EP0123163A2 - Identity card and method for its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

An identification card with high-embossed data, in which the high-embossed data are superimposed by a security pattern which is inscribed in the identification card by means of a laser beam recorder. The security pattern may be present, for example, only on the high-embossed data themselves or else cover a larger area of the card. Attempted back-embossing of the high-embossed data is immediately recognizable due to distortion of the security pattern.

Description

The invention relates to an identification card with alphanumeric characters that can be used as a printing block in a highly embossed form and a method for producing the same.

It has long been customary to provide identification cards with embossed characters. In this way, customer-related data, such as the name of the card holder, account number, card number etc., are usually inserted into the ID card.

The embossing of the ID card has proven particularly useful since the card personalization, i.e. H. the introduction of the customer data on which the laminated cards can be carried out after the reject cards due to defective printing and defective lamination have already been discarded. Highly embossed data can be provided for almost all card types regardless of the card structure. Because such cards work in conjunction with an ink ribbon like a printing block, they are used in a very simple manner for transferring customer data to invoices and the like.

It has turned out to be particularly disadvantageous, however, that the embossed characters can be removed with simple means by embossing or ironing down and replaced by other embossed characters. Since the embossed characters on a card give their individuality and the relationship to the customer or the customer's account can be established solely from this, it is obvious that if this data is not recognized after the conclusion of a transaction, the customer account cannot be debited. The damage that can be attributed to such manipulations is increasing.

Since the use of embossed cards has meanwhile become established in all areas of the economy and the advantages of fast data transfer, which is possible without complex aids, can not be achieved by any other card type, people have been looking for options for years that enable the use of embossing on the one hand, but on the other hand Prevent manipulations or make manipulations recognizable for everyone without tools.

Various proposals have been made to solve this problem over time.

For example, the choice of peculiar shaped special characters should make it difficult to manipulate the embossed characters, since the usual embossing stamps cannot be used for such cards. However, it has been shown that by simply pouring the positive and negative reliefs of the identity cards, it is possible to create any embossed stamp, so that even special characters could not prevent the cards from being falsified.

In addition, attempts have been made to prevent the embossing by filling in the recesses on the back of the card which are produced by the embossing. Since such recesses are mostly made on the heated card or in the simplest case with a hot iron, the filling compound was also provided with heat indicators according to a further proposal, which additionally indicate the subsequent heating of the card by an irreversible color change.

In practice, neither of these suggestions was reflected, since the filling material cannot be limited to the depressions and the mate applied in the surrounding area rialien very disturb the appearance of the back of the card. In addition, the subsequent filling in of the negative reliefs is very time-consuming, which makes this measure economically unjustifiable, especially with large numbers of cards.

In order to exclude the possibility of embossing from the beginning, a method has also become known in which the personalization data embossed in metal plates is already transferred to the card surface during lamination. During the lamination process, the card material softens and flows into the depressions in the metal plate without leaving a negative relief on the back. This creates an embossing in which the characters can no longer be embossed. However, since a metal plate with engraved personalization data has to be produced for each card in order to produce such cards, this method was also unsuccessful in practice for economic reasons.

To prevent data corruption, it was further proposed to personalize the finished laminated cards using a laser beam recorder. In this way, any type of card can be provided with absolutely falsification-proof data, regardless of the card structure, whereby the characters can also have relief-like surface deformations, but cards of this type are usually not suitable, like embossed cards, for transferring card data to other recording media, so that the function of the embossed cards is limited Laser personalized cards can also not be accepted.

The object of the invention is therefore to propose an identification card with embossed data, in which means are provided that are both a forgery and a Prevent falsification of the card data or where such unlawful measures can be identified without tools and in which the means of protection can be provided economically regardless of the card structure, even for large series.

This object is achieved by the means mentioned in the characterizing part of the main claim.

The invention is based on the knowledge of securing the highly embossed data, which is worthless from a security point of view, on the already personalized identification card, or of additionally fixing its structural information in the card material in such a way that a forgery or falsification attempt is immediately visually apparent without additional aids. If the area of the embossed characters is superimposed over a large area with a security pattern written by a laser beam recorder as discoloration of the card material, an attempt to stamp back is immediately visually visible, since in the areas of the card material on which the flanks of the embossed characters were located, the security pattern is clearly less visible and, depending on the shape of the security pattern, is more or less distorted in these areas. Embossed characters are then still clearly visible as a structural or color change in the security pattern, even in the case of expertly implemented falsifications. In another embodiment, only the raised areas of the embossed characters are provided with a security pattern, so that even after the characters have been stamped back, the original information remains visible as an interruption in the security pattern.

