JP2009163354A - Medium for information recording, information reading apparatus, and information inputting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information recording medium and a reading apparatus capable of forming more minute dot pattern than being formed by a printing technology, capable of improving transparency of a transparent information recording medium, and capable of reading a dot pattern even if the reading apparatus is inclined. <P>SOLUTION: In a system for reading a dot pattern on a surface of the information recording medium using a light (infrared ray etc.) having a specific frequency, a dot of the dot pattern is miniaturized by being formed by a photo-resist process, then deterioration in transparency is prevented by forming the dot by a through-hole on a transparent information recording medium. Then a recognition rate of the dot pattern is secured by diffusing/reflecting the light on a surface of the medium even when the dot pattern is read by inclining the reading apparatus, or by using a pattern recognition technology relating to a dot which is imaged as a notched shape. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording medium in which a dot pattern is formed by holes and a technique for reading information from the information recording medium.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for recording a dot pattern generated by a predetermined algorithm for expressing information on an information recording medium surface using a printing technique using ink is known.

  Further, a technique is known in which each dot of a dot pattern is formed by providing a concave hole instead of printing (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 1, in FIG. 22, 21 is an IC lead frame formed of a metal material, and 22 and 23 are two types of dots having different pixel code shapes formed on the surface of the lead frame 21, respectively. In the figure, reference numeral 22 denotes a pixel code dot by a concave hole having a pointed shape of an inverted quadrangular pyramid, and 23 indicates a dot of a pixel code by a concave hole having a pointed shape of an inverted cone. .

  FIG. 23 shows a configuration example of such a pixel code reading apparatus. Here, 24 is a halogen lamp provided as a light source for irradiating the surface of the lead frame 21, and 25 is a half arranged to guide light emitted from the halogen lamp 24 in a direction perpendicular to the lead frame 21. A mirror 26 is a lens on which light reflected from the lead frame 21 and transmitted through the half mirror 25 is incident. A CCD camera 27 receives light collected through the lens 26 and is obtained from the CCD camera 27. The captured image is binarized by the image processing unit 28.

  As shown in FIG. 24, a pixel code is formed with dots 32 formed by small holes having a spherical shape without a point. Then, the pixel code reading device as shown in FIG. 25 is used for reading.

  In FIG. 25, 33 is a ring fiber of an illuminator, 34 is an annular light source body that is held by the ring fiber 33 and projects light obliquely downward, and in this example, a central portion forming a hollow of the ring fiber 33 A lens 26 is disposed on the front side. By arranging the ring fiber 33 having such an arrangement in parallel with the surface of the detection target 31 such as a printed circuit board at a predetermined interval, the light from the light source 34 is transmitted from the part related to the surface of the detection target 31 and the dots 32. The reflected light is received by the CCD camera 27 via the lens 26. As a result, as an imaging result obtained from the CCD camera 27, a technique is disclosed in which a portion without a dot pattern is reflected as shown by an arrow and does not enter the lens 26.

JP-A-6-266871

  However, when printing a dot pattern using a conventional ink jet printer or the like using the conventional technology, it is difficult to make the dot pattern lattice (described later) size smaller than about 0.5 mm. In the case of offset printing, it has been difficult to make it smaller than about 0.3 mm.

  In addition, it has been difficult in terms of printing accuracy to make the shape of fine dots uniform and to ensure a constant high recognition rate.

  Therefore, it was not possible to form a finer dot pattern with a higher information recording density by printing.

  Furthermore, when a dot pattern is formed by printing on a transparent information recording medium, the ink used for printing must have the property of absorbing the light irradiated to read the dots, and is completely transparent in the visible light region. Therefore, the transparency of the information recording medium on which the dot pattern is printed cannot be increased.

  In addition, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the specular reflection of the light beam on the medium surface is used, when a dot is formed by a concave hole having a pointed shape of an inverted quadrangular pyramid or inverted cone, When the reader tilted with respect to the medium surface, the dots could not be read.

  In addition, when dots are formed by a small hole with a spherical shape that does not have a sharp tip, light must be emitted from an annular light source that projects light obliquely downward, increasing the manufacturing cost of the light source. There was a problem of end.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can form a finer dot pattern than that formed by a printing technique, improve the transparency of a transparent information recording medium, and tilt the reading device. It is a technical problem to provide an information recording medium capable of reading a dot pattern and a reading device capable of using a light source having an inexpensive structure when reading the dot pattern.

  (1) An information recording medium according to the present invention is an information recording medium that reflects a light beam in a specific frequency region from one side in order to solve the above-described problem, and outputs various multimedia information and / or operations. For instruction, a fine through hole is provided at a dot position of a dot pattern in which dots generated by a dot code generation algorithm are arranged according to a predetermined rule.

  An example of a light beam in a specific frequency region is infrared light. By irradiating the information recording medium with infrared rays and imaging the reflected light through a lens, reading the dot pattern formed on the surface of the information recording medium and analyzing the arrangement of the dots in it The information recorded in the dot pattern is reproduced. In addition to infrared rays, ultraviolet rays may be used, or light rays in the visible light region may be used.

  When forming a dot pattern by printing ink, the irradiated light is absorbed by the printing unit and the irradiated light is reflected outside the printing unit, so that the dot pattern can be recognized in the photographed image. In the same way, when forming a dot pattern with a through-hole, the irradiated light beam passes through the opposite side at the opening of the through-hole, and the irradiated light beam is reflected outside the opening. The dot pattern can be recognized.

  According to the above configuration, when the information recording medium is required to be transparent, light beams in all frequency regions pass through the through-holes at the positions of the dots. There is an effect that the transparency of the information recording medium can be increased.

  Further, when the through hole is formed by a punching process or a photoresist process, there is an effect that fine processing can be performed rather than printing.

  Further, forgery of a finely processed dot pattern is costly, and forgery is not practical, so that it can be applied to the security field.

  Further, compared to printing, the dot shape can be made uniform, so that the dot and dot pattern recognition rate can be improved.

  (2) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the reflection is preferably diffuse reflection.

  According to the above configuration, the light beam applied to the information recording medium is diffusely reflected on the surface of the medium. Therefore, even when the information reading device is inclined with respect to the information recording medium, the reflected light is reliably incident on the lens. There is a further effect of being able to.

  (3) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, it is preferable that a diffuse reflection layer for diffusing and reflecting light in the specific frequency region is provided on one surface side of the information recording medium.

  According to the above configuration, even when it is difficult to process the surface of the information recording medium itself so as to diffusely reflect light in a specific frequency region, it is possible to reliably diffuse and reflect the irradiated light. There is a further effect.

  (4) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, it is preferable that a reflection layer having a characteristic of reflecting light in a specific frequency region from the other surface side is provided on the outer surface of the information recording medium. .

