JP2001092255A - Electrophotographic recording device, information medium and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrophotographic recording apparatus, an information medium, and a printing method suitable for issuing a large number of cards and / or tags capable of recognizing personal identification information (ID information). It is for illustrative purposes to provide. SOLUTION: An electrophotographic recording apparatus as one exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a first cartridge for developing ID information and a second cartridge for developing an invisible bar code.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to an electrophotographic recording apparatus, an information medium, and a printing method, and more particularly to an electrophotographic recording apparatus capable of printing an invisible barcode, and an invisible barcode printed thereon. Card-shaped information medium, and
The present invention relates to a method for printing an invisible barcode. The present invention is suitable for printing, for example, an employee ID card.

[0002] Here, the "electrophotographic recording apparatus" is typically a laser printer, and is a non-printing apparatus for recording by attaching a developer as a recording medium to a recording medium (printing paper, OHP film, etc.). Refers to an impact image forming apparatus. The information medium is a medium that stores predetermined information and can communicate with or cannot contact an external device in a contact or non-contact manner, and includes a magnetic card, an IC card, and an optical card, but the shape is not limited to the card shape.

[0003] A typical information medium incorporating an IC chip or an IC module is, for example, an IC card which communicates with a reader / writer by contact or using a near electromagnetic field and a radiated electromagnetic field. In this application, "IC card"
Are smart cards, intelligent cards, chip-in cards, microcircuit (microcomputer) cards,
It covers memory cards, super cards, multi-function cards, and combination cards. Further, the shape of an information medium having a built-in IC chip is not limited to a card. Therefore, it also includes so-called IC tags. Here, the “IC tag” has the same function as the IC card, but includes all information recording media having a stamp size, a micro size smaller than that, a coin shape, and the like. As the optical card, for example, a write-once card for medical data is known.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, demand for cards and / or tags (for example, employee ID cards, entry / exit cards, etc.) capable of recognizing personal identification information (ID information) has been increasing. In order to issue a large number of cards and tags (hereinafter, simply referred to as "cards"), it takes time if the cards and tags are created and then printed one by one. The ID information is printed on a sheet before punching out the card (where several to several tens of cards can be imposed). The ID information includes information such as a face photograph, a fingerprint, and other physical characteristics, a signature, a seal, a name, an address, and a date of birth. On-demand printers have attracted attention as printers for printing this ID information. An on-demand printing machine is a printing machine that does not require plate creation and provides a required number of copies when needed. This is because a printing method using a plate cannot be used in a method of printing a different design on each sheet.

Conventionally, when a large number of cards are issued by an on-demand printing machine, (visible) barcode printing has been performed simultaneously with ID information printing in order to manage each card. Here, the barcode includes not only a one-dimensional barcode but also a two-dimensional barcode such as PDF-417.
Printing barcodes makes management easier. Such management includes, for example, printing or punching, issuance, management of a card sent to a customer, defectiveness and suspension of use of the card, management of reissue, magnetic encoding when the card is a magnetic card or IC card, or This includes management of collation of print contents at the time of IC encoding. However, barcodes can detract from the aesthetics of the card. In some cases, bar codes cannot be printed in order to prevent the appearance of the card from being destroyed.

In recent years, it has been proposed to print an invisible barcode corresponding to the ID information when printing the ID information. The invisible barcode refers to a barcode that cannot be seen from the outside, and a type using fluorescent ink is known. The invisible barcode has a design effect that the aesthetic appearance of the medium surface is not impaired because the presence of the barcode cannot be determined from the outside, and a security effect that the barcode information does not leak easily to the outside. The invisible barcode is usually assigned a unique number that is different from a serial number or one by one.

[0007]

However, in order to manufacture a conventional card having ID information and an invisible bar code (hereinafter referred to as "ID card"), first, the invisible bar code is printed by a special printing machine. Then, the ID information is printed by the on-demand printer (the reverse is also possible).
As described above, since the conventional manufacturing method has two printing steps, it takes time to print a large number of ID cards.
In some cases, the ID information and the invisible barcode are printed without correspondence.

