KR20040045270A - Doubly Secured Anti-counterfeit Optical Film Labeling System Using Optical Spectra Encode and Decode Technology - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A doubly secured anti-counterfeit optical film labeling system using optical spectra encode and decode device is provided, which assures genuineness of a genuine product as satisfying dummy principle. CONSTITUTION: The doubly secured anti-counterfeit optical film labeling system is constituted by including an encoding part and/or a decoding part. The encoding part and the decoding part are constituted with multi-layered optical thin film stacks deposited or coated on a substrate. The optical thin film layer is made by a dielectric material having a thickness of about a quarter wavelength thickness of a visible ray wavelength. Adjacent dielectric materials of the optical thin film have different refractive indices.

Description

Doubly Secured Anti-counterfeit Optical Film Labeling System Using Optical Spectra Encode and Decode Technology}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to optical thin film coatings, and more particularly, to a multilayer optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting system.

Counterfeit goods and counterfeit documents have caused legitimate businesses to lose more than $ 100 billion every year worldwide. Fake drugs, fake foods, fake alcohols and wines have caused serious health problems. Many people lost their lives after permanent physical disabilities and after drinking alcohol or wine. Moreover, fake passports, IDs and documents have been used for terrorist activities that threaten terrorists' world peace. Therefore, many countries in the world have been spending a lot of money on counterfeiting.

Several anti-counterfeiting technologies and anti-counterfeiting proof devices have been developed day by day. Such systems include laser holograms, watermarks, temperature response sensors, special color printing, chemical sensors, infrared and ultraviolet technologies, as well as computer databases. Current anti-counterfeiting technologies are generally divided into three groups: labeling, verification, and combination.

First in labeling technology, specially manufactured labels are attached to the product to prove authenticity. This label proves the authenticity of the product. A unique phenomenon occurs when any action occurs on the label. There are two requirements for this technology to be successful. In other words, forging labels and unique phenomena requires high costs. Labeling technology is the most widely used on the market. Laser holograms, watermarks, temperature response detectors, specialty pigment printing, chemical sensors, infrared and ultraviolet technology are all examples. Therefore, current labeling techniques are insufficient to prove that the product is genuine. Laser hologram technology has been widely used because of its low manufacturing cost. Hologram manufacturing machines are rapidly becoming available with very little investment, allowing anyone to forge hologram labels at low cost. Infrared and ultraviolet technologies have some safe means, but they are expensive to use and require special tools and training. Other anti-counterfeiting techniques are usually tricky, complex, and require limitations in using places and special tools.

Verification techniques require a computer database. Some special codes are printed on the product to be proved. The user checks the code in the database via telephone, short message or Internet querying. Validation techniques are used for expensive products because they always require high installation costs as well as expensive maintenance costs.

Due to the drawbacks described above, new and reliable technologies are required in the field of anti-counterfeiting to effectively prove authenticity. The present invention provides a technique for producing a proof label.

In view of the known types of anti-counterfeiting labeling systems and the disadvantages of the techniques presented as prior art, the present invention provides a new anti-counterfeiting labeling system that can be used to prove that it is a genuine product.

The object of the present invention, which will be described in detail in the future, provides a new anti-counterfeiting technology that doubles the authenticity of authenticity and provides many of the advantages of the anti-counterfeiting technology mentioned so far and is not preempted or pre- filed, Or a combination of new features derived from a new anti-counterfeiting labeling system that is not implied at all.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system which can overcome the problems of the systems according to the prior art.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system that can guarantee the integrity of a genuine product.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safe anti-counterfeiting labeling system and a labeling system that is extremely difficult to counterfeit and duplicate.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system in which the process of demonstrating authenticity is genuine and simple.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system that meets the dummy principle that anyone can use without special training.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system that meets the whole coverage principle, which can be used anytime and anywhere without any limitation.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an anti-counterfeiting labeling system that meets the cost reverse principle, which can be mass produced at very low cost but is very expensive when forged by others.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and these objects and advantages fall within the scope of the present invention.

1 is a cross-sectional view of an encoder and a decoder, where 1a is a cross-sectional view of a multi-layer stack with different logos and backgrounds or a background made of pigments, and 1b is a multi-layer film stack coated on a transparent substrate. It is a sectional view of the decoder which consists only of a form.

2 shows an interference spectrum of light that appears when light passes through an optical multilayer thin film stack.

