WO2010019069A1

WO2010019069A1 - Information card

Info

Publication number: WO2010019069A1
Application number: PCT/RU2008/000518
Authority: WO
Inventors: Андрей Владимирович ТРОПИЛЛО
Original assignee: Tropillo Andrei Vladimirovich
Priority date: 2008-08-13
Filing date: 2008-08-13
Publication date: 2010-02-18

Abstract

The invention relates to data media, more specifically to a carrier in the form of a card which can be used as a personal business-card, which contains data about a given person, and as an advertising vehicle or a means for promoting goods or services. The inventive card comprises at least one optical carrier for storing information which is read by means of a laser beam and a second information carrier for storing visual readout information, the first and second carriers being interconnected. In preferred variant, the interconnection is nondetachable. The second carrier can be made of cardboard, paper, plastic material, optically transparent materials from a group of polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, or lavsan, or other optically transparent materials, said carrier can contain graphical information on one or two sides and can store digital information which is readable on the side of the optical carrier location by means of a laser beam. The optical and second carriers can be interconnected so as to be moved in relation to each other (in particular, in terms of angular displacement). The inventive card is characterised by a sufficiently important volume of stored information, is relatively simple and inexpensive in production and can be read in standard drives of modern readout devices.

Description

INFORMATION CARD

Technical field

The invention relates to information carriers and, more specifically, to a carrier in the form of a card, which can be used as a personal business card containing information about a particular person, as well as an advertising medium or a means of promoting goods or services. State of the art

Information carriers in the form of business cards made of cardboard, plastic, paper or other similar materials are well known and widely used. Such media contain graphic information (textual and / or graphic), which is applied to them in print (most often in printing). The main disadvantage of this type of card is the low amount of information contained on it, which is usually limited to the personal data of the card holder. Electronic business cards are also known, usually performed on the basis of technology for the production of compact discs (CD cards) or digital versatile disks (DVD cards). Such cards are optical media that carry at least two types of information - visual (graphic) information, usually similar to the information contained on the usual (cardboard, paper or plastic) business card mentioned above, as well as digital. One of the sides of the described card usually contains printed information printed on it, while the opposite side is optically transparent and digital information is read through it using a laser beam of a certain wavelength. In the case of a CD-card, digital information is recorded on a CD-format carrier, and the card can be obtained by casting or cut out or cut from a blank obtained by casting (for example, disk-shaped). In the case of DVD-carts, methods similar to DVD-ROM production technology are used: first, two blanks are made by casting, at least one of which has a layer for storing information, then the blanks are glued together, and printed onto the front side graphic information, after which a card of the desired shape is cut out or cut out from the obtained blank.

Electronic cards, unlike the traditional ones described above (cardboard or plastic), carry a significantly larger amount of information; they can contain multimedia presentations, both personally of the card holder and the organization that he represents. At the same time, their significant drawback is the relatively complex and costly method of individualizing such cards — in the production of business cards for a group of company employees after manufacturing blanks with digital information contained on them, printing printed information on the front side will take a long period of time due to the need reconfiguration of the printing equipment when changing the content of printed information (i.e., when switching to printing individual information of the next employee). At the same time, the same expensive equipment is used for printing on the front side of the card, which is used for printing on CDs or DVDs during their industrial production. In addition, in the production of DVD cards, the manufacturing cycle is further lengthened, since such cards cannot be cast immediately and are cut or cut out on special equipment from disk-shaped blanks. All of the above leads to a lengthening and appreciation of the production cycle of electronic business cards in comparison with the previously described traditional (cardboard or plastic) cards. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is aimed at overcoming the previously described disadvantages of known information cards, and its main task is to create an information card, which is characterized by a sufficiently large amount of stored information, a relatively simple and inexpensive manufacturing technology, as well as what can be read in standard drives of modern reading devices .

These problems are solved in that the information card containing at least an optical medium for storing information read using a laser beam, according to the invention, is also contains a second information medium for storing visually readable information, the first and second carriers being interconnected.

Optical and second media can be connected inseparably or detachably.

In the first case, the one-piece connection is due to the fact that the optical medium contains a protrusion, the second carrier has a landing hole through which the protrusion passes, and the upper edge of the specified protrusion is expanded with the formation of one-piece connection between the second and optical carriers. In a particular case, the optical medium has a hole for mounting it in the reader drive, the above-described protrusion on the optical medium being placed along the edge of the specified hole.

