FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to security indicia incorporated into paper/paperboard items for authenticating and/or preventing forgery of items such as labels and packaging material, sports cards, lottery tickets and tickets to theater events, sporting events, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Counterfeiting is a problem in many different industries today. For example, manufacturers of clothing articles, particularly jeans, are plagued by counterfeit products containing labels which are exact replicas of the manufacturer's label. Tickets to sporting events and concerts are very often forged. There are numerous other situations in which the forgery of paperboard products such as tickets, labels, cards or the like presents a significant economic problem. Anti-counterfeiting features have been applied to documents that in themselves have or represent value or have security uses. Thus, bank notes and legal tender of govern¬ ments include the use of intricate designs, watermarks, threads, metalized plastic strips and the like, which make successful counterfeiting difficult. The high cost and the intricate techniques associated with production of such papers generally limit their use to high value items. These items are difficult to produce and rely on complexity, cost or other production factors that would not normally be available to a

forger. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of such preventive measures is countered by techniques and apparatus now available to forgers, including color photocopiers, which reproduce visual features of documents with great fidelity. Because of the high cost of producing anti- counterfeit papers and objects, such as paper money, bank notes, credit and identification cards, etc., these techniques have not been applied to items of lesser value, such as packaging materials, labels, game cards, sports cards, lottery tickets and tickets to public events. Nevertheless, the use of such items, in certain circumstances, may be associated with products of monetary value. For example, labels are used on men's, women's, and children's clothing, for example, jeans, and the aggregate value of such clothing, even in a single production run by a prominent manufacturer, can be significant. Further, such clothing items are the object of intense counterfeiting from many sources around the world as well as from illegal domestic sources.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing paper products such as labels or tickets bearing simple anti-counterfeiting indicia which can be easily correlated at the time of manufacture to the product or service with which the paper is to be used in accordance with a predetermined characteristic of the product or service. By selecting one of a plurality of anti-counterfeiting patterns depending on the predetermined characteristic, counterfeit paper can be detected by inspectors who have knowledge of the relationship between the characteristic and the anti- counterfeit code. In the preferred embodiment, the anti- counterfeit code is applied to an interior surface of a multi¬ ply paper in such a way that the anti-counterfeit indicia are visible at the edges of the paper.

It is a feature of the invention that relatively inexpensive means can be used in a conventional paper manufacturing process for embedding an anti-counterfeit coded pattern within the finished paper product with relatively little change required in the basic paper producing machinery itself.

Although compared to current anti-counterfeiting techniques, the present invention is extremely simple, it is not easily duplicated by a forgerer because of the need to print a unique pattern during the paper making process. Moreover, the anti-counterfeit pattern can easily be changed by the manufacturer and the capability of changing the anti- counterfeit pattern is not something that a forgerer would normally have because of the expense of the machinery required to mass produce multi-ply paper containing an anti-counterfeit pattern coded on an interior surface of one or more of the plies. Hence, although the system is not foolproof, it will significantly deter forgery because of the substantial capital investment that would be required to provide counterfeit paper with the virtually limitless anti-counterfeit patterns provided by the invention.

It is contemplated that the anti-counterfeit coded pattern will be visible at the edges of the paper after the paper has been cut. In that case, an inspector could simply examine the edge to determine the coded pattern. However, for greater security, it may be preferred that the pattern not be visible at the edges. This may require that the pattern be printed with gaps so that when the paper is cut in the gap, no pattern appears at the edges of the cut paper. In that case, an inspector would examine the coded pattern by cutting the label or ticket at the time of inspection. The pattern could also be inspected by peeling apart the plies of the paper.

By performing the coding on the paper/paperboard machine, basic process economics are maintained. At the same time, the codes can be changed with relative ease, without shutting or slowing the machine. This enables the paper manufacturer to provide coded lots in relatively small quanti¬ ties at an economical cost.

A forgerer cannot duplicate the paper/paperboard easily. For counterfeiting one must have access to a multi-ply paper/paperboard machine that has been modified to produce the codes. Because the coded pattern can be changed easily, a buyer of the paper product can change anti-counterfeit patterns for different lots which are scheduled for production in his own factory. Thus, a forgerer would have difficulty knowing in advance the specific code for a manufacturer's specific production lot. Referring again to the example of clothing, a production run of a particular product style could have a specifically assigned anti-counterfeit coded pattern concealed in the labels attached to the garments.

