Secure laser marking personalisation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9844970-B2
Application number	US-201314651028-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2013
Priority date	Dec 10, 2012
Publication date	Dec 19, 2017
Grant date	Dec 19, 2017

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method ( 100 ) for personalizing a document, said document comprising a support comprising printed patterns ( 201, 202 ), wherein said method ( 100 ) comprises generating at least a laser pulse on said support for carbonizing at least a printed pattern.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for personalizing a document, said document comprising a support comprising a plurality of micro-character patterns of ink, wherein said method comprises generating at least a laser pulse on said support for carbonizing at least one micro-character pattern of ink, whereby if an area of a micro-character pattern is touched by at least a laser dot, carbonization of the ink propagates in the full micro-character pattern area, that is made darker, and does not propagate to areas of the support that do not carry ink, such that the carbonization of several micro-characters among a plurality of micro-characters form a chain of darkened alphanumeric micro-characters forming a control code.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the patterns are patterns printed by an offset process or an inkjet process.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the patterns are printed using an ink selected from the group consisting of an optical variable ink, an ultraviolet ink, and an infrared ink.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the laser pulse is a green laser or an ultraviolet laser.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the pulse power is comprised between 500 W and 50 kW, and the pulse lasts between some nanoseconds to some microseconds.

6. A document comprising a support comprising printed patterns, wherein at least one printed pattern is carbonized by generating at least a laser pulse on said support for carbonizing at least one micro-character pattern of ink, whereby if an area of a micro-character pattern is touched by at least a laser dot, carbonization of the ink propagates in the full micro-character pattern area, that is made darker, and does not propagate to areas of the support that do not carry ink, such that the carbonization of several micro-characters among a plurality of micro-characters form a chain of darkened alphanumeric micro-characters forming a control code.

7. The document according to claim 6 , wherein the pattern ink is an optical variable ink, an ultraviolet ink, or an infrared ink.

8. The document according to claim 6 , wherein the printed patterns comprise micro characters or micro shapes.

Assignees

• Gemalto Sa

Inventors

• Lesur Jean-Luc

Classifications

• B41M5/24

  Ablative recording, e.g. by burning marks; Spark recording {(marking by high energetic means, e.g. by laser otherwise than burning or ablative removal B41M5/26; materials or methods for recording or reproduction by optical means G11B7/00)} · CPC title

• B42D25/382

  absorbing or reflecting infrared light · CPC title

• B41J11/002

  Curing or drying the ink on the copy materials, e.g. by heating or irradiating · CPC title

• B41M3/144

  using fluorescent, luminescent or iridescent effects · CPC title

• B42D25/405

  Marking · CPC title