Some situations require forms, for example, two-sided forms, to be attached to surfaces such as a window interior in such a way that the form will remain reliably in place, but still be easy to remove while leaving behind as little adhesive residue as possible. For example, The Federal Trade Commission's Used Car Rule may require Buyers Guides be attached to used cars. Car dealers may prefer to attach to the Buyers Guides to the window interiors of cars on their lots. The Buyers Guides may need to remain in place on the window even if the window is rolled up and down. Once the car is sold the Buyers Guides may need to be removed, keeping the informational portion of the Buyers Guides intact so it can be used at the closing of the sale. The window may need to be free of any adhesive residue before the buyer takes possession of the car.
Adhesives, such as various types of glue, may be applied directly to a form, for example along two opposite sides, just on the corners, or along all sides of the form. The form may then be attached to a surface. Applying adhesive to all sides of the form may reliably secure the form to the surface, but may make removal of the form difficult, for example, resulting in destruction of the form. Applying adhesive only to two opposite sides of the form, or to only the corners of the form, may make the form easier to remove, but may be less reliable at holding the form in place. For example, a form secured to a car window with adhesive on only two sides may become crumpled when the window is rolled down and back up. In either case, the adhesive used to secure the form may leave hard-to-remove residue on the surface.
Another approach may involve the use of adhesives that are not applied directly to the form itself. For example, a form may be printed onto a liner attached to an adhesive label. The form may be printed on the liner so as to leave a border of unprinted space on the liner around the form. This unprinted part of the liner may be removed, for example, through the use of kiss-cutting, exposing the portion of the adhesive label that was behind the now-removed portion of the liner. The form may then be attached to the surface using the exposed adhesive. This approach may hold the form to the surface securely, but may also leave behind hard-to-remove residue. Further, because the form is printed on liner attached to the adhesive label, the non-exposed adhesive is used only to hold the form, and not to attach the form to the surface. The result is wasted materials, as far more adhesive is devoted to holding the form to the adhesive label than to attaching the form to the surface, rendering this approach not cost-effective for any significant quantity of forms.
A third approach may make use of an adhesive label with a liner around the edges, leaving the center open. A form, such as a multi-part form, may be attached to the center of the adhesive label. The liner may then be peeled away from the edges of the label, exposing adhesive that may be used to attach the adhesive label, with the form attached to it, to a surface. The form may be held securely to the surface, but may be hard to remove. Because the form is attached directly to the adhesive label, the portion of the form attached to the adhesive may not be usable once the adhesive label is removed from the surface, meaning that to obtain one usable page, the form will have to have two pages, resulting in wasted materials.
The utility of the embodiments will be readily appreciated and understood from consideration of the following description of the embodiments when viewed in connection with the accompanying drawings.
a-3e depict front and side views of adhesive label in different states during the assembly and use of the form assembly;
a-7d depict a side view of an exemplary form assembly with a one-page form in different states during the assembly and use of the form assembly;
a-8d depict side views of an exemplary form assembly with a two-page form in different states during the assembly and use of the form assembly;
a-9d depict a side view of an exemplary form assembly with a one-page form where the page has a front side and back side in different states during the assembly and use of the form assembly;
a-10b depict side views of an exemplary form assembly being assembled with multiple pages.
Various embodiments provide a form assembly and method of manufacturing a form assembly for removably attaching a form to a surface. A form assembly for removably attaching a form to a surface may include a form including a page, the page may including a body, a first detachable stub attached to a first edge of the body by a first detachment line and a second detachable stub attached to a second edge of the body opposite the first edge by a second detachment line. The form may also include a first adhesive label including a lite-tac adhesive, attached to the first detachable stub by the lite-tac adhesive, where the lite-tac adhesive does not overlap the first detachment line, and a second adhesive label including a lite-tac adhesive, attached to the second detachable stub by the lite-tac adhesive, where the lite-tac adhesive does not overlap the second detachment line. The lite-tac adhesive of the first adhesive label and the lite-tac adhesive of the second adhesive label may be able to removably secure the form assembly to a surface.
