Multilayer Document Laminate for Internal Multicolor Marking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing security documents lack the ability to create multicolored markings within the document body, limiting personalization options and security, as they often rely on binary or grayscale representations that are easier to forge and less aesthetically pleasing.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for producing a multilayer laminate with a multicolored marking inside the document body, using a planar substrate with initial markings that are selectively altered by energy input to create a multicolored representation, such as through laser-induced color changes or localized abrasion, allowing for high-resolution, personalized, and secure document production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a grayscale laser is used to inscribe data in the laminate, then the data can be permanently stored inside the document body, but the marking is limited to binary or grayscale representation and lacks color information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the color representation into separate channels by creating multiple initial markings with different colors (e.g., red, green, blue) in the laminate. Each color channel can be independently inscribed and processed, allowing the final multicolored image to be reconstructed by combining these segmented color information after the lamination process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional grayscale representation to a multi-dimensional color space by incorporating multiple color channels. This allows the data to be represented not just in shades of gray but in full color, adding a new dimension of information storage while maintaining the security of internal laminate placement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If color images are printed onto a film insert and inserted into the document before lamination, then color representation is achieved, but the process becomes complex and customer-specific personalization is limited to pre-production
Solution Approach 1:
The patent prepares the laminate structure with multiple color channels and protective layers in advance during the manufacturing process. The initial markings with different colors are applied to the laminate before lamination, and the protective top layer is applied over the entire surface. This preliminary preparation allows for simplified personalization processes later, as the infrastructure is already in place.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a protective top layer as an intermediary element that is applied over the multicolored initial markings after lamination. This top layer serves as a protective barrier while allowing selective energy input to be applied through specific areas to reveal or modify the underlying color information, simplifying the personalization process.
3Ease of operation
If security features are placed on the outside of the document, then they are easily accessible, but they are more easily compromised and less protected against direct impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds the security features and color information directly within the laminate structure, nesting them inside the document body rather than placing them on the exterior. The initial markings with color information are incorporated into the laminate layers themselves, and the protective top layer is applied over the entire surface, creating a nested structure that protects the security features while maintaining accessibility through selective energy input.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables high-resolution, multicolored markings within the document body, enhancing security and personalization options while protecting the markings from direct access, allowing for complex color representations and improved document aesthetics.
Implementation Method 1
inducing energy into the laminate in a locally selective manner at the location of the top layer in the laminate, in particular by means of a laser beam, such that the multicolored marking is generated from the initial marking by locally selective switching of the leuco dye or by locally selective disintegration of the colors or by locally selective carbonization of a material within the laminate
Implementation Method 2
locally selective switching of the leuco dye caused by the energy input into the initial marking
Implementation Method 3
causes localized abrasion of the top layer and a related locally selective exposure of a visible area of the initial marking
Implementation Method 4
by locally selective carbonization of a material within the laminate by the laser beam
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(d)
Figure 2(a)~2(d)
Figure 3(a)~3(b)
AI summary
Method and apparatus for producing a document body comprising a multilayer laminate, generating a multicolored, data-representing marking within the laminate. The method comprises: - Providing or producing an initial marking in or on an extensive substrate. The initial marking has several colored sub-areas, each forming only a portion of the initial marking, such that the colors of at least two of the sub-areas differ from one another.- Creating the laminate by laminating the base substrate as the first laminate layer with at least one further, planarly extended substrate as each subsequent laminate layer, such that the initial marking is located at least partially within the produced laminate; - Inducing an energy input into the laminate such that it acts locally-selectively in the initial marking, whereby the multicolored marking representing the data is achieved at least partially from the initial marking by means of the locally-selective, color change of the initial marking (1) caused by the energy input into the initial marking.