EP0156618B1 - Security documents - Google Patents
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- Publication number
- EP0156618B1 EP0156618B1 EP85301910A EP85301910A EP0156618B1 EP 0156618 B1 EP0156618 B1 EP 0156618B1 EP 85301910 A EP85301910 A EP 85301910A EP 85301910 A EP85301910 A EP 85301910A EP 0156618 B1 EP0156618 B1 EP 0156618B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- substrate
- pressure
- layer
- security document
- sensitive
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/40—Manufacture
- B42D25/405—Marking
- B42D25/415—Marking using chemicals
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
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- B42D2033/04—
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- B42D2033/12—
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- B42D2033/16—
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- B42D2033/28—
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- B42D2033/32—
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- B42D2035/02—
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- B42D2035/08—
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- B42D2035/16—
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- B42D2035/20—
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- B42D2035/34—
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/20—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof characterised by a particular use or purpose
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/40—Manufacture
- B42D25/45—Associating two or more layers
- B42D25/455—Associating two or more layers using heat
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/40—Manufacture
- B42D25/45—Associating two or more layers
- B42D25/46—Associating two or more layers using pressure
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/40—Manufacture
- B42D25/45—Associating two or more layers
- B42D25/465—Associating two or more layers using chemicals or adhesives
- B42D25/47—Associating two or more layers using chemicals or adhesives using adhesives
Definitions
- the present invention relates generally to security documents, which term will be understood to relate to any laminar element bearing markings or other information which can be read visually or otherwise and which is required to be incorruptible and/or which may indicate or constitute value in the document.
- the term "document” will specifically include cards such as credit cards and cheque guarantee cards; other examples include driving licences, airline tickets, identity cards, travel passes, letters of credit, bank security documents, equity documents, and the like. From the above it will be seen that the term "document” is intended to refer not simply to sheets of printed paper, but also to cards or other non-foldable such items which can be marked or otherwise entered with information.
- a security document As far as incorruptibility of the information is concerned;
- the first is the nature of the provisions taken to prevent counterfeiting, that is the generation of false documents having the appearance of a genuine one. Measures taken to prevent counterfeiting include the formation of a water mark, intaglio printing, special purpose links (including inks which are invisible in normal light, but which appear when irradiated by ultra violet or light of a special selected wave length), Hollerith punching and the like.
- the other main feature of a security document is the nature of the measures taken to prevent forging a genuine document to change its nature, for example to change the signature on a driving licence or the information on an airline ticket.
- Credit cards usually have a panel on the reverse face for a signature which constitutes the final validation of the card which makes it possible for a person to whom the card is presented to check that it is presented by its proper owner. As is known, this is done by the card holder handling over the card to the person requiring to check its validity, and the presenter is asked to sign a cooperating document whilst the signature written by the alleged owner is checked by comparison with the one already on the card.
- the majority of credit cards are made from a plastic material which does not readily accept a mark from ink and a validating signature panel of different material is therefore adhered to the reverse face, this panel being made from a material which will accept a mark from ink and which can be erased only with difficulty.
- the step at the edge of a panel of paper or resin containing microcapsules is filled using additional resin around the periphery.
- additional resin around the periphery.
- the present invention seeks to provide a security document which can be completed by manuscript or typewritten information, and in which the completing information, once entered, is secure against corruption by any of the techniques outlined above, and in particular secure against corruption by erasure, removal of the layer on which the information is marked, or by overlying the marked area whith another layer of material which could then be differently marked.
- a security document as herein defined having printed information visible on at least one face thereof, comprising a substrate which is impregnated or coated with a layer of pressure-sensitive image-forming material over a part of the area of a surface thereof, at least the said surface of the substrate being overlain by and bonded or otherwise adhered to a transparent protective cover material characterised in that the said substrate is impregnated or coated over substantially the whole of its- area with the pressure-sensitive image-forming material which has been treated over selected parts of the area to make it no longer pressure-sensitive, that is to make it incapable of forming an image in response to locally applied pressure apart from the said area thereof, in such a way that the said surface of the substrate has no step between a pressure-sensitive part of the substrate and the said selected parts thereof.
