EP4013625A1

EP4013625A1 - Optically variable security element

Info

Publication number: EP4013625A1
Application number: EP20753875.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giselher Dorff; Björn Teufel
Original assignee: Giesecke and Devrient Currency Technology GmbH
Current assignee: Giesecke and Devrient Currency Technology GmbH
Priority date: 2019-08-14
Filing date: 2020-08-07
Publication date: 2022-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 2040-08-07
Also published as: EP4013625B1; DE102019005705A1; CN113950414B; CN113950414A; WO2021028076A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an optically variable security element (14) having an appearance that is visually different from opposite sides (16, 18). According to the invention, the security element (14) comprises a multicolour reflective area (20) containing two relief structures (24, 34) which are arranged at different vertical levels in the z-direction and form an upper relief structure (34), which is closer to the upper side (16) of the security element, and a lower relief structure (24) which is closer to the lower side (18) of the security element. The lower relief structure (24) is provided with a lower colour coating (26), which follows the shape of the relief, and the upper relief structure (34) is provided with an upper colour coating (36) which follows the shape of the relief. In the z-direction, a translucent coloured planar structure (44) is arranged at a vertical level between the two relief structures (24, 34), wherein the two relief structures (24, 34) and the planar structure (44) overlap in an overlap region. In the overlap region, the upper colour coating (36) comprises at least one cut-out (35) in which, when viewed from the upper side, the lower relief structure (24) appears, together with the combined colour effect at least of the translucent coloured planar structure (44) and the lower colour coating (26). In the overlap region, the lower colour coating (26) comprises at least one cut-out (25) in which, when viewed from the lower side, the upper relief structure (34) appears, together with the combined colour effect at least of the translucent coloured planar structure (44) and the upper colour coating (36).

Description

Optically variable security element

The invention relates to an optically variable security element for securing objects of value, which when viewing the security element from an upper side and an opposite lower side each shows a different visual appearance. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing such a security element and a data carrier equipped with such a security element.

Data carriers, such as value or identity documents, but also other objects of value such as branded items, are often provided with security elements for protection that allow the authenticity of the data carrier to be checked and at the same time serve as protection against unauthorized reproduction. The security elements can for example be in the form of a security thread embedded in a bank note, a cover film for a bank note with a hole, an applied security strip, a self-supporting transfer element or also in the form of a feature area printed directly on a document of value.

Security elements with a viewing angle-dependent or three-dimensional appearance play a special role in safeguarding authenticity, since these cannot be reproduced even with the most modern copiers. For this purpose, the security elements are equipped with optically variable elements which give the viewer a different image impression from different viewing angles and, for example, show a different color or brightness impression and / or a different graphic motif depending on the viewing angle. In the prior art, for example, movement effects, pump effects, depth effects or flip effects are described as optically variable effects, which are implemented with the aid of holograms, microlenses or micromirrors. Based on this, the object of the invention is to further increase the security against counterfeiting and the visual attractiveness of generic optically variable security elements. In particular, optically variable security elements are to be provided which, from opposite viewing directions, each show two or more different appearances or effects in different colors, and which ideally can also be produced easily and inexpensively. This problem is solved by the features of the independent claims. Developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

In order to achieve the stated object, the invention contains an optically variable security element which, when the security element is viewed from an upper side and an opposite lower side, each has a different visual appearance.

The area of the security element defines a plane and a z-axis perpendicular to it. The security element has a multicolored reflective surface area that contains two relief structures which are arranged in the z-direction at different height levels and an upper relief structure closer to the top of the security element and a lower relief structure closer to the underside of the security element form.

The lower relief structure is provided with a lower color coating following the relief course and the upper relief structure with an upper color coating following the relief course. In the z-direction, a translucent colored flat structure is arranged on a height step between the two relief structures. The two relief structures and the flat structure also overlap in an overlap area. In this overlap area, the upper color coating has at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the top, the lower relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the lower color coating appear. The lower color coating has at least one recess in the overlap area, in which the upper relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the upper color coating appears when the security element is viewed from the bottom.

The mentioned overlapping of the structures can be partial or complete, so it is in particular also possible for the two relief structures and the flat structure to be congruent with one another. The overlap relates to the relative lateral position of the relief structures and the flat structure in the plane defined by the areal extension of the security element.

