CA2421501C - Data carrier, method for the production thereof and gravure printing plate - Google Patents
Data carrier, method for the production thereof and gravure printing plate Download PDFInfo
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- CA2421501C CA2421501C CA002421501A CA2421501A CA2421501C CA 2421501 C CA2421501 C CA 2421501C CA 002421501 A CA002421501 A CA 002421501A CA 2421501 A CA2421501 A CA 2421501A CA 2421501 C CA2421501 C CA 2421501C
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- data carrier
- carrier according
- embossing
- blind embossing
- halftone
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- 238000007646 gravure printing Methods 0.000 title description 4
- 238000004049 embossing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 110
- 238000007639 printing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 79
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- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims description 4
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D15/00—Printed matter of special format or style not otherwise provided for
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/30—Identification or security features, e.g. for preventing forgery
- B42D25/337—Guilloche patterns
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M1/00—Inking and printing with a printer's forme
- B41M1/24—Inking and printing with a printer's forme combined with embossing
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
- B41M3/00—Printing processes to produce particular kinds of printed work, e.g. patterns
- B41M3/14—Security printing
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41N—PRINTING PLATES OR FOILS; MATERIALS FOR SURFACES USED IN PRINTING MACHINES FOR PRINTING, INKING, DAMPING, OR THE LIKE; PREPARING SUCH SURFACES FOR USE AND CONSERVING THEM
- B41N1/00—Printing plates or foils; Materials therefor
- B41N1/04—Printing plates or foils; Materials therefor metallic
- B41N1/06—Printing plates or foils; Materials therefor metallic for relief printing or intaglio printing
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/20—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof characterised by a particular use or purpose
- B42D25/29—Securities; Bank notes
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/30—Identification or security features, e.g. for preventing forgery
- B42D25/324—Reliefs
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/30—Identification or security features, e.g. for preventing forgery
- B42D25/36—Identification or security features, e.g. for preventing forgery comprising special materials
- B42D25/373—Metallic materials
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
- B42D—BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- B42D25/00—Information-bearing cards or sheet-like structures characterised by identification or security features; Manufacture thereof
- B42D25/40—Manufacture
- B42D25/405—Marking
- B42D25/425—Marking by deformation, e.g. embossing
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S283/00—Printed matter
- Y10S283/901—Concealed data
Abstract
The invention relates to a data carrier having a security element that is at least visually testable and has an embossing in at least a partial area, the embossing being a halftone blind embossing executed by inkless intaglio printing, and to a method for producing the data carrier and a printing plate for blind-embossing a security element.
Description
DATA CARRIER, METHOD FOR THE PRODUCTION THEREOF AND
GRAVURE PRINTING PLATE
This invention relates to a data carrier having a security element blind-embossed by intaglio printing and to a method for producing the data carrier and a printing plate for blind-embossing a security element.
Data carriers according to the invention are security documents or documents of value, such as bank notes, ID cards, passports, check forms, shares, certificates, post-age stamps, plane tickets and the like, as well as labels, seals, packages or other ele-ments for product protection. The simplifying designation "data carrier" and "security document or document of value" hereinafter will therefore always include documents of the stated type.
Such papers, whose market or utility value far exceeds the material value, must be made recognizable as authentic and distinguishable from imitations and forgeries by suitable measures. They are therefore provided with special security elements that are ideally not imitable or only with great effort and not falsifiable.
In the past, particularly those security elements have proved useful that can be identified and recognized as authentic by the viewer without aids but can simultane-ously only be produced with extremely great effort. These are e.g. watermarks, which can be incorporated into the data carrier only during papermaking, or motifs produced by intaglio printing, which are characterized by their characteristic tactility that cannot be imitated by copying machines.
It is distinctive for gravure printing that the printing, i.e. ink-transferring, areas of the printing plate are present as depressions in the plate surface. These depressions are produced by a suitable engraving tool or by etching. Before the actual printing opera-tion, ink is applied to the engraved plate and surplus ink removed from the surface of the plate by means of a stripping doctor blade or wiping cylinder so that ink is left be-hind only in the depressions. Then a substrate, normally paper, is pressed against the plate and removed, whereby ink adheres to the substrate surface and forms a printed image there. If transparent inks are used, the thickness of the inking determines the color tone.
Among gravure printing techniques a distinction is made between rotogravure and intaglio or line intaglio. In rotogravure the printing plates are produced for exam-ple by means of electron beam, laser beam or graver. It is distinctive for rotogravure that different gray or color values of the printed image are produced by cells of differ-ent density, size and/or depth disposed regularly in the printing plate.
In contrast, in intaglio linear depressions are formed in the printing plates to pro-duce a printed image. In the mechanically fabricated printing plate for intaglio print-ing, a wider line is produced with increasing engraving depth due to the usually ta-pered engraving tools. Furthermore, the ink receptivity of the engraved line and thus the opacity of the printed line increases with increasing engraving depth. In the etching of intaglio printing plates, the nonprinting areas of the plate are covered with a chemi-cally inert lacquer. Subsequent etching produces the depressions provided for receiv-ing ink in the exposed plate surface, the depth of these lines depending in particular on the etching time and line width.
The high bearing pressure in intaglio printing causes the substrate material to ad-ditionally undergo an embossing that also stands out on the back of the substrate. If the intaglio printing plate is used without inking, the substrate used is subjected to so-called blind embossing, which gives the data carrier a typical surface relief.
Intaglio printing, in particular steel intaglio printing, thus provides a characteris-tic printed or embossed image that is easily recognizable to laymen and cannot be imi-tated with other common printing processes. If the engravings in the printing plate are deep enough, a data carrier printed by intaglio acquires through embossing and inking a printed image that forms a relief perceptible by the sense of touch. Steel intaglio printing is therefore preferably used for printing data carriers, in particular security documents and documents of value, for example bank notes, shares, bonds, certifi-cates, vouchers and the like, which must meet high standards with respect to forgery-proofness.
WO 97/48555 discloses a method for producing intaglio printing plates repro-ducibly by machine. The lines of a line original are detected and the surface of each line precisely determined. Using an engraving tool, for example a rotating graver or laser beam, the outside contour of this surface is first engraved to cleanly border the surface. Then the bordered area of the surface is cleared by the same or another en-graving tool so that the total surface of the line is precisely engraved in accordance with the line original. Depending on the form and guidance of the engraving tool, a basic roughness pattern serving as an ink trap for the ink arises at the base of the cleared surface.
It has likewise been proposed to use intaglio printing plates for producing blind embossings. Blind embossings in a metal layer are also known from the prior art.
However, known blind embossings are very simple embodiments having only one pre-determined embossing height or depth. That is, embossing is effected with a printing plate having only a one-step engraving with a certain constant depth. Embossed areas with different engraving depths, such as lines of different depth, are always spaced apart by unengraved areas. Such embossings are visually recognizable only at certain oblique viewing angles so that this security feature is frequently not perceived by the viewer and attempts at forgery are thus more easily missed. Such embossings are also normally rather unimpressive for the viewer.
The problem of the present invention is to increase the forgery-proofness of data carriers by applying to the data carrier a harder-to-imitate, more complicated security feature that is readily visible and of optically striking design.
This problem is solved by the independent claims. Developments are the subject matter of the subclaims.
GRAVURE PRINTING PLATE
This invention relates to a data carrier having a security element blind-embossed by intaglio printing and to a method for producing the data carrier and a printing plate for blind-embossing a security element.
