Patent Application
20130063826
The subject matter of the present invention is a method for producing a microstructure on a carrier, the employment of a microstructure carrier obtainable by the method as a component of a security element, wherein the microstructure carrier can be employed alone or as part of a micro-optic representation arrangement, and wherein the microstructure carrier can provide the micromotif or the micromotif viewing device. The subject matter of the present invention is also a security element having at least one microstructure carrier obtainable by the method according to the invention, the microstructure carrier preferably being part of a micro-optic representation arrangement, as well as a product such as a data carrier or branded article which is equipped with the security element according to the invention.
Data carriers, such as value documents or identity documents, but also other objects of value, such as branded articles for instance, are often provided for safeguarding purposes with security elements which permit a verification of the authenticity of the data carrier and which at the same time serve as protection from unauthorized reproduction. The security elements can be configured for example in the form of a security thread embedded into a bank note, of a cover foil for a bank note having a hole, of an applied security strip, or of a self-supporting transfer element which after its manufacture is applied to a value document.
A special role is played here by security elements having optically variable elements which convey a different pictorial impression to the viewer from different viewing angles, because they cannot be reproduced even with high-quality color copiers. The security elements can be equipped for this purpose with security features in the form of optically-diffractively active micro- or nanostructures, such as, for instance, with conventional embossed holograms or other hologram-like diffractive structures, as are described for example in the prints EP 0 330 733 A1 or EP 0 064 067 A1.
For some time, so-called moiré magnification arrangements have also been used as security features. The basic manner of functioning of such moiré magnification arrangements is described in the article “The moiré magnifier”, M. C. Hutley, R. Hunt, R. F. Stevens and P. Savander, Pure Appl. Opt. 3 (1994), pp. 133-142. To put it briefly, moiré magnification accordingly designates a phenomenon occurring upon the viewing of a grid of identical picture objects through a lenticular grid having approximately the same grid measure. As with every pair of similar grids, there results here a moiré pattern consisting of a periodic arrangement of magnified and, where applicable, rotated pictures of the elements of the picture grid.
The lattice period and the diameter of the picture objects lie in the same order of magnitude here as those of the microlenses of the lenticular grid. The picture objects should be unrecognizable with the naked eye. The smaller the structures are configured, the greater the forgery resistance is.
Due to the small size of the structures, all methods for producing the picture objects (micromotif elements) in which application methods such as printing methods play a relevant role for the attainable dimensions are little suited. The attainable minimum size of the micromotif elements is limited by the resolving power of the application method. This holds equally for methods in which the microstructures are produced by direct imprinting, as well as for all methods in which the manufacture of the microstructures includes some method step with limited resolving power, for example the applying of a photoresist. With directly imprinted microstructures, the maximally obtainable ink layer thickness is moreover limited due to the high lateral resolution, thereby limiting the maximally attainable contrast.
Microstructures or micromotif elements are hence preferably manufactured employing embossed structures. Embossings can be produced in very high resolution.
From WO 2009/121578 there is known a method for producing a micro-optic representation arrangement wherein an embossed structure is produced in a carrier and the embossed depressions are filled with ink. The ink in the depressions forms the micromotif elements, while the excess ink is scraped off. In this method a toning film remains behind, however, which limits the maximally obtainable contrast.
From WO 2009/083146 there is known a method for producing a microstructure wherein an embossed structure is produced, and either only the elevations or only the depressions of the embossed structure are covered with an imprinting substance or filled with an imprinting substance. The imprinting substance must be chosen to be of accordingly high viscosity so as to only adhere to the elevations of the embossed structure, or be chosen to be of accordingly low viscosity so as to only fill the depressions of the embossed structure. To achieve the desired selective application, the viscosity of the imprinting substance and the transfer conditions must be precisely coordinated with each other.
The prior art hitherto does not make it possible to produce microstructures for micro-optic representation arrangements in a simple manner and in the desired quality. An additional problem occurring in particular with metallized microstructures is that, for many metals, there are no simple and satisfactory methods for “coarse structuring”, i.e. it is impossible, or difficult, to realize structurings such as for example multicoloredness or negative scripts.
On these premises, the present invention is based on the object of avoiding the disadvantages of the prior art, and in particular of providing an advantageous method for manufacturing a microstructure that fulfills the requirements for a motif for micro-optic representation arrangements, in particular for micro-optic magnification arrangements. These requirements are a high resolution of the micromotif, i.e. small dimensions of the micromotif elements, contrast richness and contour sharpness in the microscopic range, as well as the possibility of a macroscopic structuring, if possible independently of the material of the micromotif elements.
This object is achieved by the method having the features as stated in the independent claim 1. A security element having such a microstructure carrier and a product having such a microstructure carrier are stated in the other independent claims. Developments of the invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
The invention is based on the discovery that it is possible to coat embossed structures over the full area, i.e. to coat the elevations as well as the depressions of an embossed structure as well as the regions between elevations and depressions, to then bond the coated embossed structure under pressure with a carrier material equipped with an adhesive layer, to separate the embossed structure from the adhesive-coated carrier again, and, in so doing, to transfer exclusively the coating from the elevations of the embossed structure to the adhesive-coated carrier. Surprisingly, the coating thereby breaks precisely and in sharp-edged fashion, so that there can be obtained contrast-rich microstructures with small dimensions and high precision which are excellently suited for micro-optic viewing arrangements.
A special advantage of the method lies in the many degrees of freedom and possibilities of variation that it offers. Such an advantage is the possibility of superimposing microscopic and macroscopic structures, also employing coatings that cannot readily be structured macroscopically. This combination of macroscopic and microscopic structuring is obtained by the interaction of a microscopically structured microstructure carrier and a macroscopically structured motif carrier. Upon the transfer of the microstructure to the macroscopically structured motif carrier there arise complementary microstructures on the two carriers. Another advantage of the method according to the invention is that the microstructure can be structured further, for example by diffractive structures or other nanostructurings. A further advantage is that the dimensions of the regions of the coating that are to be transferred can without any problems be so chosen that each of the two starting materials (donor foil and acceptor foil) comes into consideration as the microstructure carrier. Furthermore, each of the two starting materials which respectively has transparent places after the transfer (if a transparent carrier material is employed) can also serve as a micro-optic viewing device in place of a lens arrangement.
Special embodiments of the invention have further advantages as well:
Thus, the microstructures of a microstructure carrier can be employed for structuring a further, preferably colored, layer. For this purpose, a microstructure carrier is equipped with a photoactive layer, i.e. a layer of a material changeable by irradiation, such as a photoresist, and irradiated through the (original) microstructures, i.e. the (original) microstructures are employed as an irradiation mask. After irradiating, detaching of the soluble regions of the photoactive layer, and, where applicable, detaching of the original microstructures, there is obtained a microstructure carrier having microstructures of photoactive material besides the original microstructures, or exclusively microstructures of photoactive material, or combined microstructures of congruent original microstructures and microstructures of photoactive material.
