The anti-counterfeiting technology of the hottest

The anti-counterfeiting technology of plastic products has made rapid progress

at present, there are more and more fake plastic products in the market, which have become a topic of concern. There are a wide variety of fake plastic products, from drug packaging, medical devices, sporting goods, electronic products, which can also meet the requirements of yy0342 ⑵ 002 determination of bending strength and stiffness of bone plate The requirements of yyt0662 (2) 008 mechanical performance requirements and experimental methods for metal bone screws on the asymmetric rib and spherical lower surface of surgical implants cover everything from automobile and spacecraft parts. Counterfeit products cause economic losses to genuine commodity manufacturers; Damage the reputation of famous brand products, increase the cost of maintaining product reputation and quality assurance, and sometimes cause harm to consumers. The deeply affected product processing manufacturers and resin raw material manufacturers are jointly seeking some product identification and verification technologies to solve the problem of product anti-counterfeiting and identification. These anti-counterfeiting technologies include particle identification, recognizable pigments and dyes, RF resolution labels, holographic patterns, and laser marking systems for making wear-resistant etched barcodes

particle identification

the original purpose of developing micro identification was to help track the source of explosives in the event of terrorist events, but now it is widely used to track and identify the authenticity of plastic products. The most typical particle marks are those with color bar patterns with special resolution functions or polymeric particles with special chemical components, which can be pre mixed with thermoplastic before molding. The diameter of particles is less than 50 microns (equivalent to the size of bacteria) and about 600 microns (equivalent to the size of salt particles), which are different

these particles are inert substances, usually do not react chemically, and can withstand the high temperature during molding without damage. By changing the number, model and color of each particle, or changing the chemical properties of the particle surface, millions of distinctive coding mixtures can be produced

because the resin contains coded particles, the manufacturer and product information can be identified with a special code reading instrument. The labeled particles are often mixed with plastic powder in advance, so that they can be used or concentrated during molding, and can be molded after being diluted during processing. The color strip micro identification on the plastic parts of injection molding, extrusion molding or rotational molding can be clearly identified by scanning with a microscope or a pattern discriminator. Some manufacturers make the logo fluorescent or magnetic, so that the authenticity can be easily identified with ultraviolet irradiators or magnetic scanners

pigment and dye additive

another method to identify whether plastic parts come from the original factory is to mix plastic parts with pigments or dyes, and analyze the exposed parts and ultraviolet areas with a spectrometer. Those pigments or dyes will show unique patterns. Even if counterfeiters use extremely similar colors on their plastic products, they cannot obtain the same spectrum as the real ones

one of the recently invented anti-counterfeiting technologies uses "discoloration" pigments. These additives contain multilayer polymeric light reflective coatings, which are coated around a reflective aluminum chip, so that the color of the plastic changes with different viewing angles. The change of color, for example, from red to green, is caused by the interference of angle of light waves reflected from different pigment layers. Color changing pigments make plastic consumer goods produce significant aesthetic effects, and because these effects are not easy to clone, they also have anti-counterfeiting function. Color changing pigments can be mixed into a variety of resins, such as PC, PP, HDPE, pet, ABS, thermoplastic PU, cellulose acetate and PA12. The weight ratio of color changing pigment in resin is usually between 0.2% and 0.4%, which can be processed by standard processes such as injection molding, extrusion blow molding, thermoforming, calendering, extrusion film and in mold decoration

radio frequency resolution/RFID tag

another method to identify plastic parts is radio frequency resolution (RFID) tag, that is, micro tags that can transmit radio signals are preset in plastic parts. These signals containing plastic part coding information are received by the radio receiver and forwarded to the relevant computer. RFID technology uses micro transmitters (radio transmitters) installed on semiconductor chips to store data. Most tags have the functions of reading and inputting data at the same time. After the tag is powered on, it will be induced by the electromagnetic field emitted by the antenna of the radio receiver, and the receiver can read the data information on the tag

rfid tags are often pasted on plastic parts in the form of adhesive labels. But over time, these labels are easy to be removed

the latest RFID tags are embedded in plastic parts during the injection molding process. The most common practice is to embed these labels on plastic box boards and pallets. It is not easy to get rid of it despite washing, collision or friction

RFID tags, which are only a few microns in size, can be used to track the real source of food, drugs and other items in plastic containers coming in through various supply channels. Code the shipping date and port of shipment of each batch of goods and other information of packaging materials into the label. After the goods arrive at the port of destination, the information in the label can be read out with instruments. Any goods without any labels or any information on the labels in the plastic packaging box may be counterfeit goods

holographic pattern

the three-dimensional holographic pattern, which is not easy to be copied by counterfeiters, has been widely used in the anti-counterfeiting of credit cards, currencies and bills, and its security performance is generally recognized. Holographic patterns are also printed on plastic packages to distinguish brands and protect products from counterfeiting. Plastic packaging films with holographic patterns are generally PVC, pet, OPP and BOPP films. Printing holographic patterns onto plastic film requires several processes. Before printing holographic patterns, it is often necessary to apply a layer of convex coating on the finished film. The PET film recently introduced by Toray plastics (USA) can be directly printed with holographic patterns without additional coating. It is said that the advent of this product has accelerated the commercialization of the new holographic pattern

another invention is the new technology of printing holographic patterns on plastic parts during injection molding. Insert the template set of holographic pattern into the mold in advance, and then the plastic parts with full emergency pattern can be injected. The advantage of this molding holographic pattern making technology is to save the time and money of the processor. Because they have multi-functional properties, there is no need to spend additional time and process to print holographic patterns

holographic patterns can also be printed on shrink wrap. The British company watlord holoprotec can provide a PVC shrink sleeve printed with holographic stripes. The sleeve is a continuous flat hose, which can be cut into sections or processed into special shapes, and can be used for packaging beverages, alcohol, condiments and cooked food

laser marking system

uses laser to print date, bar code, code, logo and pattern on plastic parts, which is widely used in inventory control, inventory reduction and product differentiation. Moreover, because the laser marking will not produce interference signals and will never be tampered with, it can also be used for product anti-counterfeiting. Laser bar code can not only help track and monitor products in the supply chain, but also help packers and retailers remove goods without identification code from the warehouse. Counterfeiters cannot obtain the same equipment and materials that mark genuine products, so it is almost impossible to copy the same laser marks or decorative patterns. Laser marking is more legible than other methods, such as inkjet and primer printing. Because the laser ray is very easy to be compiled by computer, the marks made by laser are more flexible and diverse

of course, the use of laser marking also has its limitations, that is, the equipment is expensive, and there are few colors available. However, laser equipment has more industrialized production capacity, and the unit production cost continues to decline; At the same time, new resin additives continue to be introduced, which enables the laser to repair the damaged armor surface in situ. The color range available for marking is larger, and is no longer limited to the usual black, white, brown and gray combinations. Recently, a new two-dimensional laser bar code for anti-counterfeiting has been developed, which is composed of many lines arranged on the two adjacent edges of the box, pattern marks and spaces distributed on the other two adjacent edges. Compared with ordinary bar codes, two-dimensional bar codes can incorporate more data into plastic parts, and the size of bar codes is smaller. Two dimensional bar code is also more wear-resistant than traditional bar code. In terms of plastic anti-counterfeiting applications, two-dimensional laser bar codes are more used in electronic parts, medical devices, drug packaging and perfume. To ensure the health and safety performance of plastic packaging materials, we need to rely on the extensive use of various green and safe plastic additives

reprinted from: China Packaging News