SECURITY INSERT WITH TACTILE VARNISH ARRANGEMENT FOR AN IDENTITY DOCUMENT, AND METHOD OF MAKING SUCH A SECURITY INSERT

Abstract

A security insert with at least one optically recognizable character and at least one tactilely detectable character for an identity document comprises at least a first at least partially transparent layer which has blackenings which form at least one optically recognizable character. A varnish arrangement forming at least one tactilely detectable character is disposed on a layer of the security insert. The at least one optically recognizable character is, at least from the perspective of an observer of the security insert, partially overlaid by the at least one tactilely detectable character, wherein at least a portion of the outer contours of the at least one tactilely detectable character is optically recognizably reproduced by the optically detectable character.

Claims

1. A security insert with at least one visually detectable sign and at least one tactilely detectable sign for an identity document, comprising: at least a first at least partially transparent layer having blackenings which form at least one optically detectable sign and which reflect infrared light and visible light and/or UV light, an application of paint which (i) is disposed on a layer of the security insert and (ii) reflects visible light, and (iii) is transparent to infrared light and/or to UV light, a lacquer arrangement which is arranged on a layer of the security insert and which forms at least one tactilely detectable sign and which is transparent to visible light and infrared light and/or UV light wherein the at least one optically detectable sign is partially overlaid by the at least one tactilely detectable sign, and wherein at least a part of the outer contours of the at least one tactilely detectable sign is reproduced in an optically detectable manner by the optically detectable sign, characterized in that the colour application forms an optically perceptible overall image with the at least one optically perceptible character formed by the blackenings in at least one of the transparent layers.

2. The security insert according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transparent layer comprises a manufacturing material of polycarbonate polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene terephthalate glycol or polyvinyl chloride, and/or the at least one transparent layer is to be blackened by the action of at least one beam of laser light the blackenings are designed to reflect infrared light and/or visible light and/or UV light.

3. The security insert according to claim 1, further comprising: a second and/or third at least partially transparent layer which can be blackened by the action of laser light and/or which are bonded to the first transparent layer, in particular by lamination, and/or a cover layer disposed on one of the transparent layers, in particular on an outer one of the transparent layers, and/or an opaque inlay layer which is bonded to at least one of the transparent layers, in particular by lamination, and/or a hologram element disposed on one of the transparent layers and/or on the opaque inlay layer, and/or an arrangement of electronic components, in particular an antenna module and/or an RFID chip.

4. The security insert according to claim 3, wherein the ink application comprises different colour portions of cyan, magenta and yellow; and/or the overall picture is a coloured portrait of a person; and/or the ink coating is arranged on the first transparent layer; and/or the ink application forms an outermost layer of the security liner; and/or the ink application is disposed on the outside of the outermost layer of the security liner; the ink application comprises a solvent-containing ink, in particular pigment-based ink and/or ink curable by means of UV light, which is suitable for dissolving and/or at least partially penetrating a surface of polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate during an application process; and/or the paint application comprises forensic markers, in particular silicon, silicon dioxide, mica, titanium oxide and/or tin oxide.

5. The security insert according to claim 1, wherein the at least one tactilely detectable sign forms the outer contours of textual information or pictorial information, in particular a portrait of a person, a national emblem or a coat of arms, and/or the lacquer arrangement comprises a production material which can be cured by means of UV light, and/or the lacquer arrangement comprises a plurality of tactile lacquer applications spaced apart from one another, and/or the lacquer arrangement has at least one tactile lacquer application which is transparent to visible light and/or to infrared light and/or to UV light, and/or the lacquer arrangement has at least one tactile lacquer layer which has a higher optical density than an atmosphere surrounding the safety insert and/or has a lower optical density than one or more of the at least partially transparent layers, and/or the lacquer arrangement has at least one tactile lacquer application which has an at least partially rounded, in particular a partially lenticular, cross-section, and/or the lacquer arrangement has at least one tactile lacquer coating which is designed and set up to refract light directed at least substantially perpendicularly to the safety insert, in particular laser light directed at least substantially perpendicularly to the safety insert, and/or the lacquer arrangement comprises a plurality of tactile lacquer applications which together form a relief structure on one of the layers of the security inlay, the relief depth of the relief structure being less than a respective spacing of the tactile lacquer applications from one another, and/or the lacquer arrangement has a plurality of tactile lacquer applications, the respective distance between the tactile lacquer applications being greater than a cross-sectional diameter of the respective lacquer applications.

6. The security insert according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of spaced apart tactile paint applications are disposed directly on the paint application, and the plurality of spaced apart tactile paint applications partially overlay the paint application, and at least a portion of the paint application is not overlaid by the plurality of spaced apart tactile paint applications.

