FR2938662A1 - Printed optical element e.g. microlens, fabricating method for e.g. optical circuit, involves depositing liquid substance on substrate by opposition of fabrication techniques comprising deposition of solid substance - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves depositing additional layers (112, 113 122, 123, 132, 133, 142, 143) of liquid substance i.e. water based flexo ink, on a part of a printing substrate (10). The liquid substance is deposited on the printing substrate by successive bands of an edge of the substrate and by opposition of fabrication techniques comprising a deposition of solid substance transformed into liquid deposition, where a surface of the substrate is made of a photochromic material. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a device for fabricating printed optical elements (2) a machine for fabricating printed optical elements.

Description

The present invention relates to lenticular array devices, which are composed of a lenticular array 1 and a coded picture 2.

Depending on the location of the viewer, the viewer sees through each optical lens a different part of the coded image, and through all the lenses, a matrix of areas of the coded image that form an image. These known methods are used to view relief images, or to view animations.

French Application FR / 08-2636, which describes and claims a method for manufacturing a lenticular array device consisting in depositing by any known means one or more layers of a liquid transparent substance on surfaces referred to as elementary surfaces of a film, is known. transparent, and to then render this solid substance by any means known as cooling, drying or polymerization, so that the subsets of said elementary substance thus become solid convergent optical lenses said elementary lenses 11, 12, 13 and characterized in that said elementary surfaces are sufficiently spaced from one another so that surface tension phenomena can not cause the fusion of two neighboring elementary lenses into one. Claim 4 of this application describes and claims a variation of this method, in which separation and subsequent volumes of said elementary lenses 11, 12, 14 and following are printed.

With high resolution lenticular arrays, the lenses are very small, and some printing processes do not guarantee perfect placement accuracy between the different ink layers. The present invention solves this problem and opens the way for many applications of high resolution lenticular networks that were impossible until now. The proposed method is a printed optical circuit manufacturing method, consisting of creating transparent protuberances 11, 12, 13 and following, which are convergent lenses by the deposition of a liquid substance on a media. solid by any means known as cooling, drying or polymerization, • subsequently depositing a layer Cn + 1 of liquid substance on different parts of said media 10, characterized in that the Cn + 1 layer is transparent and deposited under shape of a flat on the surface already containing convergent lenses. According to other features of the invention: said convergent lenses are cylindrical; said convergent lenses are spherical; the convergent lenses are spherical lenses having a pupil in the form of a hexagon. The invention will be well understood, and other objects, advantages and characteristics thereof will appear more clearly on reading the description which follows, which is illustrated in FIG. 1.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a device made by a method according to the invention. The media 10, spherical elementary lenses 11, 12, 13 and following, and the layer Cn + 1 deposited in the form of a flat on the surface already containing convergent lenses are distinguished. This layer Cn + 1 is represented in the form of the hatched surface 30. The present invention makes it possible to produce high resolution lenticular networks even with printing systems that do not have a good quality of identification between the successive ink layers. The basic principle is to deposit a layer of transparent ink Cn + 1 on the protruding lenses made by a layer Cn, in the form of a flat which does not need to be accurately marked. This layer is deposited on the surface of the lenses, and the surface of the lenses, projected on the plane of the media 10, is larger than before the deposition of the Cn + 1 layer. The lenticular network is thus of much better quality. The lenses may advantageously be cylindrical or spherical convergent lenses.

To minimize the space between spherical transparent lenses, it is advantageous to give them the shape of hexagons. The main applications of the present invention are mainly those of the manufacture of high resolution lenticular arrays.

Claims (4)

Revendications1. A method of manufacturing printed optical circuit, consisting of creating transparent protuberances 11, 12, 13 and following which are convergent lenses by the deposition of a liquid substance on a media 10, then rendering this solid substance by any means known as cooling, drying or polymerization, • subsequently depositing a layer Cn + 1 of liquid substance on different parts of said media 10, characterized in that the layer Cn + 1 is transparent and deposited in the form of a flat on the surface already containing converging lenses 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the said convergent lenses are cylindrical 3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the said convergent lenses are spherical 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the convergent lenses are spherical lenses having a pupil in the form of a hexagon.