BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a supplemental label according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the supplemental label of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a slightly exploded side view of the supplemental label of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the supplemental label of FIG. 1 coupled to a shelf.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a sheet of the supplemental labels of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment.
FIG. 6 is an exploded view of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a diagram representing a manufacturing process according to an embodiment for creating the supplemental label of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a supplemental label 110 having a presentation portion 112 and a coupling portion 115. The presentation portion 112 has top and bottom ends 112a, 112b and opposed sides 112c, 112d. While the ends and sides 112a, 112b, 112c, 112d of the presentation portion 112 are shown to collectively be generally rectangular, non-rectangular configurations may alternately be defined.
The presentation portion 112 further includes a front face 113a (FIG. 1) and a rear face 113b (FIG. 2). The front face 113a may include indicia 114 that may be generic (e.g., “sale”) and/or specifically tailored. The presentation portion 112 is shown including a single layer of material 111 (e.g., paper, card stock, etc.), though additional layers may be included.
Two sheets of transparent laminate 119 are shown encasing the presentation portion 112 and defining the coupling portion 15 (FIG. 3). Each sheet of transparent laminate 119 has an inner face 119a, and each inner face 119a has an adhesive 117 (e.g., a transparent pressure-sensitive adhesive) that is used to couple the sheets of transparent laminate 119 to each other and the material 111. The coupling portion 115 is depicted to have top and bottom ends 115a, 115b and opposed sides 115c, 115d. While the ends and sides 115a, 115b, 115c, 115d of the coupling portion 115 are shown to collectively be generally rectangular and the coupling portion 115 is shown to have a width that is approximately equal to a width of the presentation portion 112, non-rectangular configurations and/or other widths may alternately be defined. As shown throughout the drawings, the coupling portion sides 115c, 115d may be unbounded beyond the presentation portion end 112a. In other words, it is not necessary to provide a border around the coupling portion sides 115c, 115d, though such a border may be used.
The coupling portion 115 has a front face 116a (FIG. 1) and a rear face 116b (FIG. 2), and the rear face 116b has adhesive 120 (i.e., a transparent pressure-sensitive adhesive) that may be used to couple the coupling portion 115 to an object. The adhesive 120 may entirely cover the coupling portion rear face 116b or may define a strip (or any appropriate configuration) that only partially covers the coupling portion rear face 116b. FIG. 4 shows the adhesive 120 coupling the coupling portion 115 to a store shelf 30 over another label 32. A liner or backing 122 having a release material (e.g., a silicone release, etc.) or otherwise being easily separable from adhesive bonds may be coupled to the adhesive 120 to selectively conceal and expose the adhesive 120, as shown in FIG. 3.
FIGS. 5 through 7 show a sheet 500 of the supplemental labels 110 according to an embodiment. The sheet 500 may be 8½ inches by 11 inches or any other appropriate size. The sheet 500 includes a first layer 510 of the transparent laminate 119. A sheet 520 of the material 111 (e.g., paper, card stock, etc.) is atop the first layer 510 of laminate 119 and is coupled to the laminate 119 by the adhesive 117 on the inner face 119a of the laminate 119. Multiple sheets 520 of the material 111 may be spaced along the first layer 510 of the laminate 119. A second layer 530 of the transparent laminate 119 is atop the sheet(s) 520 and the first layer 510 with the inner face 119a facing the first layer 510 and the sheet(s) 520. The second layer 530 is coupled to the first layer 510 and the sheet(s) 520 by the adhesive 117 on the inner face 119a of the second layer 530 and the adhesive 117 on the inner face 119a of the first layer 510. The strip of transparent adhesive 120 extends along the first layer 510 opposite the sheet 520 where the first and second layers 510, 530 of the transparent laminate 119 are coupled directly together (i.e., coupled together without separation by the material 111), and the backing 122 is coupled to the adhesive 120 to temporarily conceal the adhesive 120. A plurality of the supplemental labels 110 are distinctly defined by the described composition, such as through a cutting step as discussed further below, and each supplemental label 110 may be easily separated from each other supplemental label 110.
