Transaction Card with Dynamic Visual Concealment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transaction cards lack effective security measures to conceal sensitive information such as account numbers and expiration dates, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
The design of transaction cards with a modification area featuring alternating structures that conceal information in a flat configuration and reveal it when bent, utilizing a combination of planar sections and structures with trenches and sidewalls to expose visual features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If visual account information is displayed on the card surface, then account information is accessible to users, but card security is compromised due to vulnerability to unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The card incorporates a flexible modification area with alternating structures that can dynamically change between a first configuration (when the card is flat) and a second configuration (when the card is bent). This dynamic structure allows the visual account information to be concealed when the card is flat and revealed when the card is bent, resolving the contradiction between information accessibility and security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state parameter of the card by bending it, which transforms the configuration of the alternating structures in the modification area. This parameter change (from flat to bent state) controls the visibility of account information, allowing users to access information only when needed while maintaining security in the default flat state.
2Reliability
If account information is concealed on the card, then card security is enhanced, but user accessibility to account information is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The modification area with alternating structures provides a dynamic solution where information is automatically concealed in the default flat state for security, but can be easily revealed by a simple bending action when users need to access their account information, thus resolving the contradiction between security and accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The card performs self-service by automatically concealing information based on its physical state without requiring additional security measures or user authentication steps. The user simply needs to bend the card to access information, making the system self-regulating and user-friendly.
3Manufacturing precision
If the card body is made rigid to maintain structural integrity, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the ability to conceal information through bending is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The card is segmented into a main body portion and a modification area with alternating structures. The main body maintains structural integrity for manufacturing precision, while the modification area is designed with flexible alternating structures that can bend to conceal and reveal information, thus resolving the contradiction between rigidity and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the card have different mechanical properties: the main body is rigid for structural integrity, while the modification area contains flexible alternating structures that can deform. This local differentiation allows the card to simultaneously maintain manufacturing precision and information concealment capability.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are approaches for concealing or obscuring transaction card numbers. In some approaches, a transaction card may include a body comprising a first main side opposite a second main side, and a plurality of structures extending from at least one of the first or second main sides. In a bent configuration of the body, the plurality of structures separate from one another, in a substantially flat configuration of the body, adjacent structures of the plurality of structures abut one another.