Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ackground of the_Invention
The prior art has developed according to the
references cited in U. S. Patent 3,802,724 i.ssued April 9,
1974 and assigned to the assignee of this application.
Prior art techniques, for the most part, hav.e
been based upon the utilization of competing chemical
formulat.ions which are or may be employed as either an
overlay on the top surface of the document to be
protected or as an overprinted area on such documents or
in some instances as a chemical wash or bath into which
the entire paper stock is emersed and from which the
- document is thereafter preprinted. None of the kn.own
techniques has direct application to computerized
document protection nor are any of the known prior art
lg systems readily adaptable to document protection of
computer printouts as hereinafter described.
Improvements of U. S. Patent 3,802,724 related
to a combined document using a document protection system
for use with high speed data processing equipment such,
for example, as high speed printers, which produce visibly
legible records from a computer, the document being safe-
guarded by a pattern of legible warni.ng data camouflaged
by a pattern applied to a film covering of the warning
date so that if the covering is altered, the warning data
will appear.
; Since the general quality of printing by such
high speed computer prin-touts is usually fairly poor, it
is a relatively easy matter for the document forger or
check alterer to raise~ change OI` remove and add the
amount and/or signature at will. The same is generally
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true for the average typewritten document, check, etc.
The printing on these materials is generally so inferior
that alteration by hand of -the amount or signature is
accomplished with ease and efficiency by the individual.
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The system contemplated in U. S. Patent 3,802,724
employs a high tensile strength, transparent material which
i9 pre-cut in the form of a tape which i9 or may be produced
in a relatively large roll. The transparent material is
required to have a friction coefficient sufficient to
avoid marking by known means such, for example, as ball
point pens, crayons, wax pencils, and the like. The tape
i9 provided with a lightly colored camouflage pattern
on one surface which is overcoated with a highly aggressive,
pressure-sensitive, adhesive coating. The opposite surface
of the transparent tape is coated with a curable colorless
silicone resin. The document to which the pressure
sensitized tape i9 to be applied is or may be provided
with a lightly colored, so-called VOID pattern of repeating
symbology such, for example, as the word "void", "fraud",
"cancelled" or some similar designation. Thereafter the
tape with the camouflage protective coating is adhesively
secured over the area containing the void pattern, thus
masking the "void-" pattern from the eye while permitting
any more darkly colored, printed indicia such, for example,
as the number amount in the case of a check or the signature
of the payer of the document to be visibly discernable
through the tape. The document thus protected cannot be
written upon in a protected area with the generally
available writing instruments due to the slipperiness of
the exposed surface provided by the invention. Attempts
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at complele or ~al~tia' removal of the applied tape res~llt
in damage to the document, e.g. tearing, mutilitation,
holes in the protected area, etc.
Since the advent of quality color xerographic
copiers t such as the Xero~*L-6500 color copier, copies
of documents have posed an ever increasing problem.
The very effective system disclosed-in U. S.
Patent 3,802,724 can be thwarted by making a color copy
of the original and then altering the amount.
In addition, because the systems of color copying
are so effective, criminals having àccess to them may
effectively duplicate negotiable bonds, vehicle registrations
and title to match them to the stolen vehicle, pe~sonal
identification documents, and other like documents. As
the copiér systems proliferate, so does their usage and
the opportunity to make nefariou~ copies.
__f the Invention
It is the principal object of this invention
to thwart nefarious copies of instruments of authentication,
title identification be they bearer negotiable or non-
negotiable, or the like.
The principal protection system of our in~ention
employs a masked warning mark which when copied appears
on the copy due to its effective color density being above
the color reproductive threshold density of the copier.
The mask is of a color density which is below the color
reproductive density of the copier. Any overlay of the
mask and the warning phrase has a color density exceeding
the color reproductive threshold density.
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An additional object of our invention contemplates
chemical color change o~ the warning phrase and/or mask
should chemical bleaching or other alterations be attempted.
Furthermore, the ink may be formulated so as to
bleed upon attempts to chemically alter them.
It is an additional important object, therefore,
of this invention to improve the system disclosed in
U. S. Patent 3,802,724 and provide a protection system to
protect that document against alteration by various well-
known means such as ball point pens, cut and paste of theitem portion of the document, solvent and mechanical
erasure or bleaching of the amount through chemicals, and
yet make them color copier proof.
An additional object of the invention i8 to
provide a document protection system which is adaptable
for use with a high speed apparatus 90 that the item to
be protected may receive the protective element or material
concurrently or simultaneously with the printing of the
amount and signature thereof.
Still another object of the invention is to
provide a relatively simple document protecting means
which may make use of chemical formulations to enhance
protection and yet permits the system to be employed by
means of simple mechanical applicators such as cold pressure
~5 rolls or platens.