Data carriers according to the invention are security documents or documents of value, such as bank notes, ID cards, passports, check forms, shares, certificates, post-age stamps, plane tickets and the like, as well as labels, seals, packages or other ele-ments for product protection. The simplifying designation "data carrier" and "security document or document of value" hereinafter will therefore always include documents of the stated type.
Such papers, whose market or utility value far exceeds the material value, must be made recognizable as authentic and distinguishable from imitations and forgeries by suitable measures. They are therefore provided with special security elements that are ideally not imitable or only with great effort and not falsifiable.
In the past, particularly those security elements have proved useful that can be identified and recognized as authentic by the viewer without aids but can simultane-ously only be produced with extremely great effort. These are e.g. watermarks, which can be incorporated into the data carrier only during papermaking, or motifs produced by intaglio printing, which are characterized by their characteristic tactility that cannot be imitated by copying machines.
It is distinctive for gravure printing that the printing, i.e. ink-transferring, areas of the printing plate are present as depressions in the plate surface. These depressions are produced by a suitable engraving tool or by etching. Before the actual printing opera-tion, ink is applied to the engraved plate and surplus ink removed from the surface of the plate by means of a stripping doctor blade or wiping cylinder so that ink is left be-hind only in the depressions. Then a substrate, normally paper, is pressed against the plate and removed, whereby ink adheres to the substrate surface and forms a printed image there. If transparent inks are used, the thickness of the inking determines the color tone.
Among gravure printing techniques a distinction is made between rotogravure and intaglio or line intaglio. In rotogravure the printing plates are produced for exam-ple by means of electron beam, laser beam or graver. It is distinctive for rotogravure that different gray or color values of the printed image are produced by cells of differ-ent density, size and/or depth disposed regularly in the printing plate.
In contrast, in intaglio linear depressions are formed in the printing plates to pro-duce a printed image. In the mechanically fabricated printing plate for intaglio print-ing, a wider line is produced with increasing engraving depth due to the usually ta-pered engraving tools. Furthermore, the ink receptivity of the engraved line and thus the opacity of the printed line increases with increasing engraving depth. In the etching of intaglio printing plates, the nonprinting areas of the plate are covered with a chemi-cally inert lacquer. Subsequent etching produces the depressions provided for receiv-ing ink in the exposed plate surface, the depth of these lines depending in particular on the etching time and line width.
The high bearing pressure in intaglio printing causes the substrate material to ad-ditionally undergo an embossing that also stands out on the back of the substrate. If the intaglio printing plate is used without inking, the substrate used is subjected to so-called blind embossing, which gives the data carrier a typical surface relief.
Intaglio printing, in particular steel intaglio printing, thus provides a characteris-tic printed or embossed image that is easily recognizable to laymen and cannot be imi-tated with other common printing processes. If the engravings in the printing plate are deep enough, a data carrier printed by intaglio acquires through embossing and inking a printed image that forms a relief perceptible by the sense of touch. Steel intaglio printing is therefore preferably used for printing data carriers, in particular security documents and documents of value, for example bank notes, shares, bonds, certifi-cates, vouchers and the like, which must meet high standards with respect to forgery-proofness.
WO 97/48555 discloses a method for producing intaglio printing plates repro-ducibly by machine. The lines of a line original are detected and the surface of each line precisely determined. Using an engraving tool, for example a rotating graver or laser beam, the outside contour of this surface is first engraved to cleanly border the surface. Then the bordered area of the surface is cleared by the same or another en-graving tool so that the total surface of the line is precisely engraved in accordance with the line original. Depending on the form and guidance of the engraving tool, a basic roughness pattern serving as an ink trap for the ink arises at the base of the cleared surface.
It has likewise been proposed to use intaglio printing plates for producing blind embossings. Blind embossings in a metal layer are also known from the prior art.
However, known blind embossings are very simple embodiments having only one pre-determined embossing height or depth. That is, embossing is effected with a printing plate having only a one-step engraving with a certain constant depth. Embossed areas with different engraving depths, such as lines of different depth, are always spaced apart by unengraved areas. Such embossings are visually recognizable only at certain oblique viewing angles so that this security feature is frequently not perceived by the viewer and attempts at forgery are thus more easily missed. Such embossings are also normally rather unimpressive for the viewer.
The problem of the present invention is to increase the forgery-proofness of data carriers by applying to the data carrier a harder-to-imitate, more complicated security feature that is readily visible and of optically striking design.
This problem is solved by the independent claims. Developments are the subject matter of the subclaims.
The inventive data carrier is characterized by a security element that is at least visually testable and has in at least a partial area an embossing that is a halftone blind embossing executed by inkless intaglio printing.
The halftone blind embossing is a blind embossing with a plurality of different embossing heights or depths that preferably run smoothly into each another.
Prefera-bly, the halftone blind embossing represents a stereoscopic image of a three-dimen-sional original, e.g. of plastic art or a relief. Alternatively it is also possible to start out from a two-dimensional original and convert it into a three-dimensional original ac-cording to corresponding specifications, e.g. in dependence on the colors, halftones, line widths, etc., present in the two-dimensional original. In the next step, starting out from the three-dimensional original to be reproduced as an embossing, a halftone im-age specially adapted for the printing plate milling is produced in which the gray val-ues are assigned to certain engraving depths.
The areas that are to stand out most in the embossing are preferably assigned the darkest gray level and thus greatest engraving depth, and the areas to be more recessed assigned a lighter gray level and thus smaller engraving depth. Upon conversion of the halftone image into an engraving, a three-dimensional relief is produced in the en-graved plate. The engraving tool can be guided so as to yield a continuous engraving depth pattern. In particular, a sharp and trenchant representation can be obtained in the paper by emphasizing edges of the motif contours.
In a simple embodiment, the original consists of alphanumeric characters and/or simple graphic elements disposed as text or the like. The characters and/or elements have different relief heights, resulting in a "modulated" surface structure.
The effect is enhanced if the characters and/or elements also vary in size.
According to a preferred embodiment, an original, for example portrait, is used that can be converted into a plurality of different halftones or gray levels.
The individ-ual gray levels or groups of gray levels of this conversion are then assigned different engraving depths, for example, maximum engraving depth for black and minimum engraving depth for white. That is, e.g. the nose of a portrait, which usually has a bright highlight in the original, must be represented in black at its highest point in the halftone image, causing the engraving to be deeper at this place and the thus produced embossing to be elevated above the paper surface. All image parts in the portrait are accordingly to be converted into corresponding gray values. The halftone image con-verted into engraving depths is then used for controlling the engraving tool.
The areas milled at different depth are directly adjacent. That is, they are not separated by areas located at the printing plate level. The engraving depths can reach up to 300 microns and more, preferably reaching up to 250 microns. The engravings can fundamentally also be produced by laser engraving, as mentioned above.
The thus produced intaglio printing plate having a three-dimensionally engraved relief is finally used to emboss the data carrier, a three-dimensional relief again being produced in the data carrier. This is essentially a printing operation, but without trans-fer of ink. The data carrier is pressed, as usual in intaglio printing, into the depressions of the engraved plate and lastingly deformed, i.e. embossed, by the strong bearing pressure. The plate areas with the greatest engraving depth produce the strongest em-bossings, i.e. the areas where paper is most greatly deformed, and the plate areas with the smallest engraving depths produce the weakest embossing. The paper that comes in contact with the unengraved areas of the printing or embossing plate is uniformly compressed by the high bearing pressure and compacted at least on the surface, caus-ing these surface areas to have increased gloss after intaglio printing.