The terms top and bottom denote the two opposite main sides of the two-dimensional security element in a certain orientation. On a data carrier, the security element is applied with its underside first, so that the underside faces the data carrier and the upper side faces away from the data carrier. In the case of a separate data carrier or one embedded in a data carrier Security element, on the other hand, can generally be viewed as the top or bottom of each of the opposite main sides.

In the context of this description, for the sake of easier reference, recesses in the upper colored coating or lower colored coating are generally spoken of in the plural. Even if the plural form is used, this should also include the possible case that there is only a recess in the upper or lower color coating.

In an advantageous embodiment, the cutouts in the upper colored coating and the cutouts in the lower colored coating are arranged without overlapping. This means that the lower colored coating is visible in the cutouts of the upper colored coating and the upper colored coating is visible in the cutouts of the lower colored coating. A view through the surface area through aligned recesses in both paint layers is therefore not possible in this embodiment.

In other embodiments, it is provided that, in addition to recesses arranged without overlap in the upper and lower color coatings, overlapping recesses are also provided in the two color coatings, which allow a view through the surface area from one viewing direction. Said viewing direction can be a vertical viewing direction, but also an oblique viewing direction up to a typical angle of up to 60 °. The overlapping recesses can in particular be arranged in the form of a grid, such as a grid of points, which forms characters, a pattern or a coding. The grid element size is advantageously selected to be so small that a view through the overlapping cutouts is only possible in one narrow angular range of a few degrees is possible. The motif formed by the grid is therefore only visible in a narrow angular range and provides additional authentication of the security element. The diameter of the grid points or the grid element size can in particular be below 1 mm or even below 300 μm.

The non-overlapping recesses in the upper and lower colored coatings are nested in an expedient embodiment, so they alternate several times along the surface area of the surface area in a nested area. Within the nesting area, a color change is visible when viewed from both the top and the bottom.

In an alternative, likewise expedient embodiment, the recesses arranged without overlap in the upper color coating and the recesses in the lower color coating are arranged in blocks and separated. In particular, exactly two separate block areas can be provided, with recesses in a first block area exclusively in the upper color coating and the lower color coating being formed continuously. In a second block area, on the other hand, there are recesses exclusively in the lower colored coating, while the upper colored coating is continuous. In this way, two independent effect areas are realized in the security element, which show a color change only when viewed from the top (first block area) or only the bottom (second block area).

In an advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the color effects of the relief structures, the color coatings and the flat structure are coordinated with one another in such a way that the security element when viewed from the top outside of the recesses of the upper color coating shows a first color impression and inside the recesses a different second color impression. Furthermore, when viewed from the underside, the security element shows a third color impression outside the cutouts of the lower color coating and a fourth color impression that differs therefrom within the cutouts. It has been found to be particularly advantageous if the color effects of the relief structures, the color coatings and the flat structure are matched to one another in such a way that all four color impressions are different from one another. The color effect of the relief structures includes in particular the color effect of lacquer layers in which the relief structures are shaped and the color effect of top lacquer layers of the relief structures.

The general term "color effect" includes both color and colorlessness. The term "color impression" is used for the overall color impression produced by one or more color-acting elements. In concrete terms, for example, the combination of a colorless, transparent embossing lacquer layer (colorless color effect) with a yellow glazed flat structure (yellow color effect) and a backed aluminum metallization (silvery glossy color effect) creates a shiny yellow color impression. If a translucent blue colored embossing lacquer is used instead of the colorless embossing lacquer, the result of the color mixture is a shiny green color impression.

The translucent colored flat structure is advantageously formed by a layer of laminating lacquer, for example a layer of lacquer colored laminating lacquer, a colored primer layer or a printed color layer. The translucent colored flat structure can contain special coloring pigments and / or a dye as colorant. The light transmission of the flat structure is advantageously between 20% and 80%. In contrast to the relief structures, the translucent, colored flat structure is not structured in terms of height, but is flat. The flat structure can in particular be applied directly to a carrier film or to a flat substrate layer, for example a leveling lacquer layer.

