Techniques of printing micro-structure patterns such as holograms directly onto final documents or other substrates in discrete areas thereof

A system within a vacuum chamber for treating thin, flexible material in a continuous process, comprising:

• first and second holders of a roll of a continuous web of said material, the first holder being at a beginning of the process, thereby to supply fresh web material, and the second holder being at an end of the process, thereby to take up and hold the web material after treating,
• a first processing station including a cylinder having a micro-groove master positioned around its circumference and positioned to hold the master against the web with liquid resin contained there between as the cylinder rotates and the web moves through the first station, said first processing station also including a source of an electron beam directed against the contained resin, thereby to cure the resin, and
• a second processing station including a metal sputtering system through which the web passes and a mask to limit metal sputtered thereby substantially to areas of the micro-grooved resin,
• wherein the first and second processing stations are positioned so that the web moves from the first roll holder, then through the first processing station, and then through the second processing station and then to the second roll.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material using an integrated vacuum chamber, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• (b) a first process step of applying a flexible base coat to said material and curing said coat;
• (c) a second process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer
• on said base coat;
• a third process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (f) a fifth process step of demetallizing selected portions of said image by applying a resistant coating to areas desired to have said material retained and bombarding or sputter-etching said micro-image with ions which removes metal from said micro-image in the uncoated areas of said fifth process step thereby abrading away metal on said uncoated areas;
• (g) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (h) providing a single vacuum chamber having first and second opposing ends, placing said unwind and rewind spool at said opposing ends, and performing said first, second, third, fourth, and fifth process steps continuously and synchronously within said integrated vacuum chamber.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• (b) a first process step of applying a flexible base coat to said material and curing said coat;
• (c) a second process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer on said base coat;
• (d) a third process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (f) a fifth process step of demetallizing selected portions of said micro image by applying a resistant coating to areas desired to have said material retained and bombarding or sputter-etching said micro-image with ions which removes metal from said micro-image in the uncoated areas of said fifth process step thereby abrading away metal on said uncoated areas;
• (g) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (h) providing a vacuum chamber in which the second, third, fourth and fifth process steps are performed at a reduced pressure, said unwind spool being placed and said first process step being performed outside said vacuum chamber and in ambient air to permit use of base materials that function only in ambient air.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• b) a first process step of applying a flexible base coat to said material and curing said coat;
• (c) a second process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer on said base coat;
• (d) a third process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (f) a fifth process step of demetallizing selected portions of said micro image by applying a resistant coating to areas desired to have said material retained and bombarding or sputter-etching said micro-image with ions which removes metal from said micro-image in the uncoated areas of said fifth process step thereby abrading away metal on said uncoated areas;
• (g) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (h) all of said method, except the first process step, being continuously and synchronously carried out at a reduced pressure within a vacuum chamber, so as to produce the micro-image bearing product in a single pass-through said method with said first process step being operated separately and off-line, and with the unwind spool carrying the substrate material after processing by the first process step being placed in the vacuum chember prior to said second process step.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• (b) first process step of applying a flexible base coat to said material and curing said coat;
• (c) a second process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer on said base coat;
• (d) a third process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (f) a fifth process step of demetallizing selected portions of said micro image by applying a resistant coating to areas desired to have said material retained and bombarding or sputter-etching said micro-image with ions which removes metal from said micro-image in the uncoated areas of said fifth process step thereby abrading away metal on said uncoated areas;
• (g) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (h) said fourth and fifth process steps being performed at a low pressure within a vacuum chamber, said first, second and third process steps being preformed off-line and not continually and synchronously with said fourth and fifth process steps, the unwind spool carrying the substrate material after processing by the first, second and third process steps being positioned in said vacuum chamber prior to said fourth process step and operating said fourth and fifth process steps continually and synchronously.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• (b) a first process step of applying a flexible base coat to said material and curing said coat;
• (c) a second process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer on said base coat;
• (d) a third process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (f) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (g) providing a vacuum chamber having first and second opposing ends, placing said unwind and rewind spools at said opposing ends, and performing said first, second, third and fourth process steps continuously and synchronously at a low pressure within said vacuum chamber.

An improved method for applying micro-images to a surface of a substrate material, comprising:

• (a) providing a flexible substrate material on an unwind spool;
• (b) a first process step of creating a micro-image by placing an oligomer on said substrate material;
• (c) a second process step of radiating with electron beams the oligomer-coating on an imaging drum to cure said micro-image;
• (d) a third process step comprising metallizing by sputtering techniques a reflective or refractive material on said cured micro-image;
• (e) a fourth process step of demetallizing selected portions of said micro image by applying a resistant coating to areas desired to have said material retained and bombarding or sputter-etching said micro-image with ions which removes metal from said micro-image in the uncoated areas of said fifth process step thereby abrading away metal on said uncoated areas;
• (f) providing a rewind spool to receive the processed substrate upon completion of the above process steps;
• and
• (g) providing a vacuum chamber having first and second opposing ends, placing said unwind and rewind spools at said opposing ends, and performing said first, second, third and fourth process steps continuously and synchronously at a low pressure within said vacuum chamber.

A method of processing a substrate at a reduced pressure within a vacuum chamber, comprising:

• positioning a supply roll of a continuous web of the substrate in flexible form within the vacuum chamber,
• moving the substrate material continuously within the vacuum chamber through a plurality of processing stations from the supply roll to a take up roll, and performing the following steps in the processing stations:
• forming on the substrate a micro-groove pattern on the substrate, wherein forming the micro-groove pattern within said at least a first of the processing stations includes forming discrete areas of the micro-groove pattern that are spaced apart from one another across the substrate, and further wherein forming the reflective layer on the microgroove pattern includes forming a reflective layer in discrete areas that are spaced apart from one another across the substrate over the discrete areas of the micro-groove pattern,
• thereafter forming a reflective layer on the microgroove pattern that follows a surface relief pattern thereof, and
• thereafter forming a transparent material over the reflective layer.

A method of processing a substrate at a reduced pressure within a vacuum chamber, comprising:

• positioning a supply roll of a continuous web of the substrate in flexible form within the vacuum chamber,
• moving the substrate material continuously within the vacuum chamber through a plurality of processing stations from the supply roll to a take up roll, and performing the following steps in the processing stations:
• forming on the substrate a micro-groove pattern on the substrate,
• thereafter forming a reflective layer on the microgroove pattern that follows a surface relief pattern thereof,
• thereafter removing a portion of the reflective layer according to a pattern, and thereafter forming a transparent material over the reflective layer.