EP1789931A1

EP1789931A1 - Key, key system, method for the identification of an individual key and method for the production of said key

Info

Publication number: EP1789931A1
Application number: EP05791046A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Udo Herrmann
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-09-13
Filing date: 2005-09-13
Publication date: 2007-05-30
Also published as: DE102004051056A1; WO2006029800A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a key which comprises at least one three-dimensional body and which is made of at least two different materials, a key system with a carrier which can be allocated an individual code, a method for the identification of an individual key wherein the structural dimensions are stored in the form of data, and to a method for the production of a key wherein a three-dimensional body is formed from at least two different materials, wherein the at least two materials are arranged in a disordered physical distribution and are extensively distributed in phase separation in relation to each other.

Description

Key, key system, procedure for

Identification of an individual key and

Process for the production of such

Key

The present invention relates to a key with the features of claim 1, a key system with the features of claim 11, a method for identifying an individual key according to claim 21 and a method for producing a key with the features of claim 27.

For the clear identification of people or objects or for

Different key and coding systems are known for checking credentials, etc. Most of these systems are based on electronic devices, for example on the known transponder technology, on known chip card systems or on magnetic card systems. Identification systems are usually used for access control in security areas, which are based on a clear assignment of a previously defined code or key to a specific person. This code or key can be stored, for example, as an electronically stored combination on a chip card, on a transponder card or magnetic card or the like, which the person carries with him and can slide into a reader for identification or lead to it.

The known key systems are relatively complex and prone to failure, for example if the magnetic storage field is impaired or damaged

Magnetic card. With a chip card or a transponder card, too

Transmission paths are easily disturbed, for example in the area of a strong electromagnetic field.

DE 41 37790 A1 describes an identification arrangement for the identification of

Known objects that have at least one attached to the object

Identification mark and at least one spatially separated from the object

Sending / receiving device for reading the identification mark. The identifier is designed as a spatial body, the at least one

CONFIRMATION COPY Has recess which faces the transmitting / receiving device. If the object which is provided with such an identification mark is guided past the transmitting / receiving device, which for example emits electromagnetic and / or sound signals, then this transmitting / receiving unit reads the identification by receiving the transmission signals reflected at the cutouts of the identification mark and transfers the read information, which lies in the change in the reflection behavior of the signals transmitted by the transmitting / receiving device, which change depends on the type of recess, to a downstream evaluation unit.

With this known identification arrangement, however, there is only a limited and finite number of different shapes and contours available which can be used for detection and evaluation. If an unlimited number of different, individual identifiers is required, a combination of several different identifiers is necessary, which have an increasingly larger space requirement with an increasing number.

An object of the present invention is to provide a reliable and inexpensive key system for the identification of an object or a corresponding identification method. Another goal of

The invention consists in providing a tamper-proof key and a method for its production.

These objects of the invention are achieved with the subject matter of the independent claims. Features of advantageous developments of the invention result from the respective dependent claims.

The key according to the invention or the key system according to the invention comprises a carrier to which an individual coding can be assigned; it is used in particular for access control or authorization queries in appropriately protected and / or controlled areas or rooms. The invention

System is based on a three-dimensional body, for example a map or the like, which consists of at least two different materials, for example plastic materials, each of which has a defined phase boundary with respect to one another. In this way it can be achieved that the cards have an individual reflection and / or transmission profile, which is used for individualization and repeated query of the individual Map structure can be used. The production can take place, for example, in such a way that a measurable jet or another unit of a second material is distributed and flows completely uncoordinated onto a base card, consisting of a first plastic material, while it is still in the liquid state, and flows in. The map structure and / or spatial distribution of the at least two materials can in particular be formed completely randomly, for example by means of a random generator control during production. In this way it can be achieved that each three-dimensional body is given an individual, distinctive and almost unrepeatable structure that can be used for its later identification.

The card structure can then be measured so that such data cards can be used for individualization and the queried and stored data can be assigned to this individual card again and again. The measurement for storing the structural data of the body and / or the measurement for later identification of the previously stored structural data can optionally be carried out from one, from several, but in particular from all sides of the body in order to obtain the highest possible information density in a small space.

