ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING UNIQUE TICKET AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD USING THE UNIQUE TICKET

An electronic device having a unique ticket and an information processing method using the unique ticket are introduced. The information processing method is executed with the electronic device and includes obtaining at least one ticket datum and generating at least one unique code; including the unique code in the ticket datum; generating a tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code. By generating the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code, it ensures the security of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum. Furthermore, the unique code in the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum enables verification to be quickly performed, thereby enhancing ticket security and verification efficiency.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 109127089 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Aug. 10, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices and information processing methods, and in particular to an electronic device having a unique ticket and an information processing method using the unique ticket.

2. Description of the Related Art

Owing to ever-changing technology, important electronic data are often transmitted via a network to cloud and computer apparatuses and stored therein. In doing so, the ease of accessing and processing data is enhanced, but the electronic data may be stolen, tampered or forged. To avoid this, important data are presented in paper format. This, however, has disadvantages as follows: counting, confirming and/or checking the paper-format data by hand are/is predisposed to human-made errors, fraudulent activities, and counterfeits. For instance, to finish an election, ballots are counted by hand, albeit at the risk of undercounting and overcounting the ballots, let alone adding to the difficulties in subsequent verification of the ballots. The aforesaid shortcomings also occur to receipts. Furthermore, manufacturers put marks and/or reference numbers on finished products to be delivered, in order to effectively control products finished and products delivered; however, related labels can be produced only upon confirmation of the presence of the marks and/or reference numbers on all items of the products. The labels are registered and thus cannot be increased, thereby being subjected to limitations placed by a control system. As a result, the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art remain unsolved.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide an electronic device having a unique ticket and an information processing method using the unique ticket. With the ticket bearing a unique datum, the ticket is unique. To count and verify the tickets, it is only necessary to inspect the unique data on the tickets to not only ensure the security of the tickets in terms of usage and preservation but also speed up ticket verification, so as to enhance ticket security and verification efficiency.

To achieve at least the above objective, the present disclosure provides an information processing method using a unique ticket, the method being executed with an electronic device, the method comprising the steps:

fetching at least one ticket datum and generating at least one unique code;

including the unique code in the ticket datum; and

generating a tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code.

Therefore, the acquisition of the ticket datum brings the generation of the unique code and the inclusion of the unique code in the ticket datum. The tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is generated according to the ticket datum having the unique code. The unique code of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum not only ensures the security of the ticket datum in terms of use and preservation but also enables the unique code to be verified to speed up ticket verification, so as to enhance ticket security and verification efficiency.

To achieve at least the above objective, the present disclosure provides an electronic device having a unique ticket. The electronic device comprises:

an inputting unit for inputting data;

a storing unit for storing data;

an outputting unit for outputting data;

a processor connected to the inputting unit, the storing unit and the outputting unit, wherein the processor retrieves at least one ticket datum from the storing unit, generates at least one unique code, includes the unique code in the ticket datum, and generates a tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code.

Upon the acquisition of the ticket datum, the electronic device generates the unique code and includes the unique code in the ticket datum. The electronic device generates the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code. The unique code of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum not only ensures the security of the ticket datum in terms of use and preservation but also enables the unique code to be verified to speed up ticket verification, so as to enhance ticket security and verification efficiency.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIG. 1, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, an electronic device10having a unique ticket comprises an inputting unit11, a storing unit12, an outputting unit13and a processor14. The processor14is connected to the inputting unit11, the storing unit12and the outputting unit13. In an embodiment, the electronic device10comprises a multifunction printer (MFP).

In an embodiment, the inputting unit11receives data. The inputting unit11comprises a scanner for receiving and scanning paper-based data to turn the paper-based data into related data and store the related data in the storing unit12. The storing unit12stores the related data. The storing unit12comprises a memory, including but not limited to Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Flash memory, Hard Disk Drive (HDD), and Solid-State Drive (SSD). The outputting unit13outputs data. The outputting unit13comprises a printer for outputting related data in the form of paper-based data. The processor14processes related data. The processor14comprises a CPU.

Referring toFIG. 1, 2, in this embodiment, the electronic device10executes the information processing method using a unique ticket to generate a unique ticket. The method comprises the steps of:

fetching at least one ticket datum and generating at least one unique code (S31);

including the unique code in the ticket datum (S32); and

generating a tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code (S33).

The electronic device10executes step S31first. In step S31, the processor14fetches at least one ticket datum from the storing unit12and generates at least one unique code according to the at least one ticket datum fetched.

The step where the processor14fetches at least one ticket datum from the storing unit12is illustrated by two embodiments as explained below.

In the first embodiment, a user instantly inputs at least one ticket datum to the electronic device10with the inputting unit11, and the ticket datum thus input is stored in the storing unit12. Then, the processor14instantly fetches the ticket datum from the storing unit12. The user can input ticket data sequentially to the electronic device10with the inputting unit11and then store the ticket data in the storing unit12. Then, the processor14fetches the input ticket data from the storing unit12instantly and sequentially.

