JP6107471B2 - Information recording medium reading method and information recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information recording medium reading method and information recording medium using infrared rays.

  For printed matter such as tickets and lotteries, a technique has been proposed in which image information is read using infrared rays and authentication is performed from the viewpoint of preventing forgery and tampering.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, an infrared light emitting layer that emits infrared light when excited by infrared light is formed on a base material, image information using an infrared absorbing material is formed thereon, and a part of visible light is formed thereon. For a medium on which a concealing layer that absorbs light is formed, a method of reading image information using infrared rays is described.

Registered Utility Model No. 3013328

  However, at present, as a method for reading such an information recording medium, a simpler method with higher security is desired.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a simple method for reading an information recording medium and the like with high security.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, there is provided information having a base material including a phosphor that emits light by excitation, and an infrared light emitting layer that emits infrared light when excited by light emitted from the phosphor of the base material. The information is obtained by irradiating the recording medium with excitation light of the phosphor of the base material, and receiving the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting layer excited by the light emitted from the fluorescent material of the base material. An information recording medium reading method, wherein the recording medium is read.

  In the first invention, the phosphor of the substrate is excited and emits light by irradiating the information recording medium with excitation light. The infrared light emitting layer is excited by this light to emit infrared light. Therefore, by forming image information with this infrared light emitting layer, it is possible to read information by infrared rays with a simple configuration. At the time of information reading, the two processes of excitation / light emission of the phosphor contained in the base material and excitation / light emission of the infrared light emitting layer are passed, so that the information reading mechanism is difficult to understand from the outside. Therefore, counterfeiting is difficult and security is high.

  The phosphor of the base material is preferably excited by ultraviolet rays.

  A general white plain paper or the like contains a phosphor excited by ultraviolet rays as a fluorescent whitening agent. Therefore, if ultraviolet light is used as excitation light and general plain paper containing a fluorescent brightening agent is used for the information recording medium, the structure becomes simpler and the manufacturing cost of the information recording medium is very low. The device is also inexpensive. In addition, since it is contained in ordinary plain paper, etc., it is difficult to understand the information reading mechanism by using a phosphor that is not conscious in daily life, and an improvement in security can be expected. Further, when the information recording medium is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the portion where the infrared light emitting layer is formed can be visually recognized by the difference in color with respect to the light emission color of the surrounding substrate, and the authenticity can be judged visually. Further, there is an advantage that it is possible to easily confirm which part is a place to be read.

The infrared light emitting layer is preferably formed on the surface of the substrate. Alternatively, it is desirable that the base material penetrates the base material.
In the former case, the presence of the infrared light emitting layer can be recognized depending on the viewing angle even under sunlight or normal illumination, and convenience in reading information is improved. In the latter case, it is difficult to recognize the presence of the infrared light emitting layer under sunlight or normal illumination, and security is improved.

  2nd invention has the base material containing the fluorescent substance light-emitted by excitation, and the infrared rays light emitting layer excited by the light which the fluorescent substance of the said base material light-emits, and emitting infrared rays, The information recording medium characterized by the above-mentioned It is.

The phosphor of the base material is preferably excited by ultraviolet rays.
The infrared light emitting layer is preferably formed on the surface of the substrate. Alternatively, it is desirable that the base material penetrates the base material.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for reading an information recording medium with high security and simple.

The figure which shows the information recording medium 1 The figure which shows typically the example of the excitation spectrum and emission spectrum of the fluorescent substance 131 of the infrared light emitting layer 13 The figure explaining the reading method of the information recording medium 1 The figure which shows the information recording medium 1a The figure which shows the state in which the infrared fluorescent layer 13 osmose | permeated the base material 11 and was formed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
(1. Information recording medium 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an information recording medium 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows a cross-sectional configuration of the information recording medium 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information recording medium 1 includes a base material 11 and an infrared light emitting layer 13, and the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed on the surface of the base material 11.

  In the information recording medium 1, image information that can be read by infrared rays is recorded by the infrared light emitting layer 13. The image information is not particularly limited. Examples include various figures, symbols, numbers, letters and other patterns, bar codes, two-dimensional codes, OCR numbers, OCR characters, and the like.

