Patent Grant
8573276
The present application is a National Stage Application claiming the priority of co-pending PCT Application No. PCT/GB2006/000226 filed Jan. 23, 2006, which in turn, claims priority from Great Britain Application Serial No. GB 0501369.3, filed Jan. 22, 2005. Applicants claim the benefits of 35 U.S.C. §120 as to the PCT application and priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 as to the said Great Britain application, and the entire disclosures of both applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The invention to which this application relates is a label and apparatus for the formation and application of the label, said label representing an improvement on labels of the conventional form and said apparatus providing an efficient and effective manner by which to form and apply said labels to articles.
For many years the provision of a layer of adhesive which allows the labels to be applied to an article has meant that the labels, prior to application on the article, are required to be positioned on a backing layer. When the label is to be applied, the same is removed from the backing layer and applied to the article. However this form of apparatus and process limits the possible uses for the label applications and also causes wastage of material because of the provision of the backing layer which is discarded after the application of the label.
The applicant, in their patent GB2405396, discloses an apparatus for dispensing a label from a web of labels onto an article by utilising a beak which serves to present the label to the article and allow initial contact between the article and label so as to cause the breakage of a number of contact points or bridges between the said label and the web, hence allowing the label to be removed from the web and applied to the article. This arrangement allows the label to be provided as part of a web without the need for a backing layer.
The aim of the present invention is to provide improvements to the apparatus for dispensing labels without backing layers, also described as linerless labels, and the labels.
In a first aspect of the invention there is provided a series of labels, said labels formed from a substrate, each of said labels having an ink pattern printed on at least one face, a layer of release material applied to at least part of a first face of the label, and a layer of adhesive applied to at least part of the first and/or a second face of the label, at least part of the periphery of the labels is defined by a discontinuous cut line applied through the substrate, said discontinuities in the cut line defining at least one bridge portion, to be broken to allow the release of the label from extraneous substrate and wherein the said labels in the series each have at least one with an adjacent label which allows the same to be retained in a joined relationship until one of the labels is removed and adhered to an article.
In one embodiment the adjacent labels are retained in contact by the at least one bridge portion after any extraneous substrate has been removed. In one embodiment a series of bridge portions attach adjacent labels to each other.
In one embodiment the series of labels are moved into a roll whereupon the labels can be subsequently separated for selective application to an article.
In one embodiment a layer of adhesive is applied to at least a portion of the first face of each label and the remainder of that face has no adhesive, or a second type of adhesive having a different characteristic to the first adhesive thereto. In one embodiment the first adhesive is more permanent or less peelable than the second adhesive.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for dispensing a series of labels in sequence onto one or more articles, said apparatus including a holder for a roll of labels, formed as a substrate, feed means to allow the free end of said substrate to be fed to a dispensing applicator to expose the forward end of the foremost label to contact with an article to which the label is to be applied, feed means to move said article and wherein guide means are provided to guide said label free end into contact and adherence with said article, and subsequent movement of the article with the free end of the label applied thereto causes the reminder of that label to be torn from the substrate and apply to the article, said tear occurring of bridge portions formed along a line of weakening formed between adjacent labels and/or a label and extraneous substrate material.
In one embodiment the apparatus includes a blade positioned so as to contact the substrate at or adjacent the line of weakening between the label being applied to the article and the remainder of the substrate to encourage the break to occur.
In one embodiment the blade is fixed in position. Alternatively the blade is movable towards and away from the substrate in a reciprocal manner and the movement is timed such that the blade contacts the line of weakening at the time when tearing of the same is required.
In one embodiment the substrate is positioned on a belt and fed to the applicator via the driven belt.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of forming a series of labels, said method comprising the steps of feeding a substrate strip, feeding the substrate to a station to cut a discontinuous line at each label location, said line defining the periphery of the label and said discontinuities forming bridge portions retaining the label with the substrate and/or adjacent labels, applying a release layer of material onto at least part of one face of the label, applying a layer of adhesive over the release layer and/or on the opposing face of the label and wherein the substrate strip passes an ink printing station to allow an ink pattern to be applied thereto.