Further, the conventional ID card printer uses a thermal transfer system using an ink ribbon, an ink-jet system, a sublimation / melt thermal transfer system, and has a drawback that printing speed and resolution are low. Furthermore, since the ID card has two different printing layers for an invisible barcode and for ID information, there is a risk of forgery or falsification of the card by peeling off one of the printing layers.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an exemplary general object of the present invention to provide a new and useful electrophotographic recording apparatus, information medium and printing method which solve such conventional problems. And

[0010] More specifically, the present invention provides an electrophotographic recording apparatus, an information medium, and a printing method suitable for issuing a large number of cards and / or tags capable of recognizing personal identification information (ID information). It is for illustrative purposes to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an electrophotographic recording apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a photosensitive drum, and a latent image corresponding to an invisible barcode and ID information by exposing the photosensitive drum. An exposure device for forming an image; a first developer cartridge for developing the ID information of the latent image; and a second developer cartridge for developing the invisible barcode of the latent image. . The first and second developer cartridges may be ink cartridges or toner cartridges. Since the electrophotographic recording apparatus includes the second developer cartridge for the invisible barcode, the invisible barcode and the ID information can be simultaneously printed on the information medium.

Further, an information medium according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a printing layer comprising a base material and a printing layer laminated on the base material, the printing layer having ID information and an invisible barcode on the same layer. And Since such an information medium has the ID information and the invisible barcode on the same print layer, it becomes difficult to separate the ID information and the invisible barcode by peeling or the like, and the security is improved.

A printing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises exposing a photosensitive drum to an invisible bar code and
An exposure step of forming a latent image corresponding to the D information; and a developing step of developing the ID information of the latent image and the invisible barcode to form a developer image corresponding to the latent image. Since the developer image includes the invisible barcode and the ID information, such a printing method enables the invisible barcode and the ID information to be simultaneously printed on the information medium.

[0014] Other objects and further features of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS.
An ID card 10 as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the drawings of the accompanying drawings, members denoted by the same reference numerals denote the same members, and redundant description will be omitted. Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an ID card 10 as one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the ID card 10.

As will be described later, the information medium of the present invention includes personal identification information 12 and the like (however, the "individual" is not limited to a human, but broadly includes animals and plants, buildings, products, etc.) and invisible information (for example, , Invisible barcodes 20), and are expected to have various multipurpose uses. These areas include finance (cash cards, credit cards, electronic money management media, firm banking, home banking, etc.), distribution (shopping cards, prepaid cards, point cards, gift certificates, etc.), and various membership tickets (hotels, hotels,
Airline companies, golf courses, restaurants, etc.), medical treatment (examination ticket, health insurance card, blood donation card, health handbook, medical card storing health information, etc.), transportation (stored fair (S
F) Cards, coupons, licenses, commuter passes, air tickets, expressway cards, parking cards, passports, etc.), insurance (such as insurance policies), securities (such as securities), education (such as student ID cards, transcripts) , Various membership cards, companies (such as employee ID cards, ID cards such as permission cards to enter and leave the storage room, etc.), and administration (such as seal seal certificates, tax payment cards, resident cards, etc.).

Referring to FIG. 1, an ID card 10 as one embodiment of the information medium of the present invention includes a base pattern 11, a face photograph 12, card issuer information 14, a card issuer logo mark 16, ID number 18 and invisible bar code 20
And exemplarily. The ID card 10 of the present embodiment has the same dimensions as a credit card, so-called ISO (International Organization: International Organization).
Ization for Standardizati
on) Size (length 54 mm, width 85.6 mm, thickness 0.
76 mm), but its shape and dimensions are not limited to this, and any shape (eg,
Pendant shape, coin shape, key shape, tag shape, etc.). The components 11 to 18 shown in FIG. 1 may be black and white or color.

The base pattern 11 is formed as a desired pattern such as a photograph, a painting, an animation, or the like, or as a non-pattern. Although the face photograph 12 and the ID number 18 (member number, credit card number, etc.) are not necessarily essential components of the ID card 10, the present invention prints some ID information in addition to the invisible barcode 20. The effect is particularly great when you do. The card issuer information 14 is, for example,
The name of a hotel, the name of an airline company, the name of a credit card company, the name of a school, and the like, and the card issuer logo mark 16 displays a logo of an airline company. If necessary, the card issuer information 14 includes a card level (a gold member, a platinum member, etc.) and a partner company (eg, a partner credit company, a partner airline, a partner hotel affiliate, etc.). May be. In addition, if necessary, the ID card 10 can include information such as a validity period of the card and other marks (hologram, sign panel, stamp, hot stamp, image print, etc.). Although the information medium of the present invention is not intended to exclude embossing, the ID number 18 of the present embodiment is formed by printing instead of embossing.

