Patent Application
20070281137
The accompanying drawings, which are hereby incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:
a) through 2(d) are schematic side views showing one manner in which the heat-transfer label assembly of
a) and 3(b) are fragmentary label side and reverse side views, respectively, of the article of fabric labeled according to the method shown in
a) is a fragmentary top view of one embodiment of a heat-transfer label assembly constructed according to the teachings of the present invention;
b) is an enlarged transverse section view, taken along line 1-1, of the heat-transfer label assembly of
Referring now to
Assembly 101 comprises a support 103, support 103 being a flat, elongated member having a leading end 104-1, a trailing end 104-2, a top surface 104-3, a bottom surface 104-4, and a pair of sides 104-5 and 104-6. Support 103 may be a paper substrate, a polymer-coated paper substrate, or a polymer film substrate. In the present embodiment, support 103 is an elongated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, support 103 preferably being optically clear so that one can inspect the quality of printed matter on support 103 by looking at said printed matter through support 103 (from which perspective said printed matter appears as it will on the labeled article), as opposed to looking at said printed matter from the printed side of the support 103 (from which perspective said printed matter appears as the mirror image of what will appear on the labeled article). Support 103 preferably has a thickness of about 0.5-7 mil, more preferably about 0.9-3.0 mil, even more preferably about 1.4-2 mil.
Assembly 101 additionally includes a plurality of wax areas 105 printed directly onto top surface 104-3 of support 103 and spaced apart from one another at regular intervals, wax areas 105 being spaced inwardly from sides 104-5 and 104-6 of support 103 to define side margins 106-1 and 106-2. Each wax area 105 serves to facilitate the release of a label positioned thereover when said label is subjected to conditions of heat and pressure. Preferably, each wax area 105 has a dry thickness of about 3-10 microns and is formed by screen printing (preferably using a 215 mesh screen) a suitable wax composition onto support 103. An example of a suitable wax composition comprises 100 parts of HD-2120 polyurethane additive (Hauthaway Corporation, Lynn, Mass.) and 1000 parts of a composition consisting of 700 parts ME48040M2 wax emulsion (Michaelman, Cincinnati, Ohio), 300 parts PWR-25 polyester copolymer binder (Evco Research, Atlanta, Ga.), and 20 parts Tafigel PUR61 viscosity adjustment agent (Ultra Additives, Bloomfield, N.J.). The aforementioned wax composition is preferably printed to a wet thickness of about 20 microns and then allowed to dry.
Assembly 101 further includes a plurality of labels 107, each label 107 being printed on top of a corresponding wax area 105. Labels 107 may or may not be identical to one another and may include fixed information and/or variable information. In the present embodiment, each label 107 consists of an ink design layer printed directly onto a wax area 105, the ink design layer preferably having a dry thickness of about 20 microns and preferably being formed by screen printing (preferably using a 165 mesh screen) a suitable ink composition onto wax area 105. An example of an ink composition suitable for printing the aforementioned ink design layer comprises 1000 parts Geon 137 PVC resin powder (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 1400 parts butylbenzyl phthlate plasticizer, 400 parts Extra White colorant (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 38 parts Velvet Black colorant (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio). Another example of a suitable ink composition comprises 1000 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 1400 parts butylbenzyl phthlate plasticizer, 400 parts Velvet Black colorant (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 26 parts B 1214 PVC stabilizer (Baerlocher USA, Dover, Ohio). Still another example of a suitable ink composition comprises 1000 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 700 parts butylbenzyl phthlate plasticizer, 700 parts di-octyl phthalate plasticizer, 400 parts Velvet Black colorant (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 26 parts B1214 PVC stabilizer (Baerlocher USA, Dover, Ohio). It should be noted that the above-described compositions are exemplary only and that one could, for example, replace Geon 137 PVC resin with Geon 136 PVC resin and/or Geon 138 PVC resin or with PVC resins from other suppliers. Similarly, the above-described compositions could be modified by replacing plasticizers like butylbenzyl phthalate and di-octyl phthalate with one or more other plasticizers like dibutyl phthalate, di-isobutyl phthalate, diethylhexyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, di-isodecyl phthalate and di-isononyl phthalate.