The gloss or visual impression of the embossed image parts can also be selec-tively influenced. As mentioned at the outset in connection with the engraving tech-nique explained in WO 97/48555, a roughness pattern at the base of the surface cleared by the engraving can be selectively produced by the form and guidance of the engraving tool. In blind embossing, this roughness of the embossing plate influences the visual impression of the embossed areas. Thus, engraving tools with a large tip radius and circular geometry and closely adjacent clearing paths (for example about 10 microns) achieve smooth engravings that produce smooth and tendentially rather reflective embossings. If the engraving tool selected has a small tip radius with pointed cutting-edge geometry and further-spaced clearing paths (for example in the range of about 50 microns), on the other hand, the engravings obtained are rough and structured and produce a matt and diffusely scattering embossing.
An alternative or additional way of varying the light scatter of an embossed sub-strate is to change the clearing direction in individual partial areas during engraving of the depressions in the printing or embossing plate. Engravings formed along clearing paths that are linear but for example rotated by 90 produce visually distinguishable embossings with different reflection of light. The same also applies to engravings with straight or meandering clearing paths in comparison with spiral-shaped or concentric clearing paths. These effects can not only be used for a more appealing or striking de-sign of the blind embossing, but simultaneously also increase its forgery-proofness.
This selectively used engraving technique can be used to superimpose structures on the embossed relief that are distinctly recognizable only at certain viewing or reflection angles. In bank notes or other documents of value, the halftone blind embossing ren-dering a portrait could be superimposed for example by a denomination through the engraved substructures.
The embossed image is three-dimensional and has a relatively complex structure.
The surface occupied by the halftone blind embossing is not subject to any limitations.
Preferably, the halftone blind embossing occupies a surface of 0.25 square centimeters to several square centimeters.
The halftone blind embossing can represent any geometrical element, e.g. with a circular, triangular, square or asymmetric outline structure, a pictorial symbol, charac-ter or other symbol. However, the representation of a portrait is especially preferred since human perception is trained to recognize extremely fine differences in portraits, making the recognition value of this security element especially great. A
plurality of halftone blind embossings can also be combined in any number and form.
The halftone blind embossing is a blind embossing with a plurality of different embossing heights or depths that preferably run smoothly into each another.
Prefera-bly, the halftone blind embossing represents a stereoscopic image of a three-dimen-sional original, e.g. of plastic art or a relief. Alternatively it is also possible to start out from a two-dimensional original and convert it into a three-dimensional original ac-cording to corresponding specifications, e.g. in dependence on the colors, halftones, line widths, etc., present in the two-dimensional original. In the next step, starting out from the three-dimensional original to be reproduced as an embossing, a halftone im-age specially adapted for the printing plate milling is produced in which the gray val-ues are assigned to certain engraving depths.
The areas that are to stand out most in the embossing are preferably assigned the darkest gray level and thus greatest engraving depth, and the areas to be more recessed assigned a lighter gray level and thus smaller engraving depth. Upon conversion of the halftone image into an engraving, a three-dimensional relief is produced in the en-graved plate. The engraving tool can be guided so as to yield a continuous engraving depth pattern. In particular, a sharp and trenchant representation can be obtained in the paper by emphasizing edges of the motif contours.
In a simple embodiment, the original consists of alphanumeric characters and/or simple graphic elements disposed as text or the like. The characters and/or elements have different relief heights, resulting in a "modulated" surface structure.
The effect is enhanced if the characters and/or elements also vary in size.
According to a preferred embodiment, an original, for example portrait, is used that can be converted into a plurality of different halftones or gray levels.
The individ-ual gray levels or groups of gray levels of this conversion are then assigned different engraving depths, for example, maximum engraving depth for black and minimum engraving depth for white. That is, e.g. the nose of a portrait, which usually has a bright highlight in the original, must be represented in black at its highest point in the halftone image, causing the engraving to be deeper at this place and the thus produced embossing to be elevated above the paper surface. All image parts in the portrait are accordingly to be converted into corresponding gray values. The halftone image con-verted into engraving depths is then used for controlling the engraving tool.
The areas milled at different depth are directly adjacent. That is, they are not separated by areas located at the printing plate level. The engraving depths can reach up to 300 microns and more, preferably reaching up to 250 microns. The engravings can fundamentally also be produced by laser engraving, as mentioned above.
The thus produced intaglio printing plate having a three-dimensionally engraved relief is finally used to emboss the data carrier, a three-dimensional relief again being produced in the data carrier. This is essentially a printing operation, but without trans-fer of ink. The data carrier is pressed, as usual in intaglio printing, into the depressions of the engraved plate and lastingly deformed, i.e. embossed, by the strong bearing pressure. The plate areas with the greatest engraving depth produce the strongest em-bossings, i.e. the areas where paper is most greatly deformed, and the plate areas with the smallest engraving depths produce the weakest embossing. The paper that comes in contact with the unengraved areas of the printing or embossing plate is uniformly compressed by the high bearing pressure and compacted at least on the surface, caus-ing these surface areas to have increased gloss after intaglio printing.
The gloss or visual impression of the embossed image parts can also be selec-tively influenced. As mentioned at the outset in connection with the engraving tech-nique explained in WO 97/48555, a roughness pattern at the base of the surface cleared by the engraving can be selectively produced by the form and guidance of the engraving tool. In blind embossing, this roughness of the embossing plate influences the visual impression of the embossed areas. Thus, engraving tools with a large tip radius and circular geometry and closely adjacent clearing paths (for example about 10 microns) achieve smooth engravings that produce smooth and tendentially rather reflective embossings. If the engraving tool selected has a small tip radius with pointed cutting-edge geometry and further-spaced clearing paths (for example in the range of about 50 microns), on the other hand, the engravings obtained are rough and structured and produce a matt and diffusely scattering embossing.
An alternative or additional way of varying the light scatter of an embossed sub-strate is to change the clearing direction in individual partial areas during engraving of the depressions in the printing or embossing plate. Engravings formed along clearing paths that are linear but for example rotated by 90 produce visually distinguishable embossings with different reflection of light. The same also applies to engravings with straight or meandering clearing paths in comparison with spiral-shaped or concentric clearing paths. These effects can not only be used for a more appealing or striking de-sign of the blind embossing, but simultaneously also increase its forgery-proofness.
This selectively used engraving technique can be used to superimpose structures on the embossed relief that are distinctly recognizable only at certain viewing or reflection angles. In bank notes or other documents of value, the halftone blind embossing ren-dering a portrait could be superimposed for example by a denomination through the engraved substructures.
The embossed image is three-dimensional and has a relatively complex structure.
The surface occupied by the halftone blind embossing is not subject to any limitations.
Preferably, the halftone blind embossing occupies a surface of 0.25 square centimeters to several square centimeters.
The halftone blind embossing can represent any geometrical element, e.g. with a circular, triangular, square or asymmetric outline structure, a pictorial symbol, charac-ter or other symbol. However, the representation of a portrait is especially preferred since human perception is trained to recognize extremely fine differences in portraits, making the recognition value of this security element especially great. A
plurality of halftone blind embossings can also be combined in any number and form.
In order to further increase the forgery-proofness of the security element, the halftone blind embossing can be combined with a background print not executed by intaglio printing. This background print is applied in a separate printing operation before production of the halftone blind embossing. The background print is preferably effected in solid fashion. It can be produced for example by screen printing, offset, indirect letterpress, letterpress or digital printing.
Any inks can be used for the background print, but it is preferable to use special-effect inks that have an additional antiforgery effect and are difficult to imitate due to their physical properties. Particularly suitable inks are metallic inks, metal-pigmented inks or interference-layer-pigmented inks, for example IRIODINE from Merck.
Alternatively, the background print can also consist of a metal layer, which is applied to the data carrier for example by the hot stamping method.
