RU2645613C1 - Method of printing optical lenses on the substrate for creation of stereo effect - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: method characterized by microscopic printing of visual images consisting of a diffractive optical element placed on a flat substrate that is made of elementary round regions, is described. An image or text is placed under the substrate with the substrate being transparent and having a flat surface. Round lenses are printed on the substrate using a UV- printer and transparent UV-ink (varnish) print. Both the lenses and the image under it are printed on the same printer. The lenses are printed in at least three layers, where each successive layer of lenses is applied after the previous layer has dried, and the amount of the deposited layers and the change in the diameter of the lens form the degree of curvature of the lens, and a predetermined stereo effect is formed by changing the choice of ink for each layer.

EFFECT: giving volume, stereo effect to the image in a more simple and cost-effective way than in direct printing on lenticular plastic.

3 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to methods for printing optical lenses and can be used in the manufacture of advertising, furniture production. Designed for the manufacture of images with a stereo effect.

The prior art lenticular plastic for printing stereo, variographic images [http://poligraftorg.ru/raznoe/lentikulyarnyj-plastik.php]. Lenticular plastic is designed for printing stereo, vario-images. One of the sides of the plastic consists of strips of convex cylindrical lenses. On the reverse glossy side of the plastic, a specially prepared image is printed.

The disadvantages of the known plastic are: the high cost, the difficulty of positioning the print relative to the lenses (it is necessary to observe both the angle and the position of the image relative to the lens to tenths of a millimeter), the limited viewing angle of the image with a stereo effect, covering the entire surface of the material with lenses. In addition, it is necessary to adjust the lens pitch (lens lineature is different from batch to batch).

A plastic card with a stereo / vario zone (RU 145714 U, B42D 15/00, 09/27/2014) containing a top layer, a substrate made of a transparent material, and a lower layer, and also a lower layer, as well as lenticular lenses and printed images designed to form stereo / vario-images, characterized in that a transparent heat-resistant material is applied on the front side of the upper layer, on which lenticular lenses are formed, a simple image is additionally placed on the map, and it’s simple the image and the stereo / vario image are separated into different zones, for which the first one is placed on the front side of the substrate and the second on its back side, while the parameters of the lenticular lenses and the thickness of the substrate are selected so that the focus of the lenticular lenses is on the stereo / a zoomed image placed on the reverse side of the substrate, and a simple image deposited on the front side of the substrate is in the out of focus lenticular lenses.

The technology of printing lenticular lenses according to this solution does not allow the lens to be printed on any transparent, even material (for example, glass, plexiglass glass, acrylic), which is much cheaper than a finished lenticular lens. In addition, it is impossible to apply lenticular lenses to all the material intended for printing, or to individual areas. When forming lenses and images, different printers are used, the lineature step of which does not coincide and it is very difficult to ensure its coincidence. When printing is positioned, the angle of the lens does not coincide with the angle of the image formed in a special way, and in addition to the angle, it is necessary to position the print relative to the lenses up to tenths of a millimeter. When the finished image rotates in a vertical plane, the stereo effect (depth, clarity) disappears.

, а другую часть площади каждой из элементарных областей R_ij занимает область Q_ij, внутри которой сформированы дифракционные решетки разной ориентации с периодами менее 0,7 мкм в виде микрорельефа, обеспечивающего заданную диаграмму направленности рассеянного света, реализующую синтез 2D изображения, видимого наблюдателю на всем дифракционном оптическом элементе при наклонах подложки более чем на 40°. Формирование микрорельефа заявленной микрооптической системой представляет собой сложную технологию, в которой оптический элемент разбит на элементарные области размером менее 50 микрон, где находятся не только фрагменты внеосевых линз Френеля, но и фрагменты дифракционных решеток.The closest analogue is the microscopic visual imaging system (RU 127208 U, G02B 27/10, B42D 15/10, 04/20/2013), consisting of a flat diffractive optical element placed on a flat substrate, characterized in that said optical element consists of elementary regions R _ij up to 50 μm in size, i = 1, 2, ... N; j = 1, 2, ... N, where N is the number of partitions of the optical element into elementary regions along the coordinate axes, and part of the area of each of the elementary regions R _{ij is} occupied by optical elements with a phase function equal to a constant, or fragments of off-axis Fresnel lenses with a paraboloid phase function and / or fragments of flat off-axis Fresnel lenses with a saddle-shaped phase function, formed in the form of a microrelief, providing a given directional pattern of scattered light, realizing the synthesis of images consisting of separate points, with visual effect of the displacement of the formed images when the inclination of the substrate relative to the observer is less

and the other part of the area of each of the elementary regions R _ij is occupied by the region Q _ij , inside which diffraction gratings of different orientations are formed with periods of less than 0.7 μm in the form of a microrelief that provides a given radiation pattern that implements the synthesis of a 2D image visible to the observer throughout diffractive optical element when the inclination of the substrate by more than 40 °. The formation of the microrelief by the claimed microoptical system is a complex technology in which the optical element is divided into elementary regions smaller than 50 microns in size, where not only fragments of off-axis Fresnel lenses are located, but also fragments of diffraction gratings.

