Patent Application
20080014418
These, as well as other objects and advantages of this invention, will be more completely understood and appreciated by referring to the following more detailed description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:
The present invention is now illustrated in greater detail by way of the following detailed description which represents the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention. However, it should be understood that this description is not to be used to limit the present invention, but rather, is provided for the purpose of illustrating the general features of the invention.
The instant specification sets forth a unique concept by which conventional corrugated type packaging material can be prepared using commercial quality imaging and business forms type processing equipment in a manner so as to enhance consumer goods packaging in order to provide a more attractive marketing package for the customer of a particular product or service.
The printing or imaging that is applied to the sheets of material that form the inner and outer surface of the packaging carton when formed will preferably have complimentary imaging relating to the consumer good that is contained within the package. The imaging or printing can be used to convey information about other related or complimentary products, upgrades or enhancements for the productions, marketing, advertising or promotional information relating to the products, or other members of the product families as well as product announcements, information and the like. In addition, the printing or imaging such as that which will be provided on the film or facing layer can be used to create gift packages such as by printing colorful patterns or designs, similar to those found on wrapping paper as well as names and gift giving occasions such as birthdays and holidays. Thus, the invention described in the instant specification can be used to create a personalized package from what was at one time considered relatively bland conventionally packaging material.
There are a number of terms used throughout the instant specification that are discussed below in cursory terms. The definitions provided are not intended to limit the scope of the invention and the information is provided for illustrative purposes.
As used herein the term “business communication” is used to refer to a printed or imaged piece, document or substrate that when used with the a laminate as described in the present invention will convey a particular message, image or provide information about a particular product or service that is available from the provider of such pieces or documents. Business communications, documents or pieces can include advertising, sales and marketing collateral and such other items used to convey information, and in connection with the present invention.
The term “intermediate” as used herein refers to a product that undergoes one or more processing steps prior to the intermediate reaching a final condition, that of being ready for end use or application. The additional processing steps may include printing, imaging, folding, forming, sealing, separating, cutting, perforating, scoring, adhering, laminating and the like. Typically, a product such as with the present invention is provided in an intermediate condition so that a user or downstream manufacturing point can add or manipulate the intermediate to create the final or desired end product, such as creating a finished carton or package by folding and shaping. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, the intermediate segment for example, could be subject to die cutting or additional printing, such as through ink jetting, over laminating, coating or embossment, and then applied to a blank for further processing, such as to create a package, carton or the like.
The term “personalized information” refers to information that is printed or imaged onto a substrate or document which is generally variable or unique and which may change from laminate to laminate so as to create a customized message or communication for each recipient. Examples of personalized information may include names, addresses, descriptions, plans, coding, numbering, promotional text, recipes based on contents, etc. that may have been acquired from the intended recipient through surveys, questionnaires or answers given to various inquiries generated in response to a request for goods or services.
The term “static or fixed” information refers to printed or imaged information that generally does not change from laminate to laminate and may include a general description or body of information about particular products, services, places, etc. that may be of interest to the intended recipient and represents a standard message that the manufacturing or supplier wishes to convey to an end user or customer of the offering.
The glossy film stock that is used in accordance with the present invention is a clear polyethylene film, such as PET, which has a thickness of less than 30 mils and preferably less than about 20 mils and still more preferably less than about 10 mils. The film layer can be laminated to the fluted layer either through the use of adhesive or alternatively by a heated roller that may shrink and seal the film directly over the surface of the intermediate layer or activate the adhesive to adhere the adhesive to the segment. The film may preferably be pre-printed with indicia using a high quality resolution imaging device, which is capable of rendering an image having a resolution of greater than about 150 lines per inch. The printing may be complimentary to the printing on the backing sheet, for example a pictorial overlay that accentuates the textual image, so as to form a complete message.
In addition, the film stock may be partially transparent or clear and partially opaque or substantially translucent. The film may be applied in a continuous fashion over the surface of the web or alternatively, the film may be cut into individual pieces or segments with each segment being sized and configured to be about the size of the intermediate laminate, a combination of the fluted layer and backing layer.
