SECURITY BOOKLET

Abstract

A security booklet has a cover foldable about an axis; a set of page sheets stitched together along the axis about which they can be folded to define a set of pages, wherein each page sheet is formed of a single fibrous sheet; wherein one part of one of the page sheets laterally offset from the axis is adhered to the cover, while another part of the one page sheet can be folded separately from the cover and the other pages about the axis.

Claims

1. A security booklet comprising i) a cover foldable about an axis; ii) a set of page sheets stitched together along the axis about which they can be folded to define a set of pages, wherein each page sheet is formed of a single fibrous sheet; wherein iii) one part of one of the page sheets laterally offset from the axis is adhered to the cover, while another part of the said one page sheet can be folded separately from the cover and the other pages about the axis.

2. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein said one part of said one page sheet is adhered as an end page to the cover.

3. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein said one page sheet includes a further part adhered to the cover on the opposite side of the axis to the side to which said one part is adhered.

4. A booklet according to claim 3, wherein said further part comprises a second end page.

5. A booklet according to claim 3, wherein said one page sheet is formed in a concertina fashion.

6. A booklet according to claim 5, wherein said one page sheet has a width equivalent to four or six pages, adjacent pages being folded about respective fold lines.

7. A booklet according to claim 5, further comprising an electronic chip and antenna combination and/or electromagnetic screening elements provided between adjacent folded sections of the concertina.

8. A booklet according to claim 5, wherein adjacent folded sections of the concertina provide a cooperating see-through feature.

9. A booklet according to claim 8, wherein the see-through feature is defined by a cooperating pair of watermarks, one in each section, a cooperating pair of printed designs, one on each section, or a watermark in one section and a cooperating printed design in the other section.

10. A booklet according to claim 5, further comprising a seam-reinforcing element between an adjacent pair of folded pages of said one page sheet.

11. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein said another part of said one page sheet is formed by a page provided with personalized data.

12. A booklet according to claim 11, further comprising a transparent or translucent plastics protective member laminated over the personalized data.

13. A booklet according to claim 11, wherein the personalised data is provided by a member adhered to said one of the page sheets.

14. A booklet according to claim 13, wherein the member is made of plastics.

15. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein another page of the set of pages is adhered to another part of the cover laterally offset from the axis.

16. A booklet according to claim 15, wherein said another page is smaller than the other page sheets but includes a tab section extending through the axis and stitched to the other page sheets along the axis.

17. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein said one page sheet is integrally formed.

18. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the or each page adhered to the cover is adhered over its full area.

19. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the set of page sheets is also adhered to the cover in the region of the stitching.

20. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein each single fibrous sheet is formed from cotton and/or cellulose and/or synthetic fibres.

21. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of said one page sheet is substantially uniform.

22. A booklet according to claim 21, wherein said uniform thickness is less than 200 m.

23. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the cover is made of paper, card, or plastics.

24. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the cover includes an electronic chip and attached antenna secured thereto.

25. A booklet according to claim 24, wherein the cover includes an inlay incorporating the electronic chip and antenna.

26. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the cover includes an end paper to which the set of page sheets is attached.

27. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the pages includes one or more security features.

28. A booklet according to claim 27, wherein the security features are registered with individual pages.

29. A booklet according to claim 27, wherein said one page sheet is provided with security features that extends over more than one page in a continuous pattern.

30. A security booklet according to claim 1, formed as a passport.

Description

[0040] Some examples of security booklets, in particular passports, constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross section, not to scale, through a first example of a passport construction;

[0042] FIG. 2 is a view similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but including an antenna and chip;

[0043] FIG. 3 is of view similar to FIG. 1 but utilising a concertina formed bio-data page;

[0044] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but with the addition of an antenna and chip;

[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates a further example of a passport similar to that shown in FIG. 4 but with a double concertina page sheet;

[0046] FIG. 6 illustrates a modified form of the FIG. 4 example;

[0047] FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate individual components of a see-through feature and the result of combining the features respectively; and

[0048] FIGS. 8A-8C are similar to FIGS. 7A-7C but illustrating a second embodiment of a see-through feature.

