U.S. patent application number 16/317201 was filed with the patent office on 2019-08-08 for 3d/flip/motion photo-substrate, imaging processes, and applications thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sun Chemical Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is SUN CHEMICAL CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Jerome MOYER, Danny RICH, Philippe SCHOTTLAND, Bo SUN.
Application Number | 20190243033 16/317201 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60952713 |
Filed Date | 2019-08-08 |
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00000.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00001.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00002.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00003.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00004.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00005.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00006.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00007.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00008.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00009.png)
![](/patent/app/20190243033/US20190243033A1-20190808-D00010.png)
View All Diagrams
United States Patent
Application |
20190243033 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SUN; Bo ; et al. |
August 8, 2019 |
3D/FLIP/MOTION PHOTO-SUBSTRATE, IMAGING PROCESSES, AND APPLICATIONS
THEREOF
Abstract
The present invention provides a photo-substrate for printing of
lenticular images that comprises a lenticular lens array, and an
energy-reactive material adhered to the backside of the lenticular
lens array. According to the methods of the present invention, the
lenticular image is printed directly through the lenticular lens
array onto the energy-reactive material, using, for example,
collimated light or laser. The photo-substrate of the present
invention can be adapted for large scale or industrial production
to print lenticular images on a wide array of substrates, including
such things as packaging and clothing.
Inventors: |
SUN; Bo; (Bardonia, NY)
; MOYER; Jerome; (West New York, NJ) ; SCHOTTLAND;
Philippe; (Sparta, NJ) ; RICH; Danny;
(Trenton, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
SUN CHEMICAL CORPORATION |
Parsippany |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sun Chemical Corporation
Parsippany
NJ
|
Family ID: |
60952713 |
Appl. No.: |
16/317201 |
Filed: |
July 12, 2017 |
PCT Filed: |
July 12, 2017 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US2017/041640 |
371 Date: |
January 11, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62407713 |
Oct 13, 2016 |
|
|
|
62407707 |
Oct 13, 2016 |
|
|
|
62362819 |
Jul 15, 2016 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G02B 3/0043 20130101;
G03F 7/2002 20130101; G03F 7/2039 20130101; G02B 3/0056 20130101;
G03C 7/14 20130101; G03B 35/08 20130101; B65D 33/04 20130101; G02B
27/06 20130101; G02B 30/27 20200101; G03B 35/18 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G02B 3/00 20060101
G02B003/00; G03C 7/14 20060101 G03C007/14; G03B 35/08 20060101
G03B035/08; G03F 7/20 20060101 G03F007/20 |
Claims
1. A photo-substrate comprising: a) a lenticular lens array; and b)
a substrate comprising one or more energy-reactive materials
adhered to the backside of the lenticular lens array.
2. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the one or more
energy-reactive materials are reactive to light, laser, infrared,
ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma-ray, microwave, collimated light, or
collimated laser.
3. (canceled)
4. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the lenticular lens
array is selected from the group consisting of linear, spherical,
honeycomb-array, square-array, and combinations thereof.
5. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the
lenticular lens array is 1 .mu.m to 10,000 .mu.m.
6. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the lenticular lens
array is of a uniform thickness; or wherein the lenticular lens
array is a combination of two or more thicknesses.
7. (canceled)
8. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the lenticular lens
array is thermoformed, cold formed, mold formed, embossed,
laser-cut, machine-cut, printed, or combinations thereof; or
wherein the lenticular lens array is formed by lithography or
indirect-image transferring; or wherein the lenticular lens array
is formed by coating the substrate of claim 1 with a monolayer of
nano- or micro-glass beads.
9. (canceled)
10. (canceled)
11. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the lenticular lens'
focal plane is the same as or very close to the lenticular lens
array's backside, where the substrate comprising the one or more
energy-reactive materials is adhered.
12. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the refractive index of
the lenticular lens is 1.35 to 1.75.
13. The photo-substrate of claim 1, wherein the substrate is paper,
plastic, flexible film, fabric, metal, ceramic, wood, composites,
or 3D/parallax movie film.
14. The photo-substrate of claim 1, which is in the form of sheets,
plates, or continuous web.
15. The photo-substrate of claim 14, wherein the continuous web is
suitable for flatbed printing, or roll-to-roll printing.
16. A method for in-situ image forming and automatic registration
of images and lens for producing 3-D, and/or flip, and/or motion
effect printed image with a lenticular lens comprising: a)
providing the photo-substrate of claim 1; and b) exposing the
photo-substrate to energy at different angles and/or depths through
the lenticular lens array to form each image, wherein the energy
reactive material forms an image at different locations at the
focal plane; wherein the images formed in step b) form images at
different angles which correspond to the subsequent viewing
geometry, and produce a 3-D and/or flip and/or motion effect of the
image.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the energy to which the
photo-substrate is exposed is from one or more RGB lasers; or
wherein the energy to which the photo-substrate is exposed is from
one or more Digital Light Processing (DLP) projectors.
18. (canceled)
19. A method of producing a 3D and/or flip and/or motion effect
printed image or images comprising: a) providing the
photo-substrate claim 1, wherein the photo-substrate is a
continuous web substrate; b) loading the photo-substrate on a
roller train moving at a speed proportional to the recording
ability of the substrate; and c) providing: i) one or more Digital
Light Processing (DLP) projectors; wherein the DLP projectors
project images at different angles which correspond to the
subsequent viewing geometry, at a speed synchronized to the speed
of the substrate movement; or ii) one or more lasers, each
producing narrow and well collimated beams; wherein the lasers are
scanned and modulated back and forth across the photo-substrate at
different angles which correspond to the subsequent viewing
geometry, as the photo-substrate is moved.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the continuous web
photo-substrate is a 3D/parallax movie film roll, wherein the 3D
and/or flip and/or motion effects images are produced directly in a
movie format.
21. (canceled)
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the lasers are Red, Green, Blue
(RGB) lasers.
23. (canceled)
24. A method of incorporating other pre-patterned layers into the
3D and/or flip and/or motion image before exposure of the
photo-substrate, wherein the subsequent patterned layers may be
positioned between the image and the first patterned layer on the
substrate.
25. An apparatus for directly producing 3D and/or flip and/or
motion effect(s) printed images comprising: a) the photo-substrate
of claim 1; and b) a camera designed to image the photo-substrate
comprising: i. an optical system to convert incoming light to
collimated light; and ii. a part for rotating the photo-substrate
at different angles with a pivot point or a pivot; and/or iii. an
optical system to change the incident irradiation angle of
collimated light to the 3D photo-substrate; and/or iv. a light
projection optics to convert the incoming light to the camera for
irradiating collimated light to the lenticular photo-substrate at
different angles.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the camera includes one or
more of a DLP based projection system, a visible/infrared/UV
laser-based direct imaging system, and/or an
X-ray/gamma-ray/microwave imaging system.
27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the photo-substrate reacts
to IR laser light, and the incoming visible light to the camera is
converted to IR laser pixel-by-pixel in one direction relative to
the photo-substrate, to form color pixels.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the pixel-by-pixel IR light
triggers the photo-reacting material on the photo-substrate to
react and form color pixels to show different scales of hotness in
the focused imaging area.
29. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the photo-substrate reacts
to UV laser light, and the incoming visible light to the camera is
converted to UV laser pixel-by-pixel in one direction relative to
the photo-substrate.
30. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the formed pixels are the
same as the incoming visible light color in the corresponding
pixel.
31. A printed article comprising the photo-substrate of claim 1.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional
Application No. 62/362,819 filed 15 Jul. 2016, U.S. Provisional
Application No. 62/407,707 filed 13 Oct. 2016, and U.S. Provisional
Application No. 62/407,713 filed 13 Oct. 2016, each of which is
incorporated herein in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is related to lenticular printing. The
photo-substrate comprising a lenticular lens of the invention, and
the methods of the invention, can be used to produce special
effects in printed images, such as 3D, flip, and motion
effects.
