JP3244278B2 - Data carrier with security element - Google Patents

Abstract

Data carriers protected against forgery attempts using colour copiers, such as an identity card or a security, which include an optically variable security element of a liquid crystal material. This security element, such as for example a security thread, has a layer similar to plastic of a liquid crystal polymer, which exhibits a pronounced iridescence at room temperature. The plastic-like properties of the liquid crystal polymers permit easy processing to form a semi-finished or finished product, so that very diverse types of security elements can be produced. <IMAGE>

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data carrier, especially a security, a document, an identification card, etc., containing a liquid crystal material and having an optically variable security element (forgery prevention element).

2. Description of the Related Art With the technical progress of color copying machines,
It is increasingly difficult to distinguish reproductions from originals in terms of color, resolution and quality. In order to prevent data carriers from being forged by color copiers or scanners, optically changing elements are increasingly being used as security elements. Such devices generally exhibit different colors or brightness depending on lighting and viewing conditions. The most common, optically variable elements are diffraction gratings,
There are holograms, interference coatings, metameric inks and polarizing coatings. Holograms and gratings are based on diffraction effects. Interference coatings usually consist of several superposed layers, the thickness of which is in the wavelength range of the light. Metameric inks usually consist of a mixture of pigments with different reflectance bands. This composition causes the metameric inks to change their visible color effect when the type of illumination changes. The dichroic dye absorbs white light in different wavelength ranges depending on the polarization direction, and as a result, produces a color effect according to the polarization.

Known optically changing security measures are very expensive to manufacture,
Disadvantages include inability to process using normal manufacturing methods or inadequate compatibility with other security measures or card materials. The purpose of the present invention is
To propose a feature that has different anti-duplication effects that can be produced inexpensively, using conventional methods, and that are compatible with other features, that is, can be combined, that exhibit different effects depending on the viewing angle. is there.