In the present embodiment, the invisible barcode 20 is printed with a fluorescent material, and usually has a unique serial number or a unique number different from one to another. If necessary, the invisible barcode 20 may be replaced with invisible information such as marks, characters, and symbols other than the barcode. The phosphor enters an excited state when energy is given by light or electrons, and emits energy as light when returning to the ground state. The phosphor of the present invention has ultraviolet light for excitation and emission,
Both infrared and visible light can be used,
In this embodiment, for example, an infrared type in which both excitation and emission are invisible to the human eye is used.

If the wavelength is long, such as infrared rays, it is easy to penetrate printed matter and films. Therefore, the invisible bar code 2
Even if printing is performed on the zero, the emission intensity hardly decreases.
However, when an infrared-absorbing printed material such as carbon is arranged on the invisible barcode 20, it is preferable to arrange a printed material that does not absorb infrared light because it absorbs infrared light.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the principle of reading the invisible bar code 20 of this embodiment will be described.
Here, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view for explaining the principle of reading the invisible barcode 20. FIG. 4 is a chart showing an example of the read signal of the invisible barcode 20. The invisible barcode 20 is, as shown in FIG.
Light source 2 such as LED and detector 4 such as photodiode
Can be detected. When the excitation light is irradiated from the light source 2 to the invisible barcode 20, the light is emitted from the fluorescent material portion, but only the reflected light returns from the fluorescent material-free portion. The reflected light is cut by an optical filter 5 provided on the front surface of the detector 4, and only the fluorescence is read. When the invisible bar code 20 is run in the direction of the arrow, a signal corresponding to the bar code is obtained. The analog output signal detected by the detector 4 is converted into a digital output signal by an A / D converter (not shown) connected to the detector 4, and as a result,
The barcode information is read.

The invisible barcode 20 facilitates management of the ID card 10. Such management includes, for example, printing or punching, issuance, and the card 1 sent to the customer.
0, management of defects and suspension of use in the card 10, management of reissuance, management of magnetic encoding when the card 10 is a magnetic card or IC card, or management of collation of print contents at the time of IC encoding. The invisible barcode 20 does not impair the aesthetic appearance of the base pattern 11 because the presence of the barcode cannot be determined from the outside. Further, since the presence of the barcode cannot be visually checked, the barcode information does not easily leak to the outside and the security of the ID card 10 is improved.

Next, an exemplary structure of the ID card 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The ID card 10 has a base material 30, printing layers 32 and 34, and protective layers 36 and 38. The substrate 30 is made of, for example, a vinyl chloride sheet, a plastic, or a polyester sheet. On the base material 30, a display, a keyboard, and the like (not shown) may be further provided to achieve further multifunction.
The base material 30 functions as an IC card if an IC chip is provided inside as described later. In that case, the IC chip can store information on the invisible barcode like a magnetic stripe described later.

The printing layer 32 has the components 11 to 20 shown in FIG. Optionally, the base pattern 11 and the other components 12 to 20 may be formed as separate print layers. Therefore, in the print layer 32, the ID information and the invisible barcode 20 are formed on the same print layer. Conventionally, since the ID information and the invisible barcode 20 are formed on separate print layers, there is a possibility that the print layer including the face photograph 12 may be replaced by peeling off the upper layer. However, the printing layer 32 of the present invention solves such a problem and improves the security of the ID card 10.

The printing layer 34 is selectively provided, and is printed on the back surface of the base 30 as a magnetic stripe or the like, for example. Information about the invisible barcode 20 can be stored in the magnetic stripe. Here, the “information about the invisible barcode 20” includes barcode information (eg, an ID code) and information corresponding to the barcode (eg, address, name, age, date of birth, physical characteristics, etc.). It is a concept including

The print layers 32 and 34 are formed with toner, ink and other developers. The toner may be magnetic or non-magnetic, one component, or two components (including a carrier). The ink may include solvents, colorants, oxides, binders, wetting agents, along with, or instead of, other components. The ink for printing the ID information and the ink for printing the invisible barcode 20 differ in the presence or absence of a colorant and other compositions. For the protective layers 36 and 38, for example, a vinyl chloride over film or a polyester over film is used.

