Background of the Invention It is known to form an image on a card, such as a credit card, by either printing a two- dimensional image directly onto the card or by producing a 3D image separately and applying it to the card.

Object of the Invention This invention seeks to provide an alternative image forming process.

Summary of the Invention In accordance with the invention, there is provided a process for forming an image in a substrate, including: providing an image forming material on the substrate; and laminating the substrate and material so that the material is driven into the substrate, to form an embedded image within the substrate.

In another aspect, there is a card formed in accordance with the above-described method.

In yet another aspect, there is provided a card including a substrate and an image embedded therein, the image resulting from material being embedded in the substrate and laminated together with the substrate.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention is described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate with a light-reflective layer; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the substrate with image-forming material printed thereon; Figure 3 illustrates clear overlay being applied to the substrate; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a lamination process; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the substrate with an embedded image; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic front view of a card resulting from the lamination process; Figure 7 is a diagrammatic front view of the card shown in Figure 11, further incorporating a masking print on the front of the card; Figure 8 illustrates a printing process; and Figure 9 is a partial perspective view of the card of Figure 5.

Detailed Description In Figure 1, a substrate 1 is shown as including a core layer 2 and a light-reflective layer 3, in the form of an opaque or semi-transparent metallic/pearl ink 4. Image-forming material 5 is then placed or printed onto the substrate 1. The material may be in the form of a thick- film ink or the like.

A clear-overlay layer 6,7 may then be arranged over the substrate 1 and material 5, as illustrated in Figure 3, and subjected to lamination between steel plates 8, as shown in Figure 4, so that the material 5 is driven into the core and light-reflective layers 2,3 and all of the layers 2,3, 6,7 are pressed into an overall unitary card 10.

A final, laminated form of the substrate 1 is shown in Figure 5 as retaining an embedded image 11 formed by the material 5, which now forms part of the card 20.

The image 11, which is embedded in the substrate 1 shown in Figures 1 to 5, produces a physical and/or optic affect. The image has a depth dimension"d", resulting from the process of embedding the image 11 in the substrate 1 itself and that depth dimension"d" provides a type of 3D effect with respect to the image 11 when viewed from a front side 13 of the substrate 1. The inclusion of a light-reflective layer 3 in the substrate 1 further assists the three-dimensional visual affect since light reflectivity will be enhanced around contoured edges 12 of the embedded image 11, when viewed from the front side 13 of the card 10.

A further advantage of the invention is that the process may be integrated into a normal laminating operation for producing a credit card or the like and that could lead to cost savings and efficiencies, for producing a 3D image card, or the like.

As may be appreciated then, the invention provides an alternative process for forming an image 11 in a substrate 1 and is particularly suitable for application to a card 10 used for, for example, identification, financial transaction, loyalty schemes or telecommunication purposes.

With reference to Figure 6, such a card 10 can also include a magnetic strip 14, of about 30 gm thickness, applied to a reverse side 15 of the card 10. The magnetic strip 14 may be integrated into the card 10 during lamination. However, the thickness of the magnetic strip 14 can cause unwanted contour lines 16 in the substrate 1 which are visible on the front side 13 of the card 10. Accordingly, the card manufacturing process may also include a step of providing a masking strip 17 on the front side 13 of the card 10 so that the contour lines 16 caused by the thickness of the magnetic strip 14 being driven into the substrate 1, are not visible from the front side 13 of the card 10.

Preferably, the magnetic strip 14 and masking strip 17 are applied to the reverse side and the front side of the substrate 1, respectively, prior to lamination. Alternatively, the magnetic strip 14 is applied over the top of the clear overlay layer 6 and the masking print

17 is applied between substrate 1 and clear overlay layer 7. During lamination, the clear overlay layers 6,7 are combined with the substrate 1, the magnetic strip 14, the masking strip 17 and the material 5 to form the card 10. In Figure 7, the masking strip 17 is printed on only a portion of the card 10 local to the magnetic strip 14 so that the desired visual affects resulting from the impression of the material 5 in the substrate 1 are not obscured by the masking strip 17.

A specific example of a card manufacturing process is described in more detail with reference to Figures 8 and 9, where like reference numerals are used to denote like parts.

Referring firstly to Figure 8, a core layer 2 is positioned beneath a screen printing apparatus 20, which includes a frame 21 and a mesh 22. The mesh 22 has a grade of about 62T, which is suitable for printing gold metallic ink 23 onto the core 2, using squeegee 24 to force the ink through the mesh 22. The core 2 is preferably formed of a clear PVC core stock having a depth dimension of about 600 um and length and width dimensions of about 613 mm x 487 mm.

After the ink 23 has dried, to form light reflective layer 3, the resultant substrate 1 is ready for application of image forming material 5. For that purpose, the mesh 22 is replaced with another mesh 25, which has a grade of about 90T, suitable for clear varnish to be printed therethrough although any other suitable type of ink may be used instead. The mesh 25 is illustrated with dashed lines to indicate a notional division of the screen into card sized zones 26. Each zone 26 includes an image forming region 27 where the varnish is printed through onto the underlying substrate 1. A plurality of screen printing passes, such as four, may be made, so that the material 5 is formed of a plurality of layers 28 of varnish, as shown in Figure 9.

A second print of metallic ink 29 may be provided over the top of the varnish layers 28, if desired.

Once the various printed layers 3,28 and 29 have dried, the overlays 6,7 are applied and

lamination takes place. The overlays 6,7 are preferably formed of 100 llm clear PVC stock. The lamination process preferably includes a heat cycle at about 162°C, during which pressure is applied to the plates 8, at about 100 bar for 15.5 minutes, followed by a period of increased pressure of 200 bar for 0.5 minutes, for a total time of about 16 minutes. A cooling cycle then follows for a period of 16 minutes, at 14°C and 200 bar.

As may be appreciated, many variations may be adopted to change the visual impact of the image 11 resulting from the above process. The number of printing passes for applying the varnish may be changed to alter the overall depth dimensions"d"of the material 3 after lamination, although it has been noted that too many layers 28 will prevent the overlay layer 6 from properly heat contacting the substrate 1 during lamination to cause a frosting affect around the image 11. A suitable number of layers 28 will, however, cause a degree of flattening or smoothing in any texture present in the ink 23, directly adjacent the layers 28, as a result of compacting pressure which is transmitted through the layers 28 during lamination. Such smoothing may provide an aesthetically accentuating and pleasing differentiation between the ink 23 overlaying the image 11 and that of the remainder of the card. Each of the layers 28 may also be of different shape to produce image depth variations across the image. The thickness and colour of the PVC may be altered as well as the colour of any ink that is used, as required. The mesh grade or count can also be changed, if desired, as can the types of varnish or inks and lamination settings depending on substrates, inks, conditions and equipment.

Lastly, it is possible to form the resultant image 11 from material other than varnish. For example, a similar optical affect may be achieved using thermography, where a slow drying ink is applied in the print pass, which is subsequently"dusted"with a fine resinous powder. Once dry, the layers 6,7 can be applied and the lamination process applied so that the resinous powder fuses into a relief image 11, which has the same affect as the multiple layers of printing with clear varnish.

Many modifications and variations may be made to the process without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described.