Counterfeit menace
Recent market review reveals that forgery is widespread and the manufacturers and buyers across the world are equally robbed by counterfeits and duplicates. The Annual DOPIP global counterfeit monitor report alone accounts for a loss of 2OO billion US dollars last year. Intelligence reports gathered from Law enforcement, customs, Nodal agencies, Brand owners etc also agree with this figure. Now the world has widely accepted the Science of Holography and mainly depends on security holograms to effectively check and prevent unauthorized manufacturing, sales or distribution of counterfeit products , copyright and Trade mark infringements,forging of documents etc. Growing importance of protection against brand piracy . Everything is forged nowadays, from cosmetic & luxury goods to medicines and even vehicle spare parts. In Information Technology alone, one in every ten software products is forgery and this costs over I 0,000 jobs. It is impossible to measure the personal harm to people who take counter-feit medicines.
This makes the issue of piracy protection particularly important in the pharmaceuticaIs industry, especially if products are intended for export. Recently Pakistani authorities tipped by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBl) busted a I5 member gang that printed a high quality counterfeit bank notes including foreign currency. The national exchequer suffered a loss of 30 to 35 billion rupees(more than 500 million US dollars) due to the illegal activities of the Ean E. The group that operated in a number of major cities of the country had printed and used Pakistani and lndian Rupees, US dollars, British pounds and UAE Durhams worth billions over the past seven years. Now I 7 countries in the world is using Hologram on their currencies to prevent counte rfeiting. Steps involved in producing a holographic image of an actual, three-dimensional object are as follows:
Mastering
A laser is used. This laser illuminates the physical object. The reflected light falls on the photo resist plate. At the same time, a reference beam from the laser falls directly on the photo resist plate. There is an interference between these two light beams which react with the photo-sensitive coating thereby recording a holographic image of the object.
The master is the plate on which the original hologram is recorded. The master is processed in a chemical bath using standard photographic developers after being exposed. The master is also expected to confirm that the image is properly recorded before proceeding with production.
Electro forming
Step 3:The master is mounted into frame. It is then sprayed with silver paint which helps in achieving good electrical conductivity. The frame is put inside a tank along with a supply of nickel. An electric current is produced, and the master is electroplated with nickel. The frame or jig is then removed from the tank and then it is washed with de ionized water.
The metal master shim, which is the thin, nickel coating, is removed off the master plate. This shim contains a negative image of the master hologram. The negative is the mirror image of the original hologram.
Using the same processes, several shims are created. Those that are produced from the metal master shim are known as “grandmothers,”. “Grandmother shim” contains positive images of the original hologram. At this times, various copies of the original image are duplicated in rows on one shim and are used to print multiple copies with a single impression. Successive generations of shims are known by various names like “mothers,” “daughters,” and “stamper shims.” These generations of shims alternate between negative and positive images of the original hologram. The stamper shims are used when actual production runs to print the final product holograms and these shims are negative images.
Embossing
Step 4: Stamper shims are put inside embossing machines. A roll of polyester film or other similar material, coated with an acrylic coating, runs through the machine. Under severe heat and pressure, the shim pushes the holographic image onto the film. This goes to a depth of 25 millionths of a millimeter. The embossed film is then re-wound onto a roll.
Metallizing
Step 5: The next step is to load the embossed film roll into a chamber from which the air is removed to create a vacuum. There is an aluminum wire in the chamber which is vaporized by heating it to 2000°F or 1,093°C. The roll is exposed to the vaporized aluminum and in turn another roll is formed and in the process the roll is coated with aluminum. The film is treated to restore moisture lost under the hot vacuum condition, after it is removed from the vacuum chamber. Another coating of lacquer is applied to the film and this creates a surface that can be imprinted with ink. The roll of film is again sliced into narrower rolls.
Converting
Step 6: There can be another step depending on what type of film was used and what kind of product is being made. For example, to give strength, the film can laminated to paper board. The film is given desired shapes for the final product. It can be printed with messages. Pressure-sensitive adhesive is applied to the back of holograms which can be later fixed to other objects or used as stickers.
Finishing
Step 7: For marketing, the final holograms are either fixed to other products or are packaged for shipment.