In this way, for example, a very simple and inexpensive access system can be generated in which each authorized user of an access-controlled area is given such a card, all cards differing in their individual structural profile. A query system, consisting, for example, of an ultrasound generator and a detection device, can query and read out the individual card profile, after which the data read out can be analyzed and compared with a stored individual profile. In this way, access control is possible.

The cards do not necessarily have to have two different plastic materials. Variants are also possible in which more than two materials are used in order to produce an even more complex structure. Instead of plastic, a fiber matrix can also be introduced, for example consisting of mineral, glass or other fibers, for example of organic origin (for example flax, hemp, straw or the like). A rock powder, granulate or chip insert can also be provided, which is embedded in plastic. In addition, all types of metal in a wide variety of forms are suitable, for example as fibers, as - A -

Splinters, as granules, to form an identifiable and customizable insert in a plastic body.

The different materials can be introduced or mixed using a nozzle. Optionally, the first material can also harden and then the second material can be applied to a clear

To ensure phase separation. Of course, variants are also conceivable in which a part of the card consists of transparent material, so that only the embedded particles, fibers or structures serve to individualize the card data. In such a case, these structures are expediently queried by means of an optical scanning method.

The three-dimensional body can be designed not only as a flat code card, but optionally as almost any object that can also be attached to a user's body or to an item of clothing.

The structural data can be recorded and / or queried in almost any way, for example by means of ultrasound detection or by means of electromagnetic waves.

A method according to the invention for requesting authorization or access control provides that the structural information of such a three-dimensional body is read out according to one of the previously described embodiments by means of an ultrasound detection device and stored as data information. The structural data can optionally also be read out by means of an optical or electromagnetic method. This stored structural data can then be queried and read out as often as desired by scanning the three-dimensional body and compared with the stored data for further use. By assigning the individual structural data of a specific card to a specific person, the query of the structural data of the body can be part of an authorization query, for example an access-controlled area or an access-regulated security area or the like.

The key according to the invention can be produced very simply and inexpensively. However, it is very difficult to imitate because the materials used are disordered and randomly connected or are mixed or distributed. The key structures and / or the key surfaces can thus be analyzed and read out, for example by means of a layer-by-layer analysis. However, this data can hardly be copied with reasonable effort, since due to the manufacturing method according to the invention, an infinite number of distribution possibilities are created for an individual key that cannot be repeated or can only be repeated with disproportionately high effort and thus can be copied. It should not be possible, with reasonable effort, to produce a key produced in a regular manner using a random principle with exactly the same spatial distribution of the at least two different materials used. An injection molding machine that can be used for this, for example, cannot be controlled so precisely that an analyzed key structure can be copied.

A further increase in the achievable security level of the system according to the invention can be achieved by using two or more relatively similar materials which, for example, have only minimally different transmission and / or reflection properties for ultrasound or for electromagnetic waves or the like. Additional coding can be achieved through variable and / or individually definable frequency or wavelength ranges, which are queried each time they are read out. A body produced by means of the method according to the invention can, for example, have a specific coding pattern in the case of a predefinable query frequency and a different pattern in the case of a query frequency which deviates therefrom. The variation of these polling frequencies can, for example, change over time, so that an unauthorized user with a copied card cannot gain access to a protected and secured area if he does not know the polling frequency that is valid at the current time. With regard to the variation of these query frequencies, numerous further possibilities for additional security are conceivable, for example additional information or the like which is hidden on the key and which defines a frequency selection and / or variation.

Of course, this principle of varying polling frequencies also works with materials that differ more in their properties, but it is easier to analyze the body structure by an unauthorized third party than with materials that are very similar. In summary, the present invention contains the following aspects: a three-dimensional map structure is created at random or manually, which can be queried again and again after a single measurement. A three-dimensionally structured surface and / or a three-dimensional material distribution of two or more different materials can optionally be created. In the case of a three-dimensional material distribution, the measurement and subsequent interrogation are preferably carried out by means of an ultrasound method or by means of another suitable scanning method, for example by means of electromagnetic rays in the visible light wavelength range or in the invisible range (infrared, ultraviolet or X-ray radiation). A pure surface structure can optionally be applied to only one or more sides of the three-dimensional body. Accordingly, the later scanning can also be carried out from one or more sides. In the case of a card structure, the scanning can thus be provided either from only one side or from both card sides.

