JP2000187419A - Copying device using biological information - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To check an illegal document or a secret document leaked to the outside, check which document was copied by which copier and by whom, and manage the illegal copy and the leak of the secret document. Make sure. When a start button is pressed, a fingerprint reading section is pressed.
Reads the fingerprint of the pressed finger. When the read fingerprint is registered in advance, the authentication information synthesizing section 58 reads the unique information of the copying apparatus and the date and time output from the clock section 54 from the unique information storage section 55, and reads the fingerprint information and the unique information of the copying apparatus. The information is combined with the date and time to create authentication information and stored in the authentication information storage unit 59. When the copying operation starts, the distribution / synthesis processing unit 60 reads the authentication information, writes the authentication information as transparent information in a plurality of locations of the read image data, and the image output unit 4 writes the image data obtained by synthesizing the authentication information on a recording sheet. And print.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a copying apparatus using biometric information for specifying an individual, such as fingerprints, iris of eyes, voices, and handwritten characters, and more particularly to appropriate management for illegal copying and leakage of secret documents. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information system using a personal computer, an optical or capacitance type fingerprint recognizing apparatus has been developed which uses a fingerprint to identify a person or another person in order to prevent unauthorized access. A copier which uses this fingerprint recognition device to limit the persons permitted to use it is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-283.
No. 65 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-129049.

In the copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-28365, a fingerprint reading device is provided below a transparent start key, and when the start key is pressed by an operator's finger, the light is emitted from the light emitting unit via the start key. Irradiate the pressed finger with light, receive the reflected light from the finger with the fingerprint reader via the start key, read the fingerprint of the pressed finger, register the read fingerprint in advance and store it When the read fingerprint matches a registered fingerprint, copying is permitted, and when the read fingerprint is not registered, copying is not permitted. Further, in the copying machine disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-129049, a fingerprint reading device is provided on a copy button, a fingerprint is read when the copy button is pressed with a finger of an operator, and a fingerprint registered in advance is used. When they match, the use of the copying machine is permitted, the date and the number of copies at that time are stored, and the number of copies is managed for each department.

[0004]

By recognizing the operator's fingerprint as described above, only a person who has been registered in advance can be permitted to use the copying machine. In some cases, a simple document is copied. Also,
In some cases, a confidential document is copied and leaked to the outside. Even if an unauthorized document is copied or a secret document is copied and leaked to the outside, or if an unauthorized document or a secret document leaked to outside is confirmed, the document is copied by any copy machine and by whom. I wasn't able to see what was done.

[0005] The present invention improves such disadvantages, confirms an illegal document or a secret document leaked to the outside, and confirms by which copying machine the document was copied by whom, and illegally copies or leaks the secret document. It is an object of the present invention to provide a copying apparatus using biometric information capable of reliably performing management of a copying machine.

[0006]

According to the copying apparatus using biometric information according to the present invention, when the biometric information of an operator registered in advance is inputted, the biometric information of the operator who is permitted to use the apparatus is copied. The authentication information is created by synthesizing the specific information to be specified, the created authentication information is written as watermark information in a plurality of locations of the read image data, and the image data including the authentication information is printed on a recording paper and output. Features.

It is preferable that the recording paper on which the image data including the authentication information is printed is sorted according to the biometric information included in the authentication information and output.

[0008] It is desirable that the removal of the recording paper sorted and output based on the biometric information is permitted by authentication of the biometric information.

Further, the image data including the authentication information may be transferred to a printer device determined in accordance with the biological information included in the authentication information, and may be printed and output.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A copying apparatus according to the present invention has an operation display section, a fingerprint reading section, an image input section, an image output section, a control section, and an external storage device. The operation display unit is used by an operator to set the number of copies and the like and to display the operation state of the copying apparatus. A fingerprint reading unit is provided below the start button. When the operator presses the start button with a finger, the fingerprint reading unit detects the fingerprint and outputs it as biometric information for identifying the operator. The image input unit reads a document to be copied and outputs the read image data. The image output unit has an image forming unit such as an image writing unit and a photoconductor,
The read image data is printed on recording paper and output.

