EP0979507A2

EP0979507A2 - Printed sound profile

Info

Publication number: EP0979507A2
Application number: EP99916755A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefan Hübner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-02-28
Filing date: 1999-02-25
Publication date: 2000-02-16
Also published as: WO1999044193B1; DE19808562A1; IL132559A0; JP2002506556A; CN1256779A; WO1999044193A1; CA2288738A1; HUP0003168A2; PL336472A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a sound profile (2) for storing and reproducing short sound messages. Said profile is produced using a printing technique and is especially suitable for manual reproduction and for integration into printed products.

Description

Printed sound profile

The invention relates to a sound profile for the storage and playback of short sound messages. It is particularly suitable for manual playback and for integrating m print products.

Such a sound profile is known from US-695,159 ("Apparatus for Reproduction Sound"). A flat band ("sound-curve stπp") is provided on one side with elevations and depressions running perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. It can be scanned with a slide serving as a pickup, whereby acoustically perceptible mechanical vibrations are generated. The contour is created by engraving or cutting using a pin connected to a membrane. As an alternative, embossing with the help of a previously engraved embossing roller is mentioned.

A similar device is known from US Pat. No. 2,164,663, but instead of a special slider the fingernail serves as a scanner.

The patent US-2, 997, 306 ("Book with Talkmg Pages") discloses a book, the pages of which have an elongated sound profile. By sweeping the profile with a scanning object, the page is set in audible vibrations. The acoustic information stored on the profile stands in connection with the content of the optical information shown on the page. The manufacturing process is given as embossing. The profile is either directly m Book side embossed, or a profiled strip, preferably made of plastic, is applied to the page.

Furthermore, US Pat. No. 4,121,835 ("Sound Producing Straw") discloses a drinking straw provided with a sound profile, which generates acoustic vibrations when it is pushed through the opening of the lid of a beverage cup. The production method is used to emboss the contour into the drinking straw if this leaves the extrusion machine, two embossing wheels provided with the negative of the profile being used.

In many cases it is desirable to integrate sound information into mass print products such as magazines, packaging, books, but also securities, banknotes, ID cards and the like. This allows optical information to be supplemented by acoustic information. The inexpensive mass production with the well-known sound curve strips presents difficulties, however, because they require additional, complex work steps, such as embossing and the production of the embossing mold, as well as sticking the sound curve strips onto the printed product.

Various printing processes are also known from the prior art which make it possible to produce a surface relief. Intaglio and screen printing are the two best known processes.

In intaglio printing, the printing parts of the printing form are recessed compared to the non-printing parts. The depressions are created by engraving or etching. After inking the printing form, the non-printing form becomes Surface freed from color. During the printing process, the color remaining in the depressions is transferred to the print carrier and remains as an elevation. Intaglio printing is used for example for the production of banknotes but also for business cards and stationery.

In screen printing, the parts of a fine mesh that do not carry ink are covered by a stencil. When printing, ink is squeezed through the open parts of the screen onto the print carrier. The color also remains as an elevation. Screen printing is particularly used in advertising graphics and when printing on packaging.

Starting from this prior art, the object of the invention is to create a sound profile that can be produced with the help of widely used standard methods. Furthermore, the sound profile should be easy to integrate into mass products, in particular print products. It should still be suitable for manual scanning.

This object is achieved by the features of claim 1. The sound information is coded in a height profile which is designed in such a way that it can easily be produced by printing processes. This makes the sound reproduction device simple and inexpensive to manufacture. In addition, it can be applied to a large number of objects by means of the printing process, for which the integration of sound information is sensible and desirable, but where this is practical and / or So far, cost reasons have not occurred or only to a limited extent

The coded sound information is short, intelligently arranged sound sequences — e.g. B. a melody piece - right down to spoken messages. The duration is fractions of a second to approx. One second.

The sound profile according to the invention can be used in particular as an authenticity feature, for example on securities, check forms, ID cards, entrance tickets and banknotes. Software and other frequently counterfeit products and their packaging are also conceivable areas of application.