[0049] The example of the passport shown in FIG. 1 comprises a durable paper cover 1 having outer and inner surfaces 2, 3. The outer surface 2 is decorated with indicia (not shown) relevant to the issuing authority in a conventional manner, while the surface 3 provides a layer onto which additional substrates or layers can be bonded. In this example, the surface 3 has a Teslin Inlay 4 bonded to it and this may optionally include an embedded antenna and chip (not shown). The cover 1 is foldable about an axis 5 and the Teslin Inlay layer 4 is provided with a gap 6 extending along the axis 5 to enable folding to take place. The gap 6 is not essential however.

[0050] Secured to the cover 1 on its inner side is a stitched set of page sheets 10, defining a book block, individual page sheets being indicated at 10A-10E respectively. The sheets 10A-10E are stitched together along the axis 5 using a thread 13 shown schematically in FIG. 1. Each page sheet 10A-10E is formed as a single, fibrous sheet having a uniform thickness less than 200 microns and in a preferred example is paper. Typically, each page sheet 10A-10E has the same, uniform thickness.

[0051] The page sheets 106-10E have a similar size such that when folded about the axis 5, they define respective pairs of pages 1461, 1462, 14C1, 14C2 etc., each having two sides. Each page sheet, when flat, extends substantially over most of the surface of the cover 1.

[0052] It will be noted, however, that the page sheet 10A is smaller than the page sheets 106-10E and includes a first page 10A1 adhered to the cover 1 via the Teslin Inlay 4 to form an end page, and an integral, second tab section 10A2 which extends through the axis 5. A reinforcing spine tape 20, for example made of paper, woven synthetic or natural fabric together with a heat activated adhesive, extends along the axis 5 and is adhered on one side to the Teslin Inlay 4 and on the other to the underside of the tab section 10A2. This tape 20 could be omitted and the page sheets adhered directly to the cover.

[0053] The page 14B1 defined by the page sheet 10B (personalized page sheet) is provided with personalised data or bio-data relating to the holder of the passport. This can be of any conventional form including a photo image of the holder, their signature, date of birth etc. The data may be provided directly on the sheet or alternatively, as shown, on the inner surface of a transparent or translucent member 15 laminated to the sheet. The bio-data may be in visually recognizable and/or coded form. The additional member 15 may be laminated to the sheet 14B1 prior to construction of the book block or, more typically, after the book block has been constructed and secured to the cover 1. In either case, one or more of the pages of the booklet may be provided with security printing or other security features as will be described in more detail below, typically before the personalized data is provided.

[0054] Typically, features on the page 14B1 can be viewed in transmission as well as reflection.

[0055] Page 14B2 of the sheet 10B is adhered over its entire surface as an end page onto the paper cover 1 via the Teslin Inlay 4. It also overlays the tab section 10A2 to which it is also adhered. In other examples, including those to be described below, the page 14B2 may be adhered only over a part of its surface. If an attempt is made to detach the stitched page sheets 10 from the cover 1, it will be found that this is not possible without damaging the page sheet 10B because part of the sheet 10B is adhered to the cover 1 as end page 14B2.

[0056] As mentioned above, one or more of the page sheets can be provided with conventional security features such as watermarks, apertures, security threads which may be exposed in windows, security printing, surface applied security stripes or patches and the like. In a particularly preferred approach, security features such as guilloche patterns are printed continuously across the entire page sheet. The advantage of this is that if an attempt is made to sever for example the page 14B1 from the page 14B2 and then replace it with a new page, the security printing is unlikely to match across the axis 5.

[0057] The reference to the uniform thickness of each page sheet needs to be understood in the context of the possible inclusion of watermarks and security windows which locally will cause a reduction in the page thickness. As mentioned above, however, the page thickness will typically be uniform through at least 60% or 70% of the area of the sheet.

[0058] FIG. 2 illustrates a passport construction similar to that shown in FIG. 1 except that the Teslin Inlay 4 has been omitted. In addition, an antenna and chip layer 30 has been inserted in the cover 1.

[0059] FIG. 3 illustrates a further modified version of the FIG. 1 example. In this case, the sheet 10B and sheet 10A have been replaced by a single, enlarged sheet 40 having a length dimension equivalent to four pages 41A-41D. Adjacent pages are folded at folds 42, 43, 44 while pages 41B, 41C will typically be laminated or otherwise adhered together.

[0060] The sheet 40 is stitched to the other page sheets 10C-10E by thread 13 while the pages 41A, 41D are adhered as end pages to the cover 1 via the Teslin Inlay 4.

