Color change devices activatable by bending
US5282650A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 30, 1992 |
| Grant date | Feb 1, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 30, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S428/916
- WIPO fieldSurface technology, coating
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
Color change devices which are capable of undergoing a color change on bending. The devices comprise a flexible substrate having a color generating metal (e.g. a valve metal such as Ta or Nb) at at least one surface and an intimately contacting optically thin anodic film covering the color generating metal and generating a visible color by light interference and absorption effects. The thin anodic film is produced by anodizing the color generating metal in the presence of an adhesion-reducing agent (e.g. a fluoride) for weakening the normally tenacious bond between the anodic film and the metal. Devices of this kind capable of being activated by bending, as well as by separation of the constituent layers, are produced by carrying out the anodization step in the presence of a particular concentration of the adhesion reducing agent from a narrow range (e.g. 40-350 ppm of fluoride). The devices can be used as tamper evident labels and the like which show evidence of removal of the labels from articles to which they were originally attached as an indication of tampering.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.