EP3137312B1 - Security document impregnated with a de-opacifying agent and method for treating a document - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a security document. It also relates to a method of processing a security document.

To guard against counterfeit security documents, such as banknotes, it has been proposed to use various security means, such as watermarks, fibers, boards, etc. Other techniques consist in introducing into the paper of the security document an elongate element made of synthetic material forming "strip or security thread", which makes it possible to further increase the difficulty of manufacturing the counterfeit product.

This also makes it easier to authenticate the document by the central banks when it is provided with automatically detectable means (such as a substance having properties such as electrical conductivity or magnetism), but also by a "lambda" user. in other words, "the man in the street" for so-called first-level visual characteristics.

A security document of this type is schematically represented in Figures 1 to 4 attached.

More specifically, Figures 1 and 2 show the front and back sides of a security document which here consists of a bank note, while the Figures 3 and 4 show a view of the cross-section of the ticket, respectively according to the plans AA 'and BB' shown in Figures 1 and 2 .

We are dealing here with a security document 1 which consists of a ticket. Of course, in other embodiments not shown, it could be a completely different security document, such as a passport page.

This note has two large faces opposite front 11 and back 10.

This ticket is provided with a security strip referenced 2. It extends transversely to the largest dimension of the ticket and joins the long longitudinal sides.

The headband is partially integrated into the body C of the bill so that it emerges only in a few places on the surface of the body C at the level of the front face 11, thus forming "windows" F. These are marked in the form of black areas at the figure 1 .

Two consecutive windows F are thus separated by a "bridge" P that is to say a region in which the strip 2 is completely buried in the body C. These bridges are marked in a gray manner at the figure 1 .

When we look at the figure 2 , ie the reverse side 10, it is found that the strip is completely buried in the thickness of the body C, which results in a barely visible band N which extends transversely on the note.

Referring this time to the figure 3 , which illustrates as a simplification and without the elements represented are in proper proportions, a cross section of the ticket of Figures 1 and 2 according to the plane A-A ', that is to say opposite a bridge P, it is found that the security strip 2 is trapped in the body C of the ticket 1, its lower face being in the same plan that a delimitation of this body in two layers 101 and 111.

These two integral layers are usually designated in the English terminology "short form" for the layer 101 and "main train" for the layer 111. These two layers 01 and 111 are joined in the wet state during the formation phase of the the body of the sheet which will eventually form the note and at the same time that the insertion of the strip 2. It is found here that the short form 101 has a thinner thickness than the hand to form.

It will be noted that the upper zone of the forming hand 111 which incorporates the safety strip is slightly protuberant, due to a localized excess thickness generated by the strip 2 itself whose thickness is not fully compensated.

In a very similar way, a security strip can be integrated in a "single layer" paper that is to say formed of a single layer of paper. The major disadvantage of this single layer paper is the overlap of the opposite side of the wire. For this, we prefer a double layer paper forming technique in the case of a thread having flush windows.

According to the cup of the figure 4 it can be seen that the security strip 2 is flush with the surface of the recto face 11 of the document to form a window which corresponds to a zone slightly set back from the general plane in which the front face is contained.

The major disadvantage of this technique which consists in securing the headband 2 to the body C is that wherever this headband is embedded in the body, there is a concealment of the marks and signs of security that are affixed to the headband 2.

Thus, usually, nearly 50% of the surface of the strip is concealed face-up side 11, while 100% of the surface of the strip is concealed at the back side 10.

This greatly reduces the effectiveness of the affixing of security marks or signs on the surface of the strip 2.

In the end, almost 75% of the area of the security banner is unused for first-level authentication purposes.

To solve this problem, a simple solution would be to increase the number of windows F and to omit the addition of the short form 101 at the back 10 of the ticket. But this would most likely weaken the entire document and facilitate the removal of the banner accidentally, during normal use of the document.

It can also be envisaged that this withdrawal could be done fraudulently for reuse on a counterfeit document.

Solutions consisting of creating pseudo-watermarks as in WO2013 / 093848 or to make more visible security elements buried in a paper as in documents EP0773320 and FR2929965 exist and play on the deopacification of paper. The document WO2013 / 093848 uses the differences in aspects brought locally by the deopacification vis-à-vis the untreated zones to simulate a watermark. The document EP0773320 discloses the incorporation of a web into the paper, but the methods of obtaining are nevertheless complex to implement with conversion steps. Finally, the document FR2929965 treats a ribbon that can be made from locally deopacified paper integrated into another fibrous medium to improve its transvision properties. The document FA 2 935 995 A1 discloses a banner emerging in several places on the surface of the body of the security document. The present invention aims to increase the visibility of the strip integrated in the security document, without reducing the mechanical performance of the band / security document assembly as we know it today, without multiplying the manufacturing steps and / or cost-effective conversion and broadening the interaction between the banner and impressions to raise the overall security level of the document.

