Patent Publication Number: US-2022212492-A1

Title: Method for producing banknotes including in each case at least one integrated circuit

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is the US national phase, under 35 USC § 371, of PCT/EP 2020/079470, filed on Oct. 20, 2020; published as WO 2021/099049A1, on May 27, 2021, and claiming priority to DE 10 2019 131 654.5, filed on Nov. 22, 2019, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method for producing banknotes including, in each case, at least one integrated circuit. The bank notes are produced from a sheet or from a material web in a production panel. At least in a plurality of the bank notes, or in each of these banknotes, an aperture is created through the banknote&#39;s substrate. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A standard paper banknote is known from DE 697 22 403 T2, comprising a paper-based substrate that includes at least one integrated circuit, which is applied to the paper-based substrate, or is embedded therein, as an active identification and/or authentication element of the banknote, wherein the integrated circuit provides for secure storage and exchange of information with respect to the banknote, wherein the integrated circuit is inserted into an opening of the paper-based substrate, and wherein the thickness of the integrated circuit corresponds to the thickness of the paper-based substrate and is less than 100 μm. 
     A method for hot stamping at least part of at least one band-shaped stamping foil onto a band-shaped substrate is known from DE 10 2011 103 000 A1, wherein the substrate to be stamped is brought together with a stamping foil of the at least one stamping foil, the substrate and the stamping foil resting thereon are guided along the circumference of a first heated stamping roller, wherein, in a first stamping, the substrate and the stamping foil resting thereon are pressed against one another and against the heated surface of the first stamping roller by at least one first pressure roller arranged at the circumference of the first stamping roller, and a first stamping layer is stamped onto the substrate, the once-stamped substrate is guided away from the first stamping roller and is again brought together with the same or a further stamping foil of the at least one stamping foil downstream from first stamping roller, based on direction of travel of the substrate, the once-stamped substrate and the stamping foil resting thereon are guided along the circumference of a second heated stamping roller, wherein, in a second stamping, the substrate and the stamping foil resting thereon are pressed against one another and against the heated surface of the second stamping roller by at least one second pressure roller arranged at the circumference of the second stamping roller, and a second stamping layer is stamped onto the substrate, and the twice-stamped substrate is guided away from the second stamping roller. 
     A method for producing a security paper is known from DE 10 2004 018 081 A1, comprising the following steps: a) forming a paper web on a paper screen, and b) embedding a plastic film including antenna structures into the paper web during the formation of the sheet, wherein the plastic film is a plastic film network structured in a grid-like manner. 
     Sheet material including a circuit as well as a device and a method for processing the same are known from US 2005/0150740 A1, which reduce the effort for processing the sheet material and/or facilitate processing and/or enhance it and/or make it more reliable. For this purpose, the sheet material has at least one circuit, wherein energy and/or data are transmitted from the device to the circuit and/or from the circuit to the device, and wherein at least part of the transmitted data is used for processing the sheet material. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the object of the present invention to devise a method for producing banknotes including, in each case, at least one integrated circuit, which can be carried out economically in an industrial process. 
     The object is achieved according to the present invention by the provision, in each case, of an integrated circuit being arranged in the relevant aperture. In a first method step, each of the integrated circuits, which is to be arranged in one of the apertures, is arranged, with respect to the intended position of each of the banknotes that includes an aperture, in the correct position on a band-shaped foil. In a second method step, each of the integrated circuits is transferred from this band-shaped foil onto the relevant banknote. Owing to this transfer, that is carried out in the second method step, one integrated circuit, in each case, is arranged in each of the apertures created in the banknote. 
     The advantages to be achieved with the invention are, in particular, that banknotes including in each case at least one integrated circuit can be economically produced in an industrial process. Another advantage of the identified solution is that banknotes including in each case an integrated circuit that is inserted into an aperture are more durable and sturdier during use than banknotes including an integrated circuit that is applied to the surface, and more particularly when a structural height of the integrated circuit is less than the thickness or material thickness of the substrate of the banknote in question. Furthermore, it is advantageous that an integrated circuit configured as a capacitively coupled RFID tag does not require a separate antenna. Further advantages are apparent from the following description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings and will be described in greater detail below. 
