JPH05189538A - Image file device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] An image registration and retrieval method that can protect image information by using the security code during search without inputting the security code from the keyboard during registration in the image file device. I will provide a. According to the present invention, a security mark is printed on a document in a special color tone. First, an image to be registered is input, and the special color pattern is separated. Next, the special color pattern is recognized, and the confidentiality permission flag of the index section is registered together with the image data. Then, at the time of retrieval, the image information is protected based on the confidentiality permission flag.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image registration and retrieval system, and more particularly to an image registration and retrieval system suitable for application to an image filing device for registering and retrieving using security information of an input image. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image file device has appeared as a fourth OA (Office Automation) device following a word processor, a personal computer, and a facsimile, and has been attracting attention as a means for promoting paperless offices and design departments. This image filing apparatus uses an optical disk to store a large amount of image information and can immediately take out and print it as needed. Therefore, there is a remarkable penetration particularly to departments that generate a large amount of documents, and improving the efficiency of retrieval to retrieve a desired document from a large amount of stored documents is one of the major problems of the image file device. There is.

Therefore, in order to realize an effective search, a method using a keyword is widely spread. An example of a conventional device that realizes this is shown in FIG.
In the figure, 1 is an image input device, 2 is an image input control circuit for controlling the image input device 1, 3 is a keyboard for inputting a keyword, 4 is an index to the image to register the image in the file and the image from the file. Image registration / retrieval device for searching, 5 is a file for storing images and indexes, 6 is a CRT display, 7 is a display control circuit for controlling the CRT display 6, 8 is a printer, 9 is a printer control circuit for controlling the printer 8. ..

To the image data read by the image input device 1, a keyword which is index information input from the keyboard 3 is added. The input image data and index information are registered in the file 5 using the image registration / retrieval device 4.

As a method of assigning this keyword, a method of assigning an important word or phrase representing the concept of an image is common. When searching, the image data is searched using the desired keyword input from the keyboard 3, and the desired image data is output to the CRT display 6 and the printer 8.

However, there has been a drawback that a keyword has to be input one by one from the keyboard at the time of registration, and this work requires a great number of man-hours. This work amount has been one of the factors that prevent the spread of the image filing apparatus.

[0007] Conventionally, as a device for solving these inconveniences, there is a device described in JP-A-63-213072.

This conventional technique achieves semi-automatic registration of a keyword by recognizing character information of a designated area in image information to be registered. That is, the image to be registered is read by the input device and the read image is displayed on the display. Then, a required character area is designated for the displayed image by a designation means such as a mouse. The designated character area is recognized by a character recognition device such as OCR and converted into a character code. Finally, the recognized character code is stored as a keyword in the storage device together with the image.

The keyword created in this way is semi-automatically extracted from the image itself. Therefore, it is not necessary to input each keyword from the keyboard at the time of registration, and the work man-hours can be significantly reduced.

Finally, at the time of retrieval, a desired image can be read from the optical disc by designating the registered result code with a keyboard or the like.

As described above, the apparatus using the conventional technique is capable of semi-automatically extracting and registering a keyword from the image itself by using a designated device such as a mouse. Therefore, the work of inputting a keyword from the keyboard is eliminated, and a large amount of image data can be easily registered in the storage device.

[0012]

As described above, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, a character code is identified by extracting a keyword from the image itself by using a designation device such as a mouse.
Since the identification result can be used as a keyword, it is possible to automatically register a large amount of image data, unlike manual input from a keyboard.

On the other hand, a large amount of documents have begun to be stored in the image filing apparatus, and it is becoming possible to retrieve these documents through a local area communication network or a public line network. For this reason, security of image data registered in each image file device has become a problem. That is, among the accumulated documents, there are some documents that only the administrator can browse and some documents that the created section staff wants to browse. Also, there are some documents that can be viewed but do not want to be copied as a document.

To solve the above-mentioned problems, conventionally, a security code has been entered at the time of registration of image data to limit the searchable password. For this reason, you have to enter the security code from the keyboard as well as entering keywords.
There was a drawback that the work was complicated.

The prior art has achieved an improvement in efficiency with respect to keyword input, but has not taken into consideration the problem of security protection. For this reason, there is a drawback that the security code must be entered from the keyboard at the time of registration as in the above, and the work is complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image file device requiring security without inputting the security code from the keyboard when registering the image data, and further utilizing the security code at the time of retrieval to save the image data of the image data. It is to provide a method for registering and retrieving confidential images.

