JP7003414B2 - Anti-counterfeit medium and its reading method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an anti-counterfeit medium having an information code capable of determining authenticity and a reading method thereof.

For securities such as tickets, admission tickets, gift certificates, gift certificates, etc., there are examples of manufacturing counterfeit tickets by color copying, etc., so as a method to prevent this, transfer foils and seals made of holograms and diffraction gratings are used. Measures to be attached to securities have been considered.

However, such a method is made on the assumption that a person makes a visual judgment, and if the judge is not familiar with an anti-counterfeit item consisting of a hologram or a diffraction grating, the quality is inferior. Even a counterfeit product that looks like a genuine product at first glance may be mistaken for a genuine product.

On the other hand, information written in gift certificates, lottery tickets, commuter pass and other securities and catalogs may be read mechanically, and as such reading means, barcodes and QR codes ( In many cases, a two-dimensional code typified by (registered trademark) and a machine-readable code mark such as OCR characters are provided.

Such a machine-readable code is generally formed simply by using ink containing carbon black on the base material surface, and anti-counterfeiting measures are taken at the part where the code is written. Was not applied.

Therefore, as a method for preventing forgery by a copier or the like, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes an ink that has no absorption in the visible light region and cannot be visually recognized, but has absorption in the infrared region.

Further, as in Patent Document 2, it has been proposed that an information code can be read only when a specific condition is satisfied.

However, if the wavelength band of the light used for reading is known, the information can be easily read, and in the current situation where counterfeiting technology is developing, a malicious third party actively tries to counterfeit. On the other hand, it is not always an effective means.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-309736 Japanese Patent No. 5920048

In view of such a situation, the present invention aims to provide a safe anti-counterfeiting function to an information code for machine reading while using a relatively inexpensive and simple method.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems. That is, the invention according to claim 1 is an anti-counterfeiting medium having an information code on a base material, wherein the base material has at least a light-shielding layer, a white ink layer, and the light-shielding layer and a white ink layer. An infrared reflective layer having a pattern is provided between the layers, and an information code portion and a concealing layer are sequentially provided on the white ink layer from the near side , and the white ink layer is at least an infrared region. In, it is an anti-counterfeit medium characterized by having translucency .

The invention according to claim 2 is the anti-counterfeiting medium according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding layer and the information code portion include a dye that absorbs infrared rays.

The invention according to claim 3 is the anti-counterfeiting medium according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the concealing layer has at least infrared transmission.

The invention according to claim 4 is the anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 2, wherein the dye contained in the light-shielding layer contains carbon black at least.

The invention according to claim 5 is the anti-counterfeiting medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the white ink layer contains titanium oxide.

The invention according to claim 6 has the white ink having at least a light-shielding layer, a white ink layer, and a patterned infrared reflective layer between the light-shielding layer and the white ink layer. A method of reading an anti-counterfeit medium, wherein an information code portion and a concealing layer are sequentially provided on the layer from the near side , and the step of irradiating the anti-counterfeit medium with light in the first wavelength band. The step of irradiating the anti-counterfeiting medium with light in the second wavelength band, which is different from the first wavelength band and in the infrared region, the reflected brightness of the light in the first wavelength band, and the second wavelength band. Contrast consisting of a step of measuring the reflected brightness of the light, the reflected brightness of the region having the information code portion of the light irradiated to the anti-counterfeit medium, and the reflected brightness in the region not having the information code portion. On the other hand, the step of preparing two thresholds of a small value threshold 1 and a large value threshold 2 in advance, and the contrast of the light in the first wavelength band being equal to or greater than the threshold 1 and less than the threshold 2. It is confirmed that the contrast is different between the step of confirming that the light is present and the region where the contrast of the light in the second wavelength band is equal to or higher than the threshold value 2 and the region has and does not have the infrared reflective layer. This is a method for reading an anti-counterfeit medium, which comprises a step of reading information and a step of reading information in the information code unit.