7. A method for manufacturing a security insert having at least one visually detectable mark and at least one tactilely detectable mark for an identification document, comprising the steps of: providing at least a first at least partially transparent layer; arrangement of a varnish arrangement on a layer of the security insert which forms at least one tactilely detectable sign and which is transparent to visible light and infrared light and/or UV light; producing at least one optically detectable sign at least partially overlaid by said at least one tactilely detectable sign by blackening said at least one partially transparent layer by means of a beam of laser light, said blackenings reflecting infrared light and visible light and/or ultraviolet light; and wherein the varnish arrangement refracts the beam of laser light at least in an edge region of the tactilely detectable sign overlaying the optically detectable sign; and application of a paint coating which reflects visible light and which is transparent to infrared light and/or to UV light to a layer of the security insert; characterized in that the colour application forms an optically perceptible overall image with the at least one optically perceptible character formed by the blackenings in at least one of the transparent layers.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the varnish arrangement refracts the beam of laser light with a positive refractive power at least in an edge region of the tactilely detectable character superimposed on the optically detectable character.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising at least one of the steps: providing a second and/or third transparent layer; providing a cover layer and/or an opaque inlay layer; providing a hologram element and/or arrangement of electronic components; and bonding the layers and/or hologram elements and/or electronic component assemblies of the security insert.

10. An apparatus for producing a security insert for an identity document, comprising: a handling device arranged and configured to fix and convey along a processing path a security insert or parts of a security insert, a varnish application device which is arranged and designed to arrange a varnish application transparent to visible light and to infrared light and/or to UV light on a layer of the conveyed security insert, so that the varnish application forms at least one tactilely detectable sign, a laser device arranged and adapted to produce blackenings in at least a first at least partially transparent layer of the conveyed security insert by means of a beam of laser light so as to produce at least one optically detectable indicia which is partially overlaid by the at least one tactilely detectable indicia, the blackenings reflecting infrared light and visible light and/or UV light, and wherein the beam of laser light is refracted by the lacquer coating during the manufacture of the safety insert at least in an edge region of the tactilely detectable mark, and a printing device arranged and adapted to apply an ink coating which reflects visible light and which is transparent to infrared light and/or to ultraviolet light to a layer of the conveyed security insert.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: a first UV curing device arranged and constructed to cure by means of UV light the coating applied to a layer of the conveyed safety insert, and/or a printing device arranged and constructed for this purpose, and/or a second UV curing device arranged and adapted to cure by means of UV light the ink coating applied to a layer of the conveyed safety liner, and/or a lamination device arranged and adapted to bond together layers of the security insert.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0100] Further features, characteristics, advantages and possible variations will become clear to a person skilled in the art from the following description, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings. In this respect, the figures schematically and exemplarily show in each case a security insert for an identity document or a part of such a security insert. In this regard, all of the described and/or pictorially depicted features, individually or in any combination, illustrate the subject matter disclosed herein. The dimensions and proportions of the components shown in the figures are not to scale.

[0101] FIG. 1 shows schematically and by way of example a security insert for an identity document in a top view and a cross-sectional view of the security insert.

[0102] FIGS. 2 and 3 each show schematically and by way of example a possible layered structure of a security insert for an identity document in a cross-sectional view.

[0103] FIGS. 4 and 5 each show schematically and exemplarily a security insert for an identity document in a top view and a cross-sectional view of the security insert, wherein the visibility of a part of the outline of a tactilely detectable character removed from the security insert is illustrated against the background of the blackenings in at least one of the transparent layers.

[0104] FIGS. 6 and 7 each show a schematic example of a further security insert for an identity document in a top view and a cross-sectional view. The security insert shown has a tactilely detectable sign that reproduces text information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0105] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary and schematically simplified view of a safety insert 100 with a visually detectable sign 10 and a tactilely detectable sign 20 in a top view and a cross-sectional view of the safety insert 100.

[0106] For reasons of overview, FIG. 1 shows only one optically recognizable character 10 and one tactilely detectable character 20, although any other embodiments with any number of optically recognizable characters and tactilely detectable characters are of course possible.

[0107] In the example shown, the tactilely detectable sign 20, which is circular in plan view and is formed by an application of varnish to the safety insert 100, is partially superimposed on the visually detectable sign 10.

[0108] In the example shown, the optically recognizable sign 10 shown only schematically in FIG. 1 is a rectangular grayscale portrait of a person, which shows the head and the upper body of a person against a background that is at least not pure white. The greyscale portrait of a person is formed by blackenings produced with a laser beam in at least one layer of the security inlay.

[0109] FIG. 1 shows only a highly simplified cross-sectional view of the safety insert 100 with the optically detectable character 10 and the tactilely detectable character 20. However, an example of a possible structure of the safety insert 100 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2.

