Objects to be checked for authenticity, and method and apparatus for checking whether or not objects are authentic

A card-like object which can be checked for authenticity, comprising:

• a card-like main body formed of a nonmagnetic material;
• and a sign panel located in a scanning region provided on at least part of an obverse or reverse side of said card-like main body, said sign panel having a predetermined kind of data written thereon, and said sign panel including:
• a base member formed of paper containing a plurality of wood pulp fibers;
• and
• a plurality of fibrous magnetic polymer elements integrally incorporated in said base member together with the wood pulp fibers, said magnetic polymer elements and the wood pulp fibers being tangled together three-dimensionally, each of said magnetic polymer elements having an element main body formed of a high molecular material and having a powder of magnetically-soft material contained therein, said high molecular material being selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polyester, urethane, and acrylic resin, and said powder of magnetically-soft material having a particle diameter of 1 .mu.m or less and high permeability, and
• said card-like main body having a code indicator section for storing encoded information corresponding to a detection signal which is obtained in accordance with a state of said magnetic polymer elements of said sign panel.

A method of manufacturing and checking the authenticity of an object, said object comprising a base member formed of a nonmagnetic material, a scanning region located at a specific portion of said base member, a plurality of magnetic polymer elements scattered at random in said scanning region, and a code indicator section for storing encoded information, each of said magnetic polymer elements including an element main body formed of a high molecular material and having a powder of magnetically-soft material contained therein, said high molecular material being selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polyester, urethane, and acrylic resin, and said powder of magnetically-soft material having a particle diameter of 1 .mu.m or less and high permeability, said method comprising:

• a manufacturing process including:
• a scanning step of magnetically scanning said magnetic polymer elements scattered in said scanning region of said object;
• a detection step of producing a detection signal specific to said object by detecting an output which varies in accordance with a distribution of said magnetic polymer elements scattered in said scanning region of said object;
• a step of producing a cipher code by ciphering the detection signal;
• and
• a step of recording the cipher code in said code indicator section of said object;
• and
• a collation process including:
• a scanning step of magnetically scanning said magnetic polymer elements scattered in said scanning region of said object;
• a detection step of producing a detection signal specific to said object by detecting an output which varies in accordance with a distribution of said magnetic polymer elements scattered in said scanning region of said object;
• a code reading step of reading the cipher code recorded in said code indicator section of said object;
• and
• a determination step of determining that said object is authentic when the cipher code and the detection signal agree with each other.

An apparatus for checking the authenticity of an object, said object comprising a base member formed of a nonmagnetic material, a scanning region located at a specific portion of said base member, a plurality of magnetic polymer elements scattered at random in said scanning region, and a code indicator section for storing encoded information, each of said magnetic polymer elements including an element main body formed of a high molecular material and having a powder of magnetically-soft material contained therein, said high molecular material being selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polyester, urethane, and acrylic resin, and said powder of magnetically-soft material having a particular diameter of 1 .mu.m or less and high permeability and being formed of a magnetic material having at least one of a high coercive force and a high magnetic permeability, said apparatus comprising:

• detection means for magnetically scanning said magnetic polymer elements scattered in said scanning region of said object, said detection means producing a detection signal specific to said object by detecting an output which varies in accordance with a distribution of said magnetic polymer elements;
• cipher code means for producing a cipher code by ciphering the detection signal;
• code write means for recording the cipher code in said code indicator section of said object;
• reading means for reading the cipher code recorded in said code indicator section of said object;
• and
• collating means for collating the cipher code read by said reading means with the detection signal produced by said detection means, and for determining that said object is authentic when the cipher code and the detection signal agree with each other.