US2780015A - Tamper revealing identification card - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 5, 1957 N. wHn-EHEAD TAMPER REVEALING IDENTIFICATION CARD Filed June 15. 1954 1NvENToR new am BY E l ATToRNYs United States Patent() TAMPER REVEALING IDENTIFICATION CARD Ned Whitehead, San Juan, Puerto Rico Application June 15, 1954, Serial No. 436,855

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-2.2)

The present invention relates in general to identification cards and badges, particularly of the type carried by members of the Armed Forces and government employees associated with activities subject to strict security regulations, and has particular relation to identification cards having easily distinguishable characteristics when attempts have been made to alter or tamper with the card.

Heretofore, many identification cards and badges provided for workers in activities requiring extensive security precautions have been composed of a paper base or backing member upon which the name of the employer and employee and descriptive information identifying the employee are printed, which paper backing member is thermoplastically sealed between sheets of thermoplastic material such as cellulose acetate or vinyl acetate to preserve the identification card. The purpose of the thermoplastically sealed cover sheets for the card is to discourage alteration of the identification indica on the card by unauthorized persons seeking unauthorized admission to the grounds on which the restricted activities are conducted.

It has been found, however, that this laminated type of identification card may be fairly readily altered by cutting around edges of the thermoplastically sealed cover sheets to split the plastic cover sheets off the paper backing, altering the identification indicia on the paper backing, and covering the front surface of the card with a new cellulose acetate or other clear thermoplastic sheet material which is glued or thermoplastically sealed in position. Likewise, successful attempts at alteration of such identification cards have been made by dissolving the thermoplastic covers off the paper backing in a ketone or ester or other solvent for the cellulose acetate or like material, after which the identification indicia on the exposed paper backing can be altered and new thermoplastic sheets secured in covering relation over the altered paper backing. These alteration techniques have been successfully accomplished with a sufficiently high degree of skill that the substitution is not readily noticeable to the guards examining the `identification cards.

An attempt has been made to discourage chemical alteration of such identification cards by dissolving the.

thermoplastic covers in ketones or other solvents, which involves the printing of the identification indicia and all other matter on the paper backing in an ink'or other medium that will be dissolved by the same solvent that dissolves the transparent cover so that all printing or other marks on the paper backing are eliminated when the thermoplastic covers have been dissolved. These efforts to discourage forgeries and alterations have not met with complete success, however, since those seeking unauthorized admission have been able to reprint the paper backing,l which is usually formed with substantially non-reproduceable distinguishing watermarks, with copies or facsimiles of the printed matter originally on'the card 2,780,015 Patented Feb. 5, 1957 ICC which so closely simulates the color and pattern of the original card that detection of the alteration of the card is difficult. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of an identification card of the laminated type in which the printed matter on the paper backing of the card is altered to produce readily detectable characteristics when the thermoplastic cover sheets have been subjected to solvents in which the thermoplastic sheets are soluble.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel identification card of the type having printed matter and identifying indicia on a paper backing member covered by sheets of thermoplastic material,

wherein the ink on the paper backing is altered in char-v of thermoplastic material, wherein the printedmatter the thermoplastic sheet material.

is altered by any of the chemical solvents in which the sheets of thermoplastic material are dissolvable and` changed to a form which resists accurate reproduction of the original appearance of the card.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel identification card of the type having printed matter on a paper backing covered by sheets of thermoplastic material, wherein the printed matter is formed in ink having pigment elements of one color which are not soluble in any of the chemical solvents for dissolving the thermoplastic covers mixed with pigment elements of a different color which are dissolvable in any of the solvents for dissolving the thermoplastic covers so that the color of the printed matter on the card is changed when the plastic covers are exposed to chemical solvents.

Other objects, avantages and capabilities of the pres-iy ent invention will become apparent from the following detail description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, illustrating one preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a front plan View of an identification card made in conformance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective View of the identiiication card illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front plan View of the identification card illustrating the appearance of the card after a portion of the same has been subjected to a solvent for dissolving Referring to the drawing wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the identication card embodying the present invention is generally indicated bythe reference character 10 and includes a rectangular paper backing descriptive informationregarding the party.

tification information, generally indicated by the refer-V ence character 13, such as the name of the issuing authority, the name of the party to be identified, the signature of the party to be identified, and other pertinent The paper backing 11 with the printed matter thereon and the descriptive information filled in, is then covered on both sides with rectangular sheets 14 and 15 of clear .t thermoplastic material, which are preferably of vinyl acetate or cellulose acetate or a copolymer of vinyl acetate and vinyl chloride. The sheets 14 and 15 of thermoplastic material are designed to be laminated into one unit under heat and pressure, as by the method and with the apparatus disclosed in my earlier Patent No. 2,490,- lll, issued December 6, 1949.

It is well known that the principal clear thermoplastic sheet materials suitable for use as the covers of such paper backings are soluble in ketones and esters so that the thermoplastic covers can be readily dissolved away from the paper backing by such chemical compounds to expose the paper backing and permit alteration of the identifying information thereon. To discourage this method of alteration of the identification card, the printed border 1,2 and identification information 13, in accordance with the present invention, are formed with a special ink having pigments of two or more colors which produce one distinctiveA combination color when both pigments are, present on the card. However, one of the color pigments is readily soluble in the same ketone and ester solvents in which the thermoplastic sheets 14 and 1S are soluble, so that that pigment is dissolved when an attempt is madey to dissolve theV thermoplastic covers 14 and` and the remaining, pigment which is insoluble in these solvents establishes a distinctive color which may bel readily detected by persons inspecting the identification card.