In one embodiment the substrate is subsequently fed to an applicator which allows the bridge portions to be broken to release each label from the extraneous substrate and/or further labels in sequence.
In one embodiment the ink is applied prior to applying the layer of adhesive.
In one embodiment, the substrate is subsequently fed to a station at which the labels are separated from the surrounding substrate but remain in contact with adjacent labels and are then wound into a roll of labels with the surrounding substrate discarded. In this embodiment adjacent labels are joined by bridge portions along a discontinuous line and they are broken when the labels are subsequently removed from the roll to be applied to the article so as to separate each of the labels.
In whichever form, in one embodiment, each adjacent label is applied to successive articles. In an alternative embodiment the labels are provided in groups such that for example, first and second adjacent labels form a group to be applied to the same article, the next two labels form a group to be applied to the next article and so on. In this embodiment the ink pattern printed to one label compared to the other in the group may be 180 degrees opposed so as to aid the subsequent application of the label group to the article.
In one embodiment the layer of adhesive is applied over the release layer and when the labels are subsequently provided in a roll and/or during subsequent unrolling the adhesive layer separates from the release layer and applies to the face of a label lying in contact therewith and which face does not have a release layer applied thereto.
In one embodiment the layer of release material and/or adhesive is applied in register with the periphery of the label, either lying within the area defined by the periphery or overlapping the same by a controllable extent.
In one embodiment the release layer and/or adhesive material can be applied in a patterned form and, in a preferred embodiment, when applied in a patterned form, the pattern is in register with the ink pattern which has been applied to the label.
In one embodiment, and of particular benefit when the label is to be used to have variable data to be printed on a portion thereof, the portion on which the variable data is to be printed does not have a release layer material applied thereto. This therefore means that if for example the substrate is thermal paper impregnated at a particular portion with ink which reacts to heat, the lack of a release layer material at the said portion allows the thermal printing of the variable data to be achieved by heat activating the ink using existing apparatus.
The type of adhesive which is used can be selected to suit subsequent usage requirements of the label in terms of the type of article to which the labels are to be applied, the subsequent use of the articles and so on. Also the weight and depth of the coating can be adjusted using controllable parameters, such as for example, if anilux rollers are used to apply the adhesive the cell size of the rollers can be adjusted to suit requirement.
In one embodiment the inks which are used in the printing process are water based inks and a layer of varnish is applied over the ink to seal the same.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a label with a layer of adhesive of a particular type applied to a portion of the label face and the remainder of the label face has no adhesive or adhesive having a different characteristic to the first type applied thereto.
In one embodiment the first type of adhesive is more permanent or less peelable from an article than the second type of adhesive.
In one embodiment the portion of the face of the label which has no adhesive, or a more peelable adhesive has located therewith a further substrate portion. In one embodiment the further portion is at least partially separable from the host label. In one embodiment the separation is achieved by the provision of perforations. The further substrate portion can be folded, for example folded concertina style, and can be extended out to allow further information to be viewed when the same is at least partially released from the host label.
In one embodiment the host label and additional substrate, in combination, form an RFID tag, with the circuitry provided as part of the additional substrate.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of forming a series of labels, said method comprising the steps of feeding a substrate strip to a station to cut a discontinuous line at each label location, said line defining at least part of the periphery of the label and said discontinuities forming bridge portions retaining the label with extraneous substrate and/or adjacent labels, applying a release layer of material onto at least part of one face of the label, applying a layer of adhesive over the release layer and/or at least part of the opposing face of the label and wherein a printing step is performed on at least one face of the substrate to apply ink said ink being viewable through the label once applied to an article.