The microstructure carriers are preferably combined with micro-optic viewing devices, in particular with microfocusing element arrangements, such as microlens arrangements or concave micromirror arrangements, into micro-optic representation arrangements. Such micro-optic representation arrangements are especially striking and easy to remember when they have a combination of at least two representation arrangements that behave differently upon viewing from different angles of view. Such combinations are for example a first representation arrangement presenting as a first motif or a first motif portion at least two different pictures depending on the viewing angle, there resulting for a viewer a stereographic representation of an object with absolute depth information, in combination with a second representation arrangement presenting as a second motif or a second motif portion a reflective surface, there resulting for the viewer a representation with directional reflection. Combination representation arrangements of this kind and the effects attainable therewith are described in detail in the applications PCT/EP 2010/007368 and PCT/EP 2010/007369, and will be described more closely hereinafter in particular with reference to
Microstructures for micro-optic representation arrangements which provide stereographic representations with absolute depth information, such as moiré magnification arrangements, magnification arrangements of the moiré type and modulo magnification arrangements, are frequently manufactured by embossing into a carrier and filling the embossed depressions with ink. The excess ink is scraped off, but leaves a toning film (WO 2009/121578). This limits the maximally attainable contrast, on the one hand, and makes it difficult to dye the background with a desired (different) color, presumably due to the residual toning, on the other hand.
Using the method according to the invention, the background can be dyed in a certain color or in several colors without any problems. Such coloring not only increases the attractiveness of the representation, but also leads to a contrast enhancement, particularly with metallic microstructures. When the background is designed in multicolored fashion, there necessarily arise static elements in comparison to which the moiré-magnified or modulo-magnified elements move upon tilting of the micro-optic representation arrangement.
The contrast between colored background and microstructures or micromotif elements can be increased even further when the color of the background is backed with a reflective layer. This considerably increases the luminance of the color, the effect being especially advantageous in particular with colors that do not cover well.
When the reflective layer is applied only in certain regions, there arises upon employment of a transparent carrier material a contrast that is low in plan viewing and strong in transmission between regions with a reflective layer and regions without a reflective layer. In transmission the regions without a reflective layer can appear transparent.
Like the reflective layer, the background color can also be applied over the full area or only in certain regions. When the background color is absent in certain regions, a reflective coating applied there is directly visible.
In the method according to the invention for producing a microstructure on a carrier, a coating donor foil is first manufactured by equipping a first foil material with an embossed structure in the shape of the microstructure arrangement, and applying a coating to the embossed structure. The coating can be applied to the total embossed structure or only to a certain partial region thereof. However, in any case the coating is present in the relevant region/partial region over the full area, i.e. the shape of the coating replicates the embossed structure. This does not mean that the same amount of coating material must be respectively present on elevations, depressions and flanks of the elevations. Typically, the thickness of the coating is substantially greater on the elevations and in the depressions of the embossed structure than on the flanks of the elevations, on which there is usually only little coating material. How thick the coating on the flanks actually is depends on several factors, inter alia, on how strongly rounded the embossed structure is and on the angle at which the coating is applied, for example on the angle at which a metal is vapor-deposited.
Next, a coating acceptor foil is manufactured by applying an adhesive layer to a second foil material over the full area or over part of the area.
The donor foil and the acceptor foil are now brought together such that the two surfaces with the coating and the adhesive layer, respectively, are in contact with each other, and pressed together under suitable conditions such that the coating regions on the elevations of the embossed structure bond to the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil.
Last, the donor foil and the acceptor foil are separated from each other again, for example by separation winding. In so doing, the coating of the donor foil adheres to the acceptor foil in the bonded regions, and from the acceptor foil there arises a first microstructure carrier whose microstructure exactly reflects the microstructure of the elevations of the donor foil. With an acceptor foil having the adhesive layer applied over only part of the area, this of course only holds for the corresponding partial areas. From the donor foil there arises a second microstructure carrier which is complementary to the first microstructure carrier, i.e. the two microstructure carriers behave like positive and negative with regard to the coating.
First, the manufacture of the donor foil will be explained more closely. The donor foil has a first foil material which can basically be chosen relatively arbitrarily, consisting for example of paper or plastic. Preferred are plastic foils, for example of polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyester, in particular of polycarbonate or polyethylene terephthalate. Transparent or translucent foils are particularly preferred. Either an embossable foil must be employed, or the foil must be equipped with an embossable coating on one of its surfaces. Suitable embossable foils and embossable coatings are known to a person skilled in the art. Especially well suited are thermoplastics, cross-linkable thermoplastics and embossing lacquers such as UV lacquers. The embossable coating can be applied over the full area or for example also in the form of a motif.
The foil material or the embossable layer located thereon is provided with the desired microstructure in the form of an embossed motif under elevated pressure and, where applicable, elevated temperature and, where applicable, under the action of UV radiation. As an embossing tool there can be used for example an embossing cylinder or another embossed foil. Embossing is carried out in the regions of the foil material where the later microstructure carrier is to have a microstructure. Because the microstructure is intended primarily for manufacturing the motif layer of a micro-optic representation arrangement or for manufacturing a micro-optic motif viewing device, the microstructure preferably has microstructure elements with a line width between about 0.5 μm and about 10 μm and/or with a structure depth between about 0.2 μm and about 20 μm, preferably between about 1 μm and about 10 μm. The microstructures can of course also contain areal regions, and they can have positive elements as well as negative elements. The elevations and depressions can also form at least partly a contiguous network.
The desired coating, the transfer layer, is applied to the embossed structure over the full area or over part of the area. In so doing, it is to be heeded that the transfer layer must be partly detached again later. Hence, it must not adhere to the ground too strongly, in any case less strongly than the attainable adhesive force with the adhesive to be used later. A sufficiently low adhesive force can already be achieved, where applicable, by a suitable choice of the materials for the embossing foil or the embossable coating. However, the ground is preferably pretreated in adhesion-reducing fashion. For example, the ground can be washed off with water and/or solvents with or without suitable additives. Suitable as corresponding additives are for example surface-active substances, defoamers or thickeners. Additives can also be incorporated into the embossing foil or the embossable coating itself. Alternatively, an additional adhesion-reducing layer can also be provided at least in a partial region. The adhesion-reducing treatment can be carried out before or after embossing. The manner of application of the transfer layer is also significant for the adhesive force.
As coating materials there come into consideration basically all opaque materials whose lateral cohesion is not too great. With tough materials it is often difficult to obtain the desired sharp-edged break of the transfer layer. The manner of application of the coating materials can also play a role here. A sharper-edged transfer is quite generally possible with very thin layers than with thicker layers of the same material. Suitable layer thicknesses lie in the range of about 30 to 500 nm, preferably up to about 200 nm. Especially well suited are metals, metal alloys, mixtures of metals that do not form an alloy, layers of metals one over the other, metals that are present as a cluster after application, i.e. basically all conceivable combinations of mutually compatible metals. The metallic coatings are preferably vapor-deposited, in particular by physical vapor deposition (PVD). Particularly preferred metals are aluminum, copper, tin, zinc, silver and gold. Multicolored coatings can also be obtained by corresponding combinations. The best results were hitherto obtained for aluminum with a line width of 2 μm and a layer thickness of the Al layer of about 50 nm.