  According to the above configuration, in a transparent information recording medium, even when light in a specific frequency region is incident on the surface opposite to the reading surface from the outside, the light from the outside is reflected by the reflective layer and is read. Since it does not reach the surface side, the dot pattern reading can be prevented from being obstructed.

  (5) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the through hole is preferably filled with a material that absorbs light in a specific frequency region.

  According to the above configuration, since the through hole is blocked by the material that absorbs light in a specific frequency region, the point that the light incident on the opening of the through hole is absorbed remains unchanged. Since dust and dust do not enter the through-hole, there is an additional effect that dirt can be prevented.

  (6) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, a protective layer having a characteristic of transmitting light in a specific frequency region and visible light is provided on one outer side and / or the other side of the information recording medium. It is preferable.

  According to the above configuration, since the opening of the through hole is blocked by the protective layer, the through hole is clogged with dust or dust without filling the through hole with a material that absorbs light in a specific frequency region. There is a further effect that can be prevented.

Further, since the strength of the information recording medium can be increased by the protective layer, there is an additional effect that the information recording medium can be made thinner if the entire thickness is not changed.
(7) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the surface or other layer of the information recording medium is made of an ink made of a material that transmits or reflects light in the specific frequency region, and is used for text, illustrations, and photographs. Etc. are preferably overprinted.

  According to the above configuration, since printing can be performed on the information recording medium, there is an additional effect that print contents that can be visually confirmed and dot patterns including information can be combined in various ways.

  (8) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the dot pattern is a dot pattern obtained by patterning an XY coordinate value and / or a code value by a predetermined algorithm that records a dot deviation from a virtual reference point. Is preferred.

  According to the above configuration, the moire pattern can be made less likely to occur than when the dot pattern has information depending on the presence or absence of dots.

  (9) The information recording medium according to the present invention is a flat and / or curved medium processed into a sheet shape, a panel shape, a card shape, a seal shape, a tag shape, a bookmark shape, or a sticky note shape. Is preferred.

  According to the above configuration, since the information recording medium can be processed into various shapes, there is an additional effect that an optimum shape can be selected according to the use of the information recording medium.

  (10) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the through hole is preferably formed by a punching process.

  According to the said structure, there exists the further effect that a fine dot pattern can be formed cheaply.

  (11) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, the through hole is preferably formed by a photoresist process.

  According to the said structure, there exists the further effect that the very fine dot pattern comparable as a semiconductor circuit pattern can be formed by using the photoresist process similar to a semiconductor manufacturing process.

  In addition, this process is large-scale, and the manufacturing apparatus is expensive, so that forgery is not worth the money. Therefore, the information recording medium manufactured by this process can be used in the security field. There is an effect.

  (12) In the information recording medium according to the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, in the information recording medium, the information recording medium diffusely reflects light in a specific frequency region from one side, and the dot position Is characterized in that a fine non-through hole is provided in place of the fine through hole.

  According to the above configuration, since the light irradiated on the medium surface for reading the dot pattern is diffusely reflected on the medium surface, the optical axes of the irradiated light and the reflected light are aligned or circular as in the prior art. There is an effect that it becomes unnecessary to use the light source.

  Further, in the case of the non-through hole, since the dot pattern is formed only on one side, there is an effect that different dot patterns can be formed on the front surface and the back surface.

  (13) It is preferable that the information recording medium according to the present invention transmits visible light excluding the light in the specific frequency region.

  According to the above configuration, the information recording medium transmits visible light. Therefore, the information recording medium is placed on another medium, the information on the other medium is visually observed, and the information is used as a guide. There is an additional effect that a dot pattern at an appropriate position on the recording medium can be read.

  Further, even when the information recording medium is used by being attached to a transparent medium such as glass, if it is transparent, there is an additional effect that the aesthetic appearance is not impaired.

  Moreover, if it is transparent, there is a further effect that information on other various media is not concealed when pasted on other various media.

  (14) The information recording medium according to the present invention preferably does not transmit visible light.

  According to the above configuration, since a metal material that does not transmit visible light can be used as an information recording medium, there is an additional effect that various materials can be used for the information recording medium.

  (15) In order to solve the above-described problem, the information reading apparatus according to the present invention irradiates the information recording medium with a light beam in a specific frequency region and reads reflected light, and the hole And a dot pattern recognition means for reading the dot pattern and recognizing an XY coordinate value and / or a code value when the illuminance of the reflected light is different between the peripheral portion of the hole and the peripheral portion of the hole. It is said.

  According to the above configuration, the dot pattern formed on the information recording medium is read by the dot pattern reading unit. Then, based on the difference in illuminance of the reflected light, the dot pattern recognition means identifies the dot portion and the other portions, and recognizes the recorded XY coordinate values and / or code values from the dot array. . Therefore, the information reading apparatus has an effect that the XY coordinate value and / or the code value can be read from the dot pattern formed on the information recording medium.

  (16) In the information reading apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dot pattern recognition unit uses an algorithm for obtaining the center position of the dot based on the shape and / or the intensity of light and darkness of the imaged dot.

  According to the above configuration, when the information reading device reads the dot pattern from the information recording medium, the information reading device is inclined with respect to the information recording medium, and each dot to be imaged in a circular shape, for example, is supposed to be used. Even when the shape of the dot is a crescent moon, the center position of each dot can be accurately recognized as long as the center position of the dot is obtained in advance when any crescent moon is captured. Therefore, even if the information reading device is inclined with respect to the information recording medium, the dot pattern can be read appropriately.

  (17) An information reading device according to the present invention includes a personal computer, a PDA, a television receiver, a front projector, a rear projector, a game device, a karaoke device, a mobile phone terminal device, a POS terminal device, an ATM, a KIOSK terminal, a car navigation system, and a pachinko machine. , A pachislot, a watch, or a smartphone.

  According to the said structure, there exists the further effect that information can be read from an information recording medium using various apparatuses.

  (18) An information input system according to the present invention provides a transparent information recording medium disposed on a display screen of an information processing device, and a specific information for the information recording medium, in order to solve the problem. The dot pattern reading means for irradiating the light in the frequency domain and reading the reflected light, the illuminance of the reflected light differs between the hole portion and the peripheral portion of the hole, so that the dot pattern is read, and the XY coordinates A touch panel format input is enabled by an information reading device provided with a dot pattern recognition means for recognizing a value and / or a code value.

  According to the above configuration, the user touches a specific position on the display screen from the transparent information recording medium arranged on the display screen by the dot pattern reading unit. Then, the dot pattern at the touch position is read by the dot pattern reading unit, and the XY coordinate value and / or code value in the dot pattern is recognized by the dot pattern recognition unit. Therefore, there is an effect that input in a touch panel format can be performed.