The upper and / or lower colored coating is preferably a reflective colored coating, in particular a reflective, opaque colored coating. One or both color coatings can be formed in particular by metallizations, for example made of aluminum, silver or an alloy such as copper and aluminum, thin-film structures, in particular color-changing thin-film structures, gold-blue or silicon-aluminum thin layers. The first and / or second color coating can also represent a translucent image of several translucent colors, which is backed with an opaque mirror coating, for example made of aluminum. Luminescent paints, in particular fluorescent paints with a metallic mirror coating, can also be used as color coatings. The first and / or second color coating can also be formed by structural colors, in particular by nano and binary structures, which are embossed on or in the micromirrors of a micromirror arrangement. Finally, nanoparticle inks can also be used as color coatings, such as gold-blue particles, various effect pigments, color-shifting pigments or super silver.

The upper and / or lower relief structure are advantageously shaped in a transparent or glazed colored embossing lacquer layer. In particular, it can be provided that the upper relief structure in a transparent renten embossing lacquer layer is molded and the lower relief structure is molded in a glazed colored embossing lacquer layer. In an advantageous embodiment, the upper and / or lower relief structure are leveled with a cover layer, which can also be colored transparent or glazed.

The upper relief structure and / or the lower relief structure are particularly advantageously formed by micro-mirror arrangements with directed micro-mirrors. The micromirrors are formed in particular by non-diffractive mirrors and do not produce any color splitting. Preferably plane mirrors, concave mirrors and / or Fresnel-like mirrors can be used. The lateral dimensions of the micromirrors are advantageously below 20 gm, preferably below 10 gm, but preferably on the other hand also above 2 gm, in particular above 3 gm or even above 5 gm. In principle, instead of micromirrors, other relief structures, in particular embossed Fresnel lenses, concave mirrors, hologram structures, nanostructures or diffractive blazed gratings can be used.

The orientation of the micromirrors of the upper relief structure and / or the lower relief structure advantageously varies depending on the location in order to generate a given motif, in particular a three-dimensional motif or a motif of movement. The alignment of each micromirror can be freely selected and is essentially only determined by the specified motif, but not by the alignment of the neighboring micromirrors.

The two relief structures advantageously provide a color change for an unchanged motif as a function of the viewing angle or provide a color change together with a motif change. The motives of the two The relief structures can vary in particular with regard to shape (for example, head, apple or number), movement (static too moved or moved too static, with linear, rotating and / or pumping movement) and / or dimensionality (2D to 3D, or differently three-dimensional with positive or negative arched appearance or floating in front of or behind a plane) of the motif.

The different height levels in which the two relief structures and the flat structure are arranged advantageously have a spacing of between 5 μm and 100 μm, preferably between 10 μm and 50 μm, in the z direction. The small vertical distance between the structures involved cannot be seen when viewing the security element. The reference point for the height level of a relief structure is formed by the base of the relief structure, for example at the base of a micromirror embossing.

In an advantageous Invention _V ersion the upper and / or lower color coating as regular or irregular grid is terelementen with Ras and formed grid spaces. The grid spaces represent the above-mentioned recesses of the respective color coating. The dimensions of the grid elements and / or grid spaces in this variant are at least in one direction below 140 μm. The dimensions of the grid elements and / or grid spaces are preferably even in one or both lateral directions below 140 gm, preferably between 20 gm and 100 gm, in particular between 20 gm and 60 gm.

In another, likewise advantageous variant of the invention, the upper and / or lower colored coating advantageously contains cutouts which have lateral dimensions of more than 140 μm. The late- Real dimensions of at least one recess more than 250 gm, preferably more than 500 gm and in particular more than 1 mm.

The invention also includes a data carrier with an optically variable security element of the type described, the security element being arranged in or above a window area or a continuous opening of the data carrier.

The invention finally also includes a method for producing an optically variable security element, preferably a Sicherheitsele element of the type described in more detail above, in which a substrate is provided, the surface area of which defines a plane and a perpendicular z-axis, the substrate with a multicolored reflective surface area is seen ver, which contains two relief structures which are arranged in the z-direction at different height levels, and form an upper and a lower relief structure, the lower relief structure with a lower color coating following the relief course and the upper relief structure with an upper color coating following the course of the reel is provided, a translucent colored flat structure is arranged in the z-direction on a height step between the two relief structures, the two relief structures and the flat structure overlapping in an overlapping area t be, and the upper color coating is formed in the overlap area with at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the top, the lower relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the lower color coating appears, and the lower color coating in the overlap area is formed with at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the underside, the upper relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the upper color coating appears.