  The substrate 11 includes a phosphor 111 that emits light upon excitation. In particular, in this embodiment, a paper material such as general plain paper containing a fluorescent brightening agent is used as the base material 11.

  That is, a white paper material such as general plain paper contains a fluorescent whitening agent. The fluorescent whitening agent is, for example, a fluorescent light that is excited by using light in a wavelength range including sunlight of 300 nm or more and 400 nm or less in illumination light as excitation light and emits blue visible light in a wavelength range of 400 nm or more and 450 nm or less. The body 111 is included so that the paper surface looks white. Examples of such phosphor 111 include bis (triazinylamino) stilbene disulfonic acid derivatives and bisstyryl biphenyl derivatives.

  However, the substrate 11 is not particularly limited as long as it includes the phosphor 111 that emits light by excitation. It is also possible to use cloth or the like. For example, a white fabric such as a Y-shirt fabric contains the same fluorescent whitening agent as described above.

  The infrared light emitting layer 13 is a layer containing a phosphor 131 that is excited by light emitted from the phosphor 111 of the substrate 11 and emits infrared light. The infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed by solid-printing a fluorescent material mixed with a phosphor 131, a resin, a viscosity adjusting solvent, and the like by silk screen printing or the like.

  The material used for the infrared light emitting layer 13 may be a phosphorescent material. The fluorescent material used for the infrared light emitting layer 13 may be a pigment or a dye, and either an organic material or an inorganic material can be used. Further, a fluorescent dye, a quantum dot material, or the like can be used as the infrared light emitting layer 13. In any case, the infrared light emitting layer 13 may be excited by the light emitted from the phosphor 111 of the substrate 11 to emit infrared light.

As described above, there are various materials applicable to the infrared light emitting layer 13, and among these, inorganic fluorescent pigments are particularly suitable in terms of weather resistance and luminous efficiency. As such inorganic fluorescent pigments, those containing trivalent neodymium (Nd ³⁺ ), trivalent ytterbium (Yb ³⁺ ), and trivalent erbium (Er ³⁺ ) are known. For example, Na ₅ (Yb, Nd) (MoO ₄ ) ₄ , (Y, La, Lu) PO ₄ : Yb, Nd, (Lu, Yb, Nd) ₂ O ₂ S, and the like.

  In addition to screen printing, the infrared light emitting layer 13 may be formed by offset printing, gravure printing, flexographic printing, pad printing, or the like, or may be formed using a transfer sheet, a label, or the like. Moreover, it can also form by apply | coating said fluorescent material etc. with a spray.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the excitation spectrum and emission spectrum of the phosphor 131 of the infrared light emitting layer 13. In the figure, the vertical axis indicates the spectral intensity, the horizontal axis indicates the wavelength, the excitation spectrum that is the wavelength distribution of the excitation light is indicated by a solid line, and the emission spectrum that is the wavelength distribution of the emitted light is indicated by a dotted line. In addition, examples of the wavelength range of the excitation light described above and the wavelength range of the light emitted by excitation are also shown for the phosphor 111 included as the fluorescent whitening agent in the base material 11.

  In the present embodiment, the phosphor 131 of the infrared light emitting layer 13 is excited by excitation light having a wavelength in the range of 350 nm or more and 500 nm or less that overlaps the wavelength range of the light emitted by the phosphor 111 of the substrate 11, and 600 nm or more. A material that emits light in a wavelength range including infrared rays of 850 nm or less is used.

  However, the wavelengths of the excitation light and the emitted light of the infrared light emitting layer 13 are not limited to this, and the infrared light may be emitted by being excited by the light emitted from the phosphor 111 of the substrate 11.

(2. Reading method of information recording medium 1)
Next, a method for reading the information recording medium 1 will be described. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the information recording medium 1 is read using an ultraviolet irradiation device 41 and an infrared reading device 43.