[0017]

To achieve the above object, the present invention utilizes the fact that confidential information such as "prohibition of copying" and "confidentiality" is printed on a document in a special color tone. ..

That is, in the image file device, first, the specific color is separated from the input image. Next, the separated specific color pattern is recognized, and the recognition result is stored in the code information section of the image storage device.

Further, in the present invention, the pattern of the specific color to be recognized is limited to security protection information such as print permission and read permission, and a security item in the code information section is flagged according to the recognition result. Further, it is possible to set a limit to the search and the output according to this flag.

At the time of recognition, it is also possible to convert the specific color pattern into a monochrome binary image pattern and recognize the converted image pattern.

The present invention can also be achieved with a combination of (1) red, (2) blue, (3) green, and (4) the former three as specific colors.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in a memory system in which image information is stored in the first memory means and attribute information is stored in the second memory means, the specific color extracted from the image information is used. This can also be achieved by protecting the confidentiality of the image stored in the first memory means by recognizing the pattern and registering the recognized security information in the second memory means.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, in an optical disc storing an image in a data section and attribute information in an index section, a specific color pattern of an input image is recognized and the recognized security protection is provided. It can also be achieved by registering information in the index section.

Finally, according to the present invention, in the report management system, first, the specific color is separated from the input image. Next, the separated specific color pattern is recognized, and the recognition result is stored in the code information section of the image storage device.

[0025]

In the configuration of the present invention described above, the image information retrieval device executes two types of processing, registration and retrieval.

First, registration is performed in the same procedure as in the current image file device. That is, the document is input from the scanner and stored in the image storage device as multicolor image data. For the sake of convenience of description, the multicolors will be described as red, green, and blue, and the image storage device will be described as an optical disk.

The security code is extracted from the document and stored on the optical disc together with the keyword.

Here, attention is paid to the property that confidential information is printed in color tones, and this is used. That is, in the case of documents that are generally circulated, in addition to the body text, characters indicating the confidentiality of the document itself are printed in a different color tone from the body text. For example, in addition to black and white text, in red, etc., "copy prohibited",
Characters such as "Confidential" or "Confidential" are printed. Therefore, only the red color is separated from the multicolor image data, the content is recognized, and the corresponding security code is registered in the optical disc.

When the recognition result is "prohibition of copying", "0" is set to the print permission flag of the index portion to prohibit printing from the optical disc. If the recognition result is "confidential", the outsider read permission flag of the index section is set to "0" to prohibit reading by outsiders.
On the contrary, when these characters are not printed, "0" is set to each permission flag.

It should be noted that although the keyword setting is not mentioned here, it may be entered from the keyboard as is conventionally done, or may be automatically entered using character recognition.

As is clear from the above description, no operator intervention is required when registering the security information.
Therefore, since the operator is not involved in the registration, the registration efficiency can be significantly improved.

On the other hand, the search processing can be roughly divided into the search of index data and the output processing of image data.

First, a keyword and a password are input to search the corresponding index data. All the index data is matched with the entered keyword. Next, read out the security code of the matched index data and check whether it is permitted. A check is made between the entered password and the permission flag. Thus, only the indexes that match the keywords and are allowed to be read are stored in memory.

When a series of retrieval processing is completed, the pointer indicating the storage address of the corresponding image data is referred to, and the processing shifts to the image data output processing.

Code data compressed according to the referred storage address is read from the optical disc and stored in the memory. The stored code data is expanded by the compression / expansion circuit and converted into image data. Finally, the decompressed image data is displayed on the display.

By repeating the above operation, the image data for which reading is permitted is displayed on the display, and the process is completed. When the desired image data is obtained on the display, the print permission flag is checked, and if it is permitted, the printer prints on the paper.

Thus, according to the present invention, since the security mark is printed on the document in a special color tone, the security permission flag can be automatically registered, so that the security code can be input one by one from the keyboard. Therefore, it is possible to provide an image file device in which the amount of work required for registration is greatly reduced while protecting the confidentiality at the time of search.

[0038]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention. 11 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls the entire apparatus, and 12 is a CP
A main memory in which a program for controlling U11 and tables are stored, 13 is a scanner for converting a paper surface into electric image data, 14 is a scanner control circuit for generating a drive signal of the scanner 13 and transferring the image data, 15 Is an image memory that stores the input image data, 16 is an image processor that performs expansion / reduction on the image data, compression to code data, and decompression processing that is inverse conversion, and 17 is a unit that outputs specific color information from the input image data. A specific color separation circuit for separating and converting into a black and white binary image pattern, 18 is a character recognition circuit for recognizing the image pattern generated by the specific color separation circuit 17, 19 is a display for displaying image data, 2
0 is a display control circuit that generates a synchronization signal and transfers it to the display 19 together with the image data, 21 is a printer that prints the image data on paper, 22 is a printer control circuit that generates a drive signal for the printer 21 and transfers the image data, 23 Is an optical disk for storing image data and an index in pairs, and 24 is an optical disk control circuit for generating a drive signal for the optical disk 23 and transferring the image data and the characteristic amount.

