Continuous Form Computer Print-out Document Protection System

Abstract

A method of safeguarding the amount and/or signature of negotiable instruments such as a check or similar document from fraudulent alternation or forgery by providing a pressure transfer coating for application to the document to be protected during amount printing and/or signing thereof comprising a pressure sensitive tape having a release coating, a polyester or acrylic coating including fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica, and a strata having a design with a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent ink and a waxy-type coating thereon. The latter three strata are pressure released from the tape and transferred to the document over the amount or signature area to be protected, and then heated so as to cause penetration of the wax-like layer and deeper penetration of the amount indicia into the document fibers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Several prior art techniques generally relate to decalcomania or like-type transfer devices and materials and are not in fact pertinent to the subject invention but may be considered broadly relevant insofar as they may teach the utilization of layered transfer compositions for visual comprehension or visual acuity as provided by fluorescence to ultraviolet light. None of these pieces of prior art teaches the method and apparatus for protecting negotiable documents from fraudulent alteration as described and claimed in the present application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to both a method as well as an article of manufacture produced by the method and comprises a paper or similar tape carrying a multilayer coating which under pressure can be caused to transfer to the surface of a negotiable document in the area of the amount and/or the signature. The combined effect of each of the layers and a legend indicating that the layer has been affixed to the document affords excellent protection against the known methods of check fraud by means of amount alteration. After transfer to the document, followed by the application of heat, protection consists of an outer layer of invisible ultraviolet fluorescent plastic, an intermediate moire pattern in daylight fluorescent ink which is difficult to duplicate and an impregnation of a wax-like material through the body of the document over the amount area.

It is an important object therefore of the present invention to provide a document protection system for negotiable instruments such, for example, as checks, which protects against or avoids the known methods of check fraud through mechanical erasure, chemical bleach, alteration by solvent removal, alteration by addition and/or alteration by cutout and substitution of whole amount area.

Another important object of the present invention is the provision of check fraud prevention means through relatively simple and inexpensive mechanical steps and employing available and well-known chemical combinations.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a readily, visually comprehensible indicia of attempted document fraud, e.g., erasure, bleach, cutout, etc.

It is also an important object of the invention to provide document protection against fraudulent alteration of instruments of negotiation printed by the printing mechanisms of both conventional checkwriters and high speed computer chain or drum printers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view slightly enlarged of a conventional check with a computer printed amount thereon and the protection overlay adhered to the amount area;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the check of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged sectional view of the protection overlay strata of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged view of the protection strata of FIG. 3 being pressure bonded to the item of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged view of the item of FIG. 3 after the pressure bonding step is completed; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the reverse side of the check after pressure bonding of the protection layers thereto.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The invention has application to any type of negotiable document employing money amounts and/or signatures, typical of which is the ordinary payroll check or money order on which an amount is printed, typed or otherwise applied and which is generally subjected to handling by members of the public in its transfer from individual to individual and thus is subject to alteration of amount and/or signature by one or more of the known schemes used by check fraud artists. The invention also has application to stock transfer certificates, bills of exchange and any paper document which can be issued to serve in lieu of money.

Procedures and equipment currently employed to protect business checks from amount alteration utilize checkwriters which imprint large, distinctive, highly colored figures and other symbols on the check. The ink is also frequently forced into and sometimes through the paper by pinpoint type faces of serrated platens and/or type. Such methods are effective to a degree but are individual, hand fed operations not suitable for checks written as computer print-out or by typewriters or accounting machines. These latter amounts are generally printed in small, ordinary typewriter styles through a cloth ribbon with dye based inks and are quite easily altered by erasure or solvent extraction.

Amount alteration generally requires (1) complete or partial removal of digits by abrasion or solvent erasure, or (2) addition alteration, i.e., a 3 to an 8 or a 1 to a 4. Protection against these aforementioned alterations is considered to be a primary technical requirement.

Present day known systems of check fraud prevention also rely for their effectiveness on chemical type overlays or some sort of chemical material embodied in the check itself. Assuming a fair degree of skill on the part of the check fraud artist, it has been a relatively simple matter to alter the amount only without disturbing the chemical composition underlying the amount so that the effect, while the fraud might be slightly delayed, was nevertheless to accomplish the alteration; and, what was worse, no known relatively easy detectable means was available to make readily, visually apparent such fraudulent alteration.

