CREDIT CARD HAVING CLEAR MIDDLE LAYER ENCODED BY DISCRETE OPAQUE AREAS AND SYSTEM FOR DECODING SAME BY LASER BEAM

摘要

Laminated credit or other identification card having a center layer of clear, light-transmitting material between a pair of opaque cover sheets. The card is coded by providing discrete areas of opaque material in the center layer with windows between them defining parallel light-transmitting channels extending edgewise through the center layer and spaced apart irregularly along the card in accordance with a predetermined code. The card is decoded by directing one or more laser beams edgewise through the center layer toward one or more light sensors and moving the card to produce output signals corresponding to the number and spacing of the light-transmitting channels. In one embodiment, a main laser beam is directed edgewise through the card at a right angle to produce a main read-out signal and simultaneously an auxiliary or check laser beam is directed edgewise through the card at a different angle. Separate light sensors and read-out devices produce two separate identification numbers, code names, or other indicia.