The control unit is a CPU for managing the operation of the entire apparatus.
It has a ROM, a RAM, a clock section, a unique information storage section, an image data storage section, a biological information storage section, an authentication information synthesis section, an authentication information storage section, a synthesis / distribution processing section, and an external storage device interface. In the unique information storage unit, unique information such as the model of the copying machine and the manufacturing machine number is stored in advance, and in the biometric information storage unit, the fingerprint of a person who is permitted to use the copying apparatus is input and registered in advance. .

When an original is read and printed out by the copying apparatus, the operator sets the original in the automatic document feeder of the image input unit, operates the operation display unit to set the number of copies, and presses the start button. The fingerprint reading unit reads the fingerprint of the finger whose start button is pressed. The CPU compares the characteristics of the read fingerprint with the characteristics of the fingerprint registered in the biometric information storage unit. If the read fingerprint is not registered in advance, the CPU displays a copy rejection on the operation display unit and starts the copy operation. Ban. If the read fingerprint is registered in advance, the fingerprint information is sent to the authentication information synthesizing unit. When the fingerprint information is sent, the authentication information synthesizing unit reads the unique information of the copying apparatus and the date and time output from the clock unit from the unique information storage unit, and reads the fingerprint information, the unique information of the copying apparatus, and the date and time. Are combined to create authentication information, stored in the authentication information storage unit, and the created authentication information is stored in the external storage device via the external storage device interface. When the creation of the authentication information is completed, the CPU starts a copying operation.
When the copying operation is started, the CPU sends the set original and starts the reading operation at the image input unit, and sequentially stores the image data of the read original in the image data storage unit. When all the originals of one page are read, the CPU instructs the distribution / combination processing unit to combine the image data and the authentication information. The distribution / synthesis processing unit reads the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit, reads the image data stored in the image data storage unit, and writes the authentication information as transparent information in a plurality of locations of the image data.
The image data including the authentication information is stored in the image data storage unit. When the synthesis of the image data and the authentication information is completed, the CPU sends the image data obtained by synthesizing the authentication information stored in the image data storage unit to the image output unit to execute the printing operation on the recording paper. This process is performed for all pages of the set document.

[0013]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the copying apparatus has an operation display unit 1, a fingerprint reading unit 2, an image input unit 3, an image output unit 4, a control unit 5, and an external storage device 6. The operation display unit 1 is used by an operator to set the number of copies and the like, and displays the operation state of the copying apparatus. A fingerprint reading unit 2 is provided below the start button 11. When the operator presses the start button 11 with a finger, the fingerprint reading unit 2 detects the fingerprint and outputs it as biometric information for identifying the operator. The image input unit 3 reads a document to be copied and outputs read image data. The image output unit 4 includes an image forming unit such as an image writing unit and a photoconductor, and prints out the read image data on a recording sheet and outputs it.

The control unit 5 controls the operation of the entire apparatus.
U51, a ROM 52 storing a control program of the CPU 51, a RAM 53 used as a work memory of the CPU 51, a clock unit 54, a unique information storage unit 55, an image data storage unit 56, a biological information storage unit 57, and authentication information. It has a synthesizing unit 58, an authentication information storage unit 59, a distribution / synthesis processing unit 60, a compression / decompression unit 61, a communication control unit 62, a modem 63, a network control unit 64, and an external storage device interface 65.
The clock unit 54 outputs the date and time. Specific information storage unit 5
Reference numeral 5 stores unique information such as a model of a copying apparatus and a manufacturing machine number. The image data storage unit 56 stores the image data of the document read by the image input unit 3. Fingerprints of persons who are permitted to use the copying apparatus are input and registered in the biometric information storage unit 57 in advance. The authentication information synthesizing unit 58 generates authentication information by synthesizing the fingerprint read by the fingerprint reading unit 2, the unique information stored in the unique information storage unit 55, and the date and time output from the clock unit 54 at that time. I do. Authentication information storage unit 5
Reference numeral 9 stores the authentication information combined by the authentication information combining unit 58. When the image data stored in the image data storage unit 54 is printed out by the image output unit 4, the distribution / synthesis processing unit 60 writes the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 59 in the output image data at a plurality of locations and synthesizes the image data. I do. When the transfer of the image data stored in the image data storage unit 54 is selected, the compression / decompression unit 61 compresses the image data combined with the authentication information and sends the compressed image data to the communication control unit 62. Image data restored. The communication control unit 62, the modem 63, and the network control unit 64 transfer image data to a host device or the like, and receive and process the image data transferred from the host device or the like. The external storage device interface 65 controls input and output to and from the external storage device 6 such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM.

