AU646864B2 - All plastic identification card - Google Patents

Description

All Plastic Identification Card

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an all plastic, coloured, high information content, credit/security identification card consisting of three layers, namely, a plain plastic base card, a laser beam induced layer deposited on top of the base card to form the specific information content of individual cards and a clear, optically transparent plastic layer deposited on top of the imaged layer to protect said images both from wear and forgery.

The production of the all plastic, coloured credit/identification card of this invention involves coating the said base card with a layer of a liquid plastic mixture which is sensitive to tuneable laser beams, for example ultra violet laser beams, and which can be polymerised under the action of such tuneable laser beams to produce hardened plastic images in colour, with each coloured plastic image being deposited by a laser beam tuned to a particular wavelength so that only a particular coloured plastic is deposited at that particular laser wavelength. The invention has applications in the credit card and identification card industries.

Summary of the Prior Art Prior art plastic credit/identification cards are legion, but all have defects in that either the photograph is not thoroughly bonded to said card, is not in colour, the information content of the card is very limited, it is easy to forge or the multiple layers are not well bonded and the printed information wears out rapidly with use until it becomes difficult to read. The major defect with prior art credit/identification cards is the fact that the card and the images are of completely different materials which are difficult to bond

5 together into a long life product which is difficult to forge. High quality prior art identification cards cannot be produced faster than about 140 per hour whereas a single production unit should have a capacity of 1 ,000 cards per hour if it is to have any hope of meeting demands for this type of card required in the future, that is a card ι o with full colour photograph, identification number, name of card holder, and the expiry date which must be all clearly visible. In addition, these cards should be capable of holding up to 800 pages equivalent of standard information, including that for a full colour photograph of the card holder, in a machine readable format so that

15 their full listing of the card holders' activities can be accessed when the card is inserted into an optical scanner connected to the computer network in which the information can be rapidly assessed.

The present invention overcomes the defects of prior art credit/Identification cards in that it provides a multi layered, all 2o plastic card, which can be produced in full colour and be capable of storing a large amount of data concerning the card holder in an array of appropriately deposited plastic blobs.

Background of the Invention

Credit/Identification cards are very popular and, in general, are 25 relatively easy to forge so that the credit card industry, for example, lose large amounts of funds from the misuse of such cards. Also the value for high level security use is limited.

Precisely focused laser beams allow for the hardening of liquid plastics onto a liquid base with a very high degree of bonding. By

5 using different liquid plastics sensitive to difference dyes, it is possible to deposit a full colour, all plastic photograph onto a base plastic card. Of course, such solid state plastic photographs have a profile above the surface of the base card. It is simpler for a forger to forge such a profile than it is, for example to forge a profile burnt ι o into the base card with a focused laser beam.

To overcome this problem it is necessary to cover the profiled card with a layer of clear polymerised liquid plastic. This clear plastic layer also protects the plastic images from general wear and tear whilst in use.

5 Data is stored in the card of this invention in the form of small plastic blobs. This digital format of information storage can be read with a laser scanner. The presence of a blob giving the opposite signal to that produced when no blob exists in the array at a particular location of the data storage being integrated, provides a 0 digital data signal which can be identified by an optical scanner.

The rate at which all plastic credit/identification can be produced depends on the amount of information that has to be included. In general, the rate of polymerising plastic images can be very short particularly if the image of the whole card is projected into the liquid plastics. In general, high quality credit/identification cards can be produced at the rate of over 100 cards per hour. The present invention has a capacity of 1000 cards per hour.

5 Summary of the Invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a secure credit/identification card of all plastic construction which can have a full colour photograph of the card holder, a large amount of stored data relating to the card holder within an array of appropriately ι o deposited plastic blobs, and immediately readable such as the date of birth, expiry date and the reference number, all of which are different for different cards.

Another object of the invention is to provide a secure credit/identification card by covering the surface of said card with a 15 layer of clear, polymerised plastic.

It is an object of the invention that it is producible at the rate of 1000 cards per hour.

It is an object of the invention to use different coloured liquid plastics to produce the full colour image of the card holder on each 2o card.

Brief Description of the Drawings

A better understanding of the invention may be obtained from the following consideration taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are not meant to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

The cross-section of the three layered card is shown in Figure 1 In Figure 2, we outline a preferred layout of the plastic images of th invention. In Figure 3, we outline the key stages in the manufacture of the invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In Figure 1 , numeral 1 indicates a base plastic card onto which plastic images indicated by numeral 2 are deposited. Numeral 3 indicates a layer of clear plastic deposited over the said plastic images 2.

In Figure 2, numeral 4 indicates an array of machine readable plastic blobs, deposited in such a manner as to provide a signal into the computer corresponding to 1 or 0 depending on the presence or no presence of the said blob in a particular portion of the invention. Numeral 5 indicates the name of the institution which issues the sai card whilst numeral 6 indicates the all plastic photograph of the car holder. Numeral 7 indicates the plastic identification number, numeral 8 the expiry date of the said card whilst numeral 9 gives the name of the card holder.

In Figure 3, numeral 1 indicates the blob base card to be processed. Numeral 10 indicates a liquid plastic dispenser which ejects said liquid plastic via the nozzle indicated by numeral 11 onto the base card 1 to form the thin covering layer of liquid plastic indicated by numeral 12.

In Figure 3(c), numeral 13 indicates a tuneable, variable focused, ultra violet laser beam which hardens liquid plastic layer 12 into plastic images indicated by numeral 2 under the control of a computer (not shown) which precisely moves laser beam 13 so as to trace out the required, all plastic image. If the image is to be made up of rows of blobs, then the laser beam is modulated accordingly as it traces out the configuration of said image and its colour content under computer control.

In Figure 3(d), numeral 14 indicates means to remove excess liquid plastic 12 from hardened image 2, consisting of a light brush with fluid flow and or fluid suction.

In Figure 3(e), numeral 15 indicates a tank of liquid plastic onto which is attached an ultra violet light source. The liquid plastic dispenser indicated by numeral 15 lays down the liquid plastic layer which is polymerised by source 16 to form the hardened, transparent protective layer of the invention indicated by numeral 3.

The invention is computer readable using either an expert system network or a neural network computer. The invention has applications in identifying its holder in the finance industry, in the security industry, the safety industry and under any condition where the holder has to be identifiable.

Claims (2)

I claim,

1. An all plastic card comprised of three layers; a solid plastic base, a solid plastic information layer, 5 a solid plastic protective cover layer.

Said solid plastic information layer consisting of a colour photograph of the card holder, personal details in a clear visual display and a data storage plastic blob array which can be machine read.

2. A system as claimed in Claim 1 , in the form of a credit card. ι o 3. A system as claimed in Claim 1, in the form of an identification card.