- the provision of the transparent protective cover material over the whole of the surface area of the security document makes it impossible for the secured information to be erased or scraped off the document. Any attempt to remove the cover material bonded to the substrate will result in removal of fibres and printing ink from the substrate and result in damage thereto which can be readily detected. Further, the areas containing the secured information cannot be overlain with a panel of the same area since this will produce a surface step or shoulder detectable by tactile or optical means, and even if the overlain panel were subsequently covered with a further layer of covering material extending over the whole of the area of the document, there would still be a detectable difference in surface level between the original information on the document and the forged information.
- Security documents formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention are thus entirely secure against forgery and have the further advantage that the secured information can be entered in manuscript or by typewriting or the like without requiring any special form of writing instrument. Indeed, a pointed but otherwise non-marking instrument can be used to write in the secured information which appears by reaction of the reactant chemicals in the pressure sensitive image-forming material. Such materials are well known and widely used in, for example, carbonless copy paper and will not be discussed in greater detail herein.
- a composite security document may thus comprise the substrate with an impregnated or coated layer of pressure sensitive material which has been desensitised using any of the known techniques over that area or those areas where it is not required, and a covering layer printed on the underface with security information adhesively bonded thereto. Further protection can be obtained by coating the reverse face of the security document with a similar transparent protective cover material and preferably such materials are water impermeable so that the security document is effectively waterproof and will not be degraded by immersion in water or, indeed, any other liquid to which the protective cover material may be impermeable.
- the transparent protective cover material need not necessarily be applied in solid form, and may indeed with advantage be applied as a liquid coating the surface or both surfaces of the security document and subsequently drying to an impermeable protective layer.
- Techniques employed, such as spray coating, brush painting or roller application methods must be used in a way such that they do not leave pin holes in the surface through which degrading agents may penetrate into the substrate.
- the substrate itself may be substantially rigid or may be supported on a stiffening rigid layer of reinforcing material.
- This material may be card or plastics similar to the plastics material already used for the majority of credit cards.
- the protective overlying layer of transparent cover material may extend beyond the boundaries of the substrate to be joined to a corresponding layer on the opposite surface of the document so that the security document is effectively totally enclosed within the protective layer.
- This is not an essential feature, however, and it is envisaged that credit cards or identity cards may be punched out from a larger sheet of completed and printed composite material so that the edges of the cards are exposed. Attempts at forgery by delamination of the layers will not be possible without visible signs of the tampering, however, due to the adhesive bonding between the cover layer and the substrate, although it is important that the bonding agent should not be water soluble so that it cannot be removed by immersing it in water.
- Suitable materials for the substrate include paper and card which are preferably but not necessarily porous, and capable of receiving the coating or impregnated layer of pressure-sensitive image-forming material.
- a suitable material for the protective cover is polyethylene although other transparent plastics films such as polypropylene, or acetate film, varnish or other coatings may be employed.
- the bonding techniques for attaching the protective cover layer to the substrate may be chosen from many which are available.
- the bonding or laminating may be effected by means of a temperature-sensitive adhesive, a chemically cured adhesive or a pressure sensitive adhesive applied to one or both of the layers to be laminated either prior to or during the lamination step.
- the present invention also comprehends a method of making a security document comprising the steps of impregnating or coating the whole of at least one face of a sheet of absorbent or non-absorbent laminar material with a pressure-sensitive image-forming material which will produce a visible image upon the application of pressure above a predetermined threshold such as with a writing instrument or the like, applying information indicia the integrity of which is it desired to retain uncorrupted, such as by printing to the said one face of the layer and/or by reverse printing the underface of a layer of transparent material intended to overlie and be adherently bonded to the said substrate, characterised in that either before or after such printing and/or before or after such adherent bonding takes place a part of the surface area of the said layer is treated whereby to render the pressure-sensitive image-forming material no longer capable of forming an image in response to locally applied pressure to leave a limited area within the bondary of the document still responsive thereto.
- Such pressure-sensitive materials are expected to be signature panels and information panels in documents which are completed subsequent to their preliminary formation.
- Such documents as airline tickets, driving licences and the like can thus be produced with the composition of the present invention and incorruptible information subsequently entered by means of a typewriter or in manuscript.
- the pressure-sensitive material is preferably a micro-encapsulated reactant which reacts upon rupture of the encapsulation to produce a visible mark on the substrate.
- the pressure-sensitive material may be incorporated in the material of the substrate during the manufacture thereof or applied subsequently.
- the substrate may be formed .with a water mark during manufacture thereof to constitute an additional security against counterfeiting.