In the second embodiment, the user pre-stores at least one ticket datum in the storing unit12. It is only when the ticket datum is needed that the processor14can fetch the ticket datum from the storing unit12. Similarly, ticket data can be pre-stored in the storing unit12once and for all.

In another embodiment, the processor14generates one unique code after fetching each ticket datum. For example, whenever the inputting unit11inputs and stores a ticket datum in the storing unit12, the processor14instantly fetches the ticket datum from the storing unit12and generates a unique code accordingly. In another embodiment, the user can, once and for all, use the inputting unit11to input ticket data into the electronic device10and store the ticket data in the storing unit12. Then, the processor14fetches the ticket data from the storing unit12and generates unique codes once and for all. For instance, it is only when the inputting unit11has input ticket data that the processor14fetches the ticket data from the storing unit12and generates unique codes accordingly.

Step S31is followed by step S32. In step S32, the processor14includes the unique code in the ticket datum, such that the ticket datum has the unique code. The processor14attaches the unique code to the ticket datum, such that the unique code is included in the ticket datum.

In an embodiment, the unique code comprises a serial number and a category datum. The serial number comprises a dynamic continuous number. The category datum comprises a region datum, a polling booth datum, a subject datum, a time datum, a shop datum or an issue datum.

The dynamic continuous number increases by 1 when the processor14fetches a ticket datum. For example, the dynamic continuous number is initially A001. When the processor14fetches the first ticket datum, it generates the unique code A001and includes the unique code in the first ticket datum, allowing the first ticket datum to include the dynamic continuous number A001. Furthermore, the processor14increases the dynamic continuous number by 1, such that the dynamic continuous number changes from A001to A002. The unique code includes the dynamic continuous number, such that the ticket data are arranged in sequence and thus can be easily counted and checked. Thus, if a ticket datum is wrong, the sequence of preceding ticket data and subsequent ticket data can be confirmed according to their unique codes.

The region datum includes a zone number, zone code and zip code. The polling booth datum includes a polling booth's code and reference number. The subject datum includes a subject's code and reference number. The time datum includes year, month, day, hour and/or minute. The shop datum includes a shop's code, reference number, and phone number. The issue datum includes an issue number, issue reference number, and issue code.

Step S32is followed by step S33. In step S33, the processor14generates a tamper-proof on-file ticket datum according to the ticket datum having the unique code. The tamper-proof on-file ticket datum includes the unique code. The processor14generates the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum, such that the ticket datum is tamper-proof and thus highly secure.

In an embodiment, the ticket datum having the unique code is in PDF format. The ways in which the processor14generates the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum are illustrated by embodiments below. The processor14executes a digital signature procedure to attach a digital certificate to the PDF-format ticket datum having the unique code and encrypt it, so as to generate the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum. If the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is tampered, the digital certificate in the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum will disappear. Therefore, preservation security of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is ensured. The encryption involves encrypting the ticket datum with a public key and a private key.

In step S33, after the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum has been generated, the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is further processed as illustrated by the two embodiments described below. In first embodiment, the processor14stores the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum storing and then controls the outputting unit13to output the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum in paper-based format.

In the second embodiment, the processor14controls the outputting unit13to output the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum in paper-based format, controls the inputting unit11to input an image of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum and store the image in the storing unit12. The image of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is stored in PDF format.

FIG. 3illustrates another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the electronic device10further comprises a prompt unit15. The prompt unit15is connected to the processor14and adapted to send a prompt. The prompt unit15comprises a speaker and a light-emitting unit, such as LED.

After the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum in paper-based format has been output, the electronic device10executes a ticket verification process to verify the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum as needed. During the ticket verification process, the processor14compares the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum obtained with the inputting unit11with the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum stored in the storing unit12to generate a comparison result and generates a prompt datum when the comparison result indicates that their unique codes are different. The processor14controls the prompt unit15to generate the prompt datum. The prompt datum is, for example, a prompt sound or a prompt light.

FIG. 4illustrates yet another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, the electronic device10is further connected to a remote server20by a network. The electronic device10comprises a communication unit16. The communication unit16is connected to the processor14and is connected to the remote server20via the network. The communication unit16comprises a Wi-Fi unit or a 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G or higher mobile communication unit. The processor14controls the communication unit16to send the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum stored in the storing unit12to the remote server20for storage and preservation, thereby enhancing data security in terms of storage and preservation. In an embodiment, the remote server20is operated by a government or an enterprise.

Therefore, acquisition of the ticket datum brings the generation of the unique code and the inclusion of the unique code in the ticket datum. The tamper-proof on-file ticket datum is generated according to the ticket datum having the unique code. The unique code of the tamper-proof on-file ticket datum not only ensures the security of the ticket datum in terms of use and preservation but also enables the unique code to be verified to speed up ticket verification, so as to enhance ticket security and verification efficiency.