Documents or like articles bearing holograms

Claim 1

An article comprising a document or like supportive substrate having a surface bearing a hologram, produced by the successive steps of (a) establishing a laminate comprising a thin layer of transparent material capable of receiving a three-dimensional light-diffracting pattern, a support layer, and a heat-sensitive release layer bonding the transparent material layer to the support layer, such that a surface of the transparent material layer is exposed; (b) forming, on said exposed surface, a three-dimensional light-diffracting pattern comprising a hologram while maintaining the transparent material layer bonded to the support layer by the release layer, said exposed surface being vacuum-deposited with a reflective coating of metal and said pattern being formed in said metal as well as in said exposed surface; (c) applying, to said exposed surface, a layer of a heat-sensitive adhesive capable of providing a bond between the transparent material layer and the substrate, said transparent material layer having a shear strength less than that of said bond; (d) juxtaposing the laminate and the supportive substrate such that the adhesive layer is in contact with the substrate surface and the support layer is exposed; (e) applying heat and pressure to at least a region of the juxtaposed laminate and substrate in register with said pattern for simultaneously activating the adhesive layer and the release layer in said region to adhere the transparent material layer to the substrate surface in said region while releasing the transparent material layer from the support layer in said region; and (f) removing the support layer, together with any nonadhered portion of the transparent material layer, from the adhered transparent material layer in said region, leaving the adhered transparent material layer bearing said pattern bonded to said substrate.