WO2007042637A1

WO2007042637A1 - Method for producing a sheet of fibrous material comprising localized portions of fibrous material

Info

Publication number: WO2007042637A1
Application number: PCT/FR2006/002224
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michel Barats; Frédéric Beauchet; Michel Blanc
Original assignee: Banque De France
Priority date: 2005-10-06
Filing date: 2006-10-03
Publication date: 2007-04-19
Also published as: PL1931827T3; EP1931827B1; FR2891848A1; EP1931827A1; ATE427381T1; DE602006006074D1; ES2323520T3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for producing a sheet of fibrous material, comprising the step of producing thin elements (5, 10) of fibrous material and of combining the thin elements with one another in order to form a sheet in which one of at least the thin elements (5) is discontinuous and forms isolated portions of fibrous material.

Description

Process for producing a sheet of fibrous material comprising localized contributions of fibrous material

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a sheet of fibrous material comprising localized contributions of fibrous material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Methods of making a sheet of fibrous material including the step of producing thin elements of fibrous material and associating the thin elements therebetween to form the sheet are known. In particular, it is known to produce, with the aid of a first porous round shape, a continuous stream of moist fibrous material forming a first layer, to produce with a second porous round shape a continuous stream of fibrous material. forming a second layer, then applying the second layer on the first layer to form a sheet of increased thickness.

This covers the entire surface of the first layer by the second layer, even if it may comprise locally holes.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The subject of the invention is a process for manufacturing a sheet of fibrous material making it possible to obtain security documents that are different from those known.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With a view to achieving this object, there is provided a process for producing a sheet of fibrous material, comprising the step of producing thin elements of fibrous material and associating the thin elements together to form the sheet, in which according to the invention at least one of the thin elements is discontinuous and comprises isolated portions of fibrous material.

Thus, the supply of fibrous material is localized way which allows, by giving the isolated portions a particular characteristic (shape, pattern, location, color, presence of identification elements in the fibrous pulp) which distinguishes them from the rest of the document, to create new security possibilities a fibrous document.

Preferably, one of the thin elements is continuous and forms a layer of fibrous material.

According to a particular embodiment of the method of the invention, the layer is manufactured using a first porous round shape producing a continuous stream of wet fibrous material, the isolated portions are manufactured using at least one second porous round form producing a discontinuous stream of wet fibrous material, the discontinuous stream and the continuous stream being contacted to associate the insulated portions with the continuous layer.

Thus, the multi-jet manufacturing technique is adapted to implement the method of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood in the light of the description which follows with reference to the figures of the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of the method of the invention by means of round porous shapes; Figure 2 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the method of the invention by means of round porous shapes; FIG. 3 is a front view of a fibrous document obtained according to the method of the invention and illustrating several applications of the method of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view in the thickness of a fibrous document obtained according to the process of the invention and illustrating various applications of the process dice of the invention;

- Figure 5 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the method of the invention by means of round porous shapes, adapted to the production of documents with windows;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view at the level of a window of a document obtained by the method illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view in the thickness of a document comprising a watermark obtained according to a particular mode of implementation of the method of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to a first embodiment of the process of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, a first porous round shape 1 made of a rolled wire cloth immersed in a first bath 2 of fibrous material in dispersion in an aqueous medium is covered with a mask 3 so that only certain areas 4 are isolated from the surface of the fabric of the porous round form

1 are left uncovered. In practice, the mask 3 can be made by applying resin or adhesive to the wire mesh, or by bringing sheet metal portions back onto the wire mesh.

While rotating the first porous round shape 1, a depression is established in the center of the latter so that the bath water passes through the porous round shape into the unmasked zones 4 while the fibers remain blocked. through the canvas and agglutinate on unmasked areas 4.

The thickness of fibrous material that binds to the fabric in the unmasked zones 4 increases progressively as the porous round shape 1 rotates and gives rise to isolated portions. 5 of wet fibrous material. Thus, a discontinuous stream of wet fibrous material composed of the various insulated portions of moist fibrous material is formed.

The insulated portions 5 are supported by a conveyor 6 comprising here a porous plastic web which extends tangentially from the first porous round shape 1. For this purpose, a suction hood 7 draws the insulated portions 5 of wet fibrous material through the web of the conveyor 6 to force them to adhere thereto at the same time as it partially dries the insulated portions 5.

