Antiforgery security system

• US 5,988,500 A
• Filed: 08/06/1996
• Issued: 11/23/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AVEKA, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AVEKA, Inc.
• Inventors: Litman, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gross, Anita Pellman
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rodriguez, Douglas X.
• Application Number:
  US08/692,753
• Time in Patent Office: 1,204 Days
• Field of Search: 235/449, 235/450, 235/493, 235/491
• US Class Current: 235/450
• CPC Class Codes: B42D 25/369 Magnetised or magnetisable materials
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/06196 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/12 the marking being sensed by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/084 sensing magnetic material by relative movement detecting flux changes without altering its magnetised state
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/004 using digital security elements, e.g. information coded on a magnetic thread or strip
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/04 Testing magnetic properties of the materials thereof, e.g. by detection of magnetic imprint G07D7/01 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 1/06 Coins specially adapted to operate coin-freed mechanisms

Abstract

Elongated magnetic elements can be inserted into items to provide readable magnetic patterns which provide reproducible or unique signal patterns to identify or authenticate the items. Magnetic fibers may be distributed within items or magnetic strips to provide reproducible patterns when read. The patterns are stable because of the relatively large size of the magnetic elements as compared to conventional patterns of particles in recordable media. Oriented patterns of filaments may also be inserted into transactional items such as credit cards, checks and the like to provide identification (antiforgery) security to the item.

Claims

1. A method of authenticating an article, said article having therein at least three magnetic elements, each of said three magnetic elements having a length which is at least two times greater than both other dimensions of width and thickness, at least one of said magnetic elements being non-parallel to two of said magnetic elements, said method comprising

a) moving a magnetic reading head along a path so that said magnetic reading head senses said at least three magnetic elements as said reading head moves along said path, the sensing of said at least three magnetic elements generating a first signal,

(a) b) comparing said first signal to a predetermined second signal to evaluate a degree of correspondence between said first signal and said second signal,

(b) c) indicating whether said degree of correspondence is within a predetermined amount of correspondence to authenticate said article.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least three magnetic elements comprise a single filament with different properties along its length, said single filament being located in the trough of threads in a machine part having threads therein.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said machine parts are selected from the group consisting of screws and bolts.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading heads, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said magnetic sensing device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading head moving in straight lines across said at least four magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least four magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least three magnetic elements are associated with a magnetic strip which is encoded, and two overlapping signals are mechanically read.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 80% of the linear dimension of said path.

8. A method of authenticating an article, said article comprising at least four magnetic elements, each of said four magnetic elements having at least one dimension which is at least three times greater than any other dimension of said each of said four magnetic elements, at least one of said magnetic elements being non-parallel to two of said magnetic elements, said method comprising

a) magnetically reading said at least four magnetic elements in said article by moving magnetic reading head along a line which allows said reading head to pick up signals from said at least four magnetic elements to generate a first signal,

b) comparing said first signal to a second signal which has been predetermined to authenticate a specific article or one of a series of articles,

c) determining if a level of correspondence between said first and second signal is sufficient to allow authentication of said article.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said at least four magnetic elements comprises a magnetic material selected from the group consisting of fibers, filaments, strips and particles having at least one dimension of at least 0.10 millimeters.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said at least four magnetic elements comprise fibers or filaments and said fibers or filaments have at least one dimension which is at least 0.50 mm.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein filaments have been aligned within said article in a predetermined pattern, and said second signal identifies a type of article and said second signal was not created specifically by a magnetic recording of said element to provide a signal substantially identical to said first signal.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said first signal comprises signal content of at least two factors selected from the group consisting of field strength, period and duration.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said filaments are at least one centimeter long.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said first signal comprises signal content of field strength, period and duration.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said filaments are at least two centimeters long.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein said at least four magnetic elements are randomly distributed fibers or filaments, and said second signal is a magnetic signal having been taken of said article to specifically identify said article.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein said magnetic elements are distributed within a magnetic strip which is capable of being magnetically encoded independent of the magnetic information on said magnetic elements, said magnetic elements occupying less than 10% of the total area of said magnetic strip.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said first signal is determined after said magnetic strip has been encoded.

23. The method of claim 8 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 50% of the linear dimension of said path.

