GB2261847A

GB2261847A - Security device for documents

Info

Publication number: GB2261847A
Application number: GB9124951A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Max Zigerlig
Original assignee: PENTAGON TRADING Ltd
Current assignee: PENTAGON TRADING Ltd
Priority date: 1991-11-23
Filing date: 1991-11-23
Publication date: 1993-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2011-11-23
Also published as: IT1254567B; GB2261847B; ITRM920055A0; GB9124951D0; ITRM920055A1

Abstract

A security device for verifying the authenticity and completeness of a document by means of scanning equipment, comprises a number of geometrically equal and uniformly distributed zones 10 which appear to be the same as each other when examined with the naked eye. At least part of the zones consists of materials which have physical properties which are different from the remaining zones, so that the said part of a zone can be identified by means of scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the said part of a zone. The physical properties may include electrical conductivity, magnetic coercivity, responsiveness to UV or IR, fluorescence, phosphorescence or photochromaticity. Characters can be coded depending on the position of the character in the manuscript. <IMAGE>

Description

"DOCUMENT WITH SECURITY DEVICES FOR VERIFYING THE AUTHENTICITY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE DOCUMENT BY MEANS OF SCANNING EQUIPMENT" * * * * * * * * * SUMMAR\d The present invention concerns a document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, characterised in that it comprises at least one surface area to which a number of geometrically equal and uniformly distributed zones are applied. These zones appear to be the same as each other when examined with the naked eye.

At least part of the said zones consists of materials which have physical properties which are different from the remaining zones, so that the said part of a zone can be identified by means of scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the said part of a zone.

JcJr*k*kJE*i* DESCRIPTION The present invention concerns a document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment.

In many fields, it is necessary to have access to security devices which make it possible to check and verify the authenticity and completeness of the document, part, element, etc.

The systems currently available make use of codes, generally bar codes, which can be read automatically using suitable equipment, in order to identify a particular document or similar item.

These codes do however have the disadvantage of being readily visible even to the naked eye, which means that it is comparatively easy to reproduce them fraudulently.

A further disadvantage which is typical of these codes is that the same characters are always reproduced identically together with the code, which consequently can in no way prevent fraudulent reproduction.

The purpose of the present invention is precisely that of solving the above problem by producing a document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document itself without there being any visible code applied to it, in that the code is apparently composed of a series of equal zones.

Within the scope of the above-mentioned purpose, one particular aim of the invention is to produce a document with security devices which make it possible to identify the code using scanning equipment which can process the code itself, in order to interpret, for example, letters of the alphabet or numerals.

A further aim of the present invention is to produce a document in which the security devices are not only not obvious but can also provide a type of code which cannot be reproduced in that the same characters can be represented differently by the code.

By no means the only other aim of the present invention is to produce a document with security devices which can be applied and used in the most varied areas of industry and which can be based on different physical properties depending on the various circumstances.

The purpose set out above, as well as the other aims listed, plus others which will be outlined in greater detail below, is achieved by producing a document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, characterised in that it comprises at least one surface area to which are applied several zones which are geometrically equal and uniformly distributed, these zones appearing to be the same as each other when examined with the naked eye, with at least part of these zones consisting of materials which have physical properties which are different from the other zones so that the said zone or part of a zone can be identified by means of scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the said zone or part of a zone.

Other characteristics and advantages will become apparent through the description of one preferred manner of production, though this is not the only manner, of a document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, illustrated indicatively but not limitatively by the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 represents schematically the document showing the zones as they appear to the naked eye; Figure 2 shows the document as scanned by scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the zones; Figure 3 schematically represents a table showing the codes corresponding to the zones; Figure 4 schematically represents the arrangement of the code for identifying a particular word or character.

Referring to the figures listed above, the document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, according to the invention, comprises a surface area generically indicated by 1, which can constitute one of the sides, if the document is of paper or some other flat material, or the surface of a part, element, etc. to which the security devices have been applied.

The security devices consist of zones or special graphical signs, indicated by 10, which are geometrically the same and uniformly distributed, i.e. are at regular intervals, so that all the zones are arranged in a uniform distribution on surface area 1.

Figure 1 shows the zones as being the same as each other, in that the zones are produced in such a way that they appear to be the same as each other when examined with the naked eye.

The zones can for example consist of parallelepiped bars, of 1000x100x20 micron, which all appear to be the same optically, with the space between them, i.e. the distance between one zone and the next, being always constant.