The halftone blind embossing is preferably located completely in the area of the background print. In a special embodiment, the background print consists of an oval or circular metallic print. This background print is then provided with a halftone blind embossing by intaglio printing. Ideally, the halftone blind embossing is disposed centrally relative to the background print to produce the impression of a coin representation.
Since the background print and the halftone blind embossing are applied to the substrate in different printing operations, however, register inaccuracies can occur. These register inaccuracies can be camouflaged by a combination with accordingly designed colored areas disposed in register with the halftone blind embossing, so that the viewer has the impression of an exactly registered halftone blind embossing centered in the background print. Halftone blind embossing and colored area or areas are preferably spaced apart, unless elements of the blind embossing are selectively guided into the colored areas to produce an optical bridge.
Preferably, the halftone blind embossing and colored areas are spaced apart by at least 1 mm and more preferably by at least 3 mm.
- ~ -The colored areas are disposed in overlap with the background print and de-signed with respect to their form and color in such a way that the edge of the back-ground print is "optically resolved," i.e. smooth edge contours are avoided and any tolerances effectively concealed or disguised. It is particularly suitable to use for the colored areas line patterns, such as guilloche patterns, but also solid prints, in particu-lar solid prints having a suitable ink layer thickness to cover the background print, or having the same color tone as the background print.
According to a preferred embodiment, the colored area forms a border around the halftone blind embossing. The border can have any contours. However, it is preferably oval or circular and disposed at a fixed distance around the blind embossing so that the blind embossing is disposed centrally relative to the colored area. The border can be continuous or interrupted. It can likewise be executed areally or in the form of pat-terns. The border is preferably executed in the form of guilloches or rings with opti-cally resolved inside edges, for example serrations pointing to the center.
The border can likewise be composed of characters or have geometrical patterns, such as guil-loches, that are combined with characters for example. The edge of the background print can also be thus designed. If the resolution of the edges is effected by a periodic structure, such as serrations, guilloches, arcs, etc., that is realized both in the colored area and in the edge of the background print, the production of a phase or frequency difference between the periodic structure of the background print and of the colored area can achieve an optimization of the "optical resolution" or disguise.
Register accuracy between halftone blind embossing and colored print can be ob-tained especially simply if both are produced by intaglio printing. In this case, a inta-glio printing plate is provided both with the engraving for the halftone blind emboss-ing and with the engraving for the colored areas in one operation. The high ink layer thicknesses of intaglio printing are especially advantageous here, as they can effec-tively cover any background print that is present.
This intaglio printing plate is preferably produced by engraving with a fast rotat-ing, tapered graver, as all other inventive intaglio printing plates are. In accordance with the contour form of the surface to be printed or blind-embossed, the engraving tool forms depressions with selective variation of the engraving depth in the surface of the printing plate. If the engravings for the halftone blind embossing and colored areas are adjacent at certain places, it is expedient to provide separation edges in these bor-derline areas, as known from DE 198 45 436 Al, to prevent ink from entering the area of the halftone blind embossing or flowing further into the blind embossing.
Before the printing operation, only the parts of the engraving producing the col-ored areas are filled with ink. During printing, the substrate is pressed both into the ink-carrying and into the inkless engraved areas of the printing plate. Ink is thereby transferred from the ink-carrying parts of the engraving to the substrate.
Simultane-ously the substrate is embossed, as is usual in intaglio printing. In the inkless areas of the intaglio printing plate, however, the substrate is solely embossed. No ink is trans-ferred from the untreated, i.e. unengraved, surface areas of the printing plate.
When a data carrier is printed or embossed with the method just described, an ac-cordingly designed embossing of the data carrier results in dependence on the form of the above-described engraving of the printing plate, whereby some of these embossed areas are provided with ink. The dimensions of the ink layer areas, such as width and ink layer thickness, result from the engraving depths and widths of the inventive print-ing plate and in dependence on the ink used in printing.
Depending on the selected ink layer thickness, the usual intaglio inks can be printed to be opaque or, to a certain degree, transparent and translucent.
Suitable layer thicknesses and an expedient choice of background color result in color tones of dif-ferent brightness and color saturation. If the ink layer thicknesses are sufficiently dif-ferent, readily visible contrasts result for the human eye without further aids. This pre-supposes normal lighting conditions and a normal viewing distance.
In order to increase the stability of the data carrier it can be expedient to fill the em-bossing occurring on the front of the security element with a coating, such as a lacquer.
This lacquer can contain feature substances, such as luminescence substances, etc., or other special-effect pigments, such as liquid-crystal pigments. Moreover, the lacquer can be executed to be matt or glossy. In addition, the protective lacquer layer also serves to enhance the glossy effect and the protection of the embossing.
Preferably the data carrier comprises a background print which is printed with a special effect ink, such as a metal, a metallic ink or an ink which contains interference-layer pigments. The special effect ink may be bronze, gold or silver-colored.
The data carrier provided with this complex security element is characterized by elevated forgery-proofness due to the high-contrast light-and-shadow effects produced by the multistep halftone blind embossing. The combination with colored, possibly also tactile, intaglio prints disposed in register with the halftone blind embossing and in overlap with the background print additionally increases the protection against forgeries and imitations.
A further way of increasing forgery-proofness is to provide the motif of the halftone blind embossing on the data carrier several times but by a different technique in each case.
For example, the same motif can be used for a watermark and/or a classic colored intaglio print. It is also possible to repeat the same motif in the background print, in an embossed hologram, by means of fluorescent or optically variable inks (for example with interference-layer or liquid-crystal pigments) or by a so-called latent image and in any combination of the abovementioned alternatives.
The inventive security element can be applied either to the individual data carrier or to substrates having a plurality of data carrier copies.
Suitable substrates or data carrier materials are all substrate materials that can be used for intaglio printing, such as paper, plastic foils, paper laminated with plastic foils or coated paper, and multilayer composite materials. The inventive method is in particular suitable for printing data carriers that must meet standards with respect to forgery-proofness, such as security documents and documents of value, for example bank notes, shares, bonds, certificates, vouchers and the like.
Further embodiments and advantages of the invention will be explained in the following with reference to the figures, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a bank note in a front view, Fig. 2 shows a section along A-A in Fig. 1, Figs. 3 to 6 show different embodiments of the inventive security element, Fig. 7 shows a halftone image for an inventive halftone blind embossing, Fig. 8 shows an engraving depth pattern of an inventive intaglio printing plate along A-A in Fig. 7, Fig. 9 shows a data carrier with a further embodiment of the invention, Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail from Fig. 9, Fig. 11 shows a section along A-A in Fig. 9, Fig. 12 shows an inventive data carrier in a front view, Fig. 13 shows an arrangement of background print and colored area.
Fig. 1 schematically shows bank note 1 as a data carrier, having inventive secu-rity element 2. Inventive security element 2 consists of background print 4, halftone blind embossing 3 and colored areas 5 that are disposed in register with halftone blind embossing 3. In order to increase the forgery-proofness of bank note 1, the motif of halftone blind embossing 3 is repeated on the bank note several times in different tech-niques. In the shown example, the motif is provided in bank note 1 for example as steel-engraved portrait 13 and again as watermark 14.
In the shown example, inventive security element 2 has the form of a coin in which halftone blind embossing 3 is present in preferably metallic background print 4.
Background print 4 is overlapped by colored print 5, which can be multicolored and/
or have patterns, characters or the like. In the shown example, colored areas 5 are shown as solid borders around halftone blind embossing 3 that are combined in certain areas with the characters "X Y Z" and "medal." Colored areas 5 can be designed de-pending on the engraving depth of the printing plate so as to yield a tactile edge in the printed image.
