Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CHECRING PRINTED MATTER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
a. Field of invention
This invention pertains to an apparatus for
checking printed matter, and more particularly for
checking continuous or discrete sheets with multiple
images, such as banknotes, stamps, securities and so
on.
b. Description of the Prior Art
Certain printed matter or documents such as
banknotes, stamps, securities, travelers checks and
so forth require complicated printing procedures to
prevent unauthorized duplication, copying or
counterfeiting. Inherently, this material must be
printed accurately, since mistakes are taken as an
indication that the material is not genuine. Of
course complicated printing processes increase the
chances of producing printed matter which has
mistakes. Thus after completion, these documents
must be checked carefully, and the documents with
mistakes must be rejected. To the knowledge of the
applicants, to date this checking is performed
manually, on a one to one basis. The applicants are
unaware of any automated systems capable of checking
printed matter on line and of rejecting the
unaccepted documents.
OBJECTIVES AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is
an objective of the present invention to provide an
apparatus for automatically checking and rejecting
printed matter.
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CA 02110229 2002-11-08
A further objective is to provide an apparatus which
can perform document checking continuously on line without
the need for human intervention.
Yet a further objective is to provide a
flexible system which can perform its function at high
speed.
Other objectives and advantages of the invention shall
become apparent from the following description. A printed
matter checking apparatus in accordance with this invention
includes a scanning station for 'scanning printed matter and
generating data corresponding to the scanned images,
microprocessor means for analyzing data to determine if
these images meet some preselected criteria and a reject
station controlled by the microprocessor for rejecting
printed matter which does not meet said criteria. The
printed matter to be checked consists of images which are
printed normally in two dimensional arrays on sheets.
These sheets are sequentially fed to the subject apparatus,
where they are scanned and if necessary to a reject station
for rejection. Preferably, the reject station is adapted
to receive specific identifying data from the
microprocessor which identifies a specific document on the
sheet to be rejected. The identified document is rejected
for example by printing thereon a specific word or a
message.
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CA 02110229 2002-11-08
More specifically, the present invention provides
printed matter checking apparatus, comprising a scanning
station for receiving sequentially a plurality of sheets
having printed images arranged in an array, the scanning
station generating data descriptive of the images, and data
processing means receiving the data for analyzing the data
to determine whether the images meet preselected criteria,
wherein each sheet has a plurality of documents, each
document being defined by an image either on one surface or
on both surfaces of the sheet, and wherein the apparatus
further comprises a marking station coupled to the data
processing means for receiving sheets sequentially from the
scanning station, wherein the marking station comprises a
set of printer devices arranged in an array identical to
the array of images for marking with a reject mark any
documents defined by at least one image which the data
processing means has determined does not meet the criteria.
The present invention also provides a printing and
checking apparatus, comprising a printing device for
printing a plurality of documents an a sheet, each document
being defined by images either on one surface or both
surfaces of the sheet, the images being arranged in an
array, scanning means for receiving the sheet from the
printing device and for generating data descriptive of the
images, data processing means for receiving the data and
comparing the data to a preselected criteria to determine
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CA 02110229 2002-11-08
if each of the images is acceptable, and marking means for
receiving the sheet, wherein the marking means comprise a
set of printer devices arranged in an array identical to
the array of images for marking with a reject mark any
documents defined by at least one image which the data
processing means has determined does not meet the criteria.
The present invention also provides a method of
checking images on sheets, the method comprising the steps
of scanning the sheets sequentially to generate data
descriptive of the images, comparing data for each image to
preselected criteria to determine if each image meets the
preselected criteria, wherein the sheet comprises a
plurality of documents each of which is defined by images
arranged in an array either on one surface or both surfaces
of the sheet, and marking with a reject mark any documents
defined by at least one image which have been determined do
not meet preselected criteria with printer devices arranged
in an array identical to the array of images.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a somewhat schematic diagram of a
printed matter checking apparatus constructed in accordance
with this invention;
Figure 2 shows a somewhat schematic cross-sectional
view of the reject station of the apparatus of Figure 2;
and
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..