In an advantageous method, it is provided that two layer structures are produced separately, in which the mentioned relief structures are produced on separate carriers and provided with the respective color coating that follows the relief progression, and that the two layer structures produced are laminated together via a translucent colored laminating lacquer layer which when laminated together forms the flat structure of the security element.

Further exemplary embodiments as well as advantages of the invention are explained below with reference to the figures, in the representation of which a true-to-scale and proportionate reproduction was dispensed with in order to increase the clarity.

Show it: Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a banknote with a trans parent see-through window, over which a erfindungsge according to optically variable security element is arranged, Fig. 2 schematically shows a section of the applied to the banknote th security element of Fig. 1 in cross section,

3 schematically shows an exemplary embodiment in which, in addition to recesses arranged without overlap, there are also overlapping recesses in the form of a dot grid, and

4 schematically shows a further exemplary embodiment with cutouts separated in the manner of blocks in the upper and lower color coating.

The invention will now be explained using the example of security elements for banknotes. FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a bank note 10 with a transparent see-through window 12 over which an optically variable security element 14 according to the invention is arranged.

The see-through window 12 can be formed, for example, by a transparent area of a plastic layer or a continuous opening in a paper layer of the bank note 10. Due to its arrangement in the see-through window, the security element 14 can be viewed from opposite sides, namely both from its upper side 16 and from its lower side 18, and shows a different visual appearance in each case. The particular structure of optically variable security elements according to the invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 2, which schematically shows a section of the security element 14 applied to the bank note 10 in cross section.

The area of the security element 14 defines an x-y plane and a z-axis perpendicular to it. Parallel to the xy plane, the security element has a surface area 20 which is different both when viewed from the upper side 16, ie from the positive z direction, and when viewed from the lower side 18, ie from the negative z direction In the exemplary embodiment, the security element 14 is applied with its underside 18 via a transparent adhesive layer (not shown) on the surface of a transparent plastic substrate.

To generate the different visual appearances, the surface area 20 contains two relief structures 24, 34 and a translucent flat structure 44 arranged between the relief structures. Specifically, the relief structures 24, 34 are arranged at a height level H _pi or H _p 2 and the flat structure at a height level HF , where the relation H _pi <HF <H _p 2 applies to the height levels. The height levels of the various structures are indicated from the underside of the security element 14 with which it is attached to the bank note 10. The relief structure 24 lying closer to the lower side is therefore designated as the lower and the relief structure 34 lying closer to the upper side as the upper relief structure. When viewed from the top of the banknote (viewing position 40), the upper relief structure is closer to the viewer than the lower relief structure; when viewed from the underside of the banknote (viewing position 46) the ratios are reversed. In the exemplary embodiment, the two relief structures each represent micro-mirror embossings or micro-mirror arrangements 24, 34, which are each formed from a plurality of micro-mirrors inclined with respect to the xy plane. The local angles of inclination of the micromirrors are precisely chosen so that the relief structure of the micromirror arrangements 24, 34 generates a desired optical appearance after the color coating, for example a desired three-dimensional appearance or a desired movement effect when the security element 14 is tilted. The base areas or base points of the micromirrors of the micromirror arrangements serve as a reference point for specifying a height level of the micromirror embossing.