In addition to or in place of the one-piece connection described above, the optical and second carriers may be glued together. Preferably, the optical medium is molded from an optically transparent material and contains at least one portion for storing digital information read using an optical reading system.

The second carrier is preferably made of material having the ability to apply information to it in a printed manner on one or both sides. In particular, it can be made of paper, plastic or cardboard, and visually readable information can be printed on its front side and / or on its opposite side, while an optical medium is adjacent to it from the opposite side. In one preferred particular case, the optical medium has dimensions that allow it to fit into an imaginary circle of diameter Dl, where Dl is 80 mm or 120 mm, while the second medium may have dimensions that allow it to fit into an imaginary circle of diameter D2, where D2 <120 mm

In another preferred particular case, the second carrier is sized to fit in an imaginary circle of diameter D2, where D2 is 80 mm or 120 mm, while the optical medium can be sized to fit it into an imaginary circle of diameter Dl, where Dl <D2.

The second storage medium may also contain at least one additional source of information selected from the group: magnetic strip, scratch code, bar code or electronic chip.

It is also possible a special case in which the card according to the invention contains an additional source of information, made in the form of a scratch code, magnetic strip or barcode, placed on an optical information carrier.

Preferably, the optical medium has an opening for mounting it in the reader drive.

Preferably, the diameter of the hole for mounting the optical medium in the drive of the reader, as well as the diameter of the mounting hole on the second medium is at least 15 mm

The optical medium in the card of the invention may be prerecorded, recordable or rewritable, with one or more information layers (i.e., single layer or multi layer).

In addition, the optical medium and the second medium can be connected with the possibility of angular movement relative to each other.

In addition, the second storage medium may be made of an optically transparent material, for example, selected from the group: polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, lavsan. In this case, the second medium may contain an information layer designed to store digital information that can be read using an optical reading system through its side adjacent to the optical medium, while the optical medium is configured to pass optical radiation (laser beam) through it for reading digital information from a second medium.

The information card according to the invention is devoid of the previously described disadvantages of known cards and has a number of additional advantages.

The implementation of the card according to the invention, a composite of two parts, allows first of all to technologically separate the processes of applying to the card digital and visual information, make these processes parallel, and also refuse to use expensive equipment for printing on disks, which in itself significantly reduces the card production cycle and, accordingly, reduces the cost of it, and also greatly facilitates the individualization of cards in the production of them for different employees of the same company .

In addition, the manufacture of recordable cards according to the invention is greatly simplified and cheapened, i.e. made with the possibility of recording digital information on them after the manufacture of the card. In the prior art, the printing of information on a recordable card was to be carried out directly on the blank (digital media made of polycarbonate or polymethylmethacrylate), and to obtain satisfactory quality graphics, special printers or industrial printing conditions similar to the case of making pre-recorded cards were required. In the manufacture of recordable or rewritable cards according to the invention, the printing of the printed information on the second medium can be carried out with good quality even at home or office (for example, using a household color printer — laser or inkjet), after which the optical medium can be connected to the second medium using a simple equipment allowing to flare the edge of the support protrusion on an optical medium (by melting) and / or using means for bonding (in particular versal adhesives).

In addition, the lack of multi-color printing directly on the surface of the optical medium allows to reduce its thickness and thus reduce the cost of raw materials in the production of cards. In the prior art, blanks having a thickness of the order of 1.2 mm, which is standard for CD and DVD discs, were used for the manufacture of cards. Given the specifics of the operation of painting a CD or DVD card, reducing the thickness of the blank would inevitably cause difficulties when printing over the surface of the blank, would lead to excessive stress and warping of the painted blanks during drying and, consequently, loss of quality. In the manufacture of a card according to the invention, danger warping of the optical medium when printing information is excluded, as a result of which the thickness of the optical medium can be reduced to 0.55-0.7 mm when recording information in DVD format and 0.8-1.2 mm when recording information in CD or Blu format -Row. These and other advantages of the present invention will be clear from the further description of the preferred examples of its implementation, which, however, should not be construed as limiting and are provided only for a better understanding of it.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the following, references will be given to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- in Fig. l, the card according to the invention is assembled, a view from the side of the optical medium;

- figure 2 is the same as in figure l, section A-A; - Fig.Z is an example implementation of a second (graphical) medium according to the invention;

- figure 4 is an example implementation of an optical medium according to the invention. The positions in the drawings indicate:

1 - optical medium, 2 - second (graphic medium), 3 - information layer on an optical medium, 4 - mounting hole of an optical medium, 41 - mounting hole of a second medium, 5 - protrusion on an optical medium.