The colored areas can also have any other form, however. They can thus consist of guilloche patterns for example. Colored areas 5 can additionally be color coordi-nated with background print 4 so that the edge of background print 4 is "resolved" for the viewer, i.e. hidden.
For producing inventive security element 2, the data carrier is provided in a first step with background print 4. The solid background print is preferably produced by screen printing using a gold- or silver-colored metallic pigment ink. Then halftone blind embossing 3 and colored areas 5 are produced in the area of background print 4 by intaglio printing in one working step. That is, the associated intaglio printing plate has both an engraving according to colored areas 5 and an engraving according to half-tone blind embossing 3. For the printing operation, however, only the engraved areas that produce colored areas 5 are filled with ink. This causes data carrier 1 to be em-bossed and provided with ink in the area of colored areas 5 during the printing opera-tion, as usual in intaglio printing. In the area of the halftone blind embossing, however, the data carrier is only embossed. Due to the high bearing pressure with which data carrier 1 is pressed into the engraved areas of the steel intaglio printing plate, data car-rier 1 shows a recognizable embossing on the back as well.
This state of affairs is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows a section along A-A
through inventive security element 2. It can be seen that data carrier 1 or background print 4 is only embossed in the area of halftone blind embossing 3 during the intaglio printing operation. Since background print 4 is applied to data carrier 1 in a separate operation, register inaccuracies can arise between background print 4 and the halftone blind em-bossing or colored areas 5. For this reason, colored areas 5 are preferably disposed in overlap with background print 4 in order to disguise such register inaccuracies, as shown in Fig. 2. As likewise apparent from Fig. 2, background print 4 is covered much less by colored areas 5 in the left area than on the right side. Since colored areas 5 are disposed in register with halftone blind embossing 3, however, the halftone blind em-bossing appears to the viewer to be centered in the area of background print 4.
For the viewer, the optical effect of the three-dimensional relief of the halftone blind embossing is strengthened by the different light-and-shadow effects, in particular if background prints with metallic luster are used.
The technique of exact registration of areas printed and embossed by intaglio printing can be used to assemble motifs of printed and embossed portions. For exam-ple, the trunk and branches of a tree could be blind-embossed and the leaves or treetop printed with ink. In the case of text or other regularly disposed structures, an exactly registered, linear arrangement of alternately printed and embossed symbols or picture elements is also possible.
Figs. 3 to 6 show different embodiments of security element 2 in a front view.
In Fig. 3, background print 4 has a raylike resolved edge. Colored areas 5 form a solid circular border here, which is printed preferably concentrically with background print 4 and whose inside edge is resolved in the form of rays pointing to the center of the circle. Different frequencies of the intermeshing rays of background print and colored area printed by intaglio obtain an optical disguise of register tolerances between these two prints.
Fig. 4 differs from the example shown in Fig. 3 only in so far as border 5 does not cover the total circumference of the raylike edge of background print 4 here, but is only present in partial areas.
Fig. 5 shows the principle of a further embodiment of security element 2 wherein at least parts of the halftone blind embossing are drawn up to colored areas 5 in regis-ter and continued in the form of gaps in colored areas 5. The schematically indicated halftone blind embossing is assembled of differently hatched or shaded areas 6, 7, 8 in this example. Elements 7 of the halftone blind embossing form a hairline cross and reach as far as colored border 5. The embossed hairline cross formed by embossed ele-ments 7 is continued in colored border 5 in the form of gaps 9. This exact register between embossed elements 7 and gaps 9 is only possible by simultaneous production of the embossing and colored border 5 with a intaglio printing plate in one operation.
Any attempted forgeries in which the embossing of areas 6, 7, 8 and colored areas 5 are produced independently of each other cannot obtain such a register. Such register shifts are easy to recognize visually, so that forgeries can readily be distinguished from authentic documents.
Fig. 6 shows a further embodiment of the principle shown in Fig. 5. In this ex-ample, halftone blind embossing 3 shows a bird with a branch. One end of the branch is formed by embossed element 7 that reaches as far as colored border 5 and is contin-ued there as negative image or gap 9 in printed area 5. The same applies to the bird's tail feathers. They too are drawn as embossed elements 7 up to colored areas 5 and continued there in the form of gaps 9.
Fig. 7 shows a halftone image whose data can be used for producing an inventive intaglio printing plate. The halftone image was produced starting out from a three-dimensional original, whereby darker gray levels are to be assigned to areas that are to be stand out more in the later embossing. The different gray levels of this halftone im-age are assigned to different engraving depths, and these data passed on to a milling machine, e.g. a CNC (computer numerical control) milling machine, which engraves the intaglio printing plate in accordance with this information.
Fig. 8 shows the engraving depth pattern along line A-A in Fig. 7. The greatest engraving depths are located in the area of the tip of the nose and in the area of the neck frill, which are shown as deep-black areas in Fig. 7. All halftones located be-tween these areas have a smaller engraving depth.
Fig. 9 schematically shows bank note 1 as a data carrier, with a further embodi-ment of inventive security element 2.
Inventive security element 2 consists of background print 4 in the form of an oval badge represented by black dots, and halftone blind embossing 3 representing the number "6" applied preferably in the center of background print 4. Background print 4 is preferably given a metallic, especially preferably a gold- or silver-metallic, appear-ance to create the impression of a coin for the viewer.
Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail of security element 2 shown in Fig. 9, showing cutting line A-A and the lower third of the number "6" located below this line.
In this example, halftone blind embossing 3 is assembled of three different em-bossing levels 10, 11 and 12 that are realized by stair-like steps in the embossed im-age. More than three different embossing levels can of course also be incorporated.
White areas 10 shown in Fig. 10 represent areas that are not, or extremely slightly, embossed, while light-gray areas 11 represent areas that are more greatly embossed than areas 10, and dark-gray areas 12 have the greatest embossing. Smoothing the data carrier material, such as paper, or the background print results in special gloss in unen-graved or extremely slightly engraved areas 10. Areas 11 and 12, on the other hand, have a matt effect.
Fig. 11 schematically shows data carrier 1 with background print 4 in cross sec-tion along line A-A, as shown in Fig. 10. Different embossing levels 10, 11 and 12 can be distinctly recognized. Areas 10 are greatly smoothed or unembossed areas that are produced with the unengraved areas of the printing plate in the embossing operation.
Areas 11 and 12 show a medium or strong embossing of the data carrier and are ac-cordingly produced with the printing plate areas of medium or great engraving depth.
The varied gradation of a plurality of embossing levels in one embossed image and the diverse possibilities of combining these levels lead to a complex security ele-ment with high recognition value.
Fig. 12 again shows inventive data carrier 1, for example a bank note with secu-rity element 2. Dotted background print 4 was produced as a shiny gold-colored sur-face by indirect letterpress. Then halftone blind embossing 2 was produced simultane-ously with colored area 5 during a intaglio printing pass, thereby guaranteeing an abso-lutely exactly registered arrangement of the blind embossing with the color print fram-ing it. Colored area 5 has fine guilloche structures which are difficult to reproduce. To permit the colored area to be better integrated graphically into its surroundings and to make the transition between the background print and the color print softer, the color print preferably has a "broken-up" outer and inner area that includes fine, intertwined lines in positive representation that cause only low coverage. The central area has high coverage, on the other hand, and is traversed by fine lines in negative representation for example.
The advantage of this embodiment and arrangement is illustrated by Fig. 13, which shows the positioning of colored area 5 relative to background print 4 in the manner of an exploded drawing. The halftone blind embossing is not rendered in this representation. Colored area 5 is disposed over background print 4 such that the central area of color print 5 with the high coverage lies over the edge of background print 4.
