Methods and apparatus for authenticating data storage articles
US5548106A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 30, 1994 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 30, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06K19/14
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Accessory apparatus for authenticating articles is used in conjunction with existing readers or scanners of articles bearing stored data, such as credit cards or identification cards. The accessory apparatus is disposed before, after, on, under, inside, or adjacent to existing reader apparatus, to have a view of the article whose data is to be read. Information in addition to the stored data is coded on the article in non-visible indicia and is detected by the accessory authenticating apparatus. This coded additional information may be related to identification data stored in the article by the article's normal storage mechanism, such as a magnetic stripe or an embedded memory IC chip. The additional information may be coded in various combinations of predetermined characteristics of light emitted by the article to be authenticated when the article is irradiated with non-visible light from the accessory apparatus. The code combinations are preferably complex combinations of the various radiation characteristics. The article is irradiated at a high enough frequency (above 10,000 Hz modulation) for rapid determination of authenticity, and for reading and decoding standard bar codes. …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.