Preferred Embodiment

As follows from the accompanying drawings, the information card according to the invention consists of two parts - an optical medium 1 for storing large-volume digital information, as well as a second medium 2 for storing _t visually readable information (for example, printed). The second medium 2 is mounted on top of the optical medium 1, and is located on the optical medium 1 on the side opposite to the mirror side through which digital information is read. from the optical medium 1 using an optical system (using laser radiation). Essentially, the second medium 2 is mounted on the optical medium 1 on the other side and is in contact with that side where a colorful label is located on conventional media (discs, as well as cards known in the prior art). In this case, the second carrier 2 forms a sandwich structure with two optical carriers 1 (two essentially flat products located on top of each other).

The optical medium 1 contains at least one information layer 3 intended for storing information that can be recorded both at the stage of manufacture of the medium 1 (pre-recorded medium I) ₅ and after production (recordable medium 1). In accordance with the state of the art, information layer 3 can also be performed in such a way as to enable recording and rewriting of information (rewritable medium 1). The information itself can be recorded in any of the known formats, in particular in the format of CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc. and read in well-known standard drives of reading devices (players, drives in personal computers, laptops, etc.) using optical reading systems in which reading is performed by a scanning optical beam - usually a laser with a wavelength from the infrared, red or ultraviolet range. The production technology of carrier 1 is almost completely identical to the well-known technologies for manufacturing optical disks (CD, DVD, HD DVD, VCD HD, Blu-ray, including their variants), while the few technological differences that may be possible in the production of cards according to the invention will be clear to a specialist from further description. Shown separately in FIG. 3, the second carrier 2 is preferably made of a material on which graphic information can be printed by printing, for example, of a sheet material such as cardboard, plastic, paper of different density or similar materials. Graphic information can be applied to both one and both sides of the second medium 2, and may represent, in particular, the personal data of the owner, if the card is the invention is used as a business card, or information of an advertising and other nature if the card according to the invention is used when conducting promotions or when selling goods and services.

Due to the presence of the second medium 2, which carries graphic information, in the card according to the invention there is no need to put a colorful label directly on the surface of the optical medium 1, as provided for in the prior art, although the label on the optical medium 1 can be applied if necessary. No need to print on the surface of the carrier 1 reduces the number of operations in the fabrication of the optical recording medium 1 and to limit their casting of medium and applying to it ^'to perform metallization of the information layer 3, thereby reducing the manufacturing cycle of the vehicle 1 and map the invention in general. In addition, the exception in the General case, the operation of painting the carrier 1 allows you to use for its manufacture of substrates of smaller thickness than standard media CD or DVD, which also reduces the manufacturing time and can significantly reduce the consumption of raw materials (polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, lavsan, etc.).

The standard thickness of known media (CD, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.), usually lying in the range of 1.1 - 1.5 mm, is due to the structure of optical media readers (players, drives in desktop computers and laptops, etc.). At the same time, to ensure the reading of information by lasers of various wavelengths, standard for modern equipment, these thicknesses are excessive. For example, for successful reading of information using an infrared laser used in reading a CD format and the like, it is sufficient that the thickness of the carrier substrate is in the area of the information layer of the order of 0.8-1.2 mm. By reducing the wavelength of the read laser and switching to the red range used for reading DVD family formats, as well as the ultraviolet range currently used for reading high-density media such as Blu-ray, the thickness of the substrate can be reduced to 0.55-0. 7 mm in case of DVD format and even lower for high-density formats such as Blu-rau. In standard disk-shaped media of the listed formats, the remaining part of the substrate, or an additional substrate in the case of DVD-ROMs, provides only the necessary rigidity and the required thickness in the area of media mounting in the reader drive. In addition, a decrease in the thickness of the substrate complicates the application of colorful labels on the surface of the optical medium, since the stresses that arise during drying in the applied layer with a reduced thickness of the medium can cause it to warp. Given these factors, in order to avoid rejection of electronic cards and to ensure that they can be read in a standard drive, prior art card manufacturers adhered to the sizes and structures established for the respective type of disk media (i.e., the sizes and structure of CD disks for CD cards, sizes and DVD structure for DVD cards).

