JPH06247618A - Method and apparatus for inspection of print - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To permit automatic checking and rejection by scanning printed matter, generating data coinciding with the print parts scanned, and attaching reject marks to the printed matter to reject the printed matter when the print parts do not conform to several preselected criteria. CONSTITUTION: When a sheet 10 printed with a plurality of print parts lengthwise and crosswise by a printer including rollers 12, 14 is fed to an automatic checking apparatus including a scanning station having a set of scanners 18, 20, the front and back surfaces 22, 24 of the sheet 10 are scanned to generate first and second digital data signals indicative of the print parts on both surfaces. The data signals are fed to a control device 30 where each data signal is subjected to high-speed digital analysis. Specific preselected criteria are used to determine whether or not all the print parts on the sheet 10 are adaptable, and if they are determined to be not adaptable, the sheet 10 is fed to a reject station 32 where after reject marks are attached to the sheet 10, the sheet 10 is rejected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printed matter inspection apparatus, and more specifically, an apparatus for inspecting a continuous or discontinuous sheet having various printing parts such as banknotes, stamps and securities. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Banknotes,
Certain prints and documents, such as stamps, securities, and travelers checks, require complex printing means to prevent unauthorized copying, copying and counterfeiting. Essentially this print must be printed correctly. This is because the printed matter is displayed as not genuine and is excluded. Of course,
Complex printing processes increase the likelihood of producing the wrong print. Therefore, after completion, these documents must be carefully examined. And erroneous documents must be eliminated. To the best of the Applicant's knowledge, to date this inspection is done by hand. Applicant is not aware of any automated system that can inspect printed matter and eliminate inappropriate documents on the line.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic inspection and rejection device for the problems mentioned above.

A further object is to provide a device which allows continuous document inspection on a line without the need for human intervention.

A still further object is to provide a flexible system that can function at high speed.

[0006]

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made clear below. A print inspection device in accordance with the present invention determines a scanning station that scans the print and produces data corresponding to the scanned prints, and whether these prints meet some preselected criteria. And a microprocessor controlled exclusion station for rejecting prints that do not meet the criteria. The prints to be inspected consist of prints which are regularly printed on the sheet in a two-dimensional array. These sheets are in turn fed to the device in question, where they are scanned and, if necessary, to an exclusion station for exclusion. Preferably, the exclusion station is adapted to receive specific identification data from a microprocessor identifying the specific document of the sheet to be excluded. Verified documents are rejected, for example by printing certain words or messages on the document.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, a plurality of printing units are printed on a sheet 10 by a printing press. For simplicity the printing press is depicted as a pair of rolls 12,14.
These printing units 16 are usually the same and are arranged vertically and horizontally in a two-dimensional array. FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the sheet, from which it can be seen that different printing parts having the same size are printed on the back side 24 of the sheet 10, said printing parts 16 corresponding completely to the back side printing part, It will be seen that the documents are formed and each of the documents is formed by one printing section on the front side and another on the back side.

The printed matter inspection device is arranged in line with the rollers 12 and 14. On the other hand, a large number of sheets 10 are collected after printing and then the sheets 10 are checked for accuracy.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, after printing, the sheet 10 is sent to a print inspection device that includes a scanning station having a set of scanners 18,20. The scanner 18 scans the surface 22 of the sheet 10 and prints 16 on this surface.
To generate a first digital data signal on line 26. The scanner 20 scans the back surface 24 of the sheet 10,
The second data signal group representing the printing portion on the back surface 24 is set to the line 28.
Generate on top. On the other hand, the scanning station is the scanner 1.
If you have only 8, sheet 10 flips over and scanner 1
Cross 8 again to generate a second digital data signal.

The digital data on the two lines 26 and 28 is provided to the controller 30. The controller 30 includes a microprocessor that performs high speed digital analysis of the signals on these lines and uses certain preselected criteria to determine if all print portions of the sheet 10 are compatible. If these print stations are compatible, the sheet 10 is fed through the exclusion station 32 and no further operation is performed.

If any one of the printing units does not meet the preselected criteria, the sheet 10 is sent to the reject station 32 for further manipulation.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, the evacuation station 32 includes a plurality of individually marking devices 34 (marking devices). Preferably, these marking devices are aligned perpendicular to the movement of the sheet 10. The number of marking devices 34 is equal to the number of rows of the printing section 16 of the sheet 10.
Each marking device comprises an impact printer, an ink jet printer or another device suitable for pre-selecting exclusion marks on one print section for identifying exclusions. The exclusion mark is any mark that can be easily recognized and clearly identified.
For example, the exclusion mark may be a large stain, an oversized X, a stick, or a V.
It is a character such as OID.

The controller 30 also includes some other device that controls the movement of the continuous sheet 10 through the scanning station and through the exclusion station 32. Control device 3
0 contains one microprocessor device or several microdevices, each device contributing a special function, namely checking banknotes, moving seat 10, etc.

