# US 11,110,735 B2 · Optical structure

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- Number: US 11,110,735 B2
- Document ID: US11110735B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/728,592
- Filed: 2019-12-27
- Published: 2020-05-07
- Granted: 2021-09-07
- Earliest claimed: 2017-06-30
- Assignees: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Kazuyoshi Ebina
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11110735B2

## CPC

- B42D 25/425: by deformation, e.g. embossing
- G02B 5/1814: {structurally combined with one or more further optical elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors, prisms or other diffraction gratings (G02B5/189 takes precedence)}
- B42D 25/328: Diffraction gratings; Holograms
- G02B 5/08: Mirrors {(vehicle mirrors involving special optical features B60R1/08)}
- G02B 5/18: Diffraction gratings {(holographic optical elements G02B5/32, G03H; integrally combined with optical fibres G02B6/02057; for coupling light guides G02B6/34; integrally combined with optical integrated light guides G02B6/12; grating systems G02B27/44)}
- G02B 5/1819: {Plural gratings positioned on the same surface, e.g. array of gratings (plural diffractive elements positioned sequentially along the optical path G02B27/4272)}
- G02B 5/1842: {Gratings for image generation (G02B5/1847 takes precedence)}
- G02B 5/1861: {Reflection gratings characterised by their structure, e.g. step profile, contours of substrate or grooves, pitch variations, materials (G02B5/1809, G02B5/1828, G02B5/1833, G02B5/1838 and G02B5/1847 take precedence)}
- B42D: BOOKS; BOOK COVERS; LOOSE LEAVES; PRINTED MATTER CHARACTERISED BY IDENTIFICATION OR SECURITY FEATURES; PRINTED MATTER OF SPECIAL FORMAT OR STYLE NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; DEVICES FOR USE THEREWITH AND NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; MOVABLE-STRIP WRITING OR READING APPARATUS
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS

## Abstract

An optical structure comprises an embossed layer having an embossed face including a recording area, the recording area including an embossed recording body having an uneven structure; and a light reflecting layer covering a part or the entirety of the recording area. The recording area includes a refractive mirror area and a diffractive area in the vicinity of the refractive mirror area. The refractive mirror area includes a plurality of aligned inclined mirrors constituting the embossed recording body, and the diffractive area has a diffractive structure. The refractive mirror area has a plurality of local mirror structures, and the diffractive area has a plurality of local diffractive structures. Each pair of the local diffractive structure and the local mirror structure adjacent to the local diffractive structure forms one local structure.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An optical structure, comprising:
an embossed layer having an embossed face including a recording area, the recording area including an embossed recording body having an uneven structure; and
a light reflecting layer covering the recording area, wherein
the recording area includes a plurality of local structures each including a local refractive mirror structure and a local diffractive structure adjacent to the local refractive mirror structure,
each local refractive mirror structure of each local structure of said plurality of local structures includes a plurality of aligned inclined mirrors constituting the embossed recording body, the inclined mirrors of said plurality of inclined mirrors are aligned so each inclined mirror of the plurality of inclined mirrors has an identical non-zero inclination angle with respect to a base plane that approximates an embossed face of the embossed layer;
an azimuth direction of an orthogonal vector of the inclined mirror in the local mirror structure area and an azimuth direction of a grating vector of the corresponding local diffractive structure differ by 10° or less for each local structure of said plurality of local structures,
diffracted light of the local diffractive structure is mixed with reflected light of the corresponding local mirror structure for each local structure of said plurality of local structures.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein a distance between centers of the local mirror structure and the local diffraction structure is 10 μm or more and 100 μm or less.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein
each inclined mirror of the local mirror structure has a depth of 1 μm or more, and
the diffractive structure has a spatial frequency that is higher than 0 and equal to or lower than 114 lines/mm and a depth of 0.5 μm or less.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein the plurality of local structures are arranged in the recording area so that local mirror structures and local diffractive structures of the plurality of local structures are arranged in a checkered pattern.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein a percentage of an area of the local diffractive structure with respect to an area of the respective local structure is 50% or less.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein inclined mirrors of said plurality of inclined mirrors are at a pitch of 1 μm or more and 20 μm or less.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The optical structure of claim 1, wherein a maximum dimension in a thickness direction of the embossed layer of each inclined mirror of said plurality of inclined mirrors is 1 μm or more and 20 μm or less.