These are conveyed by the conveyor 6 in tangency to a second porous round shape 8 also made of a wire cloth rolled in a cylinder and bathing in a second bath 9 of fibrous material. The second porous round shape 8 here has no mask so that the fibrous material aggregates by depression over the entire surface of the second porous round shape 8. A continuous jet is thus produced forming a layer 10 of wet fibrous material.

Layer 10 is supported by the conveyor

6 by means of a suction hood 11 which forces the layer 10 to adhere to the web of the conveyor 6. The layer 10 then covers the insulated portions 5 so that the latter form localized deposits of fibrous material which adhere to the layer 10.

During drying, the isolated portions 5 intimately marry with the layer 10 to form a sheet of fibrous material with thick spots located at the isolated portions 5. Once the sheet is dry, it is impossible to separate the isolated portions 5 of the layer 10.

According to a second embodiment of the method of the invention illustrated in FIG. 2, a first porous round shape 21 is used to generate a jet of continuously forming a layer 30 of wet fibrous material, and a second porous round shape 28 partially masked to generate insulated portions 25. The layer 30 is brought in line with the second porous round shape by a conveyor 26 and pressed against it. ci by a cylinder 27 sucking so that the insulated portions 25 form localized deposits which adhere to the layer 30. In Figure 3 are illustrated several examples of use of the method of the invention on the same portion of sheet serving to manufacture a banknote 40, the fibrous support 41 is illustrated here before printing. The fibrous support 41 here contains a security tape 50 (for example a metal ribbon) which has been inserted in a manner known per se into the layer of fibrous material forming the fibrous support 41 during the manufacture thereof.

According to a particular aspect of the invention, the fibrous support 41 firstly comprises a fibrous material band 42 added to the fibrous support 41 according to the method of the invention.

To this end, a porous round shape is used, the mask of which reveals elongate zones extending along generatrices of the porous round shape, so that the porous round shape gives rise to isolated portions of fibrous material in form. strips that are reported on the associated continuous layer.

Here, the fibrous solution used to make the web 42 contains identifying elements such as optical effect pigments, which have the effect of varying the color of the web 42 according to the orientation of the incident light. These pigments are symbolized by dots in FIG.

Once the fibrous material has dried, the band 42 is intimately bound to the fibrous support 41 but the pigments The effects with optical effect remain confined in the band 42. It is thus possible to produce a sheet comprising localized contributions of identification elements, which is not possible in the known processes in which only continuous jets of material are produced. fibrous. The confinement to limited areas of identification elements (such as the aforementioned pigments or other elements such as rare earth) saves these identification elements and thus reduces the cost of manufacturing sheets.

A possible counterfeit of such a banknote consists in printing a band with an ink loaded with identifying elements in place of the portion 42 of fibrous material reported. However, such forgery is very easily detectable because the ink does not have the thickness of the band reported according to the method of the invention. On the other hand, the ink is easily removed by abrasion while it is difficult to remove the insert strip 42 which is closely related to the support 41. In addition, it is particularly difficult to restore by means of printing. the particular touch of the fibrous texture of the band according to the invention.

It will be noted that the security pattern constituted by the strip 42 extends along the wide width of the fibrous support 41. It is thus possible, thanks to the method of the invention, to create elongated safety elements perpendicular to the direction of the security ribbons which are introduced into the fibrous supports during the formation thereof.

According to another particular aspect of the invention, there is reported on the fibrous support 41 by means of the method of the invention a series of insulated portions in the form of parallel bars 43 which are made here in the same fibrous solution as that which was used to make the fiber support 41.

Some of these bars are selectively removed while the fibrous material is still wet, for example by suction or abrasion (the elimination of some bars is symbolically represented in Figure 3 by the dashed outline of the bars removed). It is thus possible to produce a true bar code in excess thickness making it possible to identify the fibrous document.

Alternatively, instead of a bar code, a matrix code may be made comprising a matrix of small fibrous squares reported on the fibrous support according to the method of the invention, some of these squares being selectively removed to form a matrix. two-dimensional matrix code. According to another particular aspect of the invention, isolated processes of fibrous material having here a visually identifiable star shape 44 have been reported by the process of the invention, one of the stars intentionally extending across the ribbon security 50.

According to yet another particular aspect of the invention, it has been reported by the method of the invention an insulated portion 45 in the form of a rectangle extending completely on the surface of the security tape 50, without contact with the fiber support 41 In general, the security tape 50 is impregnated with hot melt glue so that the fibrous material of the insulated portion 43 adheres directly to the security tape 50 as it is dried. A possible counterfeit of these reasons is to bring on the support portions of cut leaves. However, such counterfeiting is difficult to implement and easily identifiable.