  (19) In order to solve the above problems, the information input system according to the present invention is a transparent information recording medium placed on a printing surface of a printed matter, and a specific frequency region for the information recording medium. The dot pattern reading means for reading the reflected light, and the illuminance of the reflected light is different between the hole portion and the peripheral portion of the hole, so that the dot pattern is read, and the XY coordinate value and The dot pattern recognition means for recognizing the code value, the XY coordinate value and / or the code value, the printed matter specifying information for specifying the printed matter, and the printed matter format information corresponding to the printed matter specifying information, It is characterized by comprising an information reading device provided with printing information recognition means for recognizing information on the printing surface set at the position where the pattern is read.

  The printed material format information is a mask table in which a specific mask area on the printed material is defined, or DTP (Desk Top Publishing) data that is the base electronic data when the printed material is created. In addition to DTP data, content data created by HTML, flash, or the like, CAD data, or map data may be used.

  The information on the print surface set at the position where the dot pattern is read is arbitrary information such as a URL when the print format information is a mask table, and when the print format information is DTP data, Information such as texts, charts, illustrations, photographs, etc. included in the DTP data.

  The printed matter specifying information is information for uniquely specifying the printed matter format information, and may be, for example, a file name of DTP data or a predetermined document ID. It may be a URL.

According to the above configuration, when the user touches the information on the printed material that the information reading device wants to recognize through the information recording medium using the dot pattern reading unit, the XY coordinate value of the touch position And / or code values are read. Further, the user inputs the printed matter specifying information to the information reading device. The print information recognizing unit is configured to determine the position of the position touched by the user from the print format information corresponding to the input print product specifying information and the read XY coordinate value and / or code value among the print format information held in advance. Content is recognized. Therefore, there is an effect that information on a printed surface of a printed matter such as a book, a magazine, or a newspaper can be recognized.

  As described above, the information recording medium according to the present invention is an information recording medium that reflects light in a specific frequency region from one side, and is used for various multimedia information output and / or operation instructions. It is characterized in that a fine through hole is provided at a dot position of a dot pattern in which dots generated by a generation algorithm are arranged according to a predetermined rule.

  Therefore, when the information recording medium is required to be transparent, light beams in all frequency regions pass through the through holes at the positions of the dots. Therefore, compared with the case of printing the dots, the information recording medium There is an effect that the transparency can be increased.

  Further, when the through hole is formed by a punching process or a photoresist process, there is an effect that fine processing can be performed rather than printing.

  Further, forgery of a finely processed dot pattern is costly, and forgery is not practical, so that it can be applied to the security field.

Further, compared to printing, the dot shape can be made uniform, so that the dot and dot pattern recognition rate can be improved.

  An embodiment of the information recording medium according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In the following description, the dot pattern, the scanner for reading the dot pattern (dot pattern reading means), the structure of the information recording medium, the punching method of the information recording medium, and the usage example of the information recording medium will be described in this order.

<About dot pattern>
An example of the dot pattern 3 used in the present embodiment (hereinafter referred to as GRID1) will be described with reference to FIGS. An example of another dot pattern 3b (hereinafter referred to as GRID5) will be described with reference to FIG. In these figures, the grid lines in the vertical and horizontal diagonal directions are given for convenience of explanation and do not exist on the actual information recording medium surface.

  In FIG. 1, the components of the dot pattern 3 and their positional relationships are shown. The dot pattern 3 includes key dots 6, information dots 7, and reference grid point dots 8.

  The dot pattern 3 is generated by arranging fine dots, that is, key dots 6, information dots 7, and reference grid point dots 8 in accordance with a predetermined rule in order to recognize numerical information by a dot code generation algorithm. The

  As shown in FIG. 1, the block of the dot pattern 3 representing information has a 5 × 5 reference grid point dot 8 on the basis of the key dot 6, and the center of the block surrounded by the four reference grid point dots 8. The information dot 7 is arranged around the virtual grid point. Arbitrary numerical information is defined in this block. In the example of FIG. 1, a state in which four blocks (inside the thick line frame) of the dot pattern 3 are arranged in parallel is shown. Of course, the dot pattern 3 is not limited to four blocks.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the key dot 6 is a dot in which four reference lattice point dots 8 at the corners of the four corners of the block are shifted in a certain direction. The key dot 6 is a representative point of the dot pattern 3 for one block including the information dot 7. For example, the reference grid point dots 8 at the corners of the four corners of the block of the dot pattern 3 are shifted upward. However, the amount of shift can be varied according to the size of the block of the dot pattern 3.

The displacement of the key dot 6 is preferably about 20% of the lattice interval in order to avoid misidentification with the reference lattice point dot 8 and the information dot 7.

  The information dot 7 is a dot for recognizing various information. The information dot 7 is arranged around the key dot 6 as a representative point, and the center of the grid surrounded by the four reference grid point dots 8 is used as a virtual grid point. It is arranged at the end point expressed by the vector.

The interval between the information dot 7 and the virtual lattice point surrounded by the four reference lattice point dots 8 is preferably about 15 to 30% of the distance between the adjacent virtual lattice points. This is because if the distance between the information dot 7 and the virtual lattice point is shorter than this distance, the dots are easily recognized as a large lump and become unsightly as the dot pattern 3. Conversely, if the distance between the information dot 7 and the virtual grid point is longer than this distance, it is difficult to identify which information dot 7 has vector directionality starting from any adjacent virtual grid point. Because it becomes.

When the dot pattern 3 is captured as image data using the scanner 4, the reference grid point dot 8 is obtained by distortion of the lens of the scanner 4, imaging from an oblique direction, expansion / contraction of the information recording medium surface, curvature of the information recording medium surface, dot The distortion at the time of formation can be corrected. Specifically, a correction function (X _n , Y _n ) = f (X _n ′, Y _n ′) for converting the distorted four reference lattice point dots 8 into the original square is obtained, and the same function is obtained. Is used to correct the information dot 7 to obtain a correct vector of information dots 7.

  If the reference lattice point dots 8 are arranged in the dot pattern 3, the distortion caused by the scanner 4 is corrected in the image data obtained by capturing the dot pattern 3 by the scanner 4, so a lens having a high distortion rate is attached. Even when the image data of the dot pattern 3 is captured by the popular scanner 4, the dot arrangement can be accurately recognized. Further, even if the scanner 4 is inclined and read with respect to the surface of the dot pattern 3, the dot pattern 3 can be accurately recognized.

  The key dot 6, the information dot 7, and the reference grid point dot 8 do not primarily reflect the through-hole 1 that passes the infrared light or the infrared light to a lens (described later) when the scanner 4 performs dot reading by infrared irradiation. It is desirable to form using the non-through-hole 1b.

  When the dot pattern 3 is formed by using an exposure technique, a photoresist process, or the like in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the interval between the reference lattice point dots 8 may be about several μm, or finer if a design rule in nm unit is used. It is also possible to form a dot pattern 3 having a sufficient dot interval.