Other coating materials are for example metallic effect inks, thermochromic layers, layers with color pigments, fluorescent pigments, or other effect pigments, liquid-crystal layers, and other coatings with a color-shift effect such as layers of thin-film elements, and high-refractive layers, for example of ZnS. Suitable layer thicknesses for the hereinabove coating materials lie in the range of a few micrometers. Layer combinations are also possible. Colors are usually imprinted, but it is also possible to produce colored layers by sublimation dyes. Some of these layers cannot be applied to the embossed foil or the embossing lacquer layer directly, but require the application of an intermediate layer. An intermediate layer is advantageous for example with liquid-crystal layers in order to ensure a suitable orientation of the liquid crystals. Metallizations with a color-shift effect typically have a ceramic intermediate layer (for example SiO2), which should preferably be thin, because otherwise a sharp-edged break of the dielectric is not always guaranteed. Colored layers without a color-shift effect can be obtained by means of thin dielectrics or high-refractive dielectrics, the small thickness making it possible to avoid a non-sharp-edged break. A layer thickness of the dielectric of 300 nm should normally not be exceeded, the layer thickness of the dielectric also depending on the embossing depth and the manner and quality of the vapor deposition or coating, so that thicker layers are also possible from case to case.
Apart from the donor foil, an acceptor foil is prepared. The acceptor foil likewise has a carrier foil, the same foil materials basically being suitable as for the donor foil. As with the donor foil, the foil material thicknesses are preferably between about 3 μm and about 50 μm, in particular about 5 μm to about 25 μm. Particularly preferable are transparent or at least translucent foil materials.
This foil material is coated on one surface with an adhesive. The adhesive layer can be applied either over the full area or as a motif. An adhesive is understood here to be a material that is sticky under the later transfer conditions or can be made adequately sticky for transfer. Suitable adhesives are for example ones based on vinyl chloride copolymers and arbitrary heat seal lacquers (thermoplastics), which, under elevated pressure and elevated temperature, develop an adhesion to the coating to be transferred. It is advantageous when the adhesive layer is block-free at ambient temperature, in order that the foil materials can be held on stock in wound or stacked form. Alternatively, the adhesive is only applied directly when required. When the coating with adhesive is effected in time proximity to the intended transfer, the adhesive coating can also be constructed so as to cross-link, so that the bonding of donor foil and acceptor foil can be carried out at a relatively low temperature, while after a certain waiting time, i.e. upon the later separation of donor foil and acceptor foil, the adhesive is cross-linked to the extent that it is able to detach the regions, to be transferred, of the transfer layer from the donor foil in sharp-edged fashion, on the one hand, and no longer tends to block in the non-bonded regions, on the other hand. An elegant solution is dual-cure systems. These coating systems are imprinted after being diluted with solvents or with water, and are subsequently dried, i.e. solvents and/or water are removed, typically simply by evaporation. Upon bonding to the donor foil, the adhesive system is still adhesive, at least under elevated temperature, but, after bonding, the adhesive coating is cross-linked, through a post-exposure, or in general post-irradiation, to the extent that the non-bonded regions of the coating no longer tend to block. Whether a tendency to block (tack) is still present can be verified by the following test: coated foil pieces of about 100 cm2 are stacked and loaded with a weight of 10 kg and stored for 72 hours at 40° C. If the foil pieces can thereafter be easily separated from each other without damaging the coatings, the coating is to be considered tack-free.
The adhesives can contain usual additives, for example plasticizers for adapting the softening point, or wetting agents, defoamers, waxes, etc. They can also serve as a carrier for feature substances, for example for fluorescent substances, thermochromic or other dyes, magnetic pigments, and other accessory agents.
Especially suitable adhesives that can be employed in the present invention are described in DE 10 2004 035 979, whose disclosure is incorporated into the present application to this extent. These are adhesives, in particular dispersion adhesives, which contain at least one radiation-cross-linkable component and are cross-linked by short-wave radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation or short-wave visible radiation, or by electron radiation, preferably by UV radiation.
Further suitable adhesives are the resist lacquers stated in DE 10 2008 036 480. Exemplary compositions are stated therein and become the subject matter of the present application to this extent. The resist properties of these adhesives are not utilized in the present invention, however.
The thickness of the adhesive layer is to be coordinated with the thickness of the coating to be transferred. On condition that the adhesive layer does not give way too much upon lamination, it can in principle also be thicker than the coating to be transferred. In any case the adhesive layer must not reach the transfer layer in the depressions of the embossed structure under lamination conditions.
Application of the adhesive layer can be done by arbitrary known methods. Preferably, the adhesive layer is imprinted. Besides a full-area application, a partial-area application is also possible, for example as a motif. In this way it can be defined at which places the donor foil is to bond to the acceptor foil, i.e. at which places a coating transfer is to take place.
As the next step, the donor foil and the acceptor foil are laminated, i.e. the two foils are bonded together by means of the adhesive layer. For this purpose, the two foils are so brought together or placed one on the other that the coating to be transferred from the donor foil and the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil face each other, and then pressed together, preferably under elevated temperature. In so doing, the embossed structure of the donor foil can be embossed into the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil, where applicable. Suitable bonding conditions are typically about 60° C. to 160° C. and a line pressure of typically 0.1 N/mm to 15 N/mm. The exact conditions are of course dependent on the kind of adhesive employed. With cross-linking systems, irradiation must be effected, where applicable, or at least the bonded composite left to rest for a certain time to make cross-linking possible. Upon the separation of donor foil and acceptor foil from each other it must be guaranteed that the adhesive connection between coating and adhesive layer is so firm that it cannot be undone under the separation conditions. At the same time, the non-bonded region of the adhesive layer should preferably be tack-free. With common heat seal lacquers, it is usually sufficient to wait for the lacquer to cool. Then the donor foil and the acceptor foil can be separated from each other.
The separation is preferably carried out by a separation winding. Upon separation of the donor foil and the acceptor foil from each other, the coating of the donor foil tears exactly on the contour lines of the bonding areas of coating and adhesive layer. Because the coating adheres to the adhesive layer substantially better than to the donor foil, the regions of the coating (transfer-layer areal elements) located on elevations of the embossed structure of the donor foil remain adhering to the adhesive layer, while all other regions of the coating still adhere to the donor foil. Hence, the coating areal regions transferred to the acceptor foil reproduce exactly the arrangement and shape of the elevations of the embossed structure of the donor foil. Upon the transfer process there thus arises from the acceptor foil a carrier with a microstructure having the transferred coating areal elements, while from the donor foil there arises a carrier with a microstructure lacking precisely these areal elements. The microstructures of the two carriers are thus complementary in this respect. Finally, the microstructure carriers are preferably equipped with a protective coating.
