Patent Application
20080032081
The above mentioned and other features of this invention and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
As seen in
The surface opposite the layer of pressure sensitive adhesive 16 is at least partially covered with a printed piece 18 such as a booklet or the like, and a laminate material 20 covers substantially all or all of the base label paper 14. The laminate material 20 is secured over the printed piece 18 and the exposed portions of the base label paper 14 by a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive 22. The printed piece 18 can be separately adhered to the base label paper 14, if desired, but it is not necessary.
The label product 10 also has a grip tab 24 in a corner portion 26 or other portion of an edge of the label product 10. The grip tab 24 is cut from the label paper 14. The adhesive layer 16 beneath the grip tab 24 is deadened in any of several known ways, such as printing a commercially available adhesive deadener on the adhesive in the portion 26.
The label product 10 can be applied to an object such as a bottle, box or other container or the like by removing the release liner 12 and applying the pressure sensitive adhesive 16 to the object. The deadened adhesive 26 does not adhere to the object, however, so the grip tab 24 can be easily lifted and pulled to remove enough laminate 20 to expose the printed piece 18. If the printed piece 18 is a booklet, the booklet can be opened and read.
A succession of label products 10 can be produced in reel form in the manner shown in
In one embodiment, the web of printed label stock material is inverted in a known manner at an inversion station 34. The release liner 12 of the inverted web is separated from the base label paper at a separation station 36, and the base label paper is fed through an adhesive deadener station 38. The adhesive deadener station 38 can take many forms, but is preferably a print station which prints the adhesive deadener portions 26 at selected locations along the base label paper. The selected portions will become grip tabs 24 for removing the laminate after adhesion of the label products on products.
As the base label paper is treated with the adhesive deadener, the release liner bypasses the adhesive deadener station 38, and is reunited with the base label paper 14 at a pair of nip rollers 40 or other location along the path of travel. The web is then inverted at a second inversion station 42.
The portions of the base label paper 14 which have deadened adhesive are die cut to form the grip tabs 24 at a die cutting station 44, without cutting through the release material or removing anything. After die cutting, the web travels to a printed piece and/or lamination applying station 46. The printed pieces are fed to the station 46 by a piece feeder 48, and a web of laminate material is provided from a reel 50. The printed piece placement is performed so that the printed pieces 18 are located in spaced relation to the selected adhesive deadened portions 24.
The label products 10 are die cut from the web at a second die cutting station 52. The laminate 20 and base label paper 14 are die-cut, usually without cutting the release liner 12. The printed pieces 18 can be flush cut along the side edges of the paper 14 if appropriate. A waste matrix of laminate and base label paper outside of the label products is produced at the die cutting station 52 and removed. The waste matrix can be wound on a reel 54, while a web of spaced label products 10 is wound onto a rewind reel 56. Of course, the label products 10 could be cut into individual labels, if desired.
While the principles of the invention have been described above in connection with specific apparatus and applications, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation on the scope of the invention.