  Of course, as long as the interval between the reference grid point dots 8 is equal to or greater than the minimum value, any value may be used depending on the use of the dot pattern 3.

The diameters of the key dots 6, the information dots 7, and the reference grid point dots 8 are preferably about 10% of the interval between the reference grid point dots 8.

  2 and 3, an example of an information definition method based on the information dot 7 arrangement method is shown. These drawings are enlarged views showing the position of the information dot 7 and an example of the bit display of information defined by the position.

  In FIG. 2A, the information dot 7 is shifted by a certain distance from the virtual lattice point 9 so as to have the direction and length represented by the vector, and rotated clockwise by 45 degrees in 8 directions. An example of a definition method that is arranged and expresses 3-bit information is shown. In this example, since the dot pattern 3 includes 16 information dots 7 per block, 3 bits × 16 pieces = 48 bits of information can be expressed.

  FIG. 2B shows an example of a method for defining information dots 7 in which the dot pattern 3 has 2-bit information for each lattice. In this example, the information dot 7 is shifted from the virtual lattice point 9 in the plus (+) direction and the oblique (x) direction to define 2-bit information per information dot 7. In this definition method, unlike the definition method shown in FIG. 2A (which can originally define 48-bit information), depending on the application, one block is shifted in the plus (+) direction, and an oblique (× 32 bits (2-bit X16 lattice) data can be provided.

As a combination of the directions in which the information dots 7 arranged in the 16 grids included in one block are shifted, a combination of shifting in the plus (+) direction and the oblique (x) direction for each grid is 2 at the maximum. ¹⁶ (about 65000) dot pattern formats can be realized.

  In FIG. 3, the example of the definition method of the information by the other arrangement | positioning method of the information dot 7 is shown. In this definition method, when the information dot 7 is arranged, two types of long and short are used as the shift amount from the virtual lattice point 9 surrounded by the reference lattice point dot 8, and the vector direction is set to eight directions. 16 arrangements can be defined, and 4-bit information can be expressed.

  When this definition method is used, it is desirable that the longer shift amount is about 25 to 30% of the distance between the adjacent virtual lattice points 9, and the shorter shift amount is about 15 to 20%. However, even when the direction in which the long and short information dots 7 are shifted is the same, the center interval of the information dots 7 is separated from the diameter of the information dots 7 so that the information dots 7 can be distinguished and recognized. It is desirable.

Note that the method of defining 4-bit information is not limited to the above-described definition method, and information bits 7 can be arranged in 16 directions to express 4 bits, and it is needless to say that various changes can be made.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of an information definition method by a method of arranging a plurality of information dots 7 per grid. 4A is an example in which two information dots 7 are arranged, FIG. 4B is an example in which four information dots 7 are arranged, and FIG. 4C is an example in which five information dots 7 are arranged. An example of the arrangement is shown.

The number of information dots 7 per lattice surrounded by the four reference lattice point dots 8 is preferably one in consideration of appearance. However, when it is desired to ignore the appearance and increase the amount of information, a large amount of information can be defined by assigning 1 bit to each vector and expressing the information dot 7 using a plurality of dots. For example, the vector of concentric eight directions, can represent information of one grating per 2 ⁸ can represent 1 information blocks per 2 ¹²⁸ includes 16 grid.

  To recognize the dot pattern 3, the dot pattern 3 is captured as image data by the scanner 4, first the reference grid point dot 8 is extracted, and then the through-hole 1 ( This is performed by extracting the key dot 6 and then extracting the information dot 7 because the non-through hole 1b (described later) is not formed.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a format used for extracting the information dot 7 from the dot pattern 3. FIG. 5 shows a format example in which grids from I ₁ to I ₁₆ are arranged in a spiral shape clockwise from the center of the block. In the figure, I ₁ to I ₁₆ represent the arrangement of each grid, and when one information dot 7 is included in one grid, indicates the arrangement location of the information dot 7 in each grid.

  FIG. 6 shows another arrangement example of a grid including information dots 7. FIG. 6A shows an example in which six (2 × 3) grids are arranged in one block, and FIG. 6B shows nine (3 × 3) grids in one block. FIG. 6C shows an example in which 12 grids (3 × 4) are arranged in one block, and FIG. 6D shows 36 grids in one block. This is an example in which (6 × 6) pieces are arranged. Thus, in the dot pattern 3, the number of grids included in one block is not limited to 16, and can be variously changed.

That is, recording can be performed on the dot pattern 3 by adjusting the number of grids included in one block and the number of information dots 7 included in one grid according to the amount of information required or the resolution of the scanner 4. The amount of information can be adjusted flexibly.

  FIG. 7 shows another example dot pattern 3b (GRID5).

  FIG. 7A shows the positional relationship between the reference point dots 8a to 8e, the virtual reference points 9a to 9d, and the information dot 7 in the dot pattern 3b.

  The dot pattern 3b defines the direction of the dot pattern 3b according to the shape of the block. In GRID5, first, reference point dots 8a to 8e are arranged. A shape indicating the direction of the block (here, a pentagon facing upward) is defined by a line connecting the reference point dots 8a to 8e in order. Next, based on the arrangement of the reference point dots 8a to 8e, virtual reference points 9a to 9d are defined. Next, a vector having a direction and a length is defined starting from each of the virtual reference points 9a to 9d. Finally, an information dot 7 is arranged at the end point of the vector.

  Thus, in GRID5, the direction of the block can be defined by the arrangement method of the reference point dots 8a to 8e. By defining the direction of the block, the size of the entire block is also defined.

  FIG. 7B shows an example in which information is defined depending on whether or not there is an information dot 7 on the virtual reference points 9a to 9d of the block.

  FIG. 7C shows an example in which two GRID5 blocks are connected in the vertical and horizontal directions. However, the direction in which the blocks are connected and arranged is not limited to the vertical and horizontal directions, and may be arranged and connected in any direction.

In FIG. 7, the reference point dots 8a to 8e and the information dot 7 are all shown as the same shape, but the reference point dots 8a to 8e and the information dot 7 may have different shapes. For example, the reference point dots The dots 8 a to 8 e may be larger than the information dot 7. Further, the reference point dots 8a to 8e and the information dot 7 may have any shape as long as they can be identified, and may be a circle, a triangle, a quadrangle, or a polygon more than that.

<About dot code format>
A dot code and its format example will be described with reference to FIGS. The dot code is information recorded in the dot pattern 3.

FIG. 8 shows a format example of information bits within one block of the dot pattern 3. In this example, 2-bit information is recorded per lattice. For example, in the upper left lattice, bits C ₀ and C ₁ are defined in such a way that bit C ₁ is an upper bit. These two bits are _collectively denoted as C _1-0 . Note that these bits may be recorded by one information dot 7 per lattice, or may be recorded by a plurality of information dots 7 per lattice.

