GB2062576A - Label and methods for making it - Google Patents

Abstract

A label comprises a bottom sheet 10 on which are superimposed a number of further sheets 11, 12. These sheets are all adhered together at edges 14, 15. The upper sheets 11, 12 are provided with parallel lines of weakening 16, 17 defining a removable central portion 18. Mutually facing faces of the sheets are provided with pressure-rupturable microcapsule coatings so that a mark made on the top sheet with sufficient pressure is reproduced on the sheets below. The underside of the bottom sheet 10 is provided with a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive. Thus, the label can be adhered to goods in production, and the top sheets 11, 12 can be removed for record keeping purposes. The upper sheets 11, 12 may be provided with a truncated carrier. Such labels may be made into a stack removably adhered together at the edges 15. The labels may be made by applying adhesive to an edge of a stack of sheets and cutting the stack along median lines at right angles to one another. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Label and methods for making it This invention relates to the labelling of goods.

In the manufacturing industry, goods which have been produced generally need to be labelled, e.g. prior to storage, so that they can be properly identified later. Self-adhesive labels have been used for this purpose. However, one or more copies of the label may be required or desired as a record, and to enable the goods to be subsequently located. To this end, it is known to provide a label in the form of a set of superimposed sheets, provided with coatings which enable writing on the top sheet to copy through onto the sheets below, the label being tied onto the goods and the top sheet or sheets removed for record purposes.

The present invention provides a composite label, comprising a set of superimposed sheets in which a mark applied with sufficient pressure to the top sheet will be reproduced on the sheet or sheets below, the bottom sheet having an adhesive coating on its under-surface, said sheets being secured together along one edge and preferably along two opposite edges. Preferably, the sheet or sheets above the bottom sheet having a line or lines of weakening defining a portion on which said marks can be made and which can be removed by tearing along the line of weakening.

Preferably the lines of weakening extend generally parallel to said opposite edges to define a central said portion extending the full length of the label. The sheet or sheets above the bottom sheet may be provided with a truncated corner.

When there are two or more such sheets with truncated corners, the extent of truncation is preferably greater the more remote the sheet is from the bottom sheet, so that portions of all the sheets are exposed in the truncated corner region.

A stack of such labels can be formed, edges of the labels being secured together. Preferably, opposite edges of the sheets are secured to corresponding edges of sheets in the same label but not in other labels.

In one method of making such a stack, a stack of collated sheets, in area corresponding to a multiple of the label size, has adhesive applied to two opposite sides of the stack at which the edges of the sheets are exposed, the stack is then separated into sets of sheets each set corresponding to the sheets required in a label, and the separated sets reassembled into a similar stack which is then cut along a median line parallel to the adhered edges, and optionally along one or more lines at right-angles thereto, and the stack portions thus formed have further adhesive applied to the side opposite said adhered edges, thereby forming a stack of labels in which the labels are removably secured together at one edge of said further adhesive, and the opposite edges carry adhesive which secures together the sheets within each set forming a label but does not secure together adjacent labels.

In another method of making a stack of the present invention, a stack of collated sets of sheets representing a stack of labels has adhesive applied to one side to secure all the sheets together at one edge, and adhesive applied to the opposite side to secure together at that edge the sheets within each label while leaving the adjacent labels separate at that edge, this being achieved either by applying a reiease coating to marginal portions of sheets on surfaces which are to remain separate, or more preferably by applying to marginal portions of sheets on surfaces which are to be adhered one component of a two part adhesive, the other component being applied all over said opposite side of the stack so that it reacts with said one component to form an adhesive securing together the sheets within each label.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Fig. 1 shows a label, Fig. 2 shows the top of a stack of collated sheets, and Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a stack of labels.

