Layered Secure Card Body With Randomized Multicolor Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing card manufacturing methods do not effectively produce a card-shaped body with a randomized multicolor appearance that is both aesthetically unique and secure, lacking the ability to create a unique identification feature.
Innovation Solution
A card-shaped body is manufactured using coextrusion with multiple layers, where a base layer has a homogeneously distributed primary color and additional layers have unevenly distributed secondary colors, utilizing polymers with different material properties to prevent homogeneous mixing, resulting in a randomized multicolor pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If homogeneous mixing of polymers is used to create a uniform card body, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but the ability to create unique randomized multicolor identification features is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The card body is segmented into multiple layers with different polymer materials that do not mix homogeneously. Each layer contains different colorations, and the segmentation prevents complete mixing while maintaining structural integrity, thus creating unique randomized patterns for identification while preserving manufacturing uniformity
Solution Approach 2:
The card body uses composite materials consisting of multiple polymer layers with different properties. These composite materials are designed to maintain layer separation during manufacturing while creating randomized color distributions, achieving both manufacturing precision and unique identification features
2Manufacturing precision
If blowing agents are used to create randomized color structures, then multicolor appearance is achieved, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The blowing agent is extracted from the process entirely. Instead of using blowing agents to create randomized structures, the patent uses direct coextrusion of multiple polymer layers with different colorations, simplifying the manufacturing process while achieving the desired randomized multicolor appearance
Solution Approach 2:
The natural tendency of different polymer materials to separate rather than mix is converted from a potential manufacturing challenge into a beneficial feature. This phase separation behavior is harnessed to automatically create randomized color patterns without requiring blowing agents or complex processing
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple color batches are mixed in a cavity to create random patterns, then multicolor appearance is achieved, but material waste and loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The color patterns are predetermined through the selection and arrangement of different polymer layers before extrusion. Each layer is prepared with specific colorations in advance, eliminating the need for random mixing and reducing material waste by ensuring precise material utilization
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
The method produces a card with a unique, randomly distributed multicolor appearance that can be electronically captured for identification, enhancing security and aesthetic appeal without using blowing agents or expensive multi-channel nozzles.
Implementation Method 1
two or more material streams exiting from respective extruders are introduced into a cavity of a housing until the mixed material streams are extruded at the other end of the cavity
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a secure element having a card-type body (10) made of a plurality of layers (11, 21, 22), which are arranged one above the other and generated by coextrusion. The secure element comprises a first layer (11) as the base layer made of a first material that comprises a base polymer, wherein a first colour (11F) is homogenously distributed in the first layer (11) as the main colour of the body (10). The secure element also comprises at least one second layer (21, 22) as the coloured layer made of a second material that comprises a carrier polymer. The base polymer and the carrier polymer have different material properties so that they do not homogenously mix, as a result of which randomised polychromatism is visible in plan view and in cross section. In the process, the at least one second layer (21, 22) forms, together with the first layer (11) in the card body (10) in a random distribution, coloured surface regions (23), which are dominated in part by the colour of the first layer (11) and in part by the colour of the second layer (21, 22).