Examples of image generating or high quality printing devices that are suitable for use in practicing the invention include high resolution imaging devices such as Indigo®, available from Hewlett Packard of Palo Alto, Calif. or Karat available from KBA of Williston, Vt. Ideally, the present invention seeks to provide images on a substrate that has a resolution quality of about 150 or more lines per inch and preferably more than 300 lines per inch, which is approximately equal to about 2500 to 3500 dots per inch (“DPI”) in order to create a high quality image that is intended to be aesthetically appealing to the consumer. Other imaging equipment may of course be used depending on the sheet or web size that the equipment can efficiently handle. For example, the backing layer can be printed using conventional flexographic technology in which static or fixed printing is applied and then the substrate can be processed through an ink jet printer to add personalized information.
The system can be used to produce highly personalized textual information in addition to generating high quality, high resolution graphical images. Such textual information may include details relating to the graphics to be generated.
It has been discovered, that when the image is applied to the plastic film, the ink dots that are generated by the printing device will only flatten partially on the surface of the film and that by then over coating the printing with an opaque, pigmented material, the integrity of the dots geometry is substantially retained as the coating flows around the dots, as opposed to further flattening the dots and thus helps to retain the integrity of the dot shape. This surprisingly is different from prior art solutions, wherein a paper layer of material is applied over the dots, which further compresses the ink as well as causes some of the ink to be absorbed into the paper layer thus decreasing the level of ink dot integrity and resolution. Any absorption of the ink into the paper backing layer will likely diminish the image quality. In addition, as such images dry or cure, any bending of the packaging may cause some level of microscopic cracking of the image further contributing to the reduction in the quality of the packaging stock or material.
The ink pattern that creates the image or images is then held on the surface of the film, in a reverse format pattern, by the over coating layer. This is opposed to other substrates or coatings, where the coating and/or substrate may partially or fully absorb the ink.
It is believed, that through the practice of the present invention, the amount of the external stresses on the ink dot configuration or the circular geometry of the ink pattern can be incrementally reduced thereby enabling the ink or particular ink dot pattern to coalesce better in order to retain the image design and quality of the printed image design and permit some level of image stretch due to potential dot growth.
It is believed that when printing the ink dots on the substrate, the ink dots will flatten partially upon impact on the substrate (substantially transparent or transparent film), that is the dots will not be absorbed by the material onto which the ink is printed. The ink will remain on the surface of the substrate until cured, or until pressure is applied and the ink is otherwise absorbed. However, it is suspected that by providing an opaque coating that will surround the ink dots as opposed to a backing material that will create incremental pressure over the surface of the dots such as may occur with a sheet as is commonly accomplished in the prior art, the ink dots will remain in a partially flattened condition and be partially suspended within the opaque coating so that the surface geometry does not change and the individual ink dots are protected from further flattening.
Reference is now directed to
The intermediate layer 16 is provided with first and second faces 15 and 17 and is provided with a series of regularly occurring undulations, which consist of a series of peaks and valleys that have substantially equivalent lengths and widths. The first face 15 of the intermediate layer 16 is applied to the first face of the backing layer 12 as described above. The adhesive is preferably a permanent pressure sensitive adhesive which will prevent the layers from delaminating during subsequent forming of the package or use and handling of the package.
To the second face 17 of the intermediate layer 16 is another layer of adhesive 18 which again will preferably a permanent adhesive. Disposed over the adhesive layer 18 is a coating layer 20, which will preferably be a white pigmented layer, to create a relatively opaque backing for the image layer 22. An exemplary material suitable for this coating layer includes Phase 36 available from Arcar Graphics of West Chicago, Ill. The pigmented layer 20 is shown ranging from a lower density area 19 to a higher density area 21 (where the amount of pigment or particulate matter occurs at a greater level than the lower density level). By providing the pigmented layer 20 in a gradient that can shift in density from one portion of the image to another (a first area to a second area), the image 22 can appear to be “shaded” or “fogged” such that a portion of the image 22 in which a higher density of pigmentation appears behind will have a sharper or more distinct appearance whereas an area where a lower density is disposed, the image will appear more washed out than the area backed by the higher density pigmented portion (see
The image 22 will be printed in a reverse format (shown as a series of upside down characters “PPP”) so that the image will be visible through the face of the film or facing layer 24. The film layer 24 again has first 23 and second faces 25, with the first face receiving the image and the second face 25 appearing on the exterior of the package and which will serve as the “face” to the customer such as in a retail environment.
In
Turning now to
It will thus be seen according to the present invention a highly advantageous corrugated intermediate assembly and package formed there from has been provided. While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiment, and that many modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made thereof within the scope of the invention, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims so as to encompass all equivalent structures and products.
The inventors hereby state their intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of their invention as it pertains to any apparatus, system, method or article not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set out in the following claims.