The method according to the invention is also excellently suited for producing multicolored microstructures of materials of which it is impossible, or very complicated, to produce multicolored microstructures otherwise. Examples thereof are microstructures of various metals. The possibilities for producing multicolored microstructures will be explained hereinafter with reference to
The embossed structure of the donor foil typically has a primary structure and a secondary structure. The primary structure is predefined by the embossed areas. For example, it can be predefined by the embossable coating being applied in the form of a certain motif, thereby causing only the areas provided with the coating to be embossable. An alternative kind of coarse structuring consists in configuring the transfer coating in multicolored fashion or providing it only in certain areal regions, for example in the form of a motif. The line width of the coarse structuring typically amounts to more than 50 μm with an insetting tolerance of about 300 μm. The secondary structure is predefined by the shape of the elevations and depressions of the embossed motif. In this fine structuring, the line width lies in the order of magnitude of about 2 μm. A further kind of primary structuring results when an adhesion-reducing layer modulated in certain regions is used. In regions with reduced adhesion (i.e. with an adhesion-reducing or non-stick layer) the transfer coating is transferred, while in regions where the adhesion-reducing layer is absent or deactivated there is no transfer of the transfer coating. Alternatively (the primary structure of the donor foil being absent) or additionally, the primary structure can also be predefined by the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil.
The primary structure and the secondary structure can be additionally combined with a tertiary structure. Such a tertiary structure may be for example a diffractive structure or a refractive structure such as an embossed hologram structure. The typical embossed hologram structure is substantially flatter than the secondary structure. The tertiary structure can be present either over the full area or only on the elevations or only in the depressions of the secondary structure. The tertiary structure is accordingly also formed in the transfer coating and, upon transfer of the transfer coating, embossed into the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil and simultaneously transferred along with the transferred regions of the coating. When the tertiary structure is for example a hologram that is embossed into the elevations of the embossed structure of the donor foil, this holographic information is transferred into the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil upon the transfer process. When the holographic information is embossed into the depressions of the embossed structure of the donor foil, it remains on the donor foil in these regions together with the transfer layer upon the transfer process.
According to a variant, the tertiary structure can constitute for example a nanostructuring which is embossed into the embossing lacquer of the donor foil as a suitable additional structure. With this form of nanostructuring, additional colorfulness can be produced by exploiting plasmons or resonance phenomena, or a blackening by using moth-eye structures. When the nanostructures have been embossed into the elevations of the embossed structure of the donor foil, it must be heeded upon transfer to the acceptor foil that the nanostructuring is transferred into the adhesive. When the embossed nanostructures are located in the depressions of the embossed structure, however, this is not required.
Another variant of a tertiary structure is a nanostructuring through a suitable coating. With this form of nanostructuring as well, additional colorfulness can be produced by exploiting plasmons or resonance phenomena, or a blackening by using moth-eye structures. These effects are obtained here for example with coatings of colors based on a lacquer carrier with metallic nanoparticles. The effect of the coloration is probably based on incident electromagnetic radiation exciting volume plasmons or surface plasmons in the nanoparticles and/or causing resonance phenomena. Advantageously, the metallic nanoparticles have a dimension between 2 nm and 400 nm, preferably between 5 nm and 300 nm. The metallic nanoparticles can be configured substantially spherically, but can also be configured with a preferential direction, in particular as spheroids or in rod or platelet form. With regard to suitable materials, reference is made to the disclosure of the application WO 2009/083151, which is incorporated into the present description to this extent. These nanostructuring coatings can themselves form the transfer coating or be provided in addition to a transfer coating. They are likewise applied over the full area (in any case in the motif regions of the donor foil in which regions a transfer is to take place), and transferred from the elevations of the embossed structure of the donor foil into the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil. All other nanostructured regions of the donor foil, i.e. the regions not located on elevations, remain behind on the donor foil. The equipping with a tertiary structure will be described more closely hereinafter with reference to
The microstructure carriers obtained from the acceptor foil and from the donor foil after the transfer process can be employed as security features, namely, each alone or in combination with a micro-optic viewing device. When such a microstructure carrier forms a security feature of a security element taken alone, it is equipped in the known way with protective layers, adhesive layers and, where applicable, further functional layers, in order to manufacture the security element, for example a security thread. A microstructure carrier which can be used advantageously without a micro-optic viewing device will be explained hereinafter in connection with
Usually, the microstructure carriers obtained by the method according to the invention are combined with one or with two micromotif viewing devices into a micro-optic representation arrangement. The microstructure carrier then forms the micromotif layer of the micro-optic representation arrangement. Micro-optic representation arrangements are in particular micro-optic magnification arrangements such as moiré magnification arrangements, magnification arrangements of the moiré type and modulo magnification arrangements, as described in the prints DE 10 2005 062 132, WO 2007/076952, DE 10 2007 029 203, WO 2009/000529, WO 2009/000527 and WO 2009/000528, whose disclosure in this connection is hereby incorporated by reference. All these micro-optic magnification arrangements contain a motif picture with microstructures which reconstructs a predefined desired picture upon viewing with a suitably coordinated viewing grid. As explained more precisely in the above-mentioned prints, there can thereby be produced a multiplicity of visually attractive magnification and movement effects which lead to a high recognition value and a high forgery resistance of the security elements equipped therewith. As viewing devices there serve microlens arrangements, but other microfocusing element arrangements can also be employed. The microstructure carriers according to the invention can in general provide the micromotifs, which are to be viewed, in arbitrary micro-optic representation arrangements. Examples of micro-optic representation arrangements with a microstructure carrier according to the invention will be shown hereinafter in
In an advantageous development of the invention, the microstructure forms a motif picture which is divided into a plurality of cells in which respectively imaged regions of a predefined desired picture are arranged. The lateral dimensions of the imaged regions preferably lie between about 5 μm and about 50 μm, in particular between about 10 μm and about 35 μm. With the micro-optic moiré magnification arrangements first mentioned above, the imaged regions of the cells of the motif picture respectively represent reduced images of the predefined desired picture which are completely accommodated within a cell. With the micro-optic magnification arrangements of the moiré type, the imaged regions of several spaced cells of the motif picture taken together respectively represent a reduced and, where applicable, linearly imaged image of the desired picture, whose extension is greater than a cell of the motif picture. In the most general case, the magnification arrangement represents a modulo magnification arrangement wherein the imaged regions of the cells of the motif picture represent non-complete details of the predefined desired picture that are respectively imaged by a modulo operation.
According to another variant of the present invention, the microstructure carriers can also be so designed that they can be used instead of microfocusing arrangements as alternative viewing arrangements in micro-optic representation arrangements. Examples of alternative viewing elements are hole masks and slot masks or inverse hole and slot masks, which can be manufactured very simply by equipping a donor foil material with an embossing of suitable dimensions and coating it with a non-transparent coating. After transfer of the non-transparent coating from the elevations of the donor foil to an acceptor foil, the acceptor foil has non-transparent places in the regions of the elevations and transparent places in the regions of the depressions, whereby each transparent place (hole masks, slot masks) or each non-transparent place (inverse hole masks, inverse slot masks) can represent a micromotif viewing element. Accordingly, the donor foil has transparent places in the regions of the elevations and non-transparent, coated places in the regions of the depressions, whereby here, too, each transparent place or each non-transparent place can serve as a micromotif viewing element. An advantage of such micromotif viewing elements is that no defined focal distance from the micromotif to be viewed is required, as with lens arrangements.