- Figure 1 the reverse face of a conventional credit card generally indicated 11 comprising a plastics body 12 which has a security strip 13 of magnetic material coated thereon.
- the magnetic security strip can be read by machine and is relatively difficult to corrupt once the magnetic information has been applied thereto, although with suitable machinery this could be achieved readily.
- a signature panel 14 is applied thereto.
- the signature panel 14 is adherently secured thereto and is made from a material which will be marked by a ball point pen and from which the mark can be removed only with difficulty.
- the signature panel 14 is very thin but is has a distinct step 30 at its edge and it has been known for forgers to find ways of removing the whole signature panel 14 and replacing it with a blank panel allowing a different signature then to be entered and subsequently unauthorised use of the card to take place. Additional validating information is embossed on the card but not shown in the drawings for simplicity.
- the card 20 shown constitutes an embodiment of the present invention and is an improvement over the existing prior art card illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 in that the signature panel is entirely incorruptible.
- the card 20 of the present invention comprises a substrate 15 of paper or cardboard or other fibrous absorbent material, on one face of which is coated a layer 10 of pressure sensitive image-forming material, which is applied during the manufacturing process of the substrate 15 itself.
- This material may be the well known material used in "carbonless" copy paper comprising a first reactant micro-encapsulated to isolate it from contact with a second reactant in the mixture.
- This layer 10 extends over the whole of the surface of the substrate 15. However, it has been rendered inactive over the majority of the area 25 apart from the signature panel 17, for example by exposure to ultra violet light or other technique appropriate to the actual material used.
- Other security information may be provided in the usual way on the card either on the face coating with the layer 10 or on the reverse face, and this may include intaglio printing, the provision of a magnetic strip 16, embossing of the substrate 15, the provision of a water mark in the substrate 15 or any other known technique.
- the substrate may, as in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, be sufficiently rigid for the purpose or may as in the embodiment of Figure 4, be stiffened by the provision of an adjacent reinforcement layer 32 of relatively rigid material such as a hard plastics or other material.
- the whole of the card 20 is encased within a laminated protective film comprising an upper layer 18 and a lower layer 19 which extend beyond the edges of the substrate 15 and join together at an edge region 31.
- the signature panel 17 is blank when the card is issued and the desensitizing of the remaining area of the layer 10 means that the normal knocks and impacts to which the card is subject during its lifetime will not result in marks appearing thereon.
- the signature panel can be marked by writing over the surface of the layer 18 with a pointed instrument, not necessarily a marking instrument, which will rupture the micro-encapsulated reactant and cause visible images to be formed.
- the panel 17 may itself then be desensitised by exposure to ultra violet light or may be left sensitive in dependence on requirements.
- the knocks and impacts to which the card is subjected during use may cause unwanted marks and lines to appear on the signature panel but since this is not otherwise marked with anything other than the signature these soiling or dirtying marks will not corrupt the information on the card and, unless the signature were to be obscured entirely, would not significantly affect the information value of the signature.
- the security document illustrated is an airline ticket where some validating information is preliminarily printed on the ticket, such as the name of the airline and other security printing (not shown) as well as the functional printing identifying the areas where the date and place of issue, the journey etc., are to be entered.
- the document comprises a substrate 22 having a coating or impregnated layer 23 on its upper face which is made from a pressure sensitive image-forming material as in the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4.
- Desensitising of selected areas of this layer 23 by masking and irradiation with ultra violet light is effected so that the area 26, 27, 28 remains pressure sensitive, whilst the intervening areas 33, 34, 35 become desensitised.
- the document is then overlain with a transparent coating 24 of plastics material such as polyethylene film.
- the composite laminated structure can then be marked in manuscript by writing in the areas 26, 27, 28 (usually related to the matter indicated by the printing). Some of these areas are indicated in the cross section of Figure 6, namely the flight and date 26, the data and place of issue of the ticket indicated in the area 27, and the form of payment indicated by the area 28.
- the surfaces of these areas 26, 27, 28 are substantially flush with the remaining part of the document so that although only these can receive a mark by applying pressure either by a typewriter or by writing with a pointed instrument there is no way in which a forger can gain access to the marked components without destruction of the document.
