WO2008053202A2

WO2008053202A2 - Method and apparatus for producing security documentation

Info

Publication number: WO2008053202A2
Application number: PCT/GB2007/004142
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ian Gibb; Allan Harle
Original assignee: Macon Management And Design Limited; Inspectron Holdings Plc
Priority date: 2006-11-01
Filing date: 2007-10-31
Publication date: 2008-05-08
Also published as: GB0621748D0; WO2008053202A3

Abstract

In a method and apparatus for producing security documentation such as passports, identity cards, licences, permits, tickets, vouchers or similar, an inlay is produced incorporating an information store. Information is read from the store and converted into a printable form. A code is printed on the inlay representing information in the store. The print is in a medium which is readable by non-visual means. If the information store is corrupted or damaged during the lifetime of the corresponding document, information may be retrieved by reading the printed code.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SECURITY

DOCUMENTATION

The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for producing security documentation, such as passports, identity cards, licences, permits, tickets, vouchers or similar documents, and to the documentation so produced.

Electronic passports are normal passports, enhanced with a built in chip, which contains personal information about the holder. They also contain other information, which may be added by the country which issues them.

Security is extremely important, and many anti theft, fraud and copy features are built in to these passports. As part of security and quality assurance in manufacturing, information is typically gathered about the origins of the sensitive materials used, their path from one supplier to another and the steps involved in actual manufacture.

Once issued, e-Passports must survive a typical useful life of ten years. Throughout this time, each passport, when used, will be subject to scrutiny by the relevant border authorities, and in unusual circumstances, it will be necessary to refer back to the origins of the passport.

The correlation between human readable information and electronically stored information on each passport is critical. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing security documentation including an electronic store for storing information including the steps of producing an inlay incorporating the store, reading information from the store and converting it into a printable form, and printing a code representing information on the inlay, the print being printed in a medium readable by non-visual means.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for manufacturing a security document, comprising means for manufacturing an inlay for the document incorporating an electronic store for storing information, means for reading information from the store, means for converting the information read into a printable form and means for printing the information in that form in a medium which may be read by non-visual means. According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a security document comprising an inlay having an electronic store and a printed form on the inlay representing information from the store, the form being printed in a medium readable by a non-visual method.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the electronic store comprises a silicon chip. Antenna is preferably associated with the chip. Information from the chip is advantageously converted into a barcode. The barcode is preferably printed in a magnetically readable ink, or other form which may be read by a non-visual method. Thus when the inlay bearing the barcode is incorporated in the security document, the barcode is visually obscured but may nevertheless still be read. Other non-visual reading methods may be used such as heat (infra-red) or other light sensitive inks or radio isotope doped inks, and RFID (radio frequency identification technology) actually printed onto the inlay. Thus should the chip develop a fault or the information on it become corrupted during the lifetime of the document essential information may be retrieved from the printed form. The apparatus for manufacturing the document advantageously comprises a computer. The means for reading information from the store comprises a reader which is connected to the computer. A reader is also preferably provided for reading the printed form in order to check the information in the printed form with the information read from the store. In the case of a magnetic barcode the reader is a magnetic barcode reader. Corresponding readers may, in the alternative, be provided for other media. The security document may be a passport or an identity card or similar document. In the case of a passport the inlay is incorporated in the remainder of the document after printing thereby visually obscuring the printed form which may still be read, however, by non-visual reading methods. According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a ticket, voucher or similar document comprising at least two leaves fixed together, at least one of the outwardly facing surfaces of the leaves bearing visually readable indicia and at least one of the inwardly facing surfaces bearing indicia readable by non-visual means.

According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a ticket, voucher or similar document including the steps of printing indicia readable by non-visual means on a leaf of a document, placing two leaves together to form the completed document so that the indicia is obscured and printing indicia readable by visual means on at least one external surface of the completed document.

In an alternative form the visually readable indicia is printed on the leaf prior to the leaves being placed together. The indicia readable by non visual means may be magnetic or based upon heat (infra-red) or other light sensitive inks or radio isotope doped inks RFID (radio frequency identification technology).

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a series of two inlays for respective passports, and

Figure 2 diagrammatically shows apparatus for producing inlays according to Figure 1 .

Referring to the drawings, an electronic or e-Passport incorporates a silicon chip which as described in the introduction electronically stores information some of which is personal to the holder of the passport. The silicon chip becomes active only after it has been connected to an antenna. The mechanical requirements of this combination are such that both chip and antenna must be adequately supported and protected for the normal risks of daily use. This support consists of a paper/plastic page onto which the chip/antenna is attached. These pages are called inlays.

Figure 1 shows two inlays (inlays are normally made two at a time but may be made in any suitable number) respectively referenced 1 and 2. Each inlay 1 , 2 support the antenna and chip previously mentioned. The antenna are referenced 3 and the chips are referenced 4. Each inlay 1 , 2 is printed with a barcode 5 which contains the number of the associated chip 4 or any other number together with other production data relating to that chip such as date and place of birth or other origin data. This barcode data is stored externally for the life of the passport and provides a direct relationship to the chip on that inlay during the life of the passport.