According to another possible use of the process of the invention, isolated portions 46 have been reported to corners of the support 41, to strengthen them. According to the invention, it is also possible to relate thicknesses to the probable fold zones of a bill or more generally to locally reinforce possible areas of weakness of a document in order to increase the life of the document. Preferably, for these local reinforcements, a fibrous material containing longer, more resistant fibers is used.

It will be noted that certain isolated portions (here the isolated portions reinforcing the corners 46) are overlapped by other isolated portions. In practice, this overlap is obtained by using several masked porous round shapes, the insulated portions of which are reported successively, by means of a single conveyor, on the layer forming the fibrous support.

According to yet another particular use of the process of the invention, isolated portions 47 of fibrous material having thermoexpansible microbeads (represented by dots) are reported on the fibrous support 41. During the drying of the sheet, the microbeads expand and give the sheet, in the area of isolated portions, a particular touch to identify the sheet.

Alternatively, it will be possible to integrate into the fibrous material of these isolated portions silky fibers that give a smoother feel, or even glass microbeads.

These elements imparting a particular touch to areas of the fibrous support form tactile identification elements enhancing the security of the fibrous document. It will also be possible to relate to the edge of the fibrous support isolated portions of fibrous material giving a rough feel to facilitate the handling of the support (for example to facilitate the manual counting of banknotes). With reference to FIG. 4, the method of the invention makes it possible, as has been indicated, to apply an insulated portion 61 in excess of a continuous layer of fibrous material 60. However, the method of the invention also makes it possible to to apply an insulated portion 62 in a recess 63 of the layer 60, so that the insulated portion 62 comes fill the hollow. It is thus possible to locally supply a fibrous material distinct from that of the layer, for example a colored fibrous material or containing identification elements, without, however, giving rise to an excess thickness. It is also possible to apply an insulated portion 64 to fill a hole 65 of the layer 60. For example, for the layer 60, a fibrous material with long and thick fibers that is favorable to the resistance of the sheet and for the isolated portion may be used. 64 a fibrous material with short and fine fibers making it possible to produce particularly fine watermarks.

The method of the invention also makes it possible to manufacture window documents. With reference to FIG. 5, a first porous round shape 78 is used to produce a continuous jet forming a layer 80. The first porous round shape 78 has embossings 79 making it possible to make orifices 81 in the continuous layer.

In a manner known per se, a transparent ribbon 82 is introduced into the fibrous bath which wraps around the porous round shape, resting on the embossings 79, the ribbon having a width slightly greater than the width of the embossings 79. By suction , the fibers agglutinate on the porous round shape 80 on both sides of the transparent tape 82 and under the latter, except of course at the embossings. This gives a layer 80 with orifices 81 (corresponding to the embossings) which are entirely covered by the transparent tape 82.

According to the invention, a second porous round shape 71 is partially masked to produce a discontinuous stream which forms insulated frame-shaped portions 75 with a central opening 76. These insulated portions are affixed to the layer 80 so that the opening central 76 is facing one of the orifices 81 of the layer 80.

The result of this operation can be seen in FIG. 6. The layer 80 comprises an orifice 81 covered by the transparent tape 82. This latter is covered by an insulated portion 75 in the form of a frame (half of which is seen here) of which the opening 76 is facing orifice 81. Insulated portion 75 covers the edge of transparent ribbon 82 and extends beyond this edge to contact the fibrous material of layer 80. The isolated portion It adheres to both the transparent tape (which is coated with hot-melt glue) and the fibrous material of the layer 80, and helps to strengthen the edges of the window thus created. Preferably, a transparent microperforated ribbon is used, which facilitates the aspiration of the layer 80 when it is taken from the porous round shape 78 and allows the evacuation of the water contained in the fibrous material in contact with the surface. transparent ban 82. This transparent tape can of course itself include security elements.

According to yet another aspect of the invention illustrated in FIG. 7, it is possible to create a watermark of a new type. For this purpose, a fibrous layer 90 is produced in a first fibrous material, the layer having locally variations in thicknesses in a given pattern which form a first portion 91 of the watermark according to the invention. On the layer 90, an isolated portion 92 made in a second fibrous material of a different color from that of the first fibrous material, the insulated portion 92 having variations in thickness in a complementary pattern so as to form a second portion of the watermark according to the invention. Thus, we manage to form two-color watermarks. We can of course generalize this process by affixing several isolated portions of different colors, to achieve a true polychrome watermark.