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates generally to security documents, which term will be understood to relate to any laminar element bearing markings or other information which can be read visually or otherwise and which is required to be incorruptible and/or which may indicate or constitute value in the document. The term "document" will specifically include cards such as credit cards and cheque guarantee cards; other examples include driving licences, airline tickets, identity cards, travel passes, letters of credit, bank security documents, equity documents, and the like. From the above it will be seen that the term "document" is intended to refer not simply to sheets of printed paper, but also to cards or other non-foldable such items which can be marked or otherwise entered with information. It is important that the information on such a "document" shall be reliable in that, in the first place it is difficult (preferably impossible) for it to be altered by tampering with the document after it has been validly produced, and in the second place the possibility of an entirely false document is low. Indeed, there are two main features of a security document as far as incorruptibility of the information is concerned; The first is the nature of the provisions taken to prevent counterfeiting, that is the generation of false documents having the appearance of a genuine one. Measures taken to prevent counterfeiting include the formation of a water mark, intaglio printing, special purpose links (including inks which are invisible in normal light, but which appear when irradiated by ultra violet or light of a special selected wave length), Hollerith punching and the like. The other main feature of a security document is the nature of the measures taken to prevent forging a genuine document to change its nature, for example to change the signature on a driving licence or the information on an airline ticket.
- Credit cards usually have a panel on the reverse face for a signature which constitutes the final validation of the card which makes it possible for a person to whom the card is presented to check that it is presented by its proper owner. As is known, this is done by the card holder handling over the card to the person requiring to check its validity, and the presenter is asked to sign a cooperating document whilst the signature written by the alleged owner is checked by comparison with the one already on the card. The majority of credit cards are made from a plastic material which does not readily accept a mark from ink and a validating signature panel of different material is therefore adhered to the reverse face, this panel being made from a material which will accept a mark from ink and which can be erased only with difficulty.
- It is possible, however, to remove the validating signature panel by lifting or scraping it away from the card, following which a new blank signature panel can be introduced, and a forger may then add a different validating signature which enables the card to be used with the forged signature until other security information about the card, such as its serial number, can be circulated to prevent its further use.
- Other problems with security documents involve similar corruption of the information contained thereon. For example, airline tickets are issued in many different locations other than the airline's own offices, particularly in a large number of different travel agencies. Preliminarily printed information on the airline ticket is completed by hand, with the authorised representative writing in the fare, the airline, the date and class of travel, the departure and arrival airports and the like. It has been known for tickets issued for a relatively short and cheap journey to be changed by forgery to indicate a longer and more expensive journey.
- One attempt to overcome these problems is described in UK Patent 2,111,430, which discloses an identification card comprising a core stock with a signature panel of chemicals reactive to pressure on the surface of the core stock and an overlying transparent plastics layer covering at least the signature panel. Such a card is still susceptible to forgery by removal of the signature panel, together with the plastics coating, to be replaced with a new panel and coating perhaps by cutting through the coating around the signature panel and subsequently letting in a new panel and coating. This is undetectable if skilfully done, because the original document has a discernible step around the periphery of the signature panel which helps to obscure the effects of tampering. Another similar attempt to produce an inviolable card is described in French Patent No. 2,451,081. Here the step at the edge of a panel of paper or resin containing microcapsules is filled using additional resin around the periphery. Again, the use of an additional layer overlying the substrate over less than its whole area would leave the forger with the possibility of removing the signature panel in its entirety and letting in a new such panel by cutting around the outline of the panel and lifting it off the substrate, together with the covering layer.
- The present invention seeks to provide a security document which can be completed by manuscript or typewritten information, and in which the completing information, once entered, is secure against corruption by any of the techniques outlined above, and in particular secure against corruption by erasure, removal of the layer on which the information is marked, or by overlying the marked area whith another layer of material which could then be differently marked.
- The present invention achieves these objects by providing a security document as herein defined having printed information visible on at least one face thereof, comprising a substrate which is impregnated or coated with a layer of pressure-sensitive image-forming material over a part of the area of a surface thereof, at least the said surface of the substrate being overlain by and bonded or otherwise adhered to a transparent protective cover material characterised in that the said substrate is impregnated or coated over substantially the whole of its- area with the pressure-sensitive image-forming material which has been treated over selected parts of the area to make it no longer pressure-sensitive, that is to make it incapable of forming an image in response to locally applied pressure apart from the said area thereof, in such a way that the said surface of the substrate has no step between a pressure-sensitive part of the substrate and the said selected parts thereof.
