EP4353488A2 - Data carrier with composite substrate having a large-area transparent area - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a data carrier (10) with a composite substrate (22) with a large-area see-through region (14), in which the composite substrate (20) contains two outer substrate layers (22, 24) made of a film material and an inner substrate layer (26) made of a fiber material arranged between the outer substrate layers, the inner substrate layer (26) contains a recess (28) and a window region (36, 38) is formed on each of the outer substrate layers. The recess (28) and the window regions (36, 38) are arranged at least partially overlapping in order to form the large-area see-through region (14) of the data carrier. The recess (28) of the inner substrate layer (26) is at least partially covered by a film element piece (50) that is transparent or at least partially equipped with optical properties.

Description

The invention relates to a data carrier with a composite substrate with a large-area see-through area. The composite substrate contains two outer substrate layers made of a film material and an inner substrate layer made of a fiber material arranged between the outer substrate layers. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a data carrier.

Data storage devices such as valuables or identification documents, as well as other valuable items such as branded goods, are often provided with security elements to ensure security. These allow the authenticity of the data storage device to be verified and also serve as protection against unauthorized reproduction. See-through security features such as see-through windows in banknotes are becoming increasingly attractive, as they are easy to recognize even for a layperson, but difficult to counterfeit.

Even with composite banknotes, i.e. banknotes that have a substrate made of two or more layers of paper or foil, see-through windows with various security features are often used to ensure authenticity. However, the known designs have weaknesses in terms of the banknotes' resistance to circulation and/or an attractive visual appearance of the security features. In addition, technological hurdles often arise when integrating the security elements into the composite banknote, as well as optical losses due to the application or insertion.

In the case of composite banknotes with a hybrid substrate of the layer sequence foil/paper/foil, there is often the difficulty that large transparent windows in the banknote requires a correspondingly large recess in the inner paper layer, which is susceptible to various laminating errors when the paper layer is laminated with the film layers, which have a severe detrimental effect on the visual appearance. At present, therefore, the implementation of large transparent windows in such composite banknotes is only possible with low optical quality and also with reduced circulation stability of the banknotes produced.

Based on this, the invention is based on the object of specifying a data carrier of the type mentioned at the beginning with a large, high-quality transparent area. In particular, the data carrier should have an attractive visual appearance and a high level of durability in circulation. The invention should also provide a method for producing such a data carrier.

This object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. Further developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The invention provides a data carrier with a composite substrate with a large-area see-through area, in which the composite substrate contains two outer substrate layers made of a film material and an inner substrate layer made of a fiber material arranged between the outer substrate layers.

The inner substrate layer contains a recess and a window area is formed on each of the outer substrate layers, the recess and the window areas at least partially overlapping are arranged to form the large-area see-through area of the data carrier.

The recess of the inner substrate layer is at least partially covered by a film element piece that is transparent or at least partially provided with optical properties.

A large-area see-through area can take up 35% or more, preferably 40% or more, particularly preferably 45% or more and in particular about 50% of the usable area of the composite substrate of the data carrier. In absolute terms, a large-area see-through area can have a surface area of up to h x b, where the height h can be up to 2 cm and the width b can be up to 5 cm.

The inner substrate layer can of course also contain more than one recess. For the sake of simplicity, however, we will always refer to the recess below, although it is understood that this also includes the case of several recesses.

The term "film element piece" used expresses that the film element piece only takes up a relatively small part of the composite substrate. The film element piece therefore strengthens and stabilizes the area of the inner substrate layer that is weakened by the recess. The film element piece also leads to increased winding pressure in the area of the recess during the subsequent lamination step, in which the outer substrate films are laminated onto the inner substrate layer, so that the laminated films are optimally fixed during the curing phase of the adhesive. Lamination errors such as bubbles, cloudiness, orange peel or fish eyes, and poor or blurred edge reproduction This reliably prevents any damage to the recess edge and achieves an attractive visual appearance of the large viewing area.

In addition, by covering the recess with a piece of foil element, a well-defined window thickness can be achieved, which makes the use of security features that require such a defined window thickness possible.

The film element piece is advantageously a film patch or a film strip. It is preferably provided that the film element piece completely covers and seals the recess in the inner substrate layer. It has proven to be particularly advantageous if the film element piece has essentially the same shape as the recess and in particular has a surface area that is between 3% and 30%, in particular between 5% and 15% larger than the surface area of the recess. It has also proven to be useful if the film element piece projects beyond the recess all the way around at every point by at least 2 mm, advantageously even by at least 3 mm, in order to enable secure application.