Referring to FIG. 5 to FIG.
Is configured as a non-contact IC card. As shown in FIG. 5, the card 10 has the antenna coil 42 and the IC chip 46 in the base material 30.
Here, FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the ID card 10 functioning as a non-contact IC card. FIG. 5 conceptually shows the antenna coil 14. The antenna coil 14 is actually formed, for example, so as to surround the IC chip 46. The coil 14 includes an IC chip 46
Can be electrically connected to the external device via contacts 47 and 48 and can wirelessly communicate with an external device (for example, a reader / writer 200 described later).

The resonance capacitor 44 has a capacitance C and is used in cooperation with the inductance L of the coil pattern 42 to form a resonance circuit that resonates with the carrier frequency fc of the transmission / reception radio wave. The resonance frequency fr is fr
= (1 / 2π) (LC) − ／, so that if this is matched with the carrier frequency fc, a large resonance current can be passed through the coil 42 and the capacitor 44. Can be supplied. The position of the capacitor 44 may be formed on the same plane as each component of the IC chip 46 described below (ie, in a single layer), or may be formed thereon (ie, in a multilayer). .

FIG. 6 is a more detailed block diagram of each part of the IC chip 46. The IC chip 46 includes a power supply circuit 102
, A reset signal generation circuit 103, and a transmission / reception circuit 104
(That is, 104 a to 104 d), a logic control circuit 106, a timing circuit (TIM) 107, and a memory 108. The IC chip 46 includes the coil 42
Can communicate with an external device via the.

A reset signal generating circuit 103 is connected to the power supply circuit (PS) 102. The reset signal generating circuit 103 is connected to a reset terminal (R) of a logic control circuit 106.
ST). The IC chip 46 supplies an operating voltage Vcc (for example, 5 V) of a communication system to the logic control circuit 106 by electromagnetic induction from a radio wave W (carrier frequency fc) received from an external device. Operating power Vc
When c is generated, the reset signal generation circuit 103 resets the logic control circuit 106 to prepare for a new operation.

The transmission / reception circuit 104 includes a detector (DET) 1
04a, modulator (MOD) 104b, demodulator (DEM)
104c and an encoder (ENC) 104d.
The demodulator 104c and the encoder 104d are connected to the data terminals DI and DO of the logic control circuit 106, respectively. If necessary, a decoder including a D / A converter or the like may be arranged as an independent member at a stage subsequent to the demodulator 104c. Such a decoder may form one codec circuit with the encoder 104d. The timing circuit 107 is used to generate various timing signals, and is connected to a clock terminal (CLK) of the logic control circuit 106.

The receiving section of the transmission / reception circuit 104 includes the detector 10
4a and a demodulator 104c. The received radio wave W is detected by the detector 104a and
04c restores the baseband signal to obtain data from the detected signal. The restored baseband signal (and, if necessary, a decoded signal thereafter) is sent to the logic control circuit 106 as a data signal DI.

The transmission section of the transmission / reception circuit 104 includes the modulator 10
4b and an encoder 104d. Any configuration known in the art can be used for the modulator 104b and the encoder 104d. In order to transmit the data, the carrier is changed according to the transmission data and transmitted to the coil 42. As the modulation method, for example, ASK for changing the amplitude of the carrier (carrier) frequency, PSK for changing the phase, and the like can be used, but load modulation can also be used. Load modulation refers to a method of modulating medium power (load) according to subcarriers (subcarriers). Encoder 10
4d transmits the data DO to be transmitted to the coil 42 after encoding (bit encoding) the data DO to be transmitted using a predetermined code (for example, Manchester encoding or PSK encoding).

The transmission / reception circuit 104 includes the logic control circuit 10
6 and operates in synchronization with a timing signal (clock) generated by the timing circuit 107. The logic control circuit 106 can be realized by a CPU. Memory 108 stores RO data
M, RAM, EEPROM and / or FRAM. The circuit pattern 16 can communicate with an external device based on the data, and the logic control circuit 106 can perform a predetermined process. For example, the memory 108
Logic control circuit 106 can store ID information, a value of a predetermined amount of electronic money, a transaction record, and the like, and increase or decrease the value by a predetermined transaction (for example, purchase of a ticket or deposit of electronic money). be able to. Since the configuration and operation of these components can be easily understood by those skilled in the art, detailed description will be omitted.

Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a reader / writer 20 capable of communicating with the non-contact IC card 10 shown in FIG.
The structure of 0 will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, the reader / writer 200 has a control interface unit 210 and an antenna unit 220, both of which are connected by a cable 230. Here, FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of FIG. Reader / writer 20
0 is a non-contact IC for transmitting radio waves W having a carrier frequency fc.
It is transmitted to and received from the card 10 and communicates with the non-contact IC card 10 using wireless communication. The radio wave W has a carrier frequency fc in an arbitrary frequency band (for example, 13.56).
MHz) can be used. Reader / writer 200
Is connected to a further external host device (processing device, control device, personal computer, display, etc.) not shown via the control interface section 210.