3 is an explanatory diagram showing an observation method of an encoder, in which 3a shows an encoding label sample observed at the same position as the normal viewing direction (a position of 0 degrees), and 3b is a large deviation from the normal viewing direction (0 walking All of which are visible at a significantly greater angle).

Fig. 4 shows the principle of optical spectra encoding and decoding technique, where 4a shows the encoder and decoder spectra including the logo and the spectra of the background, and 4b shows only the logo spectrum when the decoder is overlaid on the encoder filter. And the background spectrum shows a fully filtered spectra result.

5 shows how encoder and decoder samples are used together as an anti-counterfeiting labeling system.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention largely comprises an encoder and a decoder (decoder). The encoder comprises an optical multi-layer thin film stack and a pigment (pigment or pigment) coated on an opaque or transparent substrate depending on the reflection or transmission of the encoder system. The decoder comprises an optical multi-layer thin film stack coated on a transparent substrate, for example glass or transparent plastic.

The foregoing has been outlined broadly and more important features of the present invention will be better understood in the following detailed description, and the contribution of the present invention to the art will be better appreciated. Further features of the present invention will also be described below.

Before describing at least one embodiment in accordance with the present invention in detail, the present invention is not limited to the detailed structure or arrangement of parts shown in the detailed description or shown in the drawings. In addition, other embodiments of the present invention may be implemented or made in various ways.

The present invention will be embodied in the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but these drawings are only for illustrating the present invention and there may be variations in the specific configurations shown.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail the principle and mechanism of the anti-counterfeiting proof system according to the present invention.

First, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an encoder and a decoder. 1a shows a cross-sectional view of an encoder that is a multi-layer stack with different logos and backgrounds or is made of pigmented backgrounds. 1b is a cross-sectional view of a decoder consisting of only one type of multilayer film stack coated on a transparent substrate. 2 shows an interference spectrum of light that appears when light passes through an optical multilayer thin film stack. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of observing an encoder. 3a usually shows observing encoder label samples at the same location as the viewing direction. 3b shows observing an encoder label sample at a position that is usually far from the viewing direction. 4 shows the principle of an optical spectra encoding and decoding technique. 4a shows the encoder and decoder spectra, including the logo and the spectra of the background. 4b shows only the logo spectrum when the decoder is overlaid on the encoder filter and the background spectrum shows a fully filtered spectra result. 5 shows how encoder and decoder samples are used together as an anti-counterfeiting labeling system. This combination of encoder and decoder doubles its authenticity.

The present invention is based on the principle of interference of light. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, structural and nonstructural phenomena of light will occur due to the difference in refractive index in the multilayer medium when the light passes through the optical multi-layer thin film stack. This phenomenon occurs both when light is transmitted or reflected from the optical film stack. This phenomenon is explained by Bragg's law, which is well known in optical physics. Bragg's law states that when light having a wavelength of λ is projected at an angle θ to a thin film layer having a thickness dt, the path difference of the light is calculated as follows.

(One)

Where n is the refractive index of the film. Structural interference Occurs in M is an integer here. In other words,

(2)

The wavelength is visible light having a wavelength of 375 nm to 800 nm, and when measured with a spectra photometer as shown in FIG. 2, the interference of light generates a spectrum. This interference spectrum of light is visible to the human eye in a particular color.

As the multilayer structure changes, for example, when the order of the multilayer film stack or the thickness of any layer in the film stack changes, or when the refractive index of the multilayer material changes, the spectrum will change accordingly. Due to this natural phenomenon, the spectrum generated by the multilayer film stack can have unique properties of its own like a fingerprint. Because optical spectra are color and visually identifiable and visible, spectra generated by light transmission and reflection can be used for special code purposes. The design of a particular code can be understood as designing an optical multilayer film stack that generates the desired interference spectrum as light passes through it.

The interference multilayer film is mostly composed of film layers of 1/4 wavelength thickness. However, if one or more layers of one-quarter wavelength film in the film stack are replaced by one-half-wave film layer, then a spectrum-like band pass appears. This forms the decoding principle in the present proof labeling system, and the decoder is designed based on this principle. The special design of the decoder allows to distinguish the spectra of the logo and the background, as shown in FIG. This function is referred to in the decoding of the present invention. This decoding function can be used for anti-counterfeiting purposes to distinguish counterfeit products, as well as to prevent counterfeiting when the original encoded label is attached.