BACKGROUND
[0003] It is often desirable to print images that, when viewed at
different angles, appear as 3D, flip, or moving images. This is
known as lenticular printing. The standard method for producing
these images is time-consuming, laborious, and often not
accurate.
[0004] Lenticular printing is a method of printing an image in
which lenticular lenses are used to produce an illusion of depth,
flipping, or motion effects, when the image is viewed from
different angles. Lenticular lenses are also used to produce 3D
displays.
[0005] Prior art lenticular printing methods require building up
two separate and distinctive images, then splitting each image into
a multitude of strips or grids using digital imaging filters. The
filtered images are then digitally combined to produce a composite
image in which the image segments are some fraction of the 1D or 2D
spacing of the lenticular arrays, called interlacing of the images,
and the interlacing algorithm or software is only available for
linear lenticular lens.
[0006] The interlaced image can be printed directly to the backside
of the lens, for example using lithographic or screen printing.
However, when printing to the backside of the lens, it is critical
that the registration (alignment) of the fine "slices" of
interlaced images be absolutely correct during the printing
process. If the registration is not perfect, defects such as
"ghosting" and poor imagery may result.
[0007] The interlaced image may also be printed onto a substrate
(e.g. paper), and then the printed substrate is laminated to the
lens. Again, registration of the image with the lens sheet is
critical, or poor imaging will occur.
[0008] A typical procedure for producing a lenticular print is as
follows: [0009] 1) Artwork preparation, where some of the
individual elements are prepared in different layers; [0010] 2)
Interlacing; [0011] 3) Virtual proofing for different effects on
computers; [0012] 4) Printing the artwork; [0013] 5) Aligning the
lenticular lens to the picture, and laminate.
[0014] As mentioned, available software for interlacing the images
does not provide an algorithm to interlace images for any lens
array other than a linear lenticular lens array. Thus, other types
of lenticular lens arrays, such as honeycomb-structured and
spherical lens arrays are even more difficult to use. Misalignment
could cause ghost mage, double images, blurred images, and dizzy
images. The precision limit for the registration using the current
methods is 1 dot out of 1200-2400 dots per inch (dpi) on a printer,
which is equivalent to about 11 to about 22 microns. This imprecise
registration not only reduces the image quality, but also
eliminates the commercial application of lenticular lenses thinner
than 100 microns. Most commercial lenticular lens products have a
thickness greater than 250 microns.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 9,310,672 describes a method of capturing
stereoscopic images through two or more different rolls of films
with an equal number of capturing devices. The images are
reproduced on a displayer enabled by different techniques.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 9,383,588 discloses a method of placing
interlaced images into a print file for subsequent display with a
slanted lenticular lens. Traditional lenticular displays use
interlaced images parallel to the long axis of the lenses, but this
invention allows the image slices to be rotated to an acute angle
to the long axis direction.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 9,392,260 describes an image pickup device for
capturing a 3D image, comprising a lens optical system and an
arrayed image pickup element, such as a CCD array. Two images are
recorded using Bayer-array pixels at two angles controlled by
opening/stopping/closing two separated areas, D1 and D2, in the
light channel. The optical interface is composed of two stationary
2D lenticular lens arrays for directing the lights to accurately
and efficiently irradiate on the stationary image pickup pixels,
and this interface does not need to focus the lights onto the
pixels. Four image pickup pixels with an arrayed structure are
under a first optical element, similar to Bayer Filter concept;
each pixel may be covered under one second microlens. The final 3D
image is produced on an electronic imaging display in the form of a
video. The intent is to provide a distance accurate stereoscopic
view through a medical imaging system, such as an endoscope.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 8,964,297 describes a high-definition
dimensional image display device with a thin lens array, and a
method of making it. This is used as a special effects device added
to a flexible packaging to improve customer noticeability. The
image is printed using conventional printing methods onto the
backside of the lenticular lens array, either a linear array, or a
"fly's eye" matrix array. The lens array is formed by embossing the
substrate, which is a clear film as used in flexible packaging. The
material for embossing is first printed on the side of the film
opposite the printed image, and the coating is then patterned. The
thickness of the embossed patterned lenses is about 5 mils (0.127
mm).
[0019] There remains a need in the art for products and/or methods
for lenticular printing that are less laborious. There is also a
need for products and/or methods that will improve registration of
the lenticular lens array with the printed image.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0020] The present invention not only addresses the defects which
result from improper image alignments, as are often seen in
commercial 3D or flip lenticular lens products, but also provides a
method for using thinner lenticular lenses. The thinner lenticular
lenses are much more flexible and enable the 3D or flip image
technology to be used in fashion, clothing, packaging, and security
features on currency notes, checks, and credit cards, for example.
The production process of the present invention does not need
software for interlacing different images because the images are
automatically interlaced and registered in the photo-reactive
material at the backside of the lenticular lens.
[0021] The improvement comes from application of the Helmholtz law
of reciprocity. The various image slices are produced directly by
illuminating the photo-reactive layer with narrowly collimated
light or laser beams, for example, in place of the narrowly focused
human eye. Thus, the scanned image is imaged through every lens in
the array at the same time, but only along the angles which
correspond to the subsequent viewing geometry. The substrate is
rotated through a small angle and a second image is applied, and a
third and so on. Consequently, the present invention simplifies the
procedure for 3D film and studio, and large scale production of
lenticular images to: [0022] 1) Artwork preparation, some of the
individual elements are prepared in different layers; [0023] 2)
Project the images in collimated light/laser incident onto the
lenticular 3D film at different angles as desired for a certain
exposure time.
[0024] The present invention, by its unique image-forming
technique, can achieve high-definition by any kind of lens, which
itself can focus the image sharply on the photo-reactive material
on the backside. Thus, the lens can be of any form.
[0025] In a particular aspect, the present invention provides a
photo-substrate comprising: [0026] a) a lenticular lens array; and
[0027] b) a substrate comprising one or more energy-reactive
materials adhered to the backside of the lenticular lens array.
[0028] In another aspect, the present invention provides method for
in-situ image forming and automatic registration of images and lens
for producing 3-D, and/or flip, and/or motion effect printed image
with a lenticular lens comprising: [0029] a) providing the
photo-substrate of the invention; and [0030] b) exposing the
photo-substrate to energy at different angles and/or depths through
the lenticular lens array to form each image, wherein the energy
reactive material forms an image at different locations at the
focal plane; wherein the images formed in step b) form images at
different angles which correspond to the subsequent viewing
geometry, and produce a 3-D and/or flip and/or motion effect of the
image.
[0031] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method
of producing a 3D and/or flip and/or motion effect printed image or
images comprising: [0032] a) providing the photo-substrate of the
invention, wherein the photo-substrate is a continuous web
substrate; [0033] b) loading the photo-substrate on a roller train
moving at a speed proportional to the recording ability of the
substrate; and [0034] c) providing one or more Digital Light
Processing (DLP) projectors; wherein the DLP projectors project
images at different angles which correspond to the subsequent
viewing geometry, at a speed synchronized to the speed of the
substrate movement.
[0035] In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of
producing a 3D and/or flip and/or motion effect printed image or
images comprising: [0036] a) providing the photo-substrate of the
invention, wherein the photo-substrate is a continuous web
substrate; [0037] b) loading the photo-substrate on a roller train
moving at a speed proportional to the recording ability of the
substrate; and [0038] c) providing one or more lasers, each
producing narrow and well collimated beams; wherein the lasers are
scanned and modulated back and forth across the photo-substrate at
different angles which correspond to the subsequent viewing
geometry, as the photo-substrate is moved.
[0039] In another aspect, the present invention provides an
apparatus for directly producing 3D and/or flip and/or motion
effect(s) printed images comprising: [0040] a) the photo-substrate
of the invention; and [0041] b) a camera designed to image the
photo-substrate comprising: [0042] i. an optical system to convert
incoming light to collimated light; and [0043] ii. a part for
rotating the photo-substrate at different angles with a pivot point
or a pivot; and/or [0044] iii. an optical system to change the
incident irradiation angle of collimated light to the 3D
photo-substrate; and/or [0045] iv. a light projection optics to
convert the incoming light to the camera for irradiating collimated
light to the lenticular photo-substrate at different angles.