Assembly 101 further includes a plurality of sensing marks 109, marks 109 being printed directly onto top surface 104-3 of support 103 at regularly spaced intervals. (In the present embodiment, marks 109 are positioned within side margin 106-1 at points corresponding to the spaces between adjacent wax areas 105; however, this placement of marks 109 is illustrative only, and marks 109 may be positioned elsewhere.) Marks 109 are not intended to be transferred from support 103 to an article, but rather, are used for registration purposes, for example, (i) by printers, such as thermal transfer printers, so that variable information may be printed, where desired, onto labels 107 and (ii) by bonders so that labels 107 may be correctly aligned with and transferred to an article. In the present embodiment, each mark 109 preferably has a dry thickness of about 20 microns and preferably is formed by screen printing (preferably using a 215 mesh screen) a suitable ink composition onto support 103. An example of an ink composition suitable for printing marks 109 comprises 1000 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 1200 parts di-octyl phthlate plasticizer, 400 parts Velvet Black colorant (Polyone Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 26 parts B1214 PVC stabilizer (Baerlocher USA, Dover, Ohio), and 78 parts Viscosity Buster viscosity adjustment agent (Eastman Chemical, Kingsport, Tenn.). It should be noted that the above-described composition is exemplary only and that one could, for example, replace Geon 137 PVC resin with Geon 136 PVC resin and/or Geon 138 PVC resin or with PVC resins from other suppliers. Similarly, the above-described composition could be modified by replacing plasticizers like butylbenzyl phthalate and di-octyl phthalate with one or more other plasticizers like dibutyl phthalate, di-isobutyl phthalate, diethylhexyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, di-isodecyl phthalate and di-isononyl phthalate.
Assembly 101 further includes corresponding pairs of spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2, spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 being printed directly onto top surface 104-3 of support 103. Each spacer bar 111-1 is positioned within margin 106-1, and each spacer bar 111-2 is positioned within margin 106-2, with each pair of spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 extending substantially the length of a wax area 105 and oriented substantially parallel thereto. Each of spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 is dimensioned to have a thickness that exceeds the combined thickness of wax area 105 and label 107 so that, when assembly 101 is wound into a roll in the customary fashion, label 107 does not come into contact with bottom surface 104-4 of an underlying portion of support 103. Accordingly, in the present embodiment, where wax area 105 and label 107 have a combined thickness of about 25-30 microns, each of spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 preferably has a thickness of about 40 microns.
Preferably, spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 are endowed with a certain degree of stiffness so as to resist compression; in this manner, the spacing between each label 107 and the bottom surface 104-4 of an underlying portion of support 103 may be maintained. In addition, spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2 preferably do not adhere to the bottom surface 104-4 of an underlying portion of support 103 and do not transfer from top surface 104-3 of support 103 to the article being labeled. An example of a composition suitable for forming spacers bars 111-1 and 111-2 comprises 3 parts di-octyl phthalate, 3 parts butylbenzyl phthalate, 11.4 parts 12000TF PA Base PVC/plasticizer mixture (Polyone, Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), 5.4 parts Geon 137 PVC resin (PolyOne Corporation, Avon Lake, Ohio), and 1.14 parts Tyzor crosslinker (DuPont, Wilmington, Del.). Such a composition may be screen printed (preferably using a 75 mesh screen) onto support 103 in a sufficient amount to produce a dry thickness of about 40 microns. It should be noted that the above-described composition is exemplary only and that one could, for example, replace Geon 137 PVC resin with Geon 136 PVC resin and/or Geon 138 PVC resin or with PVC resins from other suppliers. Similarly, the above-described composition could be modified by replacing plasticizers like butylbenzyl phthalate and di-octyl phthalate with one or more other plasticizers like dibutyl phthalate, di-isobutyl phthalate, diethylhexyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, di-isodecyl phthalate and di-isononyl phthalate.
To fabricate assembly 101, one preferably first prints spacer bars 111-1 and 111-2, then prints sensing marks 109, then prints wax areas 105, and then prints labels 107.
Assembly 101 may be used in the conventional manner to label articles. However, for the same reasons that are explained above, if a conventional bonder is used to transfer labels 107 from assembly 101 to articles of fabric, particularly dark-colored articles of fabric, an undesired die-mark may be left on the articles by the bonder.
Referring now to
Bonder 201 is similar in many respects to conventional bonder 51. More specifically, like bonder 51, bonder 201 includes a pad 53 and a motor 54. However, bonder 201 differs from bonder 51 in that (i) instead of including a die 55, bonder 201 includes a die 203 and (ii) bonder 201 additionally comprises a die-mark reduction device 205 positioned on top of pad 53.