Figure 3 shows a plan view of a sheet with a
plurality of documents printed thereon.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF. THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, a plurality of
images are printed on a sheet 10 by a printing
press. For the sake of simplicity the printing
press is illustrated by a pair of rollers 12, 14.
These images 16, are normally identical, and are
arranged in rows and columns defining a two
dimensional array. Figure 3 shows a plan view of
the sheet, it being understood that a different set
of images ha ing the same size are printed on the
bottom surface 24 of sheet 10 in perfect
registration with the images 16 to thereby define a
plurality of documents, each document bearing one
image on top and another on the bottom.
The printed matter checking apparatus may
disposed in line with the rollers 12, 14.
Alternatively, a stack of sheets 10 may be collected
after printing and checked for accuracy at a later
time.
In the embodiment of Figure 1, after printing,
sheet l0 is forwarded to the printed matter checking
apparatus including a scanner station with a set of
scanners 18, 20. Scanner 18 scans the top surface
22 of sheet 10 and generates first digital data
signals on line 26 representatives of the images 16
on this surface. Scanner 20 scans the bottom
surface 24 of sheet 10 and generates a second set of
data signals on line 28 representatives of the
images on surface 24. Alternatively, sheet 10 may
be reversed and run a second time across the scanner
18..to generate the second digital data signals.
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The digital data on the two lines 26 and 28 are
fed to a controller 30. This controller includes a
microprocessor which performs high-speed digital
analysis an the signals form these lines, and using
certain preselected criteria determines if all the
images on sheet 10 are acceptable. If these images
acceptable, sheet 10 is forwarded without any
further manipulation through a reject device 32.
If any one of the images does not meet the
preset criteria, the sheet 10 is forwarded for
further manipulation by reject station 30.
As shown in more detail in Figure 2, reject
station 32 includes a plurality of individual
marking devices 34. Preferably, these marking
devices are aligned in a direction perpendicular to
the movement of sheet 10. The number of marking
devices 34 is equal to the number of rows of images
16 on sheet 10. Each mark device may consist of an
impact printer, an ink jet printer or any other
device suitable for making a preselected reject mark
on single image to identify it as a being rejected.
The reject mark may be any mark easily visible and
clearly identifiable. For example, the reject mark
could be a big blob, an oversized X, a bar, the word
VOID, arid so on.
The controller 30 also includes several other
devices which control the movement of the sheets 10
consecutively to and through the scanning station
and to and through the reject station. It should be
understood that the controller 30 may include a
single microprocessor device, or several
microprocessor devices, each device being dedicated
for a particular function, i.e. checking banknotes,
moving the sheets 10, and so on.
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The controller 30 checks the images on sheet 10
on an individual basis. If a sheet has an image,
such as 16' determined by the microprocessor to be
unacceptable, the controller 30 provides information
to the reject station which identifies the actual
image to be rejected. For example if 16' in Figure
3 is found to be bad, as the controller 30 forwards
the sheet 10 with the unacceptable image through the
reject station. The controller 30 also causes the
reject station to print the preselected reject mark
on image 16' by activating printer 34' at the
appropriate time, i.e. when the portion of sheet 10
is disposed directly below marking device 34'.
Alternatively, station 32 can be provided with
a set of printer devices 34 arranged in an array
identical to the array of images 16 shown in Figure
3. In this instance when sheet 10 is aligned with
the printer arrays, the specific printer 34'
corresponding to the unacceptable image is activated
thereby marking the unacceptable image with a reject
mark.
Of course a sheet l0 may have more than one
unacceptable images arranged in a row, in a column,
or distributed in a random pattern on the sheet.
The microprocessor identifies each of the
unacceptable images and orders the reject station to
mark each of the images on the sheet accordingly.
Preferably the reject station is constructed to
apply the reject mark only on the top surface 22 of
sheet 10 even if an unacceptable image~is found on
the bottom surface because the object is to mark and
identify bad documents, and it is not important to
mark the actual bad image.
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Alternatively, the reject station can be
provided with two sets of marking devices, one for
the top surface and one on the bottom.
After the reject station the sheet 10 is either
. stacked of delivery or is slit into individual
documents and then stacked.
Obviously numerous modifications may be made to
this invention without departing from its'scope as
defined in the appended claims.