The thickness and structure of the information card according to the invention should also provide the ability to read it in standard drives of modern devices and can preferably be a value of h (see figure 2), which on average lies in the range 1.1-1.5 mm, but in contrast from the prior art, the total thickness of the card according to the invention is composed of the thickness of the optical medium 1 and the second medium 2. With this in mind, by increasing the thickness of the second medium 2 it is possible to reduce the thickness of the optical medium 1, limiting it only the reason necessary for the successful reading of information of a given format (0.8-1.2 mm for formats of the CD family and Blu-Rau, about 0.55-0.7 mm for formats of the DVD family). At the same time, optical media 1 of standard sizes and formats (about 1.2 mm thick and with the standard physical and logical format of CD, DVD or Blu-Rau) can be used for the card according to the invention, in particular in the form of disks or obtained from disk-shaped blanks and the thickness of the second carrier in this case will be 0.3-0.4 mm

In this case, an additional condition for the operability and successful reading of the card according to the invention is the connection of its constituent parts — optical 1 and second 2 carriers. In one of the preferred cases, media 1 and 2 are connected one-piece between each other., according to the invention, one-piece connection of the optical 1 and second 2 carriers can be carried out by any known method, however, the adhesive and joint of carriers 1 and 2 (in the central zone or over the entire surface) and mechanical a compound, a preferred embodiment of which is shown in FIG.

In the preferred embodiment of the connection between the carriers 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 2, the optical carrier 1 has a protrusion 5 extending upward from its side opposite to the side through which information is read by a laser beam. The specified protrusion 5 can be obtained by molding the carrier 1 due to the execution in the injection mold grooves of the corresponding form. Technologically, the protrusion 5 can be made annular and located on the edge of the hole 4 in the optical medium 1, designed to fit the media on the spindle of a standard reader, but it is also possible to arrange the protrusion 5, for example, not along the edge of the hole 4, but in the central zone of the carrier 1. However, it is advisable to successfully secure the card in standard drives, place the protrusion 5 not further than the standard media clamp zone, which lies within a circle with a diameter of not more than 33 mm from the center of the mounting hole optical carrier 4. The implementation of the protrusion 5 at farther diameters from the center of the mounting hole may lead to the need for careful balancing of the card to avoid its destruction during rotation in the read drive, as well as to the appearance of internal stresses in the substrate of the carrier 1 in the area of the information layer 3 and deterioration in the quality of reading information, the appearance of a large number of errors. In addition to a different arrangement, another embodiment of the protrusion 5 is possible - in particular, to reduce stresses in the thickness of the substrate of the carrier 1, it can be made not circular, but can consist of several arcuate sections, as well as include sections located radially from the center to the periphery media 1. In the framework of the present invention, any other technologically feasible forms of the protrusion 5 are possible, however, the most technologically simple and justified ring and segment (in the form of several arcs) forms are presented.

To connect the optical 1 and the second 2 carriers using the protrusion 5, the second carrier preferably has a landing hole 41, the shape and dimensions of which should ensure that the second carrier 2 fits onto the optical carrier 1 due to the interaction of the specified hole 41 with the protrusion 5. If the protrusion 5 is annular the hole 41 may have a circular shape, and its diameter may be substantially equal to the diameter of the lateral outer surface of the protrusion 5. When the protrusion 5 is in the form of a set of arcs, the hole 41 may have the form circle, and represent a set of arcuate holes corresponding in shape and size to the arches of the protrusion 5. When the protrusion 5 is not on the edge of the bore hole 4 of the carrier 1, but in the Central zone, but at some distance from the hole 4, in addition to the bore hole 41, providing the landing of the second medium 2 on the optical medium 1, in the second medium can also be made an additional landing hole in the area of the landing hole 4 of the optical medium 1. In this case, the shape and dimensions are additional th hole may correspond to the shape and size of the hole 4.

After connecting the second carrier 2 with the optical carrier 1 using the protrusion 5, as shown in FIG. 2, the media can be fixed by flaring the upper edge of the protrusion 5 (if the protrusion consists of several protruding elements, then the upper edges of all or at least parts of these elements). This is easily done by melting the upper edge by pressing a hot tool (a disk, cone, etc.) against it, heated above the melting temperature of the material from which the optical medium 1 is made. In this case, the flared edge of the protrusion 5 presses the front surface of the second medium 2 so that the connection between the media becomes one-piece in the sense that the media after flaring cannot be separated without damaging at least the second carrier 2 and with the possibility of their subsequent re-connection without using use of additional technological methods (for example, gluing) and / or without loss of consumer qualities. The total thickness of the card when using the connection using the flared edge of the protrusion 5 in the zone the implementation of this protrusion will preferably be a value of H (see figure 2), lying in the range from 1.3 to 1.7 mm, which will further provide a reliable clip card in standard drives.