Die 203 is similar to die 55, the principal difference between the two dies being that, whereas the footprint of die 55 is unrelated to the particular label being transferred, the footprint of die 203 corresponds generally to the footprint of the particular label being transferred, with the footprint of die 203 preferably extending about 2 mm beyond that of the label.
Die-mark reduction device 205 is a structure having a top face 206 that is contoured to provide both contact areas 207 and non-contact areas 209 within a region of an article that is sandwiched between pad 53 and die 203. In this manner, the non-contacted areas of the sandwiched region of the article do not become flattened between pad 53 and die 203. These unaffected (i.e., unflattened) areas of the article increase the amount of light scattered within the sandwiched region, thereby reducing the visibility of any die-mark formed. Die-mark reduction device 205 may be glued or otherwise secured to the top of pad 53.
Many different types of materials having an irregular surface may be used as device 205. A preferred class of materials comprises nickel retroreflective sheeting molds of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,769, inventors Pricone et al., issued Oct. 23, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,863, inventors Pricone et al., issued Oct. 20, 1992; and PCT International Publication No. WO 03/049915, published Jun. 19, 2003, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. For example, a 3 inch×2 inch×1-2 mm portion of such a nickel retroreflective sheeting mold may be used as device 205.
Referring now to
Although nickel retroreflective sheeting molds of the type discussed above are preferred materials for use as device 205, they are not the only types of materials that may be used. In general, preferred materials for use as device 205 tend to possess one or more of the following characteristics:
(1) High Non-Contact Area to Contact Area Ratio—Preferably, the ratio of non-contact area to contact area is greater than 1:1, respectively, more preferably in the range of about 1000:1 to 10:1, respectively.
(2) Depth of Non-Contact Area Relative to Contact Area—Preferably, the depth of the non-contact area relative to the contact area is sufficiently great so that, when portions of the article are pressed into the non-contact areas, these portions of the article do not contact the non-contact areas.
(3) Pitch—Where the material has a repeating pattern of contact areas and non-contact areas, the pitch of the contact areas is preferably within an order of magnitude of the pitch of a fabric article being labeled.
(4) Shape—Where the material has a repeating pattern of contact areas and non-contact areas, the non-contact areas may take the form of recesses or cells preferably having a shape, in plan view, that is triangular, square, hexagonal, rectangular or circular. Preferably, the side wall(s) of the cells have a steep gradient to inhibit contact between the walls of the cell and the article. Instead of taking the form of cells, the non-contact areas may take the form of a series of parallel lines or grooves.
(5) Male vs. Female Form—The material may take either a male form (in which case the contact areas represent protrusions from an otherwise flat, non-contacting surface) or a female form (in which case the contact areas represent a flat surface populated with non-contacting recesses). If a male form is used, the protrusions preferably do not possess sharp apices as such a shape may cause damage to the article when the protrusions are pressed against the article.
(6) Materials—Device 205 is preferably made of a material that is capable of withstanding repeated contact from die 203. In addition, device 205 is preferably made to be sufficiently flexible so that it maintains sufficient contact with die 205 over the footprint of the label to permit label transfer while, at the same time, being sufficiently resistant to compression that it maintains a desirable non-contact area to contact area ratio. Examples of materials suitable for use in making device 205 include, but are not limited to, nickel, stainless steel, metal oxides, high heat-resistant polymers, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), ceramics and minerals.
Bonder 201 may be used in a manner analogous to that described above for bonder 51. (For example, bonder 201 may be operated at a temperature of about 400° F., for a contact time of about 2 seconds at a pressure of about 40-60 psi.) However, because of the presence of device 205 in bonder 201, the visibility of any resulting die-mark will be reduced.
As can be appreciated, bonder 201 is not limited to use with assembly 101 and may be used with a wide range of heat-transfer label assemblies including assembly 11. Also, it should be understood that bonder 201 could be modified by replacing the combination of device 205 and pad 53 with a replacement pad that additionally possesses the features of device 205.
The embodiments of the present invention recited herein are intended to be merely exemplary and those skilled in the art will be able to make numerous variations and modifications to it without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.
The present application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/810,227, filed Jun. 1, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60810227 | Jun 2006 | US |