The invention according to claim 7 is the method for reading an anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 6 , wherein the step of reading the information is performed by light having at least the second wavelength band.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an anti-counterfeit medium having an information code, which has an extremely high anti-counterfeiting effect, while using a relatively inexpensive material and a simple method.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structural example of the anti-counterfeit medium which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the reading method of this invention. It is a flow figure which shows the example of the reading method of the anti-counterfeit medium which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, components exhibiting similar or similar functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

Further, each drawing shows an example of the embodiment of the present invention, and is not limited thereto.

(Anti-counterfeit medium)
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the anti-counterfeit medium 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a shielding layer 12 is provided on the base material 11, an infrared reflecting layer 13 is provided on the shielding layer 13, and then a white ink layer 14 is provided, and the white ink layer 14 is provided. An information code portion 15 and a concealing layer 16 are formed on the top.

As the base material 11, various base materials can be arbitrarily selected. For example, in addition to papers, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polycarbonate ( Sheets made of resins such as PC), polyethylene (PE), and polypropylene (PP) can be used alone or as a laminated composite material.

Further, as the sheet made of resin, there is no problem even if a sheet to which an extender pigment such as titanium oxide is added or a foamed sheet is used.

The thickness of such a base material is not particularly limited, but a material having a thickness of about 50 μm to 300 μm can be preferably used.

As the shielding layer 12, any layer that absorbs infrared rays can be used, but in consideration of price and the like, a method of printing or coating so-called black ink containing carbon black or the like can be preferably used. ..

As the printing method, any of conventionally known methods such as an offset printing method, a gravure printing method, a screen printing method, and a flexographic printing method can be used for printing.

When the coating method is used, any conventionally known method such as a gravure coating method, a reverse gravure coating method, a roll coating method, a lip coating method, a die coating method, and a bar coating method can be used.

The infrared reflective layer 13 is provided in a pattern on the shielding layer 12 thus obtained.

The infrared reflective layer 13 can be used as long as it has a function of reflecting infrared rays. For example, as an infrared reflective pigment, in addition to titanium oxide, pearl pigment, etc., copper, chromium, iron, etc. Examples thereof include oxides or composite oxides of metals such as cobalt, antimony, aluminum, zinc, nickel and manganese, and these pigments can be used alone or as a mixture.

As these pigments, those having an average particle diameter of about 0.1 μm to 20 μm are preferably used, and more preferably about 0.1 μm to 4 μm.

The infrared reflective layer 13 can be formed as a printing ink by adding a pigment as described above into the binder resin.

The amount of the infrared-reflecting pigment added can be about 5% to 20% by mass with respect to the solid content of the pineapple resin. More preferably, it is about 10% to 20%.

As the binder resin, any conventionally known material can be used as long as it is a material used for printing ink, and various resins such as a thermoplastic resin, a thermosetting resin, and a radiation curable resin can be used. ..

Examples of the thermoplastic resin include, but are not limited to, acrylic resins, polyester resins, urethane resins, vinyl chloride resins, and the like.

Examples of the thermosetting resin include acrylic polyol resin, polyester polyl resin, urethane resin composed of resins such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer having a hydroxyl group and isocyanates, epoxy resin, and melamine resin. Examples thereof include resins, phenolic resins, and oxidatively polymerized resins, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Examples of the radiation-curable resin include various resins having an ethylene group represented by an acrylic monomer, an acrylic oligomer, an acrylic polymer, and the like, to which an ultraviolet initiator or the like is added. You may have it. Further, there is no problem even if a cationically polymerized resin such as an epoxy resin is used.

The printing ink thus obtained may be printed by any conventionally known printing method as described above, and may be formed into a stripe shape, a grid shape, or an arbitrary pattern shape. Can be done.

The film thickness of the infrared reflecting layer 13 is preferably about 4 μm to 12 μm.

Further, as the infrared reflective pigment, there is no problem even if a mirror surface ink made of a scaly aluminum foil or the like is used.