FIG. 9 shows a dot code format example. In this example, the dot code has a length of 32 bits and is represented by bits C ₀ to C ₃₁ .

  9A is an example of a format in which the dot code includes an XY coordinate value, a code value, and parity, and FIG. 9B is an example in which the format is changed depending on where the dot pattern 3 is provided. 9 (c) is an example of a format in which the dot code includes an XY coordinate value and a parity.

In the format example shown in FIG. 9A, the X coordinate value at the position where the dot pattern 3 is provided is expressed using 8 bits from bits C ₀ to C ₇ , and the Y coordinate value is also represented by bits C ₈ to C ₁₅ . It is expressed using. Then, the code value is represented by the bit _{C 16} with 14 bits of _{C 29.} This code value can be used to represent arbitrary information in accordance with the purpose of use of the dot pattern 3. For example, it may be a code for performing an arbitrary process or a page number for specifying a medium on which the dot pattern 3 is printed. Finally, two bits C ₃₀ and C ₃₁ are used as the parity of the dot code. Note that the parity calculation method may be a generally known method, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  In the format example shown in FIG. 9B, the format is changed depending on where the dot pattern 3 is provided. In this example, the place where the dot pattern 3 is provided is divided into an XY coordinate area and a code value area. In the XY coordinate area, the XY coordinate area format is used, and in the code value area, the code value area format is used.

In the XY coordinate area format, the X coordinate is expressed using 15 bits of bits C ₀ to C ₁₄ , and the Y coordinate is similarly expressed using 15 bits of C ₁₅ to C ₂₉ . Further, the code value area format, a code value is represented using 30 bits C ₂₉ from C _0.

  In order to distinguish whether the read information represents an XY coordinate value or a code value, the bit string representation is made so that the bit strings representing the XY coordinate value and the code value do not overlap. It is good to decide rules.

  In this way, in the format example shown in FIG. 9B, more bits can be assigned to the XY coordinate value and code value than in the format example shown in FIG. Values and more code values can be represented.

In the format example shown in FIG. 9C, the same format as the XY coordinate area format in FIG. 9B is used.

<About Scanner 4>
FIG. 10 shows the structure of the portion that reads the dot pattern 3 in the structure of the scanner 4 (dot pattern reading means) and how the scanner 4 reads the dot pattern 3 formed on the information recording medium 2. The scanner 4 includes an IR-LED that is a means for irradiating infrared rays, a lens that collects reflected light reflected from the surface of the information recording medium 2 by the infrared rays irradiated from the IR-LED, and reflected light that has passed through the lens. Among them, an IR filter that cuts a predetermined wavelength component and a C-MOS sensor that is an image sensor are incorporated.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the scanner 4 irradiates the information recording medium 2 with infrared rays and captures the reflected light diffusely reflected from the surface of the information recording medium 2. As described above and as shown in FIG. 10B, since the dot pattern 3 is formed by the through-hole 1 (described later) that allows infrared light to pass, the dot pattern 3 is displayed in the image captured by the C-MOS sensor. Only the three dot portions are imaged black.

In addition, when the dot pattern 3 is formed by the non-through hole 1b (described later), the irradiated infrared rays are secondarily and thirdarily reflected and weakened on the inner wall of the non-through hole 1b. Even if the reflected light enters, it is very weak, so that only the dot portion of the dot pattern 3 is imaged black.

  Since the infrared rays irradiated on the surface of the information recording medium 2 are diffusely reflected, even if the scanner 4 is tilted with respect to the surface of the information recording medium 2, the dot pattern 3 is reflected from the reflected light up to a certain tilt. Can be recognized.

  The scanner 4 reads the dot pattern 3 because the illuminance of the reflected light is different between the opening of the through-hole 1 or the non-through-hole 1b and the outer peripheral portion of the opening, and the XY coordinate value and / or code value is read. recognize.

  In addition to the above configuration, the scanner 4 includes a central processing unit (dot pattern recognition means, not shown). The central processing unit analyzes the dot pattern 3 input from the C-MOS sensor. Analyzed by software, converted to dot code and output.

  The scanner 4 may include a hardware circuit having the same function instead of the central processing unit and the analysis software.

  Further, the process of analyzing the dot pattern 3 and converting it into a dot code may be performed on a device to which the scanner 4 is connected, such as a personal computer, instead of being performed by the central processing unit on the scanner 4.

  The scanner 4 and the device to which the scanner 4 is connected may be connected by a wired method such as a USB cable, or may be connected by a wireless method.

  In the above description, infrared rays are irradiated to read the dot pattern. However, the irradiation light is not limited to infrared rays, and ultraviolet rays may be used. If there is an area that is not used for purposes other than reading, the light in that area may be used.

  10 (a) and 10 (b) illustrate a configuration in which there are a plurality of IR-LEDs that are means for irradiating infrared rays, the number of IR-LEDs may be one.

  FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the scanner 4b using one IR-LED and a light guide. The scanner 4b includes a PCB on which a CPU and a frame buffer are mounted, a C-MOS sensor, a lens, an IR-LED, a light guide, and a transparent IR filter. The figure also shows the positional relationship between the light guide and the path through which the light incident on the transparent IR filter reaches the C-MOS sensor through the lens.

  A CPU with a frame buffer may be used together with the CPU and the frame buffer.

  The light guide may be made of a milky white acrylic material so that light emitted from the IR-LED is diffused and refracted in a complicated manner inside the light guide. In addition, it is desirable that the outer surface of the outer periphery of the light guide is coated with a coating that blocks light, or the inner surface of the outer periphery of the light guide is mirror-finished. Due to the complicated diffusion in the light guide and the specular reflection on the inner surface of the outer periphery, even if one IR-LED is used, the light properly sneaks to the opposite side of the light guide from the IR-LED. Therefore, it is possible to irradiate weak and uniform light toward the photographing opening. Note that the light guide may be formed by combining a plurality of materials having different refractive indexes in a mosaic shape, and the light may be refracted in a complicated manner in the light guide.

  Further, the transparent IR filter may be attached to the tip of the scanner 4b so as to play a role of dustproofing and waterproofing, or may be attached on the C-MOS sensor or before and after the lens as a normal IR filter. .

  In this way, if a light guide that reflects and / or diffuses and refracts light on the inner wall and wraps around the light guide is used, the imaging surface can be uniformly irradiated when touched while the scanner 4b is kept perpendicular to the reading surface. I can do it.

  FIG. 10D shows a state where the scanner 4b is attached to the exterior of the pen when the scanner 4b is formed in a pen shape so that the user can easily use the scanner 4b. As shown in FIG. 10 (d), the light guide of the scanner 4b is the structure of the scanner 4b, so there is no need to extend the pen exterior to the tip of the light guide, and the tip of the scanner 4b Therefore, the user can touch the position where the dot pattern 3 should be read finely using the scanner 4b. Further, since the scanner tip cover that covers the outside of the light guide can be omitted, the manufacturing cost of the scanner 4b can be reduced accordingly.