Referring to the drawings, and firstly to Fig. 1, the label comprises a rectangular bottom sheet 10, on which are superimposed a number of further sheets (in this case two further sheets 11, 12; although there could be one or more than two such further sheets). The sheets 11, 12 are truncated at one corner 13, the sheet 12 being more truncated than the sheet 11, so that a portion of the sheet 11 is exposed, as shown. All the sheets 10, 11, 12 are secured together by adhesive 14, 15 along two opposite edges. Two lines of weakening 16, 17, e.g. perforations, are formed in the sheets 11, 12 close to and parallel to the adhered edges 14, 15, defining a central portion 18 of these sheets.The sheets 10, 11, 12 are provided on the mutually facing faces with complementary coatings which allow a mark applied to the top sheet 12 with sufficient pressure to copy through on the sheets 11, 10 below. Such coatings are well known in the art, one such coating comprising pressure-rupturable microcapsules containing a dye precursor and the other coating being a clay composition of a pH which reacts with the dye precursor released by rupture of the capsules to produce the dye. Other copying media could be provided between the mutually facing surfaces, for example conventional carbon-copy coatings.The underside of the bottom sheet 10 (i.e. the surface remote from the sheets 11, 12) is provided with a pressuresensitive adhesive, which is temporarily covered by a removable protective backing layer, such as a release-coated paper.

In use, the backing layer is peeled away and the label adhered to the goods being labelled. The identifying information is written on the label (before or after sticking it to the goods) within the area of the portion 1 8 so that the information copies through onto all the sheets. These portions 18 of the upper sheets 12, 11 are then removed by tearing them from between the lines of weakening 16, 17, providing record copies of the label, the good themselves being labelled by the information copied through-on the bottom layer 10. The advantage of having the lines of weakening is that without them the label can tear irregularly instead of separating clearly at the adhered edges, and more importantly the copy coating can become delaminated from its substrate sheet.In the present label the minimum area removed is defined by the lines of weakening, and it does not matter if additional material between the lines of weakening and the adhered edges is also removed. Moreover, by use of a self-adhesive surface on the bottom sheet makes the label particularly suited for applying to a non-planar surface, and the resulting deformation of the label can make it easier to remove the central portions 1 8.

Referring to Fig. 2, sheets corresponding in area to four labels are collated to form a stack representing in depth a stack of the labels.

Adhesive 14 is then applied to two opposite sides of the stack, and the individual sets of sheets, each set representing four labels, are peeled from the stack and then re-collated to form the stack once more but with the sets separated. Then the stack is cut along a median line 20 parallel to the adhered sides 14, and along another median line 22 at right-angles thereto, thereby forming four stacks of individual labels as shown in Fig. 3.

Adhesive 15 is then applied to the cut side opposite the adhered edges 14, to removably stick the labels together at that edge 1 5 as well as securing together the sheets of each label at that edge. The labels in the stack are thus separated from each other at the edges 14, and can be removed from the stack by pulling them away at the edge 15.

As a modification to this procedure, the adhesive 14 may be a two-part composition. One component is applied to the edges of the sheets which are to be adhered to adjacent sheets. In the case illustrated, a stack of the sheets 11, before collating with the sheets 10, 12, has said one component (a liquid composition) applied to a side of the stack at which the edges are exposed so that the liquid penetrates the stack to a small extent, e.g. 1 to 2 mm. When the stack of collated sheets 10, 11, 12 is formed, as in Fig. 2, the second component of the adhesive is applied at 14, and this reacts with the first component carried by the marginal portions of the sheets 11 to adhere the sheets 11 to the adjacent sheets 10, 12, but leaves the sets of labels separate from each other.The adhesive 1 5 can be a single composition as previously described, or could be a two part composition if all the sheets in the stack have one component applied to their marginal portions at that side of the stack.

One advantage of the label described is that information can be added to it while in use on an article, and copies of this information can be sent to a central records office and/or used for stocktaking purposes.

Instead of making the composite label from separate sheets, it would be possible to make it on a continuous production basis on a reel-fed machine, where the perforating and gluing operations are carried out on a continuous web, the web being cut into individual labels later.

