EP0024344B1 - Laminated information carrier, particularly indentity card, and method of making it - Google Patents

Abstract

A multilayered data carrier, in particular an identification card, consisting of at least one data carrier with non-user and user data, in particular with a phonograph of the authorized user, in the case of which the user data, i.e. the user's photograph, are protected by a transparent cover sheet which is glued or welded onto the card. The data carrier has a high-security printed pattern, e.g. a guilloche pattern, and the user data are copied onto the data carrier by means of an electro-photographic method, i.e. by xerography or by zinc oxide-electrophotography.

Description

The invention relates to a multilayer record carrier, in particular an identification card, consisting of at least one data carrier equipped with security features, on which application-neutral and application-related data of the authorized user are provided, and with at least one transparent cover film which is glued or welded onto the data-carrying front side of the data carrier , wherein the data carrier is a security paper that has at least one security-technical high-quality, application-neutral print image as authenticity feature. The invention also relates to a method for producing such a record carrier.

The use of ID cards, credit cards, shopping cards etc. is constantly increasing. In addition to general data, such recording media are also provided with personal data which enable the authorized user of such a recording media to be identified. FR-PS 2 215152 shows a possible embodiment of an identification card. has a watermark and a print image known from the field of banknote production, printed with the necessary information and then coated on one or both sides with a transparent plastic cover film. The identity card described in this document has no photograph of the user.

From US Pat. No. 3,533,176 an identification card with a paper rivet is known, which is coated with a photo emulsion. Together with the required data, an image of the user is also applied to the photo layer by appropriate exposure, which can be protected by a transparent cover film.

To produce such an ID card, special papers are required, which require complex storage and whose handling is cumbersome. These papers must be stored in a dark room, protected from light. To apply the data and the image, expensive special devices are required that cannot be used for any other purpose and are therefore unprofitable for small series and small users. The security value of this known ID card should not be overestimated, since the emulsion layer prevents an intimate connection between the cover film and the paper inlay, so that it can be separated. Total counterfeiting is relatively easy for experts, since the technology used can easily be reproduced in a photographic laboratory for individual copies.

An identification card is already known from US Pat. No. 3,732,640, in which an image of the user is formed on a photosensitive layer applied to a support by means of lithography, so that no conventional photographic development is required. In the exemplary embodiment described, the exposure takes place by means of UV light, so that the paper and suspension layer are insensitive to daylight. However, the numerous process steps and complex devices are disadvantageous, which may be justifiable for a large series, but are unprofitable for small series. Total counterfeiting is relatively simple since the technology used is generally accessible and the carrier cannot be specially secured. The provision of background patterns or a multicolor printed image is problematic.

You can reduce the manufacturing effort for such ID cards if you directly connect or laminate an exposed film with a labeled plastic film. Such an identification card is known from US Pat. No. 3,152,901. With this solution too, the creation of the film still requires photo-technical measures, such as working in the darkroom. The security value of the ID card is impaired by the lack of a paper insert equipped with appropriate authenticity features. Total counterfeiting is relatively easy to do because the technology is easily accessible.

An ID card is also known from DE-AS 2 163 943, in which an exposed and dusted with a color powder dusted photoconductive layer is directly laminated into the identification card as a data carrier. The data, including an image of the user, are first generated on the photoconductive layer as a latent charge image, then made visible by means of a colored powder (toner) and this image is fixed by pasting over with a film.

Because of the extraordinarily complex card structure (up to 7 layers) and the complicated special devices that are necessary for the production of ID cards, the known method is not suitable for the production of inexpensive ID cards in small series that are individually adapted to user requirements. The high technological complexity of the process practically requires central production. The presence of the various layers such as photo semiconductors, metallic barrier layers etc. favors manipulation of the card, for example by splitting. The laminate should also not be very resistant to use.

Although the security value of known ID cards is completely sufficient for various applications, such as company ID cards, club ID cards, etc., the complex manufacturing processes and devices only permit central production. The decentralized production of small series on site as well as the reproduction of single cards is not possible due to the special devices required and the multi-stage nature of the process. In general, counterfeiting is possible for a person skilled in the art by using generally customary techniques.