  The ultraviolet irradiation device 41 irradiates the information recording medium 1 with ultraviolet light as excitation light for exciting the phosphor 111 of the substrate 11. The wavelength of this ultraviolet ray overlaps with the wavelength range of 300 nm to 400 nm that is the wavelength range of the excitation light of the phosphor 111. As the ultraviolet irradiation device 41, for example, an ultraviolet LED can be used, but it is not limited to this as long as it irradiates ultraviolet rays.

  The phosphor 111 of the substrate 11 excites this ultraviolet light as excitation light, and emits blue visible light in the wavelength range of 400 nm to 450 nm as described above. The infrared light emitting layer 13 is excited using this light as excitation light, and emits light including infrared light in a wavelength range of 600 nm to 850 nm.

  The infrared reading device 43 performs imaging by receiving light including infrared rays emitted from the infrared light emitting layer 13. As a result, the information recording medium 1 is read. As the infrared reader 43, for example, a camera having sensitivity in the infrared region can be used. If necessary, a filter for cutting light having a wavelength unnecessary for reading information may be provided. In this embodiment, for example, a filter that cuts light with a wavelength of 600 nm or less may be attached. The infrared reader 43 is not limited to a camera as long as it can receive infrared rays. For example, a barcode reader may be used.

  An image photographed by the infrared reading device 43 is sent to the information processing device 55. The information processing apparatus 55 acquires this image and performs display processing, authentication processing, and the like as necessary. The information processing device 55 can be realized by a general computer including a control unit, a storage unit, a display unit, a communication unit, and the like.

  As described above, the image information recorded as the infrared light emitting layer 13 on the information recording medium 1 can be read to perform authentication, authenticity determination, and the like. Note that it is also possible to use a reading device in which the ultraviolet irradiation device 41 and the infrared reading device 43 are arranged in the same casing and integrated, and even in this case, reading can be performed in the same manner as described above.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the phosphor 111 is excited and emits light by irradiating the information recording medium 1 with excitation light. Then, the infrared light emitting layer 13 is excited by this light to emit infrared light. Therefore, by forming the image information with the infrared light emitting layer 13, it is possible to read information by infrared rays with a simple configuration. At the time of information reading, the two processes of excitation / light emission of the phosphor 111 included in the base material 11 and excitation / light emission of the infrared light emitting layer 13 are performed, so that the information reading mechanism is difficult to understand from the outside. Therefore, counterfeiting is difficult and security is high.

  Further, by using ultraviolet light as the excitation light and using, as the base material 11, a general white plain paper or the like containing the phosphor 111 excited by the ultraviolet light as a fluorescent brightening agent, a simpler configuration can be obtained. The manufacturing cost of the medium 1 is very low, and the ultraviolet irradiation device 41 is also low. In addition, since it is contained in general plain paper, the information reading mechanism becomes difficult to understand by using the phosphor 111 that is rarely noticed on a daily basis, and an improvement in security can be expected. .

  In addition, when the information recording medium 1 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the portion where the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed can be visually recognized due to the difference in color with respect to the light emission color of the surrounding base material 11, and authenticity can be determined visually. Further, there is an advantage that it is possible to easily confirm which part is a place to be read. In the present embodiment, the infrared light emitting layer 13 looks white compared to the portion of the surrounding base material 11 that glows blue due to the influence of the resin or the like contained in the infrared light emitting layer 13.

  The information recording medium 1 can be used as, for example, various types of tickets, gold vouchers, and lotteries. By reading image information recorded by the infrared light emitting layer 13 with infrared rays, authentication, authentication or the like can be performed.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an information recording medium 1a according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows a cross-sectional configuration of the information recording medium 1a.

  This information recording medium 1a has the same base material 11 and infrared light emitting layer 13 as in the first embodiment, but differs from the first embodiment in that the infrared light emitting layer 13 penetrates the base material 11.

  That is, as in the first embodiment, the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed of a fluorescent material in which a phosphor 131, a resin, and a solvent for adjusting viscosity are mixed, but the particle size of the phosphor 131 is reduced. By increasing the amount or decreasing the amount of resin, the phosphor 131 is permeated into the substrate 11 to form the infrared light emitting layer 13. The infrared light emitting layer 13 can be formed by applying a fluorescent material to the substrate 11 by spraying, for example.