Thus, according to a first aspect, it relates to a security document having front and back faces and whose body is at least partially made of fibers, a security strip being at least partially integrated into said body, this body being impregnated with a deopacifying agent at least opposite a portion of said strip, characterized in that said strip is partially integrated in said body, so that this strip emerges in several places on the surface of said body at said front face, in thus forming windows, two consecutive windows being separated by a bridge corresponding to a region in which the strip is buried in said body, and that said deopacifying agent also impregnates the body in the zones located on either side of the longitudinal sides of said band, at least facing a region forming a bridge.

• ledit corps est imprégné dudit agent désopacifiant en regard de la totalité de l'étendue longitudinale dudit bandeau ;
• au moins l'une desdites faces recto et verso est imprégnée ;
• ledit bandeau comporte au moins un élément de sécurité dans les régions formant pont ; et
• les zones situées de part et d'autre des côtés longitudinaux dudit bandeau situées en regard des régions formant pont comportent des impressions de sécurité dont certaines sont exactement en repérage dudit au moins un élément de sécurité dans les régions formant pont dudit bandeau.

According to other advantageous features of this document:

• said body is impregnated with said deopacifying agent in relation to the entire longitudinal extent of said strip;
• at least one of said front and back faces is impregnated;
• said strip has at least one security element in the bridge regions; and
• the zones situated on either side of the longitudinal sides of said strip situated opposite the bridging regions comprise security impressions, some of which are exactly in register with said at least one security element in the bridging regions of said strip.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of processing a security document.

It is therefore a method of processing a security document having front and back faces and whose body is at least partially made of fibers, a security strip being at least partially integrated in said body which comprises a a step during which said body is impregnated with a deopacifying agent at least opposite a portion of said strip, characterized in that said strip is configured so that it emerges in several places on the surface of said body at the level of of said front face, thus forming windows, two consecutive windows being separated by a bridge corresponding to a region in which the strip is buried in said body, and that the body is also impregnated in the zones situated on the side and other longitudinal sides of said strip, at least facing a region forming a bridge.

• on imprègne au moins l'une des dites faces recto et verso ;
• après imprégnation, on procède à une opération de figeage dudit agent par séchage aux rayons ultra-violets ou à l'air chaud/aux rayons infrarouge ; et
• ledit agent opacifiant est choisi dans le groupe formé des vernis, des huiles siliconées et des cires.

According to advantageous but non-limiting characteristics of this process:

• at least one of said front and back faces is impregnated;
• after impregnation, an operation is performed for freezing said agent by ultraviolet ray or hot air / infrared radiation drying; and
• said opacifying agent is selected from the group consisting of varnishes, silicone oils and waxes.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the detailed description of an embodiment of the invention.

• comme déjà précisé, les figures 1 à 4 sont des schémas relatifs d'un état de la technique proche de la présente invention;
• les figures 5 et 6 sont des vues respectivement de face, des faces recto et verso d'un document de sécurité conforme à une première variante de la présente invention ;
• les figures 7 et 8 sont des vues analogues aux figures 5 et 6 précédentes, correspondant à un autre mode de réalisation de l'invention ;
• les figures 9 et 10 sont également des vues des faces recto et verso d'un document de sécurité qui sont une variante de réalisation de l'invention;
• les figures 11 et 12 montrent respectivement de face et en coupe droite un autre type de billet dans le corps duquel un bandeau est complètement intégré ;
• enfin, la figure 13 est une vue de face du billet de la figure 11, après mise en oeuvre du procédé selon l'invention.

This description will be made with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• as already stated, the Figures 1 to 4 are relative diagrams of a state of the art close to the present invention;
• the Figures 5 and 6 are respectively front views, front and back faces of a security document according to a first variant of the present invention;
• the Figures 7 and 8 are views similar to Figures 5 and 6 preceding, corresponding to another embodiment of the invention;
• the Figures 9 and 10 are also views of the front and back sides of a security document which are an alternative embodiment of the invention;
• the Figures 11 and 12 show respectively front and cross section another type of ticket in the body of which a strip is completely integrated;
• finally, the figure 13 is a front view of the ticket of the figure 11 after implementation of the method according to the invention.

Throughout the present application, including the claims, the term "deopacifying agent" means a product or a mixture of products capable of making information more legible through a layer of fibrous materials, this agent having a strong wetting power and therefore a very low surface tension. This is the case for crosslinkable compositions under UV radiation, in which the monomers are chosen with very low surface tensions.

It also has the characteristic of not evaporating following drying, that is to say that the effect remains even after drying of the volatile fraction.

As non-limiting examples of such a deopacifying agent, there may be mentioned ultraviolet curing varnishes, silicone oils and waxes, and more generally products containing monomers with high wetting power. Other drying means such as hot air and infrared radiation can be envisaged depending on the chemistry of the agents envisaged.

