Anti-photographic/photocopy imaging process and product made by same

• US 5,735,547 A
• Filed: 01/03/1997
• Issued: 04/07/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Document Security Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fredric T. Morelle, Ralph C. Wicker
• Inventors: Wicker, Ralph C., Morelle, Fredric T.
• Primary Examiner(s): HAN, FRANCES CHIN
• Application Number:
  US08/778,916
• Time in Patent Office: 459 Days
• Field of Search: 283/89, 283/92, 283/902, 283/72, 283/86-88, 283/91-95, 283/67, 356/374
• US Class Current: 283/67
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/29 Securities; Bank notes
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 21/043 by using an original which is not reproducible or only reproducible with a different appearence, e.g. originals with a photochromic layer or a colour background
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00299 Confidential, e.g. secret documents
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 283/902 Anti-photocopy

Abstract

Several techniques to acquire a counterfeit proof security document. The invention includes improvements for use with non-replicable image line frequency techniques, as well as stand-along printing techniques, that exhibit electro-optical copy and photographic copy frustration characteristics such as experiences with use of color-graduated (tonally graded) substrates, blooming or flaring print patterns, pixel differentiation of discrete indicia and combinations of these with certain printing ink (or) varnish under/overcoat.

Claims

1. A method for making an image-bearing document non-counterfeitable with respect to a copier which employs an electro-optical scanning and sampling copy protocol comprising:

identifying the blind or non-sampled zones in said copy protocol;

preparing a document substrate; and

placing indicia which comprise at least one image onto said document substrate so as to fall into areas that are not sampled by said copy protocol when said image-bearing document is copied by said copier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said placing is characterized by printing said indicia of said at least one image to uniformly misregister with sampling zones of said protocol of said copier thus effecting non-copyability of a portion of said at least one image by said copier.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said printing to uniformly misregister is further characterized by selecting a frequency of said protocol and effecting said printing onto said document substrate at, near or at an integral factor of a recurring rate of said sampling zones and to register with blind or non-copy zones of said protocol.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said preparing further comprises providing said substrate with a tonally graded hue.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said hue comprises a portion of the color spectrum from white to yellow.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein said providing comprises printing with a varnish.

7. A method for making a document, bearing a pattern of image-defining indicia and which is counterfeit-proof by an electro-optical copier having a scanning-sampling copy protocol, said protocol defined by sampling zone repetition with blind zones therebetween, said method comprising identifying said blind zones by ascertaining a sampling zone pattern and thereby the blind zones disposed between samples thereof and printing on a suitable substrate indicia of at least one image so that said indicia fall within said blind zones of said copier copy protocol, effecting upon copying by the copier, a distortion/decimation of said image in color or feature.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said printing further comprises placing said indicia as uniformly recurring lineations.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said uniformly recurring is a frequency or integral factor thereof being used by said copier in said scanning-sampling protocol.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said method for making further comprises a step of selecting a tonally graded substrate.

11. A copier non-counterfeitable document comprising a substrate bearing thereon at least one image that is composed of lineate indicia which appear at lineation frequencies characteristic of a scanning-sampling copy protocol of said copier to effect registry with predetermined and positionally identified blind or non-copy zones of said copy protocol when said document is copied by said copier and thereby result in a copy which is ommissive and distorted in said image.

12. The document of claim 11 wherein said indicia have a thickness ranging from about d/3 to about d/10 where d is at least one of said spatial frequencies.

13. The document of claim 11 further comprising said at least one image bearing therein indicia having reflective densities of about 0.01-0.10.