Abstract: The invention relates to sheet material having an electrical circuit and to apparatuses and methods for processing said sheet material. The present invention describes sheet material having an electrical circuit as well as apparatuses and methods for processing same, which reduce the effort required for processing the sheet material and/or facilitate processing and/or improve it and/or make it more reliable. For this purpose, the sheet material has at least one electrical circuit, with energy and/or data being transmitted from the apparatus to the electrical circuit and/or from the electrical circuit to the apparatus and at least part of the transmitted data being used for processing.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for recognizing foreign material (2), in particular adhesive objects, glue or joints, on or in bank notes (1), including detecting the thermal radiation (5) emanating from at least a partial area of the bank note (1): and recognizing foreign material (2) located on the bank note (1) on the basis of the detected thermal radiation (5). The invention is especially suitable for recognizing adhesive objects, in particular adhesive tape and joints, on bank notes since areas of a bank note with adhesive tape or joints differ very distinctly in their thermal properties from other areas of the bank note without adhesive tape.

Abstract: The invention relates to apparatuses and a corresponding method for examining magnetic properties of objects, in particular sheet material, such as bank notes (20). The apparatuses comprise a magneto-optic layer (10) whose optical properties are influenceable by the magnetic properties of the sheet material (20), a light source (11) for producing light that is coupled into the magneto-optic layer (10), and a detector (13) for detecting light that is transmitted and/or reflected by the magneto-optic layer (10). For reliable examination of the magnetic properties of sheet material it is provided that the direction of propagation of the coupled-in light extends parallel to a base surface (9) of the magneto-optic layer (10). The invention permits the magnetic properties in particular of sheet material with areas emitting very weak magnetic fields to be examined with very high sensitivity and reliability.

Abstract: The invention relates to a security device having at least one plastic layer and one specularly reflecting metal layer. An inorganic auxiliary layer is disposed between the plastic layer and the metal layer.

Abstract: The invention relates to a security device having at least one plastic layer and one specularly reflecting metal layer. An inorganic auxiliary layer is disposed between the plastic layer and the metal layer.