       The drawings show: 
         FIG. 1  a sheet including multiple banknotes; 
         FIG. 2  a banknote including an integrated circuit arranged in an aperture; 
         FIG. 3  a system for applying integrated circuits to a band-shaped foil in the correct position; 
         FIG. 4  a device for arranging the integrated circuits in the relevant apertures of the banknotes; 
         FIG. 5  a device for fixing the integrated circuit in one of the apertures, using an ink jet printing method; 
         FIG. 6  a device for fixing the integrated circuit in one of the apertures, using a screen printing method; and 
         FIG. 7  a device for fixing the integrated circuit in one of the apertures by rolling on a cover foil. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1 , by way of example, illustrates that security documents that are needed in large quantities, in particular banknotes  02 , are usually produced in an industrial process using a production panel format. The use of the multiple-up format means that, during the manufacturing process, multiple banknotes  02  are in each case arranged in a combination of rows R and columns S on a sheet  01  or on a material web, and these banknotes  02  are only detached from this combination at the end of their manufacturing process, and are thereby singulated. At the end of the manufacturing process, each of these banknotes  02  produced in the production panel is an autonomous product after singulation; however, a multiplicity of these typically identical products are jointly manufactured on the sheet  01  or on the material web so as to optimally utilize the surface area of the sheet  01  or of the material web, and thereby enable cost-effective mass production. 
     The banknotes  02  in general comprise a substrate  18  ( FIG. 4 ), e.g., made of paper or plastic, in particular made of a polymer material, wherein this substrate  18  is preferably printed in one or more printing presses using several different printing methods. For example, an offset printing method and/or a gravure printing method, in particular the intaglio printing method, and/or a screen printing method and/or an ink jet printing method are used as printing methods. The banknotes  02  arranged in each case in columns S on the sheet  01  or on the material web are generally arranged lengthwise along the transport direction of the relevant sheet  01  or material web guided through the particular printing press, while the banknotes  02  arranged in rows R are generally arranged transversely to this transport direction. 
     To produce banknotes  02  including in each case at least one integrated electronic circuit  04 , initially an aperture  03 , which in each case perforates the substrate  18  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web, is created at least in several, or preferably in each, of these banknotes  02 , wherein such an aperture  03  is often also referred to as a window or an opening. The aperture  03  is created, e.g., by die cutting or cutting, in particular by laser cutting, wherein the contour of the relevant aperture  03  can be arbitrarily configured, but is usually configured in the form of a circle or a rectangle.  FIG. 2 , by way of example, shows a single copy of such a banknote  02 . 
     Each of the integrated circuits  04  to be embedded into one of the banknotes  02  is encapsulated in a dedicated housing and is thus in each case configured as an autonomous component. As a result, each of the integrated circuits  04  to be embedded into one of the banknotes  02  is configured as a microchip. In the embodiment that is preferred here, the integrated circuit  04  to be embedded into the relevant banknote  02  is configured as a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, in particular as a capacitively coupled RFID tag, wherein a data exchange between the relevant integrated circuit  04  and an external transceiver, which is not shown, takes place in a non-contact manner. Each of these integrated circuits  04  has a generally rectangular format, in particular a square surface area having an edge length  104  of no more than 1 mm×1 mm, preferably of 0.5 mm×0.5 mm, wherein the structural height or thickness of these integrated circuits  04  to be embedded is no more than 90 μm, and preferably is in a range between 25 μm and 50 μm, and thus less than the material thickness of the substrate  18  of the relevant banknote  02 . The aperture  03  to be created in the relevant banknote  02  is adapted to the format of the relevant integrated circuit  04  to be embedded, and its respective expansion is e.g., between 10% and 100% greater than the respective edge length  104  of the integrated circuit to be embedded. Information, e.g., about the currency and/or the value of the relevant banknote  02  and/or information about the issuing bank of this banknote  02  is stored in the respective integrated circuit  04 , e.g., by appropriate programming, which can be read out elsewhere by means of the external transceiver (not shown) in a non-contact manner. Information as to whether this banknote  02  was already brought into circulation, or when this took place, can also be stored in the integrated circuit  04 . 
     For the sake of simplicity and without limiting the invention, it is assumed hereafter that identical banknotes  02  are produced using the production panel, so that the respective aperture  03  in each of these banknotes  02  is in each case created in the same position, with respect to the relevant banknote  02 . A center of the relevant aperture  03 , and thus its position in the relevant banknote  02 , with respect to, e.g., at least one boundary line, e.g., an edge or a lateral edge of the relevant sheet  01  or of the material web, e.g., is established in each case by corresponding coordinates x; y. These coordinates x; y are stored in a control processor, e.g., wherein this control processor provides the relevant coordinates x; y for each banknote  02  produced in the relevant production panel at least, e.g., to a cutting device  09  or a die-cutting device  28  ( FIG. 4 ) creating the relevant aperture  03  in each case, on the one hand, and to a device providing the respective integrated circuits  04  on the other hand. 