First, in the registration process, the CPU 11 activates the scanner control circuit 24 based on the program stored in the main memory 12. The activated scanner control circuit 24 drives the scanner 23 and inputs multicolor image data.

The input multicolor image data is output to the specific color separation circuit 17 while being stored in the image memory 35. The output multicolor image data includes binary information of red, blue, and green. Then, when all the data of red, blue, and green are "1", the white paper surface is expressed, and red, blue,
When all the green data is "0", black printing is expressed.
On the contrary, if any one of red, blue and green is "1", the corresponding color is expressed. Therefore, in the case of separating the special color pattern, attention is paid to the color data, and the area in which the color is "1" and the other color data is "0" is extracted.

The multicolor image data input to the specific color separation circuit 17 is divided into color information and black and white 2 of the separated color information.
Value is applied. Here, all the color patterns of red, blue, and green are extracted and converted into a binary image pattern according to the reality. Since the character recognition circuit 18 is premised on the binary image pattern, it recognizes the character area "1" and the paper surface area "0". Therefore, the specific color separation circuit 17 needs to output the specific color pattern as "1" and the other areas as "0". That is, in the input multicolor image data, all pixels are scanned, and red, blue,
Data is output as data "0" only when all green data is "0" or all data is "1". If any one of red, blue, and green is "1", it is a color pattern and is output as data "1". The specific color pattern converted into the black and white binary image pattern is output to the character recognition circuit 18.

Although all the color patterns of red, blue, and green are extracted here, it is obvious that a specific color such as only red may be extracted.

The black and white binary image pattern input to the character recognition circuit 18 is converted into code information as a specific color pattern printed on the paper surface. For example, characters such as "copy prohibited", "confidential" or "confidential" are printed.
That is, the black and white binary image pattern is scanned pixel by pixel to cut out characters. Next, the similarity is calculated with respect to the referenced dictionary, and the code showing the highest similarity is output to the image memory 15 as a recognition result.

The recognition result stored in the image memory 15 is registered in the index section of the optical disc 23 as security information of the image data. That is, if the recognition result is "prohibited copying", the print permission flag of the index section is set to "
0 "is set to prohibit printing from the optical disc. If the recognition result is" confidential ", the outsider read permission flag in the index section is set to" 0 "to read the outsider. When the index section is created by such a procedure, the index section including the security information is read from the image memory 15 and registered at a predetermined position on the optical disc 23 via the optical disc control circuit 24. It

Although the setting of the keyword is not mentioned here, it is obvious that it may be input from the keyboard as in the conventional case or may be automatically input by using the character recognition circuit 18. Is.

Finally, the main body of the image data is recorded on the optical disc 2
3 is registered in the image data section. That is, the CPU 11 activates the image processor 16 to convert the image data stored in the image memory 35 into code data.
MH (Modified Huffman) or MMR (Modified Modi
The image data encoded by the fied READ system or the like is registered in the image data section of the optical disc 23. That is, these code data are read from the image memory 15 and registered in a predetermined position on the optical disc 23 via the optical disc control circuit 24.

By repeating the series of registration operations each time image data is input, a large amount of images are stored on the optical disc 23.

On the other hand, in the search processing, when the image data is read, it is processed in the same procedure as the conventional search operation.

First, based on the program stored in the main memory 12, the CPU 11 causes the optical disk control circuit 2 to operate.
4 is activated. The activated optical disc control circuit 24 reads out the index portion in which the keyword and the security code are stored from the optical disc 23.

The read index portion is stored in the image memory 15, and all the indexes are matched with the input keyword. Next, the other than the matched index is erased from the image memory 15, and the security processing is started.

Similar to the keyword processing, a collation is made between the input password and the reading permission flag of the index that matches. The indexes other than the permitted indexes are erased from the image memory 15, and only the indexes whose keywords match and the reading of which is permitted are stored in the image memory 15.

When a series of retrieval processing is completed, the pointer indicating the storage address of the corresponding image data is referred to, and the CPU
The optical disk control circuit is notified via 11.