In a further development of the invention, the recess in the inner substrate layer is not only covered on one side, but on both sides with a film element piece that is at least partially transparent or at least partially equipped with optical properties. The two film element pieces can have the same or different sizes and can be designed the same or differently. For example, one of the film element pieces can be provided with microlenses.

In an advantageous embodiment, one of the two film element pieces is transparent and serves to create a greater thickness of the see-through area, while the other film element piece is equipped with optical properties and contributes not only to the thickness of the see-through area, but also to its visual appearance.

The two film element pieces can advantageously be coordinated with one another in order to create a visual effect together. For example, one of the film element pieces can be equipped with an arrangement of microlenses and the second film element piece with an arrangement of associated microimages. The film element pieces can also each contain parts of an overall motif which, when viewed from a predetermined viewing direction, complement one another to form the overall motif.

In an advantageous embodiment, one or both of the outer substrate layers and/or the inner substrate layer are provided with optical properties in the see-through area. The substrate layers can be provided with optical properties on one side or both sides. It goes without saying that the substrate layers, in particular the outer substrate layers, can also be provided with optical properties outside the see-through area.

The optical properties of a film element piece or a substrate layer can be achieved by color printing, effect printing, for example fluorescent printing, IR-absorbing printing, phosphorescent printing, metallic printing or pearlescent printing, by embossing, by metallization and/or by micro-optical effects, For example, a hologram, a micromirror arrangement or a lens arrangement may be provided.

The optical properties of a film element piece or a substrate layer can be produced by an additional film element, by a printing process, in particular screen printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, offset printing, intaglio printing or indirect letterpress printing, and/or by a PVD process.

In an advantageous further development, the composite substrate is embossed in the area of the recesses and has a visually visible and at the same time haptically perceptible effect there.

The inner substrate layer is advantageously a paper or nonwoven layer with a grammage between 30 g/m ² and 120 g/m ² , in particular between 60 g/m ² and 80 g/m ² . The outer substrate layers are advantageously thin films with a thickness between 3 µm and 25 µm, preferably between 4 µm and 8 µm.

The outer substrate layers are particularly advantageously connected to the inner substrate layer via a laminating adhesive layer, which is advantageously formed by a 2-component adhesive consisting of a polyol and an isocyanate component.

• ein Verbundsubstrat erzeugt wird, das zwei äußere Substratschichten aus einem Folienmaterial und eine zwischen den äußeren Substratschichten angeordnete, innere Substratschicht aus einem Fasermaterial enthält,
• die innere Substratschicht mit einer Aussparung versehen wird und auf den äußeren Substratschichten jeweils ein Fensterbereich ausgebildet wird, wobei die Aussparung und die Fensterbereiche zumindest teilweise überlappend angeordnet werden, um den großflächigen Durchsichtsbereich des Datenträgers zu bilden, und
• die Aussparung der inneren Substratschicht zumindest teilweise von einem transparenten oder zumindest teilweise mit optischen Eigenschaften ausgestatteten Folienelementstück abgedeckt wird.

The invention also includes a method for producing a data carrier of the type described, in which

• a composite substrate is produced which has two outer substrate layers made of a film material and a film between the outer substrate layers arranged, inner substrate layer made of a fiber material,
• the inner substrate layer is provided with a recess and a window region is formed on each of the outer substrate layers, the recess and the window regions being arranged at least partially overlapping in order to form the large-area see-through region of the data carrier, and
• the recess of the inner substrate layer is at least partially covered by a film element piece that is transparent or at least partially provided with optical properties.

Advantageously, the recess in the inner substrate layer is created by laser cutting.

The film element piece is preferably applied to the inner substrate layer by a heat-sealing step. If film element pieces are provided on both sides of the inner substrate layer, both film element pieces are preferably applied by a heat-sealing step.

The outer substrate layers are advantageously laminated onto the inner substrate layer. They are preferably connected via a laminating adhesive layer, which is formed by a 2-component adhesive consisting of a polyol and an isocyanate component. The adhesive is advantageously used in an application weight of between 1 g/m ² and 10 g/m ² , in particular between 1 g/m ² and 4 g/m ² per side. Further embodiments and advantages of the invention are explained below with reference to the figures, in which a true-to-scale and true-to-proportion reproduction was omitted in order to increase clarity.