     So as to arrange an integrated circuit  04  in each of the relevant apertures  03  of the banknotes  02  to be jointly produced in an industrial process, in a first method step the necessary number of integrated circuits  04  is arranged with register accuracy on a band-shaped foil  06  by the device providing the respective integrated circuits  04 . An arrangement with register accuracy means that one of the integrated circuits  04  is in each case arranged in precisely such positions on the band-shaped foil  06  which correspond to the positions for the arrangement of the respective integrated circuit  04  that are established in each case on the relevant sheet  01  or the material web by the corresponding coordinates x; y. With this, the arrangement of the integrated circuits  04  on the band-shaped foil  06  in the lateral register and in the circumferential register corresponds precisely to the arrangement that is intended on the relevant sheet  01  or the material web. 
     As is only schematically illustrated in  FIG. 3  by way of example, the band-shaped foil  06  is preferably provided in the form of a material roll  07  and is unwound from the material roll  07 , wherein the fed integrated circuits  04  are then arranged in the correct position, and thus with register accuracy, on the unwound part of the material roll  07 , i.e., on the band-shaped foil  06 . The integrated circuits  04  can be fed to the band-shaped foil  06 , e.g., assisted by blower air. The integrated circuits  04  are fixed on the band-shaped foil  06 , e.g., electrostatically and/or by way of adhesion. After the integrated circuits  04  have been adhesively arranged, the band-shaped foil  06  can, e.g., be wound onto a reel  08  again. 
     In a second method step, the band-shaped foil  06 , after having been wound onto the reel  08  according to the described example, is unwound from the reel  08  again, wherein the integrated circuits  04  arranged with register accuracy on the band-shaped foil  06  are transferred from the band-shaped foil  06  to the respective banknotes  02  created on the relevant sheet  01  or the relevant material web, wherein, as a result of this transfer carried out in the second method step, one of the integrated circuits  04  is arranged in each of the apertures  03  created in the banknotes  02 . 
     The application of the integrated circuits  04  in the banknotes  02  is illustrated in  FIG. 4 , wherein  FIG. 4 , by way of example, shows the application, in particular the arrangement of integrated circuits  04  in the respective apertures  03  of sheets  01  conveyed in the transport direction T, wherein each of these sheets  01  has a length  101  in the transport direction T. In the shown example, several of these sheets  01  are consecutively fed from a first pile  24  at a distance a in the transport direction T to a device  12  for applying the integrated circuits  04 , and after the application has been carried out, are deposited in a second pile  26  again. So as to enable economical production, at least some processing steps are combined locally, i.e., carried out in the same machine system, so as to avoid temporarily storing the sheets  01 . The sheets  01  or the material web are thus, initially, fed preferably continuously from the first pile  24  to a cutting device  09  or a die-cutting device  28 , wherein the respective apertures  03  are created in the relevant sheet  01  or the material web by way of this cutting device  09  or die-cutting device  28 . Thereafter, the sheets  01  or the material web provided with the apertures  03  are preferably fed in the same machine system to the device  12  for applying the integrated circuits  04 , which, e.g., comprises a roller pair and which, in a roller nip of the cooperating rollers  13 , transfers the integrated circuits  04  arranged on the band-shaped foil  06  from the band-shaped foil  06  onto the relevant banknote  02 , wherein, as a result of this transfer, in each case one of the integrated circuits  04  is arranged in the apertures  03  created in the banknotes  02 . This application preferably takes place simultaneously for all integrated circuits  04  arranged in the same row R. As a result of the banknotes  02 , in the production panel, being produced with multiple columns S arranged next to one another, and to ensure that in each case multiple banknotes  02  are arranged in each row R extending across multiple rows S, a very high mass throughput can be achieved compared to a serial processing operation of individual banknotes  02 . At least at the transfer point  11  located in the roller nip, the transport speed of the band-shaped foil  06  to be unwound from the reel  08 , e.g., is synchronized with the transport speed of the sheets  01  or the material web. 
