WO2009126030A1

WO2009126030A1 - Authentication feature and method for its production

Info

Publication number: WO2009126030A1
Application number: PCT/NL2009/050178
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gerrit Bargeman
Original assignee: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt N.V.
Priority date: 2008-04-10
Filing date: 2009-04-07
Publication date: 2009-10-15
Also published as: NL2001466C2; EP2271502A1

Abstract

Authentication feature and method for the production thereof. A relatively thin blank is placed between two dies in order to produce a ridged pattern by compression moulding. Sections with varying heights (9) are applied on the slopes of the ridges. These parts are disposed in different positions in the height of the ridges (8), thus producing various images by tilting the object thus obtained. The connecting space provided between adjacent ridges may optionally be used to store further information. An authentication feature as such may be used for various applications in products introduced on the market and for which the use of such a feature is indicated. The authentication feature may be formed by injection moulding instead of pressing.

Description

Authentication feature and method for its production

The present invention relates to an authentication feature comprising a thin walled material with a front side and rear side, provided on the rear side with impressions and on the front side provided with projections corresponding thereto, said projections and impressions comprising grooves and/or ridges, wherein an image is present on the sloping portions of said ridges or grooves, said portions of which jointly form an image. Authentication features in the prior art are applied in cases where fraud is suspected. This relates in particular to expensive products, cheaper imitations of which are on the market. On the one hand, authentication features must not be easy to imitate and, on the other hand, the price of the product with which these are associated must not, in its entirety, be considerably increased by its use. An example of authentication features are holograms which are applied, for example, to stickers and used on products as a means of security in their unopened state. However, it has been demonstrated that, after some time, such holograms and other authentication indicators can be imitated by unauthorized persons.

A data carrier is known from EP 0 801 604 B 1 with an optically variable element. The ridged structure may be present, in which two zones of that structure include various parts of images. These zones are applied at a considerable distance from one another.

WO 02/20274 and WO 2007/115656 describe authentication features applied by means of printing techniques. A relief structure is applied onto a base layer using glossy printing ink in various colours and shows an image when viewed.

The object of the present invention is to provide an authentication feature wherein, on the one hand, production is simplified, i.e. without the use of printing techniques and/or the addition of ink or colour, but on the other hand uses production techniques that do not enable the authentication feature to be easily imitated. This object is achieved in the above described authentication feature having the features of claim 1. By the presence of the more or less elevated parts disposed in various positions on the ridges, different images are produced, depending upon the position of the relevant object in relation to the observer. In other words, if the observer views the image thereof at an angle perpendicular to the surface of the authentication feature, this differs substantially from the position in which the image is viewed along the surface of the product in question. By changing the image, which is easily viewed by the user without the use of special aids, the user has the assurance that he is dealing with an original product. In other words, parts of the image are formed on the ridged structure by the raised and unraised parts. Applying deformations in the original material produces parts with a larger or smaller viewing angle in relation to the observer.

Instead of forming the authentication feature by means of compression moulding, it is also possible to obtain the relevant product by means injection moulding.

According to an advantageous embodiment, in addition to the deformation or application of a relief structure formed in the material, a further effect may be obtained by applying differences in line-thickness and angle variations in the ridges.

According to the invention, the image is made visible by reflection of the original material. This means that the surface viewed must be glossy or reflective.

According to the invention, as opposed to the prior art, no glossy or reflective material is added to the surface. The effect in the object will be obtained to the same extent by making the die glossy or matt. It is the surface material which produces the reflection. The distance between the ridges or grooves is such that complete reflection of light occurs, in other words the entire (visible) light spectrum is reflected and no diffraction occurs, as in holograms. In other words, this distance is at least several μm, and in particular at least 5 μm. The height of the ridges is preferably a maximum of 50 μm and more specifically 150 μm, whereas the projections/grooves on the ridges have a dimension projecting from the surface of the ribs of at least 2-3 μm, and more specifically no more than 3-4 μm.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention the material, and more specifically the relevant surface thereof, is formed entirely glossy or reflective. This can be achieved in particular by allowing this surface to be metallic by the use of a foil or other metallic material. It goes without saying that it is also possible to produce plasties in such a glossy manner that the effect of the invention described above may also be obtained.

According to a specific embodiment of the invention it is also possible to apply superimposed parts of two (or more) images onto each of the ribs. In this manner different images can be viewed by tilting the ribs in relation to the observer.

The structure of an image thus obtained, with elevations and depressions, requires a matrix which is not easy to produce. In this manner, these elevations and depressions cannot be falsified. This means that it is not possible to develop an image using a simple copier device to imitate this authentication feature.

According to a further embodiment, the above-described die preferably comprises a die assembly consisting of a die and a counter die. Both dies are provided with a ridged structure, i.e. the material with the ridged structure is compressed between the die and the counter die. At least one of the dies is provided with an elevation in order to accommodate a depression or a depression to accommodate an elevation in the product. Both dies are preferably provided with corresponding opposing elevations and depressions in order to achieve the appropriate relief structure in the product.