As the check fraud artists increased in capability the check fraud prevention schemes appeared to lag in readily apparent detection methods. With the advent of large scale data processing equipment and high speed wide line printers, negotiable instruments of various types were easily, quickly and efficiently printed in staggering numbers. The general quality of the printed image on such computer print-out documents, e.g., payroll checks, is sufficiently degraded from that of the regular checkwriter printed document and even from that of the standard typewriter that alteration of amounts has become almost "fool's play" to the highly skilled forger. The need for a relatively simple, easily useable document protection system thus has become one of the ever pressing needs of the day with no known overall effective protection system available. The present check fraud prevention system avoids the pitfalls of the known prior art systems through the medium of a combination of elements in such manner that any disturbance or removal of material or alteration of amount or signature becomes readily, visually detectable.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown a document 10, which, for purposes of the description, is illustrated as a check and bears all of commonplace, standard, printed indicia carried by the ordinary negotiable check. In addition to the foregoing, there is shown in the embodiment set forth in FIG. 1, an overlay 12 which, as hereinafter described in detail, is placed on the body of the check in the area including that part thereof bearing the designation "amount of check" which in this case is $1,234,56.

In addition to the overlay 12, it is noted that the bottom edge of the check, i.e., the portion below the amount and directly below the magnetic encoded figures 14, e.g., MICR, is printed with a daylight fluorescent, solvent insoluble, and camouflaging moire pattern 16 identical in appearance to the pattern of the overlay 12, but which in addition bears the warning "check void if this Green-Glo design is missing or defaced over amount." The moire 16 is ink printed on the material of the check with the warning overprinted on the moire pattern. The reason for this particular arrangement will become more clear as the description proceeds.

It is contemplated that the check fraud prevention system of the subject invention can be used with high speed printers of the type generally employed with electronic data processing equipment, and therefore an important aspect of this description relates to such use. Since, as earlier mentioned herein the printed image from the computer print-out is relatively crude by comparison with general printing as is standard in the check and document printing industry, alteration of such printing is relatively simple. To avoid such document fraud and to enhance detection of attempts thereat, the present system has been devised. The invention as illustrated in FIG. 3 comprises four different strata overlaid one on top of the other on a carrier member such, for example, as a release paper tape 18. In the present embodiment the tape 18 is a two side coated silicone, Quillon, Aquapel, etc. paper. The Quillon paper may be obtained from the St. Regis Paper Company, Rhinelander Division, Rhinelander, Wis. as Quillon Q202 Paper, or paper may be coated with Aquapel manufactured by Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware, or paper may be coated with silicone resin obtained from Dow Corning, Midland; Mich. The coating 20 is formulated to provide a quick release of the other adjacent layers from the tape 18.

Arbitrarily, for purposes of description only, layer one is designated a release coating 20, e.g., silicone resin. Layer two is designated a polyester or acrylic coating 22 containing a distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica. A formulation for coating 22 is as follows:

Wet Dry Coated ______________________________________ 1. Elvacite 6014 (40% dispersion) 42.48% 18.90% 2. Santocel 68 (silica pigment) 3.00 3.00 3. Magnesium 8-Hydroxiquinolate (30% dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10.00 3.00 4. Toluene 35.62 5. Isopropyl Alcohol 8.90 100.00 24.90 ______________________________________

Layer three is designated an overall moire design 24 printed with a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent ink made from pigments of the type Signal Green Extra No. 77-18X produced by the Radiant Color Division, Imperial Color and Chemical Department, Hercules Incorporated the appearance of which is impossible to duplicate with ordinary, standard inks (this design will also fluoresce under ultraviolet light). Layer four is designated a waxy-type coating 26. Since ordinary waxes are ineffective for the purpose, a special check protection wax is formulated as follows:

1. Paricin 13 (Glyceryl Mono-Hydroxy-Stearate) 79.8% 2. Castorwax MP 70 (Hydrogenated Castor Oil--Baker Castor Oil Company, Bayonne, New Jersey) 13.0 3. Santolite "MHP" (Condensation product of Aryl Sulfonamides and Formaldehydes--Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri 7.0 4. Tenox BHA (Butylated Hydroxy-anisole) 0.1 5. Tenox BHT (Butylated Hydroxy-toluene) 0.1 100.0

The mixture forming the waxy coating 26 must have a proper melting point to prevent blocking when in rolled tape form at temperatures up to 130.degree. F. It must have sufficient adhesion to th overlying fluorescent coating to prevent flaking or premature release from the substrate at low storage and shipping temperatures. It must also have sufficiently low cohesion to permit a clean edged break or transfer under pressure from tape to document.

