FR2776812A1 - Printed labels, can be applied to various surfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

Label is a plastics film, which is electrically neutral, for the label message to be printed. The film is then given a set electrostatic charge. The film material is passed over at least one friction roller. It is discharged of any static electricity by earthing. The electrically neutral film is printed by silk screen, offset, flexography and/or heliography processes. An Independent claim is also included for an apparatus with a section to produce an electrically neutral plastics film, a printer and a controlled station to give the printed film a set electrostatic charge. Preferred Features: The discharge from the film is through multi-brush roller electrodes, of the corona type, connected to earth to carry off any static electricity and make the film electrically neutral. The controlled electrostatic charge is through electrodes connected to a power supply, preferably 1000 V to give a current of 1 amp, to charge the printed film. At least one label portion is attached to the film by the electrostatic charge.

Description

METHODS OF MAKING POSTERS,

  DEVICES FOR CARRYING OUT SUCH PROCESSES, AND

POSTERS THUS OBTAINED

  The present invention relates to the methods of making posters, the devices making it possible to implement these methods, as well as the posters obtained by the implementation of these methods finding applications, in particular, to the making of posters.

advertising or the like.

  There are already known posters for advertising, commercial, etc. messages. The posters known to date are generally printed on sheets of paper then put up and maintained on supports of any material, wood, stainless steel, etc. There are basically four

  techniques for putting up these posters.

  One of these techniques is collage. It requires certain know-how and, in particular for the installation of large posters, requires the intervention of specialists. The glue used is of the "wallpaper glue" type. It is necessary to brush the surface of the support widely, then to coat the external surface of the poster, while sliding the poster on its support until bringing it into its final arrangement. The installation of a poster therefore requires a relatively large amount of glue and, inevitably, part of the glue used overflows from the support and flows onto the wall, the floor, etc.

  In addition, some adhesives are harmful to the environment.

  In particular, they are relatively acidic and lead to the disintegration of the material from which the support panels are made and their

  supervision for the display of posters.

  We must also emphasize the problem of removing a poster in order to post a new one. In practice, this problem has been partially resolved in the following way: a certain number of posters are stuck on each other, without removing the previous ones, then all of them are removed using a scraper, when the thickness of the posters thus superimposed has reached a determined limit value, corresponding in

  average of seven posters stuck on top of each other.

  We must not forget the problem posed by sticking large posters. In this case, it is necessary to cut them into several pieces, the laying of which leads to connections which are not

not always perfect.

  Another technique for hanging posters eliminates problems

  inherent in the use of glue. This is the so-called "sandwich" technique.

  This technique is used in particular in the walls of bus shelters or the like. It requires at least two supports between which the poster is sandwiched. At least one of the supports must therefore be made of a transparent material, such as glass or a plastic material. They are therefore relatively often destroyed, sometimes even voluntarily by vandals, and must be replaced quite frequently. In addition, this technique does not allow the installation of large posters because, in this case, the posters tend to curl and wrinkle, and even to sag. This drawback also appears, even in the case of posters of reduced dimensions, when, for various reasons, moisture has introduced

between the two supports.

  In the same poster presentation category as described above

  above, that is to say between two supports, at least one of which is transparent, one can also cite the technique of installation "by suspension", for example by means of clips, clamps, etc. This technique can only rarely be used on its own and, in fact, it is often combined with sandwich laying to ensure good hold and presentation

poster correct.

  Finally, a technique consisting in fixing a poster on a glazed surface by means of adhesive tapes is widely used by traders in particular on storefronts and doors. This technique has the disadvantage of leaving traces of adhesive after removing the poster. In addition, the posters thus fixed curl, and

  unexpectedly come off relatively often.

  On reading the previous description of the prior art in the

  In the field of display, we can see that the techniques for putting up posters still present significant drawbacks which will have to be resolved in the near future, in particular to take account of environmental laws which are being prepared in

Many countries.

  The present invention therefore aims to implement a method of producing a poster which can largely overcome the drawbacks, mentioned above, of the various installation techniques

posters of the prior art.

  In particular, the object of the present invention is to implement a method of producing posters which can be placed on all

  supports, or almost, without the use of an additive such as an adhesive.

  Another object of the invention is to implement a process for producing posters which can be removed from the supports on which they have been placed, then placed on new supports, without

let them be damaged.

  To achieve the above goals, and also other goals which will be developed below, the present invention relates to a method for producing a poster carrying a message, characterized in that it consists, first of all to produce an electrically neutral plastic film, then to carry out, on this electrically neutral plastic film, a transfer of marking means for printing said message, and finally to load

  the printed plastic film, with a determined amount of static electricity.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the production of the electrically neutral plastic film consists in producing a plastic film by passing a plastic material over at least one friction roller, and in discharging, by its earthing, said film of matter

  static electricity plastic that it is likely to carry.

  The present invention also relates to a device for implementing the method according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises: means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film, means for printing, on said electrically neutral plastic film , a message to be displayed, and controllable means for loading said plastic film

  printed, with a specified amount of static electricity.

  According to another characteristic of the present invention, the means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film comprise means for producing a plastic film and means for discharging

  said plastic film of static electricity which it is capable of carrying.

  The present invention also relates to a poster produced by the implementation of the method according to the invention, characterized in that it consists of a plastic film on which is printed a message to be displayed and that it carries a specified amount of static electricity. Other features and advantages of the present invention

  will appear during the following description of an example of implementation

  implementation of the method according to the invention for producing a poster, of an embodiment of the device making it possible to implement said method,

  and a poster obtained with this process.

  The Applicant specifies that, when, according to the definition of the invention, the object of the invention comprises "at least one" element having a given function, the embodiment described may include

many of these.

