Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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IDENTIFICATION CARD AND ~THOD OF l~ING S~
Background of the Invention
Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to identification cards and
more particularly to an identification card having a
layer of paper, carrying pertinent i~entification inform-
ation embedded between two layers of protective plastic,
and to the method of producing such a card.
Identification cards provide a quick and convenient
means of providing personal identification~ Such cards
are widely used in connection with business transactions,
control of access to restricted information or areas,
and various governmental identification functions. Many
such cards carry a magnetized stripe encoded with the
; 15 identification information or may have one or more photo-
~ graphs for identification purposes. Cards that carry
- photographs usually require the use of photographic film
with its attendant processing costs. Such cards can
represent a major expense in high volume applications
such as national identity cards.
United States Patent 3,640,009 to Komiyama
describes an identification card in which a protective
~` plastic layer is provided with a recess in which a paper
insert carrying identification information is secured
by adhesive. The edge portion of this plastic layer is
laminated around its edges to another protective plastic
sheet. $he plastic used forms a filter that is ~rans-
paren~ to either ultraviolet or infrared wavelengths
which prevent the photographic image from being examined
with ambient light. The construction described by
Komiyama is expensive and is not suitable for high
~; volume applications. An additional drawback is the
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requirement for specialized equipment to read the
identification card.
United States patent 3,245,697 to Nugent describes
an identifica~ion card carrying a photograph and other
indicia which makes use of a photographic film as one of
two plastic protective layers which ~nclose an informa-
tion layer having opaque and transparent areas in the
form of an intricate scroll. The card is read by
ultraviolet light that is transmitted through the card.
This card has all the disadvantages of the one described
by Komiyama.
United States patent 4~119J361 to Greenaway
describes an identification card in which an internal
information layer carries holograms, aiffraction screens
or minature Fresnel prisms. That patent also discloses
the use of a cellular structure for the information
layer that prevents destruction of the information when
the card layers are secured by chemical adhesives.
--; All of these identification cards suffer from
the high cost of production and their lack of suitability
for high-volume low-cost applications requiring maximum
security.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention is incorporated in a high
volume card production system in which a photograph
from a video camera is converted to digital data and
processed to permit reproduction of a high-quality
portrait on a video display screen. Other images, such
as signatures and fingerprints, can be treated in a
similar manner using either a video camera or a CCD
(charge-coupIed device). After processing, the video
` information is displayed on the screen where it is
combined with variable data typed in from a keyboard,
or provided from another source. The video images can
~ 35 be cropped, reduced or enlarged, and moved to any
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desired location on the video screen. The digital data
from the terminal is fed into a laser printer that
prints the portrait and any desi ed alphanumeric inform
ation on a paper card~ This card is then laminated,
under heat and pressure, between two sheets of trans-
parent thermoplastic material, at a temperature and
pressure sufficient to cause the plastic material to
penetrate the interstices between the fibers of the
paper card and form a unitary structure that cannot
be delaminated without destruction of the identifying
data.
Brief Description of the Drawlng
Figure 1 is diagrammatic representation of the
elements of a system for making a high-security
identification card in accordance with the present
invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a card fabricated
by the system represented by Figure l; and
Figure 3 is an enlarged cross section of a
-;; 20 portion of the card sho~ in Figure 2.
DescriPtion of the Preferred Embodiment
The portrait of a person 2 or other object
to be reprsduced on a high-security identification
card 4 is recorded by a conventional video camera 6
and the corresponding signal fed into a image pro-
cessor 8. The processor 8 modifies-the information
from the camera 6 in such manner as to permit the
presentation of a high quality reproduction on the
screen 12 of a video display terminal 14. The
portrait is represented by digital information in a
~ manner representing a half-tone image, but formed
`~ in most cases by various sizes and shapes of image
~;,
~ particles rather than half-tone dots of varying
; ~ intensi~y. Software for providing such digitized
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images are already known and are produced by a
number of companies including Interleaf Inc. of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and as the Masscomp 500
computer program produced by Rise Technology Inc.,
Kendall Square, Cambridge, l~assachusetts.
Alternatively, the image may be produced by a
scanning CCD 16 and may include a personal signature,
finger prints or other information. This information
is processed also by the image processor 8 and fed
into the display terminal 14. The display terminal is
provided with known controls to crop, reduce or enlarge
the visual images and place them in any desired position
- on the screen 14.
Additional data to be included on the card 4
is typed into the display terminal from a conventional
keyboard 18. When the information is displayed in the
~- desired format on the screen 12, the signal from the
terminal~ is fed into a laser printer 22 which repro- -
~; duces the image on a paper sheet 24. The printer may
be similar to those manufactured by Cannon, Inc., and
preferably is capable of producing shee~s large enough
~- to hold a number of individual bodies of card informa-
`~ ~ tion~ For example, a singIe sheet of paper can be
printed on both sides, in a single pass, with the
information for as many as thirty identification cards.
~ Line art can be printed with a resolution of 150 pairs
per inch. Photographic information is printed with
a resolution of 100 pixels per inch with 64 levels of
~;
gray. The digital information is also fed into a
permanent memory 25 which permits the information to be
recalled at a later time for modification or producing
an additional identical card.
The printed sheet of :paper is fed into a
laminator 26 where the paper sheet is laminated under
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heat and pressure between two sheets 28 and 32 of trans-
parent thermoplastlc material, such as polyester. The
pressure and heat are adjusted to melt the plastic suf-
ficiently to cause it to penetrate the fibers of the
paper, as indicated by the jagged lines "a" and "b"
in Figure 3. The lamination, including a number of
individual identification cards, is passed through a
cooling chamber 34 into a card puncher 36. The puncher
36 punches the individual cards 4 from the larger sheet.
As illustrated by Figure 2, the finished card may
include a portrait, a personal signature and printed
data. As mentioned above, the card may be printed on
both sides to provide additional information. If the
card is printed on one side only, then only one sheet
of the plastic laminate need be transparent.
The high-cost of instant-type photographic film
and the cumbersome photographic processes are eliminated
by the direct imaging process described here. The
resulting card is economical to produce, since it elimin-
` 20 ates all requirements for film, yet provides a highly
secure identification card that is substantially impos-
sible to alter. Any attempt to delaminate the car~
results in destruction of the information carried by the
~- card. The system is flexible and any card in the system
~- 25 can be readily produced again, either in modified or
identical form, by recalling from the memory 25 the
digital information representing the card.
Additional security can be provided by using bank
note paper with preprinted fine line coded patterns, such
as that sold under the trademark SCR~IBLED INDICIA
by Graphic S curity Systems Corporation, 505 Northern Blvd.,
Great Neck, New York. Further security can be provided
` by the use of ultraviolet ~luorescent or water soluble
~ inks, watermarks, or holograms.
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