JP2001328378A - Manufacturing and reading method for personal identification card - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a personal identification card, simple and high in security. SOLUTION: Luminous invisible ink, reacting to light having a specified wavelength, is injected by an ink jet system to print a fingerprint on the surface of the card. In another method, transparent ink, having impermeability against light having the wavelength of a specified frequency, is injected to print the fingerprint on the surface of a transparent card.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for storing information on a card-shaped medium, and more particularly, to a method for determining the identity of a card owner and a user. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a recorded card and a method for reading information on the card.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a technique for recording personal identification information on a card, for example, there is a method of printing a fingerprint (or fingerprint information) on a card shown in FIG. 1 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-154232. In this method, light from a light source 3 is applied to the surface of the glass 2 on which the finger 1 is placed, and the fingerprint is taken into the fingerprint reading control device 8 via the lens 4, the band pass filter 5, the CCD 6 and the A / D converter 7. Then, the fingerprint reading control device 8
Is thermally transferred via the invisible ink ribbon 10 using the thermal head 9 to form a fingerprint image on the card 11 with the invisible ink.

[0003] Also, JP-A-2000-1068 discloses that
A technique for recording or printing image information or a magnetic pattern as personal information on a card using a (bubble) inkjet printing method has been disclosed.

[0004]

However, in the printing method using thermal transfer as described above, heat is applied to the printed matter on the card in advance, so that bleeding occurs or the printing ink is resistant to heat. There is a problem that must be done. In addition to the high cost of the ink ribbon, the cost may be high, and the shape of the card may be changed by heat during printing.

On the other hand, a method of recording or printing image information or a magnetic pattern on a card using an ink jet printing method is technically superior to a thermal transfer method.
In the conventional ink jet system, there is still a point to be improved from the viewpoint of card security, such as using ink which can be visually recognized in a normal state for printing an image or a magnetic pattern. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obtain a personal authentication card having higher security by utilizing the features of the ink jet printing system, and to provide a method of reading information from the card.

[0006]

According to the method for manufacturing a personal identification card of the present invention, a luminescent invisible ink which responds to light of a specific wavelength is ejected by an ink jet method so that information peculiar to an individual is printed on the surface of the card. It is characterized by printing. In addition, information unique to an individual is printed on the surface of a transparent card by ejecting a transparent ink having a light impermeability to light having a wavelength of a specific frequency by an inkjet method. In these methods, specific shape information is printed in a transparent state, and a card with high security can be obtained. In other words, since the recorded information is transparent, not only cannot its shape be easily seen, but also because it responds only to light at a specific wavelength, it is very difficult to select wavelengths that respond from all wavelength ranges. It becomes difficult. In addition, by preparing several types of wavelengths that react and using it as a card system,
Decryption and duplication can be made more difficult. Furthermore, because of inkjet printing, it is possible to record information such as images in their original form without damaging the shape of the card at the time of printing at low cost, without causing deformation or the like. Become. In addition, since non-contact printing is used, there is an advantage that printing can be performed without causing physical deformation of the card, and printing that is not greatly affected by the material of the card can be performed.

In addition, information unique to an individual is printed on the surface of a card having irregularities by an ink jet method. In conventional printing using, for example, an ink ribbon, unless the card surface has as much unevenness as possible, ink cannot be applied to the concave portion and an accurate shape cannot be printed. Printing on the card. For this reason, in the printed card, only the ink portion (printed portion) is in a swelling state, and if it is measured with a device or the like that measures the shape of that portion, it is relatively easy even if it is a transparent ink. While the shape can be specified, the non-contact printing of the ink jet method as described above enables printing even if the information printing surface of the card has irregularities. It is difficult to decipher the recorded information even if the shape of the convex portion is measured using a device for measuring. In addition, by the ink jet method, the luminous invisible ink which reacts to the light of the different specific wavelengths or the transparent ink having the light opacity for the light of the wavelengths of the different specific frequencies is sequentially ejected to the individual. It is characterized by printing a plurality of unique information on the surface of a transparent card. According to this, since there are a plurality of pieces of print information, it takes time and effort to decode the information, which helps prevent illegal use of the card. In particular, it is characterized in that a fingerprint is printed on the surface of the card as information unique to an individual. Since the fingerprint is absolutely unique in shape data, this greatly improves the reliability of personal identification. In addition, although the fingerprint has a complicated shape, the ink jet printing prints the complicated shape with high accuracy, so that imitation is more difficult and the security of the card is improved.

Further, the ink jet system is characterized in that the ink is pushed out by utilizing the elastic displacement of the diaphragm. This makes it possible to discharge ink stably without causing printing defects due to ink non-discharge or abnormal discharge, without applying heat to the product as in the case of thermal transfer printing, and without contacting the product Thus, clearer printing can be performed.