As shown in Fig. 1, the present invention comprises an encoder and a decoder. The encoder consists of an optical multilayer interference thin film stack and a substrate. The encoder may be transmissive or reflective. The optical multilayer interfering thin film stack is made of any uniform pattern, such as a company logo or letter, and deposited on the substrate in cooperation with printing or mask-coating deposition techniques. The substrate is a material such as glass, quartz, plastic, metal, ceramic, special chemicals, artificial composites.

The optical multilayer interference film stack is composed of two or more film layers of different insulating materials. For example, its combination and structure is Ti ₂ O ₅ / SiO ₂ , Ta ₂ O ₅ / SiO ₂ , Hf ₂ O ₅ / SiO ₂ or other films with n _h / n _l and n _h / n _m / n _l Layer. Where n _h is a high index film layer, n _m is a middle index film layer and n ₁ is a low index layer. The thickness of the multilayer interference film layer is in the quarter wavelength range of the visible light range. The color of the film layer is designed to be the same as the background color. The number of the interfering films can vary as needed and generally ranges from 2 to 300 layers. This type of optical multilayer thin film stack can be precisely manufactured by vacuum coating techniques such as e-beam deposition, ion beam deposition, magnetron sputtering, CVD, non-electrolytic plating, and the like.

The display pattern design of the optical multilayer film stack is called a code design. The code spectrum is designed to have diffraction peaks separated in the interference spectrum as shown in FIG. Therefore, the color of the interference spectrum changes noticeably when the viewing angle changes slightly. If the background is made of dye printing, the color is made to be the same as the optical multilayer thin film stack of the logo. The dye printing itself does not have the characteristics of the interference multilayer film. So the light spectra between the logo and the printed background are very different and they are different when the decoding filter is applied. This is the result of mask coating of different film structures with different spectrum. That is, the spectrum has different transmission peaks at wavelength positions different from those of the logo spectrum. Although the spectra from the logo and the background are different, the colors of the two film stacks are the same colors that have been designed for optimal matching of the logo and background. Thus, as shown in Fig. 5, when observing the code sample at a position perpendicular to the film plane (0 degree position), the logo is buried in the background color and cannot be observed by the human eye. On the other hand, when the observation angle is enlarged, that is, when the sample is rotated about an axis in the film plane, the path difference δ of light changes in equation (1). Then, according to Bragg's law, the structural and nonstructural interference shifting positions change, changing the color of the spectrum. But since the peaks of the two spectra change differently, the color of the logo is distinguished from that of the background. And, as shown in Figure 5, the contrast between the logo and the background color is so large that it can be seen by the human eye.

When the optical multilayer is deposited on a transparent medium such as a glass, quartz or plastic substrate, the interference pattern acts as a band pass filter that passes light of any constant wavelength while filtering out other wavelengths. By properly designing the logo and background spectra, you can create a decode filter. Such a decoding filter allows only certain peaks of the logo spectrum to pass through the filter and blocks all background spectra to distinguish the light spectra of the logo and background. Therefore, even at a position perpendicular to the film plane (0 degree viewing angle), the logo pattern is seen as the color passed through the human eye as shown in FIG. This decoder is also called a band pass filter.

In a typical embodiment of the novel proof labeling system, the code pattern is designed with a company logo, brand name label, or some letters and signs. These are either directly attached to the substrate or first attached onto the plastic substrate and then transferred to a product which is to be proofed for high temperature compression or forgery prevention purposes. To apply anti-counterfeiting the background color must match the logo film stack color. Due to the nature of the labeling system, the entered logo is hardly or almost impossible to observe with the human eye when viewed at a position perpendicular to the film plane (0 degree viewing angle). There are two ways to view the entered logo. The first method is to rotate the sample about an axis in the film plane. For example, changing the viewing angle. When the viewing angle changes, the effective optical film thickness increases. Therefore, the peaks in the interference spectrum move downward and the color of the input logo changes. On the other hand, the background color is different from the logo color in the case of the film stack, but maintains the same color in the case of dye printing. The contrast of the entered logo and the background color makes the logo clearly visible from the background.