Also by way of example only, varnishes which are entirely suitable in the context of the present invention are, on the one hand, that referenced 669 440D of the Sun Chemical Company and, on the other hand, that referenced commercially under US Pat. The name Purintomark Flexo 410. The composition Purintomark 300 offset can also be mentioned.

Thus, according to the invention, the deopacifying agent is applied to the security document so that it impregnates at least the regions directly above the bridges P, so that this agent significantly increases the readability of the marks. or signs worn by the headband at this level. This readability is at least enhanced from the front face 11 according to an observation in reflection of this face.

More specifically, and as illustrated in the embodiment of the figure 5 , the deopacifying agent is applied to the front face 11 of the document 1 in the form of a wide band which covers the whole of the safety strip 2, but also the zones 3 which are located on either side of its longitudinal sides of the headband.

When the security strip 2 is integrated in the document 1, this strip generally has a "latitude" in its positioning.

Indeed, during the formation of the strip of sheets that will lead to the security document, the safety strip 2 is inserted in a lateral oscillation, for example of the order of 16 millimeters.

This oscillation is called "stroll". This makes it possible to avoid that the strip is always found in the same place in the banknote and that the extra thicknesses mentioned above create excessive deformations in the paper that are harmful in the rest of the process, especially during conversion into sheets, the constitution of batches of sheets and their passage in printing presses sheet by sheet.

Even if this method is widely used, the fact of not setting a stride during the insertion of the wire remains possible, but that then implies special provisions to the paper mill to convert the strip into sheets, as well as the printing press. to use the paper. This is also an example of the synergy or technical effect of the present invention that does not create paper deforming as opposed to a window embedding method.

In the present case, the deopacifying agent strip can be applied either to the stationery or to the printing press.

It is applied over the entire longitudinal extent of the strip, including windows F, which it does not disturb transparency. Once this impregnation has been carried out, the documents are passed through a drying station, in particular using ultraviolet rays, in order to freeze the deopacifying agent in the desired region.

In the exemplary embodiment of the figure 6 the deopacifying agent was also applied in the form of a broad band also covering the zones 3, but this from the reverse side. This embodiment is particularly preferred since it has been seen that the reverse side communicates with a thin layer of fibrous materials, so that the amount of deopacifying agent to be used can be reduced and, in fact, the visibility of the strip is increased from this face.

Of course, according to an embodiment not shown here, one can impregnate both the front face 11 and the back side 10 of the document.

In the embodiment of the figure 7 , the deopacifying agent is applied locally by printing, in particular by screen printing or flexography, only with respect to the zones of the bridges P, which of course makes it possible to control and limit the quantity of agent to be used.

Moreover, it is here chosen to overflow the deopacifying agent on either side of the strip to form areas 3 whose geometry can be advantageously chosen to better integrate the design of the document, thereby contributing to the enhancement of the harmony of the whole, and improving its security.

Thus, in the case presented, the zones 3 facing the P bridges have a regular pentagon shape. Of course, other shapes are possible, for example half-circle shapes.

Note also that at the ends of the strip, which terminate with a bridge P, it is also possible to deopacify them to allow increased visibility of the strip.

This goes against the practice of the profession in which it is recommended not to provide the opposite edges of the window strip, for reasons of holding the entire strip, including the fact that it can be separated easier paper at the cut edge.

In the embodiment of the figure 8 , we proceeded in the same way as at the figure 7 but this time operating at the back side 10 of the document.

In the variant of the figure 9 , the safety strip 2 was inserted in a way marked in the body C of the document.

Indeed, ordinarily, the standard insertion of the strip in the body C does not provide that the marks or the security signs of the strip are registered in the longitudinal direction relative to the windows.

However, it is possible by synchronizing the insertion of the strip 2 with the scrolling of the paper strip, to position the security element in perfect registration with the windows. This means that by taking two fixed points, for example a point corresponding to a mark or a safety sign on the strip and another fixed point such as a watermark, these two points are always in the same relative positions. one with respect to the other.

This is particularly advantageous in the context of the present invention.

Indeed, in this case, if a mark or a security sign E on the surface of the front face 11 of the strip 2 is located in register vis-à-vis the windows F, then we can advantageously take advantage of this specificity, by affixing another mark or an E 'sign nearby, on the front face 11, reciprocally on the reverse side 10. All these areas provided with marks or security signs will have been previously treated with the deopacifying agent.

Thus, by obtaining a perfect identification of all the marks and security signs affixed to the front face 11, on the strip 2 and on the face back 10, it is possible to make patterns, images or texts that complement each other.

