JP2005071210A - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus or image forming apparatus adapted to identify a user by a fingerprint that can clearly read a fingerprint over a certain area. <P>SOLUTION: A copying machine (1) combining the image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus has a transparent plate (16) on an end of a contact glass (11). The transparent plate (16) is covered with an openable cover, and the other portion of the end of the contact glass (11) is covered with a top plate. A scanner type reading part (13) for reading an image reads the fingerprint of a finger touching the transparent plate (16). Pressure sensors for detecting pressure applied to the transparent plate (16) are interposed between the contact glass (11) and the transparent plate (16), and when the detected pressure reaches a given value, the fingerprint reading is started. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads an image from a document and an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet.

  Image reading apparatuses such as image scanners, image forming apparatuses such as printers, copiers, facsimiles and other image reading apparatuses and apparatuses having the functions of image forming apparatuses are widely used in offices and homes. . When these devices are used in an office, an identification code is assigned to each user and the user is specified by the entered identification code in order to limit the users and facilitate management. I have been.

  In recent years, there has also been proposed an image reading apparatus that reads a user's fingerprint and identifies the user based on the read fingerprint. Compared to the input of the identification code, the operation and time required for reading the fingerprint are less, and it is convenient to use the fingerprint to identify the user. In particular, in the image reading apparatus, a means for reading an image can be used for reading a fingerprint, and the complexity of the configuration can be suppressed.

For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-123060, a finger hole for inserting a finger from the side is provided in a cover that covers a contact glass on which an original is placed, and a fingerprint of a finger in contact with the contact glass is read by a scanner for reading an image. I have to. A sensor switch is provided at the innermost part of the finger hole, and reading of the fingerprint is started when the tip of the user's finger touches the sensor switch.
JP 2003-123060 A

  In order to identify a user by a fingerprint, the read fingerprint must be clear over a certain range. Here, in order to clearly read the fingerprint over a range necessary for identifying the user, the user needs to press the finger against the contact glass with an appropriate pressure. However, it is difficult for the user to know how much force is appropriate, and the force of the finger pressing the contact glass differs depending on the user, and even the same user varies depending on the time. For this reason, the read fingerprint is often not large enough or clear enough to identify the user.

  In the above publication, the size of the finger hole is set so that the periphery of the finger touches the side wall of the finger hole, and if the user's finger is a standard thickness, the force pressing the contact glass is generally constant. It becomes. However, in the case of a user whose finger is thinner than the standard, the force for pressing the contact glass varies greatly. In addition, in the case of a user whose finger is thicker than the standard, the force for pressing the contact glass becomes excessive, and when it is severe, the finger cannot be sufficiently inserted into the finger hole.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and is an image reading apparatus or an image forming apparatus that identifies a user by a fingerprint, and can clearly read the fingerprint over a range necessary for identifying the user. The aim is to provide what is possible.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an image reading apparatus that reads an image from a document in accordance with a user's operation and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user. A transparent plate that touches a finger; a reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate; a pressure sensor that detects pressure applied to the transparent plate by a user's finger; A control unit is provided that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches a predetermined value.

  In this image reading apparatus, since the reading of the fingerprint is started when the pressure applied to the transparent plate by the user's finger reaches a predetermined value, the force of the finger pressing the transparent plate becomes excessive and the unevenness of the fingerprint becomes unclear. It is possible to avoid reading the fingerprint in a state where the finger is pressed, or reading the fingerprint in a state where the force of the finger pressing the transparent plate is too small and the contact area between the transparent plate and the finger is small. Therefore, the fingerprint can be clearly read over a range necessary for identifying the user regardless of the user. The user only needs to gradually increase the force of the finger pressing the transparent plate.

  The present invention also provides an image reading apparatus that reads an image from a document according to a user's operation, and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user. A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate, an area sensor that detects an area of the transparent plate that is touched by the user's finger, and the area sensor A control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when the area detected by the step reaches a predetermined value.

  In this image reading apparatus, reading of a fingerprint is started when the contact area between the transparent plate and the finger reaches a predetermined value. Since the contact area between the transparent plate and the finger changes according to the force of the finger pressing the transparent plate, the fingerprint is read in a state where the finger force pressing the transparent plate is excessive and the irregularities of the fingerprint are unclear. In addition, it is also possible to avoid reading a fingerprint with a small contact area between the transparent plate and the finger. Therefore, the fingerprint can be clearly read over a range necessary for identifying the user regardless of the user. The user only needs to gradually increase the force of the finger pressing the transparent plate so that the contact area between the transparent plate and the finger gradually increases.

