PAYMENT ACTIVATED IMAGE REPRODUCTION MACHINE

Abstract: The invention describes a machine which when activated by coins, credit cards, smart cards or other approved cards reproduces the image of a person, object, document, photography etc. on an information carrying media such as paper, plastic sheet etc. The image is first displayed on a video-monitor visible to the user, and can be adjusted, enlarged or placed on a chosen background by the use of a keyboard and instructions in the form of sound and/or signs/text on an information display. After editing of the signals by an image processing unit, the final reproduction of the image is produced with the use of a high resolution colour printer.

Description: Payment activated image reproduction machine. The present invention relates to a machine which when activated by in¬ serting coin(s), a credit card, a smart card etc., reproduces the image of a person, object, document, photograph etc. on a medium such as paper, plastic, film etc. The machine is designed to be situated in localities where there are a large number of passers by and therefore potential users,and thus make its placement worthwhile,or in localities where there is a requirement for a quick and chemical free copying facility for documents and pictures etc. The machine according to this invention does not copy or reproduce images with the use of a chemical development process.Therefore no photo sensetive silver based film is used.In existing machines the exposed film is dipped in a series of developing and fixing baths with the aid of a complicated mechanism, and after several minutes is delivered to the customer in the form of a strip with a series of photographs. The quality of the pictures can vary a lot, although the result can be approved as a passport photo. An example of the state of the art is described in GB Patent Application 2089 169. The GB application shows an electronic still camera for the stor¬ age of still pictures on a fixed storage medium. DE Offenlegungsschrift 3018722 refers on the other hand a photo machine with a video camera for capturing the picture and video recorder as the storage medium, besides which the image is displayed on a video monitor which is then photographed with an ordinary photo chemical method. It is an object of the present invention to create a machine where the customer in a simple manner can edit the image to be reproduced e.g. picture size, number of pictures, background etc. whilst viewing a temporary image of the end product. Further it is a clear intention to establish a machine which operates quickly and does not use environmentally poluting chemicals. This result is acheived by a machine corresponding to the invention, which is characterized by the details in the following claim. In the last 10 to 20 years a tremendous development has occured in camera and video technique. In connection with the invention a completely auto¬ matic video camera is used in which the image is represented and stored as digital codes after A/D conversion.The stored digital codes are transfered to the next editing and processing stage. In the editing and processing stage. In the editing and processing stage there are systems for magnifi¬ cation, compression, editing and even distortion of the image before the signals are sent to a high resolution colour printer. In a preferred embodyment of the invention the equipment is assembled to¬ gether in a cabinet or booth in the same way as existing " photo boots ". This machine utilizes no poisonous chemicals, has a much quicker processing time, better picture quality and many possibilities for the customer to manipulate the form and number of pictures. When the machine is used as a photo booth, the customer who wishes to be photographed goes inside the booth where he will be presented with easily understandable instructions in the form of a menu on a display monitor. In addition to the menu, the instructions can be supplemented with screen print¬ ed text and/or a digitally synthesized voice which explains the operating sequence. The customer chooses first the finished pictures size. He/she can then choose a background scene from a menu depicted in the booth. The machine will then calculate the price for this choice. The picture is taken a short time after the given price has been payed. The videocamera " sees " the object/person and transfers the signal to the picture processing unit. After processing to the correct format, the picture is printed out on the high resolution colour printer. The resulting picture will be given to the customer a short time after and he/she will then be asked either by text or by synthesized speech if he/she wishes more copies of the same picture. The customer can give this informa¬ tion simply by the use of a control panel with push buttons or similar methods. A new price is then calculated which is then displayed. When the machine has received the correct amount, a new printing process will be started. If the customer does not wish to have more copies, the digitally stored picture will be erased. If he does not respond to questions from the machine, the picture information will be erased after a fixed time. The method of payment can be in the form of coins, bank notes, credit cards . smart cards or other approved cards or methods of payment. The invention is described in more detail as follows with reference to the included drawings where fig. 1 shows a block diagram of the technical solu¬ tion, and fig. 2 shows a side view of a preferred embodyment of the invention. As can be seen from fig. 1 the system is centered around a PC or similar computer (1). Typically this type of computer uses an Intel 80286 processor, one internal memory of 1 M bytes, a fixed memory of 40M bytes and a 1.44 M bytes disc drive. A standard AT-bus is used, allthough it is possible to use VME-bus, Multibus II or other bus standards. Alternatively a single board solution could be used whereby all functions are situated on one PC board. In