Printable unclonable function patterns

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11772406-B2
Application number	US-202117157652-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 25, 2021
Priority date	Jan 25, 2021
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

A print feedstock has a base material and a marker material, the base material and the marker material having different physical properties. A system to validate objects includes at least one printer to print feedstock onto an object, the feedstock comprising a base material and a marker material, the base material and a marker material having different properties, a device to create a unique identifier for the object based upon a pattern of the feedstock, and a store in which the unique identifier can be stored.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A print feedstock having a base material in a first layer and a marker material in a second layer, the base material and the marker material having different physical properties, the marker material selected to interact with the base material to cause the base material to form a random, detectable, pattern in the first layer.

2. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material is one of toner, ink, powder, filament, polymer, or monomer.

3. The feedstock as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the marker material is one of toner or ink that differs from the base material.

4. The feedstock as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the marker material has a different type of pigment with different optical properties than the base material that appears similar to an unaided eye.

5. The feedstock as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the marker material is a liquid immiscible in the base material.

6. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the marker material comprises discrete particles dispersed in the base material.

7. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material has a marking component and the marker material is free of marking components.

8. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material comprises a powder for use in selective laser sintering and the marker material comprises a powder different from the base material.

9. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material is a filament used in fused filament fabrication manufacturing and the marker material is one of a different filament or controllably dispensed additive.

10. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material contains one or more polymers or monomers and the marker material comprises one or more of crosslinkers or catalysts.

11. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the base material comprises a base layer having one of either random nucleation sites or random pinning sites and the marker material comprises a layer of phase segregation material that either avoids or bonds to the nucleation or pinning sites.

12. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the different physical properties are optical.

13. The feedstock as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the optical properties are one of absorption, reflectance, luminescence, phosphorescent, and photochromic.

14. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the physical properties are mechanical.

15. The feedstock as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the physical properties are electrical.

16. The feedstock as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the electrical properties are impedance, electrochromic, and electrophoretic responses in the presence of an electrical field.

17. A system to validate objects, comprising
at least one printer to print feedstock onto an object, the feedstock comprising a base material in a first layer and a marker material in a second layer, the base material and a marker material having different properties, the marker material selected to interact with the base material to cause the base material to form a detectable random pattern in the first layer;
a device to create a unique identifier for the object based upon the random pattern of the feedstock; and
a store in which the unique identifier can be stored.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the store comprises a code attached to the object for self-validation.

19. The system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the store comprises a store located in a remote system.

20. The system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the remote system resides at a site of a manufacture of the object.

21. The system as claimed in claim 17 , wherein the remote system resides at a site of an authenticating party.

Assignees

• Palo Alto Res Ct Inc
• Xerox Corp

Inventors

• Jackson Warren
• Veres Janos
• Zhu Yujie
• Belelie Jennifer L
• Street Robert A
• Mei Ping
• Evans Kent

Classifications

• B42D25/29 Primary

  Securities; Bank notes · CPC title

• B29C64/118

  using filamentary material being melted, e.g. fused deposition modelling [FDM] · CPC title

• B29C64/153

  using layers of powder being selectively joined, e.g. by selective laser sintering or melting · CPC title

• B42D25/378

  Special inks · CPC title

• B42D25/405 Primary

  Marking · CPC title