Referring specifically to Figure 2, apparatus for producing the above described inlays comprises an inlay preparation machine 20 operative to produce paper/plastic pages to which chip-antenna combinations are respectively attached. Normally, as indicated above, the inlays are produced in pairs. A chip reader 21 is attached to the inlay preparation machine 20. This reader 21 reads and activates the chip after it has been attached to the inlay. Each chip 4 has a unique identification number, which is installed during its manufacture, and which is communicated to the chip reader 21 if activation is successful. If activation is not successful, an error is identified and the faulty inlay is rejected. The inlay preparation machine comprises a control computer 22 to which the chip reader 21 is connected and the chip number, time, date and other information is recorded by the computer 22. A barcode printer 23 is also connected to the computer. The information read from the chip or alternative information is fed to the barcode printer which encodes a barcode on the inlay representing the data supplied. The barcode is printed in magnetic ink so that it can be read by a magnetic reader. A magnetic reader 24 is also connected to the computer 22 so the ability to read the barcode and the integrity of the information printed in barcode form can be checked.

Inlays produced in this way are collected into batches and delivered to another location for integration in the remainder of the passports. During this process the inlay is attached to a suitable cover and pages of the passport are permanently attached to the inside of the cover. Once this has been done the barcode is hidden from view. However, as it is magnetic it can still be read by a magnetic reader. There is therefore a permanent back up readable copy of the above mentioned chip information available for the life of the inlay both during the manufacturing process itself and thereafter during normal use. Should the chip be damaged or its data contents corrupted, the barcode backup can be employed to recover the information and produce a replacement. Availability during the manufacturing process enables chip-containing components to be tracked during this process. Thus for example production date and component location may be tracked. Also although magnetic barcodes have been particularly described other non-visual readable identifiers may be used such as those based on heat (infra-red) or other light sensitive inks or radio isotope doped inks, and RFID (radio frequency identification technology) actually printed onto the inlay. It will be appreciated that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and that many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, a ticket or voucher may comprise two or more leaves, which may be formed by folding a single leaf, fixed together. Indicia readable by non visual means may be printed on an internal surface of a leaf and indicia readable by visual means on an externally facing surface of a leaf. In an alternative form the visually readable indicia is printed on the leaf prior to the leaves being placed together. The indicia readable by non visual means may be magnetic or based upon heat (infra-red) or other light sensitive inks or radio isotope doped inks RFID (radio frequency identification technology).

If desired, the information read from the chip may be related indirectly to the printed form via a secure database and/or by using encryption. In that case the conversion step would include accessing the

secure database and/or encrypting the information read prior to printing.

Claims

1 . A method of manufacturing security documentation including an electronic store for storing information including the steps of producing an inlay incorporating the store, reading information from the store and converting it into a printable form, and printing a code representing information on the inlay, the print being printed in a medium readable by non- visual means.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which the electronic store comprises a silicon chip.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, in which an antenna is associated with the chip.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which information from the chip is converted into a barcode.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, in which the barcode is printed so as to be readable by a non-visual method.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4, in which the barcode is printed in a magnetically readable ink.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which printed information from the store is readable by infra-red means.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which printed information from the store is readable by light sensitive means. _

10

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which printed information from the store is readable by radio isotope based means.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 , in which printed information from the store is readable by radio frequency identification

5 based means.

1 1 . A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the step of converting into a printable form includes a security step comprising accessing a secure database and/or encryption. 0 12. Apparatus for manufacturing a security document, comprising means for manufacturing an inlay for the document incorporating an electronic store for storing information, means for reading information from the store, means for converting the information read into a printable5 form and means for printing the information in that form in a medium which may be read by non-visual means.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which the means for printing the information comprises a magnetic barcode printer. 0

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, in which the means for printing the information comprise means for printing an infrared readable print.

1 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14, in which the means for printing the information comprises means for printing in a light sensitive ink.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12, in which the means for printing the information comprises means for printing in radio isotope doped inks.

17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 2, in which the means for printing information comprises means for printing in a radio frequency identification technology.

18. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 12 to 17, comprising a computer.

1 9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 18, in which the means for reading information from the store comprises a reader connected to the computer.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19, in which a reader is provided for reading the printed information and means are provided for comparing printed information so read with information read from the store.

21 . Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 12 to 20, in which the means for converting into a printable form includes means for introducing a security step comprising accessing a secure database and/or encryption.

22. A security document comprising an inlay having an electronic store and a printed form on the inlay representing information from the store, the form being printed in a medium readable by a non-visual method.

23. A security document as claimed in claim 20, in which the inlay is incorporated in the remainder of the document after printing, so as to visually obscure the printed information.

24. A ticket voucher or similar document comprising at least two leaves fixed together, at least one of the outwardly facing surfaces of the leaves bearing visually readable indicia and at least one of the inwardly facing surfaces bearing indicia readable by non-visual means.

25. A ticket voucher or similar document as claimed in claim 24, in which the indicia readable by non-visual means is magnetic or based upon infra-red or other light sensitive inks, or upon radio isotope doped inks.

26. A method of manufacturing a ticket, voucher or similar document including the steps of printing indicia readable by non-visual means on a leaf of a document, placing two leaves together to form the completed document so that the indicia is obscured and printing indicia readable by visual means on at least one external surface of the completed document.

27. A method of manufacturing a ticket voucher or similar document as claimed in claim 26, in which the visually readable indicia is printed on the leaf prior to the leaves being placed together.