The invention is explained in more detail below on the basis of a preferred exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows a schematic illustration of a key system, comprising a card and a recognition system for querying structural data contained on the card.

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a three-dimensional body designed as a map.

3 shows an access control device in which the information contained on the card is queried, analyzed and evaluated with regard to an authorization of the card holder.

1 shows a schematic illustration of a key system 8, comprising a key 6 in the form of a card 10 and a detection device

12 for querying structural data 14 contained on the card 10. The detection system 12 can, for example, have a transmitting device 16 with a

Ultrasonic transmitter 18 and an ultrasonic receiver 20 with a downstream Have evaluation unit 22. A central processing unit 24 serves to decode the structural data 14 supplied by the evaluation unit 22 and to compare this data with stored structural data of a large number of cards, in order to make a decision about the authorization or rejection of the person who carries the card.

Instead of an ultrasound transmitter and an ultrasound receiver, other physical principles can also be used, for example light in the visible, in the ultraviolet or in the infrared range. In addition, others can

Suitable methods for interrogation, for example a scanning method using X-rays or the like.

The card 10 (key 6) shown by way of example in FIG. 2 is made of plastic, specifically from at least two different materials, each of which has a phase boundary. A first base material 26 is supplied with a second material 28 in the still liquid or viscous state, for example by extrusion using a fine nozzle, so that a disordered distribution of the second material 28 in the largely homogeneous base material 26 is made possible.

It is essential for the invention that the two materials 26 and 28 have a clear phase boundary at almost every point, so that no mixing takes place with the formation of a mixing region. When mixing in individual areas, the requirements for the evaluation accuracy increase, because if the evaluation is too imprecise, incorrect measurements are possible, which could lead to rejection of a card or to different measurement results at different measuring points. It is also essential that the distribution is arbitrary or random, in order to obtain different structural data in this way, which makes the cards clearly distinguishable from one another so that they are suitable for identifying a user or an object.

The two materials 26 and 28 must be identifiable by the detection device 12. For example, the first material can be a transparent plastic, while the second plastic is non-transparent, so that the structural data can be identified by means of an optical detection. Possibly. Different plastic materials can be used, each one have different reflection or transmission behavior for ultrasound or for electromagnetic radiation.

After the two materials 26 and 28 have hardened, the card structure can

14 are analyzed and stored by means of an ultrasound detection device, so that each card 10 can be assigned an individual data structure 14 from a large number of cards. This makes it possible to use the cards 10 for individualization and for use in an access control system.

Optionally, only one of several surfaces of the card 10 can be queried. In order to obtain a higher density of information, however, it may be advantageous to read the cards 10 from all sides and the cards that are recorded in each case

Information on the individualization or the clear recognition of the

Use structural information.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of such an access control system 30, in which the card 10 is read out on a reading device 32 and compared with the individual code assigned to a user 34. If the data read out matches the stored data, the access control system 30 is released so that the user 34 can pass through a lock 36 or the like in order to enter an access-controlled security area 38.

The key 6 according to the present invention can be produced in a relatively simple manner and, moreover, quite inexpensively. However, it is very difficult to imitate, since the materials 26 and 28 used are spatially disordered and randomly connected, mixed or distributed. Thus, the surface structures and / or the spatial structures of the key 6 can be read out with reasonable effort, which finally takes place in the detection system 12 according to the invention (FIG. 1). Subsequent analysis by an unauthorized person is also possible, for example by a layer-by-layer analysis. However, this data can hardly be copied with reasonable effort, since due to the manufacturing method according to the invention for an individual key 6, an infinite number of distribution possibilities for the two or more different materials 26, 28 are created which cannot be repeated or can only be copied with disproportionately high effort . The features of the invention disclosed in the above description, the drawings and the claims can be of significance both individually and in any combination for the implementation of the invention in its various configurations. The invention is not restricted to the above exemplary embodiments. Rather, a large number of variants and modifications are conceivable which make use of the idea according to the invention and therefore also fall within the scope of protection.