A method for reading a personal identification card according to the present invention is characterized in that information unique to an individual is printed on the surface of the card by ejecting a luminous invisible ink responsive to light of a specific wavelength by an ink jet system. It is characterized in that the card is irradiated with light of the specific wavelength to emit light, thereby reading the personal information of the card. In addition, the personal identification card, which is formed by ejecting ink having light impermeability to light having a wavelength of a specific frequency by an ink-jet method and printing information unique to an individual on the surface of a transparent card, Irradiation of light having a wavelength of .lambda. Produces a light transmitting portion and a light non-transmitting portion, whereby personal information of the card is read.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Here, a method of printing a fingerprint of a person, which is unique information as personal identification information, on a card using luminous invisible ink (hereinafter referred to as luminous invisible ink) that responds to light of a specific wavelength. explain. As the card, a resin base material widely used for credit cards, bank cards, and the like can be used. In addition, the luminescent invisible ink is an ink containing a substance that is transparent and invisible to human eyes in a normal state, but emits light when irradiated with infrared rays or ultraviolet rays,
For example, inks described in JP-A-10-236021 can be used.

FIG. 2 shows a method for printing a fingerprint on a card according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, first, it is assumed that fingerprint information necessary for the fingerprint reading control device is stored by a method as shown in the former part of FIG. Card 21
When a fingerprint (or fingerprint information) to be printed on the printer enters the inkjet head control unit 22 from the fingerprint reading control device 8, the inkjet control unit 22 drives and controls the inkjet head 23 to eject luminous invisible ink. Fingerprint 24 based on the fingerprint information on the surface of card 21
Print. Therefore, even if the printed card 21 is simply viewed with the naked eye, the fingerprint 24 cannot be visually recognized. Since the printing of the fingerprint by the ink jet method is performed in a non-contact manner by the ejection of the ink, a high-precision fingerprint shape can be printed on the card without causing deformation of the card. In addition, since the printing of the fingerprint is performed in a non-contact manner by jetting the ink, the operation is easier and the troublesome mounting of the ink ribbon can be omitted as compared with the direct contact method of the print head using the conventional ink ribbon or the like. For,
The manufacturing cost of the card can be reduced and the manufacturing time can be shortened.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a fingerprint reading method for the personal identification card created by the above method. When light emitted from the ink used for printing, for example, infrared light 25, is emitted from the irradiation device 26 to the fingerprint print portion 24 on the surface of the card 21, the printed fingerprint 24 emits light and is displayed. In this reading method, the fingerprint shape can be read only by using light of a specific wavelength emitted from the ink on which the fingerprint is recorded, and it is very difficult to select the light of the specific wavelength from all wavelength ranges. Therefore, it can greatly contribute to prevention of unauthorized use of the card. Also, this card 2
If there is a stand-alone fingerprint recognition device that illuminates and displays a fingerprint by illuminating 1 and reads the displayed fingerprint, and compares the read fingerprint with a previously stored fingerprint,
It is possible to determine whether or not the user of the card is a valid user without forming a network such as another system such as a database.

Embodiment 2 FIG. Next, using a transparent ink (hereinafter referred to as an impermeable transparent ink) that is impermeable to light of a specific frequency wavelength, a fingerprint is printed on a transparent card (various wavelengths including a specific frequency wavelength). A method of printing on a card which transmits the image will be described. Note that a transparent resin base material is used for the card.

A method of printing a fingerprint on a card can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment except that an opaque transparent ink is used instead of the luminescent invisible ink. Here, since the printed fingerprint is transparent, the fingerprint cannot be visually recognized even if the card after printing is simply viewed with the naked eye.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a fingerprint reading method for the personal identification card created by the above method. Transparent card 31
When light 32 having a wavelength that is impermeable to the ink used for printing is applied to the fingerprint-printed portion on the surface of the surface, only the portion 33 on which fingerprint printing has been performed stops transmitting light. Therefore, if there is a fingerprint recognition device that irradiates the card 31 with light to read the fingerprint from the light-impermeable portion and reads the actual fingerprint of the person and compares the two, the card owner and the card user can use the fingerprint recognition device. The identity can be determined.

Embodiment 3 Here, in the method of printing a fingerprint on a card base material according to the first or second embodiment, the printed surface of the card is finished to have a roughness of several tens of μm or more, and a fingerprint is printed on the uneven surface. It is. FIG. 5 shows a personal identification card manufactured by this method, in which a fingerprint 42 is printed by an ink jet method on an uneven surface 41a formed on the surface of the card 41. In this case, since each printing point constituting the fingerprint is at an arbitrary position on the uneven surface 41a, it is considerably difficult to decode the printed information even with a device for measuring the uneven shape of several μm level. Thus, the security of the card can be further improved.

