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AssigneeThe Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
InventorsStuart S. Kind, David G. Sanger, John D. Twibell, John Hargraves
Estimating the term…
A particulate coding material, e.g. for identifying the origin of a product by introducing it at source without its presence being readily apparent, comprises particles formed as thin transverse sections of an assembly of elongated elements, e.g. of plastic or natural fibres, of different colors and/or compositions forming a transversely united structure, e.g. having their longitudinal surfaces in adherent contact or contained in a matrix. The assembly can be produced by combining pre-existing filaments, e.g. by twisting, or by extrusion through a die, and may be drawn-down to a desired size (e.g. 10-150 .mu.m across) before sectioning. The resulting plurality of distinguishable areas in each particle (and, if desired, their relative locations) provide a coding facility. Larger flat bodies similarly formed, and the unsectioned elongated assemblies, also have identifying uses.
A particulate coding material comprising particles formed as thin transverse sections of an assembly comprising preexisting filaments twisted together and having their longitudinal surfaces in adherent contact, one with another, the individual filaments being of at least two different colors and/or compositions whereby each section has the same number of areas of each color and/or composition as every other section, wherein prior to sectioning into thin transverse sections the filaments of the assembly are transversely united only by the twist and the adherent contact, and, after sectioning, the filament sections of the particles are permanently transversely united only by said adherent contact, and wherein the assembly and the resulting particles are devoid of any surrounding cover about their exteriors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.