In particular for forming hole masks and slot masks for employment in micro-optic representation arrangements, the dimensions of the transparent places should be rather small in comparison to the dimensions of the non-transparent places. Advantageously, the dimensions of the transparent places lie between 1 μm and 5 μm, particularly preferably between 1 μm and 3 μm. To moreover avoid acceptor foil and donor foil touching each other in the regions of the depressions upon lamination and leading to an unwanted additional transfer of the coating, the embossed structure is preferably designed here such that the elevation areal elements have a considerably greater surface area than the depression areal elements. Accordingly, the micromotif viewing elements of hole masks or slot masks are preferably formed by the transparent places of the acceptor foil.
Because the micromotif component as well as the micromotif viewing component of a micro-optic representation arrangement are manufacturable by the method according to the invention, micro-optic representation arrangements can have a micromotif component manufactured according to the invention, or a micromotif viewing component manufactured according to the invention, or both.
It should be stressed, however, that the invention is not limited to these applications. Rather, the described method can advantageously also be utilized in the manufacture of other security elements, for example in producing microtext prints on paper or foil.
Security elements having a microstructure carrier according to the invention can have further functional layers, i.e. layers having some properties or other that can be detected visually or by machine. Functional layers hence contain for example dyes, luminescent substances, thermochromic substances, liquid crystals, interference pigments, electrically conductive substances, magnetic substances, light-diffractive or light-refractive structures or combinations thereof. Moreover, suitable layers for attachment to an object to be protected are to be provided, such as an adhesive layer.
The security elements according to the invention can be employed for securing the authenticity of goods of any kind. They are preferably used for securing the authenticity of value documents, for example in bank notes, checks or identification cards. They can be arranged here on a surface of the value document or be embedded wholly or partly into the value document. Especially advantageously, they are utilized for covering the hole in value documents having a hole. In such a case, the security element can be viewed from both sides, with identical or different motifs becoming recognizable in the security elements according to the invention, depending on the embodiment. Negative scripts with fine structures which are easily manufacturable by means of the microstructure carriers according to the invention can also be clearly recognized in transmitted light. Such security elements are practically impossible for a forger to imitate.
The microstructure carriers or security elements according to the invention can be manufactured individually, but are usually manufactured in the form of sheets or bands with a multiplicity of single copies. The security elements can also be provided in the form of transfer materials, that is, sheets or bands with a multiplicity of finished security elements prepared for transfer. With a transfer material, the layer construction of the later security element is prepared on a carrier material in the reverse order in which the layer construction is to be present later on an object of value to be authenticated, as is known to a person skilled in the art.
The invention will hereinafter be illustrated further with reference to figures. It is pointed out that the figures are not true to scale and not true to proportion. Further, the features represented in a figure are not only applicable in combination with the other features represented in the corresponding figure. Rather, features described in connection with a special embodiment can be used quite generally in the method, or microstructure carrier, or security element, according to the invention. Moreover, there are respectively only represented the features or layers essential for understanding the described method or described effects. It is evident that additional features or layers can be present. Identical reference numbers designate identical or corresponding elements. There are shown:
a an enlarged plan view of a security element of
b a plan view of an alternative security element according to the invention,
The invention will now be explained with reference to nonrestrictive examples.
The security thread 2 as well as the transfer elements 3 and 6 can contain a micro-optic representation arrangement according to an embodiment example of the invention. As explained more closely above, such a micro-optic representation arrangement can be configured in particular as a moiré magnification arrangement, as a micro-optic magnification arrangement of the moiré type or as a modulo magnification arrangement. The manner of functioning and the manufacturing method according to the invention for such arrangements will be described more closely hereinafter with reference to the security element 5 having a moiré magnification arrangement. The security element 6 is a combination security element. Combination security elements will be described in connection with
The spacing of neighboring microlenses 11 is preferably as small as possible to guarantee as high an area coverage as possible and thus a contrast-rich representation. The spherically or aspherically configured microlenses 11 preferably have a diameter between 5 μm and 50 μm, and in particular a diameter between only 10 μm and 35 μm, and are hence not recognizable with the naked eye.
On the underside of the transparent carrier 10 there is located a motif layer 15 which contains a likewise grid-shaped arrangement of identical micromotif elements 14. The arrangement of the micromotif elements 14 also forms a two-dimensional Bravais lattice having a preselected symmetry, for example having a hexagonal lattice symmetry or the symmetry of a parallelogram lattice. The micromotif layer 15 is formed by a microstructure carrier according to the invention, the micromotif elements 14 either having arisen from depressions of the embossed structure of the donor foil, or corresponding to elevation areal elements of the coating of the donor foil that have been transferred to the acceptor foil. For fastening the security element to a value document, an adhesive layer 16 is provided.
As indicated in
The optical thickness of the carrier 10 and the focal length of the microlenses 11 are so mutually coordinated that the motif layer 15 and thus the micromotif elements 14 are located approximately at the distance of the lens focal length (indicated by the dashed lines). The carrier 10 thus forms an optical spacer layer which guarantees a desired constant spacing of the microlenses 11 and the micromotif elements 14. Due to the slightly differing lattice parameters, the viewer viewing from above through the microlenses 11 respectively sees a somewhat different partial region of the micromotif elements 14, so that the multiplicity of the microlenses 11 produces altogether a magnified picture of the micromotif elements 14. The resulting moiré magnification depends here on the relative difference of the lattice parameters of the employed Bravais lattices. If, for example, the lattice periods of two hexagonal lattices differ by 1% there results a 100-fold moiré magnification. For a more detailed description of the manner of functioning and for advantageous arrangements of the motif grids and of the microlens grids, reference is again made to the prints DE 10 2005 062 132 and WO 2007/076952, whose disclosure is incorporated into the present application to this extent.
The above expositions should not be understood to mean, however, that the present invention is limited in any way to moiré magnification arrangements. The invention is instead applicable quite generally to micro-optic representation arrangements, and especially advantageously in particular also to modulo mapping magnification arrangements, as are described in the applications WO 2009/00528 and WO 2009/00527.
It should be pointed out that in this and all subsequent figures the embossed structure is always represented as a rectangular structure because of the simpler representation. In actuality, embossed structures with sharp edges are preferred, because the separation of the elevation areal elements and depression areal elements can be effected in more defined fashion here. Depending on the coating material used, it can in practice also suffice for achieving the desired sharp-edged break of the coating to employ rounded embossed structures with continuous transitions between elevations and depressions.
There is to be manufactured a microstructure carrier with a micromotif of metallic micromotif elements, the motif requiring that certain regions of the micromotif carrier remain free from a metallization. With coatings that can be imprinted in the form of a certain motif, such a requirement poses no problem, but metallizations can in most cases only be produced over the full area, because they are usually vapor-deposited, and a vapor deposition in motif form is hitherto impossible. The metallization-free areal regions must hence be produced in a different way. In the method variant represented in
Before the application of the transfer coating it is preferable to perform an adhesion-reducing treatment of the surface to be coated. For this purpose, the embossed structure is for example coated with washing ink over the full area, and the washing ink washed off again. Applying and washing off washing ink has quite generally proved itself as an adhesion-reducing treatment.
