CPU of the control unit 200. In addition, in FIG. 7, the description is abbreviate | omitted about the same process as having already demonstrated in FIG. 3, and only a process peculiar to this modification is demonstrated.

  According to this modification, in step S305, it is determined whether the image reading operation has ended. Here, if it is determined that the image reading operation has ended, the processing ends, but if it is determined that the image reading operation has not ended, the processing returns to step S300, and partial reading of the image is continued. Then, in step S301, image analysis is performed based on the read image.

  By performing processing in this manner, determination accuracy can be improved by continuously determining from partial documents.

  At this time, the image data stored in the image storage unit 210 can also be used for the determination as it is determined that the document is not a "read prohibited document" until then. Even in this case, when it is determined that the document is a read-prohibited document, the image reading operation is immediately stopped so that the image data of the entire document image can not be stored. Thus, the determination is made before storing the image data obtained by reading the entire original, and the accumulation stop and the deletion of the image data are performed, thereby suppressing the copying of the read prohibited original The determination accuracy can be improved.

Second variation (FIG. 8)
In the first embodiment described above, if the image reading operation is suddenly stopped when the read document is a read-prohibited document, it is noticed by the user that the security function has been operated. Therefore, if the user notices, there is a possibility that the stored image data may be read out before the image reading operation is stopped. In order to prevent the readout, it is necessary to delete the image data. Now, in the case of general data deletion, only the pointer is deleted from the memory storage area in order to speed up processing. However, in this case, the data itself remains in memory and can be salvaged. Therefore, in order to completely delete the data itself, it is necessary to process other data, for example, its storage area with zeros.

  In order to create time to do such processing, it is necessary to activate the security function without the user being aware. Therefore, in this modification, the image reading operation is performed so that the user is not aware that the reading document is "stop the image data accumulation operation when the reading is prohibited document" by continuing the document reading operation and the analysis operation. Execute the action.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of an image reading operation according to a second modification of the first embodiment which is performed by the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. The control of this operation is executed by the CPU of the control unit 200. In FIG. 8, the description of the same processing as already described in FIG. 3 will be omitted, and only processing specific to this modification will be described.

  In step S302, it is determined based on the analysis result in step S301 whether the read document is a read-prohibited document. Here, if it is determined that the read document is a read-prohibited document, the process proceeds to step S303A, the document reading is stopped, and a part or the image data stored in the image storage unit 210 can not be reused. Erase all. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S307, and the partial reading operation of the image is continued. Then, in step S308, it is checked whether the reading is completed.

  Here, if it is determined that the image reading operation has ended, the process ends, and if it is determined that the image reading operation has not ended, the process returns to step S307 to continue partial reading of the image.

  Therefore, in this modification, when the image reading is not completed, although the partial reading of the image is continued, the image data itself is not obtained. Specifically, for example, the image data may be made meaningless by turning off the LED of the light source and continuing the image reading operation. Alternatively, a ground line (not shown) and a switch (not shown) may be provided on the electric substrate of the image reading unit 120, and if the document is a read-prohibited document, the control unit 200 outputs the image data to the ground line. The switch may be switched to discard the image data as it is.

  By doing this, when it is determined that the read document is a read-prohibited document, while continuing the dummy image reading operation, the stored image data is prevented from being noticed by the user during that time. It can be completely erased from memory storage. In addition, by making the user not aware of the execution of the complete image data erasing operation, it is possible to obtain an effect of hiding what triggers the security function to be activated.

Second Embodiment
Although the image reading apparatus used in the first embodiment is a single-function apparatus, the present invention is not limited thereto. Here, an example using a multi-function printer (MFP) equipped with a scanner function, a copying function, a facsimile function and the like will be described.

  A conventional MFP, for example, may start recording an image before the end of image reading by a scanner, depending on the specifications of a printer engine and a scanner specified in the MFP. For this reason, when a copy instruction is issued, recording of the image may start even if the read original is a read-prohibited original. Here, in order to solve such a problem, an example will be described in which copying is stopped by immediately stopping recording of the read-prohibited document.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of an image processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This image processing apparatus is in the form of a multifunction printer (MFP) provided with both an image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus) for optically reading an image of a document and a recording unit.

  In FIG. 9, since the configuration of the image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus) described with reference to FIG. 1 is the same in this MFP, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted. However, the execution button 140A is used not only for the image reading instruction of the first embodiment but also for performing a copying instruction.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the MFP is provided with a recording unit (printer engine) for performing recording according to the ink jet method in the lower part of the image reading apparatus (scanner apparatus). A housing 750 of the recording unit is integrated with the housing 100 of the image reading apparatus. Further, the sheet discharge port 760 is used to discharge the recording medium recorded by the recording apparatus.

