Luminescent pigments and foils with color-shifting properties
First Claim
1. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
- a reflector layer;
a first dielectric layer overlying the reflector layer;
a first absorber layer overlying the first dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Interference pigment flakes and foils are provided which have luminescent and color-shifting properties. The pigment flakes can have a symmetrical coating structure on opposing sides of a core layer, can have an asymmetrical coating structure with all of the layers on one side of the core layer, or can be formed with encapsulating coatings around the core layer. The coating structure of the flakes and foils includes a core layer, a dielectric layer overlying the core layer, and an absorber layer overlying the dielectric layer. A luminescent material is incorporated into the flakes or foils as a separate layer or as at least part of one or more of the other layers. The pigment flakes and foils exhibit a discrete color shift so as to have a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. The pigment flakes can be interspersed into liquid media such as paints or inks to produce colorant materials for subsequent application to objects or papers. The foils can be laminated to various objects or can be formed on a carrier substrate.
229 Citations
97 Claims
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1. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a reflector layer;
a first dielectric layer overlying the reflector layer;
a first absorber layer overlying the first dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
a pigment medium; and
a plurality of luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes dispersed in the pigment medium, the pigment flakes having a multilayer structure as defined in claim 1.
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34. The colorant composition of claim 33, wherein the pigment medium comprises a material selected from the group consisting of acrylic melamine, urethanes, polyesters, vinyl resins, acrylates, methyl methacrylate, ABS resins, epoxies, styrenes, ink and paint formulations based on alkyd resins, and mixtures thereof.
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35. The colorant composition of claim 33, wherein the pigment flakes have a dimension on any surface thereof ranging from about 2 microns to about 200 microns.
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36. The colorant composition of claim 33, further comprising a plurality of non-luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes dispersed in the pigment medium.
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37. The colorant composition of claim 36, wherein the non-luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes and the luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes are combined in a mixture comprising at least about 1 wt-% luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes prior to being dispersed in the pigment medium.
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38. The colorant composition of claim 36, wherein the plurality of luminescent color-shifting pigment flakes include two or more luminescent flake types having the same color shift and combined in a predetermined ratio to produce a selected luminescent signature for the colorant composition.
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39. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a first absorber layer;
a first dielectric layer overlying the first absorber layer;
a reflector layer overlying the first dielectric layer;
a second dielectric layer overlying the reflector layer;
a second absorber layer overlying the second dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a core layer;
a dielectric layer substantially surrounding the core layer;
an absorber layer substantially surrounding the dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a core reflector layer having a top surface, a bottom surface, and at least one side surface;
a dielectric layer overlying the top surface and the bottom surface but not on at least one side surface of the reflector layer;
an absorber layer substantially surrounding the dielectric layer and in contact with at least one side surface of the reflector layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a core layer;
a reflector coating substantially surrounding the core layer;
a dielectric layer substantially surrounding the reflector coating;
an absorber layer substantially surrounding the dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a core layer;
a first absorber layer substantially surrounding the core layer;
a dielectric layer substantially surrounding the first absorber layer;
a second absorber layer substantially surrounding the dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A luminescent color-shifting pigment flake, comprising:
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a first absorber layer;
a dielectric layer overlying the first absorber layer;
a second absorber layer overlying the dielectric layer; and
at least one luminescent material incorporated into the pigment flake;
wherein the pigment flake exhibits a discrete color shift such that the pigment flake has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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79. A luminescent color-shifting foil, comprising:
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a reflector layer;
a dielectric layer overlying the reflector layer;
an absorber layer overlying the dielectric layer; and
one or more luminescent materials incorporated into the foil;
wherein the foil exhibits a discrete color shift such that the foil has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing. - View Dependent Claims (80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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89. A color-shifting foil device, comprising:
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a carrier substrate;
a first absorber layer overlying the carrier substrate;
a dielectric layer overlying the first absorber layer;
a second absorber layer overlying the dielectric layer; and
one or more luminescent materials incorporated into the foil;
wherein the foil exhibits a discrete color shift such that the foil has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing.
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90. A method of fabricating a luminescent pigment flake or foil material that exhibits a discrete color shift such that the material has a first color at a first angle of incident light or viewing and a second color different from the first color at a second angle of incident light or viewing, the method comprising:
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providing one or more reflector layers;
forming one or more dielectric layers over the reflector layers;
forming one or more absorber layers over the dielectric layers; and
incorporating a luminescent material into the flake or foil as a separate layer or as at least part of one or more of the reflector layer, dielectric layer, or absorber layer. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
forming porous nanospheres from a sol-gel precursor solution;
imbibing the nanospheres with a luminescent material; and
depositing the luminescent-imbibed nanospheres onto one or more of the layers, or to form at least part of one or more of the layers in the flake or foil material.
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Specification