As represented in
c shows the state after washing off the washing ink 35 and the metallization 30 located thereover. The region previously coated with washing ink is now free from a metallization, while the metallization is present unchanged in the other regions. This donor foil 20 is now brought in contact with an acceptor foil 50. The acceptor foil 50 is represented in
The state after separation is represented in
In
The steps of applying a washing ink over part of the area, subsequent metallizing, as well as removing the metallization in the regions over the washing ink are now repeated as often as required to produce the desired multicoloredness of the motif to be manufactured. In the present case a three-colored motif is to be manufactured. It is thus necessary altogether three times to coat with washing ink over part of the area, apply a metallization over the full area, and remove the metallization again in the regions located over the washing ink. First (
Now, as shown in
Using this donor foil, a multicolored micromotif layer is now to be produced in an acceptor foil. A suitable acceptor foil 50 has a carrier foil 51 which is coated with an adhesive layer 53 over the full area on a principal area 52 (
The microstructure carrier 46 formed from the donor foil 20 has the microstructure complementary to the micromotif carrier 45, i.e. the elevation surfaces 25 are now all free from transfer layer, while the transfer-layer depression areal elements 34 as well as the transfer-layer areal elements on the flanks of the elevations are present unchanged. The “negative script” of the non-metallized region 29 is of course present in both microstructure carriers 45, 46. It should be pointed out that the transfer layer on the flanks of the elevations that remains on the microstructure carrier 46 is in actuality substantially thinner than represented in
In further coating and lamination steps, micromotif elements of further metals are now applied. In so doing, the problem arises that after the separation winding the adhesive layer 53, in all regions where it is not bonded to the metal 30, is still potentially sticky, at least under lamination conditions, i.e. under elevated pressure and, where applicable, elevated temperature. Hence, transfer-layer material could be transferred to this adhesive layer uncontrolledly upon a further transfer step. In all method variants involving a repeated transfer of transfer-layer areal elements to an acceptor foil, measures are hence preferably taken to deactivate the respective preceding adhesive layer. For this purpose, substantially two measures are available, namely, a change of the adhesive layer itself, on the one hand, and a covering of the adhesive layer, on the other hand. A change of the adhesive layer itself in such a way that it remains fully inactive upon further transfer steps is a preferred procedure in the case of adhesive layers that can be adequately deactivated by cross-linking. The deactivation by cross-linking is preferably effected before the applying of further adhesive layers. Alternatively, the adhesive layer can be prevented by a non-adhesive cover layer from participating in further transfers. When choosing such cover layers one must make sure they do not too strongly dissolve the layers on which they are applied.
In
In
Unlike the method variant according to
In the method variant represented in
For better illustration of the method according to the invention, sectional views of donor foil 20 and acceptor foil 50 are respectively contrasted with the corresponding views in plan view in
c shows the acceptor foil 50 in a plan view from above. The acceptor foil 50 is coated over part of the area with an adhesive layer 53, with a central region 60 in the form of a rectangle remaining free. In this region one looks onto the principal area 52 of the carrier foil 51.
In
In
The microstructure carrier 45 formed from the acceptor foil 50 (
A fully identical result can of course be obtained when the acceptor foil 50 is coated with adhesive over the full area and the transfer layer 30 of the donor foil 20 is instead provided only in a corresponding partial region. However, an application of the transfer layer in motif form is not possible with all transfer-layer materials.
According to a variant not represented here, the depression surfaces can additionally also be provided with the same or a different tertiary structure.
From the donor foil 20 the transfer-layer elevation areal elements 33 with the additional hologram structure are transferred to an acceptor foil 50. This makes the acceptor foil 50 into a micromotif carrier 45 with a micromotif 40. The micromotif 40 has a primary structure which is determined either by the application region of the transfer layer or by the application region of the adhesive layer of the acceptor foil, and also a secondary structure which is determined by the embossed motif of the carrier foil 21, and furthermore a tertiary structure in the form of a hologram. The micromotif carrier 45 can then be combined with a micromotif viewing device, for example with microlenses, into a micro-optic representation arrangement, for example as shown in
According to an alternative variant, which is represented by way of example in
Alternatively, the depression surfaces as well as the elevation surfaces of the embossed structure can be equipped with a hologram structure or some other tertiary structure.
According to the invention, the carrier foils preferably employed are foils into which the micro-optic viewing elements such as microlenses are already embossed. The carrier foil can act here both as a donor foil and as an acceptor foil. A particularly preferred embodiment of a micro-optic representation arrangement according to the invention for a security element 5 is represented in
Alternatively, it is also possible to first form the microstructures in the embossing lacquer layer 14′ and thereafter form the microlenses 11 in the embossing lacquer layer 11′. According to further alternatives, the microlenses and/or the microstructures can also be embossed directly into an embossable carrier foil. According to further alternatives, the microstructure can also first be embossed, the transfer coating then formed on the microstructure, and the transfer-layer elevation areal elements removed by means of an acceptor foil, and only then the microlenses embossed on the opposite side of the foil or laminated onto the opposite side of the foil. According to further possible alternatives, the foil equipped with microlenses can also be employed as an acceptor foil, i.e. the foil equipped with microlenses on one principal area is coated with an adhesive layer on the opposite principal area, and transfer-layer elevation areal elements are transferred to this adhesive layer from a donor foil in such a way that they form the micromotif elements of the micro-optic viewing device.
The microstructure carriers according to the invention can provide not only the micromotif layer of a micro-optic representation arrangement, but also the micromotif viewing device. Such a micromotif viewing device, or a precursor thereof, is represented in
In
c, e and g show how the microstructure carrier 46 can be equipped with an additional or alternative microstructure using a negatively working photoresist or another composition cross-linkable by irradiation, for example using a UV-cross-linkable lacquer.
Through the irradiation, the photoresist cross-links in the irradiated regions and thereby becomes slightly soluble, while remaining readily soluble in the shielded regions. The non-cross-linked, readily soluble regions can hence be washed off with a suitable solvent, thereby obtaining the state represented in
g and 16h show the microstructure carriers 46 and 45 after the original metallic microstructures have been etched away. The microstructure carriers now have microstructures 44 or 47 of possibly colored photoresist material which are respectively complementary to the original metallic microstructures. The microstructures 44 can, where applicable, be transferred to the adhesive layer of an acceptor foil like the original microstructures. The same holds for the “combination microstructure” of metallic areal elements 33 and photoresist areal elements 44, which is represented in
The washing and etching steps can also be carried out simultaneously, where applicable, depending on the employed materials.
As an alternative to negatively working photoresist materials, there can also be employed positively working photoresist materials. Positively working photoresist materials are so changed by irradiation that they become more readily soluble in the irradiated regions. Hence, when a microstructure carrier 46 is coated with a positively working photoresist, as is shown for a negative photoresist in
When the positively working photoresist material is not applied on the side of the metallic microstructures, as shown in
The microstructuring of photoresist materials while employing metallized regions as an exposure mask is described extensively in DE 10 2008 036 481.9. With regard to suitable materials and process conditions as well as the attainable effects, reference is made to this application.
It is particularly preferable to combine with each other representations with directional reflection and stereographic representations with depth information.
