Identification card having laser inscribed indicia and a method of producing it
First Claim
1. A multilayer identification card bearing visible information thereon obtained by exposure to the beam of a laser recorder of selected wavelength, comprising:
- a core layer imprinted with visible indicia on at least one surface thereof;
a laser transformable film layer overlying said indicia and laminated to the core layer, the laser transformable film layer having opposed surfaces including a surface facing towards said core layer and an opposed outer surface opposite to said surface facing towards the core layer, and being transparent to visible light and physically and optically transformed by absorption of selected wavelength laser recorder energy to produce a visible image within the film layer at least between its surfaces and not beyond said surface facing towards said core layer by local changes in the physical and optical characteristics of the laser transformable film, the laser transformable film layer being physically and optically transformed by laser energy without the laser energy effecting a corresponding imprint or transformation on the core layer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multilayer identification card in which information in the form of patterns, letters, numbers and/or pictures is inscribed by means of a laser recorder in a laser transformable layer of the identification card which is made of plastic and is transparent in the visible spectral range.
The material of this laser transformable layer is adapted to the laser recorder in such a way that it absorbs the laser energy strongly enough in the wavelength of the laser beam transformations such as discoloration, microbubble formation, etc., take place locally in the material, rendering the applied information very clearly visible and immune to falsification in the otherwise transparent layer. This layer which bears the information can either be designed as a transparent identification card cover layer or be covered by another plastic layer which is transparent both visually and for the laser recorder.
-
Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A multilayer identification card bearing visible information thereon obtained by exposure to the beam of a laser recorder of selected wavelength, comprising:
-
a core layer imprinted with visible indicia on at least one surface thereof; a laser transformable film layer overlying said indicia and laminated to the core layer, the laser transformable film layer having opposed surfaces including a surface facing towards said core layer and an opposed outer surface opposite to said surface facing towards the core layer, and being transparent to visible light and physically and optically transformed by absorption of selected wavelength laser recorder energy to produce a visible image within the film layer at least between its surfaces and not beyond said surface facing towards said core layer by local changes in the physical and optical characteristics of the laser transformable film, the laser transformable film layer being physically and optically transformed by laser energy without the laser energy effecting a corresponding imprint or transformation on the core layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A process for making laser generated images on a laminated, multilayer identification card comprising:
-
imprinting a core layer of the card with visible indicia; laminating a laser transformable film layer over the imprinted core, the laser transformable film layer being transparent to visible light but locally physically and optically transformable when exposed to the beam of a laser to produce local visible effects between the film surfaces when it is exposed to the laser beam; driving the laser in a pulsed mode and exposing the laser transformable film layer to the pulsed laser beam to produce discrete visible film transformation areas within the film at least between its surfaces while not effecting a corresponding imprint or transformation on any other card layer. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
Specification