This object is achieved by the features described in the characterizing part of the main claim. Other features are set forth in the other independent and dependent claims.
The present invention uses a liquid crystal polymer as a security element. After suitable and appropriate preparation, these polymers constitute a plastic-like solid which exhibits a pronounced light brilliance at room temperature. As a preferable manufacturing method, for example, a material in a liquid state is applied on a substrate, and then UV
There is a method of curing this by irradiation. Preferred liquid crystal polymers include, in particular, liquid crystal silicone polymers and cholesteric organopolysiloxanes. Their chemical structures and their preparation are described in published European patent applications EP-A 0136501, EP-A 0060335 and EP-A-0060335.
No. 0066137. The contents of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference. The use of ordinary liquid crystals as a security element, ie, an accessory for preventing counterfeiting, is already known and has been proposed, for example, in Australian Patent No. 488652. This patent describes a banknote with an intermediate layer in which the security element is embedded in the form of a liquid crystal material. This liquid crystal material has been applied to the filling by printing techniques. The liquid crystal is in a coherent liquid state, embedded in microcapsules with all sides closed and mixed in the ink. The security test is performed by observing a change in color of the security element due to a change in temperature. Liquid crystals, despite their structural anisotropy, usually behave like liquids, which is why this material has to be contained in a capsule or cavity, complicating the manufacturing technology . Because containing the liquid crystal material is not only complicated, but also has the risk of breaking cavities and capsules, the proposed security element is subjected to the action of pressure and heat (classical lamination technology) in the usual way. It is not possible to embed it in film or identification documents. Further, the liquid crystal contained in the capsule or the cavity is not suitable for security on banknotes or securities by intaglio printing made of steel. This is because the capsules and cavities are destroyed by the high pressure stress required in this manufacturing method. However, with appropriate processing, liquid crystals can also exist in solid form, exhibiting a high degree of orientation of their molecules depending on the processing method, maximizing their optically changing properties, and maximizing brightness. Demonstrate. In the liquid crystal system of the present invention, the color purity of the reflected light hardly exceeds the region of 100 nm, the discoloration effect caused by changing the viewing angle is very remarkable, and the reflected and transmitted light has remarkable circular polarization. . Due to their optically changing properties, which make full use of these properties, such liquid crystal polymers are particularly suitable for use as security elements on data carriers, securities and identification cards. Color glitter can be easily observed by ordinary people. Due to the wavelength-selective reflectivity and the polarization effect, this material is very suitable for automatic testing. The fabrication of replicas is difficult because of the variety and significant properties of its optical effects. In virtually all embodiments, the liquid crystal device can be used as a machine-readable authenticity feature and with other mechanical features. Because the liquid crystal polymer has IR transparency, other mechanical features could be located below the liquid crystal polymer. Since the liquid crystal polymer is solid, it is significantly easier to fabricate a security element therefrom.
First, there is no need to house the liquid crystal in a hollow object. Secondly, there is no risk of bursting and liquid crystal leakage during subsequent processing steps and the service life of the data carrier. This greatly simplifies the manufacturing process and use. The plastic-like properties of the liquid crystal polymer simplify processing into semi-finished or finished products. The starting material is generally a granular material, which can be shaped and processed by methods and machines known in plastics manufacture. Thus, in the field of security technology, completely different types of security elements can be manufactured using liquid crystal polymers as raw materials, and can be used for different applications. Thus, a carrier web made of a tear-resistant plastic can be coated with a liquid crystal polymer. The resulting web of material can be cut into fine webs or fine lines, which can be embedded as security fine lines in paper or other material. Alternatively, a multi-layer web of film including a buried layer of a liquid crystal polymer can be produced. Finally, liquid crystal polymers can also be manufactured as self-supporting films. These films can be used, for example, as a film layer for a multilayer identification card. Other advantages and features of the invention are indicated in the independent and dependent claims and in the examples and figures which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Some of the important properties of this material will be described first to make it easier to understand the application and effects of the liquid crystal polymers described in the drawings and examples. Liquid crystal polymers are special variants of liquid crystals in which the liquid crystal state is "frozen" in