This capability to encode items such as labels in specific production lots for specific customers is a unique feature. The labels can then be correlated with a specific production order at any future date. By controlling the distribution of the paperboard having a specific code, individual products made with the encoded paperboard, packaged with the encoded paperboard, and/or labeled with the encoded paperboard can be quickly authenticated at a later date by comparing the code with a record of codes kept in a data bank.

Application of coded paper/paperboard is unique in mass produced items such as tickets, game cards, book covers, product labels, and sport/baseball cards. Additionally, an actual package, such as a folding carton, or labels and tags, can be made from coded material, which is provided in continuous coded sheets to the user. When a product is not labeled or packaged with a suitably coded material, authenti¬ cation of the material is simple, and will detect products such as textiles, software, and books, which are counterfeit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view, partially cut away, of a multi-layer paper/paperboard sheet in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of an apparatus for producing a paperboard in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of apparatus that may be used to apply the coded patterns.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to Figure 1, an anti-counterfeit paper

10 in accordance with the invention may comprise a three ply laminate including a bottom ply 12, a middle ply 13, and a top ply 14. Each ply is formed of conventional paper or paperboard web. The layers 12, 13, and 14 are laminated together using techniques that are conventional in making multi-ply paper and paperboard. Between the middle ply 13 and the bottom ply 12 is an anti-counterfeit coded pattern 16 that is applied to one of the plies 12 or 13, prior to the lamination step in production. The coded pattern 16 may be applied in any desired fashion and thus requires little, if any, change in the produc¬ tion apparatus used in producing multi-layer products.

The anti-counterfeit coded pattern 16 preferably is uniquely correlated in a predetermined fashion to a selected "characteristic" of the paper or the goods/services to be associated with the paper.

The term "characteristic" as used in the specification and claims is intended to refer to any aspect of a product or service with which the paper is associated and which can be correlated to a unique pattern. By way of example only, the production lot of clothing articles would be a "characteristic". The identification of a sporting event, concert or theatrical event would be a "characteristic." The date of an event or the title of a book, disk or tape likewise is a "characteristic" and the term is not intended to be limiting in any respect other than to provide the capability of correlating an anti-counterfeit coded pattern embedded within the paper to a known feature of a product or service.

By way of further example, the principles of the invention are particularly useful in the production of labels for clothing articles such as jeans which are commonly subject to counterfeiting. The invention provides a simple way of correlating a characteristic, such as style, size or lot number, of the jeans produced by the manufacturer to a unique

anti-counterfeit pattern embedded within the paper label. An inspector seeking to determine whether a particular pair of jeans is counterfeit or not, knowing the preselected characteristic of the jeans can determine whether or not a particular pair of jeans is a counterfeit simply by observing the anti-counterfeit pattern on the edge of the label.

As another example, in the case of tickets to a sporting event or concert, the tickets can be coded by the event or by date. That is, a ticket for a particular concert would have a different anti-counterfeiting code than the tickets for a different concert. Likewise, the tickets can be coded by date. In the vast majority of cases, those who are inclined to produce counterfeit paper products such as labels and tickets will lack the resources to manufacture the paper with the code, but even if they can produce the paper, they are extremely unlikely to have the ability to match the anti- counterfeit code and the event. If the manufacturer maintains secret the correlation between the anti-counterfeit code and the product/service characteristic that is coded, the counterfeiter cannot duplicate the proper anti-counterfeit pattern. The effect is to greatly simplify the detection of counterfeit merchandise and/or paper which in turn will deter countefeiting.

Figure 1 illustrates continuous coding strips of varying widths and spacings, which extend in a lengthwise direction of the paper 10. The strips in the coded pattern 16 may include discontinuities, interruptions, non-linearities, and the like. Ink, dye, metal powder or other materials may be used to form the coded pattern. Codes can also be created by varying the colors of the pattern.

By encoding the paper during the manufacturing process, a significantly lower cost anti-counterfeit product is available, as compared to conventional techniques of producing anti-counterfeit paper products. The paper 10 of Figure 1 may include printed matter

18 on the outer surface of the top layer 14. This printed matter which may be in the form of alphanumeric characters, designs, pictures, etc., carries the intelligence of the

finished pro- duct, that is, is the ticket, label, sports card, or the like.

