BG66604B1 - A protective perforation and method for protecting products against forgery by perforation - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is related to high resolution perforation with colour nuances, and a method for protecting, checking, and certification of the product authenticity, and at that, the perforation is applied with same size holes, which are at equal distances from each other, and the form of the holes is different for the various colour nuances.

Description

(54) IMAGE PERFORATION AND PROCEDURE FOR PROTECTION OF PRODUCTS AGAINST COUNTERFEITING

(57) The invention relates to image perforation and a method for protecting products against counterfeiting, which will find application in the field of securities production and in particular for protection against counterfeiting of a wide range of documents, such as passports, ID cards, driver's licenses, access passes, visa stickers and other similar products, as well as means of payment, such as banknotes, checks or labels of goods, excise labels and others. The created image perforation to protect products against counterfeiting consists of perforated holes forming an image. The perforated holes are located within thought circles with

66604 Bl a certain diameter, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them. The individual perforated holes represent figures with the same or different shape (2.1, 3.3) and a degree of filling of the thought circles corresponding to the level of the different color shades. In the original black and white, monochromatic image, the perforated holes represent figures of the same shape corresponding to the shade of white (1.2) or the shade of black (1.3). In the original color image, the perforated holes represent figures of different shapes (2.1,3.3), corresponding to 256 color shades of gray. A method for protecting products against forgery by perforating an image has also been developed, in which a source image intended for perforation is converted into a black and white, monochromatic image, after which this image is transformed to a resolution of perforation. Determine the shape of each hole corresponding to the color shade. In accordance with the final image thus obtained, holes are formed by perforation, representing figures of the same or different shape (2.1,3.3), located within imaginary circles with a certain diameter, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them. Perforation is a mechanical, laser, ionic or other type of hole cutting.

claims, 4 figures

66604 Bl (54) PERFORATION HA IMAGE AND PROCEDURE FOR PROTECTION OF PRODUCTS AGAINST COUNTERFEITING

Field of technology

The invention relates to image perforation and a method for protecting products against counterfeiting, which will find application in the field of securities production and in particular for protection against counterfeiting of a wide range of documents, such as passports, identity cards, driver's licenses, access passes, visa stickers and the like, as well as means of payment - banknotes, checks or labels of goods, excise labels and others.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Laser perforation methods and means for protection of documents, means of payment and other securities against forgery are known.

Document WO 9718092 A1 discloses a method for protection by perforation of an image, in which by means of apertures of a certain size it is obtained so that the image is visible in transmitted and invisible in reflected light.

Document US 2006006236 A1 describes a method in which perforated elliptical holes are perforated cross-oriented to achieve different images at different viewing angles. The described perforated images are not high resolution and color shades.

EP 0936975 B1 discloses a method for achieving color nuances by means of round holes of different diameters, depending on the level of gray. With this method, it is impossible to achieve a high resolution of the perforated image, namely a large number of perforated holes over a short distance on a relatively small surface. The reason for this is that the distance between the perforated holes, in this case, will be small and due to their different size can lead to overlapping holes, which in turn will degrade the quality of the resulting image. It is also possible to damage the perforated surface by accumulating a large number of perforated holes of large diameter due to their overlap, as well as additional burning of the material as a result.

In practice, laser micro perforation with holes of different diameters depending on the level of gray is also known, and the holes have a diameter between 80 and more than 200 pm depending on the gray light shade. In this case, if we want to get a high image resolution with a small perforation area, we must perform the perforation with a distance between the centers of the holes of 200 pm, this will lead to overlapping holes, which on the one hand will degrade the quality of the resulting image , and on the other hand the structure of the protected object will be violated. The latter can lead to its rupture and destruction during perforation or subsequent use.

None of the known methods affects the achievement of a high-quality, high-resolution image when perforating a plain black-and-white image without light and color nuances.

Technical essence of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide an image perforation to protect products against counterfeiting, which has a high image resolution with a small perforation area, i. have a high density of perforated holes, the perforated holes being within a certain size, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them, so as to avoid their overlap and to preserve the structure of the protected object.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a method for protecting products against counterfeiting by perforating an image.

