Process for preparing an identification card

A process, utilizing the following raw materials (a) a backing having a heat-sealable surface, (b) a material that is tacky and is photosensitive and becomes harder and non-tacky upon exposure to light, and (c) a transparent heat-sealable cover, said surface, said material and said cover being compatible in that they may be merged and caused to flow together to form one integral construction when adequate heat and pressure are applied to them, for producing an identification card which comprises spreading said material on a substrate to form a coated substrate, placing a transparent protective film over the coated substrate, superposing on the transparent protective film a half-tone photograph having an opaque portion and a transparent portion, exposing said coated substrate to light rays by directing light rays through the photograph to render non-tacky the portions of said material which correspond to those parts of the photograph that are transparent, removing the photograph and the protective film from said coated substrate, spreading particulate material over said first-named material so that the particles stick to the tacky portion of the first-named material, removing the particulate material that did not adhere, placing said coated substrate in contact with said surface of said backing in such a manner so that said first-named material is directly contacting the backing and transfers said tacky portion of the first-named material and the particulate material on said tacky portion to the backing, and removing the coated substrate from said backing whereby the tacky portion of said first-named material remains adhered to said backing, placing said transparent heat-sealable cover over said surface including any of said materials that have adhered to said surface, and applying heat and pressure to the surface, the materials and the transparent cover, to merge them together causing said first-named material to merge into said surface and causing the transparent cover to merge into said surface including such merger in the spaces between half-tone dots, thus to form an identification card in which the backing, the first-named material and said cover have become integral thus improving the alter-proof characteristics of the card.

A process for producing an identification card which comprises spreading bonding material that is hardened by light on a substrate, placing a transparent protective film over the coated substrate, superposing on the transparent protective film a half-tone photograph having an opaque portion and a transparent portion, exposing said coated substrate to light rays by directing light rays through the photograph to harden the portions of the bonding material which correspond to those parts of the photograph that are transparent, removing the photographic image and the protective film from said coated substrate, spreading particulate material over said bonding material so that the particles stick to the unhardened portion of the bonding material, removing the particulate material that has not adhered, and thereby obtaining the photographic image, providing a backing and a transparent cover which are compatible with each other and with said bonding material in the sense that they merge together under heat and pressure, placing said coated substrate with said image thereon in contact with a backing in such a manner so that the image is directly contacting the backing, removing the coated substrate from said backing whereby the image remains adhered to the backing, and sealing a transparent covering to the backing by heat and pressure to join the backing and the covering not only between the dots of particulate material but outside the boundary of the picture formed on the backing.

The method of making an identification card comprising

• providing a sheet of thermoplastic material,
• providing a sheet of magnetizable material having a hexagonal crystaline molecular structure which can be magnetically coded at selected locations in accordance with a predetermined identification code,
• providing a metal that may be coated upon said magnetizable material and which will firmly adhere thereto and has characteristics that permit said sheet of thermoplastic material to be sealed to a coating composed of such metal,
• coating said metal on said magnetizable material to effect a firm adherence of the metal to the magnetizable material,
• applying tacky material to the coating and a pigment held by the tacky material, to form a picture on the coating, and
• applying heat and pressure to seal said thermoplastic sheet to said coating.