[0046] In a particular aspect, the present invention provides a
printed article comprising the photo-substrate of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0047] FIG. 1: Lenticular photo-substrate
[0048] FIG. 1a: FIG. 1a is an illustration of the lenticular
photo-substrate, which is composed of a lenticular lens array and
photo-reacting material(s), and allows different images to be
formed in-situ at different angles.
[0049] FIG. 1b: FIG. 1b is a 2-dimensional angle rotation scheme
for hemi-spherical or spherical lens layers. Although the
illustration shows single unit lens as square-structures, the
relative locations of the unit lenses could be random, and/or
ordered, and/or periodical random subunits, and/or random
periodical subunits, and/or any of these combinations.
[0050] FIG. 2: Imaging of photo-substrate
[0051] FIG. 2a: FIG. 2a depicts reversible light channels used for
forming the images on the photo-reactive material at the focal
plane of the lenticular lens array, and viewing the images so
formed.
[0052] FIG. 2a1: Collimated light for forming the images.
[0053] FIG. 2a2: Reverse light channels when viewing the image.
[0054] FIG. 2b: FIG. 2b illustrates out-of-focus situations caused
by chromatic aberration when IR light, or any wave with a
wavelength larger than that of visible light is used.
[0055] FIG. 2c: FIG. 2c illustrates out-of-focus situations caused
by chromatic aberration when UV, x-ray, or any wave with a
wavelength less than that of visible light is used.
[0056] FIG. 3: Illustration of different types of lenticular lens
arrays
[0057] FIG. 3a: FIG. 3a depicts a linear lenticular lens array.
[0058] FIG. 3b: FIG. 3b depicts a honey-comb array half-spherical
lenticular lens array.
[0059] FIG. 3c: FIG. 3c depicts a square-array half-spherical
lenticular lens array.
[0060] FIG. 4: FIG. 4 illustrates the refractive indices of several
possible lenticular lens materials.
[0061] FIG. 5: Cameras for capturing/photographing as lenticular
images
[0062] FIG. 5a: FIG. 5a is an illustration of a camera with one
shutter that can be used with the photo-substrate of the
invention.
[0063] FIG. 5b: FIG. 5b is an illustration of a camera with two
shutters that can be used with the photo-substrate of the
invention. The two shutters could be synchronized.
[0064] FIG. 6: Illustrations of roll-to-roll and large format
printing of lenticular images
[0065] FIG. 6a: FIG. 6a illustrates one set-up that could be used
for roll-to-roll lenticular printing using the photo-substrate of
the present invention.
[0066] FIG. 6b: FIG. 6b illustrates an alternative set-up that
could be used for roll-to-roll lenticular printing using the
photo-substrate of the present invention.
[0067] FIG. 6c: FIG. 6c illustrates one step in the production of a
3D/flip/motion picture in large format, such as 6 ft. by 3 ft.
[0068] FIG. 7: 3D/parallax movie
[0069] FIG. 7a: FIG. 7a illustrates a 3D/parallax film for
recording and showing parallax movies.
[0070] FIG. 7b: FIG. 7b shows generation of a 3D movie using the
photo-substrate of the present invention. The incident angles of
the left-eye image and the right-eye image are changed according to
the best parallax effect.
[0071] FIG. 7c: FIG. 7c illustrates playing the 3D/parallax movie
film, preferably at a speed of 24 frames/sec.
[0072] FIG. 8: FIG. 8 depicts the microscopic pictures of the lens
layers used in Examples of Table 1:
[0073] FIG. 8a: Lenstar 100LPI lens layer used in Examples #3, #6,
and #8; the unit length is about 254 .mu.m, and the thickness is
about 368 .mu.m
[0074] FIG. 8b: Grapac HALS-H 250T-PP honeycomb lens layer used in
Examples #9 and #10; unit length is about 127 .mu.m, and the
thickness is about 250 .mu.m.
[0075] FIG. 8c: Glass bead lens layer used in Example #12; each
unit glass bead is 500.+-.150 .mu.m.
[0076] FIG. 8d: Glass bead lens layer used in Example #13; each
unit glass bead is 124.+-.18 .mu.m.
[0077] FIG. 8e: MicroBeads Spheromer CA60 PMMA bead lens layer(s)
used in Example 14; each unit PMMA bead is 60 .mu.m. The beads are
not exactly at the same flat plane, but clear images are
regenerated through the lens layer.
[0078] FIG. 8f: MicroBeads Spheromer CA30 PMMA bead lens layer(s)
used in Example #15; each unit PMMA bead is 30 .mu.m. The beads are
not exactly at the same flat plane, but clear images are
regenerated through the lens layer.
[0079] FIG. 9: FIG. 9 depicts microscopic pictures of marks left on
the photo-reactive material after image transferring in the
Examples of Table 1.
[0080] FIG. 9a: Example #3
[0081] FIG. 9a1: a 5.times. magnification of marks left on the
photo-substrate of Example #3.
[0082] FIG. 9a2: a 20.times. magnification of marks left on the
photo-substrate of Example #3.
[0083] FIG. 9b: Example #10
[0084] FIG. 9b1: Image area 1 of Example #10.
[0085] FIG. 9b2: Image area 2 of Example #10.
[0086] FIG. 9b3: Image area 3 of Example #10.
[0087] FIG. 9b4: Image area 4 of Example #10.
[0088] FIG. 9c: Example #12
[0089] FIG. 9c1: Imaging area of Example #12.
[0090] FIG. 9c2: Edge between imaging and non-imaging areas of
Example #12.
[0091] FIG. 10: FIG. 10 illustrates generation of 3D/flip effects
in 2-dimensional angles (.alpha., .beta.) with the 3D/flip
film/paper with hemi-spherical or spherical lens layer illustrated
in the present invention. The angles could be (F.alpha., L.beta.),
(B.alpha., L.beta.), and (B.alpha., R.beta.) as desired. For
example, (-20.degree., 0.degree.), (+25.degree., 0.degree.),
(0.degree., -15.degree.), (0.degree., +30.degree.).
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0092] It is to be understood that the foregoing general
description and the following detailed description are exemplary
and explanatory only, and are not restrictive of any subject matter
claimed.
[0093] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms
used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one
of skill in the art to which the inventions belong. All patents,
patent applications, published applications and publications,
websites and other published materials referred to throughout the
entire disclosure herein, unless noted otherwise, are incorporated
by reference in their entirety for any purpose.
[0094] The present invention provides a photo-substrate comprising
a lenticular lens array. The present invention provides a method
for in-situ production of lenticular images, by direct imaging
using the photo-substrate of the present invention. The present
invention provides the ability to add special variable images to
packaging, for example, without resorting to complex registration
and thick, molded plastic sheeting. The use of special 3D, flip, or
motion effects in packaging design and printing have been limited
to the size, thickness, complexity and cost of adding the digitally
filtered composite images and thick plastic lens arrays. The
present invention removes both of those barriers to adoption of 3D
and motion effects to labels and packages.
[0095] Definitions
[0096] In this application, the use of the singular includes the
plural unless specifically stated otherwise. As used herein, the
singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the
plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
[0097] In this application, the use of "or" means "and/or" unless
stated otherwise.
[0098] As used herein, the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising"
specify the presence of the stated features, integers, steps,
operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the
presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "having,"
"has," "with," "composed," "comprised" or variants thereof are used
in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are
intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term
"comprising."
[0099] As used herein "article" or "articles" means a substrate or
product of manufacture. Examples of articles include, but are not
limited to: substrates such as paper, fabric, plastic, plastic or
polymer film, glass, ceramic, metal, wood, composites, and the
like; and products of manufacture such as publications (e.g.
brochures), labels, and packaging materials (e.g. cardboard sheet
or corrugated board), containers (e.g. bottles, cans), clothing, a
polyolefin (e.g. polyethylene or polypropylene), a polyester (e.g.
polyethylene terephthalate), a metalized foil (e.g. laminated
aluminum foil), metalized polyester, a metal container, and the
like.