Claims

Patentans prüch e

1. Key (6) comprising at least one three-dimensional body which is formed from at least two different materials (26, 28), which are arranged in a disordered spatial distribution and largely in

Phase separation are distributed to each other.

2. Key according to claim 1, which is manufactured or can be produced at random.

3. Key according to claim 2, wherein the at least two different materials (26, 28) in a random spatial

Distribution.

4. Key according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which at least a first of the two or more different materials (26, 28) comprises plastic.

5. Key according to claim 4, in which at least the plastic materials

(26, 28) are processed by means of an injection molding process.

6. Key according to one of the preceding claims, in which at least one of the materials is mineral, fibrous and / or organic or the like.

7. Key according to one of the preceding claims, in which a second material (28) is introduced into the still liquid first material (26) by means of a nozzle.

8. Key according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the second material (28) is applied around the first material (26) after it has hardened.

9. Key according to one of the preceding claims, in which the three-dimensional body is designed as a flat code card (10).

10. Key according to one of the preceding claims, in which the three-dimensional body is designed as an object which can be fastened to the body or to a piece of clothing or is arranged on such an object.

11. Key system (8) with a carrier, in particular with a key (6) according to at least one of the preceding claims, to which an individual coding can be assigned, in particular for access control or authorization request or the like, consisting of at least one three-dimensional body consisting of at least two different materials (26, 28) are formed, which are arranged in an unordered, in particular randomly producible spatial distribution and which are largely distributed in phase separation from one another, the structural information of the body being storable and as often as desired using a measuring or scanning method can be queried.

12. Key system according to claim 11, in which the structural information of at least one surface of the three-dimensional body can be detected and stored or queried.

13. The key system as claimed in claim 11, in which the structural information of a plurality, in particular all, of the surfaces of the three-dimensional body can be detected and stored or queried.

14. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 13, in which at least a first of the two or more different materials (26, 28) comprises plastic.

15. Key system according to claim 14, in which at least the plastic materials (26, 28) are processed by means of an injection molding process.

16. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 15, in which at least one of the materials is mineral, fibrous and / or organic or the like.

17. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 16, in which a second material (28) is introduced into the still liquid first material (26) by means of a nozzle.

18. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 17, wherein the second material (28) after the hardening of the first material (26) is applied around it.

19. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 18, wherein the three-dimensional body is designed as a flat code card (10).

20. Key system according to one of claims 11 to 19, wherein the three-dimensional body is designed as an object attachable to the body or on a piece of clothing or is arranged on such.

21. A method for requesting authorization or access control, in which the structural information (14) of a three-dimensional body according to one of claims 1 to 20 is read out by means of a detection device (12) and stored as data information.

22. The method according to claim 21, in which the structural information is read out by means of an ultrasound detection method and stored as data information.

23. The method according to claim 21, in which the structural information is read out by means of an optical or electromagnetic method and stored as data information.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, in which the structural data (14) of the three-dimensional body are queried repeatedly and compared with the stored data of a detection device (12).

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the structural data (14) of a body are each assigned to a previously defined user (34).

26. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 25, wherein the query of the structural data (14) of the body is part of an authorization query, For example, is an access-controlled or -regulated security area (38).

27. A method for producing a key (6), in particular according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, in which a three-dimensional body is formed from at least two different materials (26, 28), in which the at least two materials (26, 28) arranged in a disordered spatial distribution and largely distributed in phase separation from one another.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the key is made randomly by the at least two different materials

(26, 28) are brought together or mixed together in a random spatial distribution.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, wherein at least a first of the two or more different materials (26, 28) is plastic or has plastic.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein at least the plastic materials (26, 28) are processed by means of an injection molding process.

31. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 30, wherein at least one of the materials is mineral, fibrous and / or organic or the like.

32. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 31, in which a second material

(28) is introduced into the still liquid first material (26) by means of a nozzle.

33. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 32, wherein the second material (28) is applied around the first material (26) after it has hardened.

34. The method according to any one of claims 27 to 33, wherein the three-dimensional body is designed as a flat code card (10).