FR2578073A2 - Method of producing any identification document - Google Patents

Abstract

Method of producing any identification document comprising the inscription of data in a visible form, of other data in an invisible form and their selective colouring. It comprises the transfer onto a solid medium of data concerning the holder: name, address, numbers, various marks, etc., in the form of sets of points which are indented or raised and the inscription of complementary data on the surface of one or more of the points so produced, for example in the form of tiny marks made by means of a laser. It also comprises the selective colouring of points of the document by application to the latter of substances capable of restoring colours in relation with those of data to be reproduced, an image of the holder for example. Application to the production of identification cards or of credit cards for example.

Description

 PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ALL PERSONAL DOCUMENTS.

 The main patent application EN no. 84 07905 relates to a process and a device for producing all nominative documents comprising indications allowing the identification or the recognition of their holders. I1 applies for example to the production of all identification cards, various permits, business cards, payment or credit cards, etc.

 The method includes the transfer on a solid support of the indications concerning the holder (or each holder if there are several) in the form of a set of recessed or raised dots distributed at discrete intervals. carried over can translate a characteristic image of the holder, his identity, his address, different numbers assigned to him or even his fingerprints etc.

 When the document must include several distinct elements of identification or recognition such as a characteristic image and various signs: words, numbers, etc., their transfer is advantageously carried out in a single operation by means of an instrument moved relative to the support. The manufacturing process is particularly fast when the points are transferred by the discontinuous action of a laser, the light brush of which scans the surface of the support, this laser being controlled by a suitably programmed computer.

 The data relating to the holder (s) being reported in the form of recessed or raised dots, the document obtained is practically falsifiable.

 The present addition relates to new embodiments of the method making it possible to further increase the protection against possible fraud.

 According to a first embodiment, the method is characterized in that it further comprises the recording of additional information elements on one or more of the points reported on the support.

The additional information elements are reported for example in the form of hollow or raised marks of dimensions much smaller than those of each Point. The information elements can consist of regularly spaced marks, forming for example diffraction gratings or even data translated into binary form.

Advantageously, a laser is used for recording data, due to its high resolving power.

 According to a second embodiment, the method comprises the selective colorization of the dots by applying thereto substances capable of restoring several different colors.

 According to a third embodiment, the method comprises the transfer of a certain number of points on each surface element of at least part of the surface of the support, the deposition on each of the points produced of photosensitive substances and the reproduction of data concerning the holder on the sensitized surface parts, by a photographic method.

The advantages of the various embodiments and others of their characteristics will appear better on reading the description below.

 The process described in the main patent application includes the use of very diverse means (tools, various physical instruments or chemical agents) to transfer at least one set of points to the support, this set reproducing an image characteristic of a holder: : portrait, fingerprints, signature etc, or alphanumeric characters for example. Following a very advantageous embodiment, all of the points are transferred to the document by means of a discontinuous-action laser displaced by scanning relative to the support , associated with a control system programmed to control the intensity of the light brush and / or its duration of action. The lighting contrasts of the images to be reproduced are rendered by varying the section of the points and / or the density of the points per area unit. The cross-section of the deferred points is generally much larger than that which is generally obtained by a well-focused laser.

 A first embodiment of the method according to the invention consists in using the high separation power of marking instruments such as a laser for example, to write down additional information elements on any number of the points plotted on the support. .

 The additional information elements are recorded for example in the form of hollow or raised marks of dimensions much smaller than the dimensions of each point according to a known technique allowing micro-holes or micro-bubbles to be made in relief. capacities of lasers, several tens and even several hundreds of marks can be registered on the same point.

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If the laser used has sufficient resolving power, marks can be inscribed on the points whose spacing is of the same order of magnitude as the wavelengths of visible light, so as to create networks and obtain effects. iridescence on the surface of the document.

This effect, which can only be obtained by the use of sophisticated equipment, can constitute additional protection against possible fraud attempts.

 The spacing between the marks inscribed on the surface of the dots and their shapes can also be chosen to translate all kinds of digitized data possibly coded which one wants to remove from direct reading, whether these are reference numbers or of code, of various indications concerning the holder of the document: address and function, signaling, signature, or of possible access rights that the document opens to him, or even of information concerning the issuing body.

 The data can be written on one or more points whose locations are predetermined and known to the device used for reading and decoding, and possibly distributed over several of them. These locations are each identified for example by a pair of numbers designating a row number and a column number.

 The use of a laser adapted to create unevenness in relief is particularly advantageous since it is possible to carry out the data transfer by a single manufacturing process comprising simultaneously or successively, the achievement of the points translating visible information and the registration of marks on the points to translate additional information or data.

 According to another embodiment, the additional data are written in a reversible manner. Fragments of magnetizable film can be deposited on the surface of any number of points of the support and information can be written there, read and modified by a device. classic read-write scanning a certain area of the surface or ordered to position itself in front of selected points of the document.

 More generally, all known reversible writing techniques such as those existing in the field of erasable optical memories can be used.