     As the second method step is being carried out, or immediately after the second method step has been carried out, the band-shaped foil  06  is joined to the substrate  18  of the banknotes  02  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web. In a preferred embodiment for producing banknotes  02 , the band-shaped foil  06 , on which the integrated circuits  04  are arranged with register accuracy in the first method step, is configured as a two-layer foil, wherein as the second method step is being carried out, or immediately after the second method step has been carried out, a first layer  16  of the band-shaped foil  06  is joined to the substrate  18  of the banknotes  02  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web. The band-shaped foil  06 , or its first layer  16 , is, for example integrally, joined in each case to the substrate  18  of the banknotes  02  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web, in particular by adhesive bonding. The band-shaped foil  06 , or the first layer  16  of the two-layer band-shaped foil  06 , is preferably configured in each case as a foil including a hologram and/or a Kinegram, wherein a second layer  17  of the two-layer band-shaped foil  06  is, e.g., made of paper or a plastic. A Kinegram is a security feature having a tilt effect, which means that, depending on the angle at which the Kinegram is observed, a fixedly defined movie-like sequence occurs. In contrast to a hologram, which has three-dimensional elements, a Kinegram, which usually has a silvery shine, represents a two-dimensional sequence of motions. In particular a metallic foil or a metallized foil or a security foil to be arranged on the substrate  18  of the banknotes  02  is used in each case as the band-shaped foil  06  or as the first layer  16  of the two-layer band-shaped foil  06 . For reasons related to ultimate tensile strength and/or stability and/or processability, the second layer  17 , e.g., forms a carrier for the first layer  16 . When the band-shaped foil  06  or its first layer  16  is configured as a metallic foil or as a metallized foil, this foil is, e.g., made of aluminum or of another metallic material, or this foil comprises a carrier, e.g., made of a plastic material, the surface of which was metallized, e.g., by vapor deposition. In each of these embodiments, the integrated circuits  04  to be applied adhere to the band-shaped foil  06  or to the first layer  16  of the two-layer band-shaped foil  06 . However, no electrically conducting connection exists between the respective integrated circuit  04  and the metallic foil  06  or the metallized surface of this foil  06 . The band-shaped foil  06 , or its first layer  16 , is in each case joined to the substrate  18  of the banknotes  02  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web, e.g., by rolling-on or by hot stamping. During hot stamping, the band-shaped foil  06  or its first layer  16  is applied to the substrate  18  of the relevant sheet  01  or of the relevant material web under the action of pressure and heat. The two layers  16 ;  17  of the two-layer band-shaped foil  06  are preferably separated from one another at the transfer point  11  or immediately thereafter, wherein the second layer  17  is, e.g., again wound onto another reel  14 . 
     In a third method step, the integrated circuits  04  applied or arranged in the respective apertures  03  are fixed therein. This fixation is carried out, e.g., using a printing method, in particular an ink jet printing method or a screen printing method, and/or by rolling or hot stamping a cover foil onto the substrate  18  of the relevant banknotes  02 .  FIG. 5  shows that an electrically non-conductive printing fluid  21 , e.g., an ink or a coating, is applied to the integrated circuit  04  arranged in one of the apertures  03  by way of an ink jet printing device  19 , wherein the integrated circuit  04  is fixed in the relevant aperture  03  by drying and/or curing the printing fluid  21 .  FIG. 6  illustrates by way of example that an electrically non-conductive printing fluid  21  is applied to the integrated circuit  04  arranged in one of the apertures  03 , and thus in these apertures  03 , by way of a screen printing device  22 , wherein here as well the integrated circuit  04  is fixed in the relevant aperture  03  by drying and/or curing the printing fluid  21 . As an alternative or in addition to applying a printing fluid  21 , the integrated circuits  04  arranged in the apertures  03  can be fixed by applying an electrically non-conducting cover foil  23  onto the relevant banknotes  02 , in particular by rolling it on by way of a rolling device  27 , if necessary additionally under the action of heat, which is schematically shown in  FIG. 7  in a drastically simplified manner. 
     After the integrated circuits  04  have been applied or arranged and fixed in the relevant apertures  03  of the banknotes  02 , in general several of the sheets  01  or the material web, each comprising copies of the banknotes  02  to be produced in the production panel, are printed in at least one printing press, or using at least one printing method, and are thereafter detached from their combination by way of a die-cutting device or by way of a cutting device, e.g., a guillotine cutter, and are thereby singulated. 
     During the production of banknotes  02 , at least two, preferably all, of the aforementioned method steps can take place inline, i.e., the first method step of arranging the integrated circuits  04  in the correct position or with register accuracy on the band-shaped foil  06  and/or the second method step of applying or arranging the integrated circuits  04  in the apertures  03  of the banknotes  02  and/or the third method step of fixing the integrated circuits  04  arranged in the apertures  03  and/or printing the sheets  01  including the banknotes  02  or printing the material web including the banknotes  02  and/or singulating the copies of the banknotes  02  produced in the production panel, preferably take place in the same production machine, in particular in a rotary printing press used in security printing. 
     While a preferred embodiment of a method for producing banknotes including, in each case, at least one integrated circuit, in accordance with the present invention, has been set forth fully and completely hereinabove, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that various changes could be made thereto without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention which is accordingly to be limited only by the appended claims.