Writing the security pattern using a laser beam recorder is particularly effective as protection against counterfeiting and falsification, since it is secure pattern is present as a clearly visible discoloration of the map material, which is caused by irreversible material changes in the map material, and is practically not falsifiable. At higher dosages of laser energy, in addition to the discoloration, there is also a characteristic microrelief, which can be easily checked by tactile means and offers additional protection against the embossing of the characters.

An identification card according to the invention is also very easy to distinguish from a counterfeit impression, in which a blank card was overprinted with a security pattern and only then provided with embossed data, since the embossing subsequently severely distorts the security pattern and thus the required appearance of its surroundings deviates. In the case of an identification card according to the invention, which is provided with the security pattern only after the data have been impressed, the security pattern is practically undistorted when viewed vertically.

With regard to the shape of the security pattern, various shapes are conceivable and can be adapted as desired to the desired appearance of the card. So are z. B. parallel straight or wavy lines, the guilloches known from the printing technology, but also patterns, which are made up of micro-characters and z. B. can carry card-independent or card-specific information.

In the method according to the invention, the already personalized identification cards are fed to the laser writing station, in which the security pattern is written into the card material by means of a laser beam writer over the area of the embossed data. In a preferred arrangement, the ratio of the distance between the laser beam recorder - card level and the card length is so large that the laser beam z. B. is always almost perpendicular to the map plane when writing a straight line pattern line by line. This avoids any "shadow effect", ie shadowing of map areas by the embossed characters. The laser energy striking the flanks of a highly embossed character is largely reflected, so that there is only a very slight discoloration, if at all. In addition, due to the beveling of the flanks, the absorbed laser energy is distributed over a larger area than with a card area perpendicular to the laser beam. The resulting "stretching" of the part of the security pattern inscribed in this area is not visible when viewed vertically, but is clearly recognizable when the characters are embossed back (an inscribed point is stretched to an ellipse, for example).

In other embodiments of the method according to the invention, the position of the laser beam recorder relative to the card plane is shortened and / or shifted in such a way that the "shadow effect" described above becomes visible. The inventive method leaves all possibilities open with regard to the adaptation to the design of the card and the shape and appearance of the security pattern.

If one uses a card-independent pattern as the security pattern, i. H. a pattern that is the same for all cards, the laser device and the inscription method become particularly simple, since the same data record can be used for each card. Any assignment problems from ID card to data record are thus completely eliminated.

However, in order to achieve a particularly high security standard and with a correspondingly higher effort, it is also possible to derive the security pattern from user-related data ten ("micro-writing" from the name of the cardholder, account number etc.). For this purpose, the corresponding data record of the laser system must be supplied for each personalized ID card. The simplest possible implementation is to directly couple the laser marking process with the personalization of the ID card. If the laser inscription is carried out separately from the personalization of the ID card, the user-related, embossed data can e.g. B. also read by an OCR reader and fed to the laser system.

The use of laser beam writing technology means that security can be protected against tampering with a superimposed security pattern and without difficulty on any ID card. Personalization and validation of the embossing can be done separately as required or in a self-contained process.

Another advantage of the method according to the invention is that the security of the embossed data consisting of the security pattern can be varied as desired and can thus be adapted to the design of a special card type. Because of the optically recognizable irreversible material conversion produced by the laser inscription, which also extends into the inside of the card, manipulation or the re-embossing and reshaping of characters can be almost completely ruled out. In a special embodiment, the security pattern also has a characteristic microrelief which, in addition to the visual, also enables a manual authenticity check of the characteristic laser writing features.

Further embodiments of an identification card according to the invention and advantages of the inventive method are explained in more detail with reference to the figures listed below.

