GB2315708A

GB2315708A - A passport booklet printed with a penetrating ink

Info

Publication number: GB2315708A
Application number: GB9715758A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Xin Wen
Original assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Current assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Priority date: 1996-07-31
Filing date: 1997-07-26
Publication date: 1998-02-11
Also published as: GB9715758D0

Abstract

The facial image, personal data, and machine readable symbols are printed on a personal data sheet 20 of a passport booklet with an ink 52 which penetrates the surface 31 of the sheet. The facial image, personal data, and machine readable symbols are inkjet printed in one pass followed by lamination with a transparent sheet 30. The ink used is water-based and diffuses by capillary action into the paper base of the sheet.

Description

PASSPORT PRINTING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to personal booklets with photographs, and more particularly to passports having a page with a composite image comprising a facial image of the passport holder and personal data.

Background of the Invention The process of issuing a new passport requires an application form and facial photographs which are sent from an applicant to a passport issuing site.

Typically, each country has a few central sites where passports are printed at high volume, and a number of embassies and consulates throughout the world where smaller number of passports are printed. At the passport issuing site, the personal information, facial image, and security symbols of the passport applicant are printed on the personal data page of a blank passport. The personal data page is then laminated with a transparent lamination sheet. The blank passport is previously printed elsewhere and distributed to the passport issuing sites. A passport booklet 10 is shown in Figure 1 comprised of a personal data page 20, transparent sheet 30, and record sheets 40. The personal data page is bound next to a transparent sheet which contains adhesive on the side facing the personal data sheet. A layout of the personal data sheet 20 is shown in Figure 2 and includes an image area 22, personal data area 24, and machine readable symbols 26.

The procedure for a passport printing operation is illustrated in Figure 3.

The personal data on an application form is entered into a computer. A photograph of the applicant is scanned and stored on a computer or, alternatively, the passport applicant's image can be captured by an electronic camera and similarly stored on a computer. The personal data and the machine readable symbols are composed in an image file and subsequently printed. Next, the photograph is attached by adhesives between the personal data sheet and the transparent lamination sheet in the passport. Sometimes the applicant's facial image and personal data is first produced on an intermediate media sheet (as exemplified in the prior art described below) and then transferred to the lamination sheet or the personal data sheet.

Finally, the lamination sheet and the personal data sheet are laminated together.

Any inserts carrying personal image or data are sandwiched in between the lamination sheet and personal data sheet.

Figure 4 shows an assembled personal data page 21 in passport 10 according to the prior art. A photograph 23 is placed on a personal data insert 25 and both are sandwiched between the personal data sheet 20 and the transparent lamination sheet 30. An adhesive is used to hold the composite personal data page together. A similar construction is shown in US Patent No. 4,911,478. This structure is complex and the separate inserts create opportunities for forgery by the replacement of the appropriate inserts.

Detailed requirements for passport printing are described by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in documents such as ICAO DOC 9303 and DOC 9303/2. In general, passport printing involves the following: 1. Security protection must be designed into the passport to prevent it from being tampered or altered. The weakest area in the current passports is that the image of the passport carrier is inserted as a separate sheet and attached between the lamination and the data sheet of the passport. Passport are often forged by replacing the carrier's photograph with someone else's image. To prevent this, ideally, no insert should be used for the personal image and the image should be printed on the personal data page of the passport. Furthermore, the marking material such as ink, toner, or dye is best penetrated into the paper so they cannot be easily removed.

2. The passport printing system should be capable of printing text, machine readable symbols, and also, ideally, the image. Machine reading requires the symbols to be detected in the infrared range (ICAO DOC 9303 and DOC 9303/2) and good registration of the security symbols relative to the edges of the personal data page.

3. The image, text and the symbols should be stable against high temperature and common chemical solvents (ICAO DOC 9303 and DOC 9303/2).

4. The printing system should be low cost and easy to use. This is highly desired due to the fact of the large number of widely distributed passport issuing sites. Often, technical assistance and equipment service are not easily available at some of the sites.