When connecting carriers 1 and 2, it is also possible to use an adhesive joint, either as a separate connection method, or as an addition to the above-described mechanical method of bonding carriers 1 and 2. Technologically, this can be easily done by applying onto the front surface of the carrier 1 opposite the mirror surface through which the information is read, or on the back (back) surface of the second carrier adjacent to this surface, 2 several drops of glue or an annular adhesive track, followed by m pressing the second carrier 2 to the optical 1 for a time sufficient for reliable bonding of the media to each other. When using an adhesive or similar bonding, the integrality of the carriers 1 and 2 with each other is understood in the sense that the carriers after the connection cannot be disconnected without breaking the bonding layer and cannot be reconnected without the use of additional technological methods (for example, re-gluing). Moreover, in the case of using an adhesive joint between the carriers 1 and 2 to ensure reliable centering and increase the strength of the connection, the optical carrier 1 may also have a slight protrusion (preferably in the central part), similar to the protrusion 5 and allowing the second carrier 2 to fit on it through the hole 41 with further gluing the media together. In this case, the edge of the protrusion on the optical medium 1 may not be flared and can be essentially of any height, providing only the card in the drive of the reader (i.e., the edge of the protrusion may not exceed, be flush, or slightly exceed the level of the front surface of the second medium 2) .

In the case when only the mechanical connection shown in FIG. 2 is used to connect the carriers 1 and 2 to each other, the carriers 1 and 2 can remain movable relative to each other, for example, they can rotate around the axis of their fastening. This allows, in particular, the use of optical small media 1 (with transverse dimensions less than 50 mm), since in this case, fixing the card in the tray of a standard drive, such as a drive in a standard desktop computer, can be carried out by creating a second medium of a size that would not allow the card to fall into slots of drive trays. Preferably, in this case, the second carrier 2 should have dimensions that allow it to fit into a circle with a diameter of D2 80 mm or 120 mm, which are boundary values for the sizes of standard disks and allow safe placement of disks in the trays of reading devices. The centering of the card in the reader tray will occur in this case due to the second medium 2, for which the dimensions of the optical medium 1 must additionally ensure that it can fit into an imaginary circle smaller than the diameter D2 (i.e. the largest transverse dimension is the distance between the two most distant from each other by the points of the edge of the carrier 1 should not exceed the largest transverse dimension of the second carrier 2). In the event that the dimensions of the optical medium 1 ensure its safe placement and rotation in the drive trays of standard reading devices without the possibility of falling into the slot of the drive trays, in particular if the optical medium 1 can be inscribed in an imaginary circle with a diameter of 80 mm or 120 mm, the second carrier 2 can be made with essentially any transverse dimensions. Thus, it is obvious that the size and shape of the media 1 and 2 of the card according to the invention in the general case may be different and can vary widely independently from each other, which in turn provides technological advantages and ease of use of the card according to the invention in comparison with famous samples. In particular, the form of the optical 1 and second 2 carriers of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings is not mandatory and not only possible. For example, the optical medium 1 can be made in the form of a disk (have a round outer edge), which is the simplest and most convenient from a technological point of view. At the same time, the optical 1 and second 2 media can have, including any curly, fantasy form, which should only satisfy the above conditions safe placement of media in standard trays of reader drives, although it is preferable to perform optical 1 and second 2 media symmetrical to reduce the likelihood of errors when reading information. In addition to the described cases of one-piece connection of carriers 1 and 2 with each other, within the framework of the present invention, it may be possible to detachably combine carriers 1 and 2 into a card. At the same time, the principle of arranging sandwich-type media is preserved (the second medium 2 is located on top of the optical medium 1), and the connection can also be made by performing one or more mounting protrusions on the surface of the optical medium 1 adjacent to the medium 2.