Next, it is desirable that the white ink layer 14 has translucency with respect to light in at least the infrared region, that is, it is important that the white ink layer 14 has a function of reflecting infrared rays and a function of partially transmitting infrared rays. ..

As the white ink having such a function, for example, a so-called white ink containing titanium oxide can be preferably used.

The film thickness of such a white ink layer 14 can be about 8 μm to 20 μm.

An information code portion 15 is formed on the white ink layer 14. As the information code, any readable code such as a bar code, a QR code (registered trademark), a two-dimensional code, or an OCR character can be used.

Such an information code unit 15 is formed of an ink containing a material that absorbs infrared rays, and any conventionally known material can be used as the material that absorbs infrared rays. For example, carbon black or the like. In addition to materials such as tin-doped indium oxide, various materials such as phthalocyanine compounds, naphthalocyanine compounds, dithiol metal complexes, naphthoquinone compounds, and diinmonium compounds can be exemplified.

As a method of forming the information code unit 15 using ink containing a material that absorbs infrared rays as described above, in addition to the various printing methods described above, on-demand printing such as a thermal transfer method, an inkjet method, and an electrostatic method can be performed. The method and the like can be exemplified.

When the information code unit 15 is provided with individual information or the like, it is desirable that the information code unit 15 is printed by using an on-demand printing method.

The concealing layer 16 is colored in the visible light region, and it is desirable that the concealing layer 16 has at least a transparent layer in the infrared region, which makes it difficult to visually confirm the information code unit 15.

Therefore, it can be said that it is desirable to contain a material having a black color in the visible light region but having transparency in the infrared region.

Examples of such materials include so-called mixed color inks in which ordinary process inks composed of cyan, magenta, and yellow are mixed, and materials such as azo pigments, perylene pigments, oxonol compounds, and bismuth sulfide. Yes, but not necessarily limited to these.

It can be said that the thickness of the concealing layer 16 containing the infrared transmissive material as described above is preferably about 1 μm to 6 μm, more preferably about 2 μm to 4 μm.

(How to read the anti-counterfeit medium)
FIG. 2 shows the reflectance transition 21 of the information code section and the region without the information code section (hereinafter, when the horizontal axis is the wavelength of the irradiation light and the vertical axis is the reflectance of the anti-counterfeit medium 1). It is a figure schematically illustrating the reflectance transition 22 of the region having an infrared reflective layer and the reflectance transition 23 of the region having no infrared reflective layer in the underlying region.

In FIG. 2, the light 24 in the first wavelength band is in the wavelength region near the boundary between the visible light region and the infrared region, exhibits black color in the visible light region, and is affected by the concealing layer 16 having transparency in the infrared region. , Light in the wavelength range corresponding to the rising portion of the reflectance curve in which the reflectance gradually increases.

On the other hand, the light 25 in the second wavelength band has a wavelength different from that in the first wavelength band and is in the infrared region.

The method for reading the anti-counterfeit medium of the present invention uses light in two wavelength bands, the first wavelength band and the second wavelength band, and at the same time, the contrast of the reflected luminance between the information code unit 15 and the background region, and further, the background region. By utilizing the difference in contrast depending on the presence or absence of the infrared reflective layer 13 in the above, it is determined whether the anti-counterfeit medium is a genuine product or a counterfeit product, and the information code is read.

FIG. 2 also illustrates these contrasts (33, 34) and the threshold values 1 (31) and the threshold values 2 (32) as determination criteria.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the method for reading the anti-counterfeit medium of the present invention. First, it is calculated from the reflected brightness of the information code unit 15 and the reflected brightness of the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band between the region having the infrared reflecting layer 13 and the region not having the infrared reflecting layer 13. A threshold value 1 (31) and a threshold value 2 (32) are set for each contrast.

The threshold value 1 (31) and the threshold value 2 (32) are appropriately set (100) in advance according to various materials used for the anti-counterfeit medium 1.

