RU2834983C1 - Engraved modulated component - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: surface of the engraved solid component is coated with a plurality of block structures having a block structure. Each block structure is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements, which are distributed on the surface of the engraved solid component. Each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have respectively a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element. Each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific corresponding information. Each modulated characteristic element is additionally a symbol which is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet. Alphabet is a set of letters which are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data. Each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface. Each of the modulated characteristic elements is an engraved three-dimensional topographic surface element. Part of data is transcribed by means of structure of code block of modulated characteristic elements so that structure of code block forms part of block structure corresponding to part of data. Modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure are arranged in accordance with the first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map comprises at least a first final ordered set of first positions of modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of data, and the first ordered map is further configured to accommodate modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and displaying corresponding symbols, which correspond to modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, which are invisible to the human eye, but extracted by means of a program-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor.

EFFECT: broader functional capabilities.

12 cl, 40 dwg, 2 tbl

Description

Field of technology to which the invention relates

The invention relates to an engraved solid component for transferring data containing specific information on the surface of the engraved solid component. The invention also relates to a method for producing such an engraved solid component and to a method for configuring a plurality of block structures of modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements intended for their engraving on the surface of the solid component.

State of the art

The European publication EP 3437849 of the present applicant discloses an embossing tool for applying a combined embossing pattern to a packaging material, wherein the combined embossing pattern comprises decorative embossing structures and at least one embossing code. The embossing tool comprises a male and a female embossing device for interacting with each other, wherein the embossing structures of the male and female embossing devices are formed to produce a combined embossing pattern on the packaging material in an embossing gap. The embossing structures of the male and female embossing device further comprise first embossing structures intended to produce at least one embossing code, which are inverse congruent male and female embossing structures having a polyhedral shape. The decorative embossed structures and at least one embossed code obtained by means of the embossing structures are arranged in such a way that at least one embossed code has reduced visibility for the human eye. To achieve this, the embossing structures intended for creating decorative embossed structures are adjacent to the code areas containing the embossing structures for creating the embossed code. The decorative areas can alternate sequentially with the code areas. Different codes can also be superimposed on each other by means of different structures for embossing the codes. For example, in the case where the embossed cell of the first code is in the same place as the embossed cell of the second code, the cells can be embossed as full square cells, and in the case where only the embossed cell of the second code is present, the cell can be embossed as an empty square. Moreover, in the case where only the embossed cell of the first code is present, the cell can be embossed as a full circle. It is therefore possible to reconstruct two superimposed codes by identifying, on the one hand, all embossed cells belonging to the first code and, on the other hand, all embossed cells belonging to the second code, from the divided surface, even when such embossed cells are used to represent the first code and the second code simultaneously. Similarly, it is possible to overlap the surface area of the embossed code with the surface area of the decorative design. The shapes of the embossed cells make it possible to determine whether an embossed cell is used to define an embossed code, a decorative design, or both. Only the distribution of the embossed cells that belong to the embossed code, i.e. their distribution over the surface of the embossed material, makes it possible to reconstruct the embossed code.

International publication WO 2020/002970 of the present applicant discloses an embossing method that allows individual characteristic elements to be modulated and arranged in a grid, whereby the modulated individual characteristic elements allow surface-oriented visible optical effects to be obtained for aesthetic purposes. The described method thus allows shiny and high-quality results to be obtained in a foil material. This publication does not mention coding and/or concealing information by any means, and in particular by means of modulated individual characteristic elements (characteristic elements). Furthermore, no special technical means are required to reveal directional visible optical effects in the light reflected from the foil material embossed in accordance with the method of WO 2020/002970.

The present invention is directed to providing an alternative for transferring data containing specific information onto the surface of an engraved solid component, in which the transferred data blends with the aesthetic ensemble on the surface but becomes invisible to the human eye.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

In the first aspect, the invention provides an engraved solid component that carries data containing specific information on the surface of the engraved solid component. The surface is covered with a plurality of block structures that contain at least a first block structure. Each block structure is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of the engraved solid component. Each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element. Each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying a corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific corresponding information. Each modulated characteristic element additionally represents a symbol that represents a transcription of a letter of the alphabet. The alphabet is a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data. Each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface. Each of the modulated characteristic elements represents an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface. At least a part of the data is transcribed using a code block structure of the modulated characteristic elements in such a way that the code block structure forms at least a part of a block structure corresponding to at least one part of the data. The modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map contains at least a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first code block structure on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of the data, and the first ordered map is additionally configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first code block structure, imperceptible to the human eye, but extractable by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor.

In a preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further comprises on its surface at least one second block structure, which is a second spatially limited set exclusively from a plurality of at least one of the basic characteristic elements. The basic characteristic elements of at least one second block structure are arranged on the solid surface in accordance with a second map, the second map is a second finite set of positions of the basic characteristic elements on the surface, the second map further allows its basic characteristic elements to be arranged so that they form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component:

- has cylindrical symmetry, and

- configured as a tool for transferring modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements to a substrate,

where the transfer is any of the following:

shaping, printing, moulding, hand processing, pressing and embossing on or into a substrate modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component:

- configured for use as a forming tool for transferring modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements onto a substrate,

where the transfer is any of the following:

printing, forming, processing, pressing and embossing on a substrate engraved modulated characteristic elements and/or engraved basic characteristic elements.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further comprises a plurality of first ordered cards and second cards, wherein the plurality of first ordered cards and second cards are arranged in at least a regular grid.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further comprises a plurality of first ordered cards and second cards, wherein the plurality of first ordered cards and second cards are arranged in at least a randomized grid.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further comprises a plurality of first ordered cards and second cards, wherein the plurality of first cards and second cards

- configured to carry first portions of data and form at least one aesthetic ensemble; and

- arranged in such a way that the positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the transferred first parts of the data are invisible to the human eye, but are only retrievable by means of a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further comprises at least an additional first ordered map, wherein the additional first ordered map is an additional finite set of additional positions of the modulated characteristic elements on the surface, each additional position is the result of a predetermined movement of the corresponding first position of the first ordered map, wherein the additional first ordered map is configured to define an additional first block structure that does not overlap with the first block structure defined by the first ordered map, and

- or is adjacent to the first block structure;

- or is separated from the first block structure by a given distance; or

- if there are multiple additional first ordered maps, they are separated from each other in a regular manner in 2 dimensions.

In another preferred embodiment, the engraved solid component further carries a third portion of data on the surface corresponding to the third map. The third map is a third finite set of positions of the modulated characteristic elements on the surface, wherein the third map is configured to define a third block structure that does not overlap with the first block structure defined by the first map, and

- or is adjacent to the first block structure;

- or is separated from the first block structure by a given distance; or

- if there are multiple third cards, they are separated from each other and from the first block structure.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a method for producing an engraved solid component capable of transferring data containing specific information onto the surface of the engraved solid article. The method includes:

engraving (S1) on said surface a plurality of block structures (BS) comprising at least a first block structure, wherein

- each block structure is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of an engraved solid component,

- each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element,

- each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific relevant information,

- each modulated characteristic element additionally represents a symbol, which is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet,

- the alphabet is a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data,

- each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface,

- each of the modulated characteristic elements represents an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface,

- at least a portion of the data is transcribed by the structure of the code block of modulated characteristic elements, thus the structure of the code block forms at least a portion of the block structure corresponding to at least one portion of the data,

wherein the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map comprises at least a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of the data, and

the first ordered map is further configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first code block structure, imperceptible to the human eye, but extractable by means of a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination.

In another preferred embodiment, the step of engraving on the surface of the plurality of block structures is performed by any of the following:

- (precision) milling,

- laser ablation,

- chemical engraving,

- plasma etching and

- stamping.

In a third aspect, the invention provides a method for configuring a plurality of block structures of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements intended for engraving on the surface of a solid component,

moreover

each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element, which allows each of the modulated characteristic elements and each of the basic characteristic elements to be engraved,

each block structure contains the corresponding code block structure of the data being transcribed, and

Each block structure is a set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements configured to be distributed over a spatially limited portion of the surface.

The method includes:

- creating each of the profiles of modulated characteristic elements by applying a corresponding modulation by means of a modulator profile of a characteristic element to one of the profiles of basic characteristic elements in accordance with a symbol that represents a transcription of a letter of the alphabet, wherein the alphabet represents a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data,

- transcribing at least a first portion of data for a first code block structure using profiles of modulated characteristic elements,

- arranging modulated characteristic elements corresponding to the first structure of the code block in at least the first block structure of the plurality of block structures according to a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map represents a first finite set of positions of modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, and

- configuring the modulated characteristic elements on the first ordered map to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, imperceptible to the human eye for the intended engraving, but extractable only by means of a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination.

In a fourth aspect, the invention provides a method for authenticating an article with a surface structure by means of attached information associated with an identifier that is associated with the article with the surface structure, wherein the identifier is embedded in the structure of a code block of the block structure of the surface of the article. The method includes the following steps:

- capturing an image from the block structure of the product using a shooting camera that is connected to the first data processing device;

- analyzing the captured image on the first data processing device to extract the identifier using the first algorithm;

- transmission of the identifier to the second data processing device;

- querying the database using the second data processing device to obtain access to the attached information stored in the database, wherein the attached information is associated with the specified identifier; and

- sending the attached information to the first data processing device.

In another preferred embodiment, the method for authenticating an article further comprises the steps of:

- after the requesting step, checking whether the attached information indicates that the product with the surface structure is susceptible to counterfeiting, and requesting, by the second data processing device, the image data from the first data processing device; and

- analysis of the captured image on the second data processing device to extract additional information from the structure of the code block using a second algorithm for analytical (forensic) examination of the structure of the code block, which differs from the first algorithm.

In another preferred embodiment of the method for authenticating an article:

- the check is performed on at least one of the first and second data processing devices,

- the request by the second data processing device is intended to capture another image by the camera of the first data processing device, wherein the other image has an improved image quality compared to the said captured image, and

- the analysis is performed on another image.