In particular, similarly to the protrusion 5, on the upper side of the optical medium 1, one protrusion can be made in the central zone, having a circular shape in plan, but whose lateral surface is not cylindrical, but made with inverse taper (the larger base of the cone is located on the upper edge of the protrusion, a smaller base lies on the upper side of the optical medium 1). In this case, the second carrier 2 may have a landing hole similar to the hole 41, the diameter of which is larger than the diameter of the lower base of the conical protrusion on the carrier 1, but slightly less than the diameter of the upper base of the specified conical protrusion. In this case, the second carrier will be able to install (snap) it on the optical carrier 1 due to the elastic interaction of the edge of the mounting hole on the carrier 2 with the upper edge of the protrusion on the carrier 1 - when the second carrier 2 is made of sufficiently rigid and elastic material (plastic, hard cardboard, etc.) the edge of the hole in the second carrier 2, having experienced, when interacting with the edge of the protrusion 1, elastic deformation, will be returned to its original position as the second carrier 2 is lowered to the upper side of the optical ositelya 1 (to the lower base of the conical protrusion). In this case, the second carrier 2 will have the possibility of free angular movement (rotation) relative to the optical carrier 1, since the diameter of the mounting hole on the second carrier 2 is larger than the diameter of the lower base of the conical protrusion on the carrier 1, and the upper base a conical protrusion of a larger diameter will block the free separation of the media (free separation of the second medium 2 from the optical medium 1), including when the card rotates in the reader drive. In order to disconnect (snap off) the carriers in this case, the second carrier 2 will need to apply additional force to ensure reverse elastic deformation of the edge of the landing hole in the second carrier 2 when it interacts with the surface of the upper part of the conical protrusion on the carrier 1.

It will be obvious to a specialist, of course, that the particular case described is one of many possible embodiments of the detachable connection between the carriers 1 and 2, implementing similar methods of snapping the carrier 2 onto the carrier 1. For example, the mounting protrusion on the optical carrier 1 may have a predominantly cylindrical lateral surface with an annular a tide, similarly providing elastic deformation of the edge of the landing hole of the second carrier 2 when installing the latter on the carrier 1 and preventing the free connector media flow without additional effort. By analogy, the lateral surface of the protrusion on the optical medium 1 can be in the form of a part of a second-order surface (for example, parabolic), the protrusion itself can also be made not circular in plan but elliptical or quasi-elliptic (oval), and the landing hole on the second carrier 2 can be also made elliptical or oval, and the connection of carriers 1 and 2 will occur by landing the second carrier 2 on the front side of the first 1 (putting holes on the ledge of the same shape), followed by rotation of the second carrier 2 (for example, at an angle of 90 °) and thus preventing free separation of the media. Not only one but several protrusions can be made on the surface of the optical medium, the connection can occur not only by snapping the second medium 2 onto the first 1, but also by engaging the holes or slots in the second medium 2 by the protrusions on the surface of the optical medium 1, other variants of detachable connection of two card elements are possible, similar to those that are known in the art at the moment and can be used by a specialist by analogy and without the contribution of inventive creativity. Wherein the protrusion on the optical medium 1 of the required shape can also be obviously provided due to minor changes in the injection mold (by performing reciprocal grooves of the corresponding shape in it).

In addition, it can be noted that in addition to the source of digital information (on the optical medium 1) and graphic information on the second medium 2, the card may contain additional information sources, for example, in the form of a magnetic strip or an electronic chip on the second medium 2, which would allow the card to be used for banking or other financial transactions, as well as apply it for personal identification. When using the card in promotions and when advertising goods and services, it may additionally contain a bar code or scratch code (both on optical 1 and on the second 2 media), allowing it to be used, for example, during consumer and instant lotteries and etc.

In addition, it is also possible to make the second carrier 2 from an optically transparent material, for example, used usually for the production of optical disks of polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate or lavsan. In this case, the upper (front) side of the second medium 2 can be used for applying graphical information, while the second medium 2, like the optical medium 1, can contain at least one information layer (prerecorded, recorded or rewritable) that can be read the laser beam from the location of the optical medium 1. In this case, the optical medium 1 must be made in such a way as to ensure the passage of the laser beam to the information layer (s) on the second medium 2. This is gently achievable with the prior art - "zatemnenny" portion of the optical recording medium 1 on which the information layer 3 may be made "polyppozpachnym", without applying plating coating. In this case, information can be read both from the optical medium 1 and from the second medium 2, in the same way as the reading of multilayer disk media in the DVD-9 format. In this case, unlike a standard DVD-card, optical 1 and second 2 media do not have to be glued (their the connection can be carried out by hot flaring similarly to the case described above) and can be made movable relative to each other (for example, with the possibility of angular displacement (rotation) relative to the common axis). In addition, they can have different sizes, and both media 1 and 2 can be molded (DVD cards of a non-circular shape are cut from a disk-shaped blank) with subsequent connection. It should also be noted that due to the use of single or multi-layer media (second 2 and / or optical 1), the card capacity of the invention can vary from 20 MB when recording information in CD format, to 25 GB when using high-density formats read for recording "Blue" (ultraviolet) laser (such as HD DVD and Blu-ray).