FIG. 8 shows a manufacturing process 800 according to an embodiment that may be used to create the sheets 500 of the supplemental labels 110. At a first station 801, indicia may be printed upon the material 111, such as through a laser printer, a dot-matrix printer, or another printing device. The material 111 may be provided as one or more roll 802 capable of being separated into many sheets 520, or sheets 520 of the material 111 may be used. As the transparent laminate 119 may provide a surface that cannot be easily or economically printed upon, it may be important to print all desired indicia on the material 111 at station 801 or at least before the material 111 is introduced to the laminate 119 as described below. In other words, the indicia may be printed on the material 111 in a process separate from (and prior to) process 800.
At a station 804, a cutting tool 804a may cut the material 111 and a vacuum 804b or another suitable device may then separate and remove the cut material from the remainder of the material 111. This may provide the spacing between the material 111 (i.e., at the coupling portions 115) as discussed above.
At a station 806, the first and second layers 510, 530 of the transparent laminate 119 may be coupled to the material 111 using the adhesive 117 and conventional press equipment (e.g., rollers 805). The transparent laminate 119 may be provided as rolls 803, for example. The laminate 119 may be coupled to the material 111 so that the material 111 is spaced along the laminate 119 to maintain the spacing between the material 111 (i.e., at the coupling portions 115).
At a station 809, the transparent adhesive 120 and the backing 122 may be introduced to the first layer 510 of the transparent laminate 119. Conventional press equipment, such as rollers 810, may be used in coupling the adhesive 120 and the backing 122 to the laminate 119. The backing 122 and the adhesive 120 may be coupled to the first layer 510 of laminate 119 in a single step as shown in FIG. 8, or through multiple steps. The adhesive 120 and the backing 122 may be coupled to the laminate 119 at the spacing between the material 111 (i.e., at the coupling portions 115).
At a station 812, a cutting tool may cut through the material 111, the clear laminate 119, the adhesive 120, and the backing 122 to define a plurality of the supplemental labels 110 so that the individual supplemental labels 110 can be separated from one another. If the material 111, the transparent laminate 119, and/or the backing 122 is provided in rolls, the cutting tool at station 812 or another cutting tool (not shown) may separate the material 111, the laminate 119, the adhesive 120, and the backing 122 into the sheets 500 of the supplemental labels 110.
Returning to FIG. 4, a respective supplemental label 110 may be separated from a respective sheet 500 (FIG. 5) and coupled to the store shelf 30 over the other label 32 using the adhesive 120 exposed by removing the backing 122. Because of the transparency of the coupling portion 115 (i.e., the clear laminate 119 and the adhesive 120), the other label 32 may still be viewed. Because the other label 32 may still be viewed, a customer can easily make comparisons between information on the supplemental label 110 and the other label 32, and there is no need for a product's barcode or other static data to be printed on the supplemental label 110. For example, a customer may see an original price on the other label 32 and a sale price on the supplemental label 110 and feel confident that the price has been lowered. Once the supplemental label 110 is no longer needed (e.g., a sale is over), the supplemental label 110 may be separated from the shelf 30 and leave and the other label 32 intact. To do this, it is important that the adhesive 120 is not too aggressive. However, the adhesive 120 must be strong enough to couple the transparent laminate 119 to the shelf 30 as desired. Perforations 129 may be included generally between the coupling portion 115 and the presentation portion 112 as shown in FIG. 4 to allow the presentation portion 112 to be separated from the coupling portion 115. As such, the presentation portion 112 may be separated from the coupling portion 115 and the shelf 30, and the coupling portion 115 may remain over the other label 32.
Those skilled in the art appreciate that variations from the specified embodiments disclosed above are contemplated herein and that the described embodiments are not limiting. The description should not be restricted to the above embodiments, but should be measured by the following claims.
Patent Application
20080095963