The micromirror embossings are each molded in an embossing lacquer layer 22 and 32, the embossing lacquer layer 22 of the lower relief structure 24 being colored lasy rend blue, while the embossing lacquer layer 32 of the upper relief structure 34 is colorlessly transparent. The micromirror arrangements 24, 34 are each provided with a color coating, which is referred to as lower color coating 26 and upper color coating 36. In the exemplary embodiment, both color coatings are each formed by an opaque aluminum layer. Both the lower and the upper relief structure are each leveled with a transparent topcoat layer 28 and 38, respectively. Both color coatings 26, 36 each have recesses 25, 35 which, in spite of the continuous micromirror embossing 24, 34, allow the viewer to see through the structures below or above them in subregions. The recesses 25, 35 are nested in one another in relation to the xy plane, but without overlapping. arranges. This means that within the surface area of the surface area 20, the recesses in the upper and lower color coating alternate several times, but the recesses are coordinated in such a way that the entire surface area 20 cannot be seen through the entire surface area 20 when viewed either vertically or at an inclined angle , that is, is made possible both by recesses 25 in the lower color coating 26 and by recesses 35 in the upper color coating 36. Rather, the lower colored coating 26 is visible in the cutouts 35 of the upper colored coating and, conversely, the upper colored coating 36 is visible in the cutouts 25 of the lower colored coating.

In the exemplary embodiment, the flat structure 44 is formed by a continuous, yellow-glazed laminating lacquer layer. In contrast to the relief structures 24, 34, the flat structure 44 is not designed in a height-structured manner. In the exemplary embodiment, the two micromirror arrangements 24, 34 and the colored flat structure 44 are arranged one above the other in the entire surface area 20 of the safety element 14, so that the overlapping area takes up the entire surface area 20.

Due to the transparency of the flat structure 44, a viewer can look from the top (viewing position 40) in the area of the recesses 35 through the upper micromirror arrangement 34 and the flat structure 44 at the lower metallized micromirror arrangement 24, 26. When viewed from the top, there is an overall color change from silvery to shiny yellow. In the area outside the Aussparun conditions 35, the viewer looks at the aluminum layer of the upper Farbbe coating 36, which creates a silvery shiny appearance (reference characters 42-1). In the area of the cutouts 35, the viewer looks through the transparent embossing lacquer 32 and the flat structure 44 at the lower color coating 26, so there the color effects of the aluminum coating of the lower micro-mirror arrangement 24 and the yellow lasie rend colored flat structure 44 combine to form a shiny yellow appearance (reference numeral 42-2). The transparent layers (top coat 38, embossed coat 32, top coat 28) do not change the color impression. It is not possible to see through the entire surface area 20 since the recesses 25 and 35 are arranged without overlapping.

When viewing from the underside (viewing position 46), a viewer in the area of the recesses 25 can look through the blue glaze colored paint of the lower micro mirror arrangement 24 and the flat structure 44 at the upper micro mirror arrangement 34, 36. When viewed from the underside, the overall result is a color change from blue to shiny green. In the area outside the recesses 25, the viewer looks through the blue translucent embossing lacquer 22 onto the aluminum layer of the deeper color coating 26, which together produce a shiny blue appearance (reference number 48-1). In the area of the recesses 25, the viewer looks through the blue translucent embossing lacquer 22 and the flat structure 44 at the upper color coating 36, so the color effects of the aluminum coating of the upper micromirror arrangement, the yellow glazing colored flat structure 44 and the blue translucent embossing lacquer 22 can be seen there combine a green glossy appearance (reference number 48-2). The transparent layers (topcoat layer 28, embossing lacquer layer 32) do not change the color impression. Also from the underside, a view through the entire surface area 20 is not possible because of the overlap-free arrangements of the recesses 25, 35. As already generally described above, the orientations of the micromirrors of the micromirror arrangements 24, 34 are selected independently of one another, so that the security element 14 when viewed from the top 16 and the bottom 18 generally also shows different motifs in addition to the different color effects. For example, when viewed from the top 16 (viewing position 40), a three-dimensionally arched value number can be visible, when viewed from the lower side 18 (viewing position 46) a three-dimensionally arched coat of arms. The motifs are, however, coordinated to the extent that an overlap of the recesses 25 in the lower color coating (shiny green appearance on the underside) and the recesses 35 in the upper color coating (shiny yellow appearance on the top) is avoided. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, a total of four-color appearance was generated by skillful coloring of the various layers involved, for which purpose the embossing lacquer layer 22 of the lower relief structure 24 in particular was colored in a translucent manner. In an alternative design, however, this embossing lacquer layer can also be colorless and transparent. Depending on the design of the colored coatings 26, 36, the security element is then two-colored or four-colored when viewed from the top and bottom.