In one embodiment the substrate is transparent and the ink is applied in the printing step onto a face of the label prior to the application of adhesive thereover. In this case the printing can be viewed through the transparent substrate and so, when the label is applied to an article, the ink is protected from damage by the substrate of the label.
In a yet further aspect of the invention there is provided a method for the separation of a label from a strip of a series of labels for subsequent application to an article, said method including the steps of forming a series of labels in a linear relationship, an edge of each label defined by a discontinuous line, said discontinuities formed by bridge portions and a free end of the foremost label forming the free end of the strip is placed in contact and adherence with an article to which the same is to be applied and wherein subsequent relative movement between the article and the label breaks the bridge portions with the adjacent label, thereby freeing the label from the adjacent label and allowing adherence of the said label with the article.
Typically this process is repeated for each of the labels in synchronisation with the movement of the articles.
In one embodiment the relative movement of the article and label is achieved by controlling the speed of movement of the label feed and the article feed such that there is variation between the same for sufficient time to generate breaking force for the contact point. In a preferred embodiment the speed of movement of the articles is greater than the feed speed of the label, at least for a sufficient time period to achieve the required instant of separation of each label from the series of labels.
In addition or alternatively, the direction of movement of the articles is not in line or parallel with the direction of feed of the labels. Typically the degree of offset between the label feed path and articles path is sufficiently large so as to create a tearing action on the point of contact between the labels once the free end of the label has adhered to the article but is sufficiently small so as to ensure that the label is applied uniformly onto the surface of the article and no creasing of the label is caused when the same is on the article.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of printing and forming labels from a web of material, said method including the steps of applying ink using a digital printing process and then forming the periphery of said labels by die cutting the substrate at intervals therealong, said die cutting forming a discontinuous line with bridge portions retaining the labels in contact with the web.
As the printing and die cutting is performed in line the system is particularly useful for multi label designs on relatively short runs and the cutter profiles can be altered to suit laser die cutting with bridge portions. Thus the cutter profile can be altered for each label design run without the need for cutter forms to be prepared.
In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of printing and forming labels from a web of material, said method including the steps of applying ink to the label, forming the periphery of each of said labels by die cutting the substrate at intervals therealong in a patterned manner, said die cutting forming a discontinuous line with bridge portions to retain the labels in contact with the substrate and/or adjacent labels and wherein a layer of laminate is applied to at least one side of the series of labels and wherein data is applied through the laminate and onto the substrate via a laser.
In a further aspect there is provided a method of printing and forming labels in conjunction with an article to which the label is to be applied, said method including the steps of applying ink to at least one surface of said label, applying said label to wrap around at least a portion of said article, said label having leading and trailing edges which are joined by respective side edges, said leading and trailing edges overlapping or being positioned adjacent thereto once the label is wrapped around the said article and wherein heat is applied to the side edge portions to cause the substrate from which the label is formed to wrap around the edges of the article and hence engage the label with the article.
In one embodiment, the surface of the label opposing that to which the ink is applied, has a layer of adhesive thereon at the time of applying the label to the article.
In one embodiment, portions of the label depending inwardly from the said side edges do not have ink applied thereto and it is these portions to which heat is applied.
In one embodiment, the article to which the label is applied is substantially cylindrical such as, for example, a battery, a bottle, a portion of the bottle or the like.
In one embodiment, the label has a perforated line formed intermediate the side edges of the same and running substantially parallel therewith, said perforated line acting as a release means once the label has been applied to the article and therefore acting as a tamper evident indicator.
Typically, the label of this type is formed in accordance with any of the methods and utilising any of the apparatus as already hereinbefore described.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for the forming of labels and the application of the same to articles, said apparatus including a holder for sheet material, feed means for moving a free end of said sheet material to cutting means, said cutting means including a die and anvil to form labels from the sheet material and wherein there is provided a transfer means leading from the cutting means on which said labels are moved to an application point at which the foremost label is applied to an article to adhere thereto and remove the remainder of the label from the transfer belt and into adherence with the article.