The control interface unit 210 includes a transmission circuit (modulation circuit) 212 and a reception circuit (demodulation circuit) 214
And a controller 216. Transmission circuit 2
12 modulates data from a further external host device using the carrier frequency fc, converts the data into a transmission signal, and transmits the transmission signal to the antenna unit 220. When data is transmitted from the reader / writer 200 to the non-contact IC card 10, a high-intensity carrier frequency fc is used for modulation. As a modulation method, a modulation method available in the industry such as a modified miller or NRZ can be used.

The receiving circuit 214 converts a signal received from the non-contact information medium 300 through the antenna section 220 into a baseband signal to obtain data, and transmits the data to a further external host device (not shown). Transmission circuit 212 and reception circuit 214
Is connected to a plurality of drive circuits 240 and 242 in an actual circuit, as shown in FIG. 8, and is driven by these drive circuits. Here, FIG. 8 shows the reader / writer 2
0 is a schematic perspective plan view of FIG. It should be noted that those skilled in the art will recognize that the transmission circuit 212, the reception circuit 214, and the driving circuits 240 and 24
Since the operation and configuration of No. 2 can be easily understood and realized, detailed description is omitted here. Antenna unit 22
0 is, for example, an antenna coil 222 as shown in FIG.
And a matching circuit 224. FIG. 8 shows the matching circuit 224.
Shows a specific configuration including a resistor and a capacitor.

Next, a laser printer 300 as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view of the laser printer 300. The laser printer 300 is of a wet type (ie,
An electrophotographic recording apparatus (using ink instead of toner) uses an offset printing method. As described below, offset printing does not mean printing directly on a card medium from the photosensitive drum 320 but temporarily
This is a method in which the data is transferred from the blanket 20 to the blanket 328 and then printed on the card medium from the blanket 328.

The laser printer 300 includes a housing 310
, A photosensitive drum 320, a charger 322, an exposure device 324, a developing device 326, a blanket 328,
It includes an impression cylinder roller 330, an injector 332, a paper feed tray 334, a paper discharge tray 336, various ink cartridges 340a to 340f, an imaging oil tank 342, and a monitor 350.

On the paper feed tray 334, for example, a plurality of sheets on which 21 card media can be printed are placed. The charger 322 uniformly charges the photosensitive drum 320 (for example,-
(To 800 V). The exposure device 324 uses an optical system such as an LED, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum by changing the potential of the irradiated portion to, for example, about -100 V by light irradiation from a light source. The image underlying the latent image is
The DTP data is stored in, for example, PostScript, PC
L, LIPS, Interpress and other general-purpose page description languages (Page Description Language)
(print: PDL). Different ID information and invisible barcode information are printed on each card medium, and the monitor 350 can display an image to be printed on each card medium and display the operation status of each unit of the printer 300.

The developing device 326 attaches the developing ink to the photosensitive drum 320 to visualize the latent image as an ink image. The laser printer 300 is capable of forming a color image, and includes cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y),
Ink cartridge 34 containing four colors of black (K)
0a to 340d, an ink cartridge 340e storing invisible barcode ink, and another special color ink cartridge 340f. Each liquid ink is about-
It is charged to 400 V and adheres to the exposed part. Developing device 3
Reference numeral 26 denotes a photosensitive drum 32 for each ink in this embodiment.
Develop the latent image on top of the blanket 3
28. Thereafter, the ID information image developed with the four color inks (ie, C, M, Y, and K) formed on the blanket 328 and the invisible barcode 20 developed with the invisible barcode ink are collectively applied to the impression cylinder. The sheet is printed on each card medium by the roller. As described above, the laser printer 300 can print the invisible barcode 20 and other ID information on the card medium at the same time. The printed sheet S is discharged to a discharge tray 336. The discharged sheet S is thereafter punched. Optionally, magnetic stripe,
During the manufacturing process of the ID card 10 having an IC chip and other storage areas, information on the invisible barcode 20 is stored in a magnetic stripe or the like. Since the printer 300 uses an electrophotographic method, it is superior in printing speed and resolution to other printing methods (for example, a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method, and a sublimation / melting heat transfer method).