Due to the above special requirements, technologies developed for consumer or commercial printing applications generally cannot be adopted for passport printing and special methods and technologies have been developed to meet these needs. In the US Patents 4,911,478; 4,928,996; 5,068,742; 5,106,719; a passport booklet and printing method are disclosed in which the facial image of the passport holder is captured by a photosensitive paper and then thermally transferred to a dye receiving layer. The dye receiving layer and an identification data sheet are inserted between the personal data sheet and the lamination sheet on the passport. This technique has the disadvantage of having personal information and image carried on the insert sheets which may provide opportunities for forgery.

The procedure is also relatively complex and requires expensive equipment.

US Patent No. 5,211,424, disclosed a passport printing procedure that involve inserting a separate personal data sheet into a bound passport booklet.

Similar to the first method, the inserted sheet in this procedure is not desirable due to the possibilities of tampering and forgery. US Patent No. 5,318,941 disclosed a passport printing system that prints personal data and machine readable symbols with a thermal wax printer and the carrier's image with a thermal dye sublimation printer. This technique represents a simplification compared to the first technique, but it still requires two different types of printers. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the dyes is also of concern at elevated test temperatures required by IACO.

US Patent No. 5,021,318, disclosed a passport printing method which comprises the steps of forming a latent image on an intermediate electrostatically charged image mernber by optical exposure, developing the image using toner particles, drying the developed image, transferring the image onto a transparent sheet, and fusing the transparent sheet to a paper. Similar to the first method, this technique also involves many steps which render significant equipment cost. In addition, the fused toner particles tend to stay on the paper surface and do not penetrate the paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a passport with a facial image and personal data of the passport holder which is difficult to forge or alter.

It is another object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost passport printing system in which the facial image, personal, and machine-readable symbols are all printed by one printer.

Yet another object of this invention to provide thermal stability of the printed information on the personal data sheet of the passport.

An additional object of this invention is to provide improved machine readability of the printed security symbols.

In accordance with the present invention, a facial image of the passport applicant and personal data of the applicant are printed on a personal data page as a composite image. An ink solution used for printing penetrates into the paper driven by capillary action and thermal diffusion. The personal data sheet is adhered to a transparent lamination sheet bound in a passport booklet.

According to a feature of the present invention, a printing unit contains a flat platen and clamps for mounting the passport booklet. The clamps firmly hold the passport booklet during printing which ensures good printing registration which is required by machine reading. An inkjet printer applies single and multi-density levels of yellow, magenta, cyan and black (YMCK) colors for facial images, and the personal data and machine readable symbols are printed in bi-level (single bit) black color. The facial image is printed in multiple density levels with halftoning (multitoning), preferably in YMC color. Pigmented, thermally stable inks are used and the black ink absorbs energy in the infrared range.

The present invention produces a passport that is difficult to forge or alter by directly printing the facial image, the personal data, and machine readable symbols on a personal data page bound into the passport so that the facial image cannot be replaced with an inserted personal photograph. Tampering protection is further provided by the fact that ink is an integral part of the paper it is printed on since the ink solution penetrates into the paper driven by capillary action and thermal diffusion. The pigmented inks are not readily soluble in solvents and are thermally stable compared to dyes. The black pigmented ink is made of materials that absorbs light in the infrared wavelength range, such as Carbon Black BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a passport including a personal data page and a transparent lamination sheet.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the personal sheet in a passport booklet as published in ICAO documents DOC 9303 and DOC 9303/2.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of passport printing according to the prior art.

Figure 4 is a sectional view, from the side, showing the construction of a personal data page in a passport booklet according to the prior art.

Figure 5 is a sectional view, from the side, showing the construction of a personal data page in a passport booklet according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a schematic view of a passport printing system according to the present invention.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a printing unit in a passport printing system according to the present invention.

