EP0626275A2

EP0626275A2 - Plasticized security document provided with passport photo

Info

Publication number: EP0626275A2
Application number: EP94201306A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Frans Schomper
Original assignee: DORNED BV
Current assignee: DORNED BV
Priority date: 1993-05-25
Filing date: 1994-05-17
Publication date: 1994-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 2014-05-17
Also published as: DE69414456D1; ATE173202T1; EP0626275B1; EP0626275A3; ES2125395T3; DE69414456T2; NL9300888A

Abstract

Plasticized safety document provided with a passport photo, such as admission passes, bank passes, credit cards, should be fraud proof as good as possible. According to the invention, a passport photo having knurled or toothed edges is used. Such a safety document can be obtained e.g. by applying a passport photo onto a document of cardboard or plastic provided with identification particulars, and subsequently cutting out the passport photo with a passport photo cutter, provided with a cutting window having knurled edges, and inserting the knurled passport photo (2') with knurled edge (3'), cut to the appropriate size, into the likewise knurled opening (4') formed in the document by cutting-out. This assembly is laminated on two sides with polyester sheet (5) provided with an adhesive layer by means of hot-pressing. Thus, one obtains a safety document that meets the highest requirements of protection against fraud, and from which the passport photo can not be removed undamaged on opening the lamination. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to insert a new passport photo, because it should have the appropriate knurl pattern.

Description

The invention relates to a plasticized safety document provided with a passport photo. Safety documents in the sense of the present invention are understood to mean strictly personal identification documents such as admission passes, bank passes, credit cards, and the like, as well as documents issued by the central government such as identity cards, passports, driving licences etc. In order to protect such documents, which are intended for strictly personal use, against forgery, they are plasticized, that is, laminated with a laminate of thermosetting plastic material. In the usual practice, the relevant document consisting of printed paper, cardboard or plastic material, is provided with a passport photo and subsequently enclosed by two transparent protective sheets of thermosetting polyester material, each being provided with a thin adhesive layer of thermoplastic material, whereupon this entity is laminated by hot-pressing.
Such a plasticized safety document is primarily protected against forgery, but does not exclude it completely. For example, an experienced forger will be able to open the laminate again with the help of a hot iron, and change the particulars on the document, e.g. by forging a signature or applying another passport photo, and subsequently laminating the forged document again. In order to make the protection against fraud as high as possible, according to the earlier dutch patent application 92 01772, likewise of applicant and not pre-published, it is suggested to laminate the document with multi-layer laminates, as a result of which the act of opening such a laminated document is seriously complicated, and the risk of damages is highly increased.
Still the problem remains, that the most vulnerable part of the document is a passport photo. If a person succeeds in opening the laminate undamaged, it is relatively easy to remove the passport photo without damage and replace it by another one. Since the passport photo is an extremely essential element of such a safety document, it is important to make a removal of such passport photo, particularly the undamaged removal, as difficult as possible.
The object of the invention is to offer an effective solution to this problem.
To that end, the invention provides for a plasticized safety document provided with a passport photo, characterized in that the passport photo has toothed and/or knurled edges.
By experiment, it has been established, that contrary to passport photos having smooth edges, which can be removed easily, it is almost impossible to remove passport photos having toothed and knurled edges without damaging these edges. The places where two teeth are adjacent to each other, form potential tearing places as it were, where the passport photo can tear and thus get damaged. According to the invention, the design can be such, that the passport has edges with sharp teeth, which can tear or break off easily on releasing such photo, so that parts of the pass photo remain fixed to the document. It is also possible, that the pass photo has edges with rounded teeth, as a result of which a larger adhesive surface at the edges is obtained, which complicates releasing it.
An especially efficient embodiment is the one, in which the passport photo has edges with teeth, which are rounded outwardly and are adjacent each other at acute angles inwardly. Hereby, it is achieved, that on the one hand there is a strong adhesive action at the roundings, whereas the acute angles at the inside provide an increased risk of tearing in case someone tries to release it.
By providing the passport photo with toothed and/or knurled edges, one can provide further safety aspects. Suitably, the tooting can be applied in such a way, that the passport photo edges are toothed and/or knurled according to a special coding pattern for authenticity identification. The advantage thereof is, that by means of the coding pattern of the teeth, it can be established whether the pass photo with which the safety document has been provided is real or forged.
Further, it is possible that the passport photo has at least one character edge, in which the teeth or knurls form characters for indication of use. In this way, one can establish that the passport photo used for the document, is actually intended for it. Thus, passport photos intended for driving licences can be distinguished from those which are destined for a specific safety admission pass, for example. This also offers a possibility for preventing forgery.
For highly qualified safety documents, one mostly employs the type in which the passport photo is inserted in a matching recess in the document. The advantage of this embodiment is that the passport photo itself is laminated on both sides as well. For such an embodiment of a safety document, the invention provides for, that the inner edges of the recess have counter-teeth, in which the teeth of the edges of the passport photo mesh. In this way, the protection against fraud is considerably increased, since releasing the passport photo is yet more difficult, and there is a great risk of damaging the teeth of either the passport photo or the edge of the opening in the document. Then, forgery is almost impossible.
Such a safety document can be manufactured efficiently. To that end, the invention provides for a method, in which a document provided with a passport photo is laminated on two sides by plastic sheets being provided with a thermoplastic adhesive layer at their inner side, characterized in that a passport photo not yet cut to the appropriate size is put on the destined place on the document, is cut out in the appropriate size and with a knurled edge, together with the underlying part of the document, then the cut-out photo is inserted into the opening formed in the document, and is laminated together with the document.
Suitably, cutting-out can be effected with a passport photo cutter provided with a cutting master having a format window which has knurled cutting edges, and a punch member that punches out the desired with knurled edges through the window. The passport photo cutter according to the invention is characterized in that the size window is exchangeable. This offers the possibilty of changing the knurl or teeth pattern, if necessary, or applying a different tooth coding, so that the risk of fraud is reduced to a minimum, for example by changing the tooth pattern periodically.
The invention is now further explained with reference to the drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a usual safety pass in cross-section,
Fig. 2 shows this safety pass in plan view, and
Fig. 3 shows a corresponding safety pass, also in plan view, yet constructed according to the invention.