This takes advantage of the fact that relief-like features are difficult to forge using conventional means. By manual scanning, the feature can also be easily checked by the layperson without special aids. It is especially useful in combination with other authenticity features, especially if these are based only on visual perception, such as holograms, watermarks, see-through registers, mottled fibers and security threads etc.

The reproduction takes place in that the user sweeps the profile perpendicular to the webs with the corner or the convex edge of a sharp-edged scanning object. A large number of ordinary everyday objects are suitable for scanning, for example check and identification cards, business cards, postcards and coins. In particular, the relief can also be scanned with the fingernail. Printing processes are generally used to design a surface graphically. The present invention takes advantage of the fact that some printing processes transfer the ink in such a way that it remains in relief on the print carrier. This creates the height profile described on the print carrier. Furthermore, use is made of the high resolutions that can be achieved with some of these methods. For example, high-resolution intaglio printing is suitable. The line pattern on the printing form is created either by direct engraving or by etching. But modern, high-resolution screen printing processes can also be used.

New printing processes, such as those currently used in the field of photocopying and computer printing technology, are also suitable. In thermal wax transfer printing, colored wax is melted by heating elements and transferred to the print medium, where it solidifies again. In wax jet printing, molten wax is sprayed onto the print carrier through a nozzle.

All printable materials, but in particular paper, cardboard and foils made of plastic and metal are suitable as print carriers.

The invention is explained in more detail with reference to the following drawings. Show it

Fig. 1 is a banknote as a carrier (1), which is provided with the tone profile (2) according to the invention as an authenticity feature. In addition to the sound profile there are also a graphic (3), a hologram (4) and a numbering (5) as Authenticity features shown. The profile (2) consists of parallel webs (6) running perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (= scanning direction);

Fig. 2 shows the implementation of the amplitude curve (7) of an acoustic signal in a printed height profile (8,9). The profiles are shown in cross-section in the scanning direction. The binary profile (8) is created by printing a web-shaped elevation (6) on the support (10) wherever the amplitude exceeds a certain threshold value, indicated by the straight line (11). A three-stage profile (9) allows a more precise understanding of the profile course. It is created by printing two layers (13, 14) on one another;

Fig. 3 in a side view, not to scale, how the profile (2) according to the invention is scanned in the scanning direction (16) by scanning it with a fingernail as a scanning object (15).

In a preferred embodiment, the height profile consists of a strip (2) of parallel raised webs (6), as shown in Fig. 1. The webs (6) run perpendicular to the longitudinal direction over the entire width of the strip and have different distances from one another and generally also different widths. All webs (6) have the same height, so that the profile can be produced easily and in one print run. The strip is several centimeters to a few decimeters long and at least 8 mm wide at all points so that the user can comfortably scan the profile. The fingernail is preferably used as the scanning object (15). The print carrier (1) is set in vibration during the scanning process and serves as a membrane that amplifies the vibration. Correspondingly, a book or magazine page, banknotes, but also a box or another hollow body made of cardboard or plastic can be used as the print carrier (1). In the latter case, the box also serves as a sound box, which improves the playback quality.

If the object to be scanned (15) is a flat body with sufficient surface (e.g. a check card), this also acts as a membrane. In this case, objects that cannot perform the function of a membrane are also suitable as pressure carriers (1).

It is desirable to ensure the greatest possible freedom in the graphic design of the sound reproduction device according to the invention. In a conceivable embodiment of the invention, the webs (6) are therefore jerked with a transparent white color. It can thus be applied to a support printed in a flat color using conventional methods (e.g. in offset printing), the colored printing of the support being recognizable through the profile.

However, it is also conceivable to relate the webs (6) visibly and consciously to the graphic design. So they can represent a self-contained image or be integrated into it.

In order to suppress disturbing noise, a color is used for the production in the preferred embodiment chosen, which creates the smoothest possible surface. Furthermore, a color with high abrasion resistance is preferably used, so that the sound reproduction device still functions satisfactorily even after repeated use. Suitable colors are known to the person skilled in the art, in particular from the printing of securities and banknotes.

If the information to be coded is a simple tone sequence, it is sufficient if the profile (2) consists of webs (6) of the same width but with varying spacing. The distance between the webs (6) representing a tone of the tone sequence is proportional to the wavelength of the respective tone.