In one embodiment a guide roller is provided at the point of application to ensure the application of the label onto the article. Typically the articles are being fed to the application point in succession so as to allow register between the labels and the articles to be achieved.
In one embodiment the successive labels are separated at the time of cutting or alternatively the abutting edges of the labels remain joined together via at least one bridging portion, said portion broken to release the label when applied to the article.
In one embodiment the apparatus includes a further transfer belt, said transfer belt located downstream of the first transfer means and control means are provided to selectively allow the passage of labels from the first transfer belt to the said further transfer belt. In this embodiment the application point is formed on the said further transfer belt.
In one embodiment the apparatus includes a printing station located so as to apply printing to labels when positioned on the transfer belt and the said printing station allows the application of material which is specific to individual articles to which the labels are to be applied.
Specific embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;
a and b illustrate a roll of labels formed in accordance with the method of
a and b illustrate labels formed in groups for application to an article;
a and b illustrate methods for separating labels when applying the same to articles;
a and b illustrate further embodiments of the invention;
a-c illustrate an embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention; and
a-f illustrate a further embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention.
Referring firstly to
It should be appreciated that although in this case the label is described with the selected application of adhesive on the rear face, the same procedure can be followed to allow the selective application of an adhesive portion 14″ on the front face so that the label 16 can be peelably removed from the front face of the label 2. It should therefore be appreciated that
Turning now to
Initially, a roll 20 of the label substrate, such as paper or filmic sheet material, is unwound and fed in the direction of arrow 22 towards a first station 24. This station is provided to allow the application of ink onto the substrate to form the printing on the label as indicated by arrow 26. Any suitable printing type can be used such as flexible, rotary litho, screen, rotary gravure or the like. Equally, water-based ink can be used if required. The printing is applied at intervals along the substrate 28 as the same passes the station 24 such that a printed portion is applied for each label which is formed in a spaced configuration. The substrate 28 then passes to the station 30 which is provided with cutting means so as to apply a cutting operation on the substrate as indicated by arrow 32 and form the periphery of each of the labels along the substrate.
In one embodiment, and as indicated by 34, the excess substrate material can be discarded at this stage and all that then progresses to the next station 36 is a substrate of labels. In this case, adjacent labels are held in mutual contact at their adjacent edges as the cutting station 30 does not perform a total cut but rather cuts a discontinuous or weakening line leaving at least one bridging portion which bridges and hence keeps joined, the abutting edges of adjacent labels on the substrate. In one embodiment, the bridging portions are preferred to be as small as possible and may for example be at a frequency of 20 per inch and applied 5/1,000″ wide.
With the label substrates formed but held together by the bridging portions, the substrate 28 passes to the station 36 which is provided with means to apply a release layer, typically over the printed face of each of the substrate labels. The substrate 28 then passes onto stations 38A and 38B. Depending on the particular method being followed in each instance, station 38A and/or 38B can be used to apply a layer of adhesive onto the substrate. In one embodiment, the layer of adhesive can be applied by station 38A over the release layer applied at station 36 or alternatively, station 38B can be used to apply a layer of adhesive on the opposing face of the substrate. In a further embodiment, both stations 38A and 38B can be used to apply adhesive layers as a uniform layer or in a pattern.
With the various stages completed for forming the labels, the substrate can then proceed to application means to allow the labels to be separated and applied to articles or alternatively, and perhaps more typically, the labels substrate is coiled into a roll such that the roll can then subsequently be transferred to apparatus for application of the labels then required. Typically the roll of labels will be formed at a different location than where they are to be applied.