When viewed from the top 16, the color effect in this case is due to the color effect of the upper color coating 36 (outside the recesses 35) or the combined color effect of the flat structure 44 and the lower color coating 26 (within the recesses 35 ), while the color effect when viewed from the underside 18 is determined by the color effect of the lower color coating 26 (except half of the recesses 25) or by the combined color effect of the flat structure 44 and the upper color coating 36 (within the recesses 25) is given. If the color effects of the color coatings 26, 36 are identical, for example in the case of two aluminum layers of the same type, a total of two colors results.

If, on the other hand, the color effects of the color coatings 26, 36 are different, for example in the case of a copper layer or gold layer on the one hand and an aluminum layer on the other, then four different color impressions result when viewing the security element from the top or bottom (metal, metal + flat structure, metal2 , Metal2 + flat structure).

In a modification of the design of FIG. 2, overlaps of the recesses are not avoided, but on the contrary, targeted overlaps are provided in a see-through area, in which cut-outs of the color coatings 26, 36 overlap in order to enable a view through the entire surface area 20. The color effect of these see-through areas is determined by a combination of the color effect of the embossing lacquers 22 and 32 and the flat structure 44. The see-through areas can enable a look-through, in particular only at oblique viewing angles, in order to provide additional authentication.

The exemplary embodiment in FIG. 3 schematically shows such a design in which, for the sake of clarity, only the color coatings 26, 36 with their cutouts and the flat structure 44 are shown. In this case, as already described in connection with Fig. 2, 36 recesses 35 are provided in the upper Farbbe coating, which are over non-recessed areas of the lower color coating 26, and in the lower color coating 26 recesses 25 are provided, which are not under - Spared areas of the upper color coating 36 lie. The visual effects already described above therefore result from the viewing directions 50 and 52.

In addition, recesses 56 of the upper color coating 36 and recesses 58 of the lower color coating 26 are provided in a see-through area 54, which are arranged in alignment with one another from a predetermined inclined viewing direction 60 and enable a view through the surface area 20 under this inclined viewing direction 60. In the exemplary embodiment, the recesses 56, 58 are designed in the form of a grid of small dots which, for example, form a value number or a graphic motif. Because of the small size of the points (diameter less than 1 mm, or even less than 300 gm), the recesses are hardly noticeable when viewed vertically or when viewed from above. Only when the security element 14 is viewed in transmitted light at a predetermined angle from the viewing direction 60 does the dot matrix motif appear through the light shining through and disappears again when the security element is tilted a few degrees out of the viewing direction 60.

FIG. 4 shows a further exemplary embodiment of a security element 70 which is basically constructed like the security element 14 in FIG. However, in contrast to the security element of FIG. 2, the recesses 25, 35 of the color coatings 26, 36 are not nested in one another, but separated in blocks. Specifically, the security element 70 contains a first block region 72, in which the recesses 35 are present exclusively in the upper color coating 36, while the lower color coating 26 is formed continuously. In a second block area 74 gen the recesses 25 exclusively in the lower color coating 26, while the upper color coating 36 is formed continuously. In the block area 72, the security element 70 shows the above-described color change from silvery to shiny yellow when viewed from the upper side, while when viewed from the lower side there is no color change, but only the combined, blue shiny appearance of the embossing lacquer layer 22 and the continuous one lower color coating 26 shows. In the block area 74, the security element 70, when viewed from the bottom, shows the already described color change from blue to green, shiny, while when viewed from the top, there is no color change, but only the silvery appearance of the continuous color coating 36.

List of reference symbols

10 banknote

12 see-through windows

14 security element

16 top

18 bottom

20 reflective surface area

22 Embossing lacquer layer

24 lower relief structure

25 recesses

26 lower color coating 28 transparent top lacquer layer 32 embossing lacquer layer

34 upper relief structure

35 recesses

36 top color coating 38 transparent top coat 40 viewing positions

42-1, 42-2 Color changes when viewed from the top

44 translucent flat structure

46 viewing position

48-1, 48-2 Color changes when viewed from the bottom

50, 52 viewing directions 54 viewing area

56, 58 aligned recesses 60 inclined viewing direction 70 security element 72 first block area