An important feature of the invention is the fact that the anti-counterfeit code is applied during the manufacturing process. This means that the code is applied before the paper has been dried. In the preferred embodiment, a three ply paperboard product is manufactured on a Tampella multi-ply Fourdrinier machine, the "wet end" of which is shown in Fig. 2. The multi-ply Fourdrinier machine shown in Fig. 2 includes three head boxes 28, 30 and 32 each of which contains a suspension of water and pulp (stock) . Head boxes 28 and 32 contain the stock used to manufacture the outer plies 12 and 14. Typically, this stock is a high quality pulp and is commonly referred to as chemical stock. The middle ply 13, since it is not visible, is usually made from a lower quality pulp, referred to as mechanical stock, and is held within the head box 30.

The chemical stock from the head box 28 is dispersed on a continuous conveyor belt 34 made of fabric and generally known as the bottom wire. The wire 34 moves around a multiplicity of rollers (not numbered) in a clock-wise direction. The filler stock within the head box 30 likewise is dispersed onto a continuous filler ply wire 36 which moves in a counterclock-wise direction with the filler ply and bottom ply being laminated together where the wires 34 and 36 are in contact with each other. A continuous backing wire 38 supports the filler ply as it turns the corner to move into contact with the bottom wire 34. The top ply 14 is formed from the chemical stock within head box 32 on a continuous top wire 40 which also moves in a counterclockwise direction to laminate the top ply to the previously joined bottom and filler plies 12 and 13, respectively. The portion of the paper manufacturing process illustrated in Fig. 2 is known as the "wet end". During this part of the process, the various plies are wet and in a typical paper manufacturing process, the laminated paperboard coming

off the bottom wire 34, as shown schematically by the arrow 42, is removed from the wire and dried by the application of pressure and heat.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the anti-counterfeiting code is applied to at least one of the plies while it is still wet. In the process shown in Fig. 2, this could be done prior to lamination of the filler and bottom plies 13 and 12, or prior to the addition of the top ply 14. In the preferred embodiment, the code is applied to the bottom ply 12 prior to its being laminated to the filler ply by means of two shower bars 44 and 46.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of apparatus that may be used in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention to apply the anti-counterfeiting code on the paper/paperboard ply during the laminating process illustrated in Figure 2.

The machine which is represented in Figure 2 may comprise a bottom wire which is 190 inches wide, with the web or fiber plies being 180 inches wide. The anti-counterfeit coding material is applied by shower bars 44 and 46, each of which extends across the width of the fibrous web. Nozzles may be spaced as close as two inches across the entire width of the web with the nozzles in the shower bars 44 and 46 offset with respect to each other so that the printed lines are in fact about one inch apart. The shower bars may be slightly tapered, decreasing in diameter from the input end to maintain the same pressure differential at each of the nozzles across the width of the fibrous web. The nozzles 48 and 50 may be conventional nozzles, for example with a single aperture which will apply a line about 1/32 inch thick on the fibrous web as it is formed on the bottom wire 34. Any desired nozzle configuration can be used, and as mentioned above with respect to Fig. 1, different nozzle configurations may be used to apply lines of different widths for coding purposes. Preferably, the anti-counterfeit code is color-coded.

For this purpose different colored dyes are fed to the shower bars 44 and 46, but the feeding mechanism in both bases may be identical, and only the feeding mechanism for the shower bar

44 is illustrated and described. A suitably colored dye is fed to a holding tank 52 with an adequate amount of water to form a printing medium. In the preferred embodiment, the coding medium is a pigment-based dye of any color. Because the fibrous web on which the printing medium is applied is wet, for example 80-90% water, the dye would ordinarily have a tendency to "run" after it is applied. To prevent this, a water retention agent such as carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is added to the dye solution in tank 52 by means of a hopper 54. The CMC is added to the tank as a solid powder. By way of example, a suitable coding medium may comprise .l-.3% weight pigment based or direct dye and 4% CMC. The solution is stirred by a conventional mixer 56.

A positive displacement or centrifugal pump 58 feeds the coding medium to the shower bar 44 so that it can be dispersed through the nozzles 48 on to the fibrous web formed on the bottom wire 34. Valves may be provided in the various lines to control the flow of the liquid and also for normal maintenance purposes. The system as shown in Figures 2 and 3 is a rudimentary system in that the anti-counterfeiting codes applied by the nozzles 48 and 50 are changed manually, for example by closing selected nozzles. While this is effective from a practical point of view for most purposes, ultimately it is contemplated that a sophisticated computer controlled valving system may be used to open and close preselected nozzles in order to apply automatically a preselected anti- counterfeit pattern. Indeed, the invention contemplates any mechanism for applying an anti-counterfeiting pattern to one or more plys of a multi-ply paper/paperboard laminate during the manufacturing process.