Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A method and device for applying a picture onto a carrier.
The invention relates to a method and a device for applying a picture onto a
carrier, for
example a picture of a user onto a document.
It is known in many regions of application to provide documents, ID cards,
entry cards
or likewise with the picture of the user of the document. This is particularly
common in
the case of ID cards such as passports, with credit cards but also with
subscriptions for
ski lifts or for public transport.
Usually places which issue such documents have photo automats in which the
user
may make the passport pictures. The passport pictures are manufactured
according to
conventional photographing methods using chemicals in the photo automat.
The place issuing the document must subsequently cut out the passport pictures
and
adhese them to the corresponding documents.
For example at the counters of ski regions this work may lead to undesired
delays.
Furthermore with passport pictures adhesed on in such a manner there exists
the risk
that the picture of the entitled bearer of the document is exchanged for
another picture.
Therefore such documents are usually provided with a security stamp which is
to make
the exchange more difficult. This stamp however requires an additional work
effort.
Furthermore it is known to print digitalised pictures on credit cards,
identity cards or
similar plastic cards.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to avoid the disadvantages
of that
which is known, in particularly therefore to provide a method and a device for
applying a
picture onto a carrier, which permit a rapid, economical and simple depositing
of the
picture, which reduce or exclude the use of chemicals and which in spite of
this meet
high security standards. According to the invention these objects are achieved
with a
method and with a device with the features of the independent patent claims.
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For applying the passport picture onto a document such as for example a
subscription,
firstly a digital picture is produced. Devices for producing digital pictures
are known per
se. Thus digital photo cameras or also video cameras may be used. The
advantage with
the use of video cameras lies in the fact that the user may follow a moved
picture of
himself and freeze the picture at the desired point in time.
The digital picture produced in this manner in a further step is deposited in
a preferably
central storage medium. Subsequently a unique identification code which is
unambigu-
ous for the digital picture is produced and allocated to the picture.
Subsequently the
code is given to the user by way of code issuing means. The production of the
digital
picture as well as the issuing of the code are effected in a recording device.
The storage
of the picture and the production of the code may be effected in a central
control ar-
rangement but also in the recording device. This recording device is
essentially the
same as a known photo automat, but has a digital picture acquisition
arrangement and
may completely do away with the application of chemicals.
The issuing of the document provided with the picture is effected in a
document issuing
device. The document issuing device is typically located at the location
issuing tMe
document, i.e. for example at a counter for a ski lift or in a passport
office. In a first step
for the issuing of the document the identification code previously issued by
the record-
ing device is acquired by an acquisition arrangement, in particular is read
into the
document issuing device. On account of the identification code the document
issuing
device in a second step reads the digital picture allocated to the
identification code from
the central storage medium. The document issuing device consists typically of
a com-
puter which is provided with a printer. The computer may access the central
storage
medium, for example a hard disk or other data carrier and convey the
digitalised picture
to the printer.
The application of the digital picture onto a carrier, for example paper or
plastic ends the
method according to the invention.
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In a preferred embodiment example simultaneously with the digital picture onto
the car-
rier there is deposited other information. In particular data of the
authorised bearer, for
example names or expiry date of a subscription is deposited, in particular
printed onto
the carrier.
The method according to the invention has various advantages. Thus the
digitalised
picture without great effort may be printed in exactly the desired size at an
exactly de-
fined location of the carrier. The effort to the user and to the issuing
location is therefore
minimal and the error quota is small. Thanks to the code, at all times it is
ensured that
the correct digitalised picture is issued. Furthermore the security against
counterfeiting
is large. Because the picture is deposited directly onto the document the
replacement
by another picture cannot be realised or only with extreme difficulty.
Usually the picture is printed, for example with a thermo-printer, an ink jet
colour printer
or also with a laser printer. However also other optical methods are
conceivable.
The identification code is preferably issued as a machine-readable code. With
this, ad-
vantageous is a bar code, a number code recognisable by machine or also
magnetic,
electromagnetic or electro-optical codes are conceivable, which may be
recognised by
suitable reading apparatus. It is however also conceivable to indicate the
code as a
number code on a monitor in the recording device. The user must then only
remember
the code and inform the location issuing the document of this code.