Thus, by using only one IR-LED, the manufacturing cost of the scanner 4b can be suppressed, and the power consumption of the scanner 4b can be reduced.

<About scanner tilt and pattern recognition>
Whether reading is performed using a plurality of IR-LEDs or using a single IR-LED and a light guide, if the scanner 4 is tilted with respect to the reading surface, writing is performed only from a biased direction. Therefore, in the photographed image, the shape and brightness of the imaged dots vary depending on the lighting and the shape of the hole, such as a crescent shape in the case of a non-through hole having a circular opening.

  Therefore, if the shape of the hole, the lighting position, and the shape of the imaged dot are known in advance, even if the imaged image of, for example, a circular hole dot is a half-missed image, it is not missing. And the center point of the dot can be calculated.

With this configuration, it takes time to prepare data for pattern recognition, but the number of IR-LEDs can be reduced, and thus the manufacturing cost of the scanner 4 can be reduced.

<Structure of information recording medium>
The structure of the information recording medium 2 will be described based on FIG. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the information recording medium 2, in which infrared light is incident and reflected on an unperforated portion of the information recording medium 2, and infrared light is incident on the through hole 1 of the information recording medium 2. It is a figure which shows a mode that it passes (namely, it does not reflect or diffusely reflect).

The shape of the through-hole 1 may be a cylindrical shape, a quadrangular prism shape, a polygonal prism shape, or any of these shapes as long as the infrared light emitted from the IR-LED of the scanner 4 is allowed to pass so as not to be reflected toward the lens. Any structure such as a combination may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 11, it is desirable that the surface of the information recording medium 2 has a characteristic of diffusing and reflecting infrared rays. The reason is that when the surface of the information recording medium 2 has a characteristic of specularly reflecting infrared rays, the reflected light from a part of the surface read by the scanner 4 does not enter the lens properly, and a part of the read image is This is because it appears dark and image analysis becomes difficult.

However, like the prior art, a magic mirror is used for the scanner 4 so that the axis of the IR-LED and the lens are almost overlapped, or a diffusion filter is provided in front of the IR-LED so that the diffused light is recorded as information. If the medium 2 is irradiated, as shown in FIG. 12, the infrared ray may be specularly reflected on the surface of the information recording medium 2.

FIG. 13 shows an example in which an infrared diffuse reflection layer is provided on the surface of the information recording medium 2. By providing the infrared diffuse reflection layer in this manner, the dot pattern 3 can be appropriately read even when the surface of the information recording medium 2 itself does not diffusely reflect infrared rays.

  FIG. 14 shows an example in which a reflective layer is provided on the surface opposite to the reading surface of the information recording medium 2. Even when the information recording medium 2 itself transmits infrared rays, the reflection layer can prevent the reading of the dot pattern 3 from being disturbed by infrared rays incident from the surface opposite to the reading surface.

  When the information recording medium 2 having such characteristics is attached to a window glass or a display screen, the infrared light from the outside or the display screen is blocked, and only the infrared light emitted from the IR-LED is reflected. I can do it. Therefore, a bright and clear dot pattern 3 can be photographed and the dot code can be analyzed accurately.

  FIG. 14 shows a configuration in which the reflective layer is not provided in the opening of the through hole 1, but the reflective layer transmits infrared rays from the reading surface (infrared rays emitted from the scanner 4) for reading. As long as it has the characteristic of reflecting infrared rays from the surface opposite to the surface (infrared rays from the outside), the opening of the through hole 1 may be covered with the reflective layer.

With this configuration, it is possible to completely block the infrared rays that enter from the surface opposite to the reading surface, pass through the through-hole 1 and read into the scanner, and thus further suppress reading interference.

  FIG. 15 shows an example in which a protective layer is provided on the surface of the information recording medium 2. The protective layer is desirably provided on both sides of the information recording medium 2. A material that transmits infrared rays is used for the protective layer. Furthermore, when the information recording medium 2 is a material that transmits visible light, the protective layer must also be a material that transmits visible light. By providing the protective layer, it is possible to prevent the through-hole 1 from being clogged with dust and dirt, making the appearance dirty, and the transparency of the transparent information recording medium 2 from being lowered.

The protective layer is made of a material that transmits visible light and infrared light, such as vinyl, PVC pet, and polypropylene. When the dot pattern is repeatedly touched with the scanner, there is a problem that the periphery of the opening of the dot hole is worn and the dot pattern cannot be read accurately. Therefore, by providing a protective layer, it is possible to prevent wear around the opening of the dot hole and clogging of dirt, and to use the sheet for a long period of time.

FIG. 16 shows an example in which the through hole 1 of the information recording medium 2 is filled with a material that absorbs infrared rays. Thus, by clogging the through hole 1 with the infrared absorbing material in advance, it is possible to prevent clogging of dust and dust into the through hole 1 without providing a protective layer.

  In the above description, the structure in which the through hole 1 is provided in the information recording medium 2 is shown. However, as in the prior art, each dot position of the dot pattern 3 is provided with a non-through hole 1b as shown in FIG. May be.

  The shape of the non-through hole 1b is an inverted cone, an inverted quadrangular pyramid, an inverted polygonal pyramid, etc., the inner wall of the hole reflects the infrared rays specularly, the bottom of the hole is pointed, and A structure that is not primarily reflected toward the lens is preferable.

  As shown in FIG. 17 (a), the light incident on the opening of the non-through hole 1b repeats primary reflection, secondary reflection, and reflection when the wall surface of the non-through hole 1b is specularly reflected. The light reflected toward the lens is very weak. In the example shown in FIG. 17A, the light incident on the lens is fourth-order reflected light.

  The non-through hole 1b needs to be formed so as to become thinner as it goes to the center of the bottom surface. Since the reflected light from the center of the bottom surface of the non-through hole 1b is minimized, the darkest portion in the image is obtained during imaging.

  Depending on the method of forming the non-through hole 1b, the bottom surface of the hole may not be formed sufficiently thin. In such a case, the non-through hole may be formed by embedding a material that absorbs infrared rays into the bottom surface of the hole. Infrared reflection from the hole 1b can be suppressed appropriately.

  Of course, as shown in FIG. 17B, even if the inner wall of the non-through hole 1b has a property of diffusing and reflecting infrared rays, the non-through hole 1b is set so that the incident angle of infrared rays with respect to the inner wall of the hole becomes shallow. If infrared rays are formed, the infrared light diffusely reflected in the incident direction becomes very weak, so there is no practical problem. In the example shown in FIG. 17B, since the light incident on the lens is almost the same as the direction incident on the non-through hole 1b, reflection is very weak.