The disadvantage is that it is required to produce the original micro-optical system. For the manufacture of the original, electron beam lithography or optical technologies for the formation of high-resolution microrelief are used. The originals of a micro-optical system, including fragments of gratings with a period range of 0.3-0.7 microns, can be recorded only by electron beam lithography. This technology is not common, the cost of electron beam lithographs is several million euros. Electron beam technology for the synthesis of originals is knowledge-intensive. All this narrows the possibilities of widespread use of prototype technology for mass printing.

The printing technology for this solution does not allow the lens to be printed on any transparent even material (for example, glass, plexiglass glass, acrylic), which is much cheaper than the lens replicated by the printing technology described above. In addition, it is not possible to apply lenses to all the print media and to individual areas. In the formation of lenses and images, different technologies are used, the lineature step of which does not coincide and it is very difficult to ensure its coincidence. When printing is positioned, the angle of the lens does not coincide with the angle of the image formed in a special way, and in addition to the angle, it is necessary to position the print relative to the lenses up to tenths of a millimeter.

The problem solved by the claimed invention is the creation of the elimination of the disadvantages inherent in the known solutions.

The technical result of the claimed invention consists in the possibility of printing the lens on any transparent even material (for example, glass, plexiglass glass, acrylic), which is much cheaper than the finished lenticular lens or embossing fragments of off-axis Fresnel lenses. It is also possible to apply an array of lenses both on the entire material intended for printing, and on separate areas, thus highlighting them with a stereo effect. The advantage is also that the linearity step of the lens and image will always match. When the finished image is rotated in a vertical plane, the stereo effect (depth, clarity) does not disappear. It is also possible to give the image volume, to achieve a stereo effect in a simpler and more cost-effective way than with direct printing on lenticular plastic.

The technical result of the claimed invention is achieved due to the fact that the claimed method of printing optical lenses on a substrate, characterized by microscopic printing of visual images consisting of a diffractive optical element placed on a flat substrate, which are made of elementary circular regions, an image or text is arranged under the substrate, characterized in that the substrate is made transparent and having a flat surface, using an inkjet UV printer and transparent UV ink (varnish) is printed on round lenses on the spoon, both the lenses and the image beneath it are printed on the same printer, the lenses are printed in at least three layers, where each subsequent layer of lenses is applied after the previous one has dried, and the number of layers applied and the lens diameter change curvature of the lens, and by changing the choice of ink during the application of each layer, a predetermined stereo effect is formed.

When printing lenses, the lenses are arranged in the form of regular triangles, placing the centers of the circle of each lens at the corners of the triangles.

When applying lenses, the image is printed in mirror image, then the opaque areas are sealed with white. Next, the material is turned over along the line of image mirroring and the main layers of the lens array are printed. The first upper glossy layer is printed with transparent ink without drying with a UV lamp, and each subsequent ink layer is applied to the lens and dried with a UV lamp.

Brief Description of the Drawings

In FIG. 1 shows a view of a printed lens (top) and a block diagram of the lens (bottom).

In FIG. 2 shows an example of a stereo effect implemented according to the invention (a, b, c - views from different angles).

In the drawings: 1 - a transparent substrate, 2 - an image printed under the substrate, 3 - the lower layer of the lens, 4, 5, 6, 7 - the upper layers of the lens, 8 - the lens as a whole, 9 - image image viewed through the transparent substrate, 10 - a micro-image enlarged by lenses.

The implementation of the invention

The method of printing optical lenses is implemented by microscopic printing of visual images consisting of a diffractive optical element placed on a flat substrate 1 (see Fig. 1). These elements are made from elementary circular regions. Under the substrate 1, an image 2 and / or microtext, and / or a microimage (in Fig. 2, a microimage - 10, shown with magnification by the lenses as accessible to the observer), with which it is planned to achieve the desired stereo effects, are placed.

Using an inkjet UV printer and transparent UV ink (varnish), round lenses 8 are printed on a transparent, even material. The lenses 8 and image 2 under the substrate 1 are printed on a single printer. This action allows you to ensure that the lineature step in them (image 2 and lens 8) will always match.