24. The method of claim 8 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 25% of the linear dimension of said path.

25. A process for using a magnetic reading apparatus, said apparatus presenting a magnetic sensing device outwardly,

an article for use with said apparatus, and

said article for use with said apparatus having in at least a portion thereof an item or area having at least three magnetic elements which may be intersected by a straight line, at least one of said at least three magnetic elements being non-parallel to two of said at least three magnetic elements, said at least three magnetic elements attached to the item or area, at least one of said at least three magnetic elements having a magnetic strength or duration which can be mechanically read as different from the magnetic strength or duration of another of said at least three magnetic elements,

said process comprising the steps of having said magnetic sensing device face said article so that parts of each of said at least three magnetic elements extend within a space corresponding to an area readable by said sensing device so that movement of said magnetic sensing device relative to said at least three magnetic elements generates an authentication signal when said sensing device moves in a straight line relative to said at least three magnetic elements,

moving said sensing element relative to said article so that spacing between elements define a period as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in a direction approximating that defined by a straight line across said space, and

said at least one of said three magnetic elements defining a first signal amplitude or signal duration as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in a direction approximating that which is not parallel to all of said at least three magnetic elements,

said first signal amplitude or first signal duration being different from an amplitude or duration of at least one other of said at least three magnetic elements as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read while moving in said straight line,

comparing said authentication signal read from said article to a predetermined set of signals,

said apparatus showing either a positive or negative response to evidence a predetermined sufficient correspondence by said authentication read signal to said predetermined set of signals.

26. The process of claim 25 wherein said apparatus is held in a hand, and said magnetic sensing device moves relative to said at least three magnetic elements within said apparatus while said article remains relatively still.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein said magnetic reading device comprising at least a first and a second magnetic reading head, each of said first and second magnetic reading heads moving in straight lines across said at least three magnetic elements, and signals produced by each of said first and second magnetic reading heads being different from each other at least because at least two of said at least three magnetic elements are not parallel to each other.

28. A process for authenticating an item having at least four magnetic elements within said item comprising

a) moving at least one magnetic sensing device relative to said item in a first direction,

b) placing said at least one magnetic sensing device along a path intersected by said first direction so that each of said at least four magnetic elements passes within readable dimensions of said at least one magnetic sensing device, said reading device being capable of determining the presence of a magnetic material,

c) reading at least one signal from each of said at least four magnetic elements, said signal having at least some components being selected from the group consisting of period, magnetic field alignment, amplitude and duration, and

d) comparing said at least one signal to a predetermined signal identifying a particular type of item.

29. The label of claim 28 wherein at least three magnetic elements are present within said item and said label has a pressure-sensitive curable adhesive on one surface thereof.

30. The process of claim 29 wherein said signal has components comprising at least period and amplitude.

31. The process of claim 29 wherein said signal has components comprising at least period, amplitude and duration.

32. A process for using a magnetic reading apparatus, said apparatus presenting a magnetic sensing device outwardly, an article for use with said apparatus, and said article for use with said apparatus having in at least a portion thereof a path with at least three magnetic fibers lying within said path, at least one of said magnetic fibers being non-parallel to two of said magnetic fibers,

said process comprising the steps of having said magnetic sensing device face said article so that parts of each of said at least three magnetic fibers extend within a space corresponding to an area readable by said sensing device, moving said sensing element relative to said article in a direction corresponding to said path so that spacing between fibers define a period when said magnetic fibers are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in said path approximating a straight line across said space, and

at least one of said three magnetic fibers defining a signal amplitude when said magnetic fibers are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in a direction that is not parallel to said at least three magnetic fibers,

said signal amplitude being different from an amplitude of another of said at least three magnetic fibers when said magnetic fibers are mechanically read,

comparing signals read from said article to a predetermined set of signals,

said comparing indicating either a positive or negative response to a predetermined sufficient correspondence by said mechanically read signal to said predetermined set of signals.

33. The process of claim 32 wherein said fibers are randomly distributed.

34. The process of claim 32 wherein there are at least ten fibers in said path.

35. The process of claim 32 wherein said item has a magneticallly recordable strip parallel to said path.

36. The process of claim 32 wherein each fiber generated amplitude signal read from said path is at least 5% greater in amplitude than the maximum amplitude in the signal from said magnetic strip.