The control device 30 inspects the printed portion of the sheet 10 by a unique principle. If the sheet has a print section, such as 16 ', that has been determined by the microprocessor to be unsuitable, the controller 30 provides the exclusion station 32 with information identifying the actual print section to be rejected. For example, if 16 'of FIG. 3 recognizes that it is unsuitable, the controller 30 sends the sheet 10 with the improper print to the reject station 32. The controller 30 also directs the exclusion station 32 to the preselected exclusion mark on the printing unit 16 'with the active printer 34' at the appropriate time, i.e. when a portion of the sheet 10 is placed directly below the marking device 34 '. To print.

On the other hand, the exclusion station 32 is provided with a set of printing devices 34 arranged in the same arrangement as the arrangement of the printing units 16 shown in FIG. In this case, when the sheet 10 is placed identically in the array of printers, the particular printer 34 'corresponding to the non-conforming print is activated and marks the improper print as an exclusion mark.

Of course, the sheet 10 may have one or more non-conforming prints arranged in rows, columns, or random patterns on the sheet. The microprocessor recognizes each non-conforming print and removes it from the reject station 32.
Command to mark each of the printed parts of the sheet.

Preferably, the reject station 32 is for the purpose of marking and confirming nonconforming documents, so that even if a nonconforming print is found on the back side, the front side 2 of the sheet 10
It is not important to mark the improperly printed section, which was created so that only 2 is marked for exclusion.

On the other hand, the exclusion station 32 is provided with two sets of marking devices, one for the front surface and the other for the back surface.

Sheet 10 that has passed through exclusion station 32
Are either stacked for transport or separated into separate documents and then stacked.

Obviously, many modifications will be made to the invention which will not depart from the scope defined by the appended claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a printed matter inspection apparatus made according to the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the exclusion section of the apparatus of FIG. 1 along 2-2.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sheet with a plurality of printed documents.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Sheet 12/14 ... Roll 18/20 ... Scanner 30 ... Control device 32 ... Elimination station

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Dennis McGee United States, California 94028, Portoura Valley, Mimosa Way 150 (72) Inventor Edward Panofsky United States, California 94062, Woodside, Starroot 159 Be (72) Inventor Harry Jung California 94070, San Carlos, Coronado Avenue 52

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A scanning station having a plurality of printing units on a sheet, each printing unit successively receiving a plurality of sheets forming one document, and generating data describing the printing units, Data processing means for receiving the data and for analyzing the data to determine if the printing unit meets a preselected criterion, and a sheet coupled from the data processing means and from the scanning station. A printed matter inspection apparatus, comprising: a marking station that receives the data one after another and puts an exclusion mark on a document of the printing unit of the sheet when the data processing unit determines that at least one of the printing units does not meet the standard. 2. Each of the sheets has a front surface having a front surface printing portion and a back surface having a back surface printing portion, and each of the front surface printing portions corresponds to the back surface printing portion to form one document. The printed matter inspection apparatus according to 1. 3. The printed matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the marking station marks the front surface printing unit. 4. The printing units are arranged in a line on the sheet, the marking device has a plurality of printing heads, and one printing head corresponds to each printing unit in the one line. The printed matter inspection device described. 5. The printed matter inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each of the print heads comprises an impact printer. 6. The printed matter inspection apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each of the print heads is an inkjet printer. 7. A printing device for printing a plurality of printing units on a sheet, scanning means for receiving the sheet from the printing device and generating data describing the printing unit, receiving the data, Data processing means for comparing the data with a preselected criterion for determining whether each of the printing sections is non-conforming, and for receiving the sheet, if one printing section is non-conforming, print an exclusion mark A printing apparatus comprising a marking means attached to a section. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sheet has a front surface and a back surface, and the printing device prints a front surface printing portion and a back surface printing portion on the front surface and the back surface, respectively. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the scanning unit includes a front scanner and a back scanner that scan each of the front surface and the back surface. 10. A method according to claim 10, wherein each said front surface corresponds well to each back surface printing portion forming a document, and said marking means marks when one of said front surface printing portion and said back surface printing portion of said document is incompatible. Item 8. The printing device according to item 8. 11. The printing unit is arranged in a line on the sheet, and the marking means includes a plurality of print heads.
The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein one print head corresponds to each printing unit of the one row. 12. A method of inspecting a print on a sheet, the steps of scanning one after another on the sheet to generate data depicting the print corresponding to a document, each of A sheet comprising a process of comparing data of a printing unit with a preselected criterion for determining whether a plurality of printing units are unsuitable, and a process of putting an exclusion mark on one document of the printing unit recognized as unsuitable How to inspect the upper print. 13. Each document is formed by a front surface printing portion and a back surface printing portion arranged on a front surface and a back surface of the sheet, and the front surface printing portion and the back surface printing portion of the document are formed on the front surface printing portion of the document. 13. The method for inspecting a printed portion on a sheet according to claim 12, wherein the exclusion mark is marked if one of the items is non-conforming. 14. The printing on the sheet according to claim 12, wherein the sheet has a front surface printing portion and a back surface printing portion on a front surface and a back surface, and the front surface printing portion and the back surface printing portion are scanned in the scanning step. How to inspect the department.