a polymer matrix so that the optical properties are particularly pronounced. Thus, liquid crystal polymers do not normally absorb light, and their color is caused by multiple interference of light on individual crystal faces. Accordingly, the color effects in the incident light and the transmitted light are also different. The reflected color spectrum contains only the narrow frequency region around the center wavelength and thus exhibits high color saturation. The transmitted spectrum has a complementary color relationship to the reflection spectrum and falls near the center wavelength. When a liquid crystal polymer is used on an opaque substrate, applying a liquid crystal layer to a black background provides a particularly high degree of color purity for all viewing angles. The reflection spectrum is not disturbed by secondary reflections on the background. The lattice constant of the oriented liquid crystal polymer of the present invention is set at the time of synthesis so that the reflected central wavelength when vertically incident is in the near-infrared or visible region and is in the range of 300 nm to 1,000 nm. be able to. As the viewing angle becomes flat,
The center wavelength of the reflection band moves in the direction of shorter wavelength. For example, a wavelength reflected at right angles is about 20% greater than if reflected at 60 °. FIG. 1 shows the spectral reflection R of the liquid crystal layer.
And normal incidence illumination with curve 1 and 60 ° illumination angle with curve 2
Indicated by For special liquid crystal polymers, the color-forming effect can accordingly change from green to purple, from yellow to blue, from light red to green, or from black to red in the IR reflection band. The lattice constant and thus the basic color of a liquid crystal polymer depends on the exact chemical structure of the liquid crystal and can be determined within the range of 300-1,000 nm depending on the synthesis conditions. FIG. 2 shows a liquid crystal polymer application for window security fine lines. In a banknote 11 with a security print 12, security thin lines 13 are arranged in a papermaking process in line with windows 14 on the surface of the paper and embedded visually. Depending on the embodiment, the width of such a security wire is between 0.5 and several millimeters. To prevent banknotes from being duplicated by optically changing effects, the security wire is designed so that it includes one or more layers of liquid crystal polymer. Variations in security wire manufacturing are shown in FIGS. FIG. 3 shows a first modification of the security thin line 13a. The security wire comprises a plastic carrier 20, which generally has a thickness of 20 to 10 mm.
Preferably, a 0 micron polyester film is used. One side of the carrier 20 is covered with a layer 21 of a liquid crystal polymer having a thickness of several microns. The film 20 is preferably colored black to optically bring out the glitter of the liquid crystal. The fine lines are oriented during the papermaking process such that the liquid crystal layer is on the visible outer surface. FIG. 4 shows a cross section of another variant of the security wire 13b with a symmetrical layer structure. The security wire constructed symmetrically has the advantage that it is not necessary to pay attention to the orientation of the wire when embedding in paper. The thin line 13b has a liquid crystal polymer layer 2 on one side.
1 is composed of two carrier films 20 coated with the same. The carrier films 20 are connected by a bonding agent 22 to give a symmetric layer structure having a liquid crystal layer on the outside. To increase the color richness, the carrier web 20 and / or the laminating agent 22 can be colored with transparent or pigmented inks, if desired. A simple manufacturing solution is to color the laminating agent only, preferably using opaque black. FIG. 5 shows a security thin line 13 constructed symmetrically.
Another variation of c is shown in cross section. In contrast to FIG. 3, here the carrier film 20 is arranged outside the fine line 13c, thereby protecting the inner liquid crystal layer 21 from damage. In this variant, preferably only the laminating agent is dyed. Since the outer carrier layer 20 must remain transparent, it is weakly colored or not colored at all. 6 and 7 show other variations of the security thin line 13d.
It is shown in cross section (FIG. 6) and in a state viewed from above (FIG. 7). As in FIG. 5, the thin line 13d is formed by two carrier films 20, 2
It has a symmetric layer structure composed of two liquid crystal layers 21 and an adhesive layer 22. In production, this thin line connects two pairs of coated films 30,31. Prior to connection, one surface 33 of the film pair is provided with a black ink graphic 34, and alphanumeric symbols are applied by microwriting to the surface of the liquid crystal polymer layer by conventional printing methods. Further, a transparent bonding agent 22 is used. In transmitted light, these characters appear black in the area of the paper window, in front of the optically changing colored background of the polymer layer. However, with incident light, only minute characters show color changes. In another variation of the security wire of FIGS. 6 and 7, the letters 34 are applied to one of the liquid crystal layers with a green microprint and the laminating agent 22 is colored black. At the same time, the liquid crystal material is selected so that it looks green at a particular viewing angle, for example, perpendicular to the black background. When viewing this security wire at this angle, the entire surface appears green. When the observation angle is changed, the color of the liquid crystal polymer layer changes, and green is directly dominant at the place where printing is performed. As a result, a security thin line in which characters can be seen only when the thin line is inclined is obtained. 8 and 9 show another variant 13e in cross section (FIG. 8) and viewed from above (FIG. 9). This security thin line is