It must be excellent dye solvent and tend to repel pen and pencil writing. It must also be a paper transparentizer when melted on the document sheet. Finally it must be stable to aging, non-toxic and harmless to the paper at high temperatures. The total tape thickness is approximately 2.5 mils.

The application of the protection layers to a document utilizes a cold, flat platen or roller 28 to provide sufficient pressure to cause layers two, three, and four to transfer to the document over the amount area while releasing from the paper tape 18. The tape 18 may be in the form of a roll which can be fed to the press area and under the roller 28 by means not shown. Thus, as seen in FIG. 4, as applied to the document to be protected, the top layer on the document is a colorless, fluorescent coating 22 approximately 0.2 mils in thickness, while the second layer is a complex color design 24 and the layer 26 directly over the amount on the document is a special "wax" coating 28 0.8 to 1.0 mil thick. Subsequent heating of the document to the melting point of the "wax" (about 175.degree. F) carries the waxy material into and through the body of the document 10 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, while at the same time causing deeper penetration of the amount characters into the document fibers by virtue of the waxy composition's strong solvency for the character dyes and its transparentizing of the check paper so they can be viewed in reverse from the opposite side of the document.

It appears that penetration of the amount ink is deepest with cloth ribbon inks and is least with plastic based, film ribbon inks. It is apparent that both transfer and penetration steps may be made at one time if heated platens are used. Experimentation has determined that the foregoing system, if taken full advantage of, offers excellent protection against mechanical erasure. For example, a black spot or smudge 30, FIG. 1, is observed under ultraviolet when the fluorescent overcoating and the "Day Glo" design are removed (ordinary inks do not glow under invisible light). Also, removal of the moire pattern exposes the word "void" printed as a repeating pattern on the check in the amount area.

In practice, computer amount print-outs on continuous form documents, e.g., checks, would be automatically protected through transfer of the multilayer coating from the tape to the amount area at computer print-out speeds. The combined effect of each of the three layers in conjunction with a printed legend affords excellent protection against the known methods of check fraud by means of amount alteration.

After transfer to the check, protection consists of an outer layer of invisible ultraviolet fluorescent plastic, an intermediate, moire pattern in daylight fluorescent green in which is designed to completely mask from view the void pattern as at 14 in FIG. 1, and an impregnation of a wax-like material through the body of the check over the amount area. As before mentioned, an instruction to the cashier is printed on the check to complete the protection system.

The advantages of the present invention are manifold and include the following: Dye based ribbon inks are caused to penetrate completely through the body of the check along with the wax layer so that the paper surface becomes badly scuffed or the paper destroyed before the character can be removed. Even highly abrasive erasers tend to slip on the waxy surface and produce visible smudges over the area of attempted alteration. Penetration of the ribbon ink permits easy reverse readability of the original amount from the back side of the check so that confirmation of the face amount may be made, i.e., addition of or to a figure, or erasure and re-entry are obvious by comparing face and back.

The wax layer overlaying and permeating the amount area affords complete protection against removal of one or more digits by oxygen bleaches and alkaline or acid chlorine eradicators.

The green fluorescent pattern is a close, very fine line, moire design printed with a special green ink which glows under ordinary light, giving it a brilliant effect. This intermediate layer of the composite transfer coating also fluoresces strongly under ultraviolet light. Any attempt to erase an amount digit immediately removes this design and the top fluorescent plastic layer. Restoration is very difficult, first because of the fineness and intricacy of the pattern but primarily because no readily available writing or printing ink can be made to match the Day-Glo effect of the special ink. Erasure is obvious both in daylight and under ultraviolet: The effectivenss of this feature is enhanced by the presence of the legend 16 at the bottom edge of the document.

The moire pattern is unaffected visibly by oxygen bleaches or acid and alkaline chlorine bleaches.