  Here, it is preferable that an image is read by the reading unit from a document placed at a predetermined reading position, and the transparent plate is provided at a position away from the reading position. By using the same reading unit for reading images and fingerprints, the complexity of the apparatus can be suppressed. Further, by providing a transparent plate at a position deviating from the reading position where the document is placed, it is possible to read the image of the document without any trouble.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention also provides an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet in accordance with a user's operation and that reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user. A transparent plate with which a person touches his / her finger, a reading unit for reading the fingerprint by irradiating light on the user's finger touching the transparent plate, and a pressure sensor for detecting pressure applied to the transparent plate by the user's finger; And a control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches a predetermined value.

  According to the present invention, there is further provided an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet according to a user's operation, wherein the user's fingerprint is read in order to identify the user. A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate, an area sensor that detects an area of the transparent plate that is touched by the user's finger, and the area A control unit is provided that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when the area detected by the sensor reaches a predetermined value.

  Similar to the image reading apparatus described above, these image forming apparatuses can surely read a fingerprint over a range necessary for identifying the user regardless of the user.

  According to the image reading apparatus and the image forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to read a fingerprint with a quality necessary for specifying a user by only one reading operation, and to specify the user. For this reason, the time required for the fingerprint collation process is shortened. Therefore, the user can be identified quickly and the efficiency is good. In addition, the user should perform an operation when reading the fingerprint, which is a natural operation of increasing the force of pressing the transparent plate by touching the finger with the transparent plate.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is an application example of the invention to a copying machine that serves both as an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus. The appearance of the copying machine 1 of this embodiment is schematically shown in FIGS. FIG. 1 is a top view of the copying machine 1, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of the copying machine 1.

  The copying machine 1 includes a contact glass 11 for placing a document, a document supply unit 12 that transports a document D onto the contact glass 11, an operation unit 14 that includes a plurality of keys and is operated by a user, and a liquid crystal display. A display unit 15 is provided on the top surface. Further, the copying machine 1 moves in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 while irradiating light toward the contact glass 11, and reads a document image by reflected light from the document on the contact glass 11. The part 13 is provided inside.

  The document supply unit 12 is rotatable about one edge thereof, and takes a closed state in which the document supply unit 12 is horizontal and covers most of the contact glass 11, and an open state in which the contact glass 11 is inclined to expose the contact glass 11. obtain. 1 and 2 show a state in which the document supply unit 12 is closed.

  A small transparent plate 16 is placed on a portion of the contact glass 11 that is not covered by the document supply unit 12, and a portion of the contact glass 11 that is not covered by the document supply unit 12 is covered by the transparent plate 16. It is covered with the top plate of the copying machine 1 except for the part where it is placed. On the transparent plate 16, a lid that rotates around one edge and can take a closed state that covers the entire transparent plate 16 in a horizontal state and an open state that tilts and exposes the transparent plate 16. 17 is provided.

  The copying machine 1 starts an operation of reading an image from a document and forming a read image on a sheet in accordance with an operation of the operation unit 14 by the user. Prior to reading the image, the copying machine 1 reads the user's fingerprint, The read fingerprint is collated with the stored fingerprint. Only when the read fingerprint matches one of the stored fingerprints, the image is read from the original and the image is formed on the sheet.

  The fingerprint is read by the image reading unit 13 that reads an image from a document, and the transparent plate 16 is used for the user to touch the finger when reading the fingerprint. The user places a document on the document supply unit 12 or the contact glass 11, inputs necessary information such as the number of copies by operating the operation unit 14, and then instructs operation start by operating the operation unit 14. Then, after giving the instruction, within a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds), the lid 17 is opened and the transparent plate 16 is lightly pressed with a predetermined finger (for example, the index finger of the right hand).

  When the copying machine 1 is instructed to start the operation, the copying machine 1 starts to detect the pressure applied to the transparent plate 16 by the finger, and when the detected pressure reaches a predetermined value, the copying machine 1 touches the transparent plate 16. Start reading the fingerprint. In addition, when the pressure which reaches a predetermined value is not detected within said predetermined time, the detection of a pressure is stopped. In this case, the user can give the operation start instruction again by operating the operation unit 14.

