Image Processing Feature Extraction for Print Forgery Prevention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional image forming systems face challenges in preventing forgery and falsification while minimizing communication with servers, which leads to increased server capacity requirements.

Innovation Solution

A cloud printing system that includes an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus, which extracts feature values from electronic data and transmits them to a server for verification, reducing the need for extensive server communication by using a cloud print server to manage print restrictions based on these feature values.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If image data is transmitted to the server for forgery prevention verification, then forgery prevention capability is improved, but the amount of communication with the server increases and server capacity requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveforgery prevention capabilityVSAvoidamount of communication data
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential feature values (such as text content, barcodes, QR codes, and other identifying features) from the complete image data and transmits only these extracted features to the server for verification. This eliminates the need to transmit the entire image data while maintaining the ability to perform forgery prevention verification, thereby resolving the contradiction between improving reliability and reducing communication quantity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Measurement precision

If complete image data is transmitted to the server for verification, then verification accuracy is improved, but communication overhead and server processing capacity requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveverification accuracyVSAvoidserver capacity requirements
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the critical feature values necessary for verification (text, barcodes, QR codes, identifying features) from the complete image data before transmission. This extraction process maintains verification accuracy by preserving all essential identifying information while eliminating redundant data, thus reducing server capacity requirements without compromising measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The verification process is segmented into two stages: first, local extraction of feature values from image data; second, server-side verification of only these extracted features. This segmentation allows the server to focus processing resources on verifying essential identifying information rather than processing complete image data, thereby maintaining verification accuracy while reducing device complexity and server capacity requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3940524B1Information processing system, information processing method, and carrier means
Publication Date: 2025.09.10 RICOH CO LTD
  • EP3940524B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3940524B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3940524B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

An information processing system includes a server (10) and an image processing apparatus (20) connectable via a network (N2) to the server (10). The image processing apparatus (20) includes a feature value extraction unit (23) configured to extract a feature value from data, a first transmission unit (26) configured to transmit the feature value to the server (10), a first receiving unit (22) configured to receive, from the server (10), an output setting associated with the feature value, and an image formation instruction unit (24) configured to instruct an image forming device (25) to form an image based on the output setting. The server (10) includes a second receiving unit (13) configured to receive the feature value transmitted from the image processing apparatus (20), a memory (F1) that stores a registered feature value, a processing unit (12) configured to output the output setting depending on whether the received feature value matches the registered feature value in the memory (F1), and a second transmission unit (14) configured to transmit the output setting to the image processing apparatus (20).