In fact, as illustrated in FIG. 17C, the distance between the IR-LED and the lens and the reading surface is 15 mm to 25 mm, while the dot pattern reading range is a circle having a diameter of about 4 mm. is there. Therefore, the angle of the light incident on the non-through hole 1b formed in the dot pattern 3 is substantially perpendicular to the reading surface and is incident at a very shallow angle with respect to the inner wall of the non-through hole 1b. Absent.

  The information recording medium 2 may have a configuration in which an infrared diffuse reflection material is vapor-deposited on a vapor deposition transparent sheet made of a material that transmits visible light, such as vinyl, vinyl chloride, or polypropylene. The information recording medium 2 may be configured to reflect the infrared light irradiated from the IR-LED of the scanner 4 and transmitted through the protective layer to the scanner 4 and to transmit visible light.

  As described above, the information recording medium 2 may be a transparent medium that transmits visible light, or may be an opaque medium that does not transmit visible light.

The information recording medium may be a flat and / or curved medium processed into a sheet shape, a panel shape, a card shape, a seal shape, a tag shape, a bookmark shape, or a sticky note shape.

<About perforating method of information recording medium>
Both the through hole 1 and the non-through hole 1b may be formed by a punching process or may be formed by a photoresist process which is a semiconductor manufacturing process.

  When it is formed by a punching process, it can be formed at a low cost, but there is a limit to miniaturization. For example, if holes are formed in the same manner as the DVD manufacturing process, holes having a size and interval of about 0.4 to 2.13 μm can be formed.

  When forming by the photoresist process, the manufacturing cost increases because the manufacturing process increases, but if the design rule of nanometer unit is used, finer holes can be formed than by the punching process, and per unit area The amount of information to be recorded can be increased.

In particular, when a very fine dot pattern 3 is formed using a photoresist process, the cost for forgery increases compared to the dot pattern 3 formed by printing, and the forgery is not profitable. The recording medium 2 can be used in the security field such as a security card.

<About superimposed printing>
FIG. 18 shows an example in which a print layer made of ink is provided on the surface of the information recording medium 2.

  When printing is performed after forming the through-hole 1 or the non-through-hole 1b, it is preferable to use an ink having a low viscosity so as not to block the opening of the hole. When the through hole 1 or the non-through hole 1b is formed after printing, the viscosity of the ink may be any. As the ink, infrared diffuse reflection ink and infrared transmission ink can be used.

  The infrared diffuse reflection ink and the infrared transmission ink have a characteristic of reflecting or absorbing a specific wavelength of visible light, and therefore printed when a person views the information recording medium 2 printed using these inks. Content can be read in the same way as normal printing.

  In this way, by forming the dot pattern 3 on the information recording medium 2 and further switching the ink used when the content is superimposed and printed on the information recording medium 2 between the infrared diffuse reflection ink and the infrared transmission ink, various dots can be obtained. A combination of pattern formation and content printing can be realized.

  The printing layer may be provided on one side or may be provided on both sides.

Note that the above protective layer may be further stacked on the printed layer. By overlapping the protective layer, it is possible to prevent the printing layer from being rubbed and the printing peeled off.

<Use example of information recording medium: Grid sheet>
In FIG. 19, the front view of the grid sheet 1g which is an example of utilization of the information recording medium 2 is shown. The grid sheet 1g is obtained by forming a through hole 1 or a non-through hole 1b in a transparent information recording medium 2. The grid sheet 1g is used by being superimposed on a printed material or the like.

On the grid sheet 1g, a dot pattern 3 including XY coordinate values is formed almost throughout. At the bottom of the grid sheet 1g, icons with numbers from 0 to 9, and "page input", "cancel", and "decision" characters are printed, and dots containing code values corresponding to each icon Pattern 3 is formed. These icons are icons for the user to input an index for specifying the printed material using the scanner 4.

  When the dot pattern 3 is formed by the non-through hole 1b, the dot pattern 3 may be provided on both surfaces of the grid sheet 1g. Thereby, since both surfaces of the grid sheet 1g can be used, convenience is improved. In the front and back dot patterns 3, the same coordinate value and / or code value may be patterned, or different coordinate values and / or code values may be patterned.

When the dot pattern 3 is formed by the through-hole 1, the front side dot pattern 3 is also formed on the back side, so that only one side can be used. However, this is not a limitation as long as the dot pattern 3 that is symmetrical or vertically symmetrical is used.

<Regarding Method 1 of Using Grid Sheet: Covering Printed Material>
FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a method of using the grid sheet 1g so as to overlap the printed material.

The user uses the grid sheet 1g on a printed matter such as a book, magazine, or newspaper. As shown in FIG. 20 (a), even if it is used for the page on the right side, as shown in FIG. 20 (b), the user can use it for the page on the left side. Use the sheet with the front side facing up.

  After the grid sheet 1g is placed on the printing surface of the printed material, the printed material specifying information for specifying the printed material is input to the information reading device by using an icon on the grid sheet 1g. Then, the user touches a desired location on the printing surface from above the grid sheet 1g by the scanner 4 connected to the information reading device.

  The scanner 4 reads the dot pattern 3 at the touch position, recognizes the XY coordinate value and / or code value of the touch position from the read dot pattern 3, and sends it to the information reading device.

  In the information reading device, a plurality of printed material format information corresponding to the printed material identification information to be input is stored in advance, and the printed material format information corresponding to the actually input printed material identification information is selected, and the next Used for processing.

  The printed material format information is information on the mask area allocated to each page of the printed material, or DTP data on which the printed material is based.

  When the printed material format information is information on the mask area, the print information recognition unit (print information recognition unit) performs a process defined in advance in the mask area depending on which mask area the touch position is included in. The predefined process is a process in which the information reading device reproduces a specific message when a specific part of a specific page is touched.

When the printed material format information is DTP data on which the printed material is based, the print information recognition unit may analyze the DTP data and recognize text, charts, illustrations, photographs, and the like at the touch position.

<Regarding grid sheet usage method 2: Cover the display>
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a method of using the grid sheet 1g by covering the display device. When the user touches the screen of the display using the scanner 4, the grid sheet 1g and the reading device can be used as a touch panel by reading the XY coordinate values of the touch position.

The information reading device described in the use example of the grid sheet 1g includes a personal computer, a PDA, a television receiver, a front projector, a rear projector, a game device, a karaoke device, a mobile phone terminal device, a POS terminal device, an ATM, a KIOSK terminal, It can be realized as a car navigation, pachinko, pachislot, watch, or smartphone.

  The information recording medium according to the present invention can be used as a security card, an ID card, a window sheet, a security seal, an information input transparent sheet, and the like.