Application of any solvent to the amount imprint ink will immediately remove this distinctive design. If a partial removal is attempted, tampering is visually obvious under both ordinary and ultraviolet lights.

The addition of one or more amount digits or the pen or typewriter addition-alteration of any one digit is prevented by the presence of the wax layer and evidenced by visual confirmation with the correct amount as seen on the reverse side of the check.

In combination with the legend 16 excellent protection is afforded against this form of check fraud. Since the daylight fluorescent pattern is printed over the amount area as a synchronized function of the check writing operation, and only in conjunction with this operation, stolen blank checks or even cancelled checks could no longer be a "cut-out" source.

The fluorescent top layer 22 of the transfer tape is very thin (about 0.000015 inch) but tough. It is brilliantly fluorescent under ultraviolet light, permits the printing of the Day-Glo pattern on an otherwise unprintable surface, protects the pattern from scuffing, but is easily removed by mechanical scraping or abrasive erasure to show a black spot in an otherwise brightly fluorescent area under ultraviolet light observation.

Bleaches have no visible effect on this protective layer--it does, however, act as a barrier in bolstering the wax to prevent bleaches from contacting the amount area.

Application of any ink solvent removes this coating. Under ultraviolet the solvent treated area shows up as a black spot in a bright yellow area.

The legend referred to here consists of an instruction such as "Check Void If This GREEN-GLO Pattern Missing or Defaced Over Amount Area." The legend is printed over a three-sixteenths inch lithographed band (suggested location bottom of check) and is a replica of the green daylight fluorescent pattern. Since the legend--both words and pattern--will be printed with inks made from polymerizable drying varnishes, it cannot be removed by solvents or bleaches, and mechanical erasure of the entire band results in an obviously tampered-with document. The legend therefore serves to alert the cashier to any of the above forms of amount alteration.

Since, as earlier pointed out herein, it is desirable to employ the system with electronic data processing equipment, a speed of handling of 10 3 1/2 inch documents per second or a web speed of 175 feet per minute may be used as a requirement criteria. It has also been determined experimentally that with suitable and proper impression pressure, transfer from the tape can be made in one-twentieth of a second.

There has thus been described a novel and heretofore unknown document protection system wherein a low coefficient of friction, solvent resistant coating on a release substrate tape is pressure releasable and bondable to the surface of a document and upon the application of suitable heat can be caused to permanently penetrate the body of the document. The transferred coating penetrates the document from front to back carrying with it the dye based ribbon ink and thereby permanently dyeing the paper fibers beneath as well as on the surface.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A document protection system for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising:

A document bearing indicia including an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas, and

a plurality of pressure applicable transparent coatings overlying said amount and signature areas,

said coatings comprising a first layer of acrylic material containing distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica, a second layer providing an overall moire design in a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent ink and a third layer of waxy material of the formulation: glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, condensation product of aryl sulfonamide and formaldehyde 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent, and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent.

said wax-like coating being capable under applied heat of penetrating said document causing the amount to be visible from the reverse side of the document.

2. A document protection system for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising;

a paper document bearing indicia including an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas and a distinctive protection pattern adjacent one edge of said document the disruption of which signals illegal alteration of the document, and

a plurality of protective coatings overlying, bonded to, and impregnating the paper of the amount and signature areas,

said coatings comprising a first layer of the dried residue of acrylic coating material of the formulation: methyl methacrylate copolymer (40 percent dispersion in toluene) 42.48 percent, silica pigment 3 percent, magnesium 8-hydroxiquinolate (30 percent dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10 percent, toluene 35.62 percent, and isopropyl alcohol 8.9 percent, a second layer of a brilliant daylight fluorescent green ink and a third layer of a wax material of the formulation: glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, condensation product of aryl sulfonamide and formaldehyde 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent.

said wax-like coating being capable upon application of heat of penetrating said document and solubilizing the indicia coloring matter so as to make the amount and signature visible from the reverse side of the document.

