GB2388377A

GB2388377A - A method of manufacturing a fibrous substrate incorporating an elongate impermeable security element

Info

Publication number: GB2388377A
Application number: GB0210680A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mcclean Peter Henderson; Gerald Sidney Paine; Anthony James Waters
Original assignee: De la Rue International Ltd
Current assignee: De la Rue International Ltd
Priority date: 2002-05-09
Filing date: 2002-05-09
Publication date: 2003-11-12
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-09
Also published as: GB2388377B; WO2003095188A3; US20050173086A1; BR0309848A; PL206601B1; ES2389436T3; US7425245B2; SI1501980T1; AU2003233885A1; GB0210680D0; BR0309848B1; PL372599A1; EP1501980A2; AU2003233885A8; WO2003095188A2; EP1501980B1

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a fibrous substrate 15, e.g. security paper, which has an elongate element 13 embedded within the substrate comprises the steps of bringing the elongate flexible element 13 into contact with a support surface 10 moving in a machine direction and then depositing fibres 11 onto the support surface such that the elongate element is incorporated into the paper. The support surface has spaced portions, preferably raised portions 12, which prevent the deposition of the fibres at those portions and which form windows 16 at spaced locations in at least one surface of the substrate so as to expose regions of the elongate element. At least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle a , in the plane of the sheet, which is not 90 degrees to the machine direction. Also disclosed are documents manufactured by the method, such as passports, cheques, banknotes etc.

Description

-1- IMPROVEMENTS IN FIBROUS SHEETS

This invention is directed to improvements in fibrous sheets, such as paper, incorporating an 5 elongate impermeable element, to a method of making such paper and to documents made therefrom.

It is generally known to include elongate security elements in security paper, as a security 10 feature. Such elements can be threads, strips or ribbons of, for example, plastics film, metal foil, metallised plastic, metal wire. These security elements are included in the thickness of security paper to render imitation of documents produced from 15 the paper more difficult. These elements help in the verification of security documents as they render the view of the documents in reflected light different from that in transmitted light. To increase the security provided by the inclusion of such an elongate 20 element, it is also known to Credos the element itself with one or more verifiable properties over and above its presence or absence. Such additional properties include magnetic properties, electrical conductivities, the ability to absorb x-rays and 25 fluorescence.

As a further security feature, it has been found to be particularly advantageous to provide windows in one side of the surface of the paper, which expose 30 such elongate elements at spaced locations. Examples of methods of manufacturing such paper incorporating security elements with or without windows are described below. It should be noted that references to "windowed thread paper" include windowed paper 35 incorporating any elongate security element.

EP-A-0059056 describes a method of manufacture

-2 of windowed thread paper on a cylinder mould paper-

making machine. The technique involves embossing the cylinder would cover and bringing an impermeable elongate security element into contact with the raised 5 regions of an embossed could cover, prior to the contact entry point into a vat of aqueous stock.

Where the impermeable security element makes intimate contact with the raised regions of the embossing, no fibre deposition can occur. After the paper is fully 10 formed and couched from the cylinder mould cover, the water is extracted from the wet fibre mat and the paper is passed through a drying process. In the finished paper the contact points are present as exposed regions which ultimately form windows, visible 15 in reflected light, on one side of a security or banknote paper.

WO-A-93/0S'327 describes a method of manufacturing windowed thread paper on a Fourdrinier paper-making 20 machine. A rotating embedment means, with a modified profile for embossing, is used to drive an impermeable elongate security element into draining paper stock, on a Fourdrinier wire. The profile of the embedment means is such that raised portions are provided which 25 remain in contact with the security element during the embedment process. Thus, paper fibres are prevented from collecting between the security element and embedment means, such that the security element is subsequently exposed in windowed regions of paper.

In the manufacture of many security papers, it is desirable to press the water out of the paper by using single felled presses as these tend to give a superior printing surface due to the application of plain press 35 roll surfaces to the surface of the paper. Typically the first press and second press have a reverse configuration with respect to the side to which the

f -3- unfelted roll is applied, thereby giving both surfaces a smoothing effect.

It, all of the prior art methods described above,

5 the width of the elongate element which can be used is very limited. Furthermore, the areas of the elements which are exposed are restricted in terms of shape, due to the limitation imposed by the required embossings, and in terms of the areas, due to the 10 nature of the paper- making technique itself.

For many applications a considerable advantage can be obtained if the Impermeable element is over 2mm wide and more preferably having a width of 4mm or 15 greater.

Another of the main difficulties associated with the manufacture of paper incorporating wide security elements, i.e. over imp wide/ is water removal at 20 first press when the press is only felted on one side.

When the paper is squeezed between the rolls it seeks to flow along the route of least resistance. On the side in contact with the felt the water passes into the voids of the felt and does no harm to the paper 25 structure. On the side in contact with the unfelted roll, as the paper passes through the press the wet Bibles chat are sandwiched between the unfelted press roll and the wide element tend to split apart, forming small rivulets in the machine direction along which 30 the squeezed out water passes.