The security value of all known ID cards is shaped by the procedure for applying data. So this necessarily elaborate procedures do not allow modification or adaptation to specific user needs.

Identification cards and methods for their production are also known, in which an image and possibly further data are introduced into the card by electrophotography.

US Pat. No. 4,006,050 describes a method in which the image of the user is first generated by electrophotography on a separate intermediate carrier. In a further process step, this intermediate carrier is inserted into a multilayer plastic laminate.

In US Pat. No. 4,092,449, the card data are printed on an easily removable outer layer or applied by electrophotographic means. This outer layer preferably consists of a white color layer printed on in several layers, which peels off in an erasure test. This should make it possible to identify attempts at forgery, since the printed images of deeper layers become visible after the white opaque print layer has been rubbed off.

A process that the electrophotographic production and development of a passport photo in a. ner multilayer ID card provides is known from DE-OS 2 262 507. To achieve this goal, a conductive layer made of aluminum is vapor-deposited on the carrier material - plastic or paper - which is in turn superimposed on a dielectric plastic layer. An electrostatic latent image of the person to be identified is transferred to this dielectric layer and developed with a toner or another developer.

In all of these processes, the person-identifying data is consistently copied onto special intermediate layers, which are either connected in advance to other card layers or are subsequently connected.

Due to this layer structure and the materials used, it is relatively easy to separate the layer bearing the passport photo from the card base layer and to replace it with another colored intermediate and cover layer. Damage to the card base layer cannot be determined in this way, since the newly applied intermediate and cover layers completely cover the base layer.

A publication (EP-A-0012374), which is to be assessed as prior art in the sense of Art. 54 (3) EPU, provides for a multilayer identification card and a corresponding manufacturing process in which the user-related data are provided on a security feature Plastic media can be copied on. After the copying process, this data carrier is laminated between two further transparent plastic films.

The invention has for its object to provide an identification card which has a significantly higher security value than the known identification cards, but which at the same time allows individual adaptation to specific user needs.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features specified in the characterizing part of the main claim. It is based on the knowledge that the security value of the ID card is guaranteed by the standard prepared neutral data carrier, for example a security paper provided with watermark, security thread, guilloche background and steel gravure, and that the personalization of the record carrier by means of commercially available photocopying and laminating devices at almost any point can be done. The invention thus allows the safety-related and the user-related aspects to be separated.

Since the production and sale of security papers is carried out under constant control and strict security precautions, it is almost impossible for a forger to obtain neutral security papers. The counterfeiter must therefore reuse the security paper that has already been copied and protected with cover films. Since both the removal of the cover foils and the change in the copied data lead to the destruction of the guilloch print image and the security paper, manipulations are easily recognizable.

Advantageous developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

• Fig. 1 einen neutralen Bogen Sicherheitspapier als Datenträger mit gestrichelt angedeuteten Stanzlinien für die Ausweiskarten,
• Fig. 2 eine fertige Ausweiskarte,
• Fig. 3 eine Vorlage mit personenbezogenen Daten, die durch einen Kopiervorgang auf den Datenträger übertragen werden.

An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawing, for example. In it show:

• 1 is a neutral sheet of security paper as a data carrier with dashed lines for the ID cards,
• 2 shows a finished identity card,
• Fig. 3 shows a template with personal data that are transferred to the data carrier by a copying process.

_. The security paper 1 shown schematically in FIG. 1 is equipped with a security thread 2, a watermark 4 and a background print 3, for example a guilloche print. Such security paper can be used in specialized paper mills in relatively large quantities using non-standard procedures. getting produced. The security paper is the same for all ID cards. so that the unit price can be kept low due to the resulting large quantities. The production of the paper, taking into account the security measures that are common in the production of securities, ensures a high level of security against theft.

The security paper is printed with certain standard background patterns, of which there only need to be a few different types, with a high-quality security printing in a specialized security printing house. Due to the continued high number of items, the demanding background printing increases the item costs only slightly.