[0100] As used herein, when referring to "light" it is to be
understood that this includes all types of electromagnetic
radiation, such as, for example, visible light, ultraviolet light,
infrared light, x-rays, gamma-rays, and microwaves, unless
specified otherwise. Similarly, the terms and phrases
"energy-reactive," "energy-reacting." "photo-reacting,"
"photo-reactive," "light-reacting," "light-reactive," and similar
terms and phrases, are used interchangeably and refer to any
material that reacts to any type of electromagnetic radiation.
[0101] As used herein, the term "collimated light" refers to a beam
of light with a low beam divergence so that the beam radius does
not change significantly within moderate propagation distances. In
certain embodiments, "collimated light" refers to multiple parallel
light beams. Multiple parallel light beams may be produced, for
example and not by way of limitation, by a collimating Fresnel
lens.
[0102] As used herein, the term "image" includes, but is not
limited to, pictures of objects, humans, animals, plants, etc.,
words, logos, and any shape or form that can be photographed and/or
printed.
[0103] As used herein, the terms "photo-substrate," "photo-film,"
"3D photo-film," "3D/flip film/paper,", "3D/flip/motion effect
film/paper", "3D/flip film,", "3D/flip/motion effect film," "3D
film," "3D/parallax movie film," and similar phrases, are used
interchangeably, and refer to the photo-substrate of the present
invention as described below.
[0104] As used herein, ranges and amounts can be expressed as
"about" a particular value or range. "About" is intended to also
include the exact amount. Hence "about 5 percent" means "about 5
percent" and also "5 percent." "About" means within typical
experimental error for the application or purpose intended.
[0105] Photo-Substrate
[0106] The photo-substrate of the present invention comprises a
lenticular lens array, with a substrate comprising one or more
layers of energy-reactive materials adhered to the backside of the
lenticular lens array. Preferably, the energy-reactive material is
adhered at the focus of the lenticular lens array. The lenticular
image is directly printed on the one or more layers of
energy-reactive material through the lenticular lens array,
eliminating the problems with registration often encountered with
prior art methods. Using the photo-substrate and methods of the
present invention there is automatic registration of images and the
lenticular lens array for creating a 3D, flip, or motion effect in
a printed image.
[0107] The lenticular lens of the present invention may be of any
configuration. Suitable types of lenticular lens arrays include,
but are not limited to, linear, spherical, honey-comb, or square,
and combinations thereof. Different types of lenticular lens arrays
are shown in FIG. 3. Because the imaging is done directly through
the lenticular lens array, there is no need for complicated
interlacing of printed images.
[0108] The thickness of the lenticular lens array of the present
invention is preferably about 1 .mu.m to about 10,000 .mu.m.
Thinner lenticular lens arrays allow for lenticular printing on a
wider variety of substrates and articles, such as clothing or
packaging. The lenticular lens array could be of a uniform
thickness, or may be a combination of two or more thicknesses.
[0109] The lenticular lens array can be made of any suitable
material. For example, the lenticular lens array can be made from
glasses or polymers (plastics). Suitable glasses include, but are
not limited to soda-lime, borosilicate, quartz, and the like.
Suitable polymers include, but are not limited to, polycarbonate,
polyolefin, polyurethane, polyvinyl-butyral, thermoplastic
polyurethane, polydimethylsiloxane, poly (p-methylstyrene),
poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate), and the like.
[0110] The refractive index of the material of the lenticular lens
affects the thickness of the lenticular lens layer. The higher the
refractive index of the lens material, the thinner the lens layer
can be. FIG. 4 illustrates the refractive index of several suitable
lenticular lens materials. We can see from FIG. 4 that the
refractive indexes of glasses and polymers decreases with
increasing wavelength of light and stays approximately the same in
the range of light with a wavelength of about 0.6 to about 1.8
.mu.m. The lenticular lens material's refractive index preferably
stays the same over the wavelength fit for the photo-reacting
material of 3D film/paper to change colors and visible light
wavelength. The stable refractive index minimizes the chromatic
aberration difference during the image recording and the image
projection afterwards. Preferably, the refractive index of the
lenticular lens is about 1.35 to about 1.75.
[0111] The lenticular lens array can be produced by thermoforming,
cold forming, mold forming, embossing, laser-cutting,
machine-cutting, printing, or combinations thereof. For example,
the lenticular lens array may be formed by lithography, or
indirect-image transferring.
[0112] The substrate comprising the energy-reactive material is not
limited, and can be, for example, paper, plastic, flexible film,
fabric, metal, ceramic, or 3D/parallax movie film. The substrate
may be available as a product already comprising the
energy-reactive material. Suitable substrates comprising
energy-reactive material include, but are not limited to, Kodak
Ultramax 400 (reactive to visible light), Polaroid Zink paper
(reactive to non-visible light), Zap-it Alignment paper (reactive
to laser light), or FujiChrome Astia100F Professional (color
reversal film). The substrate may alternatively be naked (i.e. not
coated with an energy-reactive material) and subsequently coated
with an energy-reactive material appropriate for the type of energy
to be used prior to adhering the substrate to the lenticular lens
array. For example, but not limited to, the substrate may be coated
with a photo emulsion such as Rockland Liquid Light from Rockland
Colloid, which is a silver gelatin photographic emulsion; color
changing inks such as SPEL 2390 from Sun Chemical, which is a
proprietary flexographic white ink that provides a visible color
change from white to black when subjected to the energy of a laser;
dichromated gelatin (DCG); or polyvinyl carbazole; and the
like.
[0113] In an alternative embodiment, the lenticular lens array is
formed by coating the substrate with a monolayer of nano- or
micro-glass beads. The glass beads are the individual lenticular
lenses in the lenticular lens array.
[0114] The energy-reactive material can be of any type reactive to
electromagnetic radiation. The photo-reactive material should be
able to react to visible or non-visible light at a proper intensity
and capture the color of the image accordingly. Ideally, the
photo-reacting material could record precisely the colors in the
collimated light sent in by the projectors, and is of a high enough
resolution for capturing detailed images, such as less than 1
.mu.m, preferably less than 100 nm, and more preferably less than
10 nm. For example, the energy-reactive material may be reactive to
visible light, ultraviolet (UV) light, infrared light, x-rays,
gamma-rays, or microwaves. Suitable energy-reactive materials
include, but are not limited to, silver emulsions based on silver
salts, silver halides, or coatings comprising photo-sensitive dyes.
Photo-sensitive dyes include leuco dyes, which change color upon
exposure to various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.
Photo-sensitive dyes include, but are not limited to,
ruthenium-based dyes, potassium ferricyanide, ferric ammonium
citrate, potassium dichromate, rhodamine type dyes (e.g. tetraethyl
rhodamine (Rhodamine B)), sodium
p-dimethylamine-azobenzenesulfonate (methyl orange),
3,7-bis(dimethylamino)phenazathionium chloride (methylene blue),
ammonium dichromate, pyridine dichromate, fluorosceins and
halogenated derivatives thereof (e.g. tetraiodofluorescein,
tetrabromofluorescien, diiodoeosine,
tetrabromodhchlorofluorescein), cyanines (e.g.
1,1'-diethyl-4,4'-cyanine iodide (cyanine blue);
1,1'-diethyl-2,4-cyanine iodide (ethyl red);
1,1'-diethyl-2,2'-carbocyanine iodide (pinacyanol);
1,1'-diethyl-4,4'-carbocyanine iodide (Kryptocyanine)),
combinations thereof, and the like.
[0115] When two or more layers of energy reactive material are used
they may be reactive to the same wavelength, or different
wavelengths. For example, the photo-substrate may comprise one
layer of energy-reactive material reactive to red light, one layer
of energy-reactive material reactive to green light, and one layer
of energy-reactive material reactive to blue light.