The form 112 may be any suitable form. The form 112 may include one or more pages 111, joined together in any suitable manner. For example, the form 112 may be a one-page form, having a single page 111, or the form 112 may be a multi-page form, having multiple pages 111. If the form 112 has multiple pages 111, each page 111 may be made of a different material. For example, an exemplary multi-page form 112 may have a first exemplary page 111 of standard stock letter sized paper on which an order sheet is printed, a second exemplary page 111 that is carbon paper, and a third exemplary page 111 that is identical to the first exemplary page 111, for creating a carbon copy of the first exemplary page 111.
The page 111 may be a single sheet of any suitable size and material for use in the form 112. For example, the page 111 may be standard stock letter sized paper, carbon paper, carbon copy paper, a peel away label attached to an adhesive liner, etc. The page 111 may include a body 101, a first detachable stub 104, and a second detachable stub 105.
The body 101 of the page 111 may be the functional portion of the page 111. If the page 111 contains information, the information may be included in the body 101. The information may be written, printed, or otherwise indicated on the body 101. If the page 111 is used for making a carbon copy, then the body 101 may be carbon paper.
The first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105 may be portions of the page 111 that are detachable from the body 101. The first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105 may be attached to the body 101 by the first detachment line 106 and the second detachment line 107. The first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105 may be attached on opposite edges of the body 101. For example, if the first detachable stub 104 is attached to the top of the body 101, the second detachable stub 105 may be attached to the bottom of the body 101.
The first detachment line 106 and the second detachment line 107 may be lines spanning the width of the page 111 along which the material has been weakened, for example, through perforation or shallow cutting. The material of the page 111 may be weakened enough that a person may detach the body 101 from the first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105 with little resistance by tearing the page 111 along the first detachment line 106 and the second detachment line 107. Such a tear may occur straight along the first detachment line 106 and the second detachment line 107, creating a clean separation between the body 101 and the first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105. This may prevent jagged tears that may result from tearing material that has not been weakened, preserving the body 101 of the page 111 of the form 112 for future uses.
The first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may be adhesive labels that may be used to attach the form assembly 113 to a surface. As depicted in
The adhesive layers 109 and 110 may be made of a lite-tac adhesive applied to a non-adhesive backing. The lite-tac adhesive may be an adhesive that may attach securely to a surface while being easily removable with the application of force that pulls the adhesive directly away from the surface, i.e. a force operating perpendicular to the surface. The lite-tac adhesive may be removed from the surface by hand, requiring no special tools, soaps, chemicals or water. Attempting to remove the lite-tac adhesive from a surface with force in a different direction may require a greater amount of force, such that anything attached to a surface with a lite-tac adhesive is not susceptible to accidental removal. The lite-tac adhesive may leave behind little or no adhesive residue on a surface after being removed. For example, a Post-It note by 3M employs a lite-tac adhesive to allow small pieces of paper to be attached to surfaces, where they remain secured until pulled straight off of the surface. After the Post-It note is removed from the surface, the lite-tac adhesive leaves behind no residue. The lite-tac adhesive used in the adhesive layers 109 and 110 may be lite-tac adhesive formulated to be difficult to remove from attached paper products, but easy to remove from harder surfaces such as, for example, glass.
The liners 102 and 103 may be made from any suitable material for removably attaching to the lite-tac adhesive of the adhesive layers 109 and 110. The liners 102 and 103 may be used to protect the lite-tac adhesive of the adhesive layers 109 and 110 from environmental conditions that may adversely affect the adhesive's adherent properties, and to prevent the adhesive layers 109 and 110 from accidentally sticking to anything. Before the lite-tac adhesive is used to attach the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 to the form 112 to create the form assembly 113, and before the form assembly 113 is attached to a surface, the lite-tac may need to be protected so that, for example, dust, does not gather on the lite-tac adhesive. The liners 102 and 103 may attach to the lite-tac adhesive, preventing it from being exposed until the liners 102 and 103, or portions thereof, are removed.