The Figs. 1 and 2 show a safety pass of the type, which is used as admission control cards for companies and institutes with enhanced safety requirements. The pass consists of a document 1 made of cardboard or hard plastic, comprising identification particulars, in Fig. 2 schematically indicated by full lines on the document on the left-hand side. On the right-hand side, a passport photo 2 has been applied, the smooth edges 3 of which fitting into a window opening 4 in the document 1. Together with the passport photo 2 inserted in the window opening 4, document 1 is subsequently plasticized by placing the document 1 between two polyester sheets 5 having their inner sides provided with an adhesive layer of thermoplastic or hot-melt materiaal. The whole is laminated by hot-pressing, whereupon one obtains a plasticized document, which is reasonably well protected against fraud.
However, it is possible to reopen the laminate, for example with the help of a hot iron, after which the particulars on the document can be forged. However, in general, application of forged particulars can not be carried out in such a way, that it can not be noticed.
However, another point is, that the passport photo can be removed and replaced relatively easy, without clearly leaving traces. If the document is relaminated after having replaced the passport photo by another one, there is the risk that a thus forged pass remains unnoticed.
In the same plan view as in Fig. 2, Fig. 3 shows a safety pass according to the invention, in which the pass is protected against fraud with the passport photo in particular. Like with the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2, a document provided with identification particulars is provided with a passport photo 2', which fits in a window opening 4' in the document 1. As opposed to the embodiment of Fig. 2, the passport photo does not have smooth edges, but edges 3' provided with knurls. These knurled edges 3' fit closely within knurled edges 4' of the window opening of the document, and like with the known embodiment, the whole of document with passport photo is subsequently laminated on two sides with laminating layers 5 of polyester, having their inner sides provided with an adhesive layers.
Thanks to the knurled edges, a thus designed safety pass is particularly fraud-proof. If the laminate is opened by heating, for example with the help of an iron, it is practically impossible to remove the passport photo 2' without damaging the edge 3' by tearing or breaking off. The window opening 4' having an adjusting knurl pattern can also get damaged easily, so that in any case one can establish afterwards whether fraud was practised with the pass. If one wishes to apply a new passport photo, one firstly has to see to it that it has exactly the same knurled edges as those of the removed passport photo, and this is only possible, if one has tools suitable for it.
In order to increase the protection against fraud yet further, the knurls of the passport photo can be applied according to a special coding pattern, as a result of which it gets extremely difficult to substitute false passport photos for the original real ones.
Knurling the edges of the passport photo together with knurling the edges of the window opening can suitably take place in a photo punch tongs for punching out desired formats. Such photo cutters are well-known and are provided with a cutting master having a format window, the cutting edges of which cutting the desired format of a passport photo with the help of a punch, that punches the window portion of the inserted photo through the window.
According to the invention, such photo cutters are equipped with exchangeable windows provided with the desired knurled edges. As a result of this, it is possible to cut passport photo and window in a knurled state out of the document in one move, so that subsequently, after inserting the cut-out passport photo in the obtained opening in the document, one has obtained the desired knurled pattern, after one can laminate in the usual way. Thus, an extremely fraud-proof safety document is obtained, from which the passport photo is practically not forgeable anymore.
Although in the above, the invention is explained by means of an embodiment, it will be obvious, that in principle many versions are possible. Thus, it is possible to work with documents without window, on which the photo is glued, or documents having a smooth window opening, in which a knurled passport photo is inserted. Under these circumstances, the knurl pattern of the passport photo also offers an additional protection against fraud.
Further modifications and versions will be clear to the expert after reading the above.

Claims

Plasticized safety document provided with passport photo, characterized in that the passport photo has toothed and/or knurled edges.
Plasticized safety document according to claim 1, characterized in that the passport has edges with sharp teeth.
Plasticized safety document according to claim 1, characterized in that the passport has edges with rounded teeth.
Plasticized safety document according to claim 1, characterized in that the passport has edges with teeth, which are rounded outwardly and are adjacent each other at acute angles inwardly.
Plasticized safety document according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the passport photo edges are toothed and/or knurled according to a special coding pattern for authenticity identification.
Plasticized safety document according to claim 1, characterized in that the passport photo has at least one character edge, in which the teeth or knurls form characters for indication of use.
Plasticized safety document according to one or more of the preceding claims, of the type in which the passport photo is inserted in a matching recess in the document, characterized in that the inner edges of the recess have counter-teeth, in which the teeth of the edges of the passport photo mesh.
Method for manufacturing a plasticized safety document according to claim 7, in which a document provided with a passport photo is laminated on two sides with plastic sheets having their inner sides provided with a thermoplastic adhesive layer, characterized in that a passport photo not yet cut to the appropriate size is put on the destined place on the document, is cut out in the appropriate size and with a knurled edge, together with the underlying part of the document, then the cut-out photo is inserted into the opening formed in the document, and is laminated together with the document.
Method according to claim 8, characterized in that cutting-out is effected with a passport photo cutter provided with a cutting master having a format window which has knurled cutting edges, and a punch member that punches out the desired format with knurled edges through the window.
Passport photo cutter according to claim 9, characterized in that the format window having knurled edges is exchangeable.