Printed Reflective Security Layer with Embossed Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current security elements for documents of value lack a high degree of protection against counterfeiting and do not provide an attractive visual appearance, especially when considering angle-dependent color shifts and complex production processes.
Innovation Solution
A security element with a reflective layer produced using platelet-shaped metal pigments and an embossed lacquer layer, combined with a colored thin-layer element, which can be printed directly onto a carrier substrate, offering protection and attractive visual effects through angle-dependent color shifts without the need for complex vapor deposition processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vapor deposition processes are used to create reflective layers, then the security element achieves high protection against counterfeiting, but the production process becomes complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical/vapor deposition process with a printing process. Instead of using vapor deposition to create reflective layers, the invention uses printing technology with platelet-shaped metal pigments to form the reflective layer directly on the carrier substrate. This substitution of the creation method simplifies the production process while maintaining security features.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of layer creation from vapor deposition to printing. By using printing technology with specifically designed platelet-shaped metal pigments, the invention transforms the manufacturing approach, enabling direct formation of reflective layers on substrates with relief structures without complex vapor deposition equipment and processes.
2Ease of manufacture
If multilayer thin-film elements with color shift effects are used, then the visual appearance becomes attractive and angle-dependent, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces precise mechanical control of thin-film layer thickness with a printing-based approach. Instead of requiring precise control of nanometer-scale layer thicknesses through vapor deposition, the invention uses printing technology where the reflective layer is formed by depositing platelet-shaped metal pigments through a printing process, which is more tolerant to variations and easier to control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining platelet-shaped metal pigments with binding agents to create the reflective layer. This composite approach allows for flexible control of layer properties and thickness, reducing the stringent precision requirements compared to pure thin-film approaches while maintaining the desired optical effects.
3Device complexity
If platelet-shaped metal pigments are used in printing, then the production process is simplified, but the registration precision between reflective and colored layers may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by first creating the relief structure on the carrier substrate before applying the embossed varnish layer and subsequently the printing. This sequential approach ensures that the reflective layer and colored layer are positioned with high precision relative to each other and to the underlying substrate features, maintaining registration accuracy while using simplified printing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an embossed varnish layer as an intermediary between the carrier substrate and the printing process. This intermediary layer serves as a precise positioning reference that ensures accurate registration of the reflective layer formed by the printing process with respect to the underlying substrate features and any previously applied colored layers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides enhanced protection against counterfeiting by utilizing printed reflective layers and colored thin-layer elements that offer unique visual effects, including color shifts between reflection and transmission, while simplifying the production process and ensuring precise registration of the reflective and colored layers.
Implementation Method 1
a reflective layer arranged on the carrier by means of an embossed varnish layer with an embossed relief structure
Implementation Method 2
the color shift effect is based on viewing-angle-dependent interference effects caused by multiple reflections in the different sublayers of the element
Implementation Method 3
multiple reflections in the different sublayers of the element
Implementation Method 4
a transparent adhesive layer suitable for bonding the security element to a valuable object
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a security element for protecting documents of value, comprising a carrier and a layered structure arranged on the carrier, comprising a reflective layer, which is arranged on the carrier by means of an embossed coating with an embossed relief structure, a coloured thin-layer element and a transparent adhesive layer, which is suitable for the adhesive bonding of the security element to an object of value, wherein the reflective layer can be obtained by printing techniques and is based on metal pigments in platelet form, which are of such a nature that they spatially align themselves along the relief structure of the embossed coating and in this way form a reflective layer.