In
In
In
In
In
b depicts a side view of an exemplary form assembly after the form assembly 113 is assembled. The first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may be in the state depicted and discussed above in
The exposed portion of the lite-tac adhesive may be used to attach form assembly 113 to a surface 501. The exemplary surface 501 depicted in
For example, if the first detachment line 106 and the second detachment line 107 are perforated lines, the body 101 may be removed pulling one edge of the body 101 parallel to the detachment lines 106 and 107, tearing the perforations. Because the lite-tac adhesive of the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may not overlap the first detachment line 106 and 107, the body 101 may not be attached to any lite-tac adhesive, allowing for the body 101 to be removed more easily, without removing the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 from the surface 501.
Once the body 101 has been removed from the form assembly 113, it may be used for any suitable purpose. For example, the form assembly 113 may be attached to the inside of a car window, which may include special features such as window de-fogging elements that are sensitive to aggressive adhesives and harsh cleaning methods. The form 112 may be a government-mandated Buyers Guide for the car, with the pertinent information contained on the body 101 of a single page 111 of the form 112. When a prospective customer is attempting to complete the purchase of the car, the body 101 may be removed from the form assembly 113, allowing the Buyers Guides to be used to complete the purchase of the car.
After the body 101 has been removed from the form assembly 113, the first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105 may remain attached to the lite-tac adhesive of the adhesive layers 109 and 110 of the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202. The first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may remain attached to the surface 501. The first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may be removed from the surface 501 at a later time. The lite-tac adhesive used to attach the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 to the surface may allow removal of the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 without the need for special tools, soaps, chemicals, or water. Further, the surface will not be marred or damaged in the process. For example, the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 may be removed from the surface 501 by hand, by pulling the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 off of the surface 501. The lite-tac adhesive may leave behind little or no adhesive residue once the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 have been removed from the surface 501.
In an alternative embodiment, the form 112 may have more than one page 111.
a depicts a side view of the exemplary form 112, which has two pages 111. The second page 111 may have a body 801, a first detachable stub 802 attached to the body 801 by a first detachment line 804, and a second detachable stub 803 attached to the body 801 by a second detachment line 805. The two pages 111 of the form 112 may be attached to one another through the use of adhesive glue placement applied to the pages 111. The adhesive glue placement may be, for example, a line of glue. Glue lines 806, 807, 808, and 809 may be lines of adhesive glue applied to one of the pages 111 to which the other page 111 is then attached, holding the pages 111 together. As depicted in
b depicts a side view of the first adhesive label 201 and the second adhesive label 202 attached to the exemplary form 112 to form the exemplary form assembly 113, similarly to
c depicts a side view of the exemplary form assembly 113 with the two-page form 112 attached to a surface, for example, the surface 501 depicted in
c depicts a side view of the exemplary form assembly 113 with the body 101 and the body 802 detached from the form assembly 113. The body 101 and the body 801 of the pages 111 of the exemplary form 112 may be removed from the form assembly 113 after the form assembly 113 has been attached to the surface 501. The body 101 and the body 801 may be removed from the form assembly 113 by detaching the body 101 and the body 801 from the first detachable stub 104 and the first detachable stub 802 along the first detachment line 106 and the first detachment line 804, and from the second detachable stub 105 and the second detachable stub 803 along the second detachment line 107 and the second detachment line 805. Because of the placement of the glue lines 806, 807, 808 and 809, relative to the first detachment lines 106 and 804 and the second detachment lines 107 and 805, the bodies 101 and 801 of the pages 111 may remain attached to each other by glue line 807 on the end that was near the first detachable stubs 104 and 802. The bodies 101 and 801 may be detached from each other at the end that was near the second detachable stubs 105 and 803, as the glue lines 808 and 809 were not on the bodies 101 and 801, and may remain as the attachment between the second detachable stubs 105 and 803 after the bodies 101 and 801 are detached. This may allow the pages 111 to be used after detachment as a two-page form joined at the top.
