Optical cards and processes for preparing the same

Claim 2

An optical card comprising a card substrate and a light reflective layer provided on said card substrate, said light reflective layer comprising a light reflective metallic thin film having an optical information pattern formed therein.

Claim 3

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein said light reflective metallic thin film is formed from at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Al, Cr, Ag, Ni and Au.

Claim 4

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein a protective layer which protects said light reflective layer is formed on the surface of said light reflective layer.

Claim 5

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein the light reflective layer is provided on the surface of the protective layer, and the protective layer provided with the light reflective layer is bonded to the card substrate with an adhesive layer interposed therebetween so that the light reflective layer and the card substrate are in face to face relationship.

Claim 6

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein a protective layer which protects said light reflective layer is laminated on the surface of said light reflective layer, and a surface-cured layer is laminated on the protective layer.

Claim 7

The optical card according to claim 5 wherein a printed layer is provided on at least one portion of said card substrate.

Claim 8

The optical card according to claim 5 wherein a magnetic recording layer is provided on at least one portion of said card substrate.

Claim 9

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein the plane form of said light reflective layer is an island form.

Claim 10

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein said card substrate comprises a laminate of two layers.

Claim 11

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein said light reflective layer comprises a laminate of two layers: an optical higher reflection layer having an optical information pattern and an optical lower reflection layer having no optical information pattern.

Claim 12

The optical card according to claim 4 wherein said card substrate layer comprises a cover layer.

Claim 13

The optical card according to claim 11 wherein said optical card is a film-shaped tape.

Claim 14

The optical card according to claim 1 wherein the protective sheet is attached to the surface of the optical card.

Claim 15

A process for preparing an optical card which comprises providing, on a card substrate, a light reflective layer having an optical information pattern composed of information pits, said process comprising forming said optical information pattern by photoetching.

Claim 16

A process for preparing an optical card which comprises providing, on a card substrate, a light reflective layer having an optical information pattern composed of information pits, said process comprising forming said optical information pattern by photoetching.

Claim 17

The process according to claim 14 wherein a light reflective layer is laminated on one surface of a protective film; a photoresist layer is laminated on the light reflective layer; the laminate is subjected to photoetching to form, in said light reflective layer, an optical information pattern composed of information pits; and then the protective film having the light reflective layer having the optical information pattern thus formed is bonded to and integrated into the card substrate so that the light reflective layer and the card substrate are in face to face relationship.

Claim 18

The process according to claim 14 wherein a light reflective layer is laminated on one surface of a protective film; a photoresist layer is laminated on the light reflective layer; the laminate is subjected to photoetching to form, in said light reflective layer, an optical information pattern composed of information pits; and then the surface of the light reflective layer having the optical information pattern thus formed is covered with a coating layer.

Claim 19

The process according to claim 14 wherein a printed layer is formed on at least one portion of said protective film before or after said photoetching.

Claim 20

The process according to claim 15 wherein the remaining photoresist layer is left intact after photoetching.

Claim 21

-19. The process according to claim 15 wherein the remaining photoresist layer is removed after photoetching.

Claim 22

The process according to claim 14 wherein the following steps (i) and (ii) are carried out in any order: (i) the step of forming a surface-cured layer on one surface of the protective film, and (ii) the step of laminating the light reflective layer and a photoresist layer on the other surface of said protective film in this order, and thereafter subjecting the laminate to

Claim 23

photoetching thereby to record an optical information pattern in said light reflective layer; and then the protective film having both the surface-cured layer and the light reflective layer having the recorded optical information pattern thus obtained is bonded to and integrated into the card substrate with an adhesive so that the light reflective layer and the card substrate are in face to face relatinship.

Claim 24

photoetching thereby to record an optical information pattern in said light reflective layer; and then the protective film having both the surface-cured layer and the light reflective layer having the recorded optical information pattern thus obtained is bonded to and integrated into the card substrate with an adhesive so that the light reflective layer and the card substrate are in face to face relatinship.

Claim 25

The process according to claim 14 wherein the following steps (i) and (ii) are carried out in any order: (i) the step of forming a surface-cured layer on one surface of the protective film, and (ii) the step of laminating an optical lower reflection layer, an optical higher reflection layer and a photoresist layer on the card substrate in this order, and thereafter subjecting the laminate to photoetching thereby to record an optical information pattern in only the optical higher reflection layer; and then said protective film and said card substrate are bonded and integrated with an adhesive so that the surface-cured layer-free surface of said protective film and the optical higher reflection layer provided on said card substrate are in face to face relationship.

Claim 26

The process according to claim 14 wherein the surface of the card material except for the portion to be processed is always covered with a protective sheet in order to prevent the surface thereof from being scratched.