Instead of providing complementary coatings on mutually facing faces of the sheets 10, 11, 12, it is possible to provide both the dye precursor and the clay composition which reacts therewith on the top surface of the sheets under the top sheet, in a suitably encapsulated form. Sheets thus provided with a two-component coating are well known. When using such sheets in the present label, it is possible to provide a protective layer over the coating (and over the reverse of the sheets and the top sheet. This can suitably be a layer of varnish, and can provide the label with a degree of waterproofing.

Claims (17)

1. A composite label, comprising a set of superimposed sheets in which a mark applied with sufficient pressure to the top sheet will be reproduced on the sheet or sheets below, the bottom sheet having an adhesive coating on its undersurface, said sheets being secured together along one edge.

2. A label according to claim 1 wherein the adhesive coating is a pressure-sensitive adhesive coating covered by a removable protecting layer.

3. A label according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the sheet or sheets above the bottom sheet have a line or lines of weakening defining a portion on which said marks can be made and which can be removed by tearing along the line of weakening.

4. A label according to claim 3, in which the sheets are secured together along two opposite edges and there are two lines of weakening between the adhered edges defining said portion therebetween.

5. A label according to claim 4 wherein the lines of weakening extend generally parallel to said opposite edges to define a central said portion extending the full length of the label.

6. A label according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sheet or sheets above the bottom sheet are provided with a truncated corner.

7. A label according to claim 6 having two or more sheets above the bottom sheet provided with a truncated corner, wherein the extent of truncation is greater the more remote the sheet is from the bottom sheet, so that portions of all the sheets are exposed in the truncated corner region.

8. A label according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the top surfaces of the sheets underneath the top sheet have a two-component coating, the two coponents reacting to reproduce a said mark when sufficient pressure is applied, said top surfaces having a protecting layer above the two-component coating.

9. A label substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A stack comprising a plurality of labels according to any one of the preceding claims, edges of which are secured together.

11. A stack according to claim 10 wherein edges of the sheets, which are opposite said edges of the labels which are secured together, are secured to corresponding edges of sheets in the same label but not to corresponding edges of sheets in other labels.

12. A stack of labels substantially as described herein with reference to Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of making a stack according to claim 11 or claim 12 comprising applying adhesive to one edge of a set of sheets to secure together those edges to form a label, and applying adhesive to opposite edges of a plurality of labels to form the stack.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein a stack of collated sheets, in area corresponding to a multiple of the label size, has adhesive applied to two opposite sides of the stack at which the edges of the sheets are exposed, the stack is then separated into sets of sheets each set corresponding to the sheets required in a label, and the separated sets reassembled into a similar stack which is then cut along a median line parallel to the adhered edges, and optionally along one or more lines at right-angles thereto, and the stack portions thus formed have further adhesive applied to the side opposite said adhered edges, thereby forming a stack of labels in which the labels are removably secured together at one edge by said further adhesive, and the opposite edges carry adhesive which secures together the sheets within each set forming a label but does not secure together adjacent labels.

15. A method according to claim 13 wherein a stack of collated sets of sheets representing a stack of labels has adhesive applied to one side to secure all the sheets together at one edge, and adhesive applied to the opposite side to secure together at that edge the sheets within each label while leaving the adjacent labels sseparate at that edge, this being achieved by applying to marginal portions of sheets on surfaces which are to be adhered one component of a two part adhesive, the other component being applied all over said opposite side of the stack so that it reacts with said one component to form an adhesive securing together the sheets within each label.

16. A method according to claim 13 wherein a stack of collated sets of sheets representing a stack of labels has adhesive applied to one side to secure all the sheets together at one edge, and adhesive applied to the opposite side to secure together at that edge the sheets within each label while leaving the adjacent labels separate at that edge, this being achieved by applying a release coating to marginal portions of sheets on surfaces which are to remain separate.

17. A method according to the invention, substantially as any described herein.