RS52440B - Identification card - Google Patents

Abstract

An identification card (1) comprising a portion (3) having a series of elongated adjacent cylindrical lenses (9) having a diameter (a), in which the lenses mentioned below comprise a layer (10) carrying information (10) forming a photograph or an embossed mark, characterized in that there is a layer of mesh that repeats from visible transparent lines, arranged at an angle of 2 and 6 ° in relation to the longitudinal axis of said lenses, dimension (b) of said sample is 1 / nx diameter (a) of the lens, where n an integer, in such a way that under the inclination of said part (3) having lenses in relation to the observer, a convex moire grid is obtained from said grid in relation to said lenses, said grid of spaced lines being at the top of the layer (10 ), the photograph or the imprinted part is below the grid and does not change when the mentioned part is inclined, which has lenses, and the lines do not spoil the readability of the information (13). The application contains 8 more patent claims.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an identification card having a series of elongate lenses bordering each other and a grid layer of lines.

[0002] An identification card of this type is known from the American patent US 4892336, which describes an identification document with a cylindrical lens structure, in the focal point of which there is a grid of lines, whereby the slope enables the observation of always different lines.

[0003] Cards of this type are constantly being more effectively protected against misuse. An important form of abuse is changing the data entered on the identification card. The state of the art contains a large number of safeguards against alteration of photographs, imprinted parts and the like. There are different levels of protection. All in all, some data is more important than other data and therefore needs to be protected more effectively.

[0004] In the case of some identification cards, such as driver's licenses, the information on both the front and the back is important. The term "front side" refers, more precisely, to the side that contains data that allows the identification of the person in question, such as the photo of the owner of the identification card and biometric characteristics such as height and the like. The card can of course contain chips to check various factors locally. The term "upper" refers, in this description, to the part closest to the viewer.

[0005] Less important requirements are placed on the back of many identification cards.

[0006] This does not apply, or somewhat less applies, for example, to driver's licenses, because their reverse side contains the relevant categories for which the owner identifies. card has a license to drive.

[0007] American patent US 4765656 describes a bank card having a cylindrical lens structure, whereby the above-described image bulging effect is obtained under tilt.

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide additional security means for an identification card. More precisely, this protection means should be such that, on the one hand, variable data, i.e. information that indicates the legitimate card owner can be easily added in place of security measures and, on the other hand, it is immediately clear whether the individually entered data can be illegally changed.

[0009] This objective is achieved by means of an identification card as described above which has the features contained in patent claim 1.

[0010] It has been described above that, according to the present invention, the position of the relevant data is not changed. However, the intensity can change as a function of the angle at which the relevant information is viewed.

[0011] According to the present invention, a moiré grid is used in combination with information to be written. Because this information entered about an individual does not meet the requirements of a grid that provides a moiré grid, when tilting the corresponding part of the card, the user will immediately notice the appearance of the moiré grid effect, which is always present when the position of individually added information is not fundamentally changed.

[0012] Any abuse will be immediately apparent based on the local omission of the moiré effect.

[0013] The moiré effect described above can be obtained in any way known as such from the prior art. The moiré effect is obtained in a particularly simple way by adding a grid of lines under the lens. Lines of this type are preferably parallel and extend, in particular, at a low angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lens, which are preferably configured as cylindrical lenses. This angle is, more precisely, an angle that is between 2 and 6° relative to the longitudinal center line of the cylindrical lens and, more precisely, is approximately 3°.

[0014] The frequency of lines, i.e. distance between the lines, it is recommended mainly the diameter of the relevant cylindrical lenses. If the spacing is smaller, the grid of lines is preferably such that the determined number of lines fits within the diameter of the lens.

[0015] A grid of lines is located above the typed information. This written information may contain a light-sensitive laser layer. Examples of a laser photosensitive layer include a polycarbonate layer that has a very low carbon content. The laser light striking the carbon results in the formation of heat which leads to the carbonization of the polycarbonate resulting in darkening. When the lines of the moiré mesh are rendered transparent but visible, the written text, in addition to the written text below the moiré mesh, will be significantly more visible.