 The process described in the main patent application makes it possible to obtain a two-color reproduction of the data, the color of the dots being chosen to be different from that of the support. For example, the surface is covered with a layer of color different from that of the substrate which is rendered. visible only in the places where the points are reported, or evenly onscolore these after their report.

 According to a second embodiment, it is possible to selectively colorize the dots by applying several coloring substances of different colors. The method is particularly advantageous when it is a question of reproducing an image characteristic of a document holder such as 'a portrait for example.

 Colorization is carried out for example by judicious juxtaposition of colored dots from a few fundamental colors in limited numbers.

 The number of points to be juxtaposed on each element of the surface of the support having been chosen taking into account the normal distance of observation, we determine among them the number of points of each of the fundamental colors and their distribution with respect to each other to obtain any desired color or shade by visual synthesis, and a catalog of point arrangements is created. The creation of the catalog and its storage are carried out by a computer programmed for this purpose.

 The steps for restoring a color image on a medium include: -measuring the color or shade of each surface portion of the image to be transferred, -selecting from the stored catalog the arrangement of colb points- res suitable for reproducing either the color or shade measured, or a color or shade in a determined relationship with that which is measured, and -the transfer of the points on a corresponding surface element of the support and their colorization in accordance with the selected arrangement .

 According to a first variant, this last step is carried out by first transferring all the points and then moving above the document, known means for depositing or projecting selectively on each point a substance whose color corresponds to that which has been chosen.

According to a second variant, applicable particularly when the dots transferred are hollowed out, the last step is carried out in several successive phases. In the same phase, - all the dots which, in the chosen color arrangement, must have the same color, - we deposit on the whole surface occupied by the image, by coating or spraying, a substance having this color, and - we remove all the coloring substance which has not accumulated
in the hollows.

If necessary, a film of a colorless varnish is deposited to flatten the surface of the support and protect the dots thus colored during the subsequent stages of transfer and coloring of the dots of other
colors.

The colorization of each of the deferred points can also be carried out by applying to it a colored substance whose color or shade is close to that measured at the corresponding location of the image.
and chosen from a large number of different colored substances.

A third embodiment of the method consists in combining
closely an image of the document holder with a set of recessed or raised dots.

 Firstly, a certain number of hollow or raised points are transferred to the part of the support where an image characteristic of the holder must be reproduced. The spacings between the different points and / or their dimensions are chosen with precision so that a precise verification of their configuration makes it possible to detect any falsifications.

 Next, a photosensitive emulsion suitable for reproducing colors is deposited on the various points after their transfer. In the case where the transferred points are hollow, the emulsion is deposited on the entire part of the support where the image is to be reproduced and the surface is then cleaned to leave the emulsion only in the hollows.

 Finally, the image is reproduced by a conventional photographic method and, after its development, it may be covered with a protective varnish.

According to a variant, a set of points translating an image of the holder is transferred to the support, according to the method described in the
main request. Then a photosensitive emulsion is deposited in the same way on the points and a color image of the holder is transferred to the same scale by exposure of the emulsion, so as to obtain two exactly superimposed images.

 In all cases, whether or not the embodiments are combined, the protection of documents is very significantly increased against the risk of fraud.

Claims (11)

1) Method for producing all nominative documents, according to claim 1 of the main patent application, characterized in that it also includes the recording of additional information elements on at least one of the points reported on the support. 2) Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the recording of the additional information elements is carried out in the form of hollow or raised marks of dimensions much smaller than those of each point. 3) Method according to claim 2, characterized in that a set of regularly spaced marks is formed at each point forming diffraction gratings. 4) Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the additional information elements are data entered in binary form. 5) Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the recording of the additional data is carried out by means of a light brush. 6) Process for producing all nominative documents, according to the  claim 1 of the main patent application, characterized in that it comprises the selective colorization of dots by application of substances capable of restoring several different colors. 7) Method according to claim 6, characterized in that the data to be transferred being a color image characteristic of a holder, a certain number of points are transferred to each element of the surface of the support assigned to the image and apply to each of them a color selected from a very limited number of different colors so that, by visual synthesis, a color or shade is rendered on each surface element in a predetermined relationship with that of the data to be reproduced, the coloring of said points being carried out in several successive phases, each phase comprising the transfer and the colorization of all the points affected by a particular color. 8) Process for producing all nominative documents, according to claim 1 of the main patent application, characterized in that a certain number of points are reported on each surface element of at least part of the surface of the support , photosensitive substances are deposited on each of the points produced and data are reproduced on the surface parts sensitized by a photographic method 9) Method according to claim 8, characterized in that an image is reproduced on the points of a predetermined arrangement of points after their transfer to the document. 10) Method according to claim 8, characterized in that one makes coincide on the same surface of the document, an image translated in the form of dots and. the same image obtained by exposure of the photosensitive substances deposited on said points after their transfer. 11) A method for producing all nominative documents, according to claim 1 of the main application, characterized in that the support being of the erasable optical memory type, the digitized complementary information elements are written on said support, by means of an optical system.