In alternative embodiments, there may be any number of pages 111 in the form 112, and the pages 111 may be placed in any suitable order and joined together in any suitable manner, based on the purpose of the form 112 and the form assembly 113.
In another alternative embodiment, the page 111 may have a front side and a back side.
a-10b depict side views of an exemplary form assembly being assembled with multiple pages.
In
The body 101 may include a third detachable stub 1101. The third detachable stub 1101 may be a portion of the page 111 that may be detachable from the body 101. The third detachable stub 110 may be attached to the body 101 by a third detachment line 1102. The third detachable stub 1101 may be attached to the body 101 on a different edge of the body than the first detachable stub 104 and the second detachable stub 105. For example, if the first detachable stub 104 is attached to the top of the body 101 and the second detachable stub 105 is attached to the bottom of the body 101, the third detachable stub 1101 may be attached to the side of the body 101.
The third detachment line 1102 may be a line spanning the width or length of the page 111 along which the material has been weakened, for example, through perforation or shallow cutting. The material of the page 111 may be weakened enough that a person may detach the body 101 from the first detachable stub 104, the second detachable stub 105, and the third detachable stub 1101 with little resistance by tearing the page 111 along the first detachment line 106, the second detachment line 107, and the third detachment 1102. Such a tear may occur straight along the first detachment line 106, the second detachment line 107, and the third detachment line 1102, creating a clean separation between the body 101 and the first detachable stub 104, the second detachable stub 105, and the third detachable stub 1101. This may prevent jagged tears that may result from tearing material that has not been weakened, preserving the body 101 of the page 111 of the form 112 for future uses.
The third adhesive label 1104 may be an adhesive label that may be used to attach the form assembly 113 to a surface. As depicted in
The liners 1103 may be made from any suitable material for removably attaching to the lite-tac adhesive of the adhesive layer 1106. The liners 1103 may be used to protect the lite-tac adhesive of the adhesive layer 1106 from environmental conditions that may adversely affect the adhesive's adherent properties, and to prevent the adhesive layer 1106 from accidentally sticking to anything. Before the lite-tac adhesive is used to attach the third adhesive label 1101 to the form 112, and before the form assembly 113 is attached to a surface, the lite-tac may need to be protected so that, for example, dust, does not gather on the lite-tac adhesive. The liner 1103 may attach to the lite-tac adhesive, preventing it from being exposed until the liner 1103, or a portion thereof, is removed.
b depicts a side view of an exemplary form assembly with a second page that does not include a first detachable stub and a second detachable stub. The additional page 111 in
It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the embodiments have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present embodiments, while eliminating, for purposes of clarity, other elements. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, however, that these and other elements may be desirable. However, because such elements are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present embodiments, a discussion of such elements is not provided herein. It should be appreciated that the figures are presented for illustrative purposes and not as construction drawings. Omitted details and modifications or alternative embodiments are within the purview of persons of ordinary skill in the art.
It can be appreciated that, in certain aspects of the present embodiments, a single component may be replaced by multiple components, and multiple components may be replaced by a single component, to provide an element or structure or to perform a given function or functions. Except where such substitution would not be operative to practice certain embodiments of the present embodiments such substitution is considered within the scope of the present embodiments.
The examples presented herein are intended to illustrate potential and specific implementations of the present embodiments. It can be appreciated that the examples are intended primarily for purposes of illustration of the embodiments for those skilled in the art. The diagrams depicted herein are provided by way of example. There may be variations to these diagrams or the operations described herein without departing from the spirit of the embodiments. For instance, in certain cases, method steps or operations may be performed or executed in differing order, or operations may be added, deleted or modified.
Furthermore, whereas particular embodiments have been described herein for the purpose of illustrating the embodiments the and not for the purpose of limiting the same, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous variations of the details, materials and arrangement of elements, steps, structures, and/or parts may be made within the principle and scope of the embodiments without departing from the embodiments as described in the following claims.
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