The operation of reading and printing out an original by the copying apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the operator sets a document in the automatic document feeder of the image input unit 3, operates the operation display unit 1 to set the number of copies, and presses the start button 11 (step S).
1), the fingerprint reading unit 2 reads the fingerprint of the finger whose start button 11 has been pressed (step S2). The CPU 51 compares the characteristics of the read fingerprint with the characteristics of the fingerprint registered in the biometric information storage unit 57 (step S3). Display and prohibit the copying operation (step S
4). If the read fingerprint is registered in advance, the fingerprint information is sent to the authentication information synthesizing unit 58.
When the fingerprint information is sent, the authentication information synthesizing unit 58 reads from the unique information storage unit 55 the unique information such as the model and the manufacturing machine number of the copying machine and the date and time output from the clock unit 54 at that time. And the unique information of the copying apparatus and the date and time to create authentication information, store the authentication information in the authentication information storage unit 59, and store the created authentication information in the external storage device 6 via the external storage device interface 65 ( Step S5). When the creation of the authentication information is completed, the CPU 51 starts a copying operation (step S6). When the copying operation is started, the CPU 51 sends a document set in the automatic document feeder of the image input unit 3 to start a reading operation in the image input unit 3 and stores image data of the read document in the image data storage unit 5.
6 (step S7). When all the originals of one page are read (step S8), the CPU 51 instructs the distribution / combination processing unit 60 to combine the image data and the authentication information.
The distribution / synthesis processing unit 60 reads the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage unit 59, reads out the image data 7 stored in the image data storage unit 56 as shown in FIG. One dot of authentication information 8 is 30 μm
The data is written as watermark information of .about.300 .mu.m, and the image data obtained by combining the authentication information 8 is stored in the image data storage unit 56 (step S9). When the synthesis of the image data and the authentication information is completed, the CPU 51 sends the image data obtained by synthesizing the authentication information 8 stored in the image data storage unit 56 to the image output unit 4 to execute the printing operation on the recording paper (step S1).
0). When printing this image data on recording paper, the authentication information 8 is printed together with the image data 7 of the document. Since the authentication information to be printed is 30 μm to 300 μm for one dot, the authentication information is printed as a watermark on a recording sheet, so that the image data 7 is not affected. Further, since the authentication information 8 to be printed is distributed and printed at a plurality of locations of the image data 7, there is a portion that does not overlap with the image data 7, and the authentication information 8 is accurately printed. When the process of reading and printing the original is performed for all pages of the set original, the copying operation is completed (step S11).

As described above, the fingerprint information specifying the person who copied the document, the unique information specifying the copying apparatus, and the authentication information 8 including the date and time of copying are printed on the recording paper together with the image data 7 of the document. Therefore, for example, when a secret document leaks to the outside, it is possible to check which copying apparatus has copied the document by confirming the authentication information 8 by printing it through the secret document. In addition, since it is possible to confirm which copying apparatus has been copied, it is possible to confirm who copied the secret document by comparing the fingerprint information indicated in the authentication information 8 with the fingerprint information registered in the copying apparatus. And increase security. Furthermore, since the authentication information 8 is dispersedly printed at a plurality of locations of the image data 7 and printed with a watermark, the authentication information can be accurately recognized in a portion that does not overlap the image data 7.

Also, by storing the number of copies at that time together with the authentication information 8 in the external storage device 6, the number of copies for each individual can be easily managed.

Further, as shown in FIG.
Sorter 4 with multiple keyed mailboxes
In the case of the copying apparatus 9 having the “1”, the CPU 51 selects the mailbox of the sorter 41 using the fingerprint information of the authentication information 8 stored in the authentication information storage unit 59, and selects the sorter 41 corresponding to the fingerprint information of the authentication information 8. And output the copied recording paper to the mailbox. In this way, only the person who made the copy can obtain the copied recording paper, and the security can be enhanced.