At least part of the said zones consists of material with special physical properties which differ from any physical properties of the other zones, thus making it possible to identify the said part of a zone by means of scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the said part of a zone.

The zones can be diversified in various ways and with various types of materials having different physical properties.

Using conductive materials, it is possible to achieve diversity between the zones by making part of the zones with materials of differing conductivity, containing for example copper, silver, tin and non-conducting materials or materials with a very different conductivity, covering all the zones with a layer of metal applied under vacuum, with the result that they all look alike.

The differing conductivity of the materials will permit selection by means of an appropriate scanning system capable of identifying the various zone combinations.

It is an advantage to have among the various zones a variety of electrical resistances between 0.01 and 0.2 ohm based on a wire 1 metre long and 1 mm2 in cross-section.

Using magnetic materials, it is possible to produce zones of differing coercivity, for example 300 oersted for some zones and 4000 oersted for other zones, in any case with a difference of at least 2000 oersted, or by inserting material of this kind in varying proportions, adding dyes to achieve the same optical intensity over all the zones. It could also be possible to produce some zones with magnetic material and others without magnetic material.

Other properties which can be exploited, in the optical field for instance, can be achieved by making some zones out of a material which when irradiated by ultraviolet light, between 500 and 580 nanometres, have a different response from the other zones of at least 150 nanometres.

Another approach is to use materials which are fluorescent, phosphorescent, photochromatic, responsive to infrared etc., while abiding by the principle that the various zones are differentiated from each other by the various physical properties which make it possible to identify the difference between some zones and the rest, providing that scanning equipment is used which is compatible with the physical properties of the material used in the zones.

The diversification of the zones makes it possible to build up a code, which for the purpose of subsequently enhancing security, is constructed in such a way that the same character is represented by different codes depending on its position, i.e. it is different from the way it appears for the first time in the writing or system of numerals which is to be represented.

Taking the letters of the alphabet purely as an example, each letter will be represented by a different code consisting of the arrangement of the above-mentioned zones, depending on whether the said letter of the alphabet appears for the first, second or third time, and so on.

The attached drawing shows schematically one possible configuration of the code in which it can be seen for example in the word "sicurezza" that the letter S is represented in a certain way, shown by X or O in the drawing, where X represents for example the zones with a particular physical property which can be identified by the scanning equipment, and 0 represents, on the other hand, the zones without this property.

As can be seen in Figure 4, in the word "sicurezza" represented by the zones designated by X or 0, the two z's are codified differently, in that the second letter, i.e. the same character but appearing for the second time, is represented by a different code.

The use of this code in combination with the physical characteristics outlined above makes it possible to achieve security devices which are extremely efficient and non-reproducible, both because they are not obvious, i.e. optically they all look exactly the same, and because the particular code used cannot be effectively reproduced.

From the above illustration it can be seen therefore that the invention fulfils the aims set out, and in particular it should be stressed that it provides a document which can be used in the widest possible variety of applications, and provides a very high guarantee of security against forgery and falsification.

The invention as described can be modified and varied in numerous ways all within the scope of the concept of the invention.

In addition, all the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions and shapes applied, may be of any kind depending on requirements.

Claims

1. Document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, characterised in that it comprises at least one surface area to which has been applied a number of zones which are geometrically the same and uniformly distributed, which zones appear to be the same as each other when examined by the naked eye, at least part of these zones consisting of materials which have physical properties different from the rest so that the said zone or part of a zone can be identified by means of scanning equipment compatible with the physical properties of the said zone or part of a zone.

2. A document, according to the preceding claim, characterised in that at least part of the said zones is made of materials having electrical conductivity properties.

3. A document, according to the preceding claims, characterised in that the zones with electrical conductivity present a variation in resistance compared to the other zones of between 0.01 and 0.2 ohm based on a wire one metre long and with a cross-section of 1 mm2.

4. A document, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said zones or part of the said zones are of magnetic material with a different coercivity from the rest of the zones, of at least 2000 oersted.

5. A document, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said zones or part of the said zones are of magnetic material and the remaining zones are of non-magnetic material.

6. A document, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said zones or part of the said zones are of material showing a different response to ultraviolet light differing by at least 150 nanometres from the rest of the zones.

7. A document, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the said zones or part of the said zones and the remaining zones are capable of forming a code by the representation of characters, with the representation of each character being different for each character, depending on the position of the character in the manuscript etc., by means of the use of the said code.

8. A document with security devices for verifying the authenticity and completeness of the document by means of scanning equipment, characterised in that it includes one or more of the characteristics described and/or illustrated.