[0116] The photo-substrate of the present invention can be in any
form appropriate for the intended use. For example, the
photo-substrate may be in the form of sheets, plates, or continuous
web. A continuous web photo-substrate may be suitable for flatbed
printing, or roll-to-roll printing. In certain embodiments, the
photo-substrate of the invention may be adhered to an article, such
as a cup, package, clothing, or other object, so that a lenticular
image can be directly formed on that object.
[0117] Method of in-situ lenticular image formation using the
photo-substrate
[0118] The method of the present invention eliminates the need for
interlacing of multiple images, and of subsequent laborious
registration of a lenticular lens array over the printed,
interlaced images. This is because, using the photo-substrate of
the present invention, the image is printed directly through the
lenticular lens array. The images are automatically interlaced and
registered in the energy-reactive material at the backside of the
lenticular lens array.
[0119] The various image slices are produced directly by exposing
the energy-reactive material with narrowly collimated
energy/light/laser beams at different angles that correspond to the
subsequent viewing geometry. The narrowly collimated
energy/light/laser beams mirror the narrowly focused human eye. The
first image can be printed, then the substrate rotated through a
small angle and the second image printed, and so on for each
subsequent layer of the lenticular image.
[0120] The collimated light carrying images go through the lens
layer with unit lenses in a cylindrical, hemispherical, or
spherical, or random shapes, wherein the unit lenses can be in an
ordered array (e.g. linear) or random array. The light will be bent
by the lens layer, and form ordered or random patterns according to
the unit lens and the lens structure. The patterns are recorded by
the light reacting material directly below the lens layer. The
locations of patterns and the patterns are different with different
angles of incidence of collimated light on the photo-substrate.
[0121] When viewing the printed image, the light carrying the
ordered or random patterns go through the same lens layer and form
the original image only if the angle of observation is equal to the
original angle of incidence used during recording. FIGS. 2a to 2c
show the printing and subsequent viewing of the lenticular
image.
[0122] Thus, different images can be recorded at different angles
of incidence and shown back at corresponding angles of observation
equal to the angles of incidence. This result flows from
application of the Helmholtz law of reciprocity. According to the
Helmholtz law of reciprocity, a ray of light and its reverse ray
encounter matched optical phenomena, such as reflections,
refractions, and absorptions in a passive medium or at an
interface. Essentially, incoming and outgoing light can be
considered as reversals of each other. Thus, the image that is
produced at a particular angle is shown back to the viewer at the
same angle in reverse. FIGS. 2a to 2c show how this works with the
photo-substrate of the present invention.
[0123] In addition to exposing the energy-reactive material at
different angles, the light beam could penetrate to different
depths, depending on the wavelength of the light source for
example. Multiple layers of energy-reactive material could be used,
which could be reactive to different types of energy, producing
different colors. The color of the subsequent image would
correspond to the wavelength of the light and reactivity of the
particular layer at a specific angle. In this way, the colors of
the original image could be reproduced accurately.
[0124] Any suitable source of energy can be used, depending on the
intended image. Preferably, the energy is collimated, to produce
precise irradiation of the energy-reactive material. Preferably,
the energy-reactive material is reactive to visible light.
Chromatic aberration may occur when IR light, or any wave with a
wavelength larger than that of visible light, or UV or x-ray light,
or any wave with wavelength less than that of visible light, is
used in image recording. Digital and optical techniques could be
used for correcting and aligning the focal plane to the
photo-reacting material pixel by pixel as needed. Visible light can
be generated from any suitable light source, for example laser, or
Digital Light Processing (DLP) projectors.
[0125] In one embodiment, images can be formed by propagating laser
radiations directly through the lens and onto the energy-reactive
backing material using an RGB laser. Similarly, the images can be
projected in collimated light incident to the lenticular
photo-substrate at angles by using a front projection system, and
transferred directly to the photo-reacting material plane. Such a
projection image, recorded through the lenticular lens array, will
produce a pseudo-3D appearance, and/or flip or motion effects.
[0126] The image and/or words and/or logos, and the like, could be
projected using laser or color visible light, or UV light,
according to the photo-reacting material on the photo-film for
image recording. Table A gives examples of different lasers that
could be used for imaging purposes. Images can be formed by
propagating laser radiations directly through the lens and onto the
backing film using an RGB laser. Preferably, the photo-reacting
materials could change color according to different lasers used, or
exposure time of the same laser, or the combination of both.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE A Examples of lasers Laser Wavelength
Ultraviolet F.sub.2 excimer 157 nm ArF excimer 193 nm .sup.a, bNd:
YAG 213 nm (5.sup.th harmonic) He--Ag.sup.+ 224.3 nm KrCl excimer
222 nm Nd: YAG (4.sup.th 266 nm harmonic) XeCl excimer 308 nm
He--Cd 325 nm Nitrogen 337.1 nm Ne.sup.+ 332.4 nm XeF excimer 351
nm Ruby (doubled) 347 nm Nd: YAG (tripled) 355 nm Ar.sup.+ 351 nm
Ti: sapphire (tripled) 235-330 nm He--Au.sup.+ 282-292 nm
Ne--Cu.sup.+ 248-270 nm Dyes (doubled) 0.2-0.4 .mu.m
Ultraviolet~Visible Alexandrite (doubled) 360-400 nm InGaN 370-493
nm Ti: sapphire (doubled) 360-460 nm Visible He--Cd 441.6 nm
Ar.sup.+ 488 nm Copper vapor 510.5 nm Copper vapor 578.2 nm Nd: YAG
(doubled) 532 nm He--Ne 543.5 nm Xe.sup.3+ 539.5 nm He--Ne 594.1 nm
He--Ne 611.9 nm He--Ne 632.8 nm Gold vapor 628 nm Kr.sup.+ 647.1 nm
Ruby 694.3 nm GaN 515-520 nm Dyes in polymer 550-700 nm Dyes
0.38-1.0 .mu.m InGaAlP 630-685 nm Visible~Near-infrared Cr-fluoride
780-850 nm Alexandrite 700-800 nm GaAlAs 750-850 nm Ti: sapphire
670-1130 nm Dyes 0.38-1.0 .mu.m Near-infrared Nd: YAG 946 nm Nd:
YAG 1064 nm .sup.c, dOther hosts 1047-1079 nm He--Ne 1152 nm Iodine
1315 nm Nd: YAG 1319 nm He--Ne 1523 nm Er: glass 1.54 .mu.m Tm: YAG
2.01 .mu.m Ho: YAG 2.08 .mu.m Er: YSGG 2.79 .mu.m Er: YAG 2.90 and
2.94 .mu.m InGaAs 1.27-1.33 .mu.m InGaAs 1.43-1.57 .mu.m Fosterite
1.13-1.36 .mu.m HF chemical 2.6-3.0 nm AlGaIn/AsSb 1.87-2.2 .mu.m
Near-infrared~Mid-infrared Dyes (Raman shifted) 0.9-4.5 .mu.m
Xe--He 2-4 .mu.m Mid-infrared He--Ne 3.391 .mu.m CO.sub.2 10.6
.mu.m CO.sub.2 (doubled) 4.6-5.8 .mu.m CO 5-7 .mu.m DF chemical
3.6-4.0 .mu.m Pb salts 3.3-27 .mu.m CO.sub.2 9.2-11.4 .mu.m
Far-infrared Methanol 37.9 .mu.m Methanol 70.5 .mu.m Methanol 96.5
.mu.m Methanol 118 .mu.m Methylamine 147.8 .mu.m Methyl fluoride
496 .mu.m Methanol 571 .mu.m Methanol 699 .mu.m .sup.a"YAG" is an
yttrium aluminum garnet (Y.sub.3Al.sub.5O.sub.12) laser host
crystal. .sup.b"Nd: YAG" is a neodymium-doped YAG crystal.