Embodiment 4 Here, in the method of printing a fingerprint on a card according to the first or second embodiment, two or more different inks are printed in an overlapping manner. That is, two or more inks that emit light in response to light of different wavelengths are used for a luminescent invisible ink, and two inks that are impermeable to light of different wavelengths are used for an impermeable transparent ink. Printing is performed using the above inks. By doing so, it is possible to print a shape having a larger amount of information in the same area, and since the printed ink has different working wavelengths, it becomes more difficult to decode and copy the recorded information. FIG. 6 shows a personal identification card manufactured by this method.
Fingerprints printed with two different inks (47, 48)
Is printed twice. For example, if this is used for a recognition device that reads two fingerprints and assumes that these two fingerprints match the actual fingerprint as a prerequisite for personal recognition, the security of the card can be increased without increasing the information storage area. Properties can be further enhanced.

In the first to fourth embodiments, the personal identification information to be printed on the card can be a numerical value or an image that can identify an individual, in addition to the fingerprint. In addition, the top surface of the printed personal identification information such as fingerprints may be covered with a thin transparent sheet or the like, or coated with a transparent resin, so that printing may be damaged or damaged due to long-term use of the card. Shall be prevented. In addition,
For such a reason, the above-mentioned coating or coating does not always need to be performed, but may be performed according to the use environment.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of use of the personal identification card manufactured in the above embodiment,
Specifically, it is an explanatory view showing an example in which a personal identification card is used for unlocking a door of a room. A fingerprint recognition device 52 is attached to the door 51, and is configured to unlock a door (not shown) in response to an output signal from the fingerprint recognition device 52. A person who is allowed to enter and leave the room 53 is given the personal identification card 21 described in Embodiment 1, for example, on which the fingerprint of the person is printed in advance. Is inserted into the card information reading unit 52a of the fingerprint recognition device 52, and the actual fingerprint reading unit 52
Put your finger on b. Then, the fingerprint recognition device 52 takes in the fingerprint of the card 21 and the actual fingerprint, compares their shapes, and only when it is determined that both fingerprints match, sends a signal for unlocking the door to open and close the key. Sent to the controlling unit to open the door 51 key. Therefore, only the owner of the valid personal identification card 21 can enter the room.

In the above system, the fingerprint data is recorded in the fingerprint recognition device 52 itself, and the recorded data can be compared with the information of the card inserted therein. There is no need to separately perform centralized management in a database or the like or to construct a large-scale system that requires frequent maintenance. Also, in the above system, an example is shown in which the personal identification card is used to unlock the entrance door of the room. However, according to this example, the personal identification card is connected without connecting the fingerprint recognition device to another system. Using only the card and the fingerprint recognition device, a personal verification system can be easily constructed.

Embodiment 6 Here, the structure and operation of the inkjet head used in the inkjet printing of each of the above embodiments will be described. FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of the ink jet head used for the current ink jet printing. The ink jet head 61 has a middle silicon substrate 62 sandwiched therebetween, a nozzle plate 63 also made of silicon on the upper side, and a borosilicate glass substrate 64 having a thermal expansion coefficient close to that of silicon on the lower side. By etching the silicon substrate 62 from the surface thereof, an independent ink chamber (pressure generating chamber) 65, one common ink chamber (reservoir) 66,
Grooves that function as ink supply paths (orifices) 67 that connect the common ink chambers 66 to the respective ink chambers 65 are formed. When these grooves are closed by the nozzle plate 63, an ink chamber 65, a common ink chamber 66, and an ink supply path 67 are respectively formed.

Each ink chamber 65 is provided in the nozzle plate 63.
Ink nozzles 71 are formed at positions corresponding to the front end portions of the ink chambers 65 and communicate with the ink chambers 65. In addition, a portion of the glass substrate 64 where the common ink chamber 66 is located has an ink supply port 72 communicating therewith.
Are formed. Ink is supplied from an external ink tank (not shown) through an ink supply port 72 to the common ink chamber 6.
6. The ink supplied to the common ink chamber 66 is supplied to each independent ink chamber 65 through each ink supply path 67. Each of the ink chambers 65 has a thin bottom wall 73, and is configured so as to function as a diaphragm that can be elastically displaced vertically in a direction perpendicular to its surface.

In the glass substrate 64 located below the silicon substrate 62, the ink chamber 6 of the silicon substrate 62
A shallowly etched recess 69 is formed at a position corresponding to 5. Therefore, the bottom wall 73 of each ink chamber 65 faces the surface 74 of the glass substrate 64 in which the recess 69 is formed with a very small gap G. Each segment electrode is formed on the surface 74 of the glass substrate 64 so as to face the bottom wall 73 of each ink chamber 65.