If the sound information to be coded is in the form of an amplitude profile (7), this can be converted directly into a height profile (8,9). In the simplest case, one chooses a binary representation of the course of the Amiltud to be coded (7), i.e. there are web-like elevations (6) where the amplitude exceeds a certain threshold value (11). This threshold value is preferably not at the zero level of the course of the student (7), but about 2% to 5% above or below this. This suppresses the background noise during breaks. The person skilled in the art obtains the amplitude profile through the generally known methods, for example by digitizing the sound information with the aid of a commercially available multimedia PC.

If the sound information to be encoded is more complicated, such as spoken messages, it is more natural Representation of the amplitude curve (7) necessary. The following explanations take this into account:

In the case of a special embodiment, the quality of the representation is further increased in that the sound profile is carried out in several stages in cross-section by means of several layers (13, 14) printed one above the other. The step profile (9) is selected so that it adapts as well as possible to the amplitude profile (7) of the sound information to be reproduced.

In one embodiment of the present invention, prior to determining the height profile (8,9) by appropriate filtering to decrypt the sound information, important i.e. characteristic frequency components increased and unimportant suppressed. The person skilled in the art learns what the characteristic frequency components of the respective sounds are.

In another embodiment, a noise is added to the amplitude profile, also before the height profile (8, 12) is determined, the amplitude of which is approximately 0.2 to 0.7 times a step height, preferably 0.5 times. corresponds. In the preferred case, this is white noise, which is limited by bandpass filters to the frequency range that is important for understanding the sound information. For vowels e.g. Depending on the vowel, these frequency ranges lie between 500 Hz and 4,000 Hz, with some consonants there are also important frequencies between 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz.

Furthermore, the sound quality and the subjectively perceived volume can be achieved by using hi-fi technology known methods of compression can be increased. Quieter portions of the speech signal to be displayed are amplified compared to the louder ones.

Some printing processes allow webs (6) with varying heights to be produced. With an engraved. Steel engraving pressure plate does this simply by different engraving depths. With wax jet printing it is possible to influence the profile height at this point by dosing the amount of wax sprayed onto a given point. This allows a very fine, almost continuous height profile (2) to be created.

Of course, the methods mentioned for quality improvement can be combined with one another and with other methods.

The clay profile according to the invention can be applied to the carrier by a wide variety of printing processes. That is, mechanical printing processes or photomechanical printing processes can be used. Gravure printing, screen printing, thermal transfer printing or an ink jet process is preferably used to apply the clay profile. For example, a hot-melt ink-jet method can be used as the ink-jet method. As a gravure printing method with which the clay profile according to the invention is applied to the carrier, doctor blade, steel engraving, engraving and electrostatically supported gravure printing as well as pad printing are particularly suitable. The clay profile according to the invention is particularly preferred by embossing on the carrier upset. Steel engraving or steel stamp embossing are particularly suitable as the embossing process. In addition to the steel engraving embossing, the clay profile according to the invention can also be applied to the support by other intaglio printing processes, for example copper engraving and steel engraving or line intaglio printing.

The above-mentioned ink jet and thermal transfer printing are electronic printing processes. They are particularly suitable for applying individual, individual sound profiles to the wearer.

Claims

claims

Relief-like clay profile, characterized in that it is applied to a carrier by a printing process.

Clay profile according to claim 1, characterized in that the relief produces characteristic mechanical vibrations by sweeping over an edge or tip of a scanning object.

Sound profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that acoustic vibrations are emitted by the object to be scanned and / or by the carrier.

Clay profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it consists of parallel, raised lines.

Clay profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is applied to the carrier by a mechanical or photomechanical printing process.

Clay profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is applied to the support by gravure printing, screen printing, thermal transfer printing or an ink jet process. Clay profile according to claim 6, characterized in that it is applied to the carrier by a intaglio printing process.

Clay profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is applied to the carrier by an embossing process.

Sound profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the stored information is a single or polyphonic sound sequence.

Sound profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is incorporated into or represents a picture.

Clay profile according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier is an object to be secured, to which the relief is applied as an authenticity feature.