Figure 8 is a flow diagram of the operations of passport printing according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to Figure 5, a composite personal data page according to the present invention, referred to in general by the reference numeral 50. Printing ink 52 is applied directly onto the personal data sheet 20 for facial images, personal data, and machine readable symbols. The water-based ink diffuses into the paper due to capillary action, which improves security because the ink is integrated into the paper base. In the preferred embodiment the inks are pigmented and thus are not readily soluble in solvents and are also thermally stable. For personal data and machine readable symbols a black pigmented ink made of materials that absorb light in the infrared wavelength range, such as Carbon Black, is used. For enhancing the image quality of the passport holder's facial image, the personal data sheet may be specially coated before it is assembled is into the blank passport book. Such coatings include but are not limited to the coatings used in Kodak Inkjet Snapshot Paper.

Referring to Figure 6, a passport printing system is shown, referred to in general by numeral 60. In the preferred embodiment, a photograph 23 of the passport applicant is digitized by a scanner 62. In an alternative embodiment, an image of the passport applicant is directly captured by an electronic camera 64. An image file, from either source, is stored on a computer 66. The personal data of the applicant is also entered into the computer. The personal data, machine readable symbols, and the facial image are then composed in a composite image file on the computer 66.

The passport 10 is then opened at the personal data sheet 20 and the transparent lamination sheet 30 is flipped to the opposite side. The passport 10 is next mounted onto a flat platen 72, shown in more detail in Figure 7, of printing unit 70 and firmly held by clamps 74. The flat platen and clamping the booklet along the whole width of the booklet are designed to prevent shear movement of the pages in the booklet during printing. An inkjet print head 76 is guided by parallel sliding bars 78 and transported by a belt and motor mechanism, not shown.

The printing may be made by a narrow printhead in a swath fashion or the printing speed can be increased by using a cross-the-page printhead. The length of crossthe-page printheads should be compatible with dimensions of the passport book, i.e.

88 mm x 125 mm, and longer than the dimensions of the image area The passport applicant's image data is first printed in multibit per pixel color in the intended image area The personal data and machine readable symbols are subsequently printed at bi-level using black ink. The image data, personal data, and machine readable symbols can also be printed in one pass. After printing, the lamination sheet 30 is flipped to make contact with the personal data page 20. The passport booklet 10 is then transported to a pair of heated pinch fuser rollers 80, shown in Figure 6, for laminatiom The laminated passport is then stored with other finished passports. More than one printing and lamination unit can be multiplexed to one computer so that multiple passports can be printed in parallel.

Details of the image composition and printing steps in the operation flow chart, shown in Figure 8, are described below. The image data, digital file of the passport applicant's facial image, is obtained from scanning the holder's photograph, or captured by an electronic camera. The image data file is typically in continuous tone and in color. This image data file is first resized to dimensions compatible with the image area on the personal data sheet and the printing resolution. The density values at each pixel in the image file are then quantized to the number of multi- density levels of the inkjet printer, which is typically lower than those stored in the image file. Halftoning (multitoning) is subsequently performed based on the density levels of the inkjet printer. Halftoning techniques such as blue noise or error diffilsion dithering are described in Chapter 8, 'Digital Halftoning" by R. Ulichney Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1987.

The mode of printing is related to how the image file is composed. The image printed contains a gradation (multibit) image of the passport applicant's facial image, and bi-level (single bit) text image that include the applicant's personal data such as name, date of birth, sex, and security symbols. The gradation image file is in multibit color and halftoned (multitoned). The text image is at bi-level and in black color. In a first embodiment, the image file for the gradation image and the image file for personal data and symbols are separately created. The locations of the gradation and personal data images within the personal data page are fixed and this information is stored in the computer. Before printing, the page locations of the two images files are sent to the memory and control electronics in the printer.

The multibit, color, halftoned gradation image is printed at the intended area first, because multibit color images normally require longer drying time. The personal data image is subsequently printed in black. Printing parameters such as speed, direction, print head-to-media distance are separately optimized for the image area and the personal data area.