In another preferred embodiment, the analysis step further comprises:

- filtering the image to remove at least one of the following: artifacts, noise, geometric distortion, and illumination unevenness, to obtain a filtered image;

- performing mesh extraction on the filtered image, wherein the mesh is superimposed on top of the filtered image to serve as a reference coordinate system;

- detection of synchronization pattern using grid-aligned information;

- detecting at least one symbol based on the position of the synchronization pattern; and

- decoding an identifier from at least one symbol based on a mapping function.

In another preferred embodiment, the method for authenticating an article further comprises:

- extracting authentication information associated with the captured image, wherein the authentication information is unique to the captured image; and

- sending authentication information to the second data processing device.

One particular advantage of the invention is that it provides a comparatively higher information density for data transmission, compared to, for example, the prior art solution EP 3437849 discussed herein above.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will be better understood through the description of embodiments and with reference to the drawings, in which the following is shown.

Figure 1 shows the graphs used to illustrate the assignment of coordinate systems;

Figure 2 shows an illustration of examples of characteristic elements in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 illustrates an example of an ordered map of characteristic elements on a regular grid in accordance with the invention;

Figure 4 illustrates an example of an ordered map of characteristic elements on a randomized grid in accordance with the invention;

Figure 5 illustrates another example of an ordered map of characteristic elements on a regular grid in accordance with the invention;

Figures 6-9 illustrate structures of a code block selected from an ordered map of characteristic elements in accordance with examples of the invention;

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate, respectively, an example of a basic characteristic element and a corresponding modulated characteristic element in accordance with the invention;

Figure 12 schematically shows multiplicative modulation in accordance with examples of the invention;

Figure 13 schematically shows the modulation of the z-shift in accordance with an example of the invention;

Figure 14 schematically shows a scaled z-shift modulation in accordance with another example of the invention;

Figure 15 schematically shows additive modulation in accordance with examples of the invention;

Figure 16 schematically shows the modulation of the xy-shift in accordance with another example of the invention;

Figure 17 illustrates a portion of the surface of a tool or article with a surface structure covered with a plurality of block structures, in accordance with an example of the invention;

Figure 18 illustrates an example of a synchronized embossing machine using solid components in accordance with the invention;

Figure 19 illustrates an example of a solid object in the form of an article with a surface structure in accordance with an example of an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 20 illustrates an example of an implementation of an ordered map for a block structure with modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 21 shows the structure of a code block based on the ordered map in Figure 20;

Figures 22A-D show four (4) examples of the implementation of embossed foil products;

Figure 23 illustrates an example of an article with a surface structure with engraved block structures in accordance with the invention;

Figure 24 illustrates a synchronized embossing machine with an optional quick-change cassette and an embossed foil product in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 25 illustrates a further synchronized embossing unit with another example of an embossed foil article according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 26 illustrates an example of an installation for reading modulated characteristic elements from block structures embossed on a foil article in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 27 illustrates a further example of an arrangement for reading modulated characteristic elements according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 28 illustrates an example of the use of a block structure in accordance with the invention;

Figure 29 illustrates an example of the use of a block structure in accordance with the invention;

Figure 30 illustrates an example of the use of a block structure in accordance with the invention;

Figure 31 contains a block diagram illustrating a method for producing an engraved solid component in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 32 contains a block diagram illustrating a method for configuring a plurality of block structures of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements intended for engraving on the surface of a solid component in accordance with an example of embodiment of the invention;

Figure 33 illustrates an exemplary schematic and simplified representation of a system for reading, extracting and matching an identifier or code for the purpose of, for example, authentication;

Figure 34 shows a schematic representation of a corresponding method that can be performed in the system according to Figure 34;

Figure 35 shows an exemplary flow chart of the steps that may be performed when a smartphone application may process the received image data to extract an identifier or code; and

Figures 36A/B show two microscopic images of the tool surface as a practical example of the presence of basic characteristic elements and modulated characteristic elements next to each other.

The same reference numbers will be used to indicate the same or similar features on all drawings.

Glossary

Regarding the substrate

- feature profile: a description of a three-dimensional topographic profile intended for engraving on the surface of a solid component or for transfer to a substrate; the feature profile can be described by a given function z=f(x,y) and has a limited size, typically less than 0.5 mm in all three dimensions;

- basic characteristic element: an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element engraved on the surface of a solid component. The basic characteristic element has a basic characteristic element profile;

- modulated characteristic element: an engraved three-dimensional topographic element whose three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the profile of the characteristic element by means of an operator, i.e. a modulator, to the profile of the base characteristic element;

- map: a finite set of positions on the surface of a solid component or substrate that defines the locations of the basic characteristic elements and the modulated characteristic elements;

- block structure: a spatially limited set of basic characteristic elements and/or modulated characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of a solid component or substrate in accordance with an ordered map;

- decoration: a block structure that is used specifically to create a visual impression or tactile response.

Regarding the transfer

- transfer: any of, for example, shaping, printing, molding, hand processing, pressing and embossing on a substrate of at least a three-dimensional topographic element formed on a solid component;

- tool: a material part having basic characteristic elements and/or modulated characteristic elements on at least one surface, made of a material such as, for example, metal, ceramics, in a volumetric or layered form, and intended for transferring its surface structure to another material;

- roll: a tool characterized by cylindrical symmetry and dimensions, for example, a length <5 m and a diameter <1 m, profiled with basic characteristic elements and/or modulated characteristic elements on its lateral surface;

- matric/matrix rolls: a set of synchronized profiled rolls having inversely congruent basic characteristic elements and/or modulated characteristic elements on their respective side surfaces;

- embossing: a process of transferring characteristic elements from at least one roller or tool onto a fluid or solid substrate or onto another solid component.

Regarding coding

- code block structure: a block structure with modulated characteristic elements, which is used specifically for the representation of data containing specific information;

- letter: a separate object of the alphabet;

- alphabet: a clearly defined set of different letters, such as different elementary data;

- modulation: a specific operation that transforms a letter into the corresponding three-dimensional profile of the characteristic element intended for engraving;

- symbol: three-dimensional profile of the characteristic element that is the result of modulation;

- character array: an N×M character array, where N and M are integers.

Implementation of the invention

The patent publications described in the above section "Prior Art" disclose the use of a pattern of characteristic elements for the purpose of satinizing foil or paper and thereby achieving an aesthetic, decorative effect. The pattern may be a conventional embossing pattern that is applied to the surface of a solid component for the purpose of embossing characteristic elements of the pattern on the foil or paper by means of the solid component.

For convenience, we will henceforth refer to a foil product when designating metallic foil, polymer film, paper, laminated paper or hybrids, cardboard or other thin sheet product subject to embossing with a thickness of <900 µm.

More generally, in the field of embossing and in relation to the present invention, a map shall be understood to be a finite set of positions on the surface of a solid component or substrate, defining the locations of basic characteristic elements and modulated characteristic elements, i.e. three-dimensional structures, on the surface of the solid component or substrate. The map may be the basis for the arrangement of characteristic elements in the form of a block structure on the surface of the solid component or substrate.

The production of such characteristic elements on the surface of a solid component may involve various engraving tools and methods, such as, for example, laser engraving, laser ablation, chemical engraving, plasma etching, stamping, milling, etc.

The solid component can, for example, be implemented as a tool, such as a set of a first rotating roller and a second rotating roller, wherein the first roller comprises one or more characteristic elements in the form of depressions on the surface of the first roller, and the second roller comprises corresponding inverted congruent elements in the form of projections on the surface of the second roller. In such a case, the first roller can be designated as a matrix roller, and the second roller as a patric roller. Therefore, when the foil product is fed into the gap between the first roller and the second embossing roller, each element in the form of a cavity is penetrated by a corresponding protruding and congruent element of the second roller, thereby modifying the structure of the foil product by changing the normal vector to the surface of the foil product.

Another embodiment of the solid component may be a casting mold.

In another non-limiting embodiment, the features may be engraved directly onto the consumer product rather than being manufactured on a tool.

Here, the surface structured product should be understood as a consumer-oriented product, in contrast to the tool used to manufacture the surface structured product, which has the described block structure of characteristic elements.

Next, we define, with respect to the surface carrying one or more base and/or modulated characteristic elements, coordinate systems in which the z-axis is aligned with the normal to the surface of the substrate, the x-axis is tangent to the surface, and the y-axis is the result of the vector product between x and z, so that an orthogonal space is formed. The coordinate systems are illustrated in Figure 1. Schematically, the base surface 100 surrounds the characteristic element 101, which is manifested in a modification of the structure of the base surface 100. Two examples of normal vectors to the surface of the characteristic element 101 and the corresponding z-axis 102 and z-axis 103 are illustrated: the z-axis 102 is intended to indicate the upper position, and the z-axis 103 is intended to indicate the lateral position on the characteristic element 101, respectively.

Considerations about the map

In a known configuration, a plurality of characteristic elements may be aligned in a checkerboard pattern on the surface of a tool or article with a surface structure, i.e. aligned along a two-dimensional grid, so that the plurality of characteristic elements form a substantially uniform region on the surface. In other words, the plurality of characteristic elements cover the corresponding region in a constant regular manner. A set of a plurality of objects aligned in this manner corresponds to positions contained in a map. More specifically, a map is defined as a finite set of positions on the surface of a solid component of the substrate, for example a set of positions (x, y), where x and y are defined in a uniform two-dimensional grid, thus defining the locations of the characteristic elements. The positions may correspond, for example, to the location of the geometric center of the imprint of the corresponding characteristic elements on the surface.