The problem is solved by creating an image perforation to protect products against counterfeiting, consisting of perforated holes located within imaginary circles with a certain diameter, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them, forming an image. According to the invention, the individual perforations are figures of the same or different shape and degree of filling of the thought circles, corresponding to the level of the different color shades.

In initial black and white, monochromatic

66604 Bl image, the perforated holes represent figures of the same shape corresponding to the shade of white or the shade of black.

In the original color image, the perforated holes are shapes of different shapes, corresponding to 256 shades of gray.

The problem is solved by creating a method for protection of products against counterfeiting by perforation of an image, in which the original image intended for perforation is converted into a black and white, monochromatic image. The resulting image is then transformed by increasing or decreasing its size to a resolution that is suitable for perforation. The shape of the figure is determined for each hole, corresponding to the required color shade. In accordance with the final image thus obtained, perforations form holes representing figures of the same or different shape, located within thought circles with a certain diameter, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them.

In the created method, the perforation is a mechanical, laser, ionic or other type of cutting holes with a predetermined shape.

The advantage of the created perforation is that it has holes of the same fixed size and distance between them, thus within a certain size a great variety of color shades and extremely good visual perception of the perforated image is achieved. A high density of perforated holes is also achieved, which leads to high image resolution with a small perforation area. Another advantage is that the perforated holes are within a certain size, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them, so that their overlap is avoided and the structure of the protected object is preserved.

Explanation of the attached figures

Figure 1 depicts a perforation of an image by means of openings of the same size and shape and the same distance between them.

Figure 2 depicts a perforation of an image by means of holes of the same size and distance between them, the holes having a different rounded shape depending on the shade of gray.

Figure 3 depicts a perforation of an image by means of openings of the same size and distance between them, the openings having a different non-rounded shape depending on the shade of gray.

Figure 4 depicts a perforation of an image by means of holes of the same size and shape and a distance between them, the image being converted to black and white.

Examples of the invention

In most cases, the protective perforation is a perforation of a certain image, such as a photograph of the holder of an identity document, logo, coat of arms, number or other similar image. The images in question have some kind of digital form - acquired through scanning, capturing and other forms of digitization. The digital form of the image is a set of descriptions of the colors of the elements (pixels) of the respective image, which can be different in quantity depending on the type of the image itself. For example, 256 shades of gray in the so-called gray-scale images or 65536 colors - respectively color shades, and in some cases only two - black and white in the so-called monochromatic images.

In the present invention, in the presence of a gray-scale image or one with a large number of colors or color shades, the respective color level levels are represented by holes of different shapes, which holes are located in imaginary circles of the same diameter. At the respective color level, a precisely defined perforated hole is compared with a certain shape.

The shape of the openings is set such that the filling of the mental circle is ascending or descending depending on the colors, respectively the color nuance. For example, for level gray "0" at 256 shades of gray, for grayscale image, a figure with one fill is compared, for level "1" the figure has a larger fill than the previous one and so in increasing form to level "255" . The corresponding openings remain within thought circles of the same fixed diameter, which do not

66604 Bl changes for the entire perforated image. On the other hand, the distance between the openings (the distance between the thought circles) is also constant and does not change.

In the presence of a pure black and white (monochromatic) image, we have only one color shade. In order to obtain a high quality image with high resolution, the corresponding color shade is presented as an opening with the same shape and diameter of the mental circle in which it is located. Depending on whether white or black is represented, the perforated hole fills the thought circle differently. The perforation takes place in a perforation grid with the same distance of the holes - the same distance between the thought circles in which the holes are made.

Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of the invention, in which the initial image is a black and white (monochromatic) image (1.1). This image is transformed to perforation resolution by increasing or decreasing its size. The image thus obtained is perforated through uniform openings spaced at a predefined distance. Depending on the preferences for the visual effect, only the shade of white (1.2) or only the shade of black (1.3) is perforated. In the first case we achieve a negative image that has a better visual perception of transmitted light than reflected light, and in the second case we achieve a positive image that has a better visual perception of reflected light than of transmitted light.

