Method of making optical thin flakes and inks incorporating the same

• US 5,383,995 A
• Filed: 10/29/1993
• Issued: 01/24/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Viavi Solutions, Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Flex Products Incorporated (Sicpa Holding SA)
• Inventors: Mayer, Thomas, Phillips, Roger W., Ash, Gary S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jones, W. Gary
• Assistant Examiner(s): DE SIMONE, MARK B
• Application Number:
  US08/146,834
• Time in Patent Office: 452 Days
• Field of Search: 156/230, 156/234, 156/236
• US Class Current: 156/230
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 1/286 using a temporary backing to which the coating has been applied
• CPC Class Codes: B05D 5/06 to obtain multicolour or other optical effects B05D5/02 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 3/00 Printing processes to produce particular kinds of printed work, e.g. patterns printing apparatus or machines of special type or for particular purposes B41F17/00; special designs or pictures per se B44F; manufacturing printed circuits using printing techniques H05K3/12 ; manufacturing organic semiconductor devices using printing techniques H10K71/13
• CPC Class Codes: B41M 3/14 Security printing securities B42D25/29
• CPC Class Codes: C01P 2004/54 Particles characterised by their aspect ratio, i.e. the ratio of sizes in the longest to the shortest dimension
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/00 Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating optical coatings of optical elements G02B1/10
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 1/0015 Pigments exhibiting interference colours, e.g. transparent platelets of appropriate thinness or flaky substrates, e.g. mica, bearing appropriate thin transparent coatings
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 1/0051 comprising a stack of coating layers with alternating low and high refractive indices, wherein the first coating layer on the core surface has the low refractive index
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 1/0078 Pigments consisting of flaky, non-metallic substrates, characterised by a surface-region containing free metal
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 2200/24 Interference pigments comprising a metallic reflector or absorber layer, which is not adjacent to the core
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 2210/10 Optical properties in the IR-range, e.g. camouflage pigments
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 2220/10 Wet methods, e.g. co-precipitation
• CPC Class Codes: C09C 2220/20 PVD, CVD methods or coating in a gas-phase using a fluidized bed
• CPC Class Codes: C09D 11/50 Sympathetic, colour changing or similar inks
• CPC Class Codes: F24S 70/225 for spectrally selective absorption
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/40 Solar thermal energy, e.g. solar towers

Abstract

Articles and methods for forming optically variable thin film flakes and replicated coatings having preselected optical properties. The articles generally comprise a flexible web of material and an optically variable thin film coating formed on one surface of the web. The optically variable coating is separated from the web to form optically variable thin film flakes. The flakes are disposed in ink and paint vehicles to provide optically variable inks, paints and the like.

Claims

1. In a method for producing an optically variable ink, providing a flexible web, depositing an organic release coat upon the flexible web at atmospheric pressure, depositing in a vacuum a multilayer metal dielectric optically variable thin film coating formed solely of inorganic materials onto the release coat, passing the web containing the release coat thereon into a solvent to dissolve the release coat, removing the optically variable multilayer thin film coating from the web so that the coating is free of the organic release coat and causing the same to break into oversize flakes formed solely of inorganic materials, drying the oversize flakes, reducing the flakes in size by air pulverization so that they have a size distribution ranging from 2 to 20 microns and introducing the flakes into a liquid vehicle so that they are dispersed therein.

2. A method as in claim 1 together with the step of adding an optical color blocking pigment to the liquid vehicle.