the example shown the following AT-bus plug in boards are used: - the most important board is the so called fra egrabber (2). This board contains 3 fast 8 bit AD and DA converters as well as a fast video ram (VRAM) which is capable of storing a complete colour picture in the course of one refresh, which is equal to 1/25 second for the PAL system. The board has a video input for connection to a videocamera (3) as well as a video out¬ put for connection to a colour monitor (4). In addition to this, the board has a graphic processor with a scratchpad memory for intermediate storage of pictures 'or parts of pictures, as well as instructions from the AT-bus. - for input of commands and choices there is a key board (5). To avoid vandalism it is neccessary to use a mechanically strong membrane structure. The membrane panel must be resistant to all kinds of liquids and rough physical usage. The keyboard is shown connected to the AT-bus via a special interface, but could also be connected via the ordinary keyboard input. In this case a special processor must be used for decoding of the keyboard as is the normal practice with traditional keyboards. - messages and information are conveyed to the customer by a monitor (4) and a voice synthesizer. Speech is generated by a special sound processor (6) in combination with an amplifier, loudspeaker and an interface to the AT- bus. These ports can all be situated on the same board. - further there is an interface for the change payout unit (7) and curr¬ ency tester (8) for coins, banknotes, creditcards etc. - further a unit (9) for controlling light and colour in the photo booth. This unit is physically separated from the computer, but is controlled from the AT-bus via an electrically isolated interface. In the chosen combination as shown in fig. 1, several of the functions can be combined on one board,but for clarity the individual functions are de¬ scribed separately. The high resolution colour printer (10) is shown con¬ nected to the computers parallell port. The printer can handle sheet sizes up to A4 and A3 and has a resolution better than 300 dpi. Fig. 2 shows a side view of the machine according to the invention in which the individual parts are likely to be placed in a cabinet or booth (11). Facing the customer are a videocamera (12) and a videomonitor (19).The pic¬ ture processing unit (13) is controlled by the keyboard (17).The high defi¬ nition colour printer (14) and paperfeed (store) (15) are controlled only in¬ directly by the customer. The payment unit (16) and the display (18) for cust¬ omer information are easily visible for the customer. When the machine is not in use, a processed picture of representative qua¬ lity is shown on the colour monitor. The moment a customer whishes to be photo¬ graphed and places a given amount in the currency sensor, the computer finds out which alternatives the customer has available for this amount and presents these for him. The amount must be in agreement with a notice which is displayed in the booth. If the amount is to little, the machine will ask for more. If the amount is too large, the extra will be accumulated for later use, if more cop- . ies are desired. When the machine has found the paid amount to be satisfactory, the ' customer is instructed as to further procedure. The framegrabber is activated and a still picture of the customer is displayed on the monitor. This occurs at the same time as the lighting conditions are adjusted to the correct conditions in the booth. The process is composed of the following sequences: 1) The picture is converted pixel for pixel by the 3 video converters and is written into the VRAM. This process is synchronised by the sync pulses from the video camera (4) and occupies one refresh period. 2) The result which is stored in VRAM is then read continuously by the 3 DA converters and transferred to the monitor (4) in the form of a static picture. 3) The customers choice of fixed background will be copied from the com¬ puters fixed memory via the AT-bus and into the DRAM of the framegrabber (2). 4) The graphic processor on the framegrabber starts to mix the contents of the VRAM with the background picture in the DRAM. The result of this operation is transferred to the VRAM so that a new still picture can be displayed for the customer. 5) Based on the customer choice, parts of the contents of the VRAM can be enlarged and copied to the DRAM where the new information will over¬ write what is previously stored. 6) The computer (1) reads the information now stored in DRAM on the frame¬ grabber (2), converts it to a suitable format and transfers the informa¬ tion pixel for pixel to the high resolution colour printer. 7) When the computer has reached the end of the address areas in DRAM, operation (5) will be repeated with a new part of the content in VRAM. This process is repeated until the whole VRAM has been scanned and writ¬ ten out with the chosen background and size. The machine now asks the customer if he wishes more copies, and in which case how many and with what size. The price is now calculated from the cust¬ omers response. The accumulated amount which the customer may have payed pre¬ viously will be subtracted from the new price, and he will be promted to in¬ sert the new amount.On the basis of this a new printout process will start. The keyboard (5), voice synthesizer with amplifier and loudspeaker (6),change payout unit (7), coin and creditcard reader (8) and lighting controll (9) are neccessary for the functioning of a complete machine, but as they are normal commercially available components, they are not described in detail here. In the case of paper, or other materials being used up, or the cash container being full, a message will be presented to customers who intend to use the machine, that no operation is possible. The drawing and description related hereto are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. In its details the idea may vary considerably within the scope of the claims.