  The information recording medium 1a of the second embodiment can also read the image information from the infrared light emitting layer 13 using infrared rays in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and has the same effects as in the first embodiment. Is obtained. In addition, the presence of the infrared light emitting layer 13 becomes difficult to visually recognize under sunlight or normal illumination, and there is an effect that security is improved. The state in which the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed by penetrating the base material 11 is a state in which the phosphor 131 related to the light emission of the infrared light emitting layer 13 is present in the base material 11 as shown in FIG. It shall be said. In particular, if almost all of the phosphor 131 applied to the base material 11 is in the base material 11, it is very difficult to visually recognize the infrared light emitting layer 13. Further, when a phosphorescent material, a fluorescent dye, a quantum dot material, or the like is used as the infrared light emitting layer 13, the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed by penetrating the base material 11 if the substance related to light emission is in the above state. It shall be.

  On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed on the surface of the substrate 11, which increases the particle size of the phosphor 131 as a fluorescent material compared to the second embodiment. By reducing the amount of solvent or increasing the amount of resin.

  When the infrared light emitting layer 13 is formed on the surface of the substrate 11, the presence of the infrared light emitting layer 13 depending on the viewing angle even under sunlight or normal illumination due to the regular reflection characteristics due to the smoothness of the surface of the infrared light emitting layer 13. Can be recognized. Therefore, it is possible to make a simple authenticity determination such as using a medium without the infrared light emitting layer 13 as an article, and convenience is improved.

  Next, an example in which an information recording medium according to each embodiment is actually manufactured and read by infrared rays will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[Example 1]
First, as Example 1, the information recording medium 1 according to the first embodiment was actually manufactured and read by infrared rays.

<Substrate 11>
The following white plain paper was prepared as the substrate 11. Such plain paper contains the phosphor 111 as described above as a fluorescent brightening agent.
TANOSEE
α Eco Paper Type R70 (Otsuka Corporation)

<Formation of infrared light emitting layer 13>
As a fluorescent material for forming the infrared light emitting layer 13, "VIR" manufactured by Nemoto Lumi Material Co., Ltd. was used as an ink by mixing the following materials. The blending weight ratio at this time is also shown below. In the following, “part” means part by weight.
Phosphor: VIR (manufactured by Nemoto Lumi Material Co., Ltd.) ... 24 parts Resin: 800 medium (manufactured by Seiko Advance Co., Ltd.) ... 100 parts Viscosity adjusting solvent: SS-E solvent Slow exit (manufactured by DIC Corporation) ... 42 parts

  The fluorescent material thus produced was printed on the substrate 11 by silk screen printing using a 240 mesh silk screen printing plate to form an infrared light emitting layer 13. The film thickness of the infrared light emitting layer 13 was 2 μm on average, and the presence of the infrared light emitting layer 13 could be visually recognized depending on the viewing angle, even under normal illumination, due to the difference in the reflection intensity of visible light.

<Visual authentication of the information recording medium 1 during ultraviolet irradiation>
About the information recording medium 1 manufactured by the above, the visual authentication at the time of ultraviolet irradiation was performed before reading by infrared rays.

  When the information recording medium 1 is irradiated with ultraviolet light having a central wavelength of 365 nm by an ultraviolet LED irradiator, the phosphor 111 contained in the base material 11 is excited and emits light in a wavelength range of 400 nm to 450 nm. The material 11 shined blue and was visually recognized. On the other hand, the portion where the infrared light emitting layer 13 was formed was visually recognized as white compared to the surrounding blue portion. Thereby, the part in which the infrared light emitting layer 13 was formed could be clearly identified visually.

<Reading of information recording medium 1>
Next, the information recording medium 1 was read by infrared rays. Here, an ultraviolet LED irradiator similar to the above was used as the ultraviolet irradiation device 41, and the information recording medium 1 was irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a center wavelength of 365 nm. Further, as the infrared reader 43, an infrared authentication sensor having a high-pass filter for cutting light having a wavelength of 600 nm or less was prepared on the light receiving side of the CCD camera, and the information recording medium 1 was read by this. As a result, infrared light emission by the infrared light emitting layer 13 was confirmed during irradiation with ultraviolet light.