In the embodiment of the invention described in this document, the characteristic elements may have both a positive polarity and a negative polarity and are called a positive characteristic element and a negative characteristic element, respectively. Positive polarity means that the average z-component of the positive characteristic element is greater than z=0 of this characteristic element, and negative polarity means that the average z-component of the negative characteristic element is less than z=0 of this characteristic element. Z=0 of any of the characteristic elements is usually defined as the z position at which the (x, y) section formed by the intersection of the horizontal plane relative to the z direction with the characteristic element has the largest surface. Another way of specifying z=0 is that z=0 corresponds to the base surface of the solid component.

The card may comprise positions of positive and negative characteristic elements that alternate successively and are staggered. This means that each positive characteristic element is surrounded by four (4) immediately adjacent negative characteristic elements, and vice versa, with the exception of those characteristic elements that are located on the border or along the perimeter of the card. In this case, the block structure corresponding to the card is called a "convex-concave embossing". However, in another embodiment, the card may comprise only positive characteristic elements, in which case the block structure corresponding to the card is called a "convex-convex embossing". In yet another embodiment, the card may comprise only negative characteristic elements, in which case the block structure corresponding to the card is called a "concave-concave embossing". In another embodiment, the map may comprise positive and negative characteristic elements that occur with one or more polarity sequences that are more complex than explained above in this paragraph, or even pseudo-random.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the characteristic elements have overall transverse dimensions in the plane (x,y) of the solid component in the range from 5 μm to 250 μm and heights along the z axis of the solid component in the range from 5 μm to 250 μm. The characteristic elements are intended to change the optical reflection properties of the article with the surface structure by locally changing the surface normal.

Figure 2 schematically illustrates examples of characteristic elements that can be considered as basic characteristic elements, such as (a) a truncated pyramid with a square base, (b) a truncated pyramid with a rectangular base, (c) a truncated quadrilateral, (d) a truncated pentagon, and (e) a hemisphere. These examples are non-limiting, and other shapes such as non-truncated versions or a depleted truncated hemisphere (not shown in Figure 2) can also be considered. More generally, the characteristic element can be described by a mathematical function z=f(x, y), where the z-axis is aligned with the normal to the surface of the solid component (or substrate).

In the present invention, a subset of positions on an ordered map can be used to represent digital data containing specific information. The block structure corresponding to this subset can be defined as a code block structure. Conversely, a code block structure is a block structure with modulated characteristic elements whose positions are included in the ordered map.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the engraved symbol is considered as a separate element of the code block structure obtained by modulating, i.e. transcribing the profile of an alphabet letter, in a basic characteristic element to obtain a modulated characteristic element.

It should be noted that the code block structure may not necessarily be as densely packed as the card, with density being the number of modulated characteristic elements of the code block structure per unit area. For example, typically, but not necessarily always, in the case of a "convex-concave embossed" card, the code block structure contains only characteristic elements of one polarity. In "convex-convex embossed" or "concave-concave embossed" cards, typically the code block structure corresponds to a card subset that is more densely packed than the card itself, with each characteristic element of the code block structure modulating one or more letters into a symbol.

Figures 3-9 illustrate how the positions of the characteristic elements corresponding to a code block structure can be selected from the map in various cases. For convenience, we will simply use the term code block structure in the following to refer to the specific positions of the specific characteristic elements corresponding to that code block structure.

In figure 3 an example of a map 300 is illustrated, in which the structure of the code block is not selected. In figure 3 a finite set of positions 301 on the surface of a solid component or substrate is illustrated, wherein the surface and the solid component or substrate are not illustrated. Any position on the surface can be expressed in the coordinate system 305. The positions 301 are positions of characteristic elements, i.e. in the example in figure 3 the first type of characteristic element 302 is shown by white circles, and the second type of characteristic element 303 is shown by textured circles. The characteristic element 302 can be of negative polarity, while the characteristic element 303 can be of positive polarity. In the map 300, the first type of characteristic elements 302 and the second type of characteristic elements 303 are arranged along a regular grid 304, which means that the characteristic elements 302 and the characteristic elements 303 are arranged on a regular grid 304, each of the characteristic elements always has the same distance from its neighboring characteristic elements, regardless of where they are located in the grid. The regular grid 304 in Fig. 3 is constructed with rows perpendicular to the columns and has a size of four rows and four columns. Table 1 contains all the information of the map 300, including for each of the 16 characteristic elements 301 a set of coordinates in the coordinate system 305 and its type. The coordinates for each characteristic element 301 are related to the center of the characteristic element, in this example to the center of the circle.

In figure 4 an example of a map 400 is illustrated, in which the structure of the code block is not selected. In figure 4 a finite set of positions 401 on the surface of a solid component or substrate is illustrated, wherein the surface and the solid component or substrate are not illustrated. Any position on the surface can be expressed in a coordinate system 404. The positions 401 are positions of characteristic elements, which, similar to that shown in figure 3, can belong to a characteristic element 402 of a first type, illustrated by white circles, and to a characteristic element 403 of a second type, illustrated by textured circles. The first type of characteristic element 402 can be of negative polarity, while the second type of characteristic element 403 can be of positive polarity. The map 400 is located along a randomized grid. The characteristic elements 402 and 403 are located at distances from their neighboring characteristic elements that depend on the randomized position that they respectively occupy in the randomized grid.

Figure 5 illustrates another example of a map 500 in which characteristic elements 501 are arranged along a regular grid 503, but, unlike Figure 3, the rows and columns in which the characteristic elements 501 are arranged are not perpendicular. The rows are parallel to each other, and the columns are also parallel to each other. Any position on the surface can be expressed in a coordinate system 502 in which the x and y axes are conveniently oriented in accordance with the rows and columns.

In figure 6, a code block structure 600 is illustrated. In this case, the code block structure 600 collects adjacent characteristic elements selected from an ordered map 603 of characteristic elements 601 ordered in a regular grid. Any position on the surface can be expressed in a coordinate system 602. The code block structure 600 contains nine (9) characteristic elements, which are assigned identifiers of code characteristic elements (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), (0,1), (1,1), (2,1), (0,2), (1,2) and (2,2). The code block structure 600 comprises characteristic elements of the first type, illustrated by white circles, and characteristic elements of the second type, illustrated by textured circles, just like the remaining characteristic elements of the ordered map 603. However, the characteristic elements of the code block structure 600 may comprise modulated characteristic elements, each of which corresponds to a symbol that is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet. The modulated characteristic elements may be represented, for example, only by textured circles, which are potentially all textured circles of the code block structure 600, or a subset of the textured circles of the code block structure. Alternatively, the modulated characteristic elements may be represented only by white circles. According to another alternative, the modulated characteristic elements may be represented by textured circles and white circles. In some cases, a modulated characteristic element may actually correspond to a basic characteristic element, and therefore it may be preferably defined so as not to correspond to any symbol. Let us assume for example that the alphabet used is the Latin alphabet containing the letters a, b, c, d, ..., x, y, z, then any modulated characteristic element can correspond to a symbol which is a transcription of one of these letters. Let us further assume, for example, that the modulated characteristic elements are represented by textured circles having identifiers of coded characteristic elements (0,0), (2,0), (1,1), (0,2) and (2,2), and the modulated characteristic elements are ordered in the same order of appearance as indicated in the last list, then it is possible to use the modulated characteristic elements to transmit data such as the word "echos" consisting of a sequence of symbols corresponding to the letters e, c, h, o and s. Table 2 contains an excerpt from the map 603 describing how the word "echos" is arranged on the ordered map 603.

As can be read in Table 2, the characteristic elements with numbers 10, 12, 18, 23 and 25 are modulated characteristic elements representing the symbols for the letters e, c, h, o and s. These characteristic elements have identifiers of code characteristic elements and are part of the code block structure 600. The remaining characteristic elements of the code block structure are basic characteristic elements and do not represent any symbols. The characteristic elements outside the code block structure 600 have a similar structural and visual appearance as the characteristic elements from the code block structure 600, but do not contain modulated characteristic elements, from the characteristic elements represented by textured circles.

The packing density of the code block structure 600 is maximum for the map in Fig. 6, which means that each characteristic element 601 of the code block structure 600 is adjacent to at least another characteristic element 601 of the code block structure 600.

In Figure 7, a code block structure 700.1-700.9 is illustrated, selected from an ordered map of characteristic elements 701 in a regular grid, similar to the regular grid shown in Figure 6. Similar to what is shown in Figure 6, the code block structure 700.1-700.9 comprises 9 characteristic elements, which are assigned identifiers of code characteristic elements (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), (0,1), (1,1), (2,1), (0,2), (1,2) and (2,2). However, all characteristic elements of the code block structure 700.1-700.9 belong to the same type, illustrated here by a textured circle. Each characteristic element of the code block structure 700.1-700.9 is separated from the characteristic element of the code block structure closest to it by at least another characteristic element 701 of the map, which is not part of the code block structure 700.1-700.9. Therefore, the density of the characteristic elements of the code block structure 700.1-700.9 is less than the density of the characteristic elements of the code block structure 600 in Fig. 6, which means that there are fewer characteristic elements of the code block structure per unit area of the surface on which the map is supposed to be placed.

In Figure 8, a code block structure 800.1-800.9 is illustrated, selected from an ordered map of characteristic elements 801 in a regular grid, similar to the regular grids in Figures 6 and 7. The code block structure 800.1-800.9 contains nine (9) characteristic elements, which are assigned code characteristic element identifiers (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), (0,1), (1,1), (2,1), (0,2), (1,2) and (2,2). As in Figure 7, all characteristic elements of the code block structure are characteristic elements of the same type, illustrated here by a textured circle. Unlike Figure 7, the characteristic elements (0,0), (0,1) and (0,2), which belong to the same column in Figure 7, do not belong to the same column in Figure 8 and are therefore considered to be unaligned with the grid.