0 and a layer 21 of a liquid crystal polymer. On the polymer layer, figures of diagonal stripes 40 of different colors are printed by a usual printing method. In the illustrated embodiment, the special color order selected for the graphic 40 is red 41, yellow 42, green 4
3, blue 44, which is repeated over the entire length of the fine line. Looking at this security thin line 13e, the colored surface areas 40 are visible in different colors through the liquid crystal layer. The color spectrum of the individual areas consists of the reflection bands of the printed dye. In addition, the colors of the liquid crystal layer are additionally mixed. Due to the reflection characteristics depending on the angle of the liquid crystal polymer,
If the color of the liquid crystal polymer is appropriately unified, it is possible to create an illusion of colored stripes that move along the thin line when the color of the liquid crystal polymer is appropriately unified. This modification can be extended to a thin security wire having a symmetric layer structure as in FIG. The variations shown in FIGS. 3-9 can be varied in a wide variety depending on the desired appearance. The optically changing effects of the liquid crystal polymer can be combined with "classical" inks by coloring the desired layers with transparent or colored dyes. The dye itself can be incorporated into any layer of the security wire (including the liquid crystal layer, but only at low density in that case), and / or can be applied to any layer of the wire as a printed graphic. The coloring method described in the description of the figure,
For suggestion purposes only, the above colors may be replaced by any other dye. The possibilities of these combinations result in a vast number of possible color changes, color illusions and dynamic effects. The variants of the security wire shown in FIGS. 3 to 9 can all be manufactured from one semi-finished product. The semi-finished product comprises a web of film 20 made of a carrier material such as a polyester resin and a layer 21 of liquid crystal polymer.
It is manufactured by coating with. Depending on the security fine line color design, a printed, transparent or colored carrier film is used. The thickness of the film web is preferably less than one tenth of a millimeter, and a film thickness of about 10 microns is usually sufficient for liquid crystal coatings. For manufacturing reasons, typical web widths for semi-finished products are in the range of one meter. The printed security fines are produced by printing the desired figures or characters on the carrier web and / or the liquid crystal layer by suitable production methods on known printing machines. Multi-layered, especially symmetrical security wires are produced by laminating coated and optionally printed film webs and connecting them with a laminating agent. When the web has the desired layer structure, the web is cut into fine lines by a known cutting device. The final fine line width is 0.5-5. Depending on the desired application.
It is in the range of 0 mm. The resulting fine lines are particularly suitable for embedding in paper, but can also be embedded between the plastic layers of an identification card. Another type of security element applies to credit cards, identification cards, banknotes, securities, etc., and is often used to protect them from counterfeiting and especially from being copied in large quantities. It is. For these purposes, security elements made of liquid crystal polymers can be used due to their optically changing properties. The transfer element is transferred by a transfer method from the band of the carrier onto the surface of the object to be secured. 10 and 11 show an identification card 50 with a symbolically represented data record 49 and a transfer security element 51 in a front view and in a sectional view. The security element 51 includes a layer of a liquid crystal polymer and has a color sparkle unique to these materials. The transfer element usually consists of several layers. FIG. 11 shows a cross-section of the identification card, taken along line II. In this figure, the height of this element is greatly exaggerated, but is typically some tenths of a micron. The base material 53 includes an adhesive layer 54, a protective lacquer 55, a liquid crystal layer 56, and a final outer layer of a protective lacquer 57 in this order. The security element shown here in a very simple embodiment can be varied in many different ways. The possibility for the color design of the liquid crystal element is equivalent to the possibility for the security thin line. If a clear (visually) recognizable color glitter is required, it is preferable to color the background black. To mix the color with the reflection spectrum, an element 51 is applied to the printed background, as shown in FIG. Printed figures can be varied in various ways,