The same applies if we have a color image that we convert to black and white and the perforation method described above.

Another embodiment is shown in Figure 2, in which the output image is of the gray-scale type with 256 color shades of gray, and depending on the color shade (2.1) holes of the corresponding shape are perforated in the same thought circles. The group of color shades thus obtained form a visual perception (2.2) to obtain the perforated image (2.3) used, for example, for passport protection (2.4).

The same effect is obtained if an image with 16-bit color (65536) - (3.1), shown in Figure 3, is converted to an image of the gray-scale type with 256 color shades of gray (3.2), using a standard technique for processing images - in this case (H-red + 3-green + C-blue) / 3 (R + G + B) / 3). The resulting image (3.2) is perforated through holes of different shapes, located in the same circles of thought, depending on the level of gray (3.3), to obtain an image (3.4), for example to protect an ID card (3.5).

Figure 4 shows another exemplary embodiment in which a black-and-white image is obtained from a color image (4.1) by means of a classical method for obtaining a half-tone image in the case of the Floyd-Steinberg method. Holes of the same size of the imaginary circles in which they are located, spaced at a predefined distance in the perforation matrix, are perforated. Depending on the preferences for the visual effect, only the shade of white (4.2) or only the shade of black (4.3) is perforated to protect against counterfeiting, for example on a passport (4.4) or an identity card (4.5).

It is possible to use other methods of obtaining a half-tone image, such as Jarvis, Stucki, Cardinality-Distribution, etc., which are not the subject of the present invention.

The perforation of the images is done with the help of mechanical, laser, ionic or other type of perforation - cutting holes with a predetermined shape. Particularly suitable are laser perforation and micro perforation, where extremely high resolution and perforated image quality are achieved. Different wavelengths are used for different groups of materials. For example, a wavelength of 16,000 nm is used for different types of paper and plastics, and a wavelength of 1064 nm is used for metal.

In the ways shown above, perforated images with high resolution and image quality can be achieved, in which the perception of the image is both in transmitted and reflected light. The perforated images thus obtained serve as a unique security element against the falsification of a wide range of documents, such as passports, identity cards, driver's licenses, access passes, visa stickers and others.

66604 Bl similar, as well as various means of payment - banknotes, checks or labels of goods, excise labels and others.

The perforated image can be a number of the protected object, an image of the holder of the document or another image - logo, coat of arms and other symbols for protection against forgery. Counterfeiting or falsification is hampered by the high quality of the image, which is clearly recognizable. Take, for example, the case of protection of identity documents, where the image of the holder of the document is perforated. Due to its high resolution and quality, the holder of the document and its authenticity can be unequivocally judged even when trying to falsify the photo on the document. On the other hand, the high density of perforation leads to its incorporation into smaller areas, which further complicates its falsification.

Claims (5)

Image perforation for the protection of products against counterfeiting, consisting of perforated image-forming holes, the perforated holes being located within imaginary circles of a certain diameter, equal to the whole image and having the same distance between them, characterized in that that the individual perforated openings represent figures with the same or different shape (2.1, 3.3) and a degree of filling of the thought circles corresponding to the level of different color shades. Image perforation according to claim 1, characterized in that in the initial black and white, monochromatic image, the perforated holes are figures of the same shape corresponding to the shade of white (1.2) or the shade of black (1.3). Image perforation according to claim 1, characterized in that in the initial color image, the perforated holes represent figures of different shapes (2.1,3.3), corresponding to 256 shades of gray. Method for protecting products against forgery by perforating an image according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises sequential operations: the initial image intended for perforation is converted into a black and white, monochromatic image, followed by this image by increasing or decreasing its size, it is transformed into a perforation resolution, the shape of the figure for each hole is determined and in accordance with the final image thus obtained, the holes representing figures of the same or different shape (2.1, 3.3) are formed by perforation. within thought circles with a certain diameter, the same for the whole image and with the same distance between them. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the perforation is a mechanical, laser, ionic or other type of cutting holes with a predetermined shape.