Patents by Inventor Werner Steffen

Werner Steffen has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11554570
    Abstract: A method for embossing a first grating in a planar material, by means of an embossing body and a counter embossing body, having each a hard surface, the first grating to be embossed comprising alternating substantially parallel and straight ridges and recesses, whereby the top surfaces of the ridges are intended to weaken a direct angular reflection of light by diffuse omnidirectional reflection, thereby producing a visible contrast between the ridges and the recesses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 11453190
    Abstract: An embossing method allowing to emboss a material on both sides comprises feeding the foil material into a roll nip between a pair of a first roll and a second roll, providing the first roll and the second roll each with a plurality of positive projections and a plurality of negative projections of identical shaped polyhedral structures, a first subset of the plurality of positive projections being disposed with a first periodicity on a first grid in axial direction and a second periodicity on the first grid in circumferential direction on the first roll, and a second subset of the plurality of negative projections being disposed with the first periodicity in axial direction and the second periodicity in circumferential direction on the first grid intertwined with the positive projections, in axial and circumferential directions respectively, and projections complementary to the first grid, on the second roll, each of the positive projections and the negative projections on the first roll during operation of
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: BOEGLI-GRAVURES SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 11325338
    Abstract: A set of thin foil surfaces configured to achieve a joint among the foil surfaces, the joint being arranged to be without discontinuity, comprising at least a first portion of surface dedicated to achieve the joint; pixelized type embossings on the first portion of surface; and at least a second portion of surface dedicated to achieve the joint. The second portion of surface is shaped to correspond to the first portion of surface for making the joint between the first portion of surface and the second portion of surface through contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: BOEGLI-GRAVURES SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Alain Droz, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 11298911
    Abstract: A method of embossing individually light reflecting areas on a foil material, the method comprising feeding a foil material into a roller nip between a pair of rollers, wherein the pair of rollers comprises a motor roller and a counter roller, providing each of the motor roller and counter roller at least in a determined perimeter with a plurality of positive and negative projections on a checkered layout whereby positive and negative projections alternate in axial and radial directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Alain Droz, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 11220083
    Abstract: An embossing tool for embossing a combined embossing pattern into a packaging material, the combined embossing pattern including decoratively embossed structure and at least one embossed code, the embossing tool including a male and a female embossing device for cooperating with each other, embossing structures of the male and female embossing device formed to produce the combined embossing pattern into the packaging material in an embossing gap, the embossing structures of the male and the female embossing device include first embossing structures intended for making the at least one embossed code, which are inverse congruent male and female embossing structures having a polyhedral shape, and the decoratively embossed structures and the at least one embossed code produced by the embossing structures are arranged such that the at least one embossed code has a reduced visibility as compared to the decoratively embossed structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures S.A.
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Alain Droz, Werner Steffen
  • Publication number: 20210276298
    Abstract: A set of thin foil surfaces configured to achieve a joint among the foil surfaces, the joint being arranged to be without discontinuity, comprising at least a first portion of surface dedicated to achieve the joint; pixelized type embossings on the first portion of surface; and at least a second portion of surface dedicated to achieve the joint. The second portion of surface is shaped to correspond to the first portion of surface for making the joint between the first portion of surface and the second portion of surface through contact.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Publication date: September 9, 2021
    Inventors: Charles BOEGLI, Alain DROZ, Werner STEFFEN
  • Publication number: 20210154964
    Abstract: A method of embossing individually light reflecting areas on a foil material, the method comprising feeding a foil material into a roller nip between a pair of rollers, wherein the pair of rollers comprises a motor roller and a counter roller, providing each of the motor roller and counter roller at least in a determined perimeter with a plurality of positive and negative projections on a checkered layout whereby positive and negative projections alternate in axial and radial directions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2018
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Alain Droz, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 10967601
