Diffractive pigment flakes and compositions
AssigneeFlex Products, Inc.
InventorsAlberto Argoitia, Richard A. Bradley, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Diffractive pigment flakes include single layer or multiple layer flakes that have a diffractive structure formed on a surface thereof. The multiple layer flakes can have a symmetrical stacked coating structure on opposing sides of a reflective core layer, or can be formed with encapsulating coatings around the reflective core layer. The diffractive pigment flakes can be interspersed into liquid media such as paints or inks to produce diffractive compositions for subsequent application to a variety of objects. The diffractive pigment flakes can be formed with a variety of diffractive structures thereon to produce selected optical effects.
Claims37
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a layer of a first material having a reflective surface;
- and
- a diffractive structure formed on the reflective surface, the diffractive structure having a pitch and amplitude selected to decrease the intensity of a zero order diffracted light beam in order to increase the intensity and color contrast of at least one higher order diffracted light beam.
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a reflective layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
- and
- a diffractive structure on at least one of the first or second surfaces, the diffractive structure having pitch of at least about 1,400 lines per mm and an amplitude modulation provided by a change in surface depth of at least about 150 nm.
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a reflective layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
- a diffractive structure on at least a portion of one or both of the first and second surfaces, the diffractive structure capable of producing an angular separation of first and second order diffracted light beams such that there is no angular superposition of wavelengths from about 400 nm to about 800 nm within the first and second order diffracted light beams.
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a reflective layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
- and
- a diffractive structure on at least a portion of one or both of the first and second surfaces, the diffractive structure characterized at normal incidence by a ratio of zero order intensity to first order intensity of at least about 0.25 and an angular separation between zero order and first order diffracted light beams of at least about 30 degrees.
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a reflective layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
- and
- a diffractive structure on at least a portion of one or both of the first and second surfaces, the diffractive structure producing an angular separation of zero order and first order reflection of at least about 30 degrees.
A diffractive pigment flake, comprising:
- a central reflector layer having a first major surface, an opposing second major surface, and at least one side surface;
- a first dielectric layer overlying the first major surface of the reflector layer;
- and
- a second dielectric layer overlying the second major surface of the reflector layer;
- wherein the pigment flake has a diffraction grating pattern thereon with at least about 1,400 grating lines per mm and a grating depth of at least about 150 nm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.