Fig. 1

in schematischer Darstellung eine erfindungsgemäße Folie-Papier-Folie-Verbundbanknote mit einem großen, transparenten Durchsichtsbereich,

Fig. 2

die Verbundbanknote der Fig. 1 schematisch in Explosionsdarstellung,

Fig. 3

eine Verbundbanknote nach einem anderen Ausführungsbeispiel der Erfindung in Explosionsdarstellung, und

Fig. 4

eine Verbundbanknote nach einem weiteren Ausführungsbeispiel der Erfindung in Explosionsdarstellung.

Show it:

Fig.1

in schematic representation a foil-paper-foil composite banknote according to the invention with a large, transparent see-through area,

Fig.2

the composite banknote of the Fig.1 schematically in exploded view,

Fig.3

a composite banknote according to another embodiment of the invention in an exploded view, and

Fig.4

a composite banknote according to a further embodiment of the invention in an exploded view.

The invention will now be explained using the example of banknotes. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a foil/paper/foil composite banknote 10, which, in addition to a banknote print 12 and other conventional security elements, has a large, transparent see-through area 14. The see-through area 14 can be equipped with any optical properties, for example a semi-transparent motif 16 that is visible when viewed from above and through can be arranged in the see-through area 14.

The special feature of the composite banknote 10 is that the see-through area 14 is large, but still has high transparency, edge sharpness and stability. As briefly described at the beginning, with conventional foil-paper-foil composite banknotes, the implementation of large transparent windows is only possible with low optical quality and low circulation stability quality.

The invention provides an effective remedy here, as will now be shown with reference to Fig. 2 explained in more detail, which shows the composite banknote 10 schematically in an exploded view.

Specifically, the composite banknote 10 comprises a composite substrate 20 made of two outer substrate layers 22, 24, each consisting of a film material, and an inner substrate layer 26 made of a fiber material. For example, the outer substrate layers 22, 24 are each formed by a 6 µm thick PET film and the inner substrate layer 26 by a paper layer with a grammage of 70 g/m ² .

The outer substrate layers 22, 24 are each provided with a banknote print 32, 34 on their outside in order to produce the desired appearance of the banknote when viewed from the front and back. The banknote prints 32, 34 can be equipped with several security features in a manner known per se.

As a further security feature, the composite banknote 10 contains the large-area see-through area 14 with optical properties. To create the see-through area 14, a large-area recess 28 was made in the inner paper layer 26 by laser cutting, and the banknote prints 32, 34 are overlapping on the outer substrate layers 22, 24. with the recess 28 to form window areas 36 and 38 respectively, which together with the recess 28 form the see-through area 14 of the composite banknote 10.

In the exemplary embodiment, the optical properties of the see-through region 14 are provided by a semi-transparent print 40 on one of the films 22, 24.

As a special feature, the recess 28 of the inner paper layer 26 is sealed with a transparent film patch 50, which was applied to the paper layer 26 by means of a heat-sealing application before the substrate layers 22, 24, 26 were laminated together. In the present case, the film patch 50 has the same, for example elliptical, shape as the recess 28, but has an area that is approximately 20% larger than the recess in order to be able to cover it completely.

To laminate the outer substrate films 22, 24 onto the inner paper layer 26, it has proven useful to select an adhesive 52 of the type of a fast-reacting 2-component polyurethane, i.e. an adhesive 52 with an isocyanate and a polyol component that primarily react with each other. The adhesive 52 can be applied in particular in an application weight of 1 g/m ² to 2 g/m ² .

On the one hand, the film patch 50 leads to a stabilization of the paper layer 26, which has been weakened by the recess 28, for the further processing. In addition, the film patch 50 causes a local increase in the winding pressure in the window track of the laminated web when the substrate layers 22, 24, 26 are laminated together. As a result, the films 22, 24 in the window track are 52 is optimally fixed. In combination with the appropriately selected adhesive 52, this reliably prevents laminating errors such as bubbles, cloudiness, orange peel or fish eyes as well as poor or blurred edge reproduction of the recess edge.

It has further been found that the internal foil patch 50 significantly increases the circulation stability of the composite banknote 10 compared to conventional designs without a foil patch.

In addition, the film patch 50 can be easily printed or otherwise provided with optical properties, thus also increasing the design variants for the design of the see-through area 14.

A composite banknote 60 according to a further embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig.3 , also shown in exploded view. In contrast to the design of the Fig.2 In the composite banknote 60, the recess 28 of the inner paper layer 26 is sealed on both sides with a foil patch 50 or 54.