.sup.cOther laser host crystals include, but are not limited to,
Gd.sub.3Ga.sub.5O.sub.12 (GGG), Gd.sub.3Sc.sub.2Al.sub.3O.sub.12
(GSGG), YAlO.sub.3 (YALO), YVO.sub.4 (yttrium vanadate),
GdVO.sub.4, YLiF.sub.4 (YLF), KGd(WO.sub.4).sub.2 (KGW),
KY(WO.sub.4).sub.2 (KYW), KLu(WO.sub.4).sub.2 (KLuW),
Sr.sub.3Y(BO.sub.3).sub.3 (BOYS), GdCa.sub.4O(BO.sub.3).sub.3
(GdCOB), SrY.sub.4(SiO.sub.4).sub.3 (SYS), Y.sub.2O.sub.3,
Sc.sub.2O.sub.3, LiCaAlF.sub.6 (LiCAF), LiLuF.sub.4 (LiLuF),
LiSrAlF.sub.6 (LiSAF), sapphire, ZnS, ZnSe, ZnS.sub.xS.sub.1-x,
Al.sub.2O.sub.3 (ruby), LiSrGaF.sub.6 (LiSGAF), MgSiO.sub.4
(forsterite), NaGd(WO.sub.4).sub.2 (NGW), NaY(WO.sub.4).sub.2
(NYW). For a description of laser host crystals see "Section 1:
Crystalline Materials," Handbook of Optical Materials, M. J. Weber
ed., CRC Press 2003. .sup.dDopants for laser host crystals include,
but are not limited to, neodymium, ytterbium, erbium, thulium,
holmium, cerium, titanium, chromium (II), chromium (III), chromium
(IV).
[0127] FIG. 2a illustrates the ideal situation of light channels or
routes for forming the images on the photo-reacting materials, and
the images projected back in the visible light environment
afterwards. The collimated light carrying images go through the
lens layer with unit lens in cylindrical or hemi-spherical or
spherical, or random shapes, and with these unit lens in ordered
(such as linear lenticular lens) or random structures; the light
will be bent by this lens layer and form ordered or random patterns
according to the unit lens and the lens structure. These patterns
are recorded by the light reacting material directly below the lens
layer. The locations of patterns and the patterns are different
with different angles of incidence of collimated light on the
3D/flip film. Afterwards, in the reverse direction, the light
carrying the ordered or random patterns go through the same lens
layer and form the original image information only if the angle of
observation is equal to the original angle of incidence used during
recording. In this way, different images could be recorded at
different angles of incidence, and shown back at corresponding
angles of observation equal to the angles of incidence.
[0128] Preferably, the light used in image projection by the
projectors is the same as the visible light range for eyes to
function in. More preferably, the color in each pixel of the images
formed on the light-reacting material would be the same as the
color in each pixel of the original images 1, 2, 3, etc. used, as
shown in FIG. 1a. In this case there is no chromatic aberration
(the lens refracts/bends higher wavelength light more than lower
wavelength light, such as blue vs. red), and the channels in FIG.
2a1 for forming the images on the light--reacting material are
exactly the same as the channels in FIG. 2a2. The bigger the
difference between the wavelength of light used for forming the
images, and the wavelength of visible light, the less perfect the
images for the eyes actually are.
[0129] Preferably, exposure of all the lenticular 3D photo-film is
carried out in a dark room, or a dark space, to avoid the light
contamination from the surrounding environment. But, if the
photo-reacting material on the lenticular 3D film is only reacting
to light/laser which is much stronger in intensity, for example by
2 orders of magnitude stronger, then ambient environment could be
used for production.
[0130] Other pre-patterned layers could be incorporated before
exposure into the lenticular 3D photo-film to show special effects,
either in between the lenticular lens and photo-reacting material
or contacting only the photo-reacting material on the back. For
example, Grapac Japan used star/dot/mesh/heart/zebra lines/square
patterns and honeycomb/square spherical lens array to achieve
different depth effects. These special effects could provide
another dimension to the eyes for the final product.
[0131] Method of high volume/industrial in-situ lenticular image
formation
[0132] The present invention provides the ability to add special
variable images to packaging without resorting to complex
registration and thick, molded plastic sheeting. The use of special
3D and flipping or motion effects in packaging design and printing
have been limited to the size, thickness, complexity, and cost of
adding the digitally filtered composite images and thick plastic
lens arrays. The present invention removes these barriers to
adoption of 3D and motion effects to labels and packages.
[0133] The present process is for directly producing 3D and/or flip
and/or moving effects(s) using energy-reacting film at the focal
plane of a lenticular lens array, with a technique fit for in-situ
image change and/or large-scale production such as roll-to-roll.
Some examples are shown in FIGS. 6a to 6c. The special effect
picture/image can be produced at or near to the end of the press
run. Current lenticular printing requires the addition of a
physically thick plastic sheet over the composite image in a
complex post-press converting step. Unlike most converting steps,
the alignment of the plastic sheet over the composite image
requires very precise alignment, much like the registration of
printing stations, yet most post-printing converting stations do
not include equipment for holding tight tolerances on added
materials. The method of the present invention eliminates those
requirements. Thus, with this novel approach to lenticular
printing, it is both feasible and cost-effective to add special
effects to consumer packaging.
[0134] The lenticular 3D film is composed of a lenticular lens
array and photo-reacting materials mounted at the focus of the
lenticular lens array. Images can be formed by propagating laser
radiations directly through the lens and onto the backing film
using an RGB laser. Similarly, the image can be transferred
directly to the film plane using a front projection system,
projecting the image from different angles of incidence. Such a
projection image, recorded through the lenticular array, will
produce a pseudo-3D appearance or a flip/moving effect.
[0135] The present invention discloses a process of directly
forming images of 3-dimensional and/or flip and/or motion effects
with multiple 2D images, by direct recording onto the lenticular 3D
photo-film through the lenticular lens array. The lenticular 3D
photo-film is composed of a lenticular lens array and
photo-reacting material(s) mounted at the focus of the lenticular
lens array. Images can be formed by propagating laser radiations
directly through the lens and onto the backing film using an RGB
laser. Similarly, the images can be projected in collimated light
incident to the lenticular 3D photo-film at different angles by
using a Digital Light Processing (DLP) front projection system and
transferred directly to the photo-reacting material plane.
[0136] A DLP front projector operates by focusing light from a
point source (e.g. a lamp) through a lens to form an image on a
surface. A lens is characterized by its focal length. The focal
length of a lens is the distance at which the lens focuses a point
(i.e. light rays converge) at an infinite distance. The aperture of
the lens is the "hole" or "pupil" through which light passes. The
size of the aperture of a lens determines how much light will pass
through. The smaller the size of the aperture, the less light that
passes through. Collimated light can be projected by the DLP
projector by using a projection lens with a high f/#. The f/# is
the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the diameter of the
aperture of the lens exit pupil. In this way, the DLP projector
projects a narrowly focused beam of light, wherein the radius of
the beam does not change significantly over the projection distance
to the photo-substrate. Thus, lenses with a relatively long focal
length having a small aperture will project collimated light onto
the photo-substrate.
[0137] Alternatively, light from a DLP projector could be
collimated by using a collimating lens. Collimating lenses make the
light entering the lens, such as the diverging light from a point
source, into parallel light beams. Each collimated light beam would
print an image on the photo-substrate. For example, a Fresnel lens
with the grooves facing out (away from the point source and toward
the surface) would collimate the light from the point source.
[0138] Such a projection image, recorded through the lenticular
array, will produce a pseudo-3D appearance and/or flip and/or
motion effect(s). The image projector system could project
different images in collimated light at different angles to the
lenticular 3D photo-film at the same time or different times. A
roll-to-roll continuous film production of the same pictures or
different pictures, depending on the images fed into the image
projector system, can be obtained. In the present invention,
"image" also includes "word," for example "A" or "dog" could be
considered as an image; "image" also includes "logo," such as, for
example:
[0139] FIG. 6a gives an example of a setup involved in a
roll-to-roll production. The photo-film is loaded on a roller train
(mechanical rollers) and is moving. A Digital Light Processing
(DLP) projection system is projecting images at the photo-film at a
speed synchronized to the photo-film movement. For a system
comprising a set of projectors, different images could be sent to
the different projectors at the same time. For maximum production
speed, the speed of the photo-film rolling is defined by the
exposure time required for the photo-film to reach an optimized
image over the length between the end rollers.