Since background print 4 and color print 5 are printed by different printing methods and in mutually independent printing passes, register tolerances necessarily result, which can amount to several millimeters and would considerably disturb the appear-ance of the document provided with the security element. These inaccuracies in the positioning of the two prints are compensated and effectively hidden by the embodi-ment and arrangement shown in Fig. 13.
Any inks can be used for the background print, but it is preferable to use special-effect inks that have an additional antiforgery effect and are difficult to imitate due to their physical properties. Particularly suitable inks are metallic inks, metal-pigmented inks or interference-layer-pigmented inks, for example IRIODINE from Merck.
Alternatively, the background print can also consist of a metal layer, which is applied to the data carrier for example by the hot stamping method.
The halftone blind embossing is preferably located completely in the area of the background print. In a special embodiment, the background print consists of an oval or circular metallic print. This background print is then provided with a halftone blind embossing by intaglio printing. Ideally, the halftone blind embossing is disposed centrally relative to the background print to produce the impression of a coin representation.
Since the background print and the halftone blind embossing are applied to the substrate in different printing operations, however, register inaccuracies can occur. These register inaccuracies can be camouflaged by a combination with accordingly designed colored areas disposed in register with the halftone blind embossing, so that the viewer has the impression of an exactly registered halftone blind embossing centered in the background print. Halftone blind embossing and colored area or areas are preferably spaced apart, unless elements of the blind embossing are selectively guided into the colored areas to produce an optical bridge.
Preferably, the halftone blind embossing and colored areas are spaced apart by at least 1 mm and more preferably by at least 3 mm.
- ~ -The colored areas are disposed in overlap with the background print and de-signed with respect to their form and color in such a way that the edge of the back-ground print is "optically resolved," i.e. smooth edge contours are avoided and any tolerances effectively concealed or disguised. It is particularly suitable to use for the colored areas line patterns, such as guilloche patterns, but also solid prints, in particu-lar solid prints having a suitable ink layer thickness to cover the background print, or having the same color tone as the background print.
According to a preferred embodiment, the colored area forms a border around the halftone blind embossing. The border can have any contours. However, it is preferably oval or circular and disposed at a fixed distance around the blind embossing so that the blind embossing is disposed centrally relative to the colored area. The border can be continuous or interrupted. It can likewise be executed areally or in the form of pat-terns. The border is preferably executed in the form of guilloches or rings with opti-cally resolved inside edges, for example serrations pointing to the center.
The border can likewise be composed of characters or have geometrical patterns, such as guil-loches, that are combined with characters for example. The edge of the background print can also be thus designed. If the resolution of the edges is effected by a periodic structure, such as serrations, guilloches, arcs, etc., that is realized both in the colored area and in the edge of the background print, the production of a phase or frequency difference between the periodic structure of the background print and of the colored area can achieve an optimization of the "optical resolution" or disguise.
Register accuracy between halftone blind embossing and colored print can be ob-tained especially simply if both are produced by intaglio printing. In this case, a inta-glio printing plate is provided both with the engraving for the halftone blind emboss-ing and with the engraving for the colored areas in one operation. The high ink layer thicknesses of intaglio printing are especially advantageous here, as they can effec-tively cover any background print that is present.
This intaglio printing plate is preferably produced by engraving with a fast rotat-ing, tapered graver, as all other inventive intaglio printing plates are. In accordance with the contour form of the surface to be printed or blind-embossed, the engraving tool forms depressions with selective variation of the engraving depth in the surface of the printing plate. If the engravings for the halftone blind embossing and colored areas are adjacent at certain places, it is expedient to provide separation edges in these bor-derline areas, as known from DE 198 45 436 Al, to prevent ink from entering the area of the halftone blind embossing or flowing further into the blind embossing.
Before the printing operation, only the parts of the engraving producing the col-ored areas are filled with ink. During printing, the substrate is pressed both into the ink-carrying and into the inkless engraved areas of the printing plate. Ink is thereby transferred from the ink-carrying parts of the engraving to the substrate.
Simultane-ously the substrate is embossed, as is usual in intaglio printing. In the inkless areas of the intaglio printing plate, however, the substrate is solely embossed. No ink is trans-ferred from the untreated, i.e. unengraved, surface areas of the printing plate.
When a data carrier is printed or embossed with the method just described, an ac-cordingly designed embossing of the data carrier results in dependence on the form of the above-described engraving of the printing plate, whereby some of these embossed areas are provided with ink. The dimensions of the ink layer areas, such as width and ink layer thickness, result from the engraving depths and widths of the inventive print-ing plate and in dependence on the ink used in printing.
Depending on the selected ink layer thickness, the usual intaglio inks can be printed to be opaque or, to a certain degree, transparent and translucent.
Suitable layer thicknesses and an expedient choice of background color result in color tones of dif-ferent brightness and color saturation. If the ink layer thicknesses are sufficiently dif-ferent, readily visible contrasts result for the human eye without further aids. This pre-supposes normal lighting conditions and a normal viewing distance.
In order to increase the stability of the data carrier it can be expedient to fill the em-bossing occurring on the front of the security element with a coating, such as a lacquer.
This lacquer can contain feature substances, such as luminescence substances, etc., or other special-effect pigments, such as liquid-crystal pigments. Moreover, the lacquer can be executed to be matt or glossy. In addition, the protective lacquer layer also serves to enhance the glossy effect and the protection of the embossing.
Preferably the data carrier comprises a background print which is printed with a special effect ink, such as a metal, a metallic ink or an ink which contains interference-layer pigments. The special effect ink may be bronze, gold or silver-colored.
The data carrier provided with this complex security element is characterized by elevated forgery-proofness due to the high-contrast light-and-shadow effects produced by the multistep halftone blind embossing. The combination with colored, possibly also tactile, intaglio prints disposed in register with the halftone blind embossing and in overlap with the background print additionally increases the protection against forgeries and imitations.
A further way of increasing forgery-proofness is to provide the motif of the halftone blind embossing on the data carrier several times but by a different technique in each case.
For example, the same motif can be used for a watermark and/or a classic colored intaglio print. It is also possible to repeat the same motif in the background print, in an embossed hologram, by means of fluorescent or optically variable inks (for example with interference-layer or liquid-crystal pigments) or by a so-called latent image and in any combination of the abovementioned alternatives.
The inventive security element can be applied either to the individual data carrier or to substrates having a plurality of data carrier copies.
Suitable substrates or data carrier materials are all substrate materials that can be used for intaglio printing, such as paper, plastic foils, paper laminated with plastic foils or coated paper, and multilayer composite materials. The inventive method is in particular suitable for printing data carriers that must meet standards with respect to forgery-proofness, such as security documents and documents of value, for example bank notes, shares, bonds, certificates, vouchers and the like.
Further embodiments and advantages of the invention will be explained in the following with reference to the figures, in which:
Fig. 1 shows a bank note in a front view, Fig. 2 shows a section along A-A in Fig. 1, Figs. 3 to 6 show different embodiments of the inventive security element, Fig. 7 shows a halftone image for an inventive halftone blind embossing, Fig. 8 shows an engraving depth pattern of an inventive intaglio printing plate along A-A in Fig. 7, Fig. 9 shows a data carrier with a further embodiment of the invention, Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail from Fig. 9, Fig. 11 shows a section along A-A in Fig. 9, Fig. 12 shows an inventive data carrier in a front view, Fig. 13 shows an arrangement of background print and colored area.