This effect is especially noticeable with a windowed security element, where the splits appear as defects in the paper bridges between the windows at 35 the point where the bridges cover the security element. This commonly occurs if the first press nip comprises a plain roll in contact with the windowed

( side of the paper and a felt in contact with the other side. One way in which this limitation has been 5 overcome is by using a double telted first press nip.

This allows the accommodation of various press technologies, including the combi-press, in which two press nips are achieved in combination with only three rolls. In this way the felts accommodate water being 10 squeezed from both sides of the sheet and the splitting effect of a Wide security element as described above is avoided. This can, however, result in a compromise of the paper surface as now only one side of the paper can benefit from the smoothing 15 effect of the unfelted roll.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing fibrous sheets, such as paper, which can be used with wide 20 security elements, as well as narrower security elements, in which the quality of the printing surface is not compromised where a single felted press machine is used.

25 The invention therefore provides a method of manufacturing a fibrous sheet comprising the steps of bringing an elongate flexible element into contact with a moving support surface, depositing fibres onto the support surface to form a fibrous sheet which 30 travels in a machine direction, said support surface having spaced portions which prevent the substantial deposition of fibres at those portions and form windows at spaced locations in at least one surface of the sheet, the deposition of fibres being carried out 35 in such a manner that as fibres are deposited onto the support surface the elongate element is incorporated in the sheet with regions of the element at least

- -5 partially exposed at at least one surface of the sheet at said windows, wherein at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle, in the plane of the sheet, which s not 90- to the machine direction.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 10 Fig. 1 is a crosssectional side elevation of a schematic of a paper-aking vat for use in the method of manufacturing paper according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view Of a sheet of paper made according to the present:invention; Figs. 3 and 4 are sections of cylinder mould covers having different embossed patterns for use in 20 the method of the present invention; and Figs. 5, 6 and 1 are sections of alternative paper sheets to that of Fig. 2 made according to the present invention.

The method of manufacturing a fibrous sheet, such as paper, according to the present invention is illustrated with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. A porous support surface, for example in the form of a 30 cylinder mould cover 10, is produced in a known way.

The Would cover 10 has raised portions 12 formed by embossing, such as those described in EP-A-0059056.

The raised portions 12 are spaced around the mould cover 10 and define the shape of the windows 16 formed 35 in the final paper 15. In this specification the term

"window" includes a transparent or translucent region in the paper of a predefined shape and occurrence.

-6- In a known manner, the cylinder mould cover 10 is rotated in a vat of paper stock 11 as illustrated in Figure 1, and fibres are continuously deposited thereon in a known manner to form a continuous web of 5 paper. The paper stock may comprise fibres of natural materials, such as cotton, synthetic fibres or a mixture of both. As the cylinder mould cover 10 -

rotates, a flexible elongate impermeable element (or thread) 13, is brought into contact with the cylinder 10 mould cover 10 above the level of the paper stock. As the mould cover 10 rotates, the elongate element 13 is introduced into the paper stock, and is partially embedded in the paper as it forms. The continuous paper sheet (or web) is moved along continuously as it 15 is formed, its direction of travel being known as the "machine direction".

The elongate element 13 may be wide enough to provide a wide security thread i.e. greater than 2mm, 20 and potentially greater than Gmm, but preferably 4mm.

Alternatively it may be narrow to provide a more traditional narrow security thread, having a width of 0.5mm to 2mm.

25 The method of the present invention differs from prior art methods in that the configuration of the

raised portions 12 is modified with the effect that can be seen in Figure 2. In Figure there is shown a small sheet of paper 15 cut from a continuous sheet 30 of paper formed as described above, containing the partially embedded elongate element 13 which is exposed in the windows 16. Between the windows 16 are bridges 17 of paper which cover the elongate element 13. However, in all of the known prior art methods of

35 paper making the raised portions 12, which effects the formation of the windows 16 and bridges 17, are square or rectangular and are positioned with their leading

( and trailing edges perpendicular to the machine direction. In this method, on the other hand, raised portions 12 have at least their leading edge formed at any angle other than 90 JO the machine direction. As 5 a result at least the leading edges of the bridges 17 are formed at an angle x other than 90<' to the machine direction (shown as arrow x). In a further embodiment of the invention both the leading and trailing edges of the raised portions 12, and thus the 10 bridges 17 as they are formed, are at an angle other than 90"to the machine direction.

The preferred angles of the leading (and potentially also the trailing) edges of the raised portions 12, and therefore the bridges 17, are 30', 45" or 60' to tine machine direction, but any angle other than '9(] an be used.

Thus, during the paper making process, as each 20 bridge 17 is gassed through the press section of the machine, only a part of the bridge 17 is actually in the nip at any one time. The consequence of this is that water squeezed out of the paper in the nip migrates to the non-bridge area and is channelled 25 harmlessly away along these angled windowed areas of the elongate element 13, instead of being forced along through the bridges l/.