In addition to these elevations and depressions in the authentication feature, which are essential to the invention, other measures can be taken to further optimize the authentication feature. It is possible to make elevations and depressions more or less reflective in relation to the surroundings. It is also possible to construct the elevations in the form of a grid matrix comprising a number of points. In this manner it is also possible to obtain 'grey tones'. Another possibility is based upon a planar material and by providing this with a special imprint in order to render it less reflective or to produce coloured portions by precisely positioning the printed planar material in this manner in a matrix. In order to form the grooves and ridges, ridges may be obtained with different reflective features and/or different colours on the slopes of the ridges. Instead of printing, other means may be used, either during or after producing the ridges, to obtain a more or less reflective surface of the sloping surfaces of the ridges. An example of such means is the (electrostatic) deposition of (metallic) powder on the surface of the planar material. The authentication feature may comprise any conceivable material including a metallic material, plastic material or a paper or ceramic based material. In all cases, both a die and a counter die are used as an example of an authentication feature for forming the ridges/grooves. This may be a relatively thin material and it is possible to apply the ridges described above to the material in order to ensure that an original product is obtained. It is also possible to provide the walls of product packaging with such authentication features. It is possible to form the feature as an integrated part of a cardboard packaging, but it is also possible for it to be applied as a kind of packaging seal. Such packaging, for example, may include packaging for cigarettes, component packaging and the like. The packaging of pharmaceutical products, for example blister packs, may also be provided with the authentication feature according to the present invention.

The invention also relates to a process for producing an authentication feature comprising providing a blank material, the blank material between two die halves, provided with a complementary relief structure and compressing said relief into said blank material.

It is possible to form the ridged structure in such a manner that a planar or non- planar connection part is present between adjacent ridges. This connecting element - i.e. the lowest part visible to the observer - may be used to store further information. This may be a third image, for example, or further information related to the previous images. The thickness of the material that is provided with elevations and depressions is preferably less than 1.5 mm and in particular less than 0.8 mm, and more particularly less than 0.05 mm. The material may have any shape, such as flat and curved. The distance between the ridges (centre-to-centre) is preferably 0.15 mm and more preferably between 0.30 and 0.03 mm, depending on its application. In addition to this authentication feature, the bottle can be provided in other places with an authentication feature according to the invention.

As indicated above, the authentication feature may also be produced by means of injection moulding. The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to various exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing, in which: Fig. 1 shows, schematically, a first application for the authentication feature according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a detail of a part of the bottle cap according to fig. 1 ; Fig. 3 a, b shows the effect obtained by the invention; Fig. 4 shows the production of the authentication feature according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 5a-d show the production of the authentication feature according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 shows a further detailed embodiment of the authentication feature according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows part of a bottle. This is provided with a cap 2, the upper surface 3 thereof provided with the authentication feature according to the invention. It will be understood that other parts of the bottle itself, such as the label or the wrapping may also be provided with the authentication feature according to the invention. The structure of a portion of the upper surface of the cap 3 is shown in more detail in figure 2 and at a considerably larger scale. This shows the structure of part 3. This consists on the upper surface 4 (as viewed by the observer) of a number of adjacent ridges 6. Corresponding grooves 7 are formed on the lower surface 5, which are not visible when the bottle is closed. The material thickness of part 3 is indicated by c and in this example is less than 0.8 mm, preferably less than 0.5 mm and more specifically less than 0.3 mm. The height b of the ridges is exaggerated considerably in the drawing. The distance between adjacent ridges is indicated by a and is approximately 1 mm. Elevations 9 are present on the slope of each ridge and depressions 8 in the plane of the ridges. The mirror image is present in the grooves 7. In this exemplary embodiment, only the right side of the ridges of such parts has a different height. It will be understood that the left side of such ridges may also be shaped in this manner. Figure 2 clearly shows two elevations 9 present on each of the ridges. It is not necessary to provide each ridge with elevations or two elevations. The ridges according to figure 2 follow a wave-like pattern. It will be understood that this may be any desirable form, such as circular, oval, linear, rectangular and so forth.

In Figure 3a, b the viewing of the slopes of the ridges 6 from various directions is indicated by arrows 10 and 11. In the relatively vertical position shown in Figure 3b, the user will view the entire slope 6 and, and therefore all available information contained therein. At the relatively oblique viewing angle according to Figure 3a, only the top of the ridges will be visible to the observer and not that which is contained in the lower part thereof. This means that the absence of specific elevations will produce a completely different impression of the image obtained when viewed by the observer. This means that, when the authentication feature is tilted, in this case part 3, different impressions of the relevant object will be obtained, thus ensuring the appropriate security.