“Stereographic representations with depth information” are understood in the present invention to be representations wherein a 3D effect is produced by presenting to a viewer's left and right eyes different views of an object that respectively show the object viewed from the corresponding direction. These different views yield a three-dimensional impression for a viewer, as to be explained in connection with
The most well-known stereographic representations with absolute depth information are three-dimensional holograms, for example the classical directly exposed holograms or computer-generated stereograms. Further examples are microlens tilt images as well as modulo and moiré magnification arrangements with a “deep” or “floating” effect, as are known from WO 2009/000528 and WO 2005/052650.
“Directionally reflective representations” are understood in the present invention to be in particular representations that simulate to a viewer through directional reflection a bulge which yields a depth impression or a 3D impression only indirectly.
Directionally reflective representations are for example reflective Fresnel structures appearing to bulge in lens-like fashion (see EP 1 570 422 and EP 1 562 758), diffractive achromatic elements with a bulge effect (see EP 1 782 108), seemingly bulged matt-structure grating images, and in particular representations based on microscopic sawtooth gratings. Using microscopic sawtooth gratings there can be produced seemingly bulged representations (PCT/EP 2010/007368), “noisy” representations (PCT/EP 2010/007369) and representations with kinematic effects (EP 0 868 313).
These directionally reflective representations have in common that an at least partly mirror-coated surface that is practically planar on a relatively large length scale violates the law “angle of incidence=angle of reflection” tacitly assumed by a viewer on a relatively large length scale, for example by the incident light being diffracted through diffraction effects in directions not expected by the viewer, or being reflected through micromirrors unrecognizable with the naked eye in directions not expected by the viewer.
Directionally reflective representations and stereographic representations respectively have very characteristic properties and their individual characteristic appearance. It is a special advantage of directionally reflective representations that they can simulate for example the typical luster of bulged metallic surfaces with high brilliance, a viewer even being able to recognize his own mirror image on the simulated bulged metallic surfaces if they are accordingly designed. The advantage of the stereographic representations lies in turn in the “genuine” three-dimensionality of the representation. The security elements according to the invention preferably unite both kinds of representation, thereby making it possible to achieve optically extremely attractive effects, which give the security elements an especially high recognition value and make them difficult to imitate. The microstructures of the stereographic representations, and, where applicable, also the directionally reflective surfaces of the directionally reflective representations, can be manufactured in simple fashion by means of the method according to the invention. Hereinafter some implementation variants of micro-optic combination representation arrangements for security elements according to the invention will be briefly explained.
a shows the security element 6 of
As can be seen in
There are embossed into the embossing lacquer layer 11′ two different structures, namely, microlenses 11 and facets 12, the facets 12 being mirror-coated and forming a sawtooth structure. The microlenses 11 form together with the micromotif elements 14 a first micro-optic representation arrangement 17, which is a stereographic representation with depth information, for example a moiré magnification arrangement.
The manner of functioning of the first micro-optic representation arrangement 17 is explained schematically in
As shown in
From the reflection behavior of the second micro-optic representation arrangement 18, a viewer concludes that the bulged surface 120 with the depth d2 is present in the second motif portion 8, whereby several bulged surfaces must of course be simulated upon the representation of a three-dimensional portrait. For the light beam 121 the reflection behavior suggests that the local surface normal points in direction 127, which is clearly different from the actual macroscopic surface normal.
By means of directional reflective representations there can also be achieved movement effects, for example by constructing representations from several sawtooth-structure representations, the individual sawtooth-structure representations being respectively visible from different angles of view. An example thereof is shown in
b shows a security element 6′ in plan view which has a star consisting of four lines 63, 64, 68, 69. The lines 63, 64, 68 and 69 respectively consist of sawtooth structures with facets, the sawtooth structures possessing different relief structures. The parameters of the relief structures are so chosen that the lines 63, 64, 68 and 69 are respectively visible only from certain angles of view. Hence, when the security element 6′ is tilted or rotated, a different one of the lines 63, 64, 68, 69 is respectively visible to a viewer, which the viewer perceives as a movement effect. The background of the represented star can for example be enriched by an additional stereographic representation.
The microstructures or micromotif elements 14 can be provided not only in the region of the first micro-optic representation arrangement 17, but also in the region of the second micro-optic representation arrangement 18. In this case, and when the micromotif elements 14 are colored, the bulged mirroring surface which is simulated by the facets 12 likewise appears slightly colored. This of course does not hold only for the embodiment according to
In
In particular upon a viewing of a security element in transmitted light against a bright light source, the first micro-optic representation arrangement 17 can also have merely a hole grid 19, as shown in
Further, in the security elements according to the invention, the second micro-optic representation arrangement 18 can also be realized by means of diffractive structures. Thus, preferably asymmetric diffraction gratings are so arranged in the second motif portion 8 that the reflection behavior of a bulged surface is simulated as achromatically as possible, as described for example in WO 2006/013215, whose disclosure in this connection is hereby incorporated by reference.
In the micro-optic combination representation arrangements, the two motif portions 7 and 8 can overlap at least partly. Alternatively or additionally, the two motif portions 7 and 8 can also be mutually interlaced in certain regions. Thus, the areas of the two motif portions 7 and 8 can for example be broken down into complementary areal elements and subsequently united into a total motif. In so doing, each motif portion loses a portion of its picture information, which portion is replaced in the areal elements in question by the picture information of the respective other areal element. When the dimensions of the areal elements are below the resolving power of the eye, the viewer perceives the individual impressions of the two motif portions simultaneously and processes them into a total motif.
Using directionally reflective representations there can also be realized glitter effects and movement effects, for example movement effects like the “rolling bar” or “double rolling bar” effects stated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,517,578. Such effects are described in the application PCT/EP2010/007369. This application discloses security elements with a carrier having a reflective areal region which is divided into a multiplicity of reflective pixels, the area of each pixel being at least one order of magnitude smaller than the area of the reflective areal region, each pixel having at least one reflective facet formed in a surface of the carrier, the at least one reflective facet reflecting light incident on the areal region along a predetermined direction directionally in a reflection direction predefined by the facet's orientation, the orientations of the facets of different pixels having a substantially random variation over the reflective areal region.
“Pixels” are understood to be small partial regions of the reflective areal region, which can not only have an arbitrary outline form, but in particular also need not be arranged on a regular grid. The facets form a periodic or aperiodic sawtooth grating structure.
Each pixel 24 has several reflective facets 12 of identical orientation in the embodiment described here. The facets 12 are the inclined areas of a reflective sawtooth grating. In a modification not represented, however, it is also possible that several or all pixels 24 respectively only have a single facet 12.
In
As to be seen in
The different orientation of the facets 12 can be adjusted not only by the choice of the angle of inclination α of the facets 12, but also by different azimuth angles Φ. Based on the direction according to the arrow P1 in
The azimuth angle of the facets 12 of the pixel 246, however, amounts to approx. 120° (based on the direction of the arrow P2), and the azimuth angle Φ3 of the facets of the pixel 245 amounts to 280° (based on the direction of the arrow P3).
The azimuth angles can for example be chosen randomly for the individual pixels 24. In particular, random values between 0 and 360° can be selected. For the slope a of the facets 12 there can be chosen for example values from the range of 10° to 20° as well as from the range of −20° to −10°. It is also possible to choose the slope of the facets from a region of for example −20° to 20°. Here, too, the slopes can again be chosen randomly.
