EP0690421A1

EP0690421A1 - Reader for detecting and decoding security tapes in sheet-like documents

Info

Publication number: EP0690421A1
Application number: EP95109469A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Maurizio Lazzerini
Original assignee: Mantegazza Antonio Arti Grafiche SRL
Current assignee: Mantegazza Antonio Arti Grafiche SRL
Priority date: 1994-06-22
Filing date: 1995-06-19
Publication date: 1996-01-03
Also published as: ITMI941310A1; ITMI941310A0; IT1271191B

Abstract

A reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, comprising a head (1) for reading the graphic security markings provided on a security strip that is inserted in a document passing under the reading head with a translatory motion that is substantially at right angles and/or parallel to the orientation of the security strip. The reading head has a reading region (20) that is elongated along a direction that is substantially inclined with respect to the extension of the strip and has a useful length matching at least the portion of the strip to be detected.

Description

The present invention relates to a reader for detecting and decoding security strips or tapes in sheet-like documents.
It is known that documents used as money, such as for example bank-notes, or documents authenticating a person's identity, such as identity cards, passports, and the like, are mainly produced on a paper-like support.
Currently, one of the main security features of paper-like supports resides in the presence of security tapes that can be partially or fully embedded in the paper thickness.
Security strips have the most disparate characteristics and range from simpler strips, printed with a solid pattern, to microprinted strips, to microprinted encoded and/or holographic strips.
Considering encoded strips, there are various kinds thereof according to the type of graphic security markings produced with magnetic, optical, conducting, and capacitive materials; likewise, other differences are observed in the types of encoding that are used, such as for example regions of constant-thickness material spaced by regions without material, regions with material having the same surface but a different thickness spaced by regions having no material, regions of constant-thickness material having different lengths spaced by regions having no material, and so forth.
Two different readers are currently used to detect and decode these security tapes; they can be briefly summarized as readers for longitudinal reading, that is to say, in which the reading direction is parallel to the security strip, and as readers the reading axis whereof is at right angles to the strip.
Readers for longitudinal reading allow to read security strips both by detecting their presence and by detecting the code provided on said strips.
On the other hand, said readers generally have a low operating speed; they can usually check up to sixteen bank-notes per second and detect the presence of the strip in up to twenty-five bank-notes per second.
Readers for perpendicular reading can normally read a plurality of security features of the bank-note, such as for example the paper thickness, UV and infrared inks, watermarks, serial numbers, presence of metal strips, and so forth; these readers run faster and can check up to twenty-five bank-notes per second and detect the presence of the strip in thirty bank-notes per second.
With these readers, if it is necessary for example to check for the presence of a strip, the reading head is relatively simple; if instead it is necessary to detect the code provided by means of the graphic security markings provided on the strip, the reader is extremely complicated, since it is provided by means of a plurality of multiple heads that are in turn constituted by a plurality of heads arranged mutually side by side and arrangeable in a single row or in two side-by-side rows, which must be supported by an extremely sophisticated electronic system and accordingly have very high costs.
In the case of a reader provided with multiple offset heads, it is in fact necessary to correctly interpret the detected values, which also depend on the mutual position of the strip and of the individual head that is part of the multiple heads, and in any case there are considerable difficulties in correctly interpreting the space between the regions used for encoding.
A principal aim of the invention is to solve the above described problem by providing a single reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, which is capable of detecting and decoding a security strip placed in a document that passes under the reading head along a direction that is at right angles and/or parallel to the orientation of the security strip.
Within the scope of this aim, a particular object of the invention is to provide a reader that allows to considerably increase the number of bank-notes that can be checked and decoded per second, since it is not necessary to resort to complex electronic systems and since a single head is able to safely and reliably detect the codes and the corresponding gaps.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a reader that, by virtue of its particular constructive characteristics, is capable of giving the greatest assurances of reliability and safety in use.
This aim, these objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter are achieved by a reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, which comprises a head for reading the graphic security markings provided on a security strip that is inserted in a document passing under said reading head with a translatory motion that is substantially at right angles and/or parallel to the orientation of said security strip, characterized in that said reading head has a reading area that is elongated along a substantially inclined direction with respect to the extension of said strip and has a useful length matching at least the portion of said strip to be detected.
Further features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of a reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, according to the invention, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

figure 1 is a schematic view of a document, such as a bank-note, with a security strip inside it;
figure 2 is a view of the code, for example a code of the magnetic-bar type with different thicknesses, provided on the strip inside the document;
figure 3 is a transverse sectional view of the document clearly showing the strip;
figure 4 is a view of the reading head according to the invention;
figure 5 is a chart of the signals that can be detected by the head of figure 4.