A simple design would be a monochromatic background, but a multicolor printed background with contrasting alphanumeric symbols or figures, such as bright diagonal stripes, intricate colored circles, etc., would have a remarkable optical effect. Have. Particularly interesting effects are obtained when the background 60 includes black and white or colored pictures, signatures, and the like. A similar color effect on the printing of the background can be obtained by coloring, printing or writing on a layer of the transfer element, which does not change upon transfer, with a suitable optical effect. As described below, any desired outer contour can be imparted to the optical element by the principle of transfer. Thus, the heraldic coverings shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 are representative of stripes, seals, company logos, alphanumeric symbols, numbers, braids, and the like. The shape of the contour 61 gives the optically variable element an individual character. FIGS. 12 and 13 are a front view and a cross-sectional view of an application in which the card data is impersonated by a liquid crystal element so as to be inconspicuous to prevent alteration. Liquid crystal polymers with easily visible color glitter are usually transparent in the infrared and can therefore be easily combined with symbols that can be read in the infrared. In a first printing step, a symbol 72 is printed on the surface of the card 70 with an IR-absorbing ink 71 for this purpose. In the next step, this IR symbol 72 is printed with an IR-transparent ink 73 which is opaque in the visible spectral region. In the last step, the liquid crystal security element 74 is coated on the opaque ink 73 in this area. For manufacturing reasons, a transfer method in which a security element made of a liquid crystal polymer is provided on the surface of the base material may be more preferable. In that case, the transfer band is manufactured in the first step, and the security element is detached from the transfer band in the second step and connected to the base material. Fig. 14
Shows a cross section of the structure of a transfer band 100 suitable for attaching a security element having a liquid crystal layer to the surface of a substrate. The carrier film 101 includes a wax layer 102, a protective lacquer layer 103, a layer 104 made of a liquid crystal polymer, and a colored layer 1 in this order.
05, and a heat sealing layer 106. The carrier film is preferably made of a tear-resistant polyester resin having a thickness of less than one tenth of a millimeter. The other layers of this transfer zone are typically several tenths of a micron to one micron thick. Layer 1 above the wax layer
03-106 form the security element that follows. To obtain a color effect, the transfer band can be colored or printed with each layer during its manufacture. To attach the security element to the substrate, the transfer band 100 provided with the heat sealing layer 106 is placed on the substrate 111 as shown in FIG.
Oppress it. This pressure is applied to the heated transfer die 11
2 or a transfer roll. The action of pressure and heat causes the heat sealing layer to adhere to the substrate. At the same time, the separating layer 102 melts and the carrier material 101 is exfoliated. The security element adheres to the substrate only at the surface area where the separating layer has become liquid, that is, the surface area heated by the transfer die. In other surface areas, the layer structure and the carrier material remain firmly connected to each other. When the carrier film is removed from the substrate, the layer structure tears along the contour edge 113 of the transfer die, so that the transferred security element contour 113 always corresponds to the compression die contour. In this way, complex contours, such as company logos, block-style fonts, etc., can also be realized. The method of heat sealing is known per se and is described, for example, in DE-A 33 08 31. Further, the liquid crystal polymer can be formed into a film. This configuration is particularly suitable as a large-surface or full-surface security element for a multi-layer identification card. FIGS. 16 and 17 show, by way of example, a middle layer 121 of paper and two outer thermoplastic cover films 122 and 12.
3 shows a laminated identification card 120 made of No. 3; Compression of these layers results in tight identification due to the action of pressure and heat. The card information is usually printed on the middle layer, but in the example shown in the figure, a photograph 124 of the owner,
It has card data 125 and a company logo 126.
Anti-counterfeit measures are enhanced by integrating a liquid crystal polymer film in the left half of the card into the card structure between the middle layer and the upper cover film. The glitter of the liquid crystal film is observed through the transparent cover film, with the color printed company symbol 126 adding a color effect. Certain liquid crystal compounds crosslink under the action of high energy (eg, UV) irradiation to form chemically stable films. Areas that have not been exposed, ie, not cured, can be removed with a solvent. Graphics, letters, and numbers by exposing a predetermined surface of a liquid crystal film through a mask and then chemically removing the coating of the unexposed areas in a manner similar to known photographic methods of semiconductor and printing plate fabrication. , Etc. can be produced. Of course, the entire surface of the card can be covered with a liquid crystal polymer film. Instead of integrating the film into the card structure, it may be preferable to transfer the liquid crystal element to the intermediate layer by a transfer method before laminating. Another modification is to replace one or both of the cover films 122 and 123 with a liquid crystal film in a normal laminated card structure. A film made of a liquid crystal material is suitable as a large surface or full surface security element. Such a film is preferably made from a liquid crystal material. To obtain a film suitable for security purposes, the liquid crystal material is processed on a roller frame. The alignment of the liquid crystal molecules necessary for the optical effect is given by the shearing force generated during roll processing. The resulting film material is particularly suitable for the production of identification, but can also be used for other authenticity identification marks, such as fine security lines.
