EP1899154A1

EP1899154A1 - Process for the production of shaped tapes for labelling

Info

Publication number: EP1899154A1
Application number: EP05774047A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Pietro Lironi
Original assignee: Goglio Cofibox SpA
Current assignee: Goglio Cofibox SpA
Priority date: 2005-04-21
Filing date: 2005-08-12
Publication date: 2008-03-19
Also published as: ITMI20050714A1; WO2006111194A1

Abstract

A process for the production of shaped tapes (1) for labelling, comprising the following phases: continuous reel to reel printing of a tape having a width equal to or greater than the maximum width of the desired shaped tape, unwinding of the tape from the reel and shaping in continuous of its edges (2) with the laser technology, and winding of the shaped tape onto a continuous tape reel, and wherein the tape subjected to printing in the first phase of the process preferably has a width various times greater than the maximum width of the desired shaped tape, and after the printing phase and before the shaping phase the following addition phases are envisaged: - unwinding of the printed tape (4) from the spool and its longitudinal cutting to obtain narrower tapes (6), - housing of said narrower tapes on secondary reels.

Description

PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SHAPED TAPES FOR LABELLING

The present invention relates to a production process of shaped tapes to be used as labels, in particular for the labelling of products by wrapping a round of tape around them.

Some types of products, and in particular bottles destined for containing drinks or mineral water, are generally covered with labels wound around the outer sur- face. These types of labels are called "wrap-around", which specifically describes this wrapping around the bottle, and are produced by gluing a first border of the label directly onto the bottle and wrapping the remaining part of the label around the side surface of the bottle itself, until the second border of the label is situated above the first border. The labelling is then completed by gluing the second border on top of the first, already fixed on the bottle.

"Wrap-around" labels can be subdivided into two dis- tinct types: labels in a single piece and labels provided

in the form of a continuous tape wound so as to form a reel. Both types of labels have peculiar characteristics and also specific limitations.

Labels of the first type must be produced one at a time. In the first phase, sheets of specific material are printed, preferably with the off-set technology. The sheets are then subjected to punching, i.e. various labels are cut, with suitable machines, from each of these sheets, according to the desired shapes. The labels are then bound together to form bunches or reams.

The application of this type of label on a product, for example a bottle, is effected by removing a single label from the ream and transferring it to the point of the plant at which it is applied to the bottle, conse- quently gluing the first border to the bottle and the second border on top of the first, after wrapping it around the side surface of the bottle.

Paper is normally used for the production of this type of label, as the application of this technology to plastic materials is still quite costly.

Thanks to punching, this type of label can be produced in various forms, but the productivity of the machines with which it is produced is extremely low, and the ratio between the weight of the label and the weight of the container is not advantageous. Another limit for this solution relates to the recycling operations of bottles on which labels of this type are applied. As bottles for drinks are becoming more and more frequently produced in plastic materials, and in particular polyethyleneter- ephthalate (PET) , whereas this type of label is generally made of paper, in the recycling phase the degree of purity of the PET is jeopardized by the presence of cellulose fibres deriving from the labels.

As far as the second type of label is concerned, i.e. labels produced in the form of a continuous tape, the first substantial difference relates to the fact that, unlike the labels of the first type, these can be produced on machines capable of operating the various production phases in continuous. According to these production phases, a continuous tape packaged by reel winding, for example around a spindle made of cardboard or other material, is first of all subjected to printing, this operation preferably being effected with the reel to reel rotogravure technology, even if it can be equally produced with a roto-offset and flexographic printing system.

The printed tape is then unwound from the reel around which it is wound and is cut (for example with a rotating knife) in correspondence with specific counter marks or photocell notches, thus obtaining the single Ia- bels. These are then transferred to the point of the plant at which they are applied to the bottles. A first border of these labels is therefore glued to the bottle and, after wrapping the remaining part of the label around the side surface of the bottle, the second border is glued on top of the first.

For the production of this type of label, plastic materials are used, which are suitable for forming films, preferably polypropylene. The characteristics of this second type of label and the procedure for its production allows a high productivity of the labelling machines to be obtained, together with a good quality of the graphic result, low costs, a good ratio between the weight of the label and weight of the container, the possibility of automatically substituting an exhausted reel with a new one. Furthermore, with respect to the first type of label, made of paper, as this type of label is made of plastic, it is more resistant, in particular to tearing, scratching and humid- ity, all possible causes of damage to a label.

The appearance which can be given to this type of label, according to the known art, is however rather limiting as the only form which can be produced is that of a continuous tape with parallel edges. The single labels obtained by cutting the continuous tape with parallel edges can therefore only have a simple rectangular shape. An objective of the present invention is to contemporaneously obtain the advantages of the two types of currently known solutions. The objective of the present invention is achieved by proposing a new process for the production of labels, provided in the form of a continuous tape wound to form a reel, having various types of shapes, in particular different from the traditional rectangular shape for this type of technology.

In particular, the process according to the present invention allows this type of label to be obtained, which can be reel to reel printed in continuous, made of plastic material, preferably white cavitied polypropylene, with various densities, transparent or opaque, single or poly-coupled, but also made of polyester or with other materials whose use for the production of labels can be considered innovative.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a process for the production of shaped tapes for labelling which is particularly simple and functional, with reduced production and operating costs.