Applied to the figure 9 , it is possible to read the triptych "FCO" on the first and third windows starting from the top, the letter "F" being affixed on the front face 11, the letter "C" being on the security strip 2 and the letter "O", although having been printed on the reverse side 10, is visible in inspection in reflection from the front face thanks to the position of the chemical deopacifying agent in line with the windows F and their surroundings.

Reciprocally and considering the figure 10 , it is possible to read the triptych "FCO" on the second and the fourth windows starting from the top, with a letter "F" realized on the face verso 10, the letter "C" on the security strip 2 and the letter "O", although having been made on the front face 11, is visible in inspection in reflection from the reverse side thanks to the position of the deopacifying agent in line with the windows F and their surroundings.

Taking into account the figure 11 here, we are dealing with a transmission view from the front face 11 of the document 1. According to this view, the strip 2 is completely incorporated in the body C so that no part of the strip 2 emerges on the surface. This is a "drowned type incorporation".

The strip is covered with an opaque coating, except in recessed areas together forming the symbol "FCOF".

When the note is observed in transmission from the front face 11, the opaque contours O of the thread appear, while the texts "FCOF" appear non-opaque, and stand out clearly from the band itself.

The figure 12 is a sectional view according to plane AA 'of the figure 11 . According to this figure, the strip 2 integrated in the body C of the document consisting of a single and single layer 111 is clearly distinguished. The opaque contours O are devoid of material on certain parts thus forming a visible transmission pattern T in the form of the initials "FCOF".

The strip 2 is completely "embedded" in the body C of the document so that it is not visible in reflection from one or other of the faces 10 and 11.

The figure 13 is a view in reflection from the front face 11 of the document 1. According to this view, the strip 2 incorporated in the body C of the ticket is visible within windows (F) created artificially by deposition of the deopacifying agent.

In other words, the deopacifying agent is applied to the strip 2 and in the zones situated on either side of its longitudinal sides, only in certain distinct regions and separated two by two by a surface devoid of deopacifying agent. .

This gives the impression that flush F windows exist, while they are artificially created by the deopacifying agent. The advantage of this embodiment is to allow to create areas of visibility of the strip 2 in reflection from one or other of the faces of the ticket.

In an embodiment not shown, the security banner and / or the deopacifying agent can incorporate authenticatable agents during a machine automatic reading. These are, for example, magnetic particles forming a continuous band, blocks or a code in the form of bits. It may also be conductive particles, fluorescent, phosphorescent, readable under infrared light or having a specific signal detectable with a dedicated device.

Claims (9)

1. Security document (1) having front (11) and back (10) faces and of which the body (C) at least partially consists of fibers, a security strip (2) being at least partially integrated into said body (C), this body (C) being impregnated with a de-opacifying agent at least opposite a portion of said strip (2),
   characterized by the fact that said strip (2) is partially integrated into said body (C), so that this strip emerges in a plurality of locations on the surface of said body (C) at said front face (11), thereby forming windows (F), two consecutive windows (F) being separated by a bridge (P) corresponding to a region wherein the strip (2) is buried in said body (C), and that said de-opacifying agent also impregnates the body (C) in the areas (3) located on each side of the longitudinal sides of said strip (2), at least opposite a bridge-forming region (P).
2. Document according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that said body (C) is impregnated with said de-opacifying agent opposite the totality of the longitudinal extent of said strip (2).
3. Document according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that at least one of said front (11) and back (10) faces is impregnated.
4. Document according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that said strip (2) comprises at least one security element (E) in the bridge-forming regions (P).
5. Document according to claims 1 and 4 taken in combination, characterized by the fact that the areas (3) located on each side of the longitudinal sides of said strip (2) located opposite the bridge-forming regions (P) comprise security prints (E') of which some are exactly in register with said at least one security element (E) in the bridge-forming regions (P) of said strip (2).
6. Method for treating a security document (1) having front (11) and back (10) faces and of which the body (C) at least partially consists of fibers, a security strip (2) being at least partially integrated into said body (C), which comprises a step during which said body (C) is impregnated with a de-opacifying agent at least opposite a portion of said strip (2),
   characterized by the fact that said strip (2) is configured so that it emerges in a plurality of locations on the surface of said body (C) at said front face (11), thereby forming windows (F), two consecutive windows (F) being separated by a bridge (P) corresponding to a region wherein the strip (2) is buried in said body (C), and that the body (C) is also impregnated in the areas located on either side of the longitudinal sides of said strip (2), at least opposite a bridge-forming region (P).
7. Method according to claim 6, characterized by the fact that at least one of said front (11) and back (10) faces is impregnated.
8. Method according to one of claims 6 or 7, characterized by the fact that after impregnation, said agent is set by means of drying with ultraviolet rays or with hot air/infrared rays.
9. Method according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized by the fact that said opacifying agent is selected from the group consisting of varnishes, silicone oils and waxes.

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