37. The process of claim 32 wherein a single magnetic reading head is used to read both the magnetic strip and information from said fibers in said path.

38. A process for authenticating a transactional item having at least three magnetic elements selected from the class consisting of magnetic fibers and filaments within said item, at least one of said magnetic fibers and filaments being non-parallel to two of said magnetic fibers and filaments, said process comprising

a) moving said transactional item in a first direction,

b) placing at least one magnetic sensing device along a path intersected by said first direction so that each of said at least three magnetic elements passes within readable dimensions of said at least one magnetic sensing device, said reading device being capable of determining the presence of a magnetic material,

c) reading at least one signal from said at least three magnetic elements, said signal having at least three components being selected from the group consisting of period, magnetic field alignment, amplitude and duration, and

d) comparing said at least one signal to a predetermined signal identifying a particular type of transactional item.

39. The process of claim 38 wherein at least six magnetic elements are present within said item.

40. The process of claim 38 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 80% of the linear dimension of said path.

41. The process of claim 38 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 50% of the linear dimension of said path.

42. The process of claim 38 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 25% of the linear dimension of said path.

43. The process of claim 38 wherein said path intersects magnetic elements between 0.001% and 5% of the linear dimension of said path.

44. A process for authenticating an item of apparel, said item of apparel having a portion thereof having at least four magnetic elements within said portion, at least one of said magnetic elements being non-parallel to two of said magnetic elements said process comprising

moving said portion in a first direction relative to at least one magnetic sensing device,

placing said at least one magnetic sensing device along a path intersected by said first direction so that each of said at least four magnetic elements passes within readable dimensions of said at least one magnetic sensing device, said reading device being capable of determining the presence of a magnetic material, reading at least one signal from said at least four magnetic elements, said signal having at least some components being selected from the group consisting of period, magnetic field alignment, amplitude and duration, and comparing said at least one signal to a predetermined signal identifying a particular type or source of said item of apparel.

45. The process of claim 44 wherein said signal has components comprising at least period and amplitude.

46. The process of claim 44 wherein said signal has components comprising at least period, amplitude and duration.

47. The process of claim 44 wherein at least one of said at least two magnetic elements has a colorant attached thereto which fluoresces or phosphoresces when irradiated and both an irradiating device and light detection device capable of detecting fluorescing or phosphorescing radiation lies along said path, said irradiating device irradiating said portion of said item and said light detection device detecting fluorescing or phosphorescing radiation and comparing signals from said detecting which are compared to stored signals which define a particular type of item of apparel.

48. A process for using a magnetic reading apparatus, said apparatus presenting a magnetic sensing device outwardly,

an article for use with said apparatus, and

said article for use with said apparatus having in at least a portion thereof an item or area having at least three magnetic elements which may be intersected by a straight line, at least one of said at least three magnetic elements being non-parallel to two of said at least three magnetic elements, said at least three magnetic elements attached to the item or area, at least one of said at least three magnetic elements having a magnetic strength or duration which can be mechanically read as different from the magnetic strength or duration of another of said at least three magnetic elements,

said process comprising the steps of having said magnetic sensing device face said article so that parts of each of said at least three magnetic elements extend within a space corresponding to an area readable by said sensing device so that movement of said magnetic sensing device relative to said at least three magnetic elements generates an authentication signal when said sensing device moves in a straight line relative to said at least three magnetic elements,

moving said sensing element relative to said article so that spacing between elements define a period as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in a direction approximating that defined by a straight line across said space, and

said at least one of said three magnetic elements defining a first signal amplitude or signal duration as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read while moving relative to said magnetic sensing device in a direction approximating that which is not parallel to all of said at least three magnetic elements,

said first signal amplitude or first signal duration being different from an amplitude or duration of at least one other of said at least three magnetic elements as part of said authentication signal when said magnetic elements are mechanically read,

comparing said authentication signal read from said article to a predetermined set of signals,

said apparatus showing either a positive or negative response to evidence a predetermined sufficient correspondence by said authentication read signal to said predetermined set of signals.

49. The process of claim 48 wherein said at least three magnetic elements are associated with a magnetic strip which is encoded, and two overlapping signals are mechanically read.