JP2006516108A - Nano-optical color embossing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and a device for creating structural colors, especially on metallic surface structures, comprising at least one apparatus for creating grid structures.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for the production of a color surface structure for producing a pure color by using interference at certain wavelengths or alternatively by so-called structure color, and to a product thereof.

  Surface structures as described above are formed with dies and rollers in the nanometer range. Such a method or product is known, for example, from Australian one ounce silver dollars. As shown in FIG. 7, a colored kangaroo is drawn on the surface of the Australian dollar silver coin. Referring to the prior art, colored surfaces such as Australian dollar silver coins are manufactured by utilizing a paint layer containing pigment, or a similar layer. Such a surface has the disadvantage that it lasts for quite a long time in glass, but not so much when it is routinely carried in a wallet.

  Therefore, the present invention aims to avoid this inconvenience, and provides a method for providing an inexpensive and reliable color system on the surface and effectively preventing the possibility of counterfeiting of products or coins. It is to provide.

  The present invention utilizes the physical principle of interference. These structural colors are based on interference phenomena and can be observed in certain butterflies and peacocks. The light is diffracted by the grating structure, resulting in a color that can vary with light incidence. The object of the present invention is directed to generating a structural color that forms a surface by embossing. This method of using embossing is specifically applicable to coins, rust-preventing metal sheets, precious metals, and parts used in the vehicle industry. For example, all genuine spare parts, such as all coins or all metal sheets, can be marked with such structural colors for anti-counterfeit safety.

  The devices and methods described herein provide various advantages over conventional methods. Since no paint is used on the surface, it is not necessary to dry the paint. This means that the product is relatively fast and can be formed with a surface for anti-counterfeit safety. In addition, an architecture with single die control for forming patterns in stainless steel sheet metal or the like is also provided.

  In this embodiment, the die is formed in the nanometer region by lathe, matrix erosion or laser ablation (laser polishing). Another example method is the manufacture of a master die at pixel size, which is then utilized to corrode the working die. Single crystal diamond is advantageous because it has a microstructure. That is, there is a specific advantage in luminance.

[Physical basis]
Visible light is in the wavelength range of about 400 nm for purple, about 486 nm for blue, about 527 nm for green, about 589 nm for yellow, and about 687 nm for red. These wavelengths determine the geometric dimensions of the structure intended to form a structural color such as the example shown in FIG. In the lower part of FIG. 1, the observer's eyes recognize a part of the reflected light as a color. This means that the distance between the lattices affects the color effect. Unreflected light is absorbed under the grating structure and is not visible. Accordingly, the grating structure step shown in FIG. 1 affects the luminescent color grating because light with different wavelengths is reflected due to the spacing of the various gratings.

  Furthermore, with respect to punch and die manufacturing, the diffraction effect, similar to the color of butterflies or peacock feathers, is imitated in the form of an embossed structure, creating a diffraction grating. For example, an inverted version of the structure shown in FIG. 1 is regenerated on the die as described below and then used for surface embossing. The distance of the intersection grid determines the color. The die is preferably about 1/4 of its width entering the surface. The inner grid absorbs the remaining color and becomes velvety to some extent, i.e., the grid matrix becomes glossy, and the inner part is rough, i.e., uneven. The desired color is reflected thereby, but the unfavorable color is absorbed.

  For example, in the visible light wavelength range, by embossing, ie, cold forming, cold hot forming or hot forming with a protective gas, the metal surface is made permanent so that the corresponding color is produced through interference. It is formed.

  Monolithic materials are preferably utilized for embossing because they do not have a particle field that is relatively larger than the wavelength of the light spectrum of each color to be embossed. Exemplary monolithic materials are, inter alia, diamond and monolithically grown quartz. However, diamond hardness is advantageous with respect to the nano-optical color embossing described herein.

