Forgery-preventing thread/yarn

Abstract

According to the present invention, there is provided, at low cost, a thread/yarn for making it possible to easily determine whether a product is a genuine product or a forgery/imitation product, thereby suppressing the manufacture and marketing of forgery/imitation products. This forgery-preventing thread/yarn is formed by making use of a film comprising abase sheet and letters or images printed on the base sheet, the film being slit to have a width of 0.15 mm˜0.75 mm. A thread, yarn or a flat thread representing a genuine product can be cheaply manufactured since it can be obtained by simply slitting a film to a width of 0.15 mm˜0.75 mm. Further, it is possible to easily determine whether a product is a genuine product or a forgery/imitation.

Claims

1. A forgery-preventing yarn comprising a flat forgery-preventing thread formed of a film comprising a base sheet and letters or images printed on the base sheet, the film being slit to have a width of 0.15 mm to 0.75 mm, wherein the flat forgery-preventing thread is twisted to a core thread/yarn, and wherein the letters or images are exposed upon twisting of the flat forgery-preventing thread to the core thread/yarn; wherein all of the letters or images printed on the base sheet are depicted only by a straight line/straight lines which is/are parallel with, perpendicular to, inclined by 45 degrees to the feeding direction of the base sheet on an occasion of printing the letters or images, or by a combination of these lines.

2. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 1, wherein the letters or images printed on the base sheet is depicted at a predetermined line width depending on the method of printing.

3. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 1, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

4. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 2, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

5. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 1, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

6. A forgery-preventing yarn comprising: a flat forgery-preventing thread formed of a film comprising a base sheet and letters or images printed on the base sheet, the film being slit to have a width of 0.15 mm to 0.75 mm, wherein the flat forgery-preventing thread is twisted to a core thread/yarn, wherein the letters or images are printed in a direction diagonal to a direction of slitting; wherein all of the letters or images printed on the base sheet are depicted only by a straight line/straight lines which is/are parallel with, perpendicular to, inclined by 45 degrees to the feeding direction of the base sheet on an occasion of printing the letters or images, or by a combination of these lines.

7. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 6, wherein the letters or images printed on the base sheet is depicted at a predetermined line width depending on the method of printing.

8. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 6, wherein a protective layer is deposited on a surface of the base sheet where the letters or images are printed.

9. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 6, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

10. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 8, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images, the protective layer or an adhesive layer to be used for adhering the protective layer to the base sheet is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

11. A forgery-preventing yarn comprising a flat forgery-preventing thread formed of a film comprising a base sheet comprising rayon and one or more letters or one or more images printed on the base sheet, the film being slit to have a width of 0.15 mm to 0.75 mm, wherein the flat forgery-preventing thread is twisted to a core thread/yarn; wherein all of the letters or images printed on the base sheet are selected from a group of the letters or images depicted by only a straight line/straight lines which is/are parallel with, perpendicular to, or inclined by 45 degrees to the feeding direction of the base sheet on an occasion of printing the letters or images, or by a combination of these lines only.

12. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 11, wherein a protective layer is deposited on a surface of the base sheet where the letters or images are printed.

13. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 12, wherein an ink to be used for printing the letters or images is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

14. The forgery-preventing yarn according to claim 12, wherein the protective layer or an adhesive layer to be used for adhering the protective layer to the base sheet is enabled to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a plan view of a film for manufacturing a forgery-preventing thread/yarn according to one embodiment of the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the film shown in FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 is a plan view of the thread which has been slit from the film of FIG. 1; and

(4) FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of printed letters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(5) Next, the forgery-preventing thread 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be explained as follows.

(6) As shown in FIG. 1, a film 2 for manufacturing a forgery-preventing thread 1 comprises a base sheet 21 which is made of a synthetic resin such as polyester, nylon, etc. and letters or images 22 which are printed on the base sheet 21. Although this embodiment will be illustrated in a case where the base sheet 21 is made of a synthetic resin, the present invention is not limited to such a case but may cover various cases where the base sheet is formed of a film (rayon film etc.) or web to be manufactured using plants as a raw material, the base sheet is formed of a biodegradable biomass film or sheet which can be derived from natural products, or the base sheet is formed of paper which is capable of withstanding the environment of use.

(7) The letters or images 22 can be printed on the base sheet 21 at a predetermined line width depending on the kinds of printing method. In the printing method of this embodiment, the lower limit of the line width is set to 0.03 mm. Incidentally, depending on the printing method, it is possible to set the line width to less than 0.03 mm. With respect to the printing method, it is possible to employ any kind of methods such as screen printing, gravure printing, offset printing, flexographic printing, inkjet printing, digital printing, etc. With respect to the ink to be used, the solvent thereof may be aqueous or oleaginous. The colorant for the ink may be a dye or a pigment.

(8) On the occasion of slitting the film 2 to be explained hereinafter, a column 24 of letters or images 22 lined up at right angle (the vertical direction in FIG. 1) to the slitting direction (the lateral direction in FIG. 1) is somewhat shifted relative to the neighboring column 24 of letters or images 22 in the direction of right angle (the vertical direction in FIG. 1). The reason for doing this is that in the step of slitting the film 2 to be explained hereinafter, at least a portion of the letters or images 22 for easily determining whether a product is a genuine product or a forgery/imitation can be unfailingly displayed on the surface of the forgery-preventing thread 1 even when the line width of slitting is changed. With respect to the printing of the letters or images 22, it is not restricted to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but it can be variously modified as long as at least a portion of the letters or images 22 for easily determining whether a product is a genuine product or a forgery/imitation is displayed on the surface of the forgery-preventing thread 1 which has been slit. For example, the letters or images may be printed in the direction diagonal to the direction of slitting, or they may be printed at random without accompanying any regularity.

(9) As shown in FIG. 2, a protective layer 23 may be formed on the surface of the base sheet 21 where the letters or images 22 have been printed. This protective layer 23 may be formed on the letters/images-printed surface of the base sheet 21 by means of coating or by making use of an adhesive layer which can be interposed between the protective layer 23 and the letters/images-printed surface of the base sheet 21.

(10) The ink to be used for printing the letters or images 22, the protective layer 23 which is formed of a coating or a protective film, or the adhesive layer to be used for adhering the protective layer 23 to the base sheet 21 may be created so as to enable them to exhibit fluorescent property, phosphorescent property or ultraviolet-reflecting property against an electromagnetic wave having a specific wavelength such as ultraviolet ray, infrared ray, etc.

(11) When the film 2 is slit at a line width of 0.15 mm˜0.75 mm, the forgery-preventing thread 1 shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained. On the surface of the forgery-preventing thread 1, there are displayed the letters or images 22 that have been printed thereon. Although the film 2 that has been slit may be used as it is as a forgery-preventing thread 1, a plurality of the films 2 that have been slit may be twisted together, thereby creating a combined forgery-preventing thread or a yarn. Otherwise, the flat thread that has been slit from the film 2 may be twisted to a core thread/yarn in various ways which are known in the art for example such as Maru twisting, Jabara twisting, Hagoromo twisting, Tasuki twisting, Karami twisting, Buriyan twisting, etc. or by way of a round twisting, a pleated twisting, a feather twisting, a diagonal twisting, a leno twisting to thereby form a forgery-preventing yarn.

(12) As one example of letters to be printed on the film 2, FIG. 4 shows an image consisting of alphabets, symbols and numbers, each representing examples of letters to be actually printed on the base sheet and being magnified 100 times. These letters are constituted by a straight line/straight lines which is/are parallel with, perpendicular to, inclined by 45 degrees to the feeding direction of the base sheet 21 in the printing process thereof, or by a combination of these lines.