The information reading apparatus and information reading system according to the present invention include a personal computer, a PDA, a television receiver, a front projector, and a rear projector that can easily input information printed on a print medium or displayed on a screen. , Game devices, karaoke devices, mobile phone terminal devices, POS terminal devices, ATMs, KIOSK terminals, car navigation systems, pachinko machines, pachislot machines, watches, smartphones, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the components of a dot pattern and their positional relationships. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information definition method based on an information dot arrangement method. FIG. 2A is an example of expressing 3-bit information, and FIG. 2B is a 2-bit information. This is an example of the information dot 7 having FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for defining information according to another arrangement method of information dots. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information defining method by a method of arranging a plurality of information dots per grid, and FIG. 4A is an example of arranging two information dots. (B) is an example in which four information dots are arranged, and FIG. 4 (c) is an example in which five information dots are arranged. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a format used for extracting information dots from a dot pattern. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another arrangement example of a grid including information dots, and FIG. 6A is an example in which six (2 × 3) grids are arranged in one block. 6 (b) is an example in which 9 (3 × 3) are arranged, FIG. 6 (c) is an example in which 12 (3 × 4) are arranged, and FIG. 6 (d) is 36 (6 × 6). This is an example of arrangement. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of another dot pattern, and FIG. 7A is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the reference point dot, the virtual reference point, and the information dot in the dot pattern. FIG. 7B is an example in which information is defined depending on whether or not there is an information dot on the virtual reference point, and FIG. 7C is a diagram illustrating an example in which two blocks are connected in the vertical and horizontal directions. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a format example of information bits in one block of a dot pattern. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a format example of a dot code. FIG. 9A illustrates an example in which the dot code includes an XY coordinate value, a code value, and a parity. FIG. 9B illustrates a dot pattern 3. FIG. 9C shows an example in which the dot code includes an XY coordinate value and a parity. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of a portion for reading a dot pattern of a scanner and a state of reading a dot pattern on an information recording medium. FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a state where light is diffusely reflected on the medium surface. Yes, (b) is a diagram showing how light passes through the through-hole, (c) is a cross-sectional view when a light guide is used, and (d) is a scanner attached to the pen exterior It is a figure which shows a mode. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium, showing the state of reflection or passage of infrared rays. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the information recording medium, showing the state of reflection or passage of infrared rays. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium in which an infrared diffuse reflection layer is provided on the reading surface. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium in which an infrared reflecting layer is provided on the surface opposite to the reading surface. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium provided with a protective layer. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium in which holes are filled. FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the case where dots are formed by non-through holes, (a) is an example in the case where specular reflection occurs on the inner wall of the non-through holes, and (b) is an example of non-through holes. It is an example in the case where diffuse reflection occurs on the inner wall, and (c) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the IR-LED and the dot pattern. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of an information recording medium provided with a print layer. FIG. 19 is a front view of the surface of the grid sheet. 20A and 20B are diagrams illustrating a method of using a grid sheet. FIG. 20A illustrates a case where the grid sheet is used, and FIG. 20B illustrates a case where the grid sheet is used. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information input device that performs input in a touch panel format using a grid sheet. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a conventional technique. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a conventional technique. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a conventional technique. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

Explanation of symbols

1 Through-hole 1b Non-through-hole 1g Grid sheet (information recording medium)
2 Information recording medium 3 Dot pattern 4, 4b Scanner (dot pattern reading means)
6 Key dots 7 Information dots 8 Reference grid point dots 9 Virtual grid points 9a to 9d Virtual reference points

Claims (19)

An information recording medium that reflects light in a specific frequency region from one side,
An information recording medium in which fine through holes are provided at dot positions of a dot pattern in which dots generated by a dot code generation algorithm are arranged in accordance with a predetermined rule for various multimedia information output and / or operation instructions. The reflection is
The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium is diffuse reflection. On one side of the information recording medium,
The information recording medium according to claim 1, further comprising a diffusion reflection layer that diffusely reflects light in the specific frequency region. On the outside of the other surface of the information recording medium,
The information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a reflective layer having a characteristic of reflecting light in a specific frequency region from the other surface side. In the through hole,
The information recording medium according to claim 1, which is filled with a material that absorbs light in a specific frequency region. On the outer side of one side and / or the other side of the information recording medium,
The information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a protective layer having a characteristic of transmitting light in a specific frequency region and visible light. On the surface of the information recording medium or other layers, text, illustrations, photographs, and the like are superimposed and printed using ink made of a material that transmits or reflects light in the specific frequency range. The information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The dot pattern is
The XY coordinate value and / or the code value is a dot pattern that is patterned by a predetermined algorithm that records by a deviation of a dot from a virtual reference point. Information recording medium. The information recording medium is
The medium according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the medium is a flat and / or curved medium processed into a sheet shape, a panel shape, a card shape, a seal shape, a tag shape, a bookmark shape, or a sticky note shape. The information recording medium according to one item. The through hole is
The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium is formed by a punching process. The through hole is
The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium is formed by a photoresist process. In the information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
The information recording medium diffusely reflects light in a specific frequency region from one side,
An information recording medium in which fine non-through holes are provided in place of the fine through holes at the dot positions. The information recording medium is
The information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein visible light other than light in the specific frequency region is transmitted. The information recording medium is
The information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the information recording medium does not transmit visible light. For the information recording medium according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
Dot pattern reading means for irradiating light in a specific frequency region and reading reflected light;
The illuminance of the reflected light is different between the hole portion and the peripheral portion of the hole,
An information reading device comprising dot pattern recognition means for reading the dot pattern and recognizing XY coordinate values and / or code values. The dot pattern recognition means
The information reading apparatus according to claim 15, wherein an algorithm for obtaining the center position of the dot is used based on the shape and / or the intensity of light and darkness of the imaged dot. The information reader is
It is a personal computer, PDA, television receiver, front projector, rear projector, game device, karaoke device, mobile phone terminal device, POS terminal device, ATM, KIOSK terminal, car navigation system, pachinko, pachislot, watch, or smartphone The information reading device according to claim 15 or 16. The information recording medium according to claim 13, disposed on a display screen of the information processing device,
The illuminance of the reflected light differs between the dot pattern reading means for irradiating the information recording medium with light in a specific frequency region and reading the reflected light, the hole portion, and the peripheral portion of the hole. An information input system that enables input in a touch panel format by an information reading device including a dot pattern recognition unit that reads the dot pattern and recognizes an XY coordinate value and / or a code value. The information recording medium according to claim 13, which is placed on a printing surface of a printed material,
The illuminance of the reflected light differs between the dot pattern reading means for irradiating the information recording medium with light in a specific frequency region and reading the reflected light, the hole portion, and the peripheral portion of the hole. The dot pattern recognition means for reading the dot pattern and recognizing the XY coordinate value and / or code value, the XY coordinate value and / or the code value, the printed material specifying information for specifying the printed material, and the printed material specifying An information input system comprising: an information reading device provided with print information recognition means for recognizing information on the print surface set at a position where the dot pattern is read from print format information corresponding to the information.

Images