- The provision of the transparent protective cover material over the whole of the surface area of the security document makes it impossible for the secured information to be erased or scraped off the document. Any attempt to remove the cover material bonded to the substrate will result in removal of fibres and printing ink from the substrate and result in damage thereto which can be readily detected. Further, the areas containing the secured information cannot be overlain with a panel of the same area since this will produce a surface step or shoulder detectable by tactile or optical means, and even if the overlain panel were subsequently covered with a further layer of covering material extending over the whole of the area of the document, there would still be a detectable difference in surface level between the original information on the document and the forged information.
- Security documents formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention are thus entirely secure against forgery and have the further advantage that the secured information can be entered in manuscript or by typewriting or the like without requiring any special form of writing instrument. Indeed, a pointed but otherwise non-marking instrument can be used to write in the secured information which appears by reaction of the reactant chemicals in the pressure sensitive image-forming material. Such materials are well known and widely used in, for example, carbonless copy paper and will not be discussed in greater detail herein.
- It is possible to create a limited area of pressure sensitive material within the overall area of the substrate because of a particular property of the pressure sensitive image-forming materials, namely the fact that these materials can be rendered insensitive to pressure by various techniques, such as by irradiation with ultra violet light. The limited area within the overall area of the security document is thus masked after the pressure sensitive material has been applied by impregnation or coating, and the document irradiated with ultra violet light to leave only the required area or areas sensitive to pressure. This can be done either before or after the substrate is printed with other value or validating information, and it is to be noted that there is no inherent distinguishing feature identifying the pressure sensitive area unless it is identified with separate printed or other marking.
- Printed information can also be applied to the undersurface of the overlying protective cover material should this prove to be advantageous. A composite security document may thus comprise the substrate with an impregnated or coated layer of pressure sensitive material which has been desensitised using any of the known techniques over that area or those areas where it is not required, and a covering layer printed on the underface with security information adhesively bonded thereto. Further protection can be obtained by coating the reverse face of the security document with a similar transparent protective cover material and preferably such materials are water impermeable so that the security document is effectively waterproof and will not be degraded by immersion in water or, indeed, any other liquid to which the protective cover material may be impermeable.
- The transparent protective cover material need not necessarily be applied in solid form, and may indeed with advantage be applied as a liquid coating the surface or both surfaces of the security document and subsequently drying to an impermeable protective layer. Techniques employed, such as spray coating, brush painting or roller application methods must be used in a way such that they do not leave pin holes in the surface through which degrading agents may penetrate into the substrate.
- If the security document is in the form of an identity card or credit card the substrate itself may be substantially rigid or may be supported on a stiffening rigid layer of reinforcing material. This material may be card or plastics similar to the plastics material already used for the majority of credit cards.
- The protective overlying layer of transparent cover material may extend beyond the boundaries of the substrate to be joined to a corresponding layer on the opposite surface of the document so that the security document is effectively totally enclosed within the protective layer. This is not an essential feature, however, and it is envisaged that credit cards or identity cards may be punched out from a larger sheet of completed and printed composite material so that the edges of the cards are exposed. Attempts at forgery by delamination of the layers will not be possible without visible signs of the tampering, however, due to the adhesive bonding between the cover layer and the substrate, although it is important that the bonding agent should not be water soluble so that it cannot be removed by immersing it in water.
- Suitable materials for the substrate include paper and card which are preferably but not necessarily porous, and capable of receiving the coating or impregnated layer of pressure-sensitive image-forming material. A suitable material for the protective cover is polyethylene although other transparent plastics films such as polypropylene, or acetate film, varnish or other coatings may be employed.
- The bonding techniques for attaching the protective cover layer to the substrate may be chosen from many which are available. The bonding or laminating may be effected by means of a temperature-sensitive adhesive, a chemically cured adhesive or a pressure sensitive adhesive applied to one or both of the layers to be laminated either prior to or during the lamination step.
- The present invention also comprehends a method of making a security document comprising the steps of impregnating or coating the whole of at least one face of a sheet of absorbent or non-absorbent laminar material with a pressure-sensitive image-forming material which will produce a visible image upon the application of pressure above a predetermined threshold such as with a writing instrument or the like, applying information indicia the integrity of which is it desired to retain uncorrupted, such as by printing to the said one face of the layer and/or by reverse printing the underface of a layer of transparent material intended to overlie and be adherently bonded to the said substrate, characterised in that either before or after such printing and/or before or after such adherent bonding takes place a part of the surface area of the said layer is treated whereby to render the pressure-sensitive image-forming material no longer capable of forming an image in response to locally applied pressure to leave a limited area within the bondary of the document still responsive thereto.
