EP1419878A1 - Process for Manufacturing a carrier label array - Google Patents

Abstract

A support for labels (1') is made from a multi-layer structure (1) comprising a support band (2) coated on its two faces with adhesive films (4,5) intended to be cut to form first and second series of labels. The method comprises temporarily separating the second adhesive film (5) from the support band during the cutting operation of the first adhesive film to form the first series of labels (30). An Independent claim is included for a label support.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a support adhesive labels intended for example to be stuck on bottles or the like packaging used in particular in the field of cosmetics.

The invention relates more particularly to the manufacture of a support comprising a support strip coated on both sides with adhesive labels, such support being intended to be used for example in accordance with labeling methods continuously described in French patents FR 2 789 971 and 2 789 972.

We know from the German patent application DE 2,212,995 a method of manufacture of a support of this type.

According to this known method, a multilayer structure comprising a strip of support coated on both sides with adhesive films intended for the formation of labels passes successively through a first printing and cutting station allowing make the labels on one of the sides then by a second printing station and cutout to make the labels on the other side.

The cutting operation of the adhesive films must be carried out with a large precision to avoid damage to the support strip, and the adjustment of the section defining the profile of the labels and counterforms intended to support the blade pressure is tricky.

In addition, the difficulty of cutting is increased by the presence of the layers of adhesive which binds the films to the support strip, and the thickness of which can represent around 25 to 30% of the total thickness. These layers of adhesive are compressible, present a risk of creep and their thickness is known only with sufficient tolerance wide, the thickness of each layer being able to vary for example from 17 to 23 μm during production for a nominal thickness of 20 µm.

Thus, despite the precautions taken, there remains a risk of nicking the strip support when the thickness of the adhesive layers is minimal, which entails a risk of the support strip during the labeling operation on the line of conditioning.

There is also a risk when the thickness of the adhesive layers is maximum, insufficiently cut around the edge of the label, hampering its detachment ulterior.

There is still the risk of leaking the adhesive on both sides of the label and to create unwanted adhesion zones during rewinding.

The invention aims to remedy all or part of these drawbacks.

The invention achieves this by a method of manufacturing a support. labels from a multilayer structure having a coated backing strip on its two faces a first and a second adhesive film intended to be cut to form first and second series of respective labels, this process can characterized by the fact that the second adhesive film is temporarily separated from the support strip during the cutting operation of the first adhesive film to form the first set of labels.

Thanks to the invention, the labels located on one side of the support strip can be cut with less risk of nicking the backing strip, insufficiently cut around their edges or cause the adhesive to leak, since the thickness total between the cutting tool and the corresponding counterform is reduced by the absence of the second adhesive film at this time.

The temporary separation of the second film can be carried out for example by to rollers having a non-stick surface.

In a preferred implementation of the invention, the cutting of the second film is made in such a way that the outline of each label in the first series of labels is located inside the outline of each label in the second series.

So when cutting the second film to form the second series of labels, avoiding the presence of the labels cut in the first adhesive film between the blade of the cutting tool and the corresponding counterform, so that the risk damage to the support strip, insufficient cutting around the edges of labels or creep of the adhesive is further reduced.

The multilayer structure, before cutting of the labels, can have by example the following composition: in the center is the support strip, which the thickness is for example approximately 50 μm, this support strip being coated on each of its faces with a layer intended to facilitate peeling of the labels adhesives, for example a layer of silicone approximately 1 µm thick. By hand and the first and second films are arranged on the other side of the support strip thus treated adhesives, the thickness of the film itself being for example approximately 30 μm and that of the associated adhesive layer of approximately 20 µm.

The film may for example be made of polyolefin, in particular polyethylene or polypropylene, or polyethylene terephthalate, this list is not exhaustive.

Each label of the first series of labels can for example be intended to be affixed to the back of a container and the corresponding label of the second set of labels to be intended to be affixed on the front of this container.

Alternatively, the labels of the first set of labels can be intended to be applied to a first type of packaging and those of the second set of labels to be intended to be applied to a second type of conditioning.

Labels on one side of the carrier strip may have example a substantially homothetic contour of that of the labels located on the other side of the support strip, for example with a relatively small offset between the minus one edge of one of the labels and that of the corresponding label on the side opposite, for example an offset only slightly greater than the thickness of the blade cutting, for example greater than or equal to about 1 mm.

The invention also relates to a label support intended for continuous feeding of a labeling station, obtained by implementing the process as defined above.

The invention particularly relates to a label support comprising first and second series of removable adhesive labels arranged on either side a support strip, the labels of the first series having a contour homothetic of that of the labels of the second series, the labels of the first series being superimposed on the labels of the second series, with an offset between their edges.

The invention also relates to a process for continuously feeding a labeling chain by means of a support obtained by the implementation of the process such as defined above.

• la figure 1 représente de manière schématique, en coupe, un exemple de structure multicouche de départ,
• la figure 2 illustre de manière schématique le découpage des étiquettes conformément à un premier exemple de mise en oeuvre de l'invention,
• la figure 3 est une vue analogue à la figure 2, illustrant le découpage des étiquettes conformément à un deuxième exemple de mise en oeuvre de l'invention, et
• la figure 4 est une vue schématique selon IV de la figure 3.