Claims: Claims. 1. Coin - or similar-, activated image reproduction machine for the reproduction on paper, plastic or other information carrying media, the image of persons, objects, documents and photographs, comprising a cabinet of the type normally used for photo booths, containing a payment unit, a photography section with a videocamera and a dispatching unit for the final image, the said videocamera being activated by a specified amount being inserted in the payment unit c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y - an image processing unit with A/D and D/A converters, a fast video memory (VRAM) for storage of a complete colour picture in one refresh cycle, a graphic processor with a scratchpad memory (DRAM) for intermediate storage of pictures or parts of pictures such that when the picture processing unit is activated a still picture is converted pixel for pixel by the A/D convert¬ er and -is written into the VRAM synchronously with the sync pulses from the video camera, following which the contents of the VRAM are continuously written out via the D/A converter to a high resolution colour monitor in the form of a static picture, - an image processing unit comprising an integral signal processor, integral scratchpad memory, a fixed memory (HDU), an AT-bus and parallel and serial ports such that the customers choice of background picture can be copied from the HDU via the AT-bus to the DRAM of the image processing unit whereby the graphic processor XOR compares the contents in WRAM and DRAM and stores the results in VRAM for display of the still picture with background on the colour monitor, - a printout unit comprising a specially adapted keyboard connected to the AT bus of the image processing unit, an information display for communi¬ cation between the machine and the customer, a high resolution colour printer such that when picture size and number of copies is chosen, parts of the contents of VRAM will be enlarged and copied to DRAM causing the existing contents to be written over, after which the image processing unit converts the information in DRAM to a useable format and transfers the information pixel by pixel to the high resolution colour printer un¬ til the image processing unit eomes to the end of the address area in DRAM after which the next part of the VRAM contents is enlarged and copied to the DRAM etc., until the whole of the VRAM is searched, which eans- that the complete still picture with background is written out to the colour printer in the chosen size and with information about the chosen number of copies. 2. A machine according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h a t the payment input unit is designed to accept coins, smart cards, credit cards and other approved payment cards, by the inclusion of a coin acceptance unit and a card reader in connection with the AT-bus of the processing unit. 3. A machine according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h a t the specially adapted keyboard, via the AT-bus of the image pro¬ cessing unit, cooperates with the text shown on the information display and/or the information given in the form of speech from a digitally stored voice, as a voice synthesizer with accompanying amplifier and loudspeaker are connected to the AT-bus by a special interface to instruct the user how to operate the machine. 4. A machine according to one or more of the previous claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h a t the photo booth includes an object holder for reproduction of e.g. documents or pictures. 5. A machine according to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t h a t the object holder is formed as a drawer or tray which can be drawn out and in which the object to be copied is placed and that the camera is brought into focus on the object with the use of the keyboard.

Inventors: OEIEN JAN HARRY, OEIEN, JAN, HARRY
Applicants: OEIEN JAN HARRY, OEIEN, JAN, HARRY
Application year: 1990
Main classification: H04N5
IPC codes: G07F17, H04N1