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US 4,033,059 AGranted
Documents of value including intaglio printed transitory images
AssigneeAmerican Bank Note Company
InventorsRobert Gordon Hutton, Trevor Merry
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imprint of inked intaglio pattern elements such as lines on a document of value or the like, including background portions and readily recognizable image portions each formed by pattern elements of the imprint. The pattern elements forming the image portions differ in orientation or depth from pattern elements forming the background portion to provide variation in contrast between image and background with change in angle of view of the document, the pattern elements being so arranged that the image blends visually with the background from one angle of view but appears as a readily recognizable symbol in clear contrast to the background from another angle of view.
Claims22
A security document or the like, comprising:
- (a) a substrate having a surface;
- (b) an imprint comprising spaced pattern elements raised from said surface, said raised elements being inked with a color visibly contrasting with the intervening portions of said surface, said intervening portions being visible between said pattern elements when viewed along a line of sight perpendicular to said surface;
- (c) said imprint including at least one image array and a background array, each array comprising a multiplicity of said pattern elements;
- (d) said image array and said background array being respectively disposed, in relation to said surface, for occluding their respective intervening portions of the surface in distinctively different degrees as the imprint is viewed at an oblique angle in at least one plane normal to said surface, thereby to produce variation in contrast between said one image array and said background array as the angle of view of said imprint varies in said one plane normal to said surface, the image and background arrays being further respectively so disposed that said one image array blends substantially with said background array from one angle of view but appears in clear contrast to said background array from another angle of view in said plane.
1 more element
A security document or the like, comprising:
- (a) a sheet having a surface,
- (b) an imprint comprising spaced pattern elements raised from said surface, said elements being printed with an ink having a color in visual contrast to the color of the surface, said elements being individually small in at least one dimension parallel to said surface, and closely and substantially regularly spaced for cooperatively producing an integrated visual impression of said imprint as viewed at an angle normal to said surface, said elements being separated by intervening narrow surface portions free of said ink and lower in elevation than said inked elements;
- (c) said imprint including at least one image area and at least one background area contiguous thereto, each of said areas containing an array of said elements;
- (d) the array of elements in said one image area cooperatively defining an image;
- (e) the array of elements in said one background area cooperatively defining the limits of said image;
- (f) the ratio of inked to ink-free surface in both said areas being substantially identical as viewed at said normal angle;
- (g) said image-defining array of pattern elements and said background defining array of pattern elements being respectively disposed, in relation to each other and to said surface, to occlude intervening ink-free surface portions in respectively different degrees as viewed at an oblique angle to the surface in at least one plane normal to the surface, for substantially reducing the ratio of inked to visible ink-free surface in one of said areas relative to the other of said areas as viewed at said oblique angle thereby to provide heightened visual contrast between said image and background areas as viewed at said oblique angle.
4 more elements
A document of value, comprising:
- (a) a sheet of material having an intaglio-printable surface;
- (b) a multiplicity of spaced intaglio-printed pattern elements on said surface, said elements being printed with an ink having a color contrasting with the color of the intervening portions of the surface;
- (c) said elements being arranged in an image array and an adjacent background array defining the limits of the image array;
- (d) the elements of the background array having a dimensional characteristic differing from the corresponding dimensional characteristic in the elements of the image array;
- (e) the difference between said characteristics of the background and image arrays being detectable by comparison of visual inspections along two different preselected lines of sight, in one of which inspections the two arrays blend so as to be distinguishable only with difficulty, and in the other of which the two arrays appear in clear contrast.
2 more elements
A document of value, comprising:
- (a) a sheet of material having an intaglio-printable surface;
- (b) a multiplicity of spaced intaglio-printed pattern elements raised from said surface, said elements being printed with an ink having a color contrasting with the color of the intervening portions of the surface;
- (c) said elements being arranged in an image array and an adjacent background array defining the limits of the image array;
- (d) the elements of the background array having a dimensional characteristic differing from the corresponding dimensional characteristic in the elements of the image array;
- (e) the difference between said characteristics of the background and image arrays being detectable by comparison of visual inspections along two different preselected lines of sight, in one of which inspections the two arrays blend so as to be distinguishable only with difficulty, and in the other of which the elements of one of the two arrays substantially completely occlude the intervening surface portions, while the intervening surface portions of the other array are substantially completely visible, so that said one array appears as a field having the color of the ink, and said other array appears as a field having a color between that of the ink and that of the intervening surface portions.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.