- The primary functions of such pressure-sensitive materials are expected to be signature panels and information panels in documents which are completed subsequent to their preliminary formation. Such documents as airline tickets, driving licences and the like can thus be produced with the composition of the present invention and incorruptible information subsequently entered by means of a typewriter or in manuscript.
- The pressure-sensitive material is preferably a micro-encapsulated reactant which reacts upon rupture of the encapsulation to produce a visible mark on the substrate. The pressure-sensitive material may be incorporated in the material of the substrate during the manufacture thereof or applied subsequently.
- The substrate may be formed .with a water mark during manufacture thereof to constitute an additional security against counterfeiting.
- Various embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a prior art credit card showing the manner in which a validating signature panel is employed;
- Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on a line 11-11 of Figure 1;
- Figure 3 is a face view of a credit card formed as an embodiment of the present invention, in which the signature panel is formed in accordance with the principles of the invention;
- Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3;
- Figure 5 is a face view of an airline ticket formed in accordance with the principles of the present invention; and
- Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on a line VI-VI of Figure 5.
- Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 there is shown in Figure 1 the reverse face of a conventional credit card generally indicated 11 comprising a
plastics body 12 which has asecurity strip 13 of magnetic material coated thereon. The magnetic security strip can be read by machine and is relatively difficult to corrupt once the magnetic information has been applied thereto, although with suitable machinery this could be achieved readily. For the further validation of the card, therefore, asignature panel 14 is applied thereto. - Because the
base body 12 of the card is made from a hard plastics material which will not accept a permanant mark from a pen or ball point, thesignature panel 14 is adherently secured thereto and is made from a material which will be marked by a ball point pen and from which the mark can be removed only with difficulty. Thesignature panel 14 is very thin but is has adistinct step 30 at its edge and it has been known for forgers to find ways of removing thewhole signature panel 14 and replacing it with a blank panel allowing a different signature then to be entered and subsequently unauthorised use of the card to take place. Additional validating information is embossed on the card but not shown in the drawings for simplicity. - Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the
card 20 shown constitutes an embodiment of the present invention and is an improvement over the existing prior art card illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 in that the signature panel is entirely incorruptible. Thecard 20 of the present invention comprises asubstrate 15 of paper or cardboard or other fibrous absorbent material, on one face of which is coated alayer 10 of pressure sensitive image-forming material, which is applied during the manufacturing process of thesubstrate 15 itself. This material may be the well known material used in "carbonless" copy paper comprising a first reactant micro-encapsulated to isolate it from contact with a second reactant in the mixture. Thislayer 10 extends over the whole of the surface of thesubstrate 15. However, it has been rendered inactive over the majority of thearea 25 apart from thesignature panel 17, for example by exposure to ultra violet light or other technique appropriate to the actual material used. - Other security information may be provided in the usual way on the card either on the face coating with the
layer 10 or on the reverse face, and this may include intaglio printing, the provision of amagnetic strip 16, embossing of thesubstrate 15, the provision of a water mark in thesubstrate 15 or any other known technique. The substrate may, as in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, be sufficiently rigid for the purpose or may as in the embodiment of Figure 4, be stiffened by the provision of anadjacent reinforcement layer 32 of relatively rigid material such as a hard plastics or other material. - Finally, the whole of the
card 20 is encased within a laminated protective film comprising anupper layer 18 and alower layer 19 which extend beyond the edges of thesubstrate 15 and join together at anedge region 31. Thesignature panel 17 is blank when the card is issued and the desensitizing of the remaining area of thelayer 10 means that the normal knocks and impacts to which the card is subject during its lifetime will not result in marks appearing thereon. The signature panel can be marked by writing over the surface of thelayer 18 with a pointed instrument, not necessarily a marking instrument, which will rupture the micro-encapsulated reactant and cause visible images to be formed. - Having entered the signature the
