Copier/printer and method for reproduction of secure documents or the like

Claim 2

In an apparatus for the reproduction of an original document having a first image area with visible image content formed with non-metallic pigment and a second image area with visible image content formed with metallic pigment, the apparatus including a recording element; an exposure station for supporting a document for exposure; means for exposing a document to light while supported at the exposure station; reproducing means for recording image information on the recording element and for developing images formed thereon; and the improvement which comprises: means for sensing the location of an area having metallic image content on said document and generating signals identifying said location; and wherein said reproducing means is responsive to said signals for reproducing on the recording element with non-metallic pigment a visible image corresponding to the first image area and reproducing on the recording element with metallic pigment a visible image corresponding to the visible image of the second image area.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 and further comprising means for transferring from the recording element to a single copy sheet the non-metallic pigment reproducing the image content of the first image area and the metallic pigment reproducing the image content of the second image area to form a reproduction of the original.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3 and including means for selectively magnetizing the patch area with a code.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 3 and wherein the patch is formed along an area of an image frame corresponding to a margin area of a copy to be reproduced.

Claim 8

The apparatus of claim 5 and including means for binding along margins thereof copies having magnetic patches at said margins.

Claim 11

In a method for the secure reproduction of documents, the method including the steps of feeding documents seriatim to an exposure station; supporting a document to be reproduced for exposure; exposing the document to light while supported at the exposure station; the improvement comprising: sensing the presence of metallic pigment present on said document as visible character image information content while said document is moving toward or away from said exposure station and generating a first signal identifying said document as containing or not containing metallic content and thereby distinguishing the nature of the document as a secure or not secure document; determining a user's authorization to make copies of secure documents and providing a second signal indicative of said authority; and in response to said first and second signals reproducing the character image information content of said document with a visible metallic pigment when said signals define such authorization and sensing of a secure document.

Claim 12

In a method for the secure reproduction of documents, the method including the steps of feeding documents seriatim to an exposure station; supporting a document to be reproduced for exposure; exposing the document to light while supported at the exposure station; the improvement comprising: sensing the presence of metallic pigment present on said document as visible character image information content while said document is moving toward or away from said exposure station and generating a first signal identifying said document as containing or not containing metallic content and thereby distinguishing the nature of the document as a secure or not secure document; determining a user's authorization to make copies of secure documents and providing a second signal indicative of said authority; and in response to said first and second signals reproducing the character image information content of said document with a visible metallic pigment when said signals define such authorization and sensing of a secure document.

Claim 13

The method of claim 8 and wherein the metallic pigment forming the visible image information is magnetized with an invisible magnetic code pattern of different information content than the visible image information and wherein the code pattern is sensed in the sensing step and generates signals related to this pattern and these signals are compared with a code stored in a memory to determine the nature of the document as a secure or not secure document.

Claim 16

The method of claim 10 and including the steps of electrostatically charging the recording element; modulating the electrostatic charge on the recording element with the visible image content of the original; and transferring to a copy sheet the non-metallic and metallic pigments to form a reproduction of the original.

Claim 19

The method of claim 12 and including the step of selectivity magnetizing the patch area with a code.

Claim 20

The method of claim 12 and wherein the patch area is formed along an area of the copy sheet corresponding to a margin area thereof.

Claim 21

The method of claim 14 and wherein a series of second areas of a higher coercivity magnetic pigment are formed upon the copy sheet containing a magnetic patch area of lower coercivity.

Claim 24

In an apparatus for the reproduction of copy having a first image area with visible image content formed with non-metallic pigment and a second image area with visible image content formed with metallic pigment, the apparatus including; a recording element; an exposure station for supporting a document for exposure; means for feeding documents seriatim to the exposure station; means for exposing a document to light while supported at the exposure station; means for recording image information on the recording element and for developing images formed thereon; and the improvement which comprises: means for sensing the location of an area having metallic image content on said document while said document is moving toward or away from said exposure platen and generating signals identifying said location; and control means for controlling the feeding means and the exposing means for recording on said recording element the visible information content contained on a first document and the visible information content contained on a second document, wherein one of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with metallic pigment and the other of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with non-metallic pigment and reproducing means for recording and developing on the recording element with a visible metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said first document and for recording and developing on the recording element with a visible non-metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said second document and means for transferring from the recording element to a single copy sheet the metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said first document and the non-metallic pigment reproducing the image content of the second document.

Claim 25

In an apparatus for the reproduction of copy having a first image area with visible image content formed with non-metallic pigment and a second image area with visible image content formed with metallic pigment, the apparatus including; a recording element; an exposure station for supporting a document for exposure; means for feeding documents seriatim to the exposure station; means for exposing a document to light while supported at the exposure station; means for recording image information on the recording element and for developing images formed thereon; and the improvement which comprises: means for sensing the location of an area having metallic image content on said document while said document is moving toward or away from said exposure platen and generating signals identifying said location; and control means for controlling the feeding means and the exposing means for recording on said recording element the visible information content contained on a first document and the visible information content contained on a second document, wherein one of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with metallic pigment and the other of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with non-metallic pigment and reproducing means for recording and developing on the recording element with a visible metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said first document and for recording and developing on the recording element with a visible non-metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said second document and means for transferring from the recording element to a single copy sheet the metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said first document and the non-metallic pigment reproducing the image content of the second document.

Claim 26

In a method for the reproduction of copy having a first image area with visible image content formed with non-metallic pigment and a second image area with visible image content formed with metallic pigment, the method including the steps of: feeding documents seriatim to an exposure station; exposing the document to light while supported at the exposure station; recording image information on the recording element and developing images formed thereon; and the improvement which comprises: sensing the location of an area having metallic image content on said document and generating signals identifying said location and controlling the feeding means and the exposing means for recording on said recording element the visible information content contained on a first document and the visible information content contained on a second document, wherein one of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with metallic pigment and the other of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with non-metallic pigment and recording and developing on the recording element with visible metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said one document and for developing on the recording element with visible non-metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said other document and transferring from the recording element to a single copy sheet the metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said one document and the non-metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said other document.

Claim 27

In a method for the reproduction of copy having a first image area with visible image content formed with non-metallic pigment and a second image area with visible image content formed with metallic pigment, the method including the steps of: feeding documents seriatim to an exposure station; exposing the document to light while supported at the exposure station; recording image information on the recording element and developing images formed thereon; and the improvement which comprises: sensing the location of an area having metallic image content on said document and generating signals identifying said location and controlling the feeding means and the exposing means for recording on said recording element the visible information content contained on a first document and the visible information content contained on a second document, wherein one of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with metallic pigment and the other of said first and second documents contains visible image information formed with non-metallic pigment and recording and developing on the recording element with visible metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said one document and for developing on the recording element with visible non-metallic pigment a reproduction of the information content of said other document and transferring from the recording element to a single copy sheet the metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said one document and the non-metallic pigment reproducing the image content of said other document.