In Figure 9, a code block structure 900.1-900.9 is illustrated, selected from an ordered map of characteristic elements 901 in a regular grid, similar to the conventional grids that have already been encountered in Figures 6-8. The code block structure 900.1-900.9 contains nine (9) characteristic elements, which are assigned identifiers of code characteristic elements (0,0), (1,0), (2,0), (0,1), (1,1), (2,1), (0,2), (1,2) and (2,2), as in Figures 7 and 8, all characteristic elements of the code block structure belong to the same type, illustrated here by a textured circle. In the example of Figure 9, the characteristic elements are aligned to the grid, but, unlike Figure 7, the rows of the characteristic elements from the code block structure in Figure 9 are aligned to the grid along lines at an angle of 45° relative to the rows shown in Figure 7.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the structure of the code block itself is aligned on a two-dimensional grid, such as those shown in Figures 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and unlike that shown in Figure 4. In the latter case, the engraved characteristic elements are arranged in a randomized manner.

The characteristic elements contained in the code block structure are preferably modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements. Each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element. Each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying a corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific corresponding information. In this sense, and when used for transcribing data in the code block structure, each modulated characteristic element is a symbol, which in turn is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet. The alphabet is a set of letters, which are individual objects of clearly defined elementary data. In other words, the modulated characteristic elements are used as symbols for encoding data, and they are then included in the code block structure. In this way, at least a part of the data is transcribed by the code block structure of the modulated characteristic elements. Ultimately, the code block structure forms a block structure corresponding to at least one piece of data.

The modulated characteristic elements, which are part of the block structure, are arranged according to an ordered map. This is a method that makes it possible to know where each of the modulated characteristic elements can be found on the engraved solid component in order to reconstruct and detect the symbols used in the code block structure and, therefore, to reconstruct the data transferred to the surface of the solid component. In a preferred embodiment, the code block structure, consisting of, for example, 33 rows and 33 columns, contains within itself a small set of, for example, 64 modulated characteristic elements, which represent a certain pattern, which can be a synchronization pattern. These modulated characteristic elements can be specific alphabetic characters, however, in the present example, these modulated characteristic elements are not used to encode the data itself. During the optical reading of the code block structure, the image sensor receives an image; the image is subsequently transmitted to the image processor; the image processor then analyzes the received image and relates the synchronization pattern in it to the synchronization pattern of the specific application in order to determine the reference point or origin for the decoding operation. The image processor is programmed in such a way that after it relates the synchronization pattern, it knows where the modulated characteristic elements, i.e. the symbols, can be found on the engraved solid component and begins to detect/demodulate the symbols used in the code block structure, decodes the newly arranged information and, therefore, restores the information on the surface of the solid component.

Figure 10 shows an example of a basic characteristic element 1000 and a corresponding modulated characteristic element 1001, which can be obtained after applying a modulation to the basic characteristic element 1000 (the modulation operation is not illustrated in Fig. 10). The basic characteristic element can be considered as an elementary component of the block structure. As explained in the above glossary, the basic characteristic element is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element engraved on the surface of a solid component. In the example in Fig. 10, the basic characteristic element 1000 is schematically illustrated as a positive characteristic element having the shape of a hemisphere. The modulated characteristic element can be understood as a basic characteristic element to which a modulation function has been applied, wherein the modulation is, in the sense of the present invention, an act of intentionally transcribing a letter of the alphabet into a controllable physical three-dimensional topographic structure. Referring again to the glossary, a modulated characteristic element is an engraved three-dimensional topographic element whose three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the profile of the characteristic element by means of a specific operation, i.e. modulation, to the profile of the base characteristic element. In a very simple case, not illustrated in Figure 10, the profile of the characteristic element may not affect the change of the base characteristic element, and therefore the modulated characteristic element may be identical to the original base characteristic element. However, in the example of Figure 10, the modulation has the effect of adding a plurality of half-cones 1002 to the base characteristic element 1000 in the form of a hemisphere.

Figure 11 shows the same example of a basic characteristic element 1000 as in Figure 10 and a corresponding modulated characteristic element 1101 that can be obtained after applying modulation to the basic characteristic element 1000 (the modulation operation is not illustrated in Figure 11). The modulation has the effect of adding a crater 1102 to the basic characteristic element 1000 in the form of a hemisphere.

According to the present invention, the modulation of the basic characteristic element can be made comparatively as weak as possible, as will be explained below. In this context, the term "weak" means that the two-dimensional integral over the entire characteristic element of the difference in angles between the normal of the modulated characteristic element and the normal of the basic characteristic element on the surface-structured article is below a certain threshold of the capabilities of the human vision. The aim is to generate a modification of the basic characteristic element in such a way that the interaction between the incident light and the modulated characteristic element appears very similar to the interaction between the incident light and the basic characteristic element in the field of view of the human eye. In such a configuration, under most lighting conditions, the modulated characteristic elements appear very similar to the basic characteristic elements, and therefore the corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements in the structure of the code block of the modulated characteristic elements are imperceptible to the human eye. However, if the corresponding image of the code block structure containing the modulated characteristic elements is obtained by a digital camera and subsequently processed using a computerized system, such as, for example, a smartphone, tablet, PC, embedded controller, it is possible to identify the original information contained in the code block structure of the image. In addition to the fact that the modulated characteristic elements look very similar to the basic characteristic elements, a number of additional factors make it even more difficult to differentiate the detection of the modulated characteristic elements from the detection of the basic characteristic elements. These additional factors include, for example:

• diffused lighting;

• fluctuations in the amplitude of the reflected light between the light reflected by the modulated characteristic element and the light reflected by the base characteristic element, below the threshold perceived by the human eye;

• eclipse of the reflection arising from the modulated characteristic elements by the reflections created by possible other surrounding basic characteristic elements, modulated characteristic elements and surfaces;

• color-dependent sensitivity of the human eye.

While individual modulated characteristic elements convey information in a manner that is imperceptible to the human eye, a plurality of modulated characteristic elements can also be used on their own or together with basic characteristic elements to create an aesthetic ensemble that is perceptible to the human eye. Such an aesthetic ensemble can be, for example, the surface of an article with a surface structure or a solid component that defines, for example, a logo, a repeating motif or a graphic representation of an object.

Typically, by adding redundancy in the form of, for example, a forward error-correcting (FEC) code, the code block structure can be designed such that the original information encoded in the code block structure can still be recovered if any of the following occurs:

• ideal reliability when reading modulated characteristic elements is unattainable;

• the modulated characteristic elements of the code block structure are erased, i.e. replaced by another relief motif that does not carry the structure of the code block;

• only part of the code block structure is in the field of view of the camera.

Another typical application of the present invention is product authentication by capturing an image of the product with a surface structure or its packaging, processing the image to identify possible code block structures, and extracting information contained in such code block structures.

Different modulation approaches can be used, resulting in a correspondingly greater or lesser influence on the light falling on the modulated characteristic element, depending on the target digital image reading means, for example a smartphone with a relatively low-resolution camera under relatively poor lighting or a high-end professional camera with ideal directional lighting.

Below are examples of the types of modulation that are commonly used.

It is convenient to highlight several typical, but at the same time general cases:

- multiplicative modulation;

- (scaled) z-shift modulation;

- additive modulation;

- xy-shift modulation.

Multiplicative modulation allows for the modulation of the height or the switching of the polarity (from positive to negative, and vice versa) of the entire basic characteristic element. Figure 12 shows schematic examples of multiplicative modulation with a coefficient a. Two examples are illustrated, one in which a<1 and, therefore, the height modulation reduces the height of the basic characteristic element 1200 to obtain a modulated characteristic element 1201 with a reduced amplitude, and another in which a>1 and, therefore, the height modulation increases the height of the basic characteristic element to obtain a modulated characteristic element 1202.

The offset modulation allows the height of the entire basic characteristic element to be modulated. Typically, it is zero, since it is common practice to choose an approach based only on positive characteristic elements or an approach based only on negative characteristic elements. Figure 13 illustrates an example of modulating the z-offset of a spherical basic characteristic element, where the center 1201 is moved by the vector in the z direction to the new center 1301. Consequently, the basic characteristic element 1200 is increased translationally (i.e. due to the translational movement) by the value of the vector to obtain a modulated characteristic element 1300. In this case, it is assumed that the basic characteristic element 1200 has a virtual shape below the surface from which the basic characteristic element extends.

An example of scaled z-shift modulation is illustrated in Figure 14, in which the radius of the sphere is modified while the portion extending above the surface by a height h remains constant. In the illustrated example, the radius r1 of the basic characteristic element 1400 is reduced such that the radius becomes equal to r2 for the modulated characteristic element 1401, while the center 1402 is moved to the center 1403 by means of the vector .

Additive modulation, which also covers the case of subtraction, allows adding a position-dependent structure to the basic characteristic element. Figure 15 shows three (3) examples of such additive modulations, where one or more cone-shaped characteristic elements are added to the hemispherical basic characteristic element 1500 at different positions. In the example illustrated in the upper part of Figure 15, the cone-shaped characteristic element 1501 added to the basic characteristic element 1500 results in the modulated characteristic element 1502 having a cone-shaped cavity 1503 at the top of the hemispherical shape. In the middle part of Figure 15 an additional cone-shaped characteristic element 1504, made in the form of a positive characteristic element, is added to the basic characteristic element 1500 and causes the cone-shaped characteristic element to merge with the right side 1505 of the hemispherical shape. In the lower part of Fig. 15 two such additional cone-shaped characteristic elements 1506, made in the form of two positive characteristic elements, separated from each other by less than the diameter of the base of the basic characteristic element 1500, cause the cone-shaped characteristic elements to merge with the corresponding left 1507 and right 1508 sides of the hemispherical shape.

Figure 16 shows an additional modulation of the displacement, in which the modulated characteristic element 1601 is shown as a lateral displacement version of the basic characteristic element 1600 in the plane (x,y) of the surface of a solid component or article with a surface structure, wherein the lateral displacement is carried out by a vector and/or

Different types of modulation can also be combined by modulating more than one parameter. This may be desirable to obtain a stronger effect when, for example, a more pronounced effect on the intensity of light reflected by the thus obtained modulated characteristic element is required in order to facilitate reading and extraction by a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination.