In a further preferred embodiment example the digital picture in the recording
device is
indicated as a video picture on a monitor. The user may with this himself
select the point
in time at which the picture is to be stored.
The method according to the invention furthermore permits the desposition of
verifica-
tion codes on the document. The verification code codes certain features of
the picture.
Conceivable are for example background colours, biometric parameters (eye
colour of
the user/typical distances or proportions in the face of the user) or also an
invisible or
barely visible code deposited to the picture. The comparison of the
verification code with
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the features of the picture permits an authentication of the document. With
this the se-
curity of the document is additionally increased.
The identification code is acquired in the document issuing device for example
with a
scanner (commercially available infrared scanner), a magnetic, electromagnetic
or
electro-optical reader (for example mini-disk drives/chip read devices or CD
reader) or
also with a keyboard.
Advantageously the digitalised pictures are stored on a central storage memory
which is
arranged specially separated from the recording device and also specially
separated
from the document issuing device. This permits simultaneous access to a single
storage
medium by several recording devices and/or several document dispensing
devices.
With this several counters and photo automats may be applied. In this case the
digital
picture is transmitted between the recording device, the central storage
medium and the
document issuing device via data leads. A wireless transmission is also
possible. It is
also conceivable to store the pictures in the recording device. The
identification code
then determines the storage location, that is the specific recording device in
which the
picture is located.
In a further embodiment example the central storage medium is located at a
central
registration location. A user may with an identification code be able to print
one and the
same picture for various documents, for example simultaneously for a passport,
a sub-
scription and a credit card. The document issuing devices of the individual
issuing loca-
tions fall back in each case on the same central storage medium.
The device for carrying out the method according to the invention comprises
essentially
at least one recording device and at least one document issuing device for
applying the
digital picture onto the carrier.
The recording device comprises means for producing the digital picture, a
storage me-
dium for storing the digital picture, means for producing and allocating an
identification
code unique to the digital picture as well as means for issuing the
identification code.
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The storage medium does not specially need to be arranged at the same location
as the
recording device, but however must be connected or connectable to the
remaining
components of the recording device.
The document issuing device comprises an acquisition arrangement for acquiring
the
identification code, means for reading in the digital picture allocated to the
identification
code as well as means for depositing the digital picture onto a carrier.
The acquisition arrangement for acquiring the identification code is typically
a bar code
scanner. The reading means for reading in the picture into the document
dispensing
means consists typically of a commercially available computer and the means
for de-
positing the picture may consist of a commercially available printer.
The identification code in the recording device is typically likewise
outputted on a
printer. Applied for example are till receipt printers which in operation are
reliable and
economical. The identification is printed as a number sequence, bar-code or
likewise.
Conceivable however are also other issuing devices, in particular writing
apparatus,
which deposit data onto a data carrier in electronic form.
The recording device may simultaneously comprise a monitor for displaying the
picture.
The recording device and the document issuing device are directly or
indirectly (for ex-
ample via the storage medium) connected or connectable to one another.
Conceivable
are stationary installed data leads, but also on demand connections via
telephone leads
or wireless connections. For certain applications it is conceivable that the
recording de-
vice and the document dispensing device specially coincide. This may for
example be
advantageous in a card automat, in which simultaneously a picture can be is
produced
and issued on a card. The identification code with this is not issued to the
user. The
produced digital picture is directly printed on.
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The invention in the following is described in more detail in embodiment
examples and
by way of the drawings. There are shown:
Figure 1 a schematic representation of a device according to the invention
with a re-
cording device and with a document issuing device and
Figure 2 a schematic representation of a document manufactured according to
the
invention.
In Figure 1 there is schematically shown a device 9 for applying a picture
onto a docu-
ment D.
