Security Element with Partial Cutouts for Angle-Dependent Information
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing security elements with optically variable structures for documents of value face challenges due to susceptibility to color shifts and limited information capacity, often requiring multicolored backgrounds that do not integrate well with designs and are difficult to produce effectively.
Innovation Solution
The security element features non-linear embossed elements with partial cutouts that create additional information through varying geometric shapes, providing different information views based on the viewing angle, using a blind intaglio printing process with a uniform color substrate and metallic coatings for enhanced contrast and tilting effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If multicolored structured background print is used to support the optically variable structure, then the visual effect is enhanced, but the design is susceptible to color shifts due to strong register fluctuations and does not fit well with overall design
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the color information requirement from the background print and transfers it to the embossed elements themselves. The background print is simplified to a uniform color, while the embossed elements contain the geometric variations that create different visual information from different viewing angles, eliminating color shift susceptibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making each embossed element have a specific geometric configuration (with or without partial cutouts) that determines its optical behavior. Different regions of the security element have embossed elements with different geometries, creating localized information that is viewable from specific angles without requiring multicolored backgrounds.
2Loss of information
If multicolored structured background print is used, then more information can be conveyed, but the production becomes more complex and colors do not integrate well with overall design
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from using color as the primary dimension for information encoding to using viewing angle and geometric shape. The embossed elements are designed with specific three-dimensional geometries (including partial cutouts) that create different visual appearances from different angles, adding a spatial dimension to information encoding without requiring multiple colors.
3Strength
If strongest possible colors are used for background, then color contrast is maximized, but the colors often do not fit into the overall design of a banknote
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a uniform color for the background print that can be easily integrated with overall banknote design. The visual contrast and information differentiation are achieved not through color variation in the background, but through the geometric properties of the embossed elements that create shading effects and visibility changes from different angles.
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
This solution enhances protection against counterfeiting by providing multiple information layers recognizable from different angles without color shifts, using a production method that is difficult to imitate, ensuring the security element is both visually and tactually distinct and stable over time.
Implementation Method 1
the flanks of the partial cutouts create a shadowing of the respective embossing elements, so that the viewer sees the embossing elements in one darker shade
Implementation Method 2
metallic coatings for enhanced contrast and tilting effects
Data Source
Figure 1a~2c
Figure 3a~3e
Figure 4a~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a security element comprising an optically variable structure that has an embossed structure, said embossed structure comprising a plurality of non-linear, elevated embossed elements. Furthermore, the optically variable structure comprises in at least a first partial region at least one first additional information that is obtained by varying the geometric shape of the non-linear embossed elements using shadowing effects. According to the invention, the at least one first additional information is obtained by at least a partial section from the geometry of the respective non-linear embossed elements so that said at least one partial section is missing in the respective geometric shape of the non-linear embossed elements.