In a typical case, considering the arrangement of characteristic elements on a uniform grid such that two adjacent positions along any of the principal axes of the grid are separated by a value of 6, a hemispherical basic characteristic element with amplitude 1 and height h is modulated by one, two, or four cones with truncated height h, base width w, and angle to the normal theta, located at (d/2.0), (-d/2.0), (0, -d/2), or/and (0, 0+d/2) relative to the central position of the sphere. See Figure 10 for an example illustrating this case.

In another typical case, a single cone of polarity opposite to the hemispherical basic characteristic element, but of any height h2, is placed at the center of the hemispherical basic characteristic element, i.e. at (0,0) relative to the central position of the hemispherical basic characteristic element. See Figure 11 for an example illustrating this case.

Engraved solid component

As explained earlier, the engraved solid component can be either a tool or a surface structured article. In either case, the engraving is made on the surface of the material.

In figure 17, a portion of a surface 1700 of a tool or article with a surface structure is illustrated. The surface 1700 is covered with a plurality of block structures, such as the exemplary block structure 1701 shown in figure 17. As explained in the glossary, the block structure 1701 is a spatially limited set of basic characteristic elements and/or modulated characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of a solid component or substrate according to a map. The general shape of the block structure 1701 shown in figure 17 is a non-limiting example. The block structure may well have other shapes, such as, for example, a disk, or any other shape representing an object, such as a company logo (not shown in figure 17). As a practical example, figures 36A/B show two microscopic images of a tool surface representing basic characteristic elements and modulated characteristic elements next to each other: a) a top view of the tool surface and b) an angled view of the tool surface.

Figure 18 illustrates an example in which the block structure 1801 is used in the embossing head 1800, which comprises two embossing rollers 1802 and is configured to emboss a foil article 1803. The two embossing rollers 1802 are designed as a pair of male/matrix rollers, which can be synchronized by means of synchronizing gears 1808. An enlarged fragment 1804 of the block structure 1801 illustrates an example of positive characteristic elements 1805 and negative characteristic elements 1806, subject to embossing. The part of the foil article 1803 subjected to embossing is shown as a hatched surface. An enlarged fragment 1807 of the foil article illustrates an example of embossed positive and negative characteristic elements.

Figure 19 illustrates an example in which the block structure 1801 is used in an article 1900 with a surface structure, which is a disc-shaped object having an engraved surface 1901. An enlarged fragment 1804 of the block structure 1801 illustrates an example of positive characteristic elements and negative characteristic elements.

In Figure 20, a portion of a map 2000 is illustrated that shows certain positions of modulated characteristic elements 2001 and basic characteristic elements 2002 that correspond to a portion of a code block structure in a block structure, such as, for example, a block structure 1801 in Figure 18 or 19. In Figure 21, a portion 2100 of a code block structure is illustrated that contains the illustrated map 2000 of Figure 20 of modulated characteristic elements 2001 and basic characteristic elements 2002. In this illustrated example, the modulated characteristic elements 2001 are obtained in accordance with the modulation shown in Figure 11.

In a general embodiment, the engraved solid component carries data containing specific information on one of its surfaces. The surface is thus covered with a plurality of block structures containing at least a first block structure. Each block structure, including the first block structure, is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements. These modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements are distributed over the surface of the engraved solid component in accordance with a map.

Each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element. Each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation by means of the modulator to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic elements in accordance with specific corresponding information. Each modulated characteristic element corresponds to a symbol, which is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet. The alphabet is a set of letters, which are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data. Each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface. Each of the modulated characteristic elements is an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface. At least a part of the data is transcribed by the structure of the code block of the modulated characteristic elements in such a way that the structure of the code block forms at least a part of the block structure, corresponding to at least one part of the data. The modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure are arranged in accordance with the first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map represents at least a first finite ordered set of the first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first structure of the code block corresponds to the first part of the data, and the first ordered map is additionally configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display the corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, imperceptible to the human eye, but extracted by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor.

In figures 22A-22D, four examples of embossed foil articles are illustrated: in figure 22A, a first embossed foil article 2201 comprising embossed base structures having a hemispherical shape and uniformly aligned on a grid, as shown in the enlarged fragment, in figure 22B, a second foil article 2202 comprising embossed modulated characteristic elements similar to those illustrated in the block structure 2100 in figure 21, except that here they are the result of embossing the block structure 2100 in the foil article 2202, in figure 22C, a third foil article 2203 comprising embossed modulated characteristic elements such as those shown in figure 10, and in figure 22B, 22D - an embossed foil article 2202 similar to that shown in Fig. 22B, i.e. with modulated characteristic elements embossed thereon, with the exception of an aesthetic motif superimposed thereon, represented here in the form of the word "LOGO", all embossed on the foil article 2202. It should be noted that the aesthetic motif may not contain any modulated characteristic elements or basic characteristic elements, but is surrounded by at least modulated characteristic elements.

In figure 23, an example of an article 2300 with a surface structure with engraved block structures on one of its surfaces is illustrated. The block structures comprise a plurality of first structures 2301 of a code block, in which the modulated characteristic elements are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, which is a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structures 2301 correspond each to a first part of data (the data and the code block structure are not illustrated on the surface of the article 2300 with the surface structure in figure 23). The first block structures 2301 are surrounded by a second block structure 2302, which is shown in Fig. 23 surface, shaded differently than the surfaces illustrating the first block structures 2301. The second block structure 2302 is a second spatially limited set exclusively from a plurality of at least one of the basic characteristic elements (the basic characteristic elements of the second block structure are not illustrated in Fig. 23), which are located on the surface of the article 2300 with a surface structure in accordance with the second drawing. The first block structures 2301 are located on the surface of the article with a surface structure in such a way that they, or more precisely the modulated characteristic elements that they contain, form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface. The aesthetic ensemble is shown here as an ensemble of seven (7) sections of approximately square shape. The aesthetic ensemble is completed by a second block structure 2302, which, as shown, surrounds the “patched” part of the first block structures 2301. In Figure 23, an enlarged part 2303 of the first block structure 2301 with modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements is additionally illustrated.

In figure 24, a synchronized embossing head 2400 is illustrated, inside which an optional quick-change cassette is installed (not clearly illustrated for better understanding), intended for placing at least two engraved solid components 2401 with optional synchronizing gears 2407, wherein each engraved solid component has cylindrical symmetry and is designed as an embossing tool for transferring modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements onto a substrate, in the case of figure 24, this is a foil product. The surface of one of the solid components 2401, i.e. one of the embossing tools, is covered with block structures that lead to embossing of the modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements contained therein onto the foil product. The illustrated example shows three (3) different types of embossed block structures, namely, a first embossed block structure 2402 containing only embossed basic characteristic elements, a second relief block structure 2403 containing first modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements, as shown in the enlarged fragment 2405, and a third embossed block structure 2404 containing second modulated characteristic elements, as shown in the enlarged fragment 2405. It is obvious that the embossed first, second and third block structures do not overlap. In addition, the block structures are located along a randomized grid.

Figure 25 illustrates a similar synchronized embossing head 2400 with a similar optional quick-change cassette as in Figure 24, in which block structures engraved on solid components 2401 result in embossed block structures 2402 and 2403 that do not overlap, similar to that shown in Figure 24. Block structures 2402 and 2403, respectively, may correspond to differently ordered cards, and the block structures of the respectively ordered cards are arranged along a regular grid.

26 and 27 show examples of devices 2601 and 2700 used to read and extract the positions of the modulated characteristic elements from the code block structures and block structures, for example, a code block structure 2602 containing type A modulated characteristic elements, a code block structure 2603 containing type B modulated characteristic elements, and a block structure 2603 containing type B modulated characteristic elements and an aesthetic motif superimposed thereon, represented here as the word "LOGO", all embossed on a foil article 2600. It should be noted that the aesthetic motif may not contain any modulated characteristic elements or basic characteristic elements, but is surrounded by at least modulated characteristic elements of type B, which are used to encode data, which in turn is detected by the devices 2601 and 2700 and displayed on the means 2604 and 2704 visualization of the respective devices. In both cases, the reading is performed using the light reflected by the block structures (incident light subsequently reflected by the block structures, not illustrated in Figures 26 and 27) and is captured by the optical reading system of the smartphone 2601 in Figure 26 or the shooting camera 2700 in Figure 27. Both the smartphone 2601 and the shooting camera 2700 contain, or are connected to, means and software for analyzing the image taken from the block structure and processing it in order to decode the data and the specific information contained therein, as it is transferred to the block structures. On the smartphone 2601, the decoded data can ultimately be displayed on the respective visualization means 2604.

In Fig. 28, a further example of a synchronized embossing head 2400 similar to that already discussed in connection with Figs. 24 and 25 and an embossed foil article 2600 comprising block structures 2603 similar to those shown in Figs. 26 and 27 are shown. The QR code 2800 is created on the surface of the foil article 2600 in the form of an aesthetic motif, so that its components comprise surfaces that do not contain either modulated characteristic elements or basic characteristic elements. In this way, the QR code 2800 can be read as a single aesthetic characteristic element and decoded as such in a well-known manner, without resorting to any analysis that can be used to detect and analyze the modulated characteristic elements.

In figure 29, an example of an article in the form of a blister article 2900 for packaging tablets, capsules with liquid or any other article 2902 in a blister package is illustrated, surrounded by engraved basic characteristic elements 2901. The blister article 2900 further comprises block structures 2602 and/or 2603, similar to those shown in figures 26 and 27, which allow data to be transferred. The data may, for example, allow the authenticity of the blister 2900 to be determined and/or provide information about the tablets, capsules filled with liquid or other article 2902 packed in the blister. The block structures 2602 and/or 2603 can be read, for example, by means of a smartphone 2601, and the result of the processed reading of the block structures 2602 and/or 2603 can be displayed on the visualization means 2604.