It is also an object of the invention to
provide a document protection system which produces
immediately visible evidence of alteration or fraudulent
copying on color copiers regardless of the means used to
make such alterations and which, in the basic preferred
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embodiment, permits the additional protection of other
concomitant fraud protection system, both physical and
chemical.
Desc;ription o~ the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a greatly enlarged sectional view in
side elevation of the document protection system as
applied to a conventional check; which may employ our
preferred embodiment;
Fig. 2 is a view of the portion of a camouflage
pattern for use with the present invention; and its
alternative embodiment;
. Fig. 3 is on the same sheet as Figure 1 and is an
isometric view of the tape protecting layered adhesive assembly
in conjunction with a document to be protected;
~ig. 4 is a top plan of a conventional check
illu-~trating the "~OID" pattern arranged over the amount
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area of the check; and
Fig. 5 is a view similar to view 4 illustrating
the check protection tape applied over the amount area
iilustrating the complete camouflage of the void pattern
while permitting the amount to be visible through the
tape;
Fig. 6 is a representation of the preferred
embodiment of our invention;
Fig. 7 is an alternative embodiment of our
invention.
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Description of the Invention
As is the case of the earlier patented disclosure,
this in~ention is concerned with protection of negotiable
instruments from the hazards of alteration by chemicals,
mechanical cutting pen and ink addition to amounts, and
general eras,ure, obliteration, scuffing and other similar
means of altering or changing numbers has intrigued and
frustrated engineers and laymen alike since the inception
of the use of such instruments. Up until the present time
the skillful forger or document alterer armed with a scant
few chemicals and a reasonable amount of finger dexterity
could alter, change, rearrange, or otherwise make over a
negotiable document into an instrument whose amount and/or
signature had been changed and thereafter pass such
document into the commercial rnoney or banking stream
almo~t at will.
Detection of such alteration varies from
impossible to ridiculously easy depending upon the skill
of the forger. Protection against the known schemes has
run the gamut from chemically compounding various papers
on which the documents are to be preprinted to using
special pens and inks, mechanical checkwriters, special
presses, intricate, large type styles, involved chemical
overlays which were applied to the document both before
and after printing, and certain types of processes more
or less related to the decalcomania art. The present
invention relies for its novelty on none of these and yet
is broadly related to certain of the prior art systems.
In any casa, the present invention in effect avoids the
pitfalls of the prior art while providing an extremely
hig~l degree of pr~tection against alterations and
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particularly against reproductions and alterations
using color copiers.
Referr ng to the drawings and first to Fig. 1,
there is shown a portion of a piece of document material,
e.g. check paper, disproportionately enlarged so as to
more clearly make discernible the various elements of
the combination. The check paper 10 which may vary in
thickness from about .0035 to .007 inch may have printed
on the facing surface 12 thereof a printed pattern 14,
e.g. the word "VOID" repeated in multiple lines and
this word or any similar mark may comprise the warning
to at least the cognicenti that its appearance indicates
alteration or forgery. A solvent insoluble substrate
such, for example, as a polyester film base 16 on the
order of .001 inch in thickness is preferably pro~ided
on one surface 18 thereof with a curable silicone resin
plus catalyst coating 20 of .0005 to .00005 inch
thickness. The opposite surface Z2 of the polyester
substrate 16 is provided with a printed, camouflage
pattern 24 which pattern is printed directly on the
film base; and, as will be seen later on herein,
cooperates with the "VOID" pattern printed on the check
in the same color to completely hide or mask the void
pattern. Over the surface of the printed camouflage
pattern 24 there is applied a coating 26 of a high peel
strength, aggressive, solvent and hea~ resistant, pressure
sensitive, adhesive which is approximately .0008 to
.0015 inch in thickness. The ink used to apply the
VOID pattern is solvent insoluble; thus if the adhesive
is dissolved away by a solvent, the pattern of the "VOID"
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becomes clearly visibly evident and immediately indicates
the fraudulent alteration of the document. In accordance
with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the
camouflage will have a color density which is below the
the color reproductive threshold of the color copier
and a warning mark which is above the color density
threshold of the color copier.
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the polyester
substrate with its multiple layers of material is disposed
with the adhesive coating adjacent the "VOID" pattern
on the check paper.
Fig. 2 is illustrative of one type of camouflage
pattern 24 which may be used with the void pattern 14
of the present invention. Howe~er, it is readily apparent
that other patterns may be used provided the end result
is that the void pattern printed on the check paper is
masked in accordance with our invention thereby 50
that the pattern is invisible to the unaided eye.
This camouflage may be mask marks in registry
for the warning marks or a cover for the warning mark
yet it will be of a density such that it is not a
reproducible density so that it will not be copied when
an attempt is made with a color copier.