Here, the bottom wall (vibration plate) of each ink chamber 65
73 functions as a common electrode on each ink chamber side. The surface of the bottom wall 73 of each ink chamber 65 facing the glass substrate 64 is covered with an insulating layer made of a silicon oxide film. As described above, the bottom wall 73 of each ink chamber, that is, the diaphragm (common electrode), and each segment electrode 70 are opposed to each other with the gap G and the insulating layer formed on the surface of the bottom wall 73 of the ink chamber 65 interposed therebetween. are doing.

In the ink jet head 61 configured as described above, when the driving voltage from the voltage applying means 76 is applied between the opposing electrodes, Coulomb force is generated by the electric charge charged between the opposing electrodes, and the bottom plate is formed. The (vibrating plate) 73 is bent toward the segment electrode 70, and the volume of the ink chamber 65 is increased. Next, when the drive voltage from the voltage applying means 76 is released and the electric charge between the opposing electrodes is discharged, the diaphragm 73 is restored by its elastic restoring force, and the volume of the ink chamber 65 is rapidly contracted. Due to the ink pressure generated at this time, a part of the ink filling the ink chamber 65 is ejected from the ink nozzle 71 communicating with the ink chamber 65 as an ink column. After ejection, the ink becomes ink droplets due to its own surface tension and lands on the printing surface.

By performing ink-jet printing using the ink-jet head having such a configuration, it is possible to discharge ink stably without causing printing trouble due to ink non-discharge or abnormal discharge. Thus, clearer printing can be performed without contacting the product without applying heat to the product.

[0027]

The present invention having the above configuration has the following effects. (1) Since personal information such as fingerprints is printed on the card by ink-jet printing, manufacturing costs can be significantly reduced compared to IC cards that perform the same function, and new cards can be issued. Can be done in a short time. (2) Since the information such as the fingerprint printed on the card is not easily deciphered, the security is high. (3) By printing a fingerprint on a card as personal identification information, it is possible to combine a fingerprint printed on the card with a fingerprint recognition device that reads and compares the actual fingerprint of a person, and does not require a separate database or the like. A simple personal recognition system can be configured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional fingerprint information printing method using an ink ribbon.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for printing a fingerprint on a card according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a fingerprint reading method for the personal identification card manufactured by the method of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a fingerprint reading method for a personal identification card manufactured by the method of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for printing a fingerprint on a card according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a method for printing a fingerprint on a card according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of use of a personal identification card manufactured according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of an inkjet head illustrating an example of an inkjet head used in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

8 Fingerprint reading control device 21, 31, 41, 46 Personal recognition card 22 Inkjet head control unit 23, 61 Inkjet head 24, 33, 42, 47, 48 Fingerprint printed on card surface 52 Fingerprint recognition device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B41J 3/04 101Z

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing a personal identification card, characterized in that information unique to an individual is printed on the surface of the card by ejecting a luminous invisible ink responsive to light of a specific wavelength by an ink jet method. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein information specific to an individual is printed on the surface of a transparent card by ejecting a transparent ink having a light-opaque property to light having a wavelength of a specific frequency by an ink jet method. Manufacturing method of personal identification card. 3. The method for manufacturing a personal identification card according to claim 1, wherein information unique to an individual is printed on the surface of the card having irregularities by an ink-jet method. 4. An ink jet method in which a plurality of pieces of information peculiar to an individual are printed on the surface of a card by sequentially ejecting luminous invisible inks that respond to light of different specific wavelengths. A method for manufacturing the personal identification card according to claim 1. 5. An ink jet method in which transparent inks having a light opacity to light having wavelengths of different specific frequencies are sequentially ejected, and a plurality of pieces of information peculiar to an individual are printed on the surface of a transparent card. 3. The method for manufacturing a personal identification card according to claim 2, wherein printing is performed in an overlapping manner. 6. The method for manufacturing a personal identification card according to claim 1, wherein a fingerprint is printed on the surface of the card as information unique to the individual. 7. The method for manufacturing a personal identification card according to claim 1, wherein the ink-jet method is a method in which ink is pushed out using elastic displacement of a diaphragm. 8. The personal identification card, which prints information specific to an individual on the surface of the card by ejecting a luminous invisible ink responsive to light of a specific wavelength by an ink-jet method, To emit light,
A personal identification card reading method characterized by reading the personal information of the card. 9. An individual recognition card in which information peculiar to an individual is printed on the surface of a transparent card by ejecting an ink having a light impermeability to light having a wavelength of a specific frequency by an ink jet method. Irradiating the light of the specific wavelength to generate a light transmitting portion and a light opaque portion, thereby reading the personal information of the card;