In one preferred embodiment, illustrated in the draw-v ing, the border 12 and identification information 13 are printed in an ink having av pigment known to the trade as Lead Chromate Yellow, which is mixed with pigments known as Victoria Blue, Tungstated Rhodamine and Malachite Green. These four pigments when combined in a single ink produce a green color. The Lead Chromate Yellow is insoluble in ketones and esters while the Victoria Blue, the Tungstated Rhodamine and the Malachite Green are all soluble in ketones and esters. Consequent- 1y, when the identification card or portions thereof are subjectedto ketone or ester solvents to dissolve the thermoplastie sheets 14 and 15, lthe Victoria Blue, Tungstated Rhodamine and Malachite Green pigments are all dissolved, and the color of the border and identification information on the card is changed to that of the Lead Chromate Yellow pigment. Overprinting of the Lead Chromate Yellow pattern and identification information or otherreprinting techniques to reproduce the original color is resisted or discouraged7 since precise registration of the reprinting pattern with the Lead Chromate Yellow pattern is very difficult to achieve, as is the selection of the proper reprinting ink or pigments which, when optically combined with the Lead Chromate Yellow, restores thevoriginall color of the card.

Another Vink combination which has been found satisfactory is the combining of Lead Chromate Yellow'pigments with Tungstated Rhodamine pigments. The cornbination of these two pigments in an ink yields a red color, whilethe removal of the Tungstated Rrhodamine pigments by dissolving the 'same in ketone and ester solventsrenders `the border and identification information a yellow color, as determined by the Lead Chromate Yellow.

A'third combination which has been found to be satis.- factory'is the combination of Benzedine Yellowl with Victoria Blue. The Benzedine Yellow is insoluble `in ketone,` andv ester, solvents and the Victoria Blue is solvent in these,l compositions.

ti'onris that the ink, when mixed be composed of two or more colors, atleast one of the colored pigments ,being v The combination of theseUl two 'colors gives a greenA color to the printed border and insoluble in at least the conventional solvents employed to dissolve the thermoplastic sheet material, while one or more of the other colored pigments must bleed out on application of the solvent to the identification card.

In order to discourage or prevent mechanical removal of the thermoplastic sheets 14, 15 from the paper backing 11, the paper backing 11 is preferably impregnated with a thermoplastic material so as tov bond the paper backing to the cover sheets when the heat and pressure of lamination are applied to the backing and cover sheets to render these components homogeneous.

As a further precaution to prevent alteration of the card, the paper backing 11 is Vtreated in the following manner:

To a solution of 100 grams of water is added 18 grams (dry Weight) of aluminum sulfate. To another 100 grams of water is added 5 grams of aluminum chloride (dry weight). These two solutions are mixed together in equal volume and to each 100 grams of this combined solution is added lA gram of a wetting agent with nonionic characteristics, for example, alkylated aryl polyether alcohol. This solution is applied to the backing Tri after the printing or lithographing 12 and 13 has been placed thereon. The temperature of the solution is held to approximately F. The backing 11 is thendried by dry air.

The purpose of this process is to make any aiteration'of the identification card impossible by destroying the fi rc strength of the paper insert during the heating process of lamination and render the paper more compatible to the thermoplastic cover material to assure that the paper will remain laminated to the transparent covers when they are heated without pressure in an attempt to peel off the covers. This solution also increases the com-A patibility of the ink on the paper to the thermoplastic cover without altering the appearance when the page strength is destroyed during lamination. When an attempt isv made to reseal a card after a first lamination by a second. lamination the thermoplastic material will melt,V flow and cause a distoration of the card. Asthebackinghas no fibre strength, the result will be cracking and discoloring, which is readily apparent to an observer. It also prevents resealingby mechanicalmeans because there is no strength in the backing 11 and it will readily absorbV any adhesive used, thus causing the face of the card to become smeared or otherwise blemished.

While but one particular embodiment of the inven tion has been particularly shown and described, it is apparent that various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopeV thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall. be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and are set. forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an identification card, a paper backing member 0f substantially. rectangular shape, a pair of cover membersfoftransparent thermoplastic` sheet material coextensiveV with. said backing member and thermoplasticallyv sealed in surrounding relation with the same, said cover members being soluble incertain solvents, and matter on atlcastoneface of the lbacking member printed with a colored inkvr having combined therein a first pigment of ay distinctiveA color which is insoluble in said solvents and. at least a second pigment which is dissolvable inA saidl solvents. and which isof a `distinctive color from said first pigments, the printed matter having throughout a color which isthe product of -concurrence of said firstV and sec-y ond pigments and which. product color is changed toa readilyfdiscernible different color by dissolving of the s'econdpig'ment upon application `to the card of h any of the solvents for dissolving said cover members.

2, In an identification card, a backing member of sheet material of substantially rectangular shape, a pair of cover members of, transparent sheet material coegtjtensivey with'lsaid backing member and fixed in surrounding'Irela-` tion over the same, said `cover members being soluble in certain solvents, intricate design patterns on at least one fa-ce of the backing member printed with an ink having combined therein ink pigments of at least two colors, one group of said color pigments being insoluble in the solvents in which the `cover members are soluble and at least one other group of said color pigments being soluble in said solvents, the lastmentioned group of said color pigments being of a distinctive color from said first-mentioned group, the coexistence `of said pigments in the ink form- 10 ing said printed patterns producing a distinctive color which is changed to a readily distinguishable dierent color `determined predominantly by seid insoluble pigments upon dissolving of the soluble pigments through application to the card of solvents for dissolving said 5 vcover members.

Butler Mar. 20, 1951 Whitehead Mar. 4, 1952

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