  The control configuration of the image processing apparatus (image reading apparatus) and the contents of image analysis of image data obtained by reading an original are the same as those described in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

<Overall operation (Fig. 10)>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of the image reading operation of the multi-function printer shown in FIG. The control of this operation is executed by the CPU of the control unit 200. In FIG. 10, the same step reference numbers are given to processing steps and operations already described with reference to FIG. 3, and the description thereof is omitted.

After the processing in steps S300 to S301, in step S302, it is determined whether the read document is a read prohibited document (copy prohibited document) based on the analysis result. Here, if it is determined that the read document is a read-prohibited document (copy-prohibited document), the process proceeds to step S303B, the image reading operation is stopped, and the image data stored in the image storage unit 210 is read again. Erase some or all of them so they can not be used. At the same time, the recording operation started by the copy instruction is also stopped.

  Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, when it is judged that the read original is the read prohibited original (copy prohibited original) prior to reading and storing the entire original based on the copy instruction, the image is judged Data acquisition can be stopped and erased, and recording operation can be stopped. Thus, the copying operation is suppressed.

  In addition, in the embodiment and modification which were demonstrated above, the very simple banknote determination method was illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited by the determination method of a specific image such as a bill. For example, it is possible to detect the peculiarity of the document using microwaves or the like, and perform pattern matching for discriminating a specific image even from the obtained partial image. Alternatively, the determination may be made using the degree of similarity with a specific image for the obtained partial image.

  In any case, as described above, before reading the entire document and storing it in the memory, it is determined whether the read document is a read-prohibited document or a copy-prohibited document, and image data acquisition is stopped and erased. By doing this, it is possible to suppress copying of the unreadable document. Furthermore, the method of estimating the presence or the size of the specific image does not have to depend on the above method, and various originals such as a cash voucher and a stock voucher can be used as the reading prohibited manuscript, in addition to the bills.

  The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program. Can also be executed. It can also be implemented by a circuit (eg, an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

100 housing, 110 document table, 120 image reading unit, 130 pressure plate,
140 execution button, 200 control unit, 210 image storage unit, 220 image analysis unit,
230 Comparison image information holding unit

Claims (13)

Storage means for storing data;
The image reading unit obtained by reading a document part by part, analyzing means for analyzing the image data when the image data corresponding to the portion is stored in the storage means,
A determination unit that determines whether the document is a specific document based on a result of analysis by the analysis unit;
A control unit that controls the image reading unit to erase the image data stored in the storage unit when the determination unit determines that the document is a specific document, and to control the image reading unit to continue partial reading of the document. And an image processing apparatus characterized by comprising:   When the determination unit determines that the document is not a specific document, the control unit continues the partial reading of the document by the image reading unit, and an image obtained by the partial reading of the performed document The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control is performed so that analysis by the analysis unit and determination by the determination unit are performed on data.   The control means is further controlled to stop image reading by the image reading unit and analysis operation by the analysis means when the determination means determines that the document is a specific document. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The image according to claim 1 , wherein the control means not only deletes the pointer of the storage area of the storage means, but also completely erases the image data by filling the storage area with zero. Processing unit. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the image data obtained by continuing the partial reading of the document by the image reading unit is discarded without being stored in the storage unit. The image reading unit includes a light source to optically read an image of a document.
The image continues in performing the reading portion of the document by the reading unit, an image processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that turns off the light source. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the image processing apparatus is an image reading apparatus including the image reading unit. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the image reading unit reads the document line-sequentially. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , wherein the image processing apparatus is a multifunction printer including the image reading unit and a recording unit that records an image on a recording medium. apparatus. 10. The apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the control unit controls to stop the recording operation by the recording unit started according to the copy instruction when the determination unit determines that the document is a specific document. Image processing device. The specific manuscript includes at least one of a bill, a cash voucher and a stock voucher,
The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10 , wherein the specific document is a reading prohibited document. A program which causes a computer to function as each means of the image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11 . Analyzing the image data obtained by reading the document part by part by the image reading unit and analyzing the image data when the image data corresponding to the part is stored in the memory;
A determination step of determining whether the document is a specific document based on the analysis result in the analysis step;
A control step of erasing the image data stored in the memory and controlling the image reading unit to continuously execute partial reading of the document when it is determined in the determination step that the document is a specific document; An image processing method comprising:

Images