Code data compressed according to the notified storage address is read from the optical disk 23 and stored in the image memory 15. The stored code data is expanded by the image processor 16 and converted into image data. Finally, the expanded image data is displayed on the display 19 via the display control circuit 20.

The above operation is repeated to display the image data for which reading is permitted on the display 19, and the process is completed. When the desired image data is obtained on the display 19, the print permission flag is checked, and if it is permitted, the printer control circuit 22 is activated and the printer 21 prints on the paper.

Next, the conversion logic of the specific color separation circuit 17, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 2
Is a logical diagram that forms the core of conversion logic.

From the upper left, red, green, and blue pixel data input terminals, OR circuit, NAND circuit, AND circuit, black and white 2
It is the output end of the value.

The multicolor image data input to the specific color separation circuit 17 is divided into color information and black and white 2 of the separated color information.
Value is applied. All red, blue, and green color patterns are extracted and converted into a black and white binary image pattern. Further, since the character recognition circuit 18 is premised on the pattern of a binary image,
The character area is "1" and the paper area is "0". Therefore, the specific color separation circuit 17 needs to output the specific color pattern as "1" and the other areas as "0". That is, in the input multicolor image data, all pixels are scanned, and all red, blue, and green data are "0".
In case of or all data is "1", it is output as data "0". If any one of red, blue, and green is "1", it means that it is a color pattern.
Output as 1 ".

In order to satisfy the above condition, it is composed of three logic elements. That is, a 3-input OR located on the input side
Outputs when the data of all red, blue and green is "0".
In addition, the 3-input NAND sets the output to "0" when all the data of red, blue and green are "1". Furthermore, even if any one of red, blue and green is "1", In this case, since both elements are "1", the result of 2-input AND is output as "1".

The monochrome binary image data converted by the above procedure is output to the character recognition circuit 18.

Next, the recognition logic of the character recognition circuit 18, which is an embodiment of the present invention, will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a principle diagram showing an outline of the recognition logic.

From the upper left, learning samples that make up the dictionary,
It is a dictionary created by extracting feature quantities from learning samples. Further, there are an input character from the upper left, contour extraction for extracting a black-and-white change point of the input character, and directional differentiation for extracting the same feature amount as the dictionary. Furthermore, it is matching that calculates the degree of similarity between the dictionary and the input character.

First, since the input black and white binary character pattern compresses the amount of information, the contour which is the black and white change point is extracted. The feature amount is extracted from the extracted character pattern. The eight contour directions found by contour extraction are assigned to the eight characteristic surfaces.

Next, the degree of similarity is calculated between the feature surface extracted by the above procedure and the dictionary. The calculated similarities are sorted in descending order, and the character code showing the highest similarity is output to the image memory 15 as a recognition result. Here, "2" is output as the recognition result.

In this example, the number "2" is used as the input character for convenience of explanation, but in the actual example, "prohibited copying",
Recognize characters such as "Confidential" or "Confidential". Note that here, the feature amount is extracted using the directional differentiation,
It is self-evident that other features and recognition methods can be used.

The data structure of the optical disc according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of storing image data on an optical disc.

Reference numeral 41 is an index portion for storing the attribute information of the image data, 42 is a data portion for storing the image data itself, 43 is a header indicating the beginning of the index data, 44 is a keyword which is a key for searching the image data, 4
Reference numeral 5 is a print permission flag for permitting copying, "0" indicates prohibition, "1" indicates permission, and 46 and 47 are read permission flags 1 and 2 for permitting reading from the optical disc. The number indicates the permitted range, 48 is a pointer indicating the address of the data section, 49 is a trailer indicating the end point of the index data, 50 is a header indicating the beginning of the data,
Reference numeral 52 is code data which is the main body of the image data, and 53 is a trailer indicating the end point of the data.

Next, the data structure of this embodiment will be described.

The index part 41 and the data part 42 are stored in separate areas as respective aggregates. As a result, only the index section 41 is read out without reading the data of the data section 42 from the optical disc, and the search processing is speeded up.

Further, the index part 41 and the data part 42
The respective data of 1 are linked by the pointer 48. Therefore, the data hit in the search process of the index unit 41 can be quickly read from the optical disc by referring to the address of the pointer 48.

The index section 41 is composed of a header 43, a keyword 44, a print permission flag 45, a read permission flag 1, a read permission flag 2, a pointer 48, and a trailer 49. Of these, the header 4
3 and the trailer 49 are general identifiers indicating the start and end points of data. In addition, the keyword 44 stores code information, and the keyword 44 stored here and the code input at the time of retrieval are matched. If they match, the image is considered to be the desired image and displayed on the display. In addition, each permission flag 45, 46, 47,
It manages hit image data, and limits reading and printing to the image data depending on the presence or absence of a flag. The meaning of the flag is prohibition when "0",
The case of 1 "represents permission. These two types of information are the main body used in the search process. The pointer 48 stores the address of the hit code data.