The invention is not limited to what has just been described, but on the contrary encompasses any variant within the scope defined by the claims.

Although the implementation of the process of the invention has been illustrated by means of a porous round shape producing a continuous stream forming the layer and a porous round shape producing a discontinuous stream composed of isolated portions which form localized deposits one or more other porous round shapes may be used to produce, for example, an additional continuous layer for sandwiching the localized portions between the two layers, or for applying insulated portions made from a plurality of materials to a single layer. fibrous. Localized portions may be applied to both sides of the same layer, by combining the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Isolated dot-shaped portions of different colors can also be applied to the same face of a layer to form a general polychrome pattern.

The isolated portions may have any form imaginable as bands, visually recognizable patterns, letter dots, figures, logos ... The bands formed according to the invention may extend in any direction, parallel to the ribbons safety, perpendicular or oblique to them ...

Although it has been stated that isolated portions of fibrous material are produced by means of a porous round shape, other techniques may be used, such as localized projections of fibrous material on the layer. In this regard, the provision of isolated portions may not be made with moist fibrous material. For example, a non-woven fibrous layer made of dry fibers bonded with a binder may be produced and isolated portions of dry fibrous material may be deposited using the same binder.

Finally, although it has been stated that a continuous thin layer of fibrous material forming a layer and a discontinuous thin element of fibrous material forming isolated portions are produced, the invention also covers the case where none of the elements thin is not continuous. For example, a sheet may be produced from two discontinuous thin elements each consisting of disjointed parallel strips, the strips of one of the thin elements being attached with partial overlap between the strips of the other of the thin elements to constitute a thin strip. continuous sheet. Advantageously be provided bevels on the edges of the strips to allow recovery without extra thickness.

Claims

A method of manufacturing a sheet of fibrous material, comprising the step of producing thin elements of fibrous material (5, 10; 25, 30) and associating the thin elements together to form the sheet, characterized in that at least one of the thin elements (5; 25) is discontinuous and forms isolated portions of fibrous material.

The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the thin elements (10; 30; 40; 60; 80; 90) is continuous and forms a layer of fibrous material.

The method of claim 2, wherein the layer is made using a first porous round shape (8, -21) producing a continuous stream of wet fibrous material, the insulated portions are manufactured using at least one second porous round shape (1; 28) producing a discontinuous stream of wet fibrous material, the discontinuous stream and the continuous stream being contacted to associate the insulated portions with the layer.

The method of claim 2, wherein the layer (41; 90) is made from a first fibrous material, the isolated portions (42,46,47 _/ 92) being made from a second fibrous material distinct from the first fibrous material.

The method of claim 4, wherein the first fibrous material (90) and the second fibrous material (92) have distinct colors.

The method of claim 1, wherein the fibrous material of at least one of the isolated portions (42,47) contains identification elements of the sheet.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the identification elements are optical effort pigments.

The method of claim 5, wherein the identifying elements are selected to impart to the sheet a particular feel at the corresponding insulated portion (47).

The process of claim 1, wherein at least two of the isolated portions (42,47) are made from separate fibrous materials.

The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the insulated portions (62) is applied at a recess (63) in the layer (60) to fill it.

The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the insulated portions (64) is applied at a hole (65) in the layer (60) to fill it.

The method of claim 1, wherein the isolated portions (43) are arranged to form an identification code of the sheet.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the insulated portions comprise parallel strips (43) forming a bar code.

The method of claim 1, wherein the isolated portions (46) are reported in areas of weakness or fold of the sheet.

The method of claim 1, wherein one of the thin members (41) comprises a security tape (50), at least one of the insulated portions (44) being attached to said thin member to extend to horse on the safety tape.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the thin elements (41) comprises a security tape (50), at least one of the insulated portions (45) being attached to the security tape without contact with the fiber material of the thin member having the security tape.

The method of claim 1, wherein one of the thin members (80) includes a transparent ribbon (82) which covers an orifice (81) of the thin member, an insulated portion (75) having an opening (76). ) being attached to the transparent ribbon (82) so that the opening of the insulated portion is facing the orifice of the thin member having the transparent ribbon.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the insulated portion (75) extends beyond an edge of the transparent ribbon (82) to contact the fibrous material of the thin member having the transparent ribbon.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the thin elements (90) comprises a region (91) of variable thickness forming a first portion of a watermark, an insulated portion of variable thickness (92) being reported on the thin member (90) at the region (91) of varying thickness of the thin member to form a second portion of the watermark.