The additional foil patch 54 can have optical properties and can in particular serve to further stabilize the laser-cut recess 28. In the embodiment of the Fig.3 The visual appearance of the see-through area is determined by the design of the foil patches 50, 54, for example by a print on one or both foil patches.

The aim of using a second foil patch 54 can also be to further thicken the see-through area. For example, Micro-optical security features often have a defined minimum thickness that exceeds the thickness of just one foil patch.

The embodiment of the Fig.4 shows a modification of the design of the Fig.3 . The composite banknote 70 of the Fig.4 the second foil patch 56 is not applied to the inner paper layer 26, but overlaps the recess 28 on the outer substrate foil 24. The additional thickness of the substrate foil 24 thus creates an even greater distance between the two foil patches 50, 56, such as may be required for a micro-optical security feature. For example, the first foil patch 50 can be equipped with an arrangement of microlenses and the second foil patch 54 with an arrangement of microimages, which are arranged at a distance of a lens focal length from the plane of the first foil patch 50.

It goes without saying that the designs of the Figures 3 and 4 one or both of the outer substrate films 22, 24 and/or the inner paper layer 26 in the see-through area 14 can be provided with optical properties on one or both sides. Likewise, the film patch 50 and/or the film patch 54 or 56 can be printed or otherwise provided with optical properties.

List of reference symbols

10

Composite banknote

12

Banknote printing

14

Viewing area

16

semi-transparent motif

20

Composite substrate

22, 24

outer substrate layers

26

inner substrate layer

28

large recess

32, 34

Banknote printing

36.38

Window areas

40

semi-transparent print

50

Foil patch

52

adhesive

54, 56

additional foil patch

Claims (15)

Data carrier with a composite substrate with a large see-through area, in which - the composite substrate comprises two outer substrate layers made of a film material and an inner substrate layer made of a fibre material arranged between the outer substrate layers, - the inner substrate layer contains a recess and a window region is formed on each of the outer substrate layers, the recess and the window regions being arranged at least partially overlapping in order to form the large-area see-through region of the data carrier, and - the recess of the inner substrate layer is at least partially covered by a film element piece that is transparent or at least partially provided with optical properties. Data carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that the film element piece is a film patch or a film strip. Data carrier according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the film element piece completely covers and seals the recess of the inner substrate layer. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the recess of the inner substrate layer is provided on both sides with a layer at least partially covered by a transparent or at least partially covered by a film element piece with optical properties. Data carrier according to claim 4, characterized in that one of the film element pieces is provided with microlenses. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that one or both of the outer substrate layers and/or the inner substrate layer are provided with optical properties on one side or on both sides in the see-through area. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the optical properties are provided by a color print, an effect print, an embossing, a metallization and/or by micro-optical effects. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the composite substrate is embossed in the region of the recesses and has a visually visible and at the same time haptically perceptible effect there. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the inner substrate layer is a paper or nonwoven layer with a grammage between 30 g/m ² and 120 g/m ² , in particular between 60 g/m ² and 80 g/m ² . Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the outer substrate layers are thin films with a thickness between 3 µm and 25 µm, preferably between 4 µm and 8 µm. Data carrier according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the outer substrate layers are each connected to the inner substrate layer via a laminating adhesive layer, which is advantageously formed by a 2-component adhesive consisting of a polyol and an isocyanate component. Method for producing a data carrier according to one of claims 1 to 11, in which - a composite substrate is produced which contains two outer substrate layers made of a film material and an inner substrate layer made of a fiber material arranged between the outer substrate layers, - the inner substrate layer is provided with a recess and a window region is formed on each of the outer substrate layers, the recess and the window regions being arranged at least partially overlapping in order to form the large-area see-through area of the data carrier, - the recess of the inner substrate layer is at least partially covered by a film element piece that is transparent or at least partially provided with optical properties. Method according to claim 12, characterized in that the recess in the inner substrate layer is produced by laser cutting. Method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the film element piece is applied to the inner substrate layer by a heat sealing step. Method according to at least one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that the outer substrate layers are laminated onto the inner substrate layer, preferably each connected via a laminating adhesive layer which is formed by a 2-component adhesive consisting of a polyol and an isocyanate component, which is particularly preferably used in an application weight between 1 g/m ² and 10 g/m ² , in particular between 1 g/m ² and 4 g/m ² per side.

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