Turning now to
b illustrates a cross sectional view along X-X through the outer and penultimate outer layers of the roll. Thus, there is shown, the label 44 and a label 58 which underlies the same in the roll. With regard to each label, there is provided on the front face 60, a printing layer 62 and a release layer 64. Intermediate the release layer 64 of the label 58, and the underface 66 of the label 44, is provided a layer of adhesive 68. In one embodiment, this layer of adhesive, during the method depicted in
Turning now to
The labels 102′ and 102″ in each group are provided to be attached to different locations on an article 106 as shown in
A further feature of the improvements herein described is the manner in which the label can be removed from the label substrate at the time of application to an article and
In the applicant's previously mentioned patent, there is described the use of a beak or point by which to cause separation or breaking of the bridging portions between abutting edges of adjacent labels on the substrate and it is envisaged that this process can still be used in conjunction with the improvements herein described.
In
In accordance with the method illustrated in
An alternative method and apparatus is illustrated in
It is envisaged that either or both of these methods of
Referring now to
Adjacent one or both of the side edges there are provided portions of the label 316 which depend inwardly from one or both of the side edges 306, 308 and on these portions, heat is applied so as to cause the same to shrink in size and as they do so, wrap around an edge or lip or other protrusion on the article and thereby engage the label to the article. For a battery therefore this provides an effective display label for the same.
In a further modification, one or more perforated lines 320 can be provided to run substantially parallel with the side edges of the labels as illustrated in
Referring now to FIG. 9-c there is shown apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the invention for applying labels principally of the linerless type as previously described. The apparatus includes a holder 402 for a roll of labels 404 of the type previously described. The roll of labels has a free end 406 which is fed from the roll 404 via a feed means comprising a roller 408 and a belt 410 which is driven via driven roller 12. The belt 10 passes around an applicator end 14 also referred to as a “beak”. The belt can be formed of a material to which the adhesive applied to the labels substrate 416 does not adhere and so the label surface 418 to which the adhesive is applied can be positioned to contact the belt as shown. The label substrate passes to the beak 414 under guide roller 420 and the free end 406 continues in the direction 422 to contact an article 424 which is being moved, in this case in direction 426 in
The free end 406 of the label 428 contacts the moving article 424 and is pressed onto the same by the roller 430. As the article continues to move, the feed for the labels can be slowed or stopped momentarily so that a breaking force is applied by the label end 406 which is adhered to the moving article which moves with the article, on a discontinuous line 432 which joins the same to the following label 428′.
The force created is such as to cause the bridge portions of this line 432 to break and hence the whole label is then applied to the article. The next label 428′ on the roll then forms the free end to be applied to the next article, the feed of the labels is restarted and the application process repeated for the next label and article and so on. As shown, in addition to the movement force, a blade 434 with an edge 436 is positioned to contact, with the weakened line 432, so as to encourage the weakened line bridge portions to shear and hence allow the label 428 to separate from label 428′ along line 432 and so adhere fully to the article 424 and move off with the article. This procedure is followed for successive labels and articles respectively as they are fed into the appropriate position for the application of the label.
A further embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention is illustrated with reference to
Referring firstly to
Turning now to
In
Using a magnetic cylinder, 514 and flexible die and servo drives for the same the magnetic cutter cylinder 514 can be a fixed diameter which need not be changed to suit the step and repeat of the cutter profile. A single cutter around part of the magnetic die would stay in register to the print using a “dance roller” (not shown) to index the material to the cutter.
Turning now to
A laser cutter (not shown) can also be placed onto this transfer conveyor eliminating the need for a flexible cutter. In some applications security cuts are required as shown in
f shows a further embodiment of the apparatus described in
Thus the apparatus allows, the cutting of labels 516 and transfer via at least one transfer belt 518 to the point of application 534 and onto articles 520 in a predicted and registered manner thereby allowing the application of variable printing and/or substrates and/or further cutting to be achieved in a predictable manner.
It should therefore be appreciated that the labels and method of forming the same as herein described provide many potential advantages and many potential uses.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0501369.3 | Jan 2005 | GB | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/GB2006/000226 | 1/23/2006 | WO | 00 | 5/6/2008 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2006/077434 | 7/27/2006 | WO | A |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080307686 A1 | Dec 2008 | US |