• Fig. 1 erfindungsgemäße Ausweiskarte mit hochgeprägten Daten und überlagertem Sicherheitsmuster,
• Fig. 2 schematisch vergrößerter Schnitt durch ein hochgeprägtes Zeichen einer erfindungsgemäßen Ausweiskarte,
• Fig. 3a vergrößertes hochgeprägtes Zeichen mit überlagertem, aus Linien bestehenden Sischerheitsmuster,
• Fig. 3b vergrößertes rückgeprägtes Zeichen mit überlagertem, aus Linien bestehenden Sicherheitsmuster
• Fig. 4a Beschriftungsanordnung für das erfinderische Verfahren bei senkrechter Strahlrichtung
• Fig. 4b Beschriftungsanordnung für das erfinderische Verfahren bei schräger Strahlrichtung

Show it:

• 1 ID card according to the invention with embossed data and superimposed security pattern,
• 2 schematically enlarged section through an embossed sign of an identification card according to the invention,
• 3a enlarged embossed character with overlaid security lines consisting of lines,
• Fig. 3b enlarged embossed character with overlaid, consisting of lines security pattern
• Fig. 4a labeling arrangement for the inventive method with vertical beam direction
• Fig. 4b labeling arrangement for the inventive method with oblique beam direction

In Fig. 1, an identity card 1 is shown in supervision, from which the protection according to the invention can be seen.

The identification card 1 has a signature strip 2 in the upper card area with a signature 3 carried out by the card holder himself. In the lower area of the card the name of the cardholder appears in the form of embossed characters 4. These characters 4 are designed such that they are transferred to other recording media under pressure and in connection with an ink ribbon are portable. Usually, other highly embossed data 4 are provided on identity cards, which can possibly also reflect the address of the card holder, the account number, card number, etc. For the sake of simplicity, the display of further characters and the reproduction of a generally also provided general printed image, which contains information about the issuing institute and the like, have been omitted.

The embossed data 4, which contain the information required for the account debit of the owner, are superimposed over a large area by the security pattern 5, which in this case consists of simple parallel lines. The security pattern 5 is written into the card already provided with the embossed data 4 by means of a laser beam recorder. Depending on the dosage of the laser energy, the security pattern appears as a locally defined, irreversible discoloration resulting from material conversions of the map material up to a clearly perceptible microrelief.

Fig. 2 shows a greatly enlarged schematic section through an embossed character. The security pattern is present as a strong discoloration 6, 9, on the flank of the sign as a weak, barely visible discoloration 7 of the card material. This effect can probably be explained by the fact that when the laser beam recorder is almost perpendicular to the card plane in the areas b of the embossed character, ie on the flanks, the incident laser energy is almost completely reflected, and therefore it only causes a very weakly visible discoloration 7 of the Map material is coming. In areas a and b, where the laser energy falls perpendicularly onto the card plane, this is largely absorbed by the card material and a clearly visible discoloration 6, 9 is generated. The surface will be better Identification of the embossed data also covered with a layer of color - as is the case with conventional embossed cards - so in addition to the discoloration 9 → occurring in the card material, the color above is evaporated so that the security pattern on the surface of the embossed and embossed characters is also visible through interruptions in the applied color layer.

If the beam of the laser beam recorder is not perpendicular to the card plane, then depending on the angle that the beam forms with the card plane, the flank facing the laser beam recorder is also clearly labeled, while the flank portions turned away from the laser beam recorder are not labeled, as they are, so to speak, "shadowed" will. Depending on the position of the laser beam recorder, a less or more pronounced "shadow effect" can be achieved.

3a and b show a schematic, greatly enlarged symbol (vertical bar) in top view and in section.

3a shows the embossed character with a superimposed security pattern 10, 12 made of parallel straight lines. If the beam of the laser beam recorder is almost perpendicular to the plane of the card, the flank parts of the sign are not or only very weakly described, since the laser series is largely reflected in this area. The security pattern then appears only on the card level 10 and on the embossed area 12 of the sign.

In Fig. 3b the same character is shown after successful reshaping. The area 15, which previously formed the flanks of the embossed character, is not covered by the security pattern. That was originally high Embossed characters thus remain clearly visible as an interruption in the security pattern even after being embossed, so that a possible attempt to emboss with another character is immediately recognizable. In the areas where the lines of the security pattern were almost parallel to the flanks of the sign, the lines 14 are distorted as a result of the embossing, as a result of which an attempt at falsification is also visible.

In normal viewing of the characters shown in Fig. 3a, i.e. H. perpendicular to the map surface, the security pattern appears very homogeneous due to the spatial division and due to shadow effects and reflections. Despite the weakly or not at all described high embossing flanks, the viewer does not recognize the bright areas 11 shown in FIG. 3a. Under these circumstances, no distortions of the printed image can be seen.