The parts with varying heights on the ridges 6 can be applied in different ways. Figure 4 describes an example of the use of a mould 14 and counter mold 15 which are moved towards each other in the direction of the arrows 16 when any blank material is placed between them. The blank material may consist of a metallic material, ceramic, plastic or other paper-based material. A combination of the two is also possible. In this embodiment the mould 14 is provided with a grid structure 17. The counter mould is provided with at least a partially corresponding grid structure for forming the ridges and/or grooves. Opposing elevations 47/depressions are present in the mould and/or counter mould 14 on the walls of the ridges of the patrix and matrix, which provide for the elevations/depressions. The same applies for the elevations 49/49 and 48/48 in fig. 4. Such elevations may have a height of approximately 30 μm. These are transferred to the planar material. The mould 14 may be a matrix produced from a master mould. In this manner, it is possible by using a master mould to produce a large number of working moulds, so that a very large number of products can be produced at a very low price, at the same time making it impossible for third parties to produce falsifications.

Figure 5a-d shows an alternative method for the production of an authentication feature according to the invention. Figure 5a shows a planar surface 19. This planar surface is formed reflectively and/or glossy on the appropriate side which will be visible to the user. Preferably, this reflective feature is present on the entire surface of the planar surface. This is provided in step b with parts 20 with the original deviating optical features. This can be by means of compression moulding, for example, but also, for example, by applying portions of aluminium foil, by spraying material, by applying a transparent film, sputtering, vapor deposition and the like. The image thus obtained, as shown in fig. 5b, is practically incomprehensible to the observer. This will be different after the compression procedure that occurs in figure 5c, when the ribbed structure with elevations is formed with the use of a mould 14 and counter mould 15. In this compression procedure no material is added, as is the case in the prior art, for example when printing bank notes, and only the original material is reformed. Subsequently, according to the invention, the product 22 shown in figure 5d is formed, wherein reflective and less reflective parts and/or different coloured parts occur on the slopes of the ridges, in addition to or in combination with the elevated parts.

Figure 6 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention. The product is indicated there by the numeral 25 and, as in the previously described embodiments, consists of grooves 27 and ridges 26 disposed opposite thereto. Raised parts 28 are applied to the ridges 26. However, as opposed to the previous example, the ridges do not connect directly with each other but a connecting element 30 is applied between them. In the present exemplary embodiment, this is substantially fiat, but may have any other (wave-like) shape. The connecting part also contains further information in the form of a raised portion 29. In this manner it is possible, for example, to provide three or more different images in order to amplify the image that is viewed from the position indicated by arrow 11 in figure 3b. By including more information in the connecting part, the difference in the image by titling object 25 can be amplified.

Injection moulding may also be applied instead of the method described above.

After reading the above, those skilled in the art will be readily aware of alternative embodiments of the invention which lie within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. Authentication feature (21 , 25) comprising thin walled material (D) with a front side (4) and rear side (5) and a thickness of less than 0.8 mm, and on the rear side provided with impressions (7) and on the front side provided with projections (6) corresponding thereto, said impressions , projections respectively comprising grooves and/or ridges respectively, wherein parts of an image are present on the sloping sections of said ridges or grooves, said sections jointly forming a single image, characterized in that one of the sides (4, 5) comprises a reflective surface, and that said parts (9, 28) of said image are formed exclusively by elevations/depressions applied in the plane of said ridges/grooves by means of pressing.

2. Authentication feature according to claim 1, wherein said ridges/grooves comprise elevations/depressions applied by pressing.

3. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said ridges/grooves comprise elevations/depressions formed by injection moulding.

4. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said thickness is less than 2.5 mm.

5. Authentication feature according to any of die preceding claims, wherein said elevations/depressions are disposed opposite to one another, both in said grooves and said ridges.

6. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elevations/depressions (8) comprise a matrix structure.

7. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said elevations/depressions comprise a printing ink pattern (20).

8. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said feature comprises a metallic object.

9. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said feature comprises a plastic object.

10. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, comprising the paper-based object.

11. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, comprising an object comprising a ceramic material.

12. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein connecting elements (30) are disposed between said ridges and/or grooves.

13. Authentication feature according to claim 12, wherein said connecting elements are provided with further parts of an image, jointly forming a single image.

14. Authentication feature according to any of the preceding claims, wherein two parts of an image are disposed on said ridges or grooves for forming two images being visible depending upon the angle of viewing.

15. Method for the production of an authentication feature, comprising providing a blank placing said blank, between two die halves, having a complementary relief structure, compressing said relief structure onto said planar material without the addition of material, wherein said blank comprises a material having a reflective surface, wherein said relief structure comprises grooves, ridges respectively and that impressing is effected in such a manner that each of said ridges and/or grooves is provided with elevations and depressions within the plane of said ridges/grooves, said elevations and depressions forming an image by reflection.

16. Method according to claim 15, wherein the die half applied for the purpose of producing said ridges, is provided with surfaces which form portions of the ridges, with a matrix structure.

17. Method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein said blank comprises a metallic element.

18. Method according to any of the claims 15-17, wherein said blank comprises a film material.

19. Method according to any of the claims 5-18 wherein the surface of said blank does not diffract visible light.