It is possible that the randomly chosen slope α corresponds to a normal distribution. The randomly chosen azimuth angles Φ can in particular be uniformly distributed. The grating period or width of the sawteeth d preferably lies above 1 μm and in particular above 3 μm. Further, the grating period d can also lie above 5 μm. However, it is preferably always so chosen that at least two facets 12 are present per pixel 24. In particular, at least three, four or more facets 12 can be contained per pixel 24.
The facets 12 are preferably configured as planar area elements. It is also possible, however, that the facets 12 are curved (e.g. concave or convex). The facets 12 can extend in a straight line, as with the facets 12 of the pixels 241, 242, 243, 245 and 246. However, a non-straight course (e.g. slightly curved) is also possible, as schematically shown for the pixel 244 in
Using the division of the pixels there can be produced the impression that a “noisy” area is present (preferably in a reflective area). Additionally, the facets of the pixels can be oriented such that there occurs from certain viewing angles a simultaneous bright lighting up of many pixels. For this purpose, the reflective areal region on the carrier is divided into at least two partial regions, so that the pixels in the first partial region have a random orientation, while the pixels of the second or the further partial regions all have the same or at least almost the same orientation respectively per partial region. The light from a light source is then scattered in all directions from many angles in the first partial region, while the light is respectively reflected in a narrow angular range in the further partial regions. A viewer then sees only a noisy representation with randomly lighting up pixels (glitter effect) at most angles, while the further partial regions light up very brightly at certain angles.
When optical effects like the “rolling bar” or “double rolling bar” effects stated in U.S. Pat. No. 7,517,578 are to be simulated, the orientation of the facets is chosen such that the reflective areal region has a continuous course of the average reflection direction of the pixels. This causes different areal regions to light up brightly continuously in succession upon tilting of a security element with the reflective representation, so that the effect of a stripe rolling upward or downward or toward one side is achieved.
b shows, in cross section, an acceptor foil 50 having a carrier foil 10, an embossing lacquer layer 11′ and an embossing lacquer layer 12′. Embossed into the embossing lacquer layer 11′ are microlenses 11 in the regions 7′. The regions 7′ are the later motif regions of the first micro-optic representation arrangement. Embossed into the embossing lacquer layer 12′ are sawtooth structures in the region 8′. From the sawtooth structures the second micro-optic representation arrangement will later be formed. The embossing lacquer layer 12 is coated with an adhesive 53. The adhesive layer is very thin in order for it to readily follow the structures of the facets or sawteeth and not “smear up” the structures.
a shows a donor foil 20 in principle in the same state as the donor foil in
The donor foil 20 is laminated onto the acceptor foil 50, i.e. the regions 7″ are laminated onto the regions 7′, and the region 8″ is laminated onto the region 8′. In so doing, the transfer-layer elevation areal elements 33 are transferred to the adhesive 53, thereby forming the micromotif elements 14, and the elevation areal element 33′ is transferred to the sawtooth structure, thereby forming the reflective coating 88. This state is represented in
The micro-optic combination representation arrangement for a security element 6, as represented in
Alternatively, manufacturing variants are also conceivable wherein the sawtooth structure already has a metallization or other coating, and only the first micro-optic representation arrangement 17 is to be manufactured by transferring micromotif elements 14 into the first motif region 7. In such a case the region 8″ of the donor foil 20 preferably has no embossed structure with an elevation area. When this region is microstructured, for example like the regions 7″, elevation areal elements are transferred to the already coated sawtooth structure. Such micromotif elements in the region 8 are hardly visible and undisturbing, if the coating 88 is a metallization. In the case of other coatings they can also be visible, where applicable.
a shows an acceptor foil 50 from a carrier foil 51 which is coated with an adhesive 53. In this embodiment example, the adhesive coating extends over the full area. The foil 50 is laminated with the adhesive layer onto the microstructure layer of the donor foil 20 and subsequently removed again by separation winding. The thereby obtained state of the donor foil 20 is represented in
As to be seen in
When the second motif region 8 is not located deeper than the first motif region 7, as represented in
It should be mentioned that the second motif portion 8 need not necessarily be structured. When, for example, the acceptor foil 50 represented in
Especially advantageous embodiments of the present invention are represented in
Metallic microstructures, in particular silvery metallic microstructures, normally show poor contrast on a white background. According to the invention they are hence preferably backed with a colored background. For example, the microstructures produced by removing superfluous metallized regions from a donor foil (leaving behind the micromotif elements) or by transferring micromotif elements to an acceptor foil in the method according to the invention can be printed with a printing ink.
The backing with color inks can be effected over the full area or in certain regions as well as in single-colored or multicolored fashion. A single-colored background is expediently so chosen that it strongly differs in color tone from the color tone of the micromotif. The stronger the difference in color tone, the better the contrast enhancement of the moiré-magnified micromotifs or other micromotifs.
With a multicolored design of the background, additional effects can be achieved. A multicolored background does not move upon tilting of a security element having a micro-optic representation arrangement with a stereographic representation, but forms, through its structuring, a reference point against which the movement of the stereographic representation is especially striking. For example, a moiré magnification arrangement can display metallic symbols or characters against a different-colored background. Against this static multicolored background the metallized moiré-magnified structures move upon tilting of the security element.
In a security element such as a security thread, the regions with different coloration can extend for example side by side (parallel) in the thread direction, or alternatively extend one behind the other in the thread direction, so that differently colored regions alternate in the direction of the thread. The alternation can be effected in a periodic or aperiodic manner.
The colors are not limited in any special way. There come into consideration totally covering as well as glazing colors. The colors can be water-based or solvent-based, dry physically (drying through evaporation of the liquid components) or be UV-curable. The application of different colors can also take place in overlap. Through gridding there can be produced continuous color transitions between colors printed one over the other. There can also be imprinted, instead of color inks, for example fluorescent inks, systems with a color-shift effect such as for example inks with thin-film pigments, or compositions with other effect pigments.
Colors that are not completely covering can be considerably enhanced in their luminance by being backed by special, generally reflective, layers. As reflective layers there come into consideration for example metallic layers, color-shifting systems, high-refractive coatings and printable layers with metal pigments or effect pigments. Suitable metals are for example aluminum, copper, chromium, tin, zinc, silver and gold as well as metal alloys. High-refractive coatings are for example coatings of ZnS or TiO2.
The reflective coating can, like the color layer, be applied over the full area or in certain regions. When the reflective coating is applied only in certain regions, the contrast arising between regions with and regions without a reflective coating is low in plan viewing and stronger in transmission. In transmission there can thus be produced an effect coming close to a negative script (if the carrier material is transparent).
When the background color is absent in certain regions, the reflective coating is directly visible there. With such a background design, colored regions alternate with reflective regions.
It is evident that here, too, microfocusing elements other than lenses can be employed, that the microfocusing elements need not already be preembossed on the carrier foil but can also be laminated on, that a security element can have further functional layers, etc.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2010 019 766.1 | May 2010 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2011/002251 | 5/5/2011 | WO | 00 | 11/6/2012 |