  A circuit configuration of the copying machine 1 is schematically shown in FIG. The copying machine 1 includes an image processing unit 18, an image storage unit 19, an image forming unit 20, a sheet supply unit 21, and a control unit 22 in addition to the document supply unit 12, the image reading unit 13, the operation unit 14, and the display unit 15. A fingerprint storage unit 23 and a pressure sensor 24. The image processing unit 18 performs processing such as digitization and image quality improvement on the image read by the image reading unit 13, and the image storage unit 19 stores the image processed by the image processing unit 18. The image forming unit 20 forms an image stored in the image storage unit 19 on a sheet, and the sheet supply unit 21 supplies the image forming unit 20 with an image forming sheet.

  The control unit 22 controls the operation of the entire copying machine 1 through the control of each unit described above, and collates the read fingerprint with the stored fingerprint to match one of the stored fingerprints with the read fingerprint. Judgment is made on whether or not it is done, and the result of the judgment is used for operation control of the copying machine 1. The fingerprint storage unit 23 stores one or a plurality of fingerprints for collation with the read fingerprint as an image. In FIG. 3, thick solid arrows indicate image transmission, and white arrows indicate conveyance of a document and a sheet. A thin solid arrow indicates transmission of a signal related to control.

  The pressure sensor 24 detects the pressure applied to the transparent plate 16. A configuration around the transparent plate 16 including the pressure sensor 24 is shown in FIG. 4A is a top view, FIG. 4B is a side view, and FIG. 4A also shows a pressure sensor 24 that can be seen through the transparent plate 16.

  The pressure sensor 24 is disposed on the contact glass 11, and the transparent plate 16 is disposed on the pressure sensor 24. There are four pressure sensors 24, each positioned below the corner of the transparent plate 16. As the pressure sensor 24, for example, a piezo element whose output voltage changes according to the applied pressure can be used.

  The pressure detected by each pressure sensor 24 is given to the control unit 22, and the control unit 22 sets the average value of the pressure detected by the four pressure sensors 24 as the pressure applied to the transparent plate 16. As described above, when the plurality of pressure sensors 24 are provided and the average value is obtained, the pressure applied to the entire transparent plate 16 can be detected with higher accuracy than the configuration including a single pressure sensor.

The control unit 22 determines whether or not the pressure applied to the transparent plate 16 has reached a predetermined value. As described above, when the pressure reaches the predetermined value, the image reading unit 13 receives the pressure on the transparent plate 16. Start reading the fingerprint of your finger. On the surface of the finger that is a curved surface, only the portion in contact with the transparent plate 16 becomes a flat surface, and the area of the flat portion in contact with the transparent plate 16 increases as the force pressing the transparent plate 16 increases. The predetermined value is set so that the contact area between the transparent plate 16 and the finger is about 1 to ² cm ² when the user is an adult.

  When reading the fingerprint, the control unit 22 moves the image reading unit 13 only within a range necessary and sufficient to illuminate the entire transparent plate 16 and does not illuminate the portion of the contact glass 11 covered by the document supply unit 12. Therefore, only the fingerprint is read, and the image of the original is not read.

  The image representing the fingerprint read by the image reading unit 13 is processed in the same manner as the image from the original by the image processing unit 18, and is temporarily stored in the image storage unit 19. The control unit 22 reads out this image and sequentially reads out the images representing the fingerprints from the fingerprint storage unit 23, collates the fingerprints represented by the respective images, and determines whether or not they match. For fingerprint verification, for example, a pattern recognition technique can be used.

  When the fingerprint read by the image reading unit 13 matches one of the fingerprints stored in the fingerprint storage unit 23, the control unit 22 displays a message on the display unit 15 indicating that image reading is started. Next, the image reading unit 13 is caused to read an image from a document, and the image forming unit 20 is caused to form an image on a sheet. The user looks at the message displayed on the display unit 15, removes his finger from the transparent plate 16, and covers the transparent plate 16 with the lid 17. As a result, it is possible to prevent light for reading an image from leaking to the outside or deterioration of the quality of the read image due to outside light entering the inside.

  On the other hand, when the fingerprint read by the image reading unit 13 does not match any fingerprint stored in the fingerprint storage unit 23, the control unit 22 displays a message indicating that the image reading is not performed on the display unit 15. Display. As a result, the user knows that the use of the copying machine 1 is not permitted.