Figure 30 illustrates an additional example of the use of a case for an article, more precisely, an inner liner 3000 of an outer package 3001, for example for cigarettes. The foil material 3000 of the inner liner has an embossing with basic characteristic elements 2901 and at least a block structure 2603 comprising modulated characteristic elements and an aesthetic motif superimposed thereon, represented here as the word "LOGO". It should be noted that the aesthetic motif may not comprise any modulated characteristic elements or basic characteristic elements, but is surrounded by at least modulated characteristic elements, which are used to encode data, which in turn are detected by the device 2601 and displayed on the visualization means 2604 of the device 2601. Figure 30 also illustrates an optional duplicate embossing 3002 of at least one block structure 2603, which comprises an aesthetic motif superimposed on the modulated characteristic elements embossed in the material of the outer packaging 3001. The optional duplicate embossing 3002 may, for example, be useful for the purposes of anti-counterfeiting and analytical (forensic) authentication.

It should be noted that, although the outer packaging 3001 resembles a cigarette packaging in the example of Fig. 30, it may in fact be a secondary outer packaging for any type of product, such as food, jewelry, pharmaceuticals, confectionery, etc., made of cardboard, a laminate of thick paper or any other suitable foil material. The outer packaging 3001 may be additionally wrapped in a shrinkable (transparent) polymer film, as is customary in the packaging industry (not shown in Fig. 30). This may be implemented in such a way that reading of the block structure 3002 remains possible after applying the shrinkable packaging to the outer packaging 3001.

The above-mentioned embossing methods and surface structure products are generally suitable for realization or production by online production line, digital press or traditional converter.

Fig. 31 contains a block diagram 3100 illustrating a method for producing an MM engraved solid component SP configured to carry data DA containing information, wherein the data is carried on the surface of the engraved solid component. The data DA, which is transcribed using a code block structure of modulated characteristic elements, wherein the code block structure thus forms a block structure corresponding to the data, is engraved S1 on the surface in the form of a plurality of block structures BS, which contain at least a first block structure, wherein:

- each block structure BS is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of an engraved solid component,

- each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element,

- each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific relevant information,

- each modulated characteristic element additionally contains a symbol which represents a transcription of an alphabet symbol,

- the alphabet is a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data,

- each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface,

- each of the modulated characteristic elements represents an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface,

- at least part of the data (DA) is transcribed using the structure of the code block of modulated characteristic elements in such a way that the structure of the code block forms a block structure corresponding to at least one part of the data DA,

wherein the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure BS are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map is a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of the data, and

wherein the first ordered map is further configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure BS to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, imperceptible to the human eye, but extractable by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor.

Fig. 32 contains a block diagram 3200 illustrating a method for configuring an MS of a plurality of block structures of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements intended for engraving on the surface of a solid component. As explained earlier, each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element, which allow each of the modulated characteristic elements and each of the basic characteristic elements to be engraved, and each block structure contains a corresponding structure of a code block of transcribed data, and each block structure is a set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements configured to be distributed over a spatially limited part of the surface. In this case, the method includes:

- creation of S2 of each of the MFP profiles of modulated characteristic elements by applying the corresponding modulation by means of the modulation profile to one of the profiles of the basic characteristic elements in accordance with the symbol that transcribes the letter of the alphabet AB, wherein the alphabet is a set of letters that are individual objects of clearly defined elementary data,

- transcribing S3 at least a first portion of DA data for a first code block (CC) structure using modulated characteristic element profiles,

- arranging S4 modulated characteristic elements corresponding to the first structure CC of the code block in at least the first block structure of the plurality of block structures, according to the first ordered map FP, wherein the first ordered map is a first finite ordered set of positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, and

- configuring S5 modulated characteristic elements on the first ordered map to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, imperceptible to the human eye (IHE) for the intended engraving, but extractable by a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a system or method is provided for capturing an image 3350 using a first data processing device, such as a smartphone 2601, from a part of a surface, element or component 1700, wherein the part of the surface 1700 includes a block structure 1701, analyzing the image 3350 to extract an identifier, code or other information 3351 therefrom, and matching the identifier 3351 with information from a database after sending the identifier or code 3351 to another second data processing device, such as a server 3310. Fig. 33 shows an exemplary schematic and simplified representation of such a system for reading, extracting and matching the identifier or code 3351 originating from the part of the surface 1700, and Fig. 34 shows a schematic representation of a corresponding method that can be performed in said system. The illustrated exemplary system includes a smartphone or tablet computer 2601, a data network 3300, a server and a database 3310 and 3320, respectively, and a camera 2700 for capturing an image, preferably capable of providing a higher image quality than the smartphone 2601. As explained above with respect to Fig. 17, the surface portion 1700 comprises a block structure 1701, which in turn includes a code block structure containing information encoded therein using modulated characteristic elements, in addition to the basic characteristic elements.

More specifically, the system may include a smartphone 2601 or other data processing device having a camera that is equipped with an image sensor and optics, or another type of data processing device that is operatively connected to the camera or image sensor, such as, but not limited to, a personal computer (PC), a tablet, a Macintosh computer (MAC), a portable camera reader, a smart camera, or another portable data processing device, wherein the smartphone 2601 is configured to provide operation of an image capture and analysis application APP1 for capturing and analyzing images 3350 from a camera associated with the smartphone 2601 to read codes or identifiers 3351 from the captured image 3350. For example, the APP1 application may be installed and may be controlled by a user of the smartphone 2601 having a graphical user interface (GUI), which, in turn, may use the camera application installed on the smartphone 2601, and may include various types of image processing software and image processing algorithms, such as decoding algorithms, image filtering algorithms and pattern matching algorithms, geometric transformation software, these algorithms allow identifying the code or identifier 3351 in the image 3350. In addition, the smartphone 2601 includes a data interface 2660 and an antenna, such as, but not limited to, a Bluetooth or Bluetooth LE interface, a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface. a wireless local area network), a global system for mobile communications (GSM) data interface for a mobile phone, a radio frequency (RF) communication, a broadband cellular network interface such as, but not limited to, 3G, 4G and 5G, an optical data interface based on, for example, infrared signals, an interface based on satellite data, a data interface 2660 configured to communicate with and via a network 3300, such as the Internet or an Intranet. It is also possible that at least some of the connections to the network 3330 are wired, such as via local area network (LAN) connections. The network 3300 is accessible via the data interface 2660 of the smartphone 2601 and is itself functionally connected to a physical server, a virtual server, a cloud server or any other computing means 3310 that has access to the database 3320. The database 3320 can be a physical database 3320 that can be located on the server computer 3310, for example, on an external or internal hard drive, but can also be another remote server or a cloud database or a network drive. The server 3310 itself is equipped with a network data interface for connecting to the network 3300 and has all the necessary data interfaces and communication protocols for transmitting data from the network 3300 and to the network 3300. Moreover, the memory area of the database 3320 can store a table or data structure T with information that is associated with or otherwise attached to the identifier 3351, for example, data structures and information that are associated with a specific identifier or code 3351. Although not shown in Fig. 34, it is easily understood by a person skilled in the art that the transmission of data to and from the network 3300 will in most cases be carried out in an encrypted manner in order to protect the exchange of information between the smartphone/tablet 2601 or the camera device 2700 and the server/database combination 3310/3320.

For example, the table or structure T of data may include information 3322 that is associated with a query key 3321, also known as associated data 3322, and that relates to an article or system that includes a surface portion 1700, such as information 3322 that includes manufacturing information of the surface portion 1700 associated with code 3351, including, but not limited to, date of manufacture, place of manufacture, version information, technical data, data associated with user manuals, construction plans, maintenance plans and schedules, compatibility information, information 3322 that includes data about a food product that is packaged to form the surface portion 1700 including, but not limited to, ingredients, country of origin information place of origin, expiration date of the food product, article class information, information 3322 that includes data about marketing and consumer information related to the surface portion 1700, such as, but not limited to, references or data about promotions, flyers, documents, websites, product warnings, product classifications, coupons, audiovisual presentations such as YouTube™ videos, animations, user manuals, Microsoft PowerPoint™ presentations, portable document format (PDF) documents, information 3322 including intellectual property, information related to the surface portion 1700, such as, but not limited to, patent data, industrial designs, trademarks, copyrights, open source software information, geographical indications, information 3322 which includes pharmaceutical information data, including, but not limited to, pharmaceutical benefits, quality and dosage information, distribution information, warning information, information 3322 may also include additional identification information related to the surface portion 1700, such as, but not limited to, owner information, serial numbers, address information, product information, about the version of equipment or software, information about the production history, information about logistics tracking.

Moreover, the computing device 3310 can have installed and running on it the application software APP2, which manages the database 3320 and the table or data structure T, and is configured to receive, process and respond to a request made by the application software APP1. For example, the application software APP2 can receive specific requests and requests from the application software APP1 from the smartphone 2601 and can process them and respond to them, sending a response 3352 back to the smartphone 2601 via the network 3300, for example, by including data extracted from the table or data structure T, which is associated with the received identifier or code 3351. The application software APP2 can also be equipped with additional image processing software, which allows receiving image data from the smartphone 2601, such as raw, pre-processed or compressed image data. In this regard, the smartphone 2601 and the APP1 can send to the server 3310 and the application software APP2 image data that was captured by the smartphone 2601, of the block structure 1701 of the part of the surface 1700. For example, this can be done by sending a request 3660 from the APP2 to the APP1 of the smartphone 2601. This allows the application software APP2 to perform additional processing of the image data, for example, more complex than that performed in the application software APP1. In one embodiment, it is also possible that the APP1 of the smartphone 2601 directly accesses the gateway or application programming interface (API) to access the data of the table or data structure T, and that no additional application software is present on the server 3310, but only an interface specific to the application, but that the server 3310 acts as a data provider for the smartphone 2601, wherein the APP1 accesses the server 3310 to request data from the table or data structure T. In this regard, it is possible that the APP1 and APP2 operate as a single application on the smartphone 2601. Moreover, the data transmission with the sending of information by identifier or code 3351 and the responses 3352 with additional data sent from the table or data structure T can be protected by various encryption and authentication schemes that are known in the field of secure messaging. Moreover, the software application APP2 may further include data interfaces to other external applications 3370, such as via an API, to access additional information from third parties that may relate to or otherwise be associated with the identifier or code 3351. For example, it is possible to access the tracking and control application 3370, which may provide logistics and production information from third parties, which can then be sent back to the smartphone 2601 via the graphical user interface (GUI) of the software application APP1.