The lenses are printed in at least three layers, where each subsequent layer of lenses 4, 5, 6, 7 is applied after the previous one has dried, and the degree of distortion of the lens is formed by the number of layers applied and by changing the diameter of the lens. Three layers of the lens - the minimum possible amount at which curvature is formed. This is due to the fact that the first layer 3, as well as the upper layers 4 and 5 form a too weakly curved lens, the focus of which goes beyond the thickness of the substrate and the image from below the substrate is blurred. Only the third layer 6 and subsequent 7, 8 are able to form a close focus, the image of which is more or less clear. By changing the choice of ink during the application of each layer, a predetermined stereo effect is formed. Each type of UV ink (varnish) has its own refractive index. The desired stereo effect can be achieved by performing a certain alternation of ink with a different refractive index.

For example (see Fig. 2), it is possible to visually see a certain picture 9 of image 2 from the bottom of the substrate 1, which will be stationary relative to smaller objects of an enlarged microimage 10 or microtext displayed by the lenses on the surface of the substrate. When moving relative to a given image 9 of image 2, for example, when a person passes by a sign with such an image, micro image 10 or microtext for a moving observer will also be dynamic, but will shift at a faster speed than the image of the substrate itself will shift. Against the background of this faster shift of the enlarged micro-image 10 or microtext, the observer sees the stereo effect of the moving picture 9, in the example of FIG. 3 is a car. It is clearly seen that the micro image 10 in the position of FIG. 3 (a) has a different spatial position on the substrate 2 relative to the picture 9, rather than the micro image 10 in the positions of FIG. 3 (b, c).

In the example of FIG. 3, the product on the substrate is formed so that the image 2 is located below the substrate and no lenses are applied over it, and the upper part of the substrate has lenses 8 and microimages 10 under the substrate.

When printing lenses, it is important that lenses 8 line up in the form of regular triangles (see Fig. 1 (top view)), placing the centers of the circle of each lens at the corners of the triangles. This is due to the fact that for the formation of a stereo effect on the substrate, it is necessary that between all adjacent lenses 8 there is the same distance. This can be achieved with a different lens configuration, but the number of lenses on a substrate of the same area will be significantly larger, which leads to greater ink consumption and an increase in the cost of production of substrates with such stereo images. In addition, when changing the configuration from equilateral triangles, for example, to rhombuses or pentahedrons, it is necessary to bring the lenses closer to each other, which is fraught with the risk of ink fusing when applying layers and image distortion when microtext or microimages are displayed.

When applying lenses, the image can be printed in this order. First, the lenses are printed in specular reflection, then the opaque areas are printed in white. Next, the material is turned over along the line of image mirroring and the main layers of the lens array are printed. The first upper glossy layer can be printed, for example, with transparent ink without the need for UV lamp drying, and each subsequent ink layer is applied to the lens and dried with a UV lamp, since the ink cannot be allowed to spread on the substrate and therefore it is necessary to ensure quick drying.

The claimed solution for printing a round lens using an inkjet UV printer and transparent UV ink (varnish), in contrast to the finished lenticular lens, increases the efficiency and economic feasibility of producing stereo images and has several advantages:

- Ability to print lenses on any transparent even material (for example, glass, plexiglass glass, acrylic), which is much cheaper than the finished lenticular lens.

- It is possible to apply an array of lenses both on all the material intended for printing, and on separate areas, thus highlighting them with a stereo effect.

- Both the lens and the image under it are printed on the same printer. Therefore, the step of the lineature will always coincide.

- When positioning the print, the angle of the lens should coincide with the angle of the image formed in a special way, in contrast to printing on lenticular plastic, in which, in addition to the angle, you need to position the print relative to the lenses up to tenths of a millimeter.

- When the finished image is rotated in a vertical plane, the stereo effect (depth, clarity) does not disappear.

In addition, with this solution, you can add volume to the image, achieve a stereo effect in a simpler and more cost-effective way than with direct printing on lenticular plastic.

Claims (3)

1. The method of printing optical lenses on a substrate, characterized by microscopic printing of visual images, consisting of a diffractive optical element placed on a flat substrate, which are made of elementary circular regions, an image or text is placed under the substrate, characterized in that the substrate is transparent and has a flat surface , using an inkjet UV printer and transparent UV ink (varnish), round lenses are printed on the substrate, and both the lenses and the image below it are printed on one and ohm same printer, the lenses are printed in at least three layers where each successive layer is applied after drying the lens previous one, and the number of coats applied, and the change in diameter of the lens shape degree of curvature of the lens, and a change in selection of the ink during application of each layer forming a predetermined stereo image. 2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that when printing lenses, the lenses are arranged in the form of regular triangles, placing the centers of the circle of each lens at the corners of the triangles. 3. The method according to p. 1 or 2, characterized in that when applying the lenses, the image is printed in mirror image, then the opaque areas are printed in white, then the material is turned over along the image mirroring line and the main layers of the lens array are printed, the first top glossy the layer is printed with transparent ink without drying with a UV lamp, and each subsequent ink layer is applied to the lens and dried with a UV lamp.

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