With reference to the above figures, the reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, according to the invention, comprises a reading head, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, that can detect the graphic security markings provided on a security strip 2 inserted in a document 3 that is made to pass under the reading head with a translatory motion substantially perpendicular and/or parallel to the orientation of the security strip 2.
Considering, by way of example, a security strip 2 having, on its surface, a plurality of constant-width magnetic regions 10 that are spaced by constant-width gaps 11 in which no magnetic material is provided, the reading head is of the magnetic-detection type and has a reading region or gap, designated by the reference numeral 20, that is arranged substantially at an angle with respect to the extension of the strip 2 and advantageously forms a 45^o angle with respect to the strip. With this arrangement, by using a single magnetic reading head 1 in which the reading region 20 affects the portion of the security strip 2 to be detected, the regions of magnetic material appear below the reading region 20 sequentially, exactly one after the other, allowing to check the positive and negative peak value, the length of the magnetic region 10, the distance 11 between various regions 10, by making the document 3 slide in a direction that lies at right angles to the strip 2 and at a constant speed.
In this manner, a single head 1 and therefore a single electronic decoding system allows to achieve a detection that can be visualized by means of the chart of figure 5, in which the signals can be easily interpreted in terms of position, in terms of peak/peak values, and therefore in terms of area and volume of the regions involved.
This is achieved with very low costs, since it is possible to check for the presence of the strip 2, but most of all to decode the code provided on the strip, by using a very high reading speed and without having to resort to a complex and expensive electronic interpretation system.
The use of a head 1 that is at an angle with respect to the orientation of the strip 2 is essential in the apparatus according to the invention; in this manner, the various codes provided sequentially on the strip 2 affect the head 1 in succession, allowing to emit a signal that is simple and can be easily interpreted, differently from what is observed in the case of the use of multiple heads arranged in a plurality of rows, in which the reading value is affected considerably by the mutual arrangement of the head and of the codes provided on the security strip 2 and it is therefore necessary to have a complex electronic system for signal interpretation.
In the specific case, the simple use of a head 1 with a reading region 20 that is set at an angle with respect to the strip 2 allows to detect the different characteristics of the various magnetic regions 10, their width, and their gap or spacing 11.
Likewise, there is no conceptual difference if graphic security markings of different type are used on the security strip 2 instead of magnetic-type security markings; of course, the reading head 1 must be equipped with a detection sensor that is compatible with the characteristics and the type of the value to be detected.
The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept.
All the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.
In practice, the materials employed, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims

Reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, which comprises a head (1) for reading graphic security markings provided on a security strip (2) that is fully and/or partially inserted in a document (3) passing under said reading head (1) with a translatory motion that is substantially at right angles and/or parallel to the orientation of said security strip (2), characterized in that said reading head (1) has a reading region (20) that is elongated along a substantially inclined direction with respect to the extension of said strip and has a useful length matching at least the portion of said strip (2) to be detected.
Reader according to claim 1, characterized in that said reading region (20) is set at a 45^o angle with respect to the orientation of said strip (2).
Reader according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said reading head (1) arranged at a 45^o angle is adapted to detect said graphic markings both when the document slides parallel to said strip (2) and when the document slides at right angles to said strip (2).
Reader according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said translatory motion occurs at a constant speed.
Reader according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said reading region (20) is constituted by an elongated slot the length whereof is adapted to have a larger component in the direction of said strip (2) than the code to be detected on said strip.
Reader according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said reading head (1) is provided with at least one sensor that is compatible with the type of the graphic security markings to be detected.
Reader for detecting and decoding security strips in sheet-like documents, characterized in that it comprises one or more of the described and/or illustrated features.