Fig. 3 illustrates the manner in which the
check protection system of the present invention can be
employed to protect the amount area of a document, for
example, a negotiable instrument .such as a check. The
layered structure as described in connection with
Fig. 1 is produced in the form of a continuous tape or
band 28 which may be loaded OIItO a supply reel and
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therea-fter fed from the supply reel to the printing
area of the high speed p inter permitting a portion of
the tape to be adherred under cold pressure as by a
rollor and back-up anvil over the amount which has been
printed in the arnount area over the void pattern which
is preprinted on the check structure.
An example of a check structure 10 bearing a
preprinted void pattern 14 is shown in ~ig. ~. This
pattern could also be employed in the signature area
30 and the layered tape construction used in similar
fashion to its use in the amount area.
Fig. 5 illustrates an example of the finally
protected document, in this case a check 10, as it might
appear with the protecting tape 28 adherred over the
amount awaiting the signaturo of the payor with the
"void" pattern camouflaged but with the amount clearly
distinguishable therethrough.
The principal protection system of our
invention employs a masked warning mark or phrase which
when copied appears on the copy due to its effective
color density being above the color reproductive
threshold density of the copier. The mask is of a
color density which is below the color reproductive
density of the copier. Any overlay of the mask and
the warning phrase has a color density exceeding the
color reproductive threshold density. The colGr can be
formulated from standard press inks.
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The thresilold density level for these col~red
inks is: Magenta .12 + .01; Cyan ,08 ~ .01 and Yellow
.05 + 0.01, as read bv a Macbeth densitometer RD517.
Formulations below these densities will not effectively
reproduce on commercial xerographic color copiers such
as the L-6500 even with plctorial screens such as
8R537 (Xero~ . Densities above this level will reproduceO
Thus in accordance with our preferred embodiment,
as seen in Fig. 6, a warning mark "VOID" is laid down
or printed at a density level preferably below the
aforementioned thresholds. T~is warning is overlaid
with our mask which ~ e at a density below the
aforementioned reproductive threshold densities. The
. composite density at those places where the warning mark
is placed is in accordance with our invention above
the aforementioned threshold levels.
Now it should be understood that this invention
and its preferred embodiments are difficult to represent
within the constraints of the Patent Office's pen and
ink drawing requirements.
As illustrated in Fig. 6, the original document
601 has, at least a portion thereof (such as the
amount or signature portion), the warning mark ("VOID"
602) printed in redr This is completely covered with a
red camouflage 603 of a density below the aforesaid
threshold density.
It will be understood that, as may be appreciated
from seeing the drawings that the "VOID" mark is camouflaged
before being copied. After it is copied, as shown in
the Fig. 6 on the L-6500 color copier, 6C4, the "VOID"
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mark will be reproduced because the composit~ density
is hi~her at the point where the warning mark 602
appears.
While, due to the styli~ed representation in
Fig~ 6 a solid mark is contemplated, alternate marks
can be made.
Representative of thece alternate embodiments
is Fig. 7. In Fig. 7 the document 701 has the warning
mark 702 and camouflage 703 printed thereon. In this
embodiment circles (which could be dots, squares, lines
or the like) comprise the warning mark 702 and camouflage.
Ihe warning mark is of a higller density than the
surrounding camouflage and in this embodiment the
surrounding camouflage is below the color reproduction
threshold density while the color mask, at least in
composite density if overpainted with the registered
camouflage, is of a density in excess of the threshold
density limits.
- In the preferred embodiment the "~OID" 602
will be printed with a color change ink solution. A
sympathetic ink which turns or gains color and reproductive
intensity when exposed to an eradicator is used in the
marking mark. In the preferred embodiment, this ink
is colorless and may be mixed with the other colored
dies or pigments which form the color of the mark and
also the mask. Examples of sympathetic inks are
"Chlorostain" or liquid (DuPon~ , "Chlorostain" N
(DuPont~, "Chlorostain" WH Liquid (DuPon~), Oxochekh
(Hilton-Davis~.
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If it is determined that the VOID pattern
exists and an attempt is made to eradicate the pattern
mark, as from the back of the check in Fig. 1-5, with
for instance hypochloride bleach, the ink will darken
indicating a forging attempt.
This color pattern will remain and be even
more readily reproducible as being above the threshold
level of the copies.
~ lorescent inks and other inks used in
conjunction with the threshold level will raise the
security of the system by a cumulative nature.
In cummary we have described a document and
a method of producing it which deters or prevents
counterfeiting utilizing the Xerox*L-6500 Color Copier
or similar machines which possess different color
sensitivity than the human eye. Pastels ~rinted below
a specified critical level (see above limits) will
fail to appear in the copy, while those above the critical
density will appear in the copy.
As a result of the described method of
manufacture of the document the background overprint
or pattern will drop out while the marking phrase or
warning mark will be copied.
It should be understood that the above
description is made by way of example and that various
modifications and rearrangements will occur to those
skilled in the art, both now and in the future, without
departing from the scope of the claims.
* Trademark
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