The system may further include a camera 2700 for capturing an image, preferably capable of providing higher image quality than the smartphone 2601, which may also be functionally connected to the network 3300, such as via the network interface device 2760. The camera 2700 may be a machine vision inspection camera with appropriate optics and lighting to capture sufficient detail of the block structure 1701 of the surface portion 1700 and is connected to a frame grabber or other fast data transfer interface such as, but not limited to, FireWire, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Ethernet, or a wireless interface, with a computing device having a data transfer interface, such as a network interface 2760 for a network 3300. The network interface device 2760 may itself be a computer, such as a PC or Macintosh computer, that is operatively connected to the network 3300 and the camera 2700. As an example, the camera 2700 may be equipped with application-specific optics or lenses 2750 to capture an image 3350 of the block structure 1701 of the surface portion 1700, such as a macro lens, a microscope lens or another lens. Preferably, the shooting camera 2700 and the optics 2750 are such that they allow capturing an image of a substantially better and more adapted image quality than only the shooting camera of the smartphone 2601. As a supplement or alternative to the shooting camera 2700, it is possible that the smartphone 2601 is equipped with additional optics 2650, which allow improving and/or adapting the capture of an image of the block structure 1701 of a part of the surface 1700, for example, with a specific macro lens that can be pressed, put on or otherwise operatively attached to the smartphone 2601. In addition, such optics 2650 can also be used to reduce deformation or align the obtained image in accordance with specific surface shapes, such as cylinders or other clearly defined object geometries.

As a specific example and application, it would be possible to mark a pharmaceutical product or a medicinal product with inconspicuous codes or identifiers 3351 in the block structure 1701, and these codes or identifiers could be used by the user or patient to see whether the received pharmaceutical product corresponds to his electronic prescription and/or his user profile. For example, it would be possible for a code or identifier 3351 to be provided with a block structure 1701 that is part of a blister package 2900, for example, pharmaceuticals, reduced-risk smoking products or any other products 2902 in a blister package, it would be possible to associate the identifier 3351 with an electronic prescription or e-prescription, e-Rx for a pharmaceutical product that has been prescribed to the user. In addition, the server 3310 may have access to or may pre-store a user profile, such as through secure access to the external application 3370, including, but not limited to, gender, date of birth, age, weight, pre-existing health conditions, size, body mass index, medications, medical history, allergies. For example, a blister pack for a pharmaceutical product may be sealed and covered with a closure material that is made of a metallized film or a metallic film, or a laminate, as shown in Figure 29. This closure material may be printed with marketing information, but at the same time, the closure material may be embossed with a decorative pattern having one or more identifiers or codes 3351 embedded therein. As an example, each blister 2900 for each individual tablet, dose or liquid filled capsule 2902 of the blister pack 2900 could have a separate and distinct code embossed on the lid formed by the closure material, which would be displayed as a separate block structure 1701 on top of each blister 2902.

For example, a part of the surface 1700 is shown having a surface with a block structure 1701 provided thereon, such as a structured surface or an embossed material having basic characteristic elements and modulated characteristic elements. For example, the part of the surface 1700 can be a component for a jewelry or a watch product having an etched, engraved or embossed surface for the block structure 1701, an embossed packaging material, such as a lining or other packaging foil for tobacco products, a packaging material for food products such as chocolate or other food products and perishable goods, a capsule or cartridge for an electronic cigarette, a packaging material for a parcel that is used for local or global shipping with a hidden code provided by the block structure 1701. But the part of the surface 1700 is not limited to these examples. As an example, the block structure 1701 may be a checkerboard pattern, such as an n x n matrix (not shown), having a map of basic characteristic elements in the form of a checkerboard, in other words, alternating raised and lowered reliefs as basic characteristic elements, but also having some individual elements of the checkerboard offset from a central position as modulated characteristic elements, such as with an xy-axis offset from a central position of each element of a square grid formed by the matrix to an upper left corner, a lower left corner, an upper right corner and a lower right corner, thereby allowing information to be encoded. For example, the said offsets are in the micrometer or submillimeter range, such as in the range from 5 µm to 250 µm, and are therefore not visible to the human eye without additional optical assistance, but the checkerboard pattern may be part of an aesthetic or decorative embossing and is therefore visible to the human eye as a shading or surface texture, such as surface structuring or part of a logo.

Figure 34 shows an exemplary and simplified flow chart of a method that can be performed by the system. The method allows reading and extracting one or more identifiers 3351 from the block structure 1701 of the part of the surface 1700 by capturing image information, and then finding and processing information and data that are associated with one or more identifiers 3351 with a database, table or data structure T. The method may first include a step S10 of capturing image data 3350 of an image of the block structure 1701 of the part of the surface 1700, for example, using APP1 of a smartphone 2601, and this can be performed by a user operating an icon or a GUI button in APP1. Next, in step S20, the APP1 of the smartphone 2601 can process the received image data 3350 to extract the identifier or code 3351. After that, the identifier or code 3351 can be sent in step S30 to the server 3310 and the application software APP2 via the network 3300 or via a direct communication link between the smartphone 2601 and the server 3310. This can be done using a standard messaging protocol or transmitting a specific data packet using a customized protocol, and this step can also include an encryption scheme for secure transmission. Next, after receiving the identifier 3351 with the message or data packet at the server 3310 and optionally decrypting the date of the message or data packet, the server 3310 can perform a step S40, in which a database having a table or structure T of data is queried for data that is associated with the identifier or code 3351, in order to obtain access to the associated data 3322. Next, the server 3310 can perform a step S50, which sends a response back to the smartphone 2601, for example a message or data packet including the associated data 3322. This step can again include an encryption step, which is performed on the data before sending. In the next step S60, on the smartphone 2601, the message or data packet can be received, optionally decrypted, and the associated data can be displayed on the GUI in the APP1 of the smartphone 2601. At this step, the GUI in the APP1 can also create a user invitation in the form of a notification message or a notification screen to attract the attention of the user or the operator of the smartphone 2601.

Further, on the server 3310, the application software APP2 can be further configured to perform step S65 after receiving the identifier or code 3351 and after querying the database or table T. This step S65 can be started if the information from the database or table T indicates that the article or part of the surface 1700 with the block structure 1701 is subject to unauthorized copying or counterfeiting. This can be the case if the part of the surface 1700 is a pack of cigarettes, which are often counterfeited for the gray or black markets. For example, the data record of the table T can be associated with the identifier or code 3351 to indicate that the part of the surface 1700 subject to inspection or examination is likely to be part of a counterfeit or copied article. This data record can be examined by APP2 to start step S65, which sends a request back to the smartphone 2601 and APP1 to capture another image from the block structure 1701, but with a higher image quality, for the purpose of performing a deep or analytical (forensic) examination of the block structure 1701. For example, this request can include, but is not limited to, a command to capture an image with a higher resolution (HR), a request to capture an image with a higher contrast or high dynamic range (HDR), a request to change the lighting to a different or stronger lighting.

Upon receipt of a request on the smartphone 2601 using the APP1, the GUI may prompt or otherwise inform the user of this request, for example, using a GUI window that informs the user of instructions for capturing a better quality image. Then, step S70 may be performed, in which the user captures higher quality image data, for example, using a separate shooting camera 2700 or using additional optics 2650, which is attached to the smartphone 2601. After that, the improved image data may be sent back to the server 3310 for further analysis using the APP2, for example, in step S80, for deep or analytical (forensic) authentication of the image data of the block structure 1701. The image processing algorithms involved in step S80 may include very complex and advanced methods that are no longer real-time applications due to their level of complexity. Therefore, at intermediate stages, 3352 responses may include a message to the user to be patient and wait for the result.

Another step of the method is step S25, in which the request for querying the database and the step of sending the request to the server 3310 are performed by the APP1 of the smartphone 2601, for example via a graphical user interface by the user or automatically using a preset application mode, for example depending on the user function and depending on the access rights. In this regard, the capture of the image data 3350 in step S10 and the sending of the identifier are performed separately, and only after the request has been performed in steps S25 and S35 will the server 3310 return the database information with the associated data 3322 back to the smartphone 2601.

Fig. 35 shows an exemplary flow chart of steps that can be performed as sub-steps of step S20, in which the application 1 of the smartphone 2601 can process the received image data 3350 to extract the identifier or code 3351. As part of this step, in step S20.1, the image 3350 is pre-processed to obtain an image of better quality and format for the purposes of detecting characteristic elements or matching with a pattern, to obtain a filtered or calibrated image. For example, this step S20.1 may include, but is not limited to, an artifact removal step using various types of filters, a noise removal step, such as using median or averaging filters, fixed pattern noise removal, a contrast enhancement step, such as using a moving-histogram equalization algorithm (MHE algorithm), a lighting adaptation step to increase or decrease pixel intensity, a lighting unevenness correction step with linear or nonlinear corrections, a geometric distortion correction step, motion blur compensation algorithms, digital zoom in or zoom out normalization processing.