Fig. 1 schematically shows bank note 1 as a data carrier, having inventive secu-rity element 2. Inventive security element 2 consists of background print 4, halftone blind embossing 3 and colored areas 5 that are disposed in register with halftone blind embossing 3. In order to increase the forgery-proofness of bank note 1, the motif of halftone blind embossing 3 is repeated on the bank note several times in different tech-niques. In the shown example, the motif is provided in bank note 1 for example as steel-engraved portrait 13 and again as watermark 14.
In the shown example, inventive security element 2 has the form of a coin in which halftone blind embossing 3 is present in preferably metallic background print 4.
Background print 4 is overlapped by colored print 5, which can be multicolored and/
or have patterns, characters or the like. In the shown example, colored areas 5 are shown as solid borders around halftone blind embossing 3 that are combined in certain areas with the characters "X Y Z" and "medal." Colored areas 5 can be designed de-pending on the engraving depth of the printing plate so as to yield a tactile edge in the printed image.
The colored areas can also have any other form, however. They can thus consist of guilloche patterns for example. Colored areas 5 can additionally be color coordi-nated with background print 4 so that the edge of background print 4 is "resolved" for the viewer, i.e. hidden.
For producing inventive security element 2, the data carrier is provided in a first step with background print 4. The solid background print is preferably produced by screen printing using a gold- or silver-colored metallic pigment ink. Then halftone blind embossing 3 and colored areas 5 are produced in the area of background print 4 by intaglio printing in one working step. That is, the associated intaglio printing plate has both an engraving according to colored areas 5 and an engraving according to half-tone blind embossing 3. For the printing operation, however, only the engraved areas that produce colored areas 5 are filled with ink. This causes data carrier 1 to be em-bossed and provided with ink in the area of colored areas 5 during the printing opera-tion, as usual in intaglio printing. In the area of the halftone blind embossing, however, the data carrier is only embossed. Due to the high bearing pressure with which data carrier 1 is pressed into the engraved areas of the steel intaglio printing plate, data car-rier 1 shows a recognizable embossing on the back as well.
This state of affairs is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows a section along A-A
through inventive security element 2. It can be seen that data carrier 1 or background print 4 is only embossed in the area of halftone blind embossing 3 during the intaglio printing operation. Since background print 4 is applied to data carrier 1 in a separate operation, register inaccuracies can arise between background print 4 and the halftone blind em-bossing or colored areas 5. For this reason, colored areas 5 are preferably disposed in overlap with background print 4 in order to disguise such register inaccuracies, as shown in Fig. 2. As likewise apparent from Fig. 2, background print 4 is covered much less by colored areas 5 in the left area than on the right side. Since colored areas 5 are disposed in register with halftone blind embossing 3, however, the halftone blind em-bossing appears to the viewer to be centered in the area of background print 4.
For the viewer, the optical effect of the three-dimensional relief of the halftone blind embossing is strengthened by the different light-and-shadow effects, in particular if background prints with metallic luster are used.
The technique of exact registration of areas printed and embossed by intaglio printing can be used to assemble motifs of printed and embossed portions. For exam-ple, the trunk and branches of a tree could be blind-embossed and the leaves or treetop printed with ink. In the case of text or other regularly disposed structures, an exactly registered, linear arrangement of alternately printed and embossed symbols or picture elements is also possible.
Figs. 3 to 6 show different embodiments of security element 2 in a front view.
In Fig. 3, background print 4 has a raylike resolved edge. Colored areas 5 form a solid circular border here, which is printed preferably concentrically with background print 4 and whose inside edge is resolved in the form of rays pointing to the center of the circle. Different frequencies of the intermeshing rays of background print and colored area printed by intaglio obtain an optical disguise of register tolerances between these two prints.
Fig. 4 differs from the example shown in Fig. 3 only in so far as border 5 does not cover the total circumference of the raylike edge of background print 4 here, but is only present in partial areas.
Fig. 5 shows the principle of a further embodiment of security element 2 wherein at least parts of the halftone blind embossing are drawn up to colored areas 5 in regis-ter and continued in the form of gaps in colored areas 5. The schematically indicated halftone blind embossing is assembled of differently hatched or shaded areas 6, 7, 8 in this example. Elements 7 of the halftone blind embossing form a hairline cross and reach as far as colored border 5. The embossed hairline cross formed by embossed ele-ments 7 is continued in colored border 5 in the form of gaps 9. This exact register between embossed elements 7 and gaps 9 is only possible by simultaneous production of the embossing and colored border 5 with a intaglio printing plate in one operation.
Any attempted forgeries in which the embossing of areas 6, 7, 8 and colored areas 5 are produced independently of each other cannot obtain such a register. Such register shifts are easy to recognize visually, so that forgeries can readily be distinguished from authentic documents.
Fig. 6 shows a further embodiment of the principle shown in Fig. 5. In this ex-ample, halftone blind embossing 3 shows a bird with a branch. One end of the branch is formed by embossed element 7 that reaches as far as colored border 5 and is contin-ued there as negative image or gap 9 in printed area 5. The same applies to the bird's tail feathers. They too are drawn as embossed elements 7 up to colored areas 5 and continued there in the form of gaps 9.
Fig. 7 shows a halftone image whose data can be used for producing an inventive intaglio printing plate. The halftone image was produced starting out from a three-dimensional original, whereby darker gray levels are to be assigned to areas that are to be stand out more in the later embossing. The different gray levels of this halftone im-age are assigned to different engraving depths, and these data passed on to a milling machine, e.g. a CNC (computer numerical control) milling machine, which engraves the intaglio printing plate in accordance with this information.
Fig. 8 shows the engraving depth pattern along line A-A in Fig. 7. The greatest engraving depths are located in the area of the tip of the nose and in the area of the neck frill, which are shown as deep-black areas in Fig. 7. All halftones located be-tween these areas have a smaller engraving depth.
Fig. 9 schematically shows bank note 1 as a data carrier, with a further embodi-ment of inventive security element 2.
Inventive security element 2 consists of background print 4 in the form of an oval badge represented by black dots, and halftone blind embossing 3 representing the number "6" applied preferably in the center of background print 4. Background print 4 is preferably given a metallic, especially preferably a gold- or silver-metallic, appear-ance to create the impression of a coin for the viewer.
Fig. 10 shows an enlarged detail of security element 2 shown in Fig. 9, showing cutting line A-A and the lower third of the number "6" located below this line.
In this example, halftone blind embossing 3 is assembled of three different em-bossing levels 10, 11 and 12 that are realized by stair-like steps in the embossed im-age. More than three different embossing levels can of course also be incorporated.
White areas 10 shown in Fig. 10 represent areas that are not, or extremely slightly, embossed, while light-gray areas 11 represent areas that are more greatly embossed than areas 10, and dark-gray areas 12 have the greatest embossing. Smoothing the data carrier material, such as paper, or the background print results in special gloss in unen-graved or extremely slightly engraved areas 10. Areas 11 and 12, on the other hand, have a matt effect.
Fig. 11 schematically shows data carrier 1 with background print 4 in cross sec-tion along line A-A, as shown in Fig. 10. Different embossing levels 10, 11 and 12 can be distinctly recognized. Areas 10 are greatly smoothed or unembossed areas that are produced with the unengraved areas of the printing plate in the embossing operation.
Areas 11 and 12 show a medium or strong embossing of the data carrier and are ac-cordingly produced with the printing plate areas of medium or great engraving depth.
The varied gradation of a plurality of embossing levels in one embossed image and the diverse possibilities of combining these levels lead to a complex security ele-ment with high recognition value.