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of a laser printer 400 as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Laser printer 400 is a dry (ie, uses toner instead of ink) electrophotographic recording device. The laser printer 400 includes a photosensitive drum 402 and a charger 404.
Developing device 408, cleaner 410, impression cylinder roller 412, transport belt 414, transport roller 416,
And a fixing roller 418. The laser printer 400 also includes an exposure device (not shown) for irradiating the laser beam 406, a toner cartridge 420 for ID information, and a toner cartridge 430 for an invisible barcode. The toner cartridge 420 may store black toner, or may be divided into a plurality of cartridge elements to store a plurality of colors of toner.

The photosensitive drum 402 has a photosensitive dielectric layer on a rotatable drum-shaped conductor support, and a charger 410.
Is charged uniformly. For example, the photoconductor 402
Has a function-separated organic photoreceptor on an aluminum drum with a thickness of about 30
It is applied at a speed of 40 mm and rotates at a peripheral speed of 80 mm / s in the direction of the arrow. The charger 410 is a scorotron charger, and charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 402 by about -80.
It is uniformly charged to 0V.

The exposure laser light 406 forms light corresponding to an image on the photosensitive drum 402. Developing device 408
Supplies toner from the toner cartridges 420 and 430 to develop the photosensitive drum 402 with the toner. The cleaner 410 collects the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 402 after the transfer. The impression cylinder roller 412 prints a toner image on the sheet S by pressing a sheet S having 21 card media, for example, with the photosensitive drum 402. As described above, the laser printer 400 can simultaneously print the invisible barcode 20 and other ID information on the card medium. As the impression cylinder roller 412, a known transfer device using a corona (discharge) wire can be used instead.

The transport belt 414 transports the sheet S in the direction of the arrow. The transport roller 416 is driven by a motor (not shown) or the like, and rotates the transport belt 414.
The fixing roller 418 is provided if necessary, and fixes the toner on the sheet S by heating and pressing.

In operation, an exposure laser beam 406 is applied to the photosensitive drum 402 which is uniformly charged by the charger 410. Then, in the uniform charging on the photosensitive drum 402, the portion corresponding to the image disappears by the exposure with the laser beam 406, whereby a latent image is formed. Thereafter, the latent image is developed by the developing device 408. That is, the toner, which is a charged particle (or powder), is attracted by the electrostatic force on the surface of the photosensitive drum 402. As a result, the latent image on the photosensitive drum 402 becomes a toner image. The toner image is
It corresponds to the ID information and the invisible barcode 20. By the piezoelectric roller 412, the toner image is transferred onto the sheet S sent by the transport belt 414 at a good timing. The remaining toner on the photosensitive drum 402 is collected by the cleaner 410. After that, the sheet S passes through the fixing roller 418 and is fixed, and then is discharged outside the apparatus 400. Since the printer 400 uses an electrophotographic method, it is superior in printing speed and resolution to other printing methods (for example, a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method, and a sublimation / melt heat transfer method).

[0047]

EXAMPLE 1 A vinyl chloride sheet (size 320 × 464 mm, thickness 0.25) was applied to a wet laser printer using the offset technique.
mm) was set, and a face photograph, an address, a name, a signature invisible barcode, etc. were printed for 21 cards per sheet.
The printer has a printing speed of 1,000 sheets / hour (card conversion: 1
000 sheets / hour) and the resolution was 800 dpi. 6
Ink cartridges (cyan (C), magenta (M),
Yellow (Y), black (K), spot color, invisible barcode ink).

The printed sheet was sandwiched from both sides with a vinyl chloride over film (0.25 mm in thickness) and laminated by a hot press. After that, it was punched into a card size (54 × 86 mm) with a card puncher. After the card is completed, the invisible barcode 20 is read to detect the ID.
The invisible barcode 20 was irradiated with infrared light from the light source 2 using an infrared-emitting phosphor, and the detector 4 detected infrared light of another wavelength excited by the irradiation.

Example 2 A polyester sheet (size 320 × 464 mm, thickness 0.2) was applied to a wet laser printer using the offset technique.
8 mm) was set, and a face photograph, an address, a name, a signature invisible barcode, and the like were printed for 21 cards per sheet. The printer had a printing speed of 1,000 sheets / hour (card conversion: 10,000 sheets / hour) and a resolution of 800 dpi. Six ink cartridges (cyan (C), magenta
(M), yellow (Y), black (K), spot color, invisible barcode ink).