    Abstract: The embossing device for fine embossing of packaging material has a set of embossing rolls with female embossing and male embossing rolls, in each case the structural elements (ML1) of the female embossing roll (M1) and the structural elements (PL1) of the male embossing rolls (P1) being assigned to each other, and the structural elements of one of the rolls being produced independently of the structural elements of the other rolls. At least one structural element (ML1; PL1) of at least one roll (M1, P1) is provided on its bottom surface (B1) and/or surface (S1) and/or side surfaces and/or in its immediate surroundings with light-scattering elements (DM1, D1), the height (H) of which is 10 ?m to 150 ?m. As a result of the use of light-scattering elements with small dimensions, the contrast of the structural elements can be increased substantially, by which means the overall aesthetic image is improved considerably.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 10882352
    Abstract: A method for embossing optically diffracting microstructures in a thin foil, such as used to pack at least one of the list comprising food, chocolate, chewing gum, gifts, jewellery, clothes, tobacco products, pharmaceutical products, the embossing being produced with an embossing rollers set-up comprising at least one cylindrical embossing roller and a cambered counter roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Matthias Kahl, Günter Reisse, Werner Steffen, Wolfgang Brickenkamp
  • Publication number: 20200324505
    Abstract: A method for embossing a first grating in a planar material, by means of an embossing body and a counter embossing body, having each a hard surface, the first grating to be embossed comprising alternating substantially parallel and straight ridges and recesses, whereby the top surfaces of the ridges are intended to weaken a direct angular reflection of light by diffuse omnidirectional reflection, thereby producing a visible contrast between the ridges and the recesses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Publication date: October 15, 2020
    Inventors: Charles BOEGLI, Werner STEFFEN
  • Publication number: 20200086600
    Abstract: An embossing method allowing to emboss a material on both sides comprises feeding the foil material into a roll nip between a pair of a first roll and a second roll, providing the first roll and the second roll each with a plurality of positive projections and a plurality of negative projections of identical shaped polyhedral structures, a first subset of the plurality of positive projections being disposed with a first periodicity on a first grid in axial direction and a second periodicity on the first grid in circumferential direction on the first roll, and a second subset of the plurality of negative projections being disposed with the first periodicity in axial direction and the second periodicity in circumferential direction on the first grid intertwined with the positive projections, in axial and circumferential directions respectively, and projections complementary to the first grid, on the second roll, each of the positive projections and the negative projections on the first roll during operation of
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2017
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Inventors: Charles BOEGLI, Werner STEFFEN
  • Patent number: 10183318
    Abstract: A method for structuring a steel embossing roller surface includes using a short pulse laser including at least one of a femtosecond laser and a picosecond laser. The structuring is macrostructuring with dimensions of over 20 ?m and depths up to 150 ?m and more. The short pulse laser has: in single pulse operation, a fluence in the range of 0.5 J/cm2 to 3.5 J/cm2, and in burst operation, a mean burst fluence of 0.5 J/cm2 to 70 J/cm2 per pulse; a wavelength of 532 nm to 1064 nm; a repetition rate of 1 kHz to 10 MHz; a pulse to pulse spacing on the roller of 10% to 50% of the beam diameter for the femtosecond laser and of 10-25% and 40-50% of the beam width for the picosecond laser; a laser pulse position near the roller surface; and deflection velocities of up to 100 m/s and more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures S.A.
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Steffen Weissmantel, Günter Reisse, Peter Lickschat, Werner Steffen
  • Publication number: 20180370175
    Abstract: The embossing device for fine embossing of packaging material has a set of embossing rolls with female embossing and male embossing rolls, in each case the structural elements (ML1) of the female embossing roll (M1) and the structural elements (PL1) of the male embossing rolls (P1) being assigned to each other, and the structural elements of one of the rolls being produced independently of the structural elements of the other rolls. At least one structural element (ML1; PL1) of at least one roll (M1, P1) is provided on its bottom surface (B1) and/or surface (S1) and/or side surfaces and/or in its immediate surroundings with light-scattering elements (DM1, D1), the height (H) of which is 10 ?m to 150 ?m. As a result of the use of light-scattering elements with small dimensions, the contrast of the structural elements can be increased substantially, by which means the overall aesthetic image is improved considerably.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 14, 2016
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 10083253
    Abstract: In the method for producing a set of cooperating embossing rollers, a modelling device is used for parameterizing the embossing rollers, the device comprising a test bench having a pair of rollers which are put under hydraulic pressure that can be measured and set, in order to determine from the measurement data the parameters for producing the embossing rollers. The use of a modelling device for obtaining the parameters for producing a set of embossing rollers makes it possible to use a very large variety of embossing patterns and foils with diverse properties as a basis and, by conducting tests on this very test bench, be able to efficiently narrow down and predetermine the properties of a final embossing device, preferably operated without hydraulics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures S.A.
