Object Marking for Optical Authentication and Method for Producing Same

Abstract

Object marking, and method for producing same, for optical authentication of an object, wherein at least one section of a material piece of a basic material is determined arbitrarily or randomly and the object marking is produced with the at least one section, and wherein the basic material of the material piece has a repeating security feature having optical properties dependent on the viewing angle, the dimensions of said security feature being larger than the dimensions of the section, more particularly larger than the dimensions of the object marking, such that each section is unique and has only a part of the security feature.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for producing an object marking for optical authentication of an object comprising:
 randomly determining at least one section of a material piece of a basic material, the section having dimensions;   producing an object marking comprising the at least one section;   wherein the basic material of the material piece has a periodically repeating pattern of security features having optical properties dependent on the viewing angle; and   wherein a period of the periodically repeating patter is larger than the section dimensions such that each section is unique and comprises only a part of the pattern of the security features.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the period is larger than the object marking. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the security features of the basic material are optically variable features. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the security features of the basic material are holograms. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the security features and/or their optical properties have dimensions which correspond at least to a resolving power of a human eye. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the security features and/or their optical properties have dimensions that correspond to a resolving power of a commercially available camera, such that the security features are readable and verifiable with a commercially available camera. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the material piece is designed in the form of a band, and a position of the band is selected by a random or non-controlled advance of the band and the section is determined in relation to the selected position. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the advance of the band deviates from the period of the periodically repeating pattern of the security features of the basic material. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the section is determined by a variable, random selection mask, wherein the section is determined in correspondence with a region of the material piece unmasked or spared by the selection mask. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the variable selection mask is applied on the material piece in the form of a partial cover. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the variable selection mask is applied on the material piece in the form of a layer applied in places or in regions. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one section is applied on a carrier material for producing the object marking. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the object marking is connected with the object, wherein the object marking is arranged variably and randomly with respect to the object or an orientation mark applied on the object. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the properties generated by the random arrangement of the object marking are determinable and readable with a commercially available camera. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein randomly determining the at least one section of the basis material is based on a stochastic physical process. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determined section is removed from the material piece and the same material piece is used to produce at least one further object marking. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the periodically repeating pattern of the security features comprises a two-dimensional code. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the section is determined by a variable, random selection mask, wherein the section is determined in correspondence with a region of the material piece masked by the selection mask.