CA2177515A1 - Scratch resistant non-oriented polyester security card - Google Patents

Abstract

A laminated security card which is resistant to curling, scratching and replication on the outer surfaces thereof. The card includes a core which has an image and data receiving surface on at least one face thereof. The identifica-tion data may include an image, letters and/or numerals. A film of a non-oriented polyester having an adhesive layer is applied to each face of the core. A hardcoat is applied to either one or both of the films of non-oriented polyester to provide abrasion and replication resistance to the resultant card.

Description

` 2177~1~
Sc~ATrT~ R~ISTANT NON--ORT~N~rED POLYEST~R SEC~3RITY rARn Backgrolln~l ~n-l 5 rSr of the Invention Security cards, a term which includes ~dl~n~;fir;~tion cards, driver ' s licenses and f inancial transaction cards, such as credit cards, debit cards and automated teller machine cards, are usually provided with ~ nl~ i f 1 ~ ation data or photographs, or both on one or both faces of the card. In use, security cards may be passed through "reading r--h i n~ ~ which read either a magnetic strLpe, bar codes or optical characters on one or more faces of the card. In order to be read properly, the security card should not develop a curl. This interaction of a security card with reading r ~-h i n~q results many times in scratches on the faces of the cards which scratches eventually can cause misread-ing of the data on the security cards by the reading r ~hin~q.
In conventional security cards, scratch resistance has been obtained through the use of films of oriented polyester as the outer wear surfaces protecting the core of the card which carries the photographic image or data or both. However, the use of oriented polyester films in security cards often results in cards which curl during the lamination process due to the relaxing or disorientation of the stretched polyester of the card . Cards that do not lie f lat present problems in use such as `^ ~ 2177~5 the inability to be correctly read by a machine. Some manufac-turers of security cards have avoided the curling problem through the use of non-oriented polyester films for the outer wear ~urfaces of the laminated 6ecurity cards. Elowever, security S czlrds with non-oriented polyester outer surfaces have had a tendency to pick up the impressions of surfaces that the card contacts when it is heated during the lamination process. The impressions picked up by the faces of the card may be those of the laminating rollers or of a carrier which many times is used to transport the components of the security card through the lamination process. The creation of unwanted impressions on the faces of a card is convl~ntionAl ly referred to as "replication" .
Therefore, a principal object of this invention is a non-curling, scratch and replication resistant security card which may be laminated with layers of non-oriented polyester film.
Another ob~ect of this invention is a laminated cecurity card having a scratch and replication resistant coating applied to at least one of the non-oriented polyester films which provides an outer face of the card.
Yet another ob~ect of this invention is a laminated security card having scratch and replication resistant coatings applied to both outer faces thereof.
other objects may be found in the following specifica-tion, claims and drawings.

2177~1S
Brief Descri~tion of the Dr2win~s The invention i8 illustrated more or less diagrammati-cally in the following drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is an exploded view of one ~ t of a laminated security card of this invention; and Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a second embodLment of laminated security card of this invention.
Descri~tio~ sf the Preferred EmbQ~i ~
Fig. l is an exploded view of one embodiment of the security card of this invention. The security card 11 includes a core 13. The core may be a piece of photographic paper or may include a base of a transparent resin having an image receiving surface formed on one or both sides thereof. The image receiving surf ace may be a separate piece of photographic paper or it may lS be a photographic emulsion to which an identification data image may be applied photogrArhi~-A1 ly. Further, the image receiving layer or layers of the core 13 may be constituted to receive an image 15 and data 17 formed by a multi-color laser printer, an ink~et printer or a diffusion dye printer. In other words, the image 15 may be a photographic image or it may be a computer generated image. This image and/or data may be formed on one or both faces of the core 13.
In a completed card ll an adhesive film 19 is posi-tioned against each of the opposlte faces of the core 13. The adhesive fllm characteristically is a heat sensitive adhesLve compatible with a non-oriented polyester film. A layer of a non-

2~77~15 oriented polyester film 21 is positioned against each of the opposite outer faces of the adhesive ~ilms 19. A h~rr~(-o~f 23 is on the outer face of the non-oriented polyester film 21 which is located on the side of the core 13 having the image 15 and data 17. Various coatings are available for use as the hardcoat 23 and such coatings can be cured either by ultraviolet light or an electron beam in atmospheres of air or oxygen. Many of these hardcoats provide good adhesion to polyester film. A suitable hardcoat is commercially available under the trademark GAFGARD
233 and is referred to as an Abrasion Resistant Radiation Curable Coating .
For ease of manufacture and assembly, the adhesive film 19 is applied to one face of a non-oriented polyester film 21 and this laminate of adhesive and polyester films is supplied to the ultlmate assembler of the security card as discrete die-cut panels or in an elongated roll. Another laminate which includes the non-or~nted polyester film 21 with an adhesive film 19 applied to one face and a hardcoat facing 23 on the opposite face thereof is also supplied to the assembler of the security card in the same formats as previously described. The two laminates, one having layers 19 and 21 and the other having layers 19, 21 and 23 can be laminated using conventional lamination processes involving heated rollers to form the completed security card 11.
A second l~mho~li~~nt of the scratch and replication resistant, non-oriented polyester security card of my invention is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. IIerein, the security card 31 2177~1~
includes a core 33 similar to core 13 previously described and which may contain an image 35 and dat2 37 on either on or both sides of the core 33. Adhesive film layers 39 similar to adhesive film layers 19 previously tl~crrihF~ are positioned against opposite faces of the core 33. Films 41 of non-oriented polyester are positioned against the outer surfaces of each adhesive film 39 and a hardcoat 43 similar to previously ~l~cr~r;h~ hardcoat 23 is located on the outer surface of each non-orient~d polyester film 41. The hardcoat 43 is cured in the same manner as previously described. The two laminates each having layers 39, 41 and 43 are laminated to the core 33 in a conventional manner using heated rollers to form the completed security card 11. The resultant card 31 has a hardcoat 43 on each outer surf~ce thereof to prevent scratching during use and eliminate the tendency to pick up impressions of surfaces that the card contacts during the lamination process.

Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR
PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A laminated security card resistant to curling and replication on an outer surface thereof, including:
a core consisting of an identification document having identification data on at least one face thereof, an adhesive layer located outwardly of each face of said core, a film of non-oriented polyester located outwardly of each of said adhesive layers, and a hardcoat applied to the outer face of at least the film of non-oriented polyester which covers the face of said core having the identifying data.

2. The laminated security card of claim 1 in which a hardcoat is applied to the outer face of each film of non-oriented polyester on opposite faces of said core.

3. The laminated security card of claim 1 in which said hardcoat is an abrasion resistant radiation curable coating.