[0140] Alternatively, the DLP projection system and its
sophisticated high f/# imaging system could be replaced by a series
of lasers (e.g. Red, Green, Blue) each producing the very narrow
and well collimated beams and then scanned and modulated back and
forth across the film web as it is moved by. The high intensity of
the laser beams provides consistent imaging of the film plane, and
the RGB colors correspond to the sensitive dye layers in the film,
producing a full color image along each direction. While many kinds
of lasers could be used for this, a preferred embodiment would be
the use of very small, solid state or diode lasers. Such small
diode lasers are often found in presentation pointers and possess
wavelengths such as 650 nm (red), 530 nm (green), 450 nm (blue),
and 405 nm (violet).
[0141] FIG. 6b gives another example of a setup involved in a
roll-to-roll production. The photo-film is moving, a DLP image
projection system is projecting images at the photo-film at a speed
synchronized to the photo-film movement. For maximum production
speed, the speed of photo-film rolling is defined by the exposure
time required for the photo-film to reach an optimized image over
the length between the end two rollers.
[0142] FIG. 6c shows another example of a setup for 3D/flip/motion
picture(s) in large format, for example, 6 feet (length) by 3 feet
(width) for a human body, using projectors transmitting images in
collimated light, for example 6 inch by 6 inch frames. The
projectors are mounted on a stage powered by X-Y 2D step motors.
The images could be produced by stationary exposing frame by frame.
After one frame of area is exposed, the projectors will be dragged
to the next frame, until the whole 6 ft. by 6 ft. picture is
finished. In case one piece of lenticular 3D photo-film is not
enough, it is preferred another piece is taped before the
production instead of after.
[0143] FIGS. 6a to 6c only serve the purpose of showing a few
examples of production processes with projectors and lenticular 3D
photo-film positioned relative to each other. In real production,
one or more projectors could be used; one or more of incident
angles of the collimated light onto the lenticular 3D photo-film
could be used. All the synchronized projectors in a set of
projectors in a projection system are independent from each other.
That means that different pictures or images could be sent to the
individual projector at the same time or the same projector at
different times, depending on the required production and final
effects desired. Two or more projectors could be used in each
projection system. Or a projector which can project two or more
images at different angles relative to the photo-film plane could
be used. Or, a projector which can project two or more images at
different times and be positioned by a method such as by a
mechanical rotator to let the collimated light irradiate the
photo-film at a different angle at each different time, could be
used. The images could be fed digitally or in analog into the
projectors, and could be done either wirelessly directly from the
customers, or using hard wires attached to a controller
computer.
[0144] Apparatus for producing a photograph as a lenticular
image
[0145] The present invention provides lenticular 3D
photo-film/paper, and a camera designed for taking photographs
having a 3D, flipping, or motion effect. Photos are taken at
different angles using the camera with 3D film installed. The
present 3D film and camera makes this 3D/flipping/motion-effect
lens technology easy and accessible to everyone.
[0146] FIGS. 5a and 5b give two example cameras for forming images
at different angles. A camera example for the 3D photo-film, as
shown in FIG. 5a, is different from the single lens designs in the
traditional film or digital camera. The optical system could
collimate the incoming light before the light reaches the film. The
film is composed of a lenticular lens array and photo-reacting
material placed at the focal plane of the lenticular lens. The
lenticular 3D photo-film could rotate from a pivot supporting point
or pivot line, depending on the final 3D/flip/moving effect
desired. To achieve a 3D parallax effect, such as a human face for
example, the camera would need to be focused on two of the same
points on the face for pictures at each of two or more angles
(which are called spot area), with the face staying still for each
picture. The optics for flipping/moving effects are somewhat
simpler, without the need to focus the same points for any 2
pictures. For example, the left eye and the right eye (a gap of 2.5
inches between the two eyes for example) try to focus on a human
face at a distance of 2 feet away. The angle of difference for
these two eyes in observation of the face is equal to arc sin
(2.5/24)=5.98.degree.. The camera could be moved around the face at
intervals of 5.98.degree. while the 3D film is rotated around the
pivot at intervals of 5.98.degree. simultaneously to take several
pictures. These pictures taken at different angles are recorded
in-situ through the lens layer onto the photo-reacting material.
When the 3D film/paper is taken out of the camera, the 3D face is
able to be observed on the 3D/flip film immediately after
development. This could also be achieved in one shot using a second
example camera with synchronized shutters, as shown in FIG. 5b. The
two sub-cameras, focusing on the same item at two different viewing
angles, are designed to feed the two image channels, and the angle
difference could be adjusted by maneuvering the mirror/lens system
and incident angles of light on the 3D/flip film.
[0147] A third example of a camera for a 3D photo-film/paper is for
use with a 3D photo-film/paper that reacts to IR laser light, with
a wavelength of about 0.71 .mu.m to 1000 .mu.m, outside the range
of visible light (i.e. 0.39 .mu.m to 0.71 .mu.m). Through a light
conversion system, the incoming visible light could be converted to
IR laser with: i) the same or different wavelengths; and/or ii) the
same or different intensities; and/or iii) the same or different
exposure times, pixel by pixel in one direction relative to the 3D
film/paper. The pixel-by-pixel laser triggers the photo-reacting
material on the back-side of the 3D film/paper to react and form
color pixels, preferably the same as the incoming visible light
color in the corresponding pixel.
[0148] A fourth example of a camera for a 3D photo-film/paper is
for use with a 3D photo-film/paper that reacts to UV laser with a
wavelength of about 0.01 .mu.m to about 0.39 .mu.m, outside the
range of visible light. Through a light conversion system, the
incoming visible light could be converted to UV laser with: i) the
same or different wavelengths; and/or ii) the same or different
intensities; and/or iii) the same or different exposure times,
pixel by pixel in one direction relative to the 3D film/paper. The
pixel-by-pixel laser triggers the photo-reacting material on the
back-side of the 3D film/paper to react and form color pixels,
preferably the same as the incoming visible light color in the
corresponding pixel.
[0149] A fifth type of camera is one which detects IR light, and is
used with 3D photo-film/paper that is reactive to IR laser light
having a wavelength about 0.71 .mu.m to 1000 .mu.m. The IR light
enters the camera through a lens system for IR light. The incoming
IR light could be transformed into one direction relative to the
lenticular 3D photo-film/paper. The pixel-by-pixel IR light
triggers the photo-reacting material on the back-side of the
lenticular lens to react and form color pixels that show different
levels of heat in the focused imaging area. For example, a person
is usually warmer than surrounding objects (e.g. a tree), so a 3D
IR heat image of the person can be obtained. Similarly, a 3D UV, 3D
x-ray, 3D gamma-ray, or 3D microwave image could be generated and
shown to the eyes.
[0150] Method of Producing a 3D/Parallax Movie
[0151] FIG. 7a gives an example of 3D film roll for 3D/parallax
movie production. The present invention could also be used to
produce 3D movies by feeding the image-recording process described
and illustrated in FIG. 7b with the traditional 3D movie film rolls
filmed at different angles. After 3D movies are shot, you would
feed the projector(s) in FIG. 7b at proper incident angles (for
example, -3.degree. and 3.degree.) with the movie film rolls paired
for the left eye and right eye onto the 3D film roll illustrated in
FIG. 7a.
[0152] The 3D movie film generated as above can be played with an
apparatus illustrated in FIG. 7c, preferably at the speed of 24
frames/second for people directly in front of the film, with the
lens side facing the eyes at proper locations. Light received from
the environment on the eyes side could be used by the
image-recorded film to reflect some light with images to the eyes.
It can also use light on the backside of image-recorded film to
carry the image information to the eyes.
EXAMPLES
[0153] The following examples illustrate specific aspects of the
present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope thereof
in any respect, and should not be so construed.