  From the above, it was confirmed that the information recording medium 1 can be read by infrared rays. Further, it has been found that double authentication or the like can be performed together with visual authentication of the information recording medium 1 at the time of ultraviolet irradiation.

[Example 2]
Next, as Example 2, the information recording medium 1a according to the second embodiment was actually manufactured and read by infrared rays.

<Substrate 11>
As the substrate 11, the same one as in Example 1 was used.

<Formation of infrared light emitting layer 13>
In order to form the infrared light emitting layer 13, a fluorescent material was prepared by blending the following materials using “VIR” manufactured by Nemoto Lumi Material Co., Ltd. The blending weight ratio at this time is also shown below.
Phosphor: VIR (Nemoto Lumi Material Co., Ltd.) 5 parts Resin: Styrene acrylic polymer 10 parts Viscosity adjusting solvent: Water 85 parts

  The fluorescent material thus produced was applied to the substrate 11 by a spray nozzle method. As a result, the fluorescent material was impregnated into the base material 11 to form the infrared light emitting layer 13, and the presence of the infrared light emitting layer 13 could not be visually recognized under normal illumination.

<Visual authentication of the information recording medium 1a during ultraviolet irradiation>
About the information recording medium 1a manufactured by the above, the visual authentication at the time of ultraviolet irradiation was performed before reading by infrared rays.

  Similarly to Example 1, when the information recording medium 1a was irradiated with ultraviolet light having a central wavelength of 365 nm by an ultraviolet LED irradiator, the phosphor 111 contained in the base material 11 was excited and had a wavelength range of 400 nm to 450 nm. Light was emitted, and the base material 11 was visually shining blue. The portion where the infrared light emitting layer 13 was formed was visually recognized as white compared to the surrounding blue-lighted portion. Thereby, the part in which the infrared light emitting layer 13 was formed could be clearly identified visually.

<Reading of information recording medium 1a>
Next, the information recording medium 1a was read by infrared rays. Here, in the same manner as in Example 1, the information recording medium 1a was irradiated with ultraviolet light having a central wavelength of 365 nm using an ultraviolet LED irradiator, and the information recording medium 1a was read by an infrared authentication sensor. As a result, infrared light emission by the infrared light emitting layer 13 was confirmed during irradiation with ultraviolet light.

  As described above, as in the first embodiment, it is confirmed that the information recording medium 1a can be read by infrared rays, and double authentication or the like can be performed together with the visual authentication of the information recording medium 1a at the time of ultraviolet irradiation. I found it possible.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, the technical scope of this invention is not influenced by embodiment mentioned above. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various modifications or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood that it belongs.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a ......... Information recording medium 11 ......... Base material 13 ......... Infrared light emitting layer 111, 131 ......... Phosphor

Claims (8)

Excitation light of the phosphor of the substrate is applied to an information recording medium having a substrate including a phosphor that emits light by excitation and an infrared light emitting layer that emits infrared light that is excited by light emitted from the phosphor of the substrate. Irradiated,
A method for reading an information recording medium, wherein the information recording medium is read by receiving infrared light emitted by the infrared light emitting layer excited by light emitted from the phosphor of the substrate. .   The method for reading an information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the phosphor of the substrate is excited by ultraviolet rays.   The method for reading an information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light emitting layer is formed on a surface of the base material.   The method for reading an information recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light emitting layer is formed so as to penetrate into the base material. A substrate containing a phosphor that emits light upon excitation;
An infrared light emitting layer that emits infrared light when excited by light emitted from the phosphor of the substrate;
An information recording medium comprising:   The information recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the phosphor of the base material is excited by ultraviolet rays.   The information recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the infrared light emitting layer is formed on a surface of the base material.   The information recording medium according to claim 5, wherein the infrared light emitting layer is formed by penetrating the base material.

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