The polarization characteristics and wavelength selectivity thereof are particularly suitable for automatic testing of the authenticity identification marks using the liquid crystal polymer of the present invention as a raw material. The reflected light is first spectrally narrowed to a region around the center wavelength, and the unpolarized light is broken down into right and left components in the liquid crystal polymer. Depending on the chemical composition of the polymer, only one of its components is reflected and the complementary component is transmitted. One method of automatic testing is described below for a liquid crystal polymer film disposed on a black, fully absorbent carrier 128. As shown in FIG. 18, the element 130 is illuminated at a predetermined angle, for example, with a non-polarized light beam 131 of an incandescent lamp 129. After reflection, ray 132
This corresponds to the detection mechanism 133 used to detect spectral filtering and circularly polarized light shown in FIG. The structure of the detection mechanism 133 is shown in FIG. Inside the detection mechanism 133, the reflected light beam 132 first passes through a color filter 141 that allows only light of the expected center wavelength. The light then strikes a quarter lambda plate 142 that converts circularly polarized light to linearly polarized light. The light is then passed to a 1: 1 beam splitter 143.
From which the two partial beams 144, 145 reach two detectors 146, 147, which are preceded by polarizing filters 150, 151. Polarization plane of two filters 1
50 and 151 are at right angles to each other, but are aligned at 45 ° with the two optical axes of the quarter lambda plate. The automatic authenticity identification test is performed by analyzing two detection signals. The operation mode of the detection mechanism will be described below for some cases. B) Authentication element The reflected light passes through the color filter without interference. Within a quarter lambda plate, horizontal or vertical linearly polarized light is created from circularly polarized light. With this linearly polarized light, the detector 146,
One of 147 receives light of sufficient intensity, while the other detector does not. B) Counterfeit element with non-polarized reflection Although spectrally correct, non-polarized reflected light is one-quarter
After passing through the lambda plate, it has no preferred polarization direction. Each detector receives 50% of the reflected light. C) A counterfeit element that is spectrally wrong Reflected light is absorbed by the color filter 142, and neither detector receives a signal. D) Counterfeit element with linear polarization Both detectors receive the same signal regardless of the original polarization direction of the reflected light by the 45 ° arrangement of the quarter lambda plate and the two polarizers. To increase the significance of errors, use several detection mechanisms to detect one element, arrange them at different angles, for example, and operate at different center wavelengths accordingly Can also. Of course,
It is clear to the expert that the detection mechanism can be realized in many different ways. FIG. 20 shows a mechanism using an optical fiber as a device that is easy to handle. The basis of this optical arrangement is also FIG. In this detection mechanism 133, the reflected light beam 132 first passes through the color filter 161 and checks the center wavelength. The subsequent quarter-lambda plate 162 converts circularly polarized light into linearly polarized light. Input connection optical mechanism 153
Connects the light beam 132 to the waveguide mechanism 154, and a known light beam splitter separates the light beam into equal partial beams. At the end of each partial beam there are polarizer-detector pairs 155/156 and 157/158 for two different polarization directions. If the light has the correct wavelength and polarization, one of the two detectors 156/158 will receive 50% of the input intensity (for lossless optics) and the other will not receive the light. In the case of a counterfeit element that reflects unpolarized light, each detector has an input intensity of 5
Receive 0%. In this way, a counterfeit product can be identified from the real product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the spectral transmittance and reflection characteristics of a liquid crystal polymer viewed from different viewing angles.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a banknote with a window security wire having one or more layers of a liquid crystal polymer.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a security thin line having a layer made of a liquid crystal polymer.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a symmetrically constructed security wire having an outer layer of a liquid crystal polymer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a symmetrically constructed security wire having an inner layer of a liquid crystal polymer.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a printed, symmetric window security thin line.