This phenomenon is used to double guarantee the effectiveness of the demonstration device for anti-counterfeiting purposes. In response to anti-counterfeiting efforts, this authentication mechanism consists of two parts: self-authentication and assisting authentication. In the self-certification part, some patterns are encoded together in products that require proof. The observer can simply see the encoded pattern through a certain viewing angle. In the case of higher anti-counterfeiting efforts, proof of assistance will usually be applied to products with expensive price tags. In the second part, the decoding filter superimposes on the encoded pattern (substrate) as a decoder. The decoder acts as a band pass filter, allowing only the peaks in the encoded logo spectrum to pass and block all peaks in the background spectrum so that the encoded pattern can be seen. These two attestation mechanisms are combined in the name of the double assurance optical spectra encode and decode anti-counterfeiting labeling system.

With various requirements for the application of anti-counterfeiting proof, the labeling system's encoding method can be transmissive and reflective. However, the decoding method must be transmissive. For example, when used on glass bottles, the encoded logo is transmissive, and when used on tobacco packaging, the encoded logo is reflective. Both transmissive and reflective forms can be used for documents, checks and bills.

The above-mentioned optical encoding film can also be produced by a technique different from the vacuum thin film deposition technique. Film production can be done with gel coating, chemical reactions, plating, printing, etc. as long as the thickness of the thin film can be controlled to an accuracy of up to 1% limit. Because even a small multilayer structure change, there is a tremendous change in the interference pattern of light. And the encoding and decoding parts should be designed and produced simultaneously. As a result, this labeling system is unique in that encode and decode have a one-to-one (1: 1) interaction. In addition, it is very difficult and nearly impossible to reverse engineer a multilayer structure using a given interference pattern. Therefore, this anti-counterfeiting proof labeling system is very reliable and safe. Moreover, the device is suitable for mass production, which significantly reduces manufacturing costs for use in large markets.

The above-described embodiments are merely illustrated to describe the anti-counterfeiting labeling system according to the present invention in detail, and those skilled in the art can use the concept of the device to change any replacement or change, in particular the part or parts of the device, Substituting will be considered to violate the present invention and will be dealt with accordingly.

As described above, the present invention has the effect of providing a stable anti-counterfeiting labeling system and a labeling system that is extremely difficult to counterfeit and duplicate.

In addition, the present invention has a simple and reliable process for demonstrating the authenticity of the authentic and can be used by anyone without special training, and can be used anytime and anywhere without any limitation.

The invention also has the effect of providing a labeling system that can be mass produced at a very low cost but very expensive when forged by others.

Claims (11)

Dual-guaranteed thin-film optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting proof system comprising an encoding portion and / or a decoding portion. The method of claim 1, The encoding portion and the decoding portion consist of a stack of multilayer optical thin film films deposited or coated on a substrate, wherein the optical thin film layer is made of a dielectric material having a thickness approximately one quarter of the visible wavelength, and the optical thin film A dual-guarantee thin-film optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting proof system, wherein the dielectric materials of adjacent layers of the film have different refractive indices. The method of claim 1, The encoding portion consists of two types of multilayer optical film stacks on the substrate, a coding stack and a background stack, the coding stack is attached to the substrate with certain patterns, and the background stack is another portion without a coding stack on the substrate. And the color of the coding stack is the same as or different from the color of the background stack. The method of claim 1, The decoding portion has a multilayer optical film on a substrate having at least one band pass peak that matches a band-pass peak of the coding stack and no band pass peak that matches the band pass of the background stack. Dual-guaranteed thin film optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting proof system, characterized in that it is configured as a stack. The method of claim 2, And said multilayer optical thin film layer is from 2 to 300 layers. The method of claim 3, And said substrate is made of transparent or opaque glass, ceramic, plastic, organometallic, metal or artificial composite. The method of claim 3, The pattern of the coding stack is any shape, such as a company's logo, trademark, brand name, etc. The dual-guaranteed thin film optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting proof system. The method of claim 3, The band pass spectrum of the coding stack is necessarily different from the band pass spectrum of the background stack such that the pattern of the coding stack is seen when viewed from different angles. The method of claim 4, wherein A dual-assurance thin film optical spectra encode / decode anti-counterfeiting proof system, wherein the substrate is transparent. The method of claim 1, Wherein said encoding portion is attached to a product to be certified or uses the product as a substrate to be said encoding portion. The method of claim 1, Wherein said decoding portion is used to double guarantee a product with an encoding portion attached thereto.