The security paper 1 accordingly represents a type of semi-finished product that is manufactured with relatively great effort, but since it is still application-neutral and is therefore available in large quantities, the effort per piece is justifiable. The central production ensures a high level of security against theft.

The security paper 1 is preferably produced in A4 format because of its later use in a commercially available copier. Several ID cards can be punched out from such a sheet, the format being arbitrary. The dashed line 5 indicates a later punch line.

FIG. 3 shows a copy template in the form of a mask 11, which is used to personalize the blank identification card. The format of the mask preferably corresponds to that of sheet 1, it has the same number of sheets as sheet 1. In practice, this mask is designed as a form in which the cardholder's data is entered with a typewriter or by hand.

The mask has an area 12 into which a photo 14 of the identity card holder can be glued. Furthermore, an area 15 for the signature 6 of the identification card holder, such as further areas 7, 8 and 10 for the company name and further information for identifying the identification card holder.

Certain parts of the data obtained, e.g. Company name, company logo, etc. can also be copied by means of a further film mask, so that printing on the mask 11 is omitted. Certain sub-series within an overall series can be designed in the same way with regard to specific information with the aid of such further masks. Examples of this are departments, branches or areas of a company.

The masks 11 can be produced inexpensively in a wide variety of variations in any number of pieces using the offset printing process, so that the appearance of the final identification cards can be changed almost arbitrarily despite only a few blank types.

The identification cards are produced in such a way that the security paper sheets 1 are inserted by the customer into the paper magazines of existing copying machines. The template or mask 11 is placed on the copying window of the device and all data including the image 14 are transferred to the sheet 1 by a normal copying process.

Immediately after the copying process, the blanks personalized in this way are laminated with a transparent cover film either centrally at the ID card manufacturer or in individual card laminators at the user, depending on the number of pieces. If the lamination does not take place in multiple-use sheets, the ID cards must be punched out before lamination. Otherwise the die cut is done after lamination.

Since commercially available copying machines do not change the paper surface from a lamination point of view (no emulsion layer), the cover film combines excellently with the data carrier and the color powder or toner. Manipulation such as, for example, detaching the image 9 (FIG. 2) of the finished laminated identification card that has been copied onto the blank can be practically excluded.

The only possible counterfeiting is an unauthorized personalization of neutral printed original blanks, which can however be prevented by the user storing it appropriately. A total falsification of the high-quality printed paper blanks is not possible.

Of course, multi-color copiers can also be used instead of the conventional black and white copiers.

It is also obvious that the inventive idea can be applied not only to identity cards, but more generally also to other documents, securities, shares, etc. that require security. The method is always particularly advantageous if, on the one hand, the security against falsification and security against falsification of documents and data must be ensured, but on the other hand, the application of the individual data is to be carried out with relatively simple means.

Claims (4)

1. A multilayer data carrier, in particular an identification card, comprising at least one data carrier proper equipped with security features and provided with application-neutral and application-oriented data on the authorized user, and further comprising at least one transparent cover film glued or soldered to the data carrying front of the data carrier, the data carrier proper being a security paper (11), having as an authenticity feature at least an application-neutral printed pattern (3) of high technical quality, characterized in that the application-neutral data (7, 10; such as the company name, the card number) include, in addition to information in letters and numbers, the picture (9) of the user and possibly his signature (6) as specific data for personal identification, which are copied altogether directly onto the security paper by electrophotographic means.

2. A method of producing a data carrier as in claim 1, characterized in that the security paper provided only with the application-neutral data is inserted into the paper magazine of an electrophotographic copier, the application-oriented data are placed in the form of an original on the copying window of the copier and then transferred onto the security paper by being copied, and then a transparent cover film is glued or soldered to the side of the security paper which bears the data transferred by the copying process.

3. A method as in claim 2, characterized in that the application-oriented data of several data carriers are present alongside each other on the original within the copying window, and the data carriers are cut or punched out accordingly after the data have been transferred.

4. A method as in claim 3, characterized in that the original comprises several superimposed film masks, which may be identical for several data carriers depending on the degree of individualiza- tion.

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