Industrial applicability

The cards of the invention can be used in various industries for storing and / or writing and / or rewriting and reading information and can be performed on standard equipment known in the art. The optical medium included in the card 1 (as well as the second medium 2 in one of the cases described) can be cast from polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, lavsan or other known optically transparent material in the same way as optical disks are made (in CD, DVD or Blu format -Rau), information layers can be executed in the order and with the structure exactly as prescribed by the standards for optical discs. Differences can only consist in a slight change in the injection mold to the edge shape of the optical medium 1 required by consumers (and the second medium 2 when additional digital information is stored on it), and, if necessary, in the execution of a groove in the injection mold to perform a protrusion on the optical medium 1 used to center and / or connect the carriers 1 and 2 (in particular, the protrusion 5). Moreover, these changes in injection molds can be made by a specialist based on the information disclosed in the description, as well as data known from the prior art, without the contribution of inventive creativity.

Claims

CLAIM

1. An information card containing at least an optical medium for storing digital information, characterized in that it also contains a second information medium for storing visually readable information, the first and second carriers being interconnected.

2. The card according to claim 1, characterized in that the optical medium and the second medium are interconnected inseparably. 3. The card according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the optical medium comprises a protrusion, the second medium has a landing hole through which the protrusion passes, the upper edge of the protrusion being flared to form an integral connection between the second and optical carriers.

4. Card according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the optical and second media are glued together.

5. A card according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the optical medium is molded from an optically transparent material and contains at least one section for storing digital information read using an optical reading system. b. Card according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second medium is made of material having the ability to print information onto it from one or both sides.

7. The card according to claim 6, characterized in that the second storage medium is made of paper, plastic or cardboard, and visually readable information is printed at least on its front side, while an optical medium is adjacent to it from the opposite side.

8. A card according to any one of claims l-7, characterized in that the optical medium has dimensions that allow it to be entered into an imaginary circle of diameter Dl, where Dl is 80 mm or 120 mm, while the second medium may have dimensions that allow it to be entered into an imaginary circle of diameter D2, where D2 <120 mm.

9. A card according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the second medium has dimensions that allow it to fit into an imaginary circle of diameter D2, where D2 is 80 mm or 120 mm, while the optical medium may have dimensions that allow it to fit into an imaginary circle of diameter Dl, where Dl <D2. 10. A card according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the second storage medium also contains at least one additional source of information selected from the group: magnetic strip, scratch code, bar code or electronic chip.

11. A card according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it also contains an additional source of information, made in the form of a scratch code, magnetic strip or bar code, placed on an optical information carrier.

12. Card according to any one of paragraphs.1,2,4-11, characterized in that the optical medium has a hole for mounting it in the drive of the reader.

13. A card according to claim 3, characterized in that the optical medium has a hole for mounting it in the reader drive, the protrusion on the optical medium being placed along the edge of the specified hole.

14. The card according to claim 13, characterized in that the diameter of the hole for attaching the optical medium in the drive of the reader is at least 15 mm.

15. Map according to 3 or 13, characterized in that the diameter of the landing hole on the second storage medium is at least 15 mm.

16. Card according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the second storage medium is made of optically transparent material.

17. The card according to clause 16, wherein the second medium contains at least one information layer designed to store digital information that can be read using the optical reading system through the side adjacent to the optical medium, while the optical medium is made with the possibility of passing through it optical radiation for reading digital information from a second medium.

18. Card according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the optical medium is pre-recorded, recordable or rewritable.

19. A card according to any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the optical medium has one or more information layers.

20. The card according to 17, characterized in that the second medium is pre-recorded, recordable or rewritable. 21. Card according to any one of paragraphs. 1-20, characterized in that the optical medium and the second medium are connected with the possibility of angular movement relative to each other.