[0061] The page 41C carries personalised data 15 equivalent to the page 14B1 in FIG. 1.

[0062] The advantage of this structure is that the personalised data page 41C is integrally formed with both end pages 41A and 41D thus making the structure even more difficult to tamper with.

[0063] A further advantage is that pages 41B,41C can provide cooperating see-through security features. In this case a security feature (not shown) in or on page 41B and typically laterally offset from personalised data 15 is configured to visually co-operate with a security feature (not shown) in or on page 41C. That is, the security features are designed such that, when viewed together, they form a recognisable combination which is easily describable and therefore allows for straightforward checking of their relative position. For example, in one particularly preferred case, the security feature (FIG. 7B) in 41B may be configured to frame (e.g. surround or encircle) the security feature (FIG. 7A) in 41C, preferably by following the periphery of the security feature 41C (FIG. 7C). In a further example, the security feature (FIG. 8B) in 41B may be a printed feature configured to follow the outline of a circle or other shape and, upon viewing in transmitted light, a watermark (FIG. 8A), present in page 41C may appear within the outline preferably centred on its centre point (FIG. 8C). In this way, the two security features can be directly compared with one another in order to check that the required registration is present. In one embodiment the features in 41B and 41C are both watermarks and visible in transmitted light but in an alternative embodiment the security features can be printed on pages 41B and 41C respectively such that they are visible as separate security features when viewed in reflected light but combine to form a single recognisable image when viewed in transmitted light.

[0064] In other examples of visual co-operation, the security feature may be located such that when both are visible in transmitted light they together form a recognisable feature in combination. For example, in one preferred embodiment, the security feature in or on 41B is configured to represent a first, incomplete, portion of an indicia and the security feature in or on 41C is configured to represent a second portion of the same indicia such that when viewed in combination in transmission, the complete indicia is visible. For instance, a printed region on 41B could provide one half of a letter, number or symbol and a printed region on 41C could provide the other half.

[0065] In another example of visual co-operation the security feature on page 41B may be configured to overlap with the security feature in or on 41C when viewed in transmitted light. For example, the security feature on 41B could comprise a print which is configured to colour in a watermark in 41C. Any misalignment between the two will be apparent when the substrate is viewed in transmission.

[0066] In the FIG. 3 example, an antenna and chip can be provided in the Teslin Inlay. FIG. 4 illustrates a modified form of the FIG. 3 example in which the Teslin Inlay 4 has been omitted and an antenna and chip provided between the folded pages 41B, 41C as shown at 50. The sheets 41B, 41C will be laminated together about the antenna and chip 50 prior to incorporation with the rest of the page sheets and assembly with the cover 1. In this example, the personalized data is provided directly on the page 41B or 41C and no additional protective laminate is used.

[0067] FIG. 5 illustrates a further development of the FIG. 4 structure. In this example, in place of the page sheet 40, a page sheet 60 is used having length equivalent to six pages 61A-61F with folds 62-66. These pages are integrally formed from the same sheet.

[0068] The page 61C is provided with personalised data while an antenna and chip combination 67 is secured between the pages 61D, 61E by laminating the pages together. In addition, the pages 61B, 61C are laminated together and then the sheet 60 is stitched to the remainder of the pages 10 by stitching thread 13. The pages 61A, 61F are then adhered directly to the cover 1 to form respective end pages. Of course, it would also be possible to include a Teslin Inlay layer 4 as in other examples and/or to provide one or more additional adhered layers between the cover 1 and pages 61A and 61F. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the antenna and chip 67 could be positioned between the pages 61B, 61C and cooperating see-through security features could also be provided in the pages 61B,61C or 61D,61E.

[0069] Finally, FIG. 6 illustrates a further example. In this case, a sheet 80 is provided having a length equivalent to about three pages folded at 81 and 82. The sheet defines an end page 83A adhered via adhesive 84 to the cover 1. A second, separate end page 85 is adhered to the remainder of the cover 1.

[0070] The page 83A extends beyond the hinge region 12 to form a tab 83B which is adhered to the end page 85, the tab being integrally formed with a page 83C which in turn is integrally formed via the hinge 82 with a page 83D. Pages 83C, 83D are laminated together with a chip and antenna 86 between them.

[0071] The sheet 80 is stitched to the remainder of the page sheets 10 via stitching 13.