  Blue diamond is an electrical semiconductor and can be cloned with a master electrode by the sink erosion method. The clone die is produced as a master die with a cathode structure. This makes it possible to produce various working dies. A monolithic semiconductor crystal can be used as the clone electrode. An actuator containing a crystal is preferably used for the production of the master electrode. Such actuators are commercially available from, for example, PI Physik Instruments (PI). These actuators can be controlled in the nanometer range. The embossing method described is for producing colored surfaces or so-called structural colors, and is performed by permanently forming a selected surface as shown in FIG. 1 without using color pigments. . In FIG. 1, an enlarged view of the groove structure is shown, but when visible light indicated by an arrow is incident on the structure, it functions as a step grating and generates a bright interference color.

  The punch is composed of a monolithic crystal, and is formed in particular by laser processing. A diamond sleeve is produced from a monolithic diamond roll obtained by methane deposition in an egg-shaped pressure chamber called an egg and separated as a diamond roll. This monolithic diamond sleeve is laser treated to produce a lattice nanostructure. This is because the hard surface of the die or roll containing this structure penetrates into the surface of another material so that the material is permanently deformed and the structure is embossed therein. The mono-crystal is permanently deformed under protective gas at a temperature above the recrystallization temperature of the single crystal. This die or its movement is controlled so that the crystal that is embossed by the aforementioned penetration is not destroyed. By arranging different dies, for example by arranging different dies with different color effects, a multi-color print can be generated, for example, in a color matrix printer.

  A die for embossing with integrated heating and an embossing diamond soldered to the master are shown in FIG. A press device for macro embossing is used. The monolithic die is preferably a diamond. The figure is created by placing several embossed diamonds in a manner similar to what is known as Tiffany. The die is used by a resilient intermediate shaft to limit the pressing force.

  The system for continuously limiting the pressing force and embossing force shown in FIG. 4 is the embossing area 1, diamond 6 provided on the soldering support 2 of the diamond carrier 3, seal 4, die carrier 5, tank 7, check valve or vice versa. A stop valve 8, a pump 9, and an oil cushion 10 are provided. During the formation of monocrystals in the nanometer range, embossing is performed at about 800 ° C. in the semi-warm range above the recrystallization temperature under protective gas. Thus, the quartz lattice remains permanently in the required form.

  In certain metals, such as gold or copper with an inherent base color, the base color is compensated by wavelength phase shift and interference results therefrom, as opposed to silver or stainless steel. The embossing die is pre-heated and the embossed material surface is heated so that the material is formed at a temperature above the recrystallization temperature. Monocrystalline diamond is laser soldered with cobalt to produce a die. The phase shift of the interference grating is utilized for the base material so that the desired color is produced. For example, a star shape is embossed on the surface of the euro coin in a recess or in a recess surrounded by a protection portion, thereby providing safety against forgery and avoiding wear due to scratching or rubbing. This is called protective embossing. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the recess is a coin having the smallest currency size, for example, a 1 cent euro coin, which is stuck in the recess due to the protective projection. There is no such thing. Micro-positioning tables available from PI are used to manufacture the dies, and these tables contain piezoelectric crystals that can be operated at a frequency of about 3000 Hz so that they can be adjusted quickly. This results in a reduction in process time.

  The die is electrostatically microcoated with colloidal Teflon nanoparticles and cleaning and lubrication is performed. The final cleaning is done in an ultrasonic bath with water. A real butterfly or peacock feather is scanned to produce the master structure, and the scanned structure is expanded to the depth of penetration of the plastic deformation of the die material. Removed through the beam. Preferably, during a scan or the like, these animals are only sedated and should not be killed. Ablation or polishing of the surface structure occurs by magnetic ablation with fine particles in an interference magnetic field. The frequency determines the distance of the interference grating, that is, the color of the generated wavelength. Feather scanning can be performed using aura photography in the nanometer range. The light source has a radiation spectrum with a wavelength of about 2 nm. Radiographs are obtained with 5000 films. This process occurs with an electron beam grating in a vacuum tube. The material is polished by vaporization of the material. The emboss plate is atomically polished. The reflection grating has a lattice constant d as shown in FIG. 3, d = B′B, and is determined before embossing is performed. In Eurocoin, a star is embossed in a recess surrounded by a protective part, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, providing safety for preventing forgery and avoiding scratches. This recess is further used for die centering. This die is provided with an anti-counterfeit angle. This forgery prevention angle is for observing a color at a predetermined observation angle, for example, an angle of 45 degrees with respect to a perpendicular to a pattern formed on two planes, that is, coin surfaces. This is shown in FIG. Producing multi-color embossing at such an anti-counterfeit angle through several embossing steps is quite highly anti-counterfeiting because the embossing process requires a fairly complex technique.