This new window configuration can also result in 30 other surprising benefits. It is a feature of the method as described in EP-A-0059056 that the embossed mould cover is gradually flattened by constant use under the impact of the couch roll which forms a nip with the mould cove' at the point where the paper is 35 transferred to the Formex, (which is a flexible belt which transfers the paper to the next part of the paper making machine). This significantly reduces the

! would cover life and leads to significant costs in repair and replacement. However, by angling the raised portions 12 in accordance with the present invention and positioning them sufficiently closely to 5 adjacent portions 12, the couch roll does not repeatedly impact the embossed raised portion 12 with such a high force as it always rides on at least one raised portion 12 and the mould cover life is thus significantly increased. For a similar reason, the 10 defect known as "barring" is also eliminated as the couch roll cannot fall within the troughs between the embossings as it does when the raised portions 12 are perpendicular to the machine direction and therefore parallel to the troughs. It should be noted, however, 15 that the relative positioning of the raised portions 12 to each other is a preferred not an essential feature of the invention.

Furthermore, because the wire mesh of the could 20 cover is aligned in such a way that the weft and warp of the weave correspond to the crossand machine-

directions of the paper machine, the raised portions 12 of the traditional method of EP-A-0059056 are weakened by virtue of the wire mesh being aligned in 25 the same direction as the forces acting on it. By angling the raised portions 12 in the present invention, the wire mesh forms a diagonal structure in relation to the forces acting on the raised portions 12. This structure is mechanically stronger and 30 results in longer mould corer life.

In Figure 2 the windows 16, which correspond to the shape of the raised portions 12, are shown as being parallelograms. However, the shapes of the 35 windows 16 can also be varied to include other straight lie geometric patterns or even curves, as shown in Flqure 3, or they may comprise composite

( diagonal structures "V" or "W", one form of which is shown in Figure 4. The embossing on a cylinder could can be used to produce windows which extend beyond the width of the elongate element 13. The patterns 5 produced can also be a composite pattern of diagonals and/or curves which form indicia or text, examples of which are shown in Figures 5 to 7. In these cases the section of the leading (and possibly also the trailing) edges of the bridges 12, in the area 10 occupied by the elongate element, must be at an angle other than 90 to the machine direction.

Although the method of the present invention its particularly advantageous when used on a single felted 15 press, to overcome the specific disadvantages described above, it can also be used on double Belted presses. The elongate element 13 can advantageously be 20 used as an information carrier and/or can contain a wide variety of known security features. These may include the following; de-metallised designs, which may comprise areas 25 of substantially removed metal to take advantage of the transparency of the base film and provide a large area of transparent window; holographic designs, which may comprise areas of 30 full metal and half-tcne screens to provide partial transparency and/or no metal. Under certain viewing conditions, with no metal, a holographic image is still visible; 35 - front to back print registration, in which features are printed which would clearly exhibit Moire patterns from both front and back if a

( - 1 0 counterfeit were attempted. Alternatively, such patter-s could be produced on a transparent film prior to insert.iOn of the element 13 into the paper as a security feature itself. The exact 5 reproduction of such patterns are very difficult to mimic; luminescent or magnetic materials) 10 With such a large area available, it is possible to combine many features together on a element 13.

In addition, the element 13 could be perforated with holes of various shapes to provide novel features 15 or possibly machine readability, e.g. via airstreams.

The paper described above can be cut and printed to make all forms of documents, including security documents, such as banknotes, cheques, travellers 20 cheques, identity cards, passports, bonds, security labels, stamps, vouchers etc.

Claims

f CLAIMS:

1. A method of manufacturing a fibrous sheet 5 comprising the steps of bringing an elongate flexible element into contact with a moving support surface, depositing fibres onto the support surface to form a fibrous sheet which travels in a machine direction, said support surface having spaced portions which 10 prevent the substantial deposition of fibres at those portions and form windows at spaced locations in at least one surface of the sheet, the deposition of fibres being carried out in such a manner that as fibres are deposited onto the support surface the 15 elongate element is incorporated in the sheet with regions of thee clement at least partially exposed at at least one surface of the sheet at said windows, wherein at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle, in the plane of the sheet, which is 20 not 90-' to the machine direction.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the spaced portion are raised relative to adjacent areas of the support surface.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the raised portions of the support surface are fluid permeable. 30 4. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle between 30" and 60 to the machine direction..

35 5. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle of 30 to the machine direction.

-12 6. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle of 45 to the machine direction.

5 7. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is at an angle of 60 to the machine direction.

8. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding 10 claims in which a trailing edge of the spaced portions is at an angle, in the plane of the sheet, which is not 90" to the machine direction.

9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding 15 claims in which the width of the elongate element is at least 0.5 mm.

10. A method as claimed in claim in which the width of the elongate element is at least 2 mm.

11. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least a leading edge of each spaced portion is a straight line or consists of straight line segments at different angles to each other.

12. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which a trailing edge of each spaced portion is a straight line or consists of straight line segments at different angles to each other.

13. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which at least a leading edge of the spaced portions is curved or has one or more curved portions 35 14. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which trailing edge of the spaced portions is curved or has one or more curved portions.

-13 15. A fibrous sheet made by the method claimed in any one of the 'receding claims.

16. A securit: document made from the sheet of claim 5 15. 17- A method as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

10 1$. A fibrous sheet as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. 19. A security document as hereinbefore described 15 with referer-ce to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. : I A.' 1:: TAIS:.I';i I 'N.i;( hi