[0016] According to the present invention, that grid with a spaced arrangement is located in the focal line of the relevant cylindrical lenses. The relevant information is located, viewed from the outside, under this bulging mesh.

[0017] If a European driving license is to be protected, a reddish/red color will preferably be used in combination with lenses for lines, dots and the like used to obtain a moiré mesh.

[0018] This invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the embodiment shown in the drawings, where: Figure 1 shows the front side of the driver's license;

Figure 2 shows the back side of the driver's license according to Figure 2;

Figure 3 is a cross-section along line III-III in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a representation of the layout of the moiré grid lines;

Figure 5 shows a moiré mesh obtained under the slope of that part of the driver's license that is configured in accordance with the present invention.

Figures 1 and 2 show driving license 1. The front side is marked with 2 and the back side is shown in figure 2 and 3. The front side contains information relating to the owner such as photo 7 and also a description of the owner's personal characteristics.

[0019] The back side, as shown in Figure 2, indicates the categories for which the user qualifies. There may be additional data.

[0020] In order to ensure that the legitimate change of categories is immediately visible to the control authorities, the protective means shown in Figures 2 to 4 are proposed, according to the invention proposed here. These means consist of a lens structure 9. The lenses 9 are elongated cylindrical lenses having a diameter a. These lenses can be made of any known transparent material such as, for example, a polycarbonate material.

[0021] Below this layer that forms the lens, there is a layer 10. This layer 10 consists of a layer that is written by laser. On its top, the layer 10 has an embossed grid consisting of a large number of parallel lines 11 that extend at a small angle to the longitudinal axis 16 of the cylindrical lenses (Fig. 4). In the illustrative embodiment shown, this small angle is approximately 3°. In the present illustrative embodiment, the lines 11 produced by the printer (prior to the addition of the lens 9) are red/reddish in color and transparent to the (dark) information below. The space between the lines is indicated by b. Preferably, a = n x b, where n is an integer value.

[0022] Information can be written in the layer 10 with the schematically illustrated laser beam 5. This information is added to the layer 10 itself and is located below the imprinted lines 11. Because these lines are transparent, this does not interfere with the readability of the information 12.

[0023] On the slope of the card shown in this case, as illustrated in Figure 5, what is known as a moiré effect will be produced for the observer 15 when it comes to the lines 11. This effect will be clearly visible to the observer. However, the information added by the laser beam 5 will not show the effect of the spaced lines. The observer will thus easily be able to see under the tilt whether unauthorized data has been entered on the card.

Claims (9)

1. An identification card (1) containing a part (3) having a series of elongated adjacent cylindrical lenses (9) having a diameter (a), in which the lenses mentioned below contain a layer (10) that carries the information (10) which is a photograph or an imprinted mark, is indicated by the fact that there is a mesh layer repeating visible transparent lines, arranged at an angle of 2 and 6° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the said lenses, dimensions (b) of the said pattern is 1/n x the diameter (a) of the lens, where n is an integer, in such a way that under the inclination of the said part (3) having the lenses with respect to the observer, a convex moiré mesh is obtained from the said mesh with respect to the said lenses, the said mesh of spaced lines being on top of the layer (10), the photograph or the imprinted part is below the mesh and does not change with the inclination of the said part having lenses, and the lines do not spoil readability of information (13). 2. Identification card according to Claim 1, where said information contains a layer that is a laser writable layer. 3. An identification card according to one of the previous requirements, where the said mesh is added to the said layer containing the information. 4. An identification card according to one of the previous requirements, where said convex mesh is located in the focal line of said lenses. 5. Identification card according to one of the previous requirements, where the said grid contains a raster grid. 6. An identification card according to one of the previous requirements, where the said grid contains an imprinted part made of transparent ink. 7. The identification card according to one of the previous requirements includes a driver's license. 8. An identification card according to Claim 1, wherein the layer containing the information includes information related to the category of vehicles that can be driven. 9. An identification card according to one of the previous requirements, in which said mesh has a reddish color and is transparent.