  In an advantageous embodiment, an anti-counterfeit angle can be combined with a hologram to improve security against forgery. The counterfeit prevention angle and the corresponding test equipment 11 are useful, for example, in a national central bank counting device to check whether a coin is genuine using a spectral camera and an angle code.

  Using the interference of the Bragg condition, the steps of the Echelette lattice are satisfied. A relatively pure color reflection is generated by satisfying the conditions of the echellet grating. If the above-described method is used, it provides forgery prevention of coins. A nano-optical color structure is provided which is embossed by punching a foil of material punched on a coin and specifically with a color by an embossing die. The inner area is protected from being scratched by super elevation with the shut embossing die and the form embossing die. This embossing die is formed of mono quartz or diamond polished with an electron beam. A plate specifically formed of an austenitic metal sheet is precisely rolled and color embossed. The surface of the die is polished and processed by an electronic or X-ray drill system. So-called cluster sputtering is shown in FIGS. Before that, the CAD / CAM association is parameterized and processed by the CAD system. This method makes it particularly difficult to counterfeit euro coins, especially relatively expensive coins. The surface of the diamond is heated. Thus, re-formation in the crystal structure is possible at temperatures above the recrystallization temperature of the material. The ruled lines 90 ± 5 ° in the figure are adjusted in relation to each other and processed by the electron beam. Cross grids are formed or processed using FEM (Finite Element Method) so that brightness and purity are maintained during reshaping. This entire color spectrum can be generated by multicolor printing. The diamond is pre-colored with a certain color, and the cut diamond is then specifically attached to the master using laser beam soldering and adjusted to the Tiffany form.

  By using one or more embossing press steps, the die is placed by an optical recognition system through these image-synchronized or angle-synchronized rotary-driven embossing dies. One or more embossing dies are processed in a cluster sputtering system using a short wave X-ray laser as shown in FIGS. One or more diamonds are composed of SP6 lattices. The diamond is placed below 45 and 90 degrees for the shear stress line. Therefore, the embossed flux wire has a relatively high accuracy.

  In an advantageous embodiment, claims 1 to 10 are included. The pressing device described in these claims is not shown, but is known, for example, in coin embossing called C-press. The embossing die includes a device that maintains a pressing force constant as shown in FIG. This device for maintaining the press force constant or force limit protects the die from overload and breakage. This die is manufactured via cluster sputtering laser burning, ie optical or magnetic lenses, and specifically splits a shortwave X-ray laser into a number of parallel aligned single beams. This makes it possible to keep the number of transfers relatively small. Multiple splitting of the beam results in a reduction in cost, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, resulting in a relatively short burn time.

  No description in the original text.

Claims (10)

An apparatus for imparting a structural color, specifically implemented on a metal structure, comprising at least one apparatus for forming a grating structure, in particular a diffraction grating structure,
apparatus. The apparatus for forming a lattice structure includes at least one embossing die;
The apparatus of claim 1. Said device for forming a lattice and / or a linear structure comprises at least one embossing punch device;
The apparatus of claim 2. The embossing punch device has an embossing mark for embossing a range of wavelengths of visible light as a whole,
The apparatus according to claim 3.   A pressing device for producing a structural color, comprising at least one device for imparting a structural color. A device for detecting structural colors, comprising at least one device (11) for transmitting and / or receiving identical spectral waves,
apparatus. An embossing punch device comprising at least one monolithic material and comprising at least one embossing structure;
apparatus. Including at least one heating device,
The apparatus of claim 8.   A coin having a structure including at least one structural color.   In particular, a method for imparting a structural color to a metal surface structure such as a spare part or coin, wherein at least one of the above claims is used.

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