The invention will be better understood on reading the detailed description which follows, of non-limiting examples of implementation thereof, and on examining the appended drawing, in which:

• FIG. 1 schematically represents, in section, an example of a starting multilayer structure,
• FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the cutting of the labels in accordance with a first example of implementation of the invention,
• FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating the cutting of the labels in accordance with a second example of implementation of the invention, and
• FIG. 4 is a schematic view along IV of FIG. 3.

To make a label support according to the invention, it is possible to start from the multilayer structure 1 shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, comprising a central support strip, for example 50 μm thick, coated on each of its sides of a layer of non-stick material 3, for example a layer of silicone About 1 µm thick.

The multilayer structure 1 also includes first and second films adhesives 4 and 5 arranged on either side of the support strip 2, each adhesive film 4 or 5 comprising a film 6 serving as a support for printing and an associated layer of a adhesive 7.

The films 6 are for example made of thermoplastic material, for example polyolefin or polyethylene terephthalate. The thickness of a film 6 is for example of 30 µm approximately. The thickness of each adhesive layer 7 associated with a film 6 is by example of around 20 µm.

To make the labels, in accordance with an example of implementation of the invention, the multilayer structure 1 stored in the form of a coil is unwound and brought, after possible corona treatment and printing of the content of the labels on the films 6, to an installation 10 for cutting the labels, shown schematically in the figure 2.

This installation 10 comprises a first cutting station 20 intended for cut the first adhesive film 4 to form a first series of labels 30 and a second cutting station 40 intended to form a second series of labels 50 by cutting the second adhesive film 5.

The first cutting station 20 comprises a cutting tool 21 known as itself and shown diagrammatically, comprising a cutting blade 22 having a profile corresponding to that of the label to be produced, and a counterform intended for withstand the pressure exerted by the cutting tool.

The second cutting station 40 similarly includes a tool for cutout 41 comprising a cutting blade 42, and a counterform 43.

According to one aspect of the invention, the second adhesive film 5 is separated temporarily of the support strip 2 before cutting the first film adhesive 4, this separation being effected for example by means of mobile rollers 25 in rotation and having a non-stick coating such as for example a surface silicone, treated steel of Balinite® type or Teflon® coating. Thus, the cutting of labels 30 on the first adhesive film 4 linked to the support strip 2 can be done without that the second adhesive film 5 is not interposed between the blade 22 of the cutting tool 21 and the counterform 23. After cutting the labels 30, the remaining part 31 of the first film adhesive 4 is eliminated, by being wound on a roller 33 for example. The second film adhesive 5 joins the support strip 2 carrying the labels 30 then the labels 50 are cut at the cutting station 40. The remaining part 51 which extends around them is then eliminated by being wound on a roller 53, for example.

We obtain a label holder 1 'which can be wrapped around a mandrel to form a coil, comprising the support strip 2, with on one of its sides the first set of labels 30 and on the opposite side the second set of labels 50. This support 1 ′ can be used in a continuous labeling process such as one of those described in one of the French patents of the applicant FR 2,789,971 or 2,789,972.

In accordance with an advantageous aspect of the invention, the cutting of labels 50 at the second cutting station 40 can be made so that the contour 32 of the labels 30, which appears in broken lines in Figure 4, is located inside of the contour 52 of the labels 50, the interval g separating the edges of two labels superimposed 30 and 50 being greater than the thickness of the cutting blade 42. This interval g is for example about 1 mm or at least 1 mm.

Each label 30 can also be centered with respect to the label 50 which is associated with it, and the labels 30 and 50 can follow one another on each of the faces of the support strip 2 with regular spacing.

We understand that in the example illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the labels 30 which are cut first do not come between the counterform 43 and the blade 42 of the cutting tool 41, and therefore do not interfere with the cutting of the labels 50.

The cutting tool 41 can be equipped with at least one sensor, not shown which synchronizes the cutting of each label 50 with the passage of a label 30 in a predetermined position, in which its contour 32 is entirely contained inside that of the label 50 about to be cut.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described.

In particular, the multilayer structure 1 can have layers having thicknesses or natures other than those given by way of example. The cutting of labels can be carried out by any known means.

Throughout the description, including the claims, the expression "Comprising a" should be understood as being synonymous with "comprising at least a ”, unless otherwise specified.

Claims (7)

Method for manufacturing a label support (1 ') from a multilayer structure (1) comprising a support strip (2) coated on its two faces with a first (4) and a second ( 5) adhesive films intended to be cut to form first and second series of respective labels, this method being characterized in that the second adhesive film (5) is temporarily separated from the support strip (2) during the operation cutting the first adhesive film (4) to form the first series of labels (30). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting of the second adhesive film (5) is carried out in such a way that the outline (32) of each label (30) of the first series is located inside the outline ( 52) of each label (50) of the second series. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the labels located on one side of the support strip have a contour (32) substantially homothetic with that (52) of the labels located on the other side of the strip of support. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the labels (30) located on one side of the support strip each have at least one edge which is offset from that of the corresponding label (50) located on the opposite side, the offset (g) being greater than the thickness of a cutting blade used to cut the second series of labels. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the offset is greater than or equal to about 1 mm. Label support produced by implementing a process such as defined in any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising first (30) and second (50) series of removable adhesive labels, arranged on either side of a support strip (2), the labels of the first series having a contour homothetic of that of the labels of the second series, the labels of the first series being superimposed on the labels of the second series, with an offset (g) between their edges (32; 52). Support according to claim 6, characterized in that the offset (g) is greater than or equal to about 1 mm.

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