[0154] Laser Marking
[0155] The example lenticular images were produced using a Videojet
7310 ytterbium fiber laser system, operated in pulse operation. The
pulse energy peak power of pulsed lasers can be from 0.0384
J/mm.sup.2 up to 3.84 J/mm.sup.2, which corresponds to an intensity
setting of 1% to 100%. The laser marking speed was from 1 mm/s to
20,000 mm/s. The setting was optimized to 35% intensity, and 5000
mm/s laser marking speed to generate the examples of the present
invention.
Example 1
Structure of Photo-Substrates
[0156] Table 1 lists the 3D/flip films made in the laboratory, and
tested successfully for recording images. Microscopic pictures of
some lens layers used in Table 1 are shown in FIG. 8. Microscopic
pictures of the marks left on the light-reacting materials after
image(s) forming are analyzed and shown in FIG. 9. It can be seen
that the marks correspond directly to each unit lens, images, and
angles between the 3D film and collimated light.
[0157] Hemi-spherical and spherical lens layers provide one more
dimension for rotation than the linear lens, or cylindrical lens,
or other linear-shape lens. FIG. 1b gives a schematic drawing of
how the 2-dimensional angular rotation could be used for changing
the 2D angles between the 3D/flip film (such as Examples #9-15 in
Table 1) and collimated light.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 1 Photo-substrates Light-Reacting Light used
Lens Lens W* T** Material/ for recording # Form Array/Supplier
(.mu.m) (.mu.m) T/W Supplier images 1 Linear 40LPI Linear/ 635 914
1.44 ZAP-IT Laser 1055~1075 nm VueThru Alignment Paper/ laser
KENTEK Laser Store 2 Linear 60LPI Linear/ 423 788 1.86 ZAP-IT Laser
1055~1075 nm VueThru Alignment Paper/ lase KENTEK Laser Store 3
Linear 100LPI Linear/ 254 368 1.45 XAP-IT Laser 1055~1075 nm Pacur
Lenstar Alignment Paper/ laser KENTEK Laser Store 4 Linear 40LPI
Linear/ 635 914 1.44 SPEL 2390, 1055~1075 nm VueThru 13 .mu.m
coating/ laser Sun Chemical 5 Linear 60LPI Linear/ 423 788 1.86
SPEL 2390, 1055~1075 nm VueThru 13 .mu.m coating/ laser Sun
Chemical 6 Linear 100LPI Linear/ 254 368 1.45 SPEL 2390, 1055~1075
nm Pacur Lenstar 13 .mu.m coating/ laser Sun Chemical 7 Linear
60LPI Linear/ 423 788 1.86 Photographic White visible VueThru
Emulsion/ light Rockland Liquid Light 8 Linear 100LPI Linear/ 254
368 1.45 Photographic White visible Pacar Lenstar Emulsion/ light
Rockland Liquid Light 9 Half- HALS-H 250T- 125 250 2 Photographic
White visible Spherical PP Honeycomb/ Emulsion/ light Grapac Japan
Rockland Liquid Light 10 Hald- HALS-H 250T- 125 250 2 ZAP-IT Laser
1055~1075 nm Spherical PP Honeycomb/ Alignment Paper/ laser Grapac
Japan KENTEK Laser Store 11 Spherical Randomly- 500 500 1 ZAP-IT
Laser 1055~1075 nm structured +/- +/- Alignment Paper/ laser 500 um
glass 200 200 KENTEK beads, Laser Store monolayer/ glass beads from
Scientific Industries 12 Spherical Square- 500 500 1 ZAP-IT Laser
1055~1075 nm Structured +/- +/- Alignment Paper/ laser 500 .mu.m
glass 100 100 KENTEK beads, Laser Store monolayer/ glass beads from
Scientific Industries 13 Spherical Randomly- 124 124 1 ZAP-IT Laser
1055~1075 nm structured +/- +/- Alignment Paper/ laser 100 um glass
80 80 KENTEK beads, Laser Store monolayer/ glass beads from
Scientific Industries 14 Spherical Randomly- 60 60 1 ZAP-IT Laser
1055~1075 nm structured +/- +/- Alignment Paper/ laser Spheromer 50
50 KENTEK CA60 beads, Laser Store monolayer/ PMMA beads from
Microbeads AS 15 Spherical Randomly- 30 30 1 ZAP-IT Laser 1055~1075
nm structured +/- +/- Alignment Paper/ laser Spheromer 20 20 KENTEK
CA30 beads, Laser Store monolayer/ PMMA beads from Microbeads AS *W
= unit width (.mu.m) of an individual lens **T = thickness of the
lens array (.mu.m)
Example 2
Art Examples Used to Test Photo-Substrates
[0158] Tables 2-A shows the art examples that were printed to test
the linear lenticular lens photo-substrates of Ex. #1-8 in Table
1.
[0159] Table 2-B shows the art examples that were printed to test
the hemi-spherical/spherical lenticular lens photo-substrates of
Ex. #9-15 in Table 1.
[0160] *Angle (0.degree., 0.degree.) is avoided because experiments
show that an image recorded at this angle is shown at every
possible observation angle for films with hemi-spherical and
spherical lens layers.
[0161] The number of images being recorded is limited only by the
resolving power of the lens array, which could be calculated by
analysis of the marks left on the light-reacting material during
image forming, as shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9a2 shows the line widths
in the marks for 5 images formed at each of 5 different angles
between film and collimated light for Example #3 in Table 1. The
line widths were measured, and are shown in Table 3.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Line widths from FIG. 9a Line # from Left to
Line Width Right (.mu.m) R1 20.6 R2 24.8 R3 30.1 R4 29.6 R5
20.6
[0162] Theoretically, Example #3 3D/flip film could hold
25400/100/(30.1.about.20.6)=approximately 8 to 12 images, if images
could be angled towards the light-reacting materials by the lens
layer. Similarly, the dotted patterns left on the light-reacting
material in FIGS. 9b and 9c could be used for calculating the
resolving power of hemi-spherical and spherical lens layers.
[0163] In FIGS. 9a1 and 9a2, we can see that the line patterns
correspond very well to the Lenstar 100 LPI lens layer used in
Example #3, and shown in FIG. 2b. The unit length is about 254
.mu.m, and each line is directly formed according to each image
under each unit lens at a certain angle between the incoming laser
and the 3D/flip film/paper. The line numbers under each unit linear
lens are equal to the number of the images and angles, which is an
exact mimic of the step of interlacing images described for the
traditional procedure for lenticular printing.
[0164] In FIGS. 9b1 to 9b4, we can see that the dot patterns
correspond very well to the Grapac honeycomb-structure
half-spherical lens layer used in Example #10, and shown in FIG.
2c. The unit length is about 127 .mu.m, and each dot is formed
according to each image under each unit half-spherical lens at a
certain angle between incoming laser and the 3D/flip film/paper. It
should be noted that, using traditional methods of lenticular
printing, this lenticular lens structure was rarely used in 3D/flip
real pictures (e.g. a human face), and was mostly used in
combination with periodical shape images (such as star, mesh, and
heart), with a unit length and structure matching the lens-pattern
by Grapac Japan. Thus, the present invention provides a significant
improvement to lenticular printing, because the honeycomb-structure
half-spherical lenticular lens layer can be used for more
complicated images, such as a human face, using the photo-substrate
and methods of the present invention.
[0165] In FIGS. 9c1 and 9c2, we can see that the marks left on the
3D/flip film correspond very well to the spherical lens layer used
in Example #12, and shown in FIG. 3c. The unit length is about
500.+-.150 .mu.m, and each dot is formed according to each image
under each unit spherical lens at a certain angle between incoming
laser and the 3D/flip film/paper.
[0166] Thus, the examples show that the photo-substrate of the
present invention, and the methods for using the photo-substrate to
produce lenticular images, significantly improve the speed,
quality, and range of uses of lenticular printing. The process of
lenticular printing is simplified, and will therefore be accessible
to more people.
[0167] The present invention has been described in detail,
including the preferred embodiments thereof. However, it will be
appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon consideration of
the present disclosure, may make modifications and/or improvements
on this invention that fall within the scope and spirit of the
invention.
* * * * *