  Although the copying machine 1 specifies the user by the fingerprint, the image reading unit 13 for reading the image is also used for reading the fingerprint, so that the complication is suppressed only slightly. Further, since the transparent plate 16 is exposed to the outside when the lid 17 is opened, the transparent plate 16 can be easily cleaned, and the image quality of the fingerprint read by the sebum or the like attached to the transparent plate 16 can be prevented from being deteriorated. Can do.

  Instead of detecting the pressure applied to the transparent plate 16 by the pressure sensor 24 and starting reading the fingerprint when the detected pressure reaches a predetermined value, the pressure sensor 24 is in contact with the user's finger on the transparent plate 16. An area sensor for detecting the area of the portion, that is, the contact area between the transparent plate 16 and the finger may be provided, and reading of the fingerprint may be started when the detected contact area reaches a predetermined value. FIG. 5 shows a configuration around the transparent plate 16 provided with an area sensor. 5A is a top view and FIG. 5B is a side view.

  A transparent substrate 25 is disposed on the contact glass 11, and the transparent plate 16 is disposed on the transparent substrate 25 via a spacer member 26. There is a gap between the transparent plate 16 and the transparent substrate 25. The transparent plate 16 is made of a flexible material and bends when pressed.

  A plurality of linear transparent electrodes 27 are provided in parallel at regular intervals on the lower surface of the transparent plate 16, and a plurality of linear transparent electrodes 28 are provided in parallel at regular intervals on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 25. It has been. The transparent electrode 27 and the transparent electrode 28 are arranged in directions orthogonal to each other, and are separated from each other when the transparent plate 16 is not pressed. These transparent electrodes 27 and 28 constitute an area sensor.

  When the transparent plate 16 is bent by being pressed by the finger, a portion of the transparent electrode 27 located immediately below the portion where the transparent plate 16 is pressed comes into contact with the transparent electrode 28. Therefore, by investigating which of the transparent electrodes 27 and which of the transparent electrodes 28 are electrically conductive, and counting the number of pairs of the transparent electrodes 27 and the transparent electrodes 28 that are in conduction, The area of the pressed portion, that is, the contact area between the transparent plate 16 and the finger is known.

The predetermined value of the contact area for starting the fingerprint reading is set to about 1 to ² cm ² . Thus, the fingerprint can be read in a state in which the unevenness of the fingerprint is not crushed.

  Although an example of a copying machine that serves as both an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus has been described here, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus dedicated to image reading or an apparatus dedicated to image formation.

1 is a top view of a copier that is an embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view of the principal part of the said copying machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a circuit configuration of the copying machine. A top view (a) and a side view (b) of the transparent plate of the copying machine and its periphery. The top view (a) and side view (b) of the transparent plate and its periphery in the modified example of the copying machine.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Copy machine 11 Contact glass 12 Document supply part 13 Image reading part 14 Operation part 15 Display part 16 Transparent plate 17 Lid 18 Image processing part 19 Image storage part 20 Image formation part 21 Sheet supply part 22 Control part 23 Fingerprint storage part 24 Pressure Sensor 25 Transparent substrate 26 Spacer 27 Transparent electrode 28 Transparent electrode

Claims (5)

An image reading apparatus that reads an image from a document according to a user's operation, and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user.
A transparent plate that the user touches with a finger;
A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate;
A pressure sensor for detecting a pressure applied to the transparent plate by a user's finger;
An image reading apparatus comprising: a control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when the pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches a predetermined value. An image reading apparatus that reads an image from a document according to a user's operation, and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user.
A transparent plate that the user touches with a finger;
A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate;
An area sensor that detects an area of a portion of the transparent plate that is touched by a user's finger;
An image reading apparatus comprising: a control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when an area detected by the area sensor reaches a predetermined value.   3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image is read by the reading unit from a document placed at a predetermined reading position, and the transparent plate is provided at a position deviating from the reading position. Image reading device. An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet according to a user's operation, and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user.
A transparent plate that the user touches with a finger;
A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate;
A pressure sensor for detecting a pressure applied to the transparent plate by a user's finger;
An image forming apparatus, comprising: a control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when a pressure detected by the pressure sensor reaches a predetermined value. An image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet according to a user's operation, and reads a user's fingerprint to identify the user.
A transparent plate that the user touches with a finger;
A reading unit that reads a fingerprint by irradiating light on a user's finger touching the transparent plate;
An area sensor that detects an area of a portion of the transparent plate that is touched by a user's finger;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that causes the reading unit to start reading a fingerprint when an area detected by the area sensor reaches a predetermined value.

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