Claims
- 1. An optical memory card for optical information comprising,
- a self-supporting, wallet size, planar plastic base,
- a vacuum or vapor deposited continuous metallic reflective layer over said plastic base,
- a planar optical storage layer disposed over the metallic layer, said optical storage layer having a planar crust of irregular, non-filamentary oblong black silver particles substantially within the top one-half micron of the layer distal to the metallic layer, said optical storage layer having a substantially clear gelatin below the crust.
- 2. The optical memory card of claim 1 further comprising a film substrate layer disposed over said base in intimate contact therewith in planar relation, said metallic layer deposited on said film substrate layer.
- 3. The optical memory card of claim 1 wherein said metallic layer is selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, aluminum, platinum, rhodium, copper and alloys thereof.
- 4. The optical memory card of claim 1 wherein a transparent, protective, planar layer is disposed over said optical storage layer.
- 5. The optical memory card of claim 1 wherein said optical storage layer contains prerecorded information.
- 6. The optical memory card of claim 1 wherein said optical storage layer contains prerecorded information and laser written data.
- 7. A double-sided optical memory card for optical information comprising,
- a self-supporting, wallet-size, optically transparent planar plastic base,
- a first planar optical storage layer disposed over said plastic base, said optical storage layer having a crust of irregular, non-filamentary oblong black silver particles substantially within one-half micron of the layer proximal to the base and having a substantially clear gelatin below the crust,
- a first vapor or vacuum deposited metallic continuous reflective layer disposed on said gelatin layer,
- a first planar support layer disposed over said molecular metallic layer, said support layer having opposed planar surfaces, including a lower surface proximate said plastic base and an upper surface distal to said plastic base,
- a second planar support layer, substantially identical to said first support layer and adhered to the upper surface thereof,
- a second vapor or vacuum deposited metallic continuous reflective layer disposed over said second planar transparent support layer,
- a second planar optical storage layer disposed over the upper surface of said second planar transparent support layer, said optical layer having a planar crust of irregular, non-filamentary oblong black silver particles substantially within the top one-half micron of the layer distal to the base and having a substantially clear gelatin below the crust, and
- a transparent, protective, planar layer disposed over said second storage layer,
- each of said optical storage layers having been previously exposed at actinic wavelength and developed and fixed to be a substantially dark very thin black silver layer, but having an imagewise exposure pattern of clear marks with underlying high reflectivity metallic layer for light at the reducing wavelength.
- 8. The optical memory card of claim 7 wherein said metallic layer material is selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, aluminum, platinum, rhodium, copper and alloys thereof.
- 9. The data card of claim 7 wherein said optical storage layers contain prerecorded information.
- 10. The data card of claim 7 wherein said optical storage layers contain prerecorded information and laser written data.
- 11. A method for making an optical information memory card comprising,
- depositing a continuous vacuum or vapor metallic layer over a self-supporting, planar plastic base,
- disposing a planar photosensitive emulsion layer over said metallic layer,
- developing and fixing only a planar crust of said emulsion to a substantially dark thin layer of irregular, non-filamentary silver particles with a substantially clear gelatin layer beneath said crust, and
- disposing a transparent, planar protective layer over said planar crust.
- 12. The method of claim 11 further defined by
- making an imagewise exposure of marks representing control indicia or data, said exposure made in said photosensitive emulsion layer with radiation, and
- developing and fixing said exposure pattern of image marks being substantially clear revealing an underlying reflectivity in the metallic layer when illuminated by light.
- 13. The method of claim 11 wherein said photosensitive emulsion layer is composed of a silver chloride emulsion.
- 14. The method of claim 11 wherein said photosensitive emulsion layer is composed of a silver bromide emulsion and developing said emulsion is performed with a chemical developer containing an organic antifoggant.
- 15. A method of making an optical information memory card comprising,
- depositing a continuous vacuum or vapor metallic layer onto a transparent film substrate layer,
- disposing a planar photosensitive emulsion layer over said metallic layer,
- developing and fixing only a planar crust of said emulsion to be a substantially dark thin layer of irregular, non-filamentary silver particles with a substantially clear gelatin layer beneath said crust, said film substrate layer, said metallic layer and said developed and fixed emulsion layer forming a laser recordable optical storage film,
- disposing said developed optical storage film over a self-supporting, wallet-size, planar plastic base, and
- disposing a transparent, planar protective layer over said planar crust.
- 16. The method of claim 15 further comprising,
- making an imagewise exposure of marks representing control indicia or data, said exposure made in said photosensitive emulsion layer with radiation, and
- developing and fixing said exposure pattern of image marks being substantially clear revealing an underlying reflectivity in the metallic layer when illuminated by light, said developing and fixing occurring prior to disposing said developed optical storage film over said plastic base.
- 17. A system for recording data by means of a laser comprising,
- an optical memory card having a self-supporting, wallet-size planar base, and at least one optical storage layer disposed on said base, each said optical storage layer having a planar crust of irregular nonfilamentary oblong black silver particles substantially within one-half micron of a surface of said storage layer and substantially clear gelatin behind the crust, a continuous reflective metallic layer being disposed behind the gelatin, the optical storage layer being laser recordable in place on said card producing reflective data spots revealing an underlying reflectivity of the metallic layer against a background field of said crust, the optical reflective contrast ratio of the data spots to the surrounding field being at least 1.2 to one,
- laser means having at least one beam disposed in laser writing relation with respect to said at least one optical storage layer for writing data in a plurality of paths,
- light detector means in reading relation with respect to at least one said optical storage layer for reading said paths, and
- means for providing relative motion between said laser beam and said card for following said paths.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 896,988, filed Aug. 15, 1986, abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0158906 |
Oct 1985 |
EPX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
896988 |
Aug 1986 |
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