panel 17 may itself then be desensitised by exposure to ultra violet light or may be left sensitive in dependence on requirements. The knocks and impacts to which the card is subjected during use may cause unwanted marks and lines to appear on the signature panel but since this is not otherwise marked with anything other than the signature these soiling or dirtying marks will not corrupt the information on the card and, unless the signature were to be obscured entirely, would not significantly affect the information value of the signature. - Obscuring the signature will only render the card unusable and would not assist any potential forger. The
overlying layer 18 cannot be removed without damaging either the bond with theunderlying layer 19 or the bond to thesubstrate 15 coated with thelayer signature panel 17 since this is inaccessible, and any attempt to overlie thesignature panel 17 without removing it, by means of a new panel of the same area bearing a different signature, will result in a surface step being introduced which could readily be detected by touch. As can be seen from Figure 4 thesignature panel 17 is exactly flush with the surface of the remaining part of thecoating 10 and the upper face of thecoating 18 is thus entirely smooth and unvarying. This condition can be detected by suitable machinery if the card is used in a machine or by touch when the card is presented for use. - Turning now to Figures 5 and 6 an alternative type of security document is illustrated. In this case the security document illustrated is an airline ticket where some validating information is preliminarily printed on the ticket, such as the name of the airline and other security printing (not shown) as well as the functional printing identifying the areas where the date and place of issue, the journey etc., are to be entered. The document comprises a
substrate 22 having a coating or impregnatedlayer 23 on its upper face which is made from a pressure sensitive image-forming material as in the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4. - Desensitising of selected areas of this
layer 23 by masking and irradiation with ultra violet light is effected so that thearea areas transparent coating 24 of plastics material such as polyethylene film. The composite laminated structure can then be marked in manuscript by writing in theareas date 26, the data and place of issue of the ticket indicated in thearea 27, and the form of payment indicated by thearea 28. - Again, as in the embodiment of Figures 3 and 4 and as can be seen in Figure 6, the surfaces of these
areas areas film 24 since this will damage the substrate visibly. Further security against additional information being entered can be achieved by further desensitising the whole document by irradiation with ultra violet light after it has been entered, or by other suitable techniques.
Claims (16)
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AT85301910T ATE50734T1 (en) | 1984-03-20 | 1985-03-19 | SECURITY DOCUMENT. |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB8407212 | 1984-03-20 | ||
GB848407212A GB8407212D0 (en) | 1984-03-20 | 1984-03-20 | Security documents |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0156618A2 EP0156618A2 (en) | 1985-10-02 |
EP0156618A3 EP0156618A3 (en) | 1986-05-21 |
EP0156618B1 true EP0156618B1 (en) | 1990-03-07 |
Family
ID=10558366
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP85301910A Expired - Lifetime EP0156618B1 (en) | 1984-03-20 | 1985-03-19 | Security documents |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0156618B1 (en) |
AT (1) | ATE50734T1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE3576308D1 (en) |
GB (1) | GB8407212D0 (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE3913604A1 (en) * | 1989-04-25 | 1990-12-06 | Gao Ges Automation Org | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR APPLYING SIGNATURE STRIPS TO ID CARDS |
ES2059266B1 (en) * | 1992-11-11 | 1997-07-01 | Montaner Brunat Rosendo M | AN ACCREDITATIVE IDENTIFICATION CARD. |
BR9508256A (en) * | 1994-07-08 | 1997-11-18 | Minnesota Mining & Mfg | Multilayer film transparene use and document or security label |
DE4443660C1 (en) * | 1994-12-08 | 1995-10-26 | Feldmuehle Ag Stora | Copy sheet of a carbon copy |
DE10113286A1 (en) | 2001-03-16 | 2002-10-02 | Mitsubishi Hitec Paper Flensbu | Heat sensitive recording sheet and its use |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US3643216A (en) * | 1968-08-06 | 1972-02-15 | Rca Corp | Holographic identification system |
FR2451081A1 (en) * | 1979-03-08 | 1980-10-03 | Solaic Sa | Laminated PVC card with internal inscription system - to protect individual markings from damage |
US4462039A (en) * | 1981-12-14 | 1984-07-24 | British American Bank Note Inc. | Plastic identification card having an improved signature panel |
-
1984
- 1984-03-20 GB GB848407212A patent/GB8407212D0/en active Pending
-
1985
- 1985-03-19 DE DE8585301910T patent/DE3576308D1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1985-03-19 AT AT85301910T patent/ATE50734T1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1985-03-19 EP EP85301910A patent/EP0156618B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
GB8407212D0 (en) | 1984-04-26 |
DE3576308D1 (en) | 1990-04-12 |
ATE50734T1 (en) | 1990-03-15 |
EP0156618A3 (en) | 1986-05-21 |
EP0156618A2 (en) | 1985-10-02 |
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