These objectives according to the present invention are achieved according to a process for the production of shaped tapes for labelling as illustrated in claim 1. Further characteristics of the process of the present invention are indicated in the dependent claims.

The characteristics and advantages of a process for the production of shaped tapes for labelling according to the present invention will appear more evident from the following illustrative and non-limiting description, referring to the enclosed figures, in which:

- figure 1 shows a view of a portion of shaped tape obtained with the process according to the present inven- tion,

- figure 2 shows the cutting of the printed tape to form a series of tapes with smaller dimensions and their housing on secondary reels, and

- figure 3 shows the shaping of the tape using the laser technology.

With reference to figure 1, this shows a portion of shaped tape 1 in the form of a continuous strip, which can be packaged by winding it around a reel. In the specific case shown in figure 1, the edges 2 of the tape 1 are shaped to form lunettes 3, which give the labels obtained according to the present invention an appearance which differentiates them from the continuous tape labels according to the known art, which, on the other hand, have unshaped parallel edges. This type of tape for labels obtained by a process which comprises a first printing phase (according to known technologies for this type of application) of a tape whose width is equal to or greater, preferably several times greater, than the maximum height of the final label desired (the term maximum height takes into account the fact that, due to the shaping, the final label can have areas with a different height) . The printing is conveniently carried out in continuous during the reel to reel passage, preferably by means of the rotogravure technology, even if it can also be effected with a printing system of the roto-offset or flexographic type. The objectives that can be achieved by means of continuous printing relate both to the productivity (high production rates of the product, reduced substitution times and re- duced scraps) and also to the quality (colour stability, pitch and alignment maintenance) .

With reference to figure 2, the printed tape 4 is subsequently unwound from the reel 5 on which it is housed and is subjected to a longitudinal cutting phase to obtain a series of smaller tapes 6, whose width is substantially equal to or slightly higher than the maximum height of the final label to be obtained. Said smaller tapes 6 are then housed on secondary reels 7. In the case shown in figure 2, this cutting phase is conven- iently effected by means of cutters 8, according to known technologies .

The cut tapes 6 are then unwound from the reels 7 and subjected to shaping in continuous, effected with the laser technology, as shown in figure 3, so as to obtain a continuous shaped tape 9, which can have any shape and is preferably in alignment with the printing.

Finally, the shaped tapes are rewound to form reels of continuous tape, ready for application on the product to be labelled, by the transversal cutting of a suitable length of tape, the gluing of a first border of the label onto the product, wrapping of the label around the product and the gluing of the second border of the label on top of the first, according to the technology already described with reference to the known art. The process according to the present invention allows the production of shaped labels of the "wrap-around" type, introducing a new cutting phase with the laser technology in the production process of these labels. In particular, the introduction of the laser technology in the process requires an adaptation of the other process phases, but also allows the range of shapes of the labels and types of material that can be used for obtaining them, to be extended.

The material preferably used for the production of labels of this type is polypropylene, other plastic mate- rials, for example polyester, however, can also be adopted. Furthermore, even if the use of a single material is generally envisaged, the labels produced with the process described can also consist of a coupling of two or more materials. Multi-coupled labels allow advantages to be obtained, associated with a better printing protection and a greater rigidity of the material.

On the basis of the type of material used, the intensity of the energy emitted by the laser, i.e. the quantity of light which flows per second per area unit, can be regulated, by varying the distance of the focus of the laser ray.

The process and product thus conceived can undergo numerous modifications and variants, all included in the invention; furthermore all the details can be substituted by technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used as also the dimensions can vary according to technical demands.

Claims

1. A process for the production of shaped tapes for labelling characterized in that it comprises the following phases : - continuous reel to reel printing of a tape having a width egual to or greater than the maximum width of the desired shaped tape,

- unwinding of the tape from the reel and shaping in continuous of its edges with the laser technology, and - winding of the shaped tape onto a continuous tape reel.

2. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the tape subjected to printing in the first phase of the process has a width several times greater than the maximum width of the desired shaped tape and after the printing phase and before the shaping phase, the following addition phases are envisaged:

- unwinding of the printed tape from the reel and its longitudinal cutting to obtain narrower tapes,

- housing of said narrower tapes on secondary reels.

3. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that said continuous printing phase is obtained by means of a printing technology selected from roto-offset printing, flexographic printing and rotogravure printing.

4. The process according to claim 3, characterized in that said continuous printing phase is obtained by means of the rotogravure technology.

5. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that said shaping phase in continuous of the edges of the tape is effected in alignment with the printing.

6. A continuous shaped tape for labelling, as obtained by means of the process defined in claims 1-5.

7. The continuous shaped tape according to claim 6, characterized in that it is made of a plastic material, with a density within the range of 0.3-2.8 g/c³, trans- parent or opaque, single-layered or multi-coupled.

8. The continuous shaped tape according to claim 7, characterized in that it is made of polypropylene or polyester.

9. The continuous shaped tape according to claim 7, characterized in that it is made of white cavitied polypropylene.