Next, the anti-counterfeiting body 1 is irradiated with the light 24 of the first wavelength band and the light 25 of the second wavelength band (101), and the light 24 of the first wavelength band and the light 24 of the second wavelength band from the anti-counterfeiting body 1 are irradiated. The reflection brightness of the light 25 is measured (102).

Here, in the light irradiation (101), there is no problem even if a single light source including both the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band is used, but there is no problem. The light source for the light 24 and the light source for the light 25 in the second wavelength band may be used separately.

When the light sources for the above two types of wavelength bands are separately provided, an LED light source or the like corresponding to each wavelength band can be preferably used.

Further, the reflection intensity of the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band from the anti-counterfeiting body 1 is measured by an image pickup tube or the like via a band pass filter corresponding to each wavelength band. However, the method is not limited to this.

When measuring the reflection intensity of each wavelength band using an image pickup tube or the like, an image pickup tube corresponding to each wavelength band may be installed separately. In this case, the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band are simultaneously irradiated to the anti-counterfeit medium 1, and the reflection brightness can be measured at the same time.

However, since this method requires a plurality of image pickup tubes, a method in which a bandpass filter or the like is interchangeably provided for one image pickup tube may be adopted in consideration of cost.

In this case, a method is adopted in which the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band are separately irradiated, and the band pass filter or the like is switched according to the wavelength band of the light being irradiated. But there is no problem.

Based on the reflection brightness of the anti-counterfeit medium 1 in each wavelength band obtained as described above, the reflection brightness of the information code unit 15 and the base region of the light 24 in the first wavelength band and the light 25 in the second wavelength band. The respective contrasts are calculated (103) from the reflected luminance of the region having the infrared reflecting layer 13 and the region not having the infrared reflecting layer 13.

Here, Michelson contrast or the like may be used as the contrast, but the ratio of the reflected luminance of the bright portion (base region) to the dark portion (information code portion) can be preferably used.

Using the obtained contrast value, first, as a characteristic confirmation (106) of the first wavelength band, it is confirmed whether or not the contrast of the background region in the first wavelength band is a value less than the threshold value 2 (32) (104). Then, it is confirmed (105) whether or not the value is equal to or higher than the threshold value 1 (31).

At this time, if any of the conditions is not satisfied, the target anti-counterfeit medium 1 is determined to be a counterfeit product (110), and the information code is not read.

When the above two conditions are satisfied, the next step is to confirm the characteristics of the second wavelength band (1).
Proceed to 09).

In the characteristic confirmation (109) of the second wavelength band, it is confirmed whether or not the contrast of the background region in the second wavelength band is the threshold value 2 (32) or more (107), and the infrared reflection of the background region in the second wavelength band is performed. It is confirmed (108) whether or not there is a contrast difference between the region having the layer 13 and the region not having the layer 13.

The contrast difference confirms whether or not there is a difference that can be regarded as having a significant difference, and is not particularly limited to the method, but there is no problem even if a determination criterion is set in advance as the threshold value 3.

If any of the conditions is not satisfied in the characteristic confirmation (109) of the second wavelength band, the target anti-counterfeit medium 1 is determined to be a counterfeit product (110), and the information code is not read.

On the other hand, the target anti-counterfeit medium 1 is a genuine product only when both the above-mentioned conditions of the first wavelength band characteristic confirmation (106) and the second wavelength band characteristic confirmation (109) are satisfied. It is determined that there is (111), and the information code is read (112).

As shown in FIG. 2, it is desirable to read the information code unit 15 with light having at least the light 25 in the second wavelength band because high contrast can be expected.

Further, the reading does not necessarily have to perform the irradiation of the light for reading and the reading operation of the information code again after the authenticity determination (111) as described above is performed, and it is necessary to perform the authenticity determination (111). There is no problem even if the information code is read based on the image data captured by the image pickup tube or the like.

