JP2539426Y2 - card - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a card such as an ID card, an IC card, and an optical card, and more particularly to a card on which data such as a face image and character information is printed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various data such as face images and character information are stored in I
Card printing devices for directly performing thermal transfer printing on cards such as D cards, IC cards, and optical cards have already been developed. The printing by the card printing apparatus is performed by superimposing an ink ribbon coated with ink in a visible light region and a card such that an ink layer of the ink ribbon faces the card, and heating the ink ribbon by a thermal head.
The ink is transferred to a card. In this way, images such as face images and character information are formed on the card,
In order to protect this image, a transparent ink is further transferred thereon to apply an overcoat, or a thin film film on which the transparent ink is printed is pasted.

[0003]

In a card on which the above-mentioned face image, character information and the like are printed, it is necessary to prevent the card from being tampered. However, if substantially the same card printing device and ink material are obtained, tampering can be performed. Therefore, it is required to make it difficult to falsify the card. The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and has as its object to provide a card that cannot be easily tampered with.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention relates to a card in which an image or character information is thermally transferred and printed with a thermal sublimation ink.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a card wherein at least a part of the image or the character information is multi-tone printed with ink in a non-visible light region.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The card of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an example of the card of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an ink ribbon used to make the card of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a card printing apparatus and a card printing apparatus used to make the card of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a peripheral device, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a card printing apparatus used to create the card of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the card of the present invention.

First, the ink ribbon used to make the card of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This ink ribbon is obtained by applying a heat sublimable ink in a visible light region, a heat sublimable ink in an invisible light region, and a transparent protective material on a thin film such as a polyester film. As shown in FIG. 2, the inks in the visible sublimable region of thermal sublimation include Y (yellow), M (magenta),
C (cyan) color printing ink is used, and as the ink in the non-visible light region of thermal sublimation, a fluorescent ink X for ultraviolet light or infrared light is used. OC is a transparent protective material.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, a description will be given of a card printing apparatus and its peripheral devices used to create the card of the present invention. A face image of a person, a fingerprint, a signature, and the like are photographed by the camera 2 and stored in a storage device 5 managed by the personal computer 1. Then, character information such as affiliation and name is input to the personal computer 1 by the keyboard 4 and is synthesized with the face image taken by the camera 2. The synthesized image is displayed on the display 3, and the printing position, size, image quality, and the like on a card (not shown) are adjusted by the personal computer 1 as a color image. Fingerprints and signatures are adjusted in the same manner as a monochromatic multi-tone image as described later. After these adjustments are completed, the storage device 5
Is registered and stored again as personal information. The personal information is taken out as needed and printed on the card by the card printing device 6.

Here, a method of printing on a card, which is the gist of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a sublimation ink receiving layer 11 is formed on a substrate 10 of a card. When the ink ribbon is heated by the card printing device 6, the sublimation ink becomes
1 is transcribed. The card printing device 6 uses the ink ribbon shown in FIG. 2 to color-print the face image 111 and the character information 112 such as affiliation and name on the card with the inks Y, M, and C in the visible sublimation region of heat. . Then, an image 113 such as a fingerprint or a signature is printed in multi-gradation with the ink X in the non-visible light region of thermal sublimation. The image 113 printed with the ink X is invisible under normal illumination light, and can be detected only when ultraviolet light or infrared light is irradiated.
An image 113 such as a fingerprint or a signature printed using the fluorescent ink X for ultraviolet light or infrared light performs multi-tone printing by changing the amount of ink transferred by changing the heating energy.

That is, as shown in FIG.
Multi-tone printing is performed only on the portion 13 as specific density characteristics like A and B. As described above, by performing multi-tone recording of the invisible light image 113 such as a fingerprint or a signature as a density characteristic unique to each card printing apparatus, it becomes difficult to tamper with the card. In FIG. 5, the unit of the density on the vertical axis is OD (Optical Density). Then, after printing, the transparent protective material OC is transferred and the overcoat 12 is applied so that the ink does not change over time or discolor under the influence of the outside air.

The card printing device 6 for performing the above-described multi-tone printing will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. Data controlled by the personal computer 1 and read from the storage device 5 is input to the card printing device 6. This data is divided by the interface 61 into image data and color identification signals. The image data is input to the data conversion unit 62, and the color identification signal is input to the density characteristic storage unit 63. The density characteristic storage unit 63 selects a density characteristic based on the color identification signal,
The data is input to the data converter 62. Then, the data conversion unit 6
2 converts the image data into data having an optimum density characteristic to be printed by the printing unit 64 and inputs the converted data to the printing unit 64 including a thermal head or the like. The density characteristics when the face image 111 and the character information 112 and the like are printed in color with Y, M, and C inks are set so that the color reproduction after printing is the best. The density characteristic when printing is set to a printing characteristic that is hard to be falsified, for example, a step-like shape having no regularity as shown in FIG.

[0011]

As described in detail above, the card of the present invention cannot be easily tampered with since the image such as the fingerprint or the sign is printed in multiple gradations with the ink in the invisible light region. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of the card of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an ink ribbon used to create the card of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a card printing apparatus used to create the card of the present invention and its peripheral devices.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a card printing apparatus used to create the card of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the card of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer 2 Camera 3 Display 4 Keyboard 5 Storage device 6 Card printing device

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Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A card in which an image or character information is thermally transferred and printed by a thermal sublimation ink, wherein at least a part of the image or the character information is multi-tone printed by an ink in a non-visible light region. .