[0110] In particular, a safety insert 100 may comprise several layers arranged one above the other and connected to each other, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Merely for reasons of clarity, the interconnected layers are shown here as device elements spaced apart from one another.

[0111] The security insert shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 2 includes a transparent cover layer 110, as well as a first transparent layer 120, a second transparent layer 130, a third transparent layer 140, a hologram element 150, and an opaque inlay layer 160. The hologram element 150 is received in a correspondingly shaped recess of the inlay layer 160 and is enclosed by the inlay layer 160 and the third transparent layer 130.

[0112] Said layers 110, 120, 130, 140, 160 are connected to each other by a lamination process. Both the first transparent layer 120 and the second and third transparent layers 130, 140 each have blackenings produced by the action of laser light, which form a sign 10 or a grey-scale image that is optically perceptible to the viewer of the security insert.

[0113] On the transparent cover layer 110 (in contrast to the examples shown in FIG. 1 or FIGS. 3 to 6), a lacquer arrangement with three spaced lacquer applications 21, 22, 23 is arranged, which together form the tactilely perceptible sign 20 that partially overlays the optically perceptible sign 10 from the perspective of an observer.

[0114] Further, an ink layer 115 transparent to infrared light is disposed/printed on the first transparent layer 120 and includes color components of cyan, magenta, and yellow and forms an overall image with at least a portion of the first optically detectable character 10.

[0115] FIG. 3 illustrates another example of a security insert 100. The security insert shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 3 includes a first transparent layer 120, a second transparent layer 130, a third transparent layer 140, a hologram element 150, and an opaque inlay layer 160. The hologram element 150 is received in a correspondingly shaped recess of the inlay layer 160 and is enclosed by the inlay layer 160 and the third transparent layer 130.

[0116] Said layers 120, 130, 140, 160 are bonded together by a lamination process. In a departure from the example shown in FIG. 2, only one of the layers (the first transparent layer 120) has blackenings produced by the action of laser light, which form a mark 10 or a greyscale image that is optically perceptible to the viewer of the security insert.

[0117] An ink layer 115 that is transparent to infrared light is disposed/printed on the first transparent layer 120 and includes color components of cyan, magenta, and yellow. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the ink application or ink layer 115 and the blackenings together form an overall image. In this case, the ink application 115 and the blackenings each convey the same optical information to a viewer of the security insert, namely once as a gray-scale image (due to the blackenings) and once as a color image (due to the ink application), with the gray-scale image and the color image complementing/overlapping one another to form the overall image.

[0118] In a departure from the example shown in FIG. 2, the security insert 100 shown in FIG. 3 does not have a cover layer. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the spaced apart paint applications 21, 22, 23 forming the paint arrangement 20 are arranged directly on the paint application or paint layer 115. In the example shown, a portion of the paint application or paint layer 115 is overlaid/covered by the paint applications 21, 22, 23, while another portion of the paint application or paint layer 115 is not overlaid/covered by the paint applications 21, 22, 23. Further, from the perspective of an observer of the security insert, the paint applications 21, 22, 23 also partially overlay the blackenings that form the visually perceptible mark 10.

[0119] The safety inserts shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are only examples of embodiments. Other embodiments of the safety insert may, for example, have more or fewer layers than the safety inserts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and/or other arrangement constellations of the device elements shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0120] FIG. 4 shows, by way of example and in schematically simplified form, a further example of a safety insert 100 with a visually detectable character 10 and a tactilely detectable character 20 in a plan view and in a cross-sectional view along the sectional axis X1. The simplified representation of the safety insert 100 in the cross-sectional view is here also representative of multilayer safety inserts, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, wherein the blackenings shown in FIG. 4 in only schematically simplified form, which form the optically detectable character 10, 10a , can be located in different transparent layers of the safety insert.

[0121] FIG. 4 shows an example of a security insert for an identity document having an optically detectable character 10, which in the example shown (analogous to the example shown in FIG. 1) is a rectangular greyscale portrait of a person showing the head and upper body of a person against a background which is at least not pure white. The visually detectable character is partially covered by two spaced apart paint applications 21, 22 which together form the tactilely detectable character 20 on the surface or outer surface of the security insert 100.

[0122] As shown in the simplified cross-sectional view of the security insert 100, the blackenings located below the outer contours or edge portions of the paint applications 21, 22 formed in a substantially semi-elliptical shape in a cross-section have a lower blackening intensity than the blackenings surrounding each of them. In other words, the portions 10a of the optically recognizable sign or the gray-scale person portrait which are located below the edges or outer outlines of the varnish applications from the perspective of an observer are slightly blackened than the portions 10 of the optically recognizable sign or the gray-scale person portrait surrounding them.