A fingerprint reader is provided in each mailbox of the sorter 41. The fingerprint information read by the fingerprint reader is compared with the fingerprint information used to select the mailbox, and the fingerprint information read is read. It is preferable that the mailbox is opened and the copied recording paper can be taken out only when the password matches the fingerprint information used for selecting the mailbox. By collating the fingerprint in this way,
If the copied recording paper can be taken out when the fingerprint information matches the fingerprint information used for selecting the mailbox, the security can be further enhanced.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to the case where image data of a document read by a copying apparatus is printed out by the copying apparatus, the image data including the authentication information 8 stored in the image data storage section 56 is compressed and restored by the compression / decompression section. The data may be compressed at 61 and transferred to a printer designated by the operator via the communication control unit 62, the modem 63 and the network control unit 64 for printing. In this way, it is possible to obtain a recording sheet on which the image data of the document is printed by the printer designated by the operator, and to prevent an important document from being passed on to another person.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the operator is specified using the fingerprint of the operator has been described. However, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. Provided, the operator inputs the biological information unique to the operator, such as reading the pupil of the operator's eye or inputting voice in the biological information input unit 12,
The authentication information may be created by specifying the operator based on biological information such as the pupil of the read pupil or the voiceprint of the input voice. By using the biometric information of the operator in this manner, security can be ensured.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, authentication information is created by synthesizing biometric information of an operator permitted to use and unique information identifying the apparatus, and image data obtained by reading the created authentication information is obtained. Is written as watermark information in multiple places, and the image data including the authentication information is printed and output on recording paper, so if unauthorized copying is performed or secret documents are leaked to the outside, By confirming the authentication information by being printed with a watermark, it is possible to confirm which copying apparatus made the copy and when.

Also, since it is possible to confirm which copying apparatus has been copied, the fingerprint information indicated in the authentication information is compared with the fingerprint information registered in the copying apparatus to determine who copied the secret document. Can increase security.

Furthermore, since the authentication information is dispersedly printed at a plurality of locations in the image data and printed with a watermark, the authentication information can be accurately recognized in a portion not overlapping the image data.

Also, by storing the number of copies together with the authentication information, it is possible to easily manage the number of copies for each individual.

[0027] In addition, the recording paper on which the image data including the authentication information is printed is sorted according to the biometric information included in the authentication information and output, so that only the person who made the copy can obtain the copied recording paper, thereby improving security. Can be enhanced.

Furthermore, by permitting the removal of the recording paper sorted and output based on the biometric information by the authentication of the biometric information, the copied recording paper can be prevented from being obtained by another person, and the security can be further enhanced.

Further, by transferring the image data including the authentication information to a printer device determined according to the biometric information included in the authentication information and printing it, it is possible to prevent an important document from being passed on to another person. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing image data obtained by synthesizing authentication information.

FIG. 4 is an external view showing a configuration of another copying apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 operation display unit 2 fingerprint reading unit 3 image input unit 4 image output unit 5 control unit 6 external storage device 11 start button 12 biometric information input unit 51 CPU 52 ROM 53 RAM 53 clock unit 54 unique information storage unit 56 image data storage unit 57 biometric information storage unit 58 authentication information synthesis unit 59 authentication information storage unit 60 distribution / synthesis processing unit 61 compression / decompression unit 62 communication control unit 63 modem 64 network control unit 65 external storage device interface

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H027 EJ03 EJ15 FD10 ZA07 5B043 AA05 AA07 AA09 BA01 BA05 GA01 HA20 5B058 CA40 KA38 YA20 9A001 EE03 HH34 JJ35 KK42 LL03

Claims (4)

[Claims] When inputting biometric information of an operator registered in advance, authentication information is created by combining biometric information of an operator permitted to use and unique information for specifying the device, and the created authentication is performed. A copying apparatus using biometric information, characterized in that information is written as watermark information in a plurality of locations of read image data, and image data including authentication information is printed and output on recording paper. 2. The copying apparatus using biometric information according to claim 1, wherein the recording paper on which the image data including the authentication information is printed is sorted according to the biometric information included in the authentication information and output. 3. The copying apparatus using biological information according to claim 2, wherein removal of the recording paper sorted and output based on the biological information is permitted by authentication of the biological information. 4. The copying apparatus using biometric information according to claim 1, wherein the image data including the authentication information is transferred to a printer device defined according to the biometric information included in the authentication information.