As described above, by using the anti-counterfeit medium of the present invention and the reading method thereof, the anti-counterfeit medium can be manufactured by a relatively inexpensive printing method, but a plurality of confirmations are performed in combination. Since it is not determined to be a genuine product unless all the conditions are satisfied, it is possible to provide an anti-counterfeit medium having extremely high security and a hidden information code, and a reading method thereof.

1 ... Anti-counterfeiting medium 11 ... Base material 12 ... Light-shielding layer 13 ... Infrared reflective layer 14 ... White ink layer 15 ... Information code part 16 ... Concealing layer 21 ... Reflectance transition of information code part 22 ... Area with infrared reflective layer Reflectance transition 23 ... Reflectance transition in a region without an infrared reflective layer 24 ... Light in the first wavelength band 25 ... Light in the second wavelength band 31 ... Threshold 1
32 ... Threshold 2
33 ... Contrast of the region having the infrared reflective layer in the underlying region 34 ... Contrast of the region not having the infrared reflective layer in the underlying region 100 ... Presetting of the threshold 1 and the threshold 2 101 ... The first wavelength band and the second wavelength band on the anti-counterfeit medium. Irradiate light in the wavelength band 102 ... Measure the reflected brightness of the first wavelength band and the second wavelength band from the anti-counterfeit medium 103 ... Calculate the contrast in the region with and without the information code part 104 ... Contrast in the first wavelength band is the threshold Confirm that it is 1 or more 105 ... Confirm that the contrast in the first wavelength band is less than the threshold value 106 ... Confirm the characteristics of the first wavelength band 107 ... Confirm that the contrast in the second wavelength band is the threshold value 2 or more. 108… Confirm that there is a difference in the region with and without infrared reflection in the 2nd wavelength band 109… Confirm the characteristics of the 2nd wavelength band 110… Judgment of counterfeit product 111… Judgment of genuine product 112… Read the information code

Claims (7)

An anti-counterfeit medium with an information code on the substrate,
The substrate is at least a light-shielding layer, a white ink layer, and the like.
An infrared reflective layer having a pattern is provided between the light-shielding layer and the white ink layer.
An information code unit and a concealing layer are provided in order on the white ink layer from the near side.
An anti-counterfeit medium, wherein the white ink layer has translucency, at least in the infrared region. The anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding layer and the information code portion include a dye that absorbs infrared rays. The anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the concealing layer has at least infrared transmission. The anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 2, wherein the dye contained in at least the light-shielding layer contains carbon black. The anti-counterfeit medium according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the white ink layer contains titanium oxide. The base material is at least a light-shielding layer, a white ink layer, and
An infrared reflective layer having a pattern is provided between the light-shielding layer and the white ink layer.
A method for reading an anti-counterfeit medium, wherein an information code portion and a concealing layer are sequentially provided on the white ink layer from the near side.
The step of irradiating the anti-counterfeit medium with light in the first wavelength band and
A step of irradiating the anti-counterfeit medium with light in the second wavelength band, which is different from the first wavelength band and is in the infrared region.
A step of measuring the reflected brightness of the light in the first wavelength band and the reflected brightness of the light in the second wavelength band, respectively.
A small value threshold value 1 and a large value threshold value 2 with respect to the contrast consisting of the reflected brightness of the region having the information code portion and the reflected brightness in the region not having the information code portion of the light irradiated to the anti-counterfeit medium. The process of preparing the two thresholds in advance and
The step of confirming that the contrast of the light in the first wavelength band is equal to or more than the threshold value 1 and less than the threshold value 2.
A step of confirming that the contrast of the light in the second wavelength band is equal to or higher than the threshold value 2 and that the contrast is different between the region having the infrared reflecting layer and the region not having the infrared reflecting layer.
A method for reading an anti-counterfeit medium, which comprises a step of reading information in the information code unit. The method for reading an anti-counterfeit medium according to claim 6 , wherein the step of reading the information is performed by light having at least the second wavelength band.

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