FIG. 7 is a top view of a printed, symmetric window security thin line.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a printed security thin line having a dynamic effect.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a printed security thin line with a dynamic effect.

FIG. 10 is a top view of an identification card having a transfer element with a liquid crystal layer.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an identification card having a transfer element with a liquid crystal layer.

FIG. 12 is a top view of an identification card having a visually unreadable symbol covered with a security element.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an identification card having a visually unreadable symbol covered with a security element.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view of a transfer band.

FIG. 15 is a diagram in which a liquid crystal security element is transferred to a base material.

FIG. 16 is a top view of an identification card made of a liquid crystal polymer having a layer laminated inside.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of an identification card made of a liquid crystal polymer and having a layer laminated inside.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a test mechanism for a liquid crystal security element.

19 and 20 are views showing a detector mechanism for detecting a liquid crystal security element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Banknote 13 Security thin wire 20 Carrier film 21 Liquid crystal polymer layer 22 Laminating agent 34, 40 Reflective ink 50, 120 Identification card 51 Security element 122, 123 Cover film

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Gerhard Schwenk Germany 8039 Puckheim Primelstrasse 106 (72) Inventor Jürgen Mol Germany 8029 Zoeellach Daisenhofener Strasse 12 (56) References JP-A-63-51193 JP, A) JP-A-61-152494 (JP, A) JP-A-64-35478 (JP, A) JP-A-61-272772 (JP, A) JP-A-61-227085 (JP, A) 62-69202 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B42D 5/00-15/10 551 B44F 1/02

Claims (19)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data carrier comprising a liquid crystal material and having an optically variable security element, said material comprising:
A data carrier, characterized in that it is a liquid crystal polymer which is present in a solid form at room temperature in an oriented form, and wherein said security element is a security wire. 2. The data carrier according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal polymer is present as a layer or a film in the security element. 3. The security device according to claim 1, wherein said security element comprises at least two carrier films coated with a liquid crystal polymer, said carrier films being connected in pairs by a laminating agent and configured as a symmetric layer structure. A data carrier according to claim 2, characterized in that: 4. The data carrier according to claim 2, wherein a transparent absorbent or reflective ink is disposed on at least one surface of the security element. 5. A data carrier comprising a liquid crystal material and having an optically variable security element, said material comprising:
A data carrier, characterized in that it is a liquid crystal polymer present in a solid form at room temperature in an oriented form, wherein said security element is applied as a transfer element on the surface of said data carrier. 6. The data carrier according to claim 5, wherein the security element is arranged in a printing area or a writing area of the data carrier. 7. The data carrier according to claim 6, wherein the data carrier is provided with a normally invisible symbol in an area corresponding to the security element. 8. A data carrier comprising a liquid crystal material and having an optically variable security element, said material comprising:
A data carrier, characterized in that it is a liquid crystal polymer that exists in a solid state at room temperature in an oriented form, and wherein a feature readable in the infrared region is arranged below the liquid crystal material. 9. The data carrier according to claim 1, wherein said material is a crosslinkable liquid crystal silicone polymer. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the material is an organopolysiloxane,
2. The data carrier according to claim 1, wherein the data carrier is an organooxysilane, or a compound with an organopolysiloxane or an organooxysilane. 11. An optically variable security element comprising a liquid crystal material for a data carrier, said security element comprising a multilayer transfer element having at least one layer of a liquid crystal polymer. Security element. 12. The security element according to claim 11, wherein the security element is configured as a semi-finished product having a liquid crystal polymer layer added to a carrier film. 13. The security device according to claim 11, wherein the security device is configured as a semi-finished product including at least one carrier band, a separation layer, and a layer having a liquid crystal polymer. 14. applying the liquid crystal polymer material to the carrier surface while it is still liquid; orienting the liquid crystal material by mechanical action of shearing force; curing the oriented material to solid And a step of introducing or adding the solid-state liquid crystal material in or on the layer structure of the data carrier. 15. The step of applying the liquid crystal polymer material,
Applying the material to a printing roller, wherein the orienting step includes directly doctoring or rolling the liquid crystal material, and further transferring the liquid crystal material to the surface of the data carrier by a printing process. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:
4. The method for producing a data carrier according to 4. 16. A method comprising the steps of: aligning a liquid crystal material and placing it in a cured form on a carrier film; and transferring the material from the carrier film to a data carrier or a layer of the data carrier. Data carrier preparation method. 17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising the step of curing the liquid crystal material only in a predetermined shape on a part of the entire surface, and removing the uncured portion of the liquid crystal after the curing treatment. The method for producing a data carrier as described. 18. Use of a liquid crystal polymer for protecting or identifying the authenticity of a data carrier. 19. An apparatus for testing a data carrier comprising a liquid crystal polymer, comprising: a light source for illuminating a security element from at least one predetermined angle; and at least one color disposed on an optical path of the light source. A filter; a polarization-optical component disposed on the optical path; a light beam splitter arranged on the light path and configured to split the reflected light into partial light beams of different polarizations; and the light beam splitter. Arranged on the optical path of the light output from the
An apparatus, comprising: a polarizing optical component and a detector configured to measure the intensity of the partial light beam.