3. A document protection system for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising:

A document bearing indicia including an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas,

A carrier member, and

a plurality of strata bonded together on said carrier member and capable of being released therefrom under pressure,

said strata comprising a first layer of the dried residue of acrylic material containing a distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica of the formulation: methyl methacrylate copolymer (40 percent dispersion in toluene) 42.48 percent, silica aerogel pigment 3 percent, magnesium 8-hydroxiquinolate (30 percent dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10 percent, toluene 35.62 percent and isopropyl alcohol 8.92 percent, a second layer (moire design) of a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent green ink, a third layer of a wax type material of the formulation; glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, colorless aryl sulfonamide formaldehyde resin 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent.

said wax-like material being capable under applied heat of penetrating said document to cause the amount to become visible on the opposite side of the document.

4. A document protection system for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising;

a document bearing indicia including an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas,

a distinctive pattern viewable when illegally disturbed overlying said amount area,

a carrier member including a silicone release coating thereon, and

a plurality of strata bonded to said carrier member and releasable therefrom under pressure, and overlying said amount area,

said strata comprising a first layer of the dried residue of acrylic material containing a distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica of the formulation: methyl methacrylate copolymer (40 percent dispersion in toluene) 42.48 percent, silica aerogel pigment 3 percent, magnesium 8-hydroxiquinolate (30 percent dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10 percent, toluene 35.62 percent and isopropyl alcohol 8.92 percent, a second layer (moire design) of a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent green ink, a third layer of a wax type material of the formulation; glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, colorless aryl sulfonamide formaldehyde resin 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent.

said strata adapted to be bonded to said document by the applied pressure and by heat so as to cause the wax-like coating material and the amount ink to penetrate said document causing the amount area to become visible on the opposite side of the document.

5. A document protection method for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising the steps of:

providing a document with indicia including an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas,

applying a plurality of pressure releasable strata to a carrier member, said strata comprising a first layer of acrylic coating material of the formulation: methyl methacrylate copolymer (40 percent dispersion in toluene) 42.48 percent, silica pigment 3 percent, magnesium 8-hydroxiquinolate (30 percent dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10 percent, toluene 35.62 percent, and isopropyl alcohol 8.9 percent, a second layer of a brilliant daylight fluorescent green ink and a third layer of a wax material of the formulation: glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, condensation product of aryl sulfonamide and formaldehyde 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent.

releasing said strata from said carrier under pressure effectively bonding said strata to said document while removing said carrier member, and

heating said strata to cause a portion thereof to penetrate said document transparentizing the same.

6. A document protection method for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising the steps of:

providing a document with amount, signature and instruction indicia relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas and a distinctive pattern viewable when said document is illegally disturbed,

bonding a plurality of pressure releasable strata to a carrier member, said strata comprising a first layer of acrylic material containing distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica, a second layer providing an overall moire design in a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent ink and a third layer of waxy material of the formulation: glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, condensation product of aryl sulfonamide and formaldehyde 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent,

applying pressure to said carrier member effective to bond said strata to said document while releasing said carrier member, and

heating said pressure bonded strata to cause a portion of the material thereof to penetrate said document transparentizing the same.

7. A document protection method for safeguarding negotiable instruments of exchange against fraudulent alteration of amount and/or signature comprising the steps of:

printing a document with indicia including a distinctive pattern which is exposed when the document is illegally altered or defaced and an amount and signature and instructions relating to safeguarding the amount and signature areas,

pressure bonding a plurality of strata releasable from a carrier member to said document, said strata comprising a first layer of acrylic material containing a distinctive fluorescent, colorless pigment and an amorphous silica of the formulation: methyl methacrylate copolymer (40 percent dispersion in toluene) 42.48 percent, silica aerogel pigment 3 percent, magnesium 8-hydroxiquinolate (30 percent dispersion) fluorescent pigment 10 percent, toluene 35.62 percent, and isopropyl alcohol 8.92 percent, a second layer (moire design) of a brilliantly colored daylight fluorescent green ink, a third layer of a wax type material of the formulation: glyceryl mono-hydroxy-stearate 79.8 percent, hydrogenated castor oil 13 percent, colorless aryl sulfonomide formaldehyde resin 7 percent, butylated hydroxy-anisole 0.1 percent and butylated hydroxy-toluene 0.1 percent and

heating said strata to a temperature of 175.degree.F sufficient to cause said wax-like material to penetrate said document making the amount visible on the opposite side thereof.