Using Vacuum Roll Coaters to Produce Anti-Counterfeiting Devices

摘要

Vacuum roll coating is ideally suited to the manufacture of security devices since complex optical coatings can be made rapidly over large areas. By a judicious selection of materials and design, unique products that are extremely difficult to copy, duplicate or simulate can be made. These products include foil products such as high index coated transparent holograms, metallized holograms, de-metallized holograms, and more recently Chromagrams (demetallized holograms combined with thin film interference coatings), in-line patterned optically variable threads, opaque and transparent color-shifting hot stamping films, and optical coatings with built-in holographic or diffractive structures. Pigments derived from such foil products have also been made and have included optically variable pigments that are opaque or transparent, highly reflective pigments, multilayered pigments with magnetic cores, metameric pigments, diffractive pigments, shaped pigments, and pigments containing symbols or logos. Each type of product is discussed in terms of its optical performance, manufacturability, its counterfeit deterrence, and its application. The key industries that suffer from major counterfeiting problems are currency, value documents, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, multi-media software, tobacco products, imaging supplies, automobile parts, alcoholic beverage, apparel, health and beauty aids and consumer packaged goods. Future trends appear to favor multiple technologies in one device while allowing the consumer to readily identify and remember the device.