The filtered or calibrated image may then be subjected to a grid extraction or segmentation algorithm in step S20.2. In this step, the filtered or calibrated image is subjected to a data processing step that may overlay a grid on top of the filtered image that will serve as a reference coordinate system for further processing of the data on the image. In addition, the extracted grid will provide a basis for determining the position of objects on the map that will be used in subsequent steps S20.3, S20.4, etc. Typical grid extraction algorithms include fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on a global scale, and adaptive search and correlation algorithms on a local scale. The map provided in this step may be based on various types of coordinate bases.

After this, the segmented image obtained as a result of step 520.2 can be subjected to a synchronization step (code block) in step 520.3, in which the synchronization pattern of the code block, the marker, the target, the object point are identified, detected and localized, so that a reference point for detecting the code or the identifier 3351 in the structure of the code block is possible. This can be done using various types of pattern matching algorithms or feature detection algorithms, for example, using correlation methods, machine learning, optical character recognition (OCR) methods, supervised or unsupervised learning.

Next, step S20.4 is performed, in which various symbols representing the modulated characteristic elements of the block structures 1701 are detected and extracted according to the position or location of the synchronization pattern of the code block. This can be done by matching the edges, corners, points of interest, blobs, area of interest, with a set of reference image data of the modulated characteristic elements of the block structures 1701. It is also possible that this step includes a step of extracting a characteristic element. Moreover, it is also possible that this step S20.4 includes using artificial intelligence, such as a convolutional neural network and deep learning of model data sets for detecting characteristic elements that are the modulated characteristic elements of the block structures 1701. This can be done by having a set of labeled image data with all the various modulated characteristic elements of the block structures 1701. It should be noted that the output of this characteristic element detection step is flexible information, i.e. non-binary information or probabilistic information, in most cases, in order to benefit from additional coding gain in the subsequent S20.6 decoding stage.

After this, step S20.5 is performed, in which the information contained in the code block structure is descrambled according to the arrangement of the modulated characteristic elements on the ordered map. This step will bring the extracted (flexible) symbol information into the linear order required in the subsequent decoding step S20.6.

This is followed by step S20.6, where the identifier or code 3351 is decoded from the various detected (soft) symbols. Since redundant information was added during the encoding step, the decoding is performed using standard algorithms for forward error-correcting (FEC) codes and will use the linearly arranged soft symbol information as input together with knowledge of the exact code structure. Typical FEC codes that are known for their high-performance error correction properties include, but are not limited to, turbo codes or polar codes, etc. In particular, polar codes are well suited for the task at hand, as they are easy to construct and have suitable hardware implementations, as seen in the latest 5G data transmission standards.

According to another aspect, it is possible that the captured image is associated or otherwise related to a unique and secret code or identifier, for example, by using a subscriber identification module (SIM) of the smartphone 2601 to generate a code, or by using a cryptographic algorithm that can extract a code or otherwise secure information from the captured image 3350, so that the image can be authenticated at a later stage as the originally captured image. This unique code or identifier can be sent from APP1 to APP2 in step S30 along with the identifier 3350, and thus APP2 will have authentication information for the captured image 3350, without initially accessing the captured image data 3350 itself in APP2. For example, in order to generate a secret code, a hash code or a checksum code can be generated from the image data, and can also be based on the capture time and capture location data, which are typically contained in the EXIF data of the image, together with another unique code, which can be generated by a SIM card or any other type of token capable of creating such a unique, secure information element. Once the image data 3350 is sent to the APP2 of the second data processing device, this would make it possible to authenticate the received image in step S65, S70, so that a later received image for deep or analytical (forensic) authentication could also be authenticated as the image 3350 in the APP2 from which the original code was extracted. This allows the APP2 to verify whether the received image data 3350 actually refers to the same image that was originally captured in step S10.

Claims (72)

1. An engraved solid component that carries data containing specific information on the surface of the engraved solid component, wherein: - said surface is covered with a plurality of block structures containing at least a first block structure, - each block structure is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of an engraved solid component, - each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element, - each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific relevant information, - each modulated characteristic element additionally represents a symbol, which is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet, - the alphabet is a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data, - each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface, - each of the modulated characteristic elements represents an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface, - at least part of the data is transcribed using a code block structure of modulated characteristic elements in such a way that the code block structure forms at least part of a block structure corresponding to at least one part of the data, wherein the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map comprises at least a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of the data, and wherein the first ordered map is further configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first code block structure, imperceptible to the human eye, but extractable by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor. 2. An engraved solid component according to item 1, additionally containing on its surface: - at least one second block structure, which represents a second spatially limited set exclusively from a plurality of at least one of the basic characteristic elements, wherein - the basic characteristic elements of at least one second block structure are located on the solid surface in accordance with a second map, wherein the second map represents a second finite set of positions of the basic characteristic elements on the surface, Moreover, the second map additionally allows you to arrange its basic characteristic elements so that they form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface. 3. An engraved solid component according to any one of paragraphs 1, 2, which: - has cylindrical symmetry, and - configured as a tool for transferring modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements to a substrate, where the transfer is any of the following: shaping, printing, moulding, hand processing, pressing and embossing on or into a substrate modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements. 4. An engraved solid component according to any one of paragraphs 1, 2, which: - configured for use as a forming tool for transferring modulated characteristic elements and/or basic characteristic elements onto a substrate, where the transfer is any of the following: printing, forming, processing, pressing and embossing on a substrate engraved modulated characteristic elements and/or engraved basic characteristic elements. 5. The engraved solid component according to item 2, further comprising a set of first ordered cards and second ordered cards, where the set of first ordered maps and second maps are arranged at least on a regular grid. 6. The engraved solid component according to item 2, further comprising a set of first ordered cards and second ordered cards, where the set of first ordered maps and second maps are arranged on at least a randomized grid. 7. The engraved solid component according to item 2, further comprising a plurality of first ordered cards and second cards, wherein the plurality of first ordered cards and second cards - configured to carry first portions of data and form at least one aesthetic ensemble; and - arranged in such a way that the positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the transferred first parts of the data are invisible to the human eye, but are only retrievable by means of a software-controlled image sensor/processor combination. 8. The engraved solid component of claim 1, further comprising at least an additional first ordered map, wherein the additional first ordered map is an additional finite set of additional positions of the modulated characteristic elements on the surface, wherein each additional position is the result of a given movement of the corresponding first position of the first ordered map, wherein the additional first ordered map is configured to define an additional first block structure that does not overlap with the first block structure defined by the first ordered map, and - or is adjacent to the first block structure; - or separated from the first block structure by a given distance; - or in case there are many additional first ordered maps, they are separated from each other in a regular way in 2 dimensions. 9. The engraved solid component of claim 1, further carrying a third portion of data on the surface corresponding to the third card, wherein the third map represents a third finite set of positions of the modulated characteristic elements on the surface, wherein the third map is configured to define a third block structure that does not overlap with the first block structure defined by the first map, and - or is adjacent to the first block structure; - or separated from the first block structure by a given distance; - or if there are multiple third cards, they are separated from each other and from the first block structure. 10. A method for manufacturing (MM) an engraved solid component (SP) capable of transferring data (DA) containing specific information onto the surface of the engraved solid component, comprising the following steps: engraving (S1) on said surface a plurality of block structures (BS) comprising at least a first block structure, wherein - each block structure is a spatially limited set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements that are distributed over the surface of an engraved solid component, - each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element, - each of the profiles of the modulated characteristic element is the result of applying the corresponding modulation to one of the three-dimensional profiles of the basic characteristic element in accordance with specific relevant information, - each modulated characteristic element additionally represents a symbol, which is a transcription of a letter of the alphabet, - the alphabet is a set of letters that are separate objects of clearly defined elementary data, - each of the basic characteristic elements is an engraved elementary three-dimensional topographic element of the surface, - each of the modulated characteristic elements represents an engraved three-dimensional topographic element of the surface, - at least a portion of the data (DA) is transcribed with a code block structure of modulated characteristic elements in such a way that the code block structure forms at least a portion of a block structure corresponding to at least one portion of the data (DA), wherein the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure (BS) are arranged in accordance with a first ordered map, wherein the first ordered map comprises at least a first finite ordered set of first positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block on the surface, wherein the first block structure corresponds to the first part of the data, and wherein the first ordered map is further configured to arrange the modulated characteristic elements of the first block structure (BS) to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, imperceptible to the human eye, but extractable by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor. 11. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, wherein the step of engraving (S1) on the surface of the plurality of block structures is performed by one of the following: - (precision) milling, - laser ablation, - chemical engraving, - plasma etching and - stamping. 12. A method for configuring (MS) a plurality of block structures of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements intended for their engraving on the surface of a solid component, in which: each modulated characteristic element and each basic characteristic element have, respectively, a three-dimensional profile of the modulated characteristic element and a three-dimensional profile of the basic characteristic element, which allows each of the modulated characteristic elements and each of the basic characteristic elements to be engraved, each block structure contains the corresponding code block structure of the data being transcribed, and each block structure is a set of modulated characteristic elements and basic characteristic elements configured to be distributed over a spatially limited portion of the surface, the method includes: - creation (S2) of each of the profiles of modulated characteristic elements (MFP) by applying the corresponding modulation by means of a modulator profile of a characteristic element to one of the profiles of basic characteristic elements in accordance with a symbol that represents a transcription of a letter of the alphabet (AB), wherein the alphabet represents a set of letters that are individual objects of clearly defined elementary data, - transcribing (S3) at least a first portion of data (DA) for a first structure (SS) of a code block using profiles of modulated characteristic elements, - placing (S4) modulated characteristic elements corresponding to the first structure (SS) of the code block in at least the first block structure of the plurality of block structures, according to a first ordered map (FP), wherein the first ordered map represents a first finite set of positions of the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, and - configuring (S5) the modulated characteristic elements on the first ordered map to form an aesthetic ensemble on the surface and to display corresponding symbols that correspond to the modulated characteristic elements of the first structure of the code block, invisible to the human eye (IHE) for the intended engraving, but extractable only by means of a software-controlled combination of an image sensor/processor.