Fig. 12 again shows inventive data carrier 1, for example a bank note with secu-rity element 2. Dotted background print 4 was produced as a shiny gold-colored sur-face by indirect letterpress. Then halftone blind embossing 2 was produced simultane-ously with colored area 5 during a intaglio printing pass, thereby guaranteeing an abso-lutely exactly registered arrangement of the blind embossing with the color print fram-ing it. Colored area 5 has fine guilloche structures which are difficult to reproduce. To permit the colored area to be better integrated graphically into its surroundings and to make the transition between the background print and the color print softer, the color print preferably has a "broken-up" outer and inner area that includes fine, intertwined lines in positive representation that cause only low coverage. The central area has high coverage, on the other hand, and is traversed by fine lines in negative representation for example.
The advantage of this embodiment and arrangement is illustrated by Fig. 13, which shows the positioning of colored area 5 relative to background print 4 in the manner of an exploded drawing. The halftone blind embossing is not rendered in this representation. Colored area 5 is disposed over background print 4 such that the central area of color print 5 with the high coverage lies over the edge of background print 4.
Since background print 4 and color print 5 are printed by different printing methods and in mutually independent printing passes, register tolerances necessarily result, which can amount to several millimeters and would considerably disturb the appear-ance of the document provided with the security element. These inaccuracies in the positioning of the two prints are compensated and effectively hidden by the embodi-ment and arrangement shown in Fig. 13.
Claims (23)
1. A data carrier having a security element that is at least visually testable and has an embossing in at least a partial area, wherein the embossing is a halftone blind embossing executed by inkless intaglio printing, and wherein at least one colored area executed by intaglio printing is present in exact register in addition to the halftone blind embossing, and the colored area is executed as a border around the halftone blind embossing.
2. A data carrier according to claim 1, wherein the halftone blind embossing repre-sents alphanumeric characters, graphic elements or halftone images.
3. A data carrier according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the halftone blind embossing and the colored area are spaced apart.
4. A data carrier according to claim 3, wherein the distance between the halftone blind embossing and the at least one colored area is at least 1 millimeter.
5. A data carrier as defined in claim 4, wherein said distance is at least 3 mm.
6. A data carrier according to either of claims 1 and 2, wherein the halftone blind embossing and the at least one colored area are directly adjacent.
7. A data carrier according to claim 6, wherein the halftone blind embossing adjoin-ing the at least one colored area is continued at least partly as a gap into the colored areas.
8. A data carrier according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the halftone blind embossing is disposed centrally relative to the at least one colored area.
9. A data carrier according to any one of claims 3 to 8, wherein the at least one colored area constitutes guilloches.
10. A data carrier according to one any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the halftone blind embossing is applied completely to a background print executed by printing that is other than intaglio printing.
11. A data carrier according to claim 10, wherein the background print overlaps at least in a partial area with the at least one colored area.
12. A data carrier according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the background print is printed by screen printing, offset or indirect letterpress.
13. A data carrier according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the background print is printed with a special effect ink.
14. A data carrier according to claim 13, wherein the special effect ink consists of metal, a metallic ink or an ink containing interference-layer pigments.
15. A data carrier according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the special effect ink is bronze-, gold- or silver-colored.
16. A data carrier according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the background print and the at least one colored area are color coordinated with each other, preferably having the same color tone.
17. A data carrier according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein the at least one colored area has an inner area with high coverage and an inner or outer area with lower coverage, or both inner and outer areas with lower coverage, and the area with high coverage is disposed over the edge of the background print.
18. A data carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein said halftone blind embossing comprises a motif which is provided on the data carrier several times and by different techniques.
19. A data carrier according to one any of claims 1 to 18, wherein a watermark and a further printed additional element are present in addition to the halftone blind embossing, the watermark, the additional element and the halftone blind embossing having the same motif.
20. A data carrier according to claim 19, wherein the additional element is printed by intaglio printing.
21. A data carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the halftone blind embossing has partial areas with different roughness that cause a visually distinguishable reflection of light.
22. A data carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the halftone blind embossing has substructures superimposed thereon at least in partial areas that influence its visual appearance and have a different orientation in individual partial areas.
23. A data carrier as defined in any one of claims 1 to 22 comprising a bank note, ID
card, passport, check form, share certificate, postage stamp, plane ticket, label, seal or package.
card, passport, check form, share certificate, postage stamp, plane ticket, label, seal or package.
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE10044464.4 | 2000-09-08 | ||
| DE10044464A DE10044464B4 (en) | 2000-09-08 | 2000-09-08 | Data carrier and a method for its production |
| PCT/EP2001/010287 WO2002020274A1 (en) | 2000-09-08 | 2001-09-06 | Data carrier, method for the production thereof and gravure printing plate |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
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| CA2421501A1 CA2421501A1 (en) | 2003-03-04 |
| CA2421501C true CA2421501C (en) | 2009-06-09 |
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| CA002421501A Expired - Fee Related CA2421501C (en) | 2000-09-08 | 2001-09-06 | Data carrier, method for the production thereof and gravure printing plate |
Country Status (18)
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| US (1) | US7686341B2 (en) |
| EP (1) | EP1317346B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JP2004508226A (en) |
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| AT (1) | ATE270193T1 (en) |
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| BR (1) | BR0113767A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2421501C (en) |
| DE (2) | DE10044464B4 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES2223915T3 (en) |
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| TR (1) | TR200401737T4 (en) |
| WO (1) | WO2002020274A1 (en) |
| ZA (1) | ZA200301515B (en) |
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2000
- 2000-09-08 DE DE10044464A patent/DE10044464B4/en not_active Revoked
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2001
- 2001-09-06 ES ES01969698T patent/ES2223915T3/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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- 2001-09-06 EP EP01969698A patent/EP1317346B1/en not_active Revoked
- 2001-09-06 CN CNB018153178A patent/CN1242887C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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- 2001-09-06 RU RU2003109428/12A patent/RU2264920C2/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2001-09-06 BR BR0113767-0A patent/BR0113767A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2001-09-06 PT PT01969698T patent/PT1317346E/en unknown
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- 2001-09-06 JP JP2002524922A patent/JP2004508226A/en active Pending
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- 2001-09-06 AT AT01969698T patent/ATE270193T1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
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2003
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2004
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| CN1452561A (en) | 2003-10-29 |
| ATE270193T1 (en) | 2004-07-15 |
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| PL198878B1 (en) | 2008-07-31 |
| AU2001289869B2 (en) | 2005-09-29 |
| DE10044464B4 (en) | 2011-09-22 |
| BR0113767A (en) | 2003-06-24 |
| ES2223915T3 (en) | 2005-03-01 |
| EP1317346B1 (en) | 2004-06-30 |
| AU2001289869C1 (en) | 2006-08-10 |
| PT1317346E (en) | 2004-09-30 |
| AU2001289869A2 (en) | 2002-03-22 |
| TR200401737T4 (en) | 2004-09-21 |
| CN1242887C (en) | 2006-02-22 |
| MXPA03001765A (en) | 2003-09-10 |
| EP1317346A1 (en) | 2003-06-11 |
| CA2421501A1 (en) | 2003-03-04 |
| DE50102760D1 (en) | 2004-08-05 |
| US7686341B2 (en) | 2010-03-30 |
| AU8986901A (en) | 2002-03-22 |
| DE10044464A1 (en) | 2002-03-21 |
| PL359719A1 (en) | 2004-09-06 |
| ZA200301515B (en) | 2003-11-07 |
| US20080290647A1 (en) | 2008-11-27 |
| WO2002020274A1 (en) | 2002-03-14 |
| HK1059418A1 (en) | 2004-07-02 |
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