In a second embodiment, the gradation and bi-level image files are superimposed into one image file. The locations of the boundaries of the two image areas are sent to the printer and the whole image file is printed in one pass.

When the print head crosses one image area to the other, the printer is automatically switched between multibit color and single-bit black modes. Since the boundaries of the image areas are fixed, no image type detection algorithm is needed as described in US Patent No. 5,321,532.

There are a number of significant improvements in the present invention over the prior art, including, but not limited to, the following: only one printer (one station) is needed for printing all the information; the procedure is simple and the equipment is low cost; a simple printer design ensures good registration of the printed information; the facial image data and personal data of the passport applicant are printed directly on the personal data page of the passport which eliminates the insert sheets and improves the security of the passport; the ink penetrates into the paper, further improve security against forgery; and pigmented inks are more stable compared to the dyes used in the prior art, and are machine readable.

The invention has been described with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

For example, when the term photograph is used, it will be understood that this term includes a representative image of the passport holder, no matter how the image is obtained or rendered in fixed form.

PARTS LIST 10. Booklet 20. Personal Data Sheet 21. Personal Data Page 22. Image Area 23. Photograph 24. Personal Data Area 25. Data Insert 26. Machine Readable Symbols 30. Transparent/Lamination Sheet 31. Adhesive 40 Record Sheets 52. Ink 60. Printing System 62. Scanner 64. Camera 66. Computer 70. Printing Unit 72. Platen 74.

76.

78. Sliding Bars 79. Encasement 80. Fuser Rollers

Claims

I (We) Claim:

1. A passport booklet for identifying a holder thereof, said passport booklet being provided with a facial image and personal data of said holder which comprises: a personal data sheet bound in said passport booklet; personal data recorded on said personal data sheet; and image data recorded on said personal data sheet, wherein said image data and said personal data are printed with an ink which penetrates a surface of said personal data sheet.

2. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein a transparent sheet is bound in said booklet adjacent to said supporting sheet, and said transparent sheet is adhered to said surface of said personal data sheet.

3. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein said image data and said personal data are printed on said personal data sheet in one pass.

4. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein said image data is printed in multibit per pixel color and said personal data is printed in bi-level bit per pixel black.

5. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein said image data is printed first and said personal data is printed second.

6. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein said image data is recorded with water-based ink.

7. A passport booklet as in Claim 6 wherein said water-based ink is thermally stable.

8. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein said personal data is recorded with a black pigmented ink that absorb light in an infrared wavelength range.

9. A passport booklet as in Claim 1 wherein machine readable symbols are recorded on said personal data sheet.

10. A passport booklet as in Claim 9 wherein said machine readable symbols, personal data, and image data are recorded on said personal data sheet in one pass.

11. A method of producing a booklet for identifying a holder thereof, said booklet being provided with a facial image of said holder, personal data of said holder, and machine readable symbols, said method comprising the steps of: recording the facial image of said holder; recording personal data of said holder; and printing said facial image, said personal data, and said machine readable symbols on a personal data sheet of said booklet wherein an ink used for said printing penetrates a surface of said personal data sheet.

12. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the step of printing machine readable symbols concurrently with printing said personal data.

13. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the step of attaching a transparent sheet to said surface.

14. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the step of recording said facial image in continuous tone.

15. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the step of halftoning said recorded facial image prior to printing.

16. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the step of resizing said recorded facial image to a dimensions compatible with an image area on said personal data sheet prior to printing.

17. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 wherein said recorded facial image is printed on an image area of said personal data sheet prior to printing said personal data and said machine readable symbols.

18. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 wherein said facial image is recorded by an electronic camera.

19. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 wherein said facial image is recorded by a scanner.

20. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 wherein said facial image is in color.

21. A method of producing a booklet as in Claim 11 further comprising the steps; superimposing said facial image, said personal data, and said machine readable symbols into a composite image file; and printing said composite image file in one pass.