The data section 42 is composed of a header 50, code data 51 and a trailer 52.
Of these, the header 50 and the trailer 52 are the index section 4
Similar to 1, it is a general identifier. In the area of the code data 51, MH (Modified Huffman) or M ² R (Modifi
Image data encoded by the ed ² READ) method or the like is stored, and the encoded data is expanded and displayed on a display or the like.

In the above embodiment, the specific color of the security pattern printed on the paper is limited to red, green and blue, but it may be a natural color of an intermediate color or white or black.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present embodiment, the security permission flag can be automatically registered by utilizing the fact that the security mark is printed on the document in a special color tone. I chose Therefore, since it is not necessary to input the security code one by one from the keyboard, it is possible to significantly reduce the work amount required for registration while protecting the confidentiality at the time of search.

[0075]

As described above, according to the present invention, the security mark printed in a special color tone on the document is automatically recognized and registered in the index section.

Therefore, an image with security information can be registered without inputting a security code from the keyboard at the time of registration. Therefore, there is an effect that keyboard input work at the time of registration is unnecessary and the registration efficiency of image data can be significantly improved.

Further, the security code can be used at the time of retrieval to protect the registered image information.
Therefore, there is an effect that only the person who has the permission of the operator can retrieve the information, and the management of the image information can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conversion logic diagram of a specific color separation circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an operation principle diagram of a character recognition circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of storing image data on an optical disc according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image input device, 2 ... Image input control circuit, 3 ... Keyboard, 4 ... Image registration search device, 5 ... File, 6 ... CRT display, 7 ... CRT display control circuit, 8 ... Printer, 9 ... Printer control circuit, 11 ... CPU (Central Processing Unit), 12 ... Main memory, 13 ... Scanner, 14 ... Scanner control circuit, 15 ... Image memory, 16 ... Image processor, 17 ... Specific color separation circuit, 18 ... Character recognition circuit, 19 ... Display , 20 ... Display control circuit, 21 ... Printer, 22 ... Printer control circuit, 23 ... Optical disk, 24 ... Optical disk control circuit, 41 ... Index part, 42 ... Data part, 43 ... Header, 44 ... Keyword, 45 ... Printing permission flag , 46 ... Read permission flag 1, 47 ... Read permission flag 2, 48 ... Pointer, 49 ... Trailer, 50 ... Header, 51 ... Code data, 52 ... Trailer.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hidefumi Masusaki 2880 Kozu, Odawara City, Kanagawa Hitachi Ltd. Odawara Factory

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An image filing apparatus comprising means for inputting an image, means for accumulating the image, means for retrieving and outputting the accumulated image, and means for separating a specific color from the input image, An image filing apparatus comprising: a unit for recognizing the separated specific color pattern; and a unit for accumulating the recognition result in a code information section of the accumulating unit. 2. The image file device according to claim 1, wherein the recognized information is limited to confidential information such as print permission and read permission, and a security item in the code information section is flagged according to the recognition result. An image filing device comprising: means for setting up a display and means for preventing display or printing according to the flag. 3. The image file device according to claim 1, wherein instead of recognizing the separated specific color pattern as it is, the specific color pattern is converted into a monochrome binary image pattern and the converted image pattern is converted. An image file device characterized by recognizing. 4. The image file device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the specific color is limited to red. 5. The image file device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the specific color is limited to blue. 6. The image file device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the specific color is limited to green. 7. The image file device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the specific color is limited to three types of red, blue and green. 8. A memory system in which image information is stored in a first memory means and attribute information is stored in a second memory means, a specific color pattern extracted from the image information is recognized, and the recognized security protection is provided. A memory system characterized by protecting the confidentiality of an image stored in the first memory means by registering information in the second memory means. 9. An optical disc in which an image is stored in a data section and attribute information is stored in an index section, a specific color pattern of an input image is recognized, and the recognized security information is registered in the index section. Characteristic optical disc. 10. A report management system comprising means for inputting a report, means for accumulating the report, and means for retrieving and outputting the accumulated report, wherein a specific color is input from the input report. A report management system comprising: a separating means; a means for recognizing the separated specific color pattern; and a means for accumulating the recognition result in a code information section of the accumulating means.