The IC chip 21 is interposed between the polyester sheets.
The pieces were sandwiched and embedded with a heat press. Thereafter, the sheet was sandwiched from both sides with a polyester vinyl over film (each 0.10 mm thick) and laminated with a hot press. Then, use a card puncher to set the card size (54x
86 mm). After the card is completed, the invisible barcode 20 is read to detect the ID. The invisible barcode 20 was irradiated with ultraviolet light from the light source 2 using a visible light emitting phosphor excited by ultraviolet light, and the visible light of another wavelength excited by the irradiation was detected by the detector 4. In addition, a card was issued after performing IC encoding.

Comparative Example 1 In Example 1, a black and white bar code was printed instead of the invisible bar code to complete the card. However, as part of the design was applied to the bar code, the aesthetics of the card were compromised and the customer was dissatisfied.

Comparative Example 2 In Example 1, a card was completed without requiring a barcode. Since there is no barcode, it cannot be read with a scanner. It records that the operator has visually issued the card by inputting ID information such as name into the personal computer. The visual and manual work not only takes time, but also tends to cause input and management mistakes.

Comparative Example 3 After a plain card was completed, a face photograph, an address, a name, and an invisible barcode were printed on each card by a sublimation / fusion heat transfer type card printer. Printing speed is 100 cards /
It was time.

[0054]

According to the electrophotographic recording apparatus and the printing method as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the invisible barcode and the ID information can be simultaneously printed on the information medium, so that the manufacturing time can be reduced. Further, both can be arranged on the same printing layer. Further, it is possible to prevent a manufacturing error that the invisible barcode does not correspond to the ID information in the manufacturing stage. Further, since the recording apparatus of the present invention uses an electrophotographic method, it is superior in printing speed and resolution to other printing methods (for example, a thermal transfer method, an ink jet method, a sublimation / fusion heat transfer method, and the like). The information medium according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has security because it is difficult to separate the ID information and the invisible barcode by peeling or the like because the ID information and the invisible barcode are provided on the same printing layer. improves.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an ID card as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the ID card shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view for explaining a principle of reading an invisible bar code of the ID card shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a chart showing an example of a signal obtained by reading the invisible bar code shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows FIG. 1 functioning as a non-contact IC card.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of the ID card shown in FIG.

6 is a more detailed block diagram of each part of the IC chip of the ID card shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration of a reader / writer capable of communicating with the ID card shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective plan view of the reader / writer shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a laser printer as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of a laser printer according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ID card 11 Base pattern 12 Face photograph 18 ID number 20 Invisible barcode 30 Base material 32 Print layer 34 Print layer 300 Laser printer 400 Laser printer 340a Ink cartridge for ID information 340b Ink cartridge for ID information 340c Ink cartridge for ID information 340d ID information ink cartridge 340e Invisible barcode ink cartridge 420 ID information toner cartridge 430 Invisible barcode toner cartridge

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 21/00 370 B41J 29/00 Z 2H077 9A001 F term (Reference) 2C005 HA01 HB01 JA02 JA15 JA26 JB02 JB08 JB14 KA40 LA11 LA20 LA27 LA28 LB16 LB20 2C061 AQ06 AS12 AS13 CL10 2H027 DE02 2H070 BB22 2H071 BA03 2H077 DA01 DA49 DA62 DA63 9A001 BB06 HH34 HZ23 KK42 LL03

Claims (6)

[Claims] A photoconductor drum, an exposure device that exposes the photoconductor drum to form a latent image corresponding to an invisible barcode and ID information, and a first device for developing the ID information of the latent image. And a second cartridge for developing the invisible barcode of the latent image.
And an electrophotographic recording apparatus having the developer cartridge. 2. An information medium comprising: a base material; and a print layer laminated on the base material, wherein the print layer has ID information and an invisible barcode on the same layer. 3. The information medium according to claim 2, wherein the information medium further has an information storage area for storing information on the invisible barcode. 4. The information medium according to claim 3, wherein said information medium is a magnetic card, and said information storage area is a magnetic stripe. 5. The information medium according to claim 3, wherein the information medium is an IC card, and the information storage area is an IC chip. 6. An exposure step of exposing a photosensitive drum to form a latent image corresponding to an invisible barcode and ID information, and developing the ID information and the invisible barcode of the latent image to form the latent image. A developing step of forming a corresponding developer image.