74 second block area

Claims

P a te n claims

1. Optically variable security element for securing valuables, which when viewing the security element from an upper side and an opposite underside each shows a different visual appearance, the area of the security element defining a z-axis perpendicular to it, the security element a multi-colored reflective one Surface area has rich, the multicolored reflective surface area contains two relief structures which are angeord net in the z-direction at different heights and form an upper relief structure closer to the top of the security element and a lower relief structure closer to the underside of the security element, which The lower relief structure is provided with a lower color coating following the relief course and the upper relief structure is provided with an upper color coating following the relief course, in the z-direction on a height step between A translucent colored flat structure is arranged on the two relief structures, where the two relief structures and the flat structure overlap in an overlapping area, the upper color coating in the overlap area has at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the top, the lower relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the lower color coating appears, and the lower color coating in the overlap area has at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the underside, the upper relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the upper color coating appears.

2. Security element according to claim 1, characterized in that the recesses in the upper color coating and the recesses in the lower color coating are arranged without overlapping.

3. The security element according to claim 1, characterized in that in addition to recesses arranged without overlap in the upper and lower color coating, overlapping recesses are also provided in the two color coatings, which enable a view through the surface area from a viewing direction.

4. Security element according to claim 3, characterized in that the overlapping recesses are arranged in the form of a dot matrix that forms characters, a pattern or a coding.

5. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the non-overlapping openings The upper and lower color coatings are nested.

6. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the non-overlapping recesses in the upper and lower color coating are arranged separately in blocks.

7. Security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the color effects of the relief structures, the color coatings and the flat structure are coordinated so that the security element when viewed from the top outside the recesses of the upper color coating and inside a first color impression the recesses shows a different second color impression, and when viewed from the underside outside the recesses of the lower color coating shows a third color impression and within the recesses a different fourth color impression.

8. The security element according to claim 7, characterized in that the color effects of the relief structures, the color coatings and the flat structure are coordinated with one another in such a way that all four color prints are different from one another.

9. Security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the flat structure is formed by a laminating lacquer layer, a primer layer or a printed color layer.

10. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the flat structure contains color pigments and / or a dye as colorant.

11. Security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the upper and / or lower color coating are reflective color coatings, in particular reflective, opaque color coatings, and are preferably built up by metallizations, thin layers, by translucent colors deposited with a metallization, are formed by luminescent colors with a metallic mirror coating, by structural colors and / or by nanoparticle colors.

12. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the upper and / or lower relief structure are shaped in a transparent or translucent colored embossing lacquer layer, in particular that the upper relief structure is shaped in a transparent embossing lacquer layer and the lower relief structure is molded in a translucent colored embossing lacquer layer.

13. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the upper relief structure and / or the lower relief structure are formed by micromirror arrangements with directed micromirrors, in particular with nondiffractive mirrors, and preferably with plane mirrors, concave mirrors and / or fresnel-like mirrors.

14. The security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the alignment of the micromirrors of the upper relief structure and / or the lower relief structure varies as a function of location to generate a given motif, in particular a three-dimensional effect of the motif or a movement motif.

15. A data carrier with an optically variable security element according to at least one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the security element is arranged in or above a window area or a continuous opening of the data carrier.

16. A method for producing an optically variable security element, preferably according to one of claims 1 to 14, in which a substrate is provided, the surface area of which defines a plane and a z-axis perpendicular thereto, the substrate with a multicolored reflective surface area which contains two relief structures which are arranged in the z-direction at different height levels and form an upper and a lower relief structure, the lower relief structure with a lower color coating following the relief course and the upper relief structure with a relief course following the relief course upper color coating is provided, a translucent colored flat structure is arranged in the z-direction on a height step between the two relief structures, the two relief structures and the flat structure being formed overlapping in an overlapping area, and the upper color coating is formed in the overlap area with at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the top, the lower relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the lower color coating appears, and the lower color coating in the overlap area is formed with at least one recess in which, when viewing the security element from the underside, the upper relief structure with the combined color effect of at least the translucent colored flat structure and the upper color coating appears.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that two layer structures are produced separately, in which the said relief structures are produced on separate carriers and provided with the respective color coating following the relief progression, and that the two layer structures produced via a translucent colored channel be laminated together, which forms the flat structure of the security element in the laminated state.