EP1598795A2

EP1598795A2 - Labels

Info

Publication number: EP1598795A2
Application number: EP05252853A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Michael Brown
Original assignee: Leading Edge Labels Ltd
Current assignee: Leading Edge Labels Ltd
Priority date: 2004-05-12
Filing date: 2005-05-10
Publication date: 2005-11-23
Also published as: GB2414007A; EP1598795A3; GB2414007B; GB0410544D0

Abstract

A label has a tag portion and an integral neck portion of width less than that of the tag portion for attachment to an article. The label comprises an upper layer of a fibrillated polyprop material which is capable of receiving print on both of its sides laminated by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive to a lower layer of a thermal coated material which is also capable of receiving print on both of its sides. A coating of a release agent is applied to the underside of the upper layer of the tag portion of the label to enable it to be released one or more times from the adjoining lower layer of the label through the presence of a cut which extends across the full width of the exposed surface of the lower layer along one side of the coating of the release agent to enable the lower layer to be peeled away from the upper layer in the area in which the release agent is applied.

Description

This invention relates to labels for attachment to articles and more especially, but not exclusively, to such labels for attachment by metal crimping to punneted products.
Labels known as wineglass labels have been used for many years for attachment to various retail products. These labels include a neck portion and a tag portion and are generally produced as a continuous series of labels on a reel. Conventionally, such labels are applied by a machine to punneted products and other retail products simply by removing a label from the reel by cutting the neck of the label and then crimping the neck portion to a net using a metal crimping tool. The reverse side of the label is generally coated with a thermally sensitive material to allow data such as a date, batch number, bar code, etc to be printed onto the label.
The wineglass shaping of the labels enables the label tag portions to be printed by interlinking the design across a web of material and then cutting label strips from the web to minimise waste material.
The present invention sets out to provide an improved label for attachment to an article.
In one aspect, the invention provides a label having a tag portion and an integral neck portion of width less than that of the tag portion for attachment to an article, the label comprising an upper layer of a fibrillated polyprop material which is capable of receiving print on both of its sides laminated by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive to a lower layer of a thermal coated material which is also capable of receiving print on both of its sides, a coating of a release agent applied to the underside of the upper layer of the tag portion of the label to enable it to be released one or more times from the adjoining lower layer of the label through the presence of a cut which extends across the full width of the exposed surface of the lower layer along one side of the coating of the release agent to enable the lower layer to be peeled away from the upper layer in the area in which the release agent is applied.
The label may be one of a multiplicity of such labels produced as a continuous strip located around a reel.
Preferably, each label is of a shape which is known in the trade as a wineglass shape with the neck portion of the label extending outwardly from one end of the tag portion and the longitudinal axis of the neck portion coincident with that of the tag portion being aligned one with the other.
The labels may be cut from a web of laminated layers with the label designs interlinked to minimise wastage of material.
The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:-
Figure 1 illustrates in plan view a label in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 shows the label illustrated in Figure 1 with one surface partially peeled from another surface;
Figure 3 diagrammatically illustrates in side view the tag portion of the label shown in Figure 2; and
Figure 4 illustrates a web of labels in accordance with the invention prior to cutting.
The illustrated label comprises a tag portion 1 and neck portions 2. As will be seen from Figure 3, the label comprises an upper layer 3 of fibrillated polyprop material laminated by means of a pressure-sensitive adhesive to a lower layer 4 of a thermal coated paper.
Before lamination, the underside of the upper layer 3 of the tag portion 1 of the label is coated with a release agent, eg. silicon.
Alternatively, the release agent may be applied to the topside of the lower layer 4.
The upper layer 3 of the tag portion 1 includes a widthwise extending cut 6 and the presence of this cut 6 enables the laminated layers to be separated and resealed simply by peeling the upper layer away from the lower layer thereby exposing those surfaces of the upper and lower layers in contact with the release agent. In this way, the exposed surfaces of the tag portion of the label can be exposed and resealed at will.
The exposed surfaces of the upper and lower layers of the tag portion of the label and those surfaces coated with the release agent are printed to provide inter alia information relating to the article to which the label is to be attached and, if required, additional information to assist the consumer.
As will be seen from Figure 4, the labels are produced as a series of strips from a laminated web 7. Cutters are used to separate neighbouring labels one from the other and to produce the cut 6 for each label. The interlinked label design shown in Figure 4 minimises material wastage when the labels are cut for the web 7.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing is merely exemplary of labels in accordance with the invention and that modifications can readily be made thereto without departing from the invention as disclosed herein.

Claims

A label having a tag portion and an integral neck portion of width less than that of the tag portion for attachment to an article, the label comprising an upper layer of a fibrillated polyprop material which is capable of receiving print on both of its sides laminated by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive to a lower layer of a thermal coated material which is also capable of receiving print on both of its sides, a coating of a release agent applied to the underside of the upper layer of the tag portion of the label to enable it to be released one or more times from the adjoining lower layer of the label through the presence of a cut which extends across the full width of the exposed surface of the lower layer along one side of the coating of the release agent to enable the lower layer to be peeled away from the upper layer in the area in which the release agent is applied.
A web of labels as claimed in claim 1 produced as a continuous strip located around a reel.
A label substantially as herein described and as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.