After the characters have been embossed back, the parts of the security pattern which were previously separated on the card surface 10 and on the apex planes 12 of the embossed characters are now arranged in the same plane. Previous mirror and shadow effects are eliminated. In this embodiment, the unlabeled flank areas 15 suddenly stand out relatively strongly as bright double lines from their surroundings, so that the original character remains visible unchanged.

. The security pattern shown in Figure 3a can also we _- be constructed sentlich complicated. It can e.g. B. consist of a sequence of characters ("micro script"), which overlap the area of the embossed characters. The characters can either carry card-independent information or also user-specific, card-specific information (e.g. the name of the cardholder). The effect created by the embossing is analog to that described in Fig. 3b.

4a and 4b show two schematic arrangements, not to scale, for carrying out the method according to the invention.

4a shows an identification card 20 with embossed characters 21, which is overwritten in the area of the embossed data by the laser beam recorder 22 with a security pattern. In this arrangement, with the card at rest and the two-dimensionally deflected laser beam, the ratio of the distance d (laser beam recorder to the card surface) to the card length c should be chosen so large that the beams 23, 24, 25 of the laser beam recorder strike the card plane almost perpendicularly in all card areas. If you move the card past the laser beam recorder during labeling, the arrangement with vertical labeling is of course independent of the card distance. While the beams 23 and 24 strike areas of the card that are perpendicular to the laser beam and therefore absorb most of the laser energy (there is a clearly visible discoloration of the card material), the energy of the beam 25, which is on a flank of the embossed character 21 strikes, largely reflected, so that there is no or only a very slight discoloration.

4b shows an arrangement for achieving the "shadow effect" already mentioned above. In this case, the labeling is done at an oblique angle. In this asymmetrical position of the laser beam recorder, which is related to the card level (laser beam recorder is in the left card area), when the security pattern is written in (relative to the laser beam recorder 22), the embossed characters 21 create a "shadow", ie the rays (e.g. beam 27) of the Laser beam recorders do not reach this area because it is hidden from the beam area by the embossed symbol 21. In this case, the flank of the embossed character 21 facing the laser beam recorder is also written (by beam 26).

The "shadow effects" can be varied over a wide range by varying the parameters c and d and the position of the laser beam recorder.

In the arrangements shown in Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b, the labeling process is shown so that the position of the ID card 21 and the laser beam recorder 22 are fixed and only the rays sweep the card surface. As already indicated, it is of course also possible to pass the identification card past the laser beam recorder, i.e. H. the ID card is moved while the laser beam remains fixed.

In summary, it can be said that highly embossed identification cards can be protected particularly effectively against attempts at counterfeiting and counterfeiting with the method according to the invention. The freedom in the choice of security patterns, the great variability with regard to the adaptation to a special card design and the high security value make the method according to the invention a particularly effective means of drastically reducing the damage caused annually by fraudulent card manipulations.

Claims (11)

1. ID card with alphanumeric characters that can be used as a printing block in embossed form, characterized in that the embossed characters are overlaid with a security pattern, which appears inscribed with a laser beam recorder as discoloration of the card material and when viewed vertically without distortion. 2. ID card according to claim 1, characterized in that the security pattern consists of paral- .len lines. 3. ID card according to claim 1, characterized in that the security pattern is a guilloche pattern. 4. ID card according to claim 1, characterized in that the security pattern is formed from characters in the form of a micro-script. 5. ID card according to claim 4, characterized in that the micro-writing contains current data of the ID card holder. 6. ID card according to claims 1-5, characterized in that the security pattern covers the area of the embossed data over a large area. 7. ID card according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the security pattern on the embossed characters is visible as an interruption in a layer of color. 8. A method for producing an identification card according to claim 1, characterized in that a) an already personalized identification card with the embossed data is fed to a laser writing device, b) a security pattern formed from lines, guilloches or characters is inscribed by means of the laser beam recorder over the area of embossed data. 9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the beam of the laser beam recorder is almost perpendicular to the plane of the card during the labeling process. 10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the beam of the laser beam recorder is at an angle to the card plane during the labeling process. 11. The method according to claim 8 to 10, characterized in that the beam of the laser beam recorder is moved during the labeling process and the identification card is firmly positioned.

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