[0123] The comparatively less pronounced or less intensive blackening of the at least one transparent layer below the edges or below the outer contours of the lacquer applications 21, 22 is due to the fact that the blackenings are produced only after the lacquer arrangement 20 has been applied to the security insert 100 by means of irradiation of the security insert, in particular of the at least one transparent layer, with laser light. In particular, a portion of the incoming laser light for producing the blackenings is reflected and/or refracted or deflected by the rounded edges of the lacquer applications. Thus, only a reduced amount of laser light reaches the portions of the transparent layers lying below the edges or outer contours of the varnish applications 21, 22, while the portions of the transparent layers not lying below the rounded edges or outer contours of the varnish applications are not or hardly affected during the production of the blackenings by means of laser light.

[0124] The laser light deflected or refracted by the edges or outer contours of the resist applications 21, 22 further enhances the contrast between the comparatively less blackened portions 10a and the surrounding portions 10 of the optically recognizable character or gray scale person portrait, in that the refracted or deflected laser light in its beam path further enhances the blackening of the portions 10 of the optically recognizable character or gray scale person portrait which are not below the edges or outer contours of the resist applications 21, 22. The laser light deflected in its beam path additionally contributes to the blackening of the portions 10 of the optically recognizable sign or the gray scale person portrait, respectively, which are not positioned below the edges or the outer contours of the lacquer coatings 21, 22, respectively.

[0125] In summary, from the perspective of an observer, the blackenings located below the outer outlines or below the edges of the paint applications 21, 22 form at least one contrast stripe 10a or contrast zone extending through the optically recognizable sign or gray scale person portrait 10, which contrast stripe 10a or contrast zone is silhouetted against the background of the optically recognizable sign or gray scale person portrait 10.

[0126] FIG. 5 shows the arrangement already shown in FIG. 4, the lacquer arrangement 20 having been subsequently removed from the security insert 100, for example in an attempt at counterfeiting. Despite the removal of the varnish arrangement 20, the outer outlines or edges of the varnish applications 21, 22 stand out against the background of the visually discernible character or greyscale person portrait 10 as comparatively bright linear contrasting stripes 10a.

[0127] FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are meant for further clarification. These also show a top view of an example of a safety insert 100, as well as a schematized cross-sectional view of the safety insert 100 along the cut axis X1.

[0128] In the embodiment shown therein, the first optically detectable character 10 is a rectangular background hatching of a security insert 100 formed by blackenings in at least one of the transparent layers of the security insert. The first optically recognizable character 10 (or the background hatching) is partially overlaid by a varnish application 20, which forms a tactilely detectable character in the form of text information. The individual letters of the text information are formed by spaced apart applications of varnish.

[0129] As already explained with respect to FIG. 4, during the manufacture of the article shown in FIG. 6, the lacquer arrangement 20 was first applied to the security insert 100. Subsequently, the optically recognizable character 10, in the example shown the background hatching, was produced by means of blackening or charring caused by laser light in at least one of the transparent layers of the security insert. Due to the reflective and refractive properties of the edges of the spaced apart paint applications, at least for substantially vertically incident laser light, an intensity of the blackenings 10a below the edges of the paint applications disposed on the security insert 100 is reduced relative to the remaining blackened areas of the first optically recognizable character 10, in the example shown relative to the background hatching.

[0130] As is illustrated with reference to FIG. 7, these blackenings, which are reduced in intensity along the edges of the varnish applications, are optically perceptible in particular even if the varnish arrangement 20 has subsequently been removed from the security insert 100.

[0131] The tactilely detectable mark 20 from the variants described above may also be generated by printing the varnish application in a planar and overlapping manner with the optical mark 10 (in the manner described above). In this case, the varnish may have one or more depressions/elevations in the area of the varnish application, so that the thickness of the varnish is lower/higher there. For example, this is achieved by an embossing stamp or a cliché. By selectively structuring the depressions/elevations, a coat of arms, a logo, a combination of letters and/or numerals, etc. can be embossed. As with the individual lacquer jobs 21, 22, 23, the depressions/elevations also have outer contours which are reproduced by the optical character 10. This is achieved by lasering through the varnish in the area of the depressions/elevations or outlines into the card material. This variation works in combination with the paint application 115 or in combination with the laser image only.

[0132] In the variants explained above, the optical sign 10 appears immobile to an observer when the card is tilted; it does not provide a viewing angle dependent effect.

[0133] It is understood that the exemplary embodiments previously explained are not exhaustive and do not limit the subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that they may combine the features described as desired and/or omit various features without departing from the subject matter disclosed herein.