The device 9 consists essentially of a recording device 10 and of a document
issuing
device 20. The recording device 10 and the document issuing device 20 are
connected
to a central storage medium 11 via a schematically represented data lead. The
central
storage medium 11 may also be a component either of the recording device 10 or
of the
document issuing device 20. In this case a data lead directly connects the
recording
device 10 and the document issuing device 20 to one another.
In Figure 1 further data leads 19' are schematically shown which connect the
central
storage medium 11 to further non shown recording devices or document issuing
de-
vices. The recording device 10 consists essentially of a digital camera 15, of
a printer 12
and of a computer arrangement 17 which is connected to the printer 12 and the
camera
15. The recording device 10 is furthermore provided with a monitor 14 which
likewise is
connected to the computer arrangement 17.
The recording device 10 is otherwise formed in the manner of a typical cabin
of a photo
automat. As soon as the user B takes his place in the recording device and
sets the re-
cording device in operation, for example by insertion of a coin, the position
of the user is
acquired and the computer arrangement 17 gives the camera a command to record
a
picture. The camera 15 may be formed as a digital photo camera or also as a
video
camera. In combination with the monitor 14 in Figure 1 the camera 15 is formed
as a
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video camera. The camera 15 delivers the picture signal to the computer
arrangement
17 which displays the acquired picture on the monitor 14. As soon as the user
B is
happy with the displayed picture he may freeze the moved picture wherein a
digital pic-
ture is produced and subsequently stored.
The computer arrangement 17 deposits the digital picture to the central
storage medium
11. Simultaneously the computer arrangement 17 generates an identification
code C
unique to the digital picture and allocates this picture to the storage medium
11. This
identification code C is given from the computer arrangement 17 to a printer
12 which
prints the identification code C onto a paper strip 16. The operation of the
recording de-
vice 10 may be effected via the monitor 14 which is designed as a touch
screen. How-
ever also other operation are conceivable, e.g. via keyboards.
The document issuing device 20 consists essentially of a document printer 23
for issu-
ing a document D which is provided with the picture I of a user.
The document issuing device 20 furthermore comprises a scanner 21 for reading
in the
identification code C printed on the strip 16. The identification code C is
acquired by the
scanner and is led further to a computer arrangement 22. The computer
arrangement
22 accesses the central storage medium 11 and reads in the digital picture
uniquely
allocated to the identfication code C from the central storage medium 11. The
computer
arrangement 22 subsequently controls the print-out of the digital picture I
which is allo-
cated to the identification code C, on the printer 23.
The computer arrangement 22 may furthermore comprise non-shown input means
which permit the operation and also the input of additional data.
Simultaneously with the
digital picture I as a result further data may be printed on the document D.
The central storage medium 11 is for example a magnetic storage disk or a tape
drive.
However also optical data carriers are conceivable. The storage medium 11 may
be
formed as a central server with a computer arrangement. With this the whole
device 9
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may be based on the client-server principle, wherein the recording device 10
and the
document issuing device 20 is applied as a client.
Of course also the recording device 10 may additionally be provided with input
means.
With this for example user-specific data may be directly inputted by the user.
Figure 2 shows schematically a document D which has been manufactured with the
method according to the invention. The document D comprises a written part A
and is
provided with a picture I which shows a portrait of the user or bearer of the
document D.
In the embodiment according to Figure 2 the document is backed up by a
verification
code V. The verification code V is simultaneously deposited onto the document
D. A
comparison of the two codes permits the authentication of the document.
The written part A deposited onto the document may contain names, personal
details or
similar meterial. These details may be inputted into the system by inputting
means in
the document issuing arrangement 20 or in the receiving device 10.
The system according to the invention consists of various components which are
known
to the man skilled in the art. Basically any of such known devices may be
applied. For
example the following components may be used:
- type of camera Mitsubishi CCD - 400E
- type of code printer: receipt printer for thermopaper 0663.0001
- type of graphic card: ELSA Winner 2000 Office
- type of scanner bar-code method
- type of printer thermosublimation method
Mitsubishi CP-710
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- type of data connection: coaxial or glass fibre, two-wire lead
- type of monitor: Top Touche Operator Panel 10,4"-VGA