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Publication number: 20180220698
    Abstract: In the method for applying identification features to a packing strip in order to authenticate the processed packing, the packing strip is fed in a packing line to an embossing station, where logos of all kinds and/or codes and/or a satin finish and/or fold lines are embossed at the cycle rate of the packing machine by means of embossing rollers by deforming the packing strip, Identification: features and possibly other features are produced additionally on the packing strip on-line, in the same process step, and synchronously to the cycle rate by material removal by means of a feature setup comprising a laser installation, the packing strip having a thickness of 50 ?m to 300 ?m. The thus treated packing strip is subsequently further processed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 9993895
    Abstract: In the method for structuring at least one area of a solid body surface provided with a ta-C coating, by means of a first laser, preferably an excimer laser having pulse durations in the nanosecond range, a first structure is produced upon which a second, ripple-like structure is superposed by means of a second laser, preferably having pulse durations in the femtosecond range. Preferentially, the excimer laser structuring is carried out according to the mask projection technique and the femtosecond laser structuring according to the focus technique. This method allows the rational manufacture of very complex, extremely fraud-resistant authentication features and/or of esthetically attractive, optical diffraction effective colored patterns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures SA
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Steffen Weissmantel, Günter Reisse, Andy Engel, Rene Boettcher, Werner Steffen
  • Patent number: 9939725
    Abstract: In the method for producing masks and/or diaphragms for a laser installation for the creation of microstructures on a solid body surface according to the mask projection technique, predetermined opaque surface portions which scatter the laser radiation are produced in the mask and/or diaphragm substrate by roughening and modifying the latter by means of a femtosecond, picosecond or fluor laser beam. Such masks and diaphragms have a strongly improved lifetime and accuracy and may e.g. serve for the creation of blazed gratings which, arranged in diffraction grating arrays on a solid body surface, serve for producing spectral colors and mixed colors of high brilliance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures S.A.
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Steffen Weissmantel, Günter Reisse, Andy Engel, Rene Boettcher, Werner Steffen
  • Publication number: 20170282635
    Abstract: A method for embossing optically diffracting microstructures in a thin foil, such as used to pack at least one of the list comprising food, chocolate, chewing gum, gifts, jewellery, clothes, tobacco products, pharmaceutical products, the embossing being produced with an embossing rollers set-up comprising at least one cylindrical embossing roller and a cambered counter roller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2015
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Matthias Kahl, Günter Reisse, Werner Steffen, Wolfgang Brickenkamp
  • Patent number: 9636885
    Abstract: The embossing device for embossing packaging material comprises a set of embossing rollers with male die and female die rollers co-operating with one another, the surface of which is provided with texture elements, wherein the texture elements (M6R6) on the surface of the female die roller (M6), which are assigned to the texture elements (P6E6) on the surface of the male die roller (P6) are not inversely congruent by an amount of above 15 ?m in axial and radial direction and the texture elements of the male die and female roller associated with one another comprise facets (F) for the purpose of local pressure elevation. A facet (F) comprises faces (FN), which with respect to the imaginary, continuous surface of the texture is inclined. With such facetted rollers, a very large variety of films can be embossed in an aesthetically appealing manner, wherein the films can be mainly employed in the tobacco and foodstuff industry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Boegli-Gravures S.A.
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen, Alain Droz
  • Publication number: 20160200066
    Abstract: The embossing device for embossing packaging material comprises a set of embossing rollers with male die and female die rollers co-operating with one another, the surface of which is provided with texture elements, wherein the texture elements (M6R6) on the surface of the female die roller (M6), which are assigned to the texture elements (P6E6) on the surface of the male die roller (P6) are not inversely congruent by an amount of above 15 ?m in axial and radial direction and the texture elements of the male die and female roller associated with one another comprise facets (F) for the purpose of local pressure elevation. A facet (F) comprises faces (FN), which with respect to the imaginary, continuous surface of the texture is inclined. With such facetted rollers, a very large variety of films can be embossed in an aesthetically appealing manner, wherein the films can be mainly employed in the tobacco and foodstuff industry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Inventors: Charles Boegli, Werner Steffen, Alain Droz