  It also specifies that, if the embodiment of the object according to the invention as described by way of example comprises several elements of

  identical function and if, in the description, it is not specified that the object

  according to this invention must necessarily include a particular number of these elements, the subject of the invention may be defined

  as having "at least one" of these elements.

  Having said this, the method according to the invention for producing a poster carrying a message consists, first of all, of making a film

  of electrically neutral plastic.

  There are different possibilities.

  It is for example possible to use a commercially available plastic sheet which is generally free of electrostatic charge. It is also possible to produce an electrically neutral plastic film by first producing a plastic film by passing, for example by

  extrusion, a plastic material on at least one friction roller.

  This friction generally induces the formation, on the plastic film obtained, of electric charges and, under these conditions, it is then necessary to discharge, by its grounding, the plastic film of any

  the static electricity it is likely to carry.

  This discharge can be carried out by passing the plastic film over brushes or the like electrically connected to the earth, by any means, so as to allow the electrical charge to flow, in particular by "CORONA effect", towards the earth and thus obtain a movie

electrically neutral plastic.

  When the plastic film is electrically neutral, a marking means is transferred to one of its faces.

print the message to be displayed.

  These marking or printing means, such as powder inks, liquids, etc., or the like, are well known in themselves to those skilled in the art and will not be described more fully here, in

  the sole concern of simplifying the present description. Nevertheless, it is

  reminded, by way of example, that the transfer of these marking means onto the plastic film can be carried out by one of the following techniques screen printing, offset, flexography and / or rotogravure, etc. It is understood that by "message" is meant any visual sign of any form whatsoever, word, image, color, combination of these signs, etc., which can be perceived by the eye, in particular from the To be human. When the sheet of electrically neutral plastic material has received the impression of the message to be displayed as described above, it is charged with a certain amount of static electricity which will allow it

  to adhere to a support having a polarity different from its own.

  By "support" is meant any surface capable of receiving the printed plastic film and electrostatically charged, which can attract it and keep it stuck on it by electrostatic attraction. These supports can be made of very different materials, such as glass, iron, wood, etc. The poster produced according to the process described above is very advantageous and no longer has the disadvantages of posters of art.

  mentioned in the preamble to this description.

  25. In particular, because it is made of plastic, runoff has very little effect on it, which gives it a very long service life. It can be made of different plastic materials, colored or not, transparent or not, and advantageously recyclable. Such a poster can be placed, removed and replaced in another location without suffering any damage. So it can be

  reused many times and in different places.

  It can even, in certain cases, be overloaded with sheets of another material, for example to hide part of the message according to a date, the place of posting, etc., this cache is now naturally maintained by itself, by the same electrostatic attraction effect. This sheet of another material can also be a means of

  stiffening and / or protection of all or part of the poster itself.

  Although this poster can stand alone on a support by electrostatic attraction, it is not impossible to associate it with additional means to ensure its maintenance on the support, in particular with the aim of avoiding as much as possible that it gondola or she does

  risk of detaching from the wind.

  These additional means can be of different types. They can for example be constituted by rods such as those which are known under the trademark "PUMA rods". These rods can also be associated with a key locking system or the like to prevent the poster from being too easily stolen. The present invention also relates to a device for implementing the method according to the invention. This device comprises means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film, means for printing, on the electrically neutral plastic film, a message to be displayed, and controllable means for charging

  the printed film, with a determined amount of static electricity.

  The means for printing the message to be displayed are known in

  themselves and have already been mentioned in the above description of the

  process. In an advantageous embodiment of the device, the means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film may include means for producing a plastic film, for example by extruding a plastic material by passing it over at least one friction roller, and means for discharging said plastic film from static electricity which would have been induced when the plastic rubbed on the or

Rolls; Coils.

  In an advantageous embodiment, these means for carrying out the electrostatic discharge of the plastic sheet before it is printed, for example comprise cylindrical rollers on which is able to run the plastic sheet. These means further comprise, associated with the outlet of the cylindrical rollers, electrodes such as brushes connected to the ground to obtain the discharge of static electricity.

of the sheet by CORONA effect.

  To charge the electrically neutral printed plastic film with a determined amount of static electricity, the same rollers as those described above can be used, but by combining them with an electric charge generator consisting of multi-blade electrodes connected to a source of electrical voltage, for example 15,000 volts, capable of delivering a current having an intensity which can reach the ampere. Alternatively, the film can be loaded by simple friction, by

  example on friction rollers.

  Of course, the device then also comprises means for passing the electrically printed printed plastic film,

  i.e. not charged with static electricity, on these multi-electrode

  blades in contact with which it will be loaded automatically.

  The present invention also relates to a poster carrying a message produced by the implementation of the method described above, consisting of a plastic film on which is printed the message to be displayed and carrying a determined amount of static electricity, being it is understood that the message to be displayed is printed on the plastic film using one of the following techniques: screen printing, offset, flexography and / or rotogravure. The Applicant has produced prototypes of a poster according to the invention. It has obtained very good results, in particular with polyethylene, PVC and polypropylene sheets. These sheets had thicknesses of the order of 100 gm, but it also obtained very acceptable results with plastic films of thicknesses between 10

and 100 pgin.

  The poster according to the invention may also include a sheet made of a material other than that in which the plastic film is made,

  plated on all or part of the film. This sheet is maintained by itself-

  even on the film, by electrostatic attraction.

  It can, for example, hide part of the message. She can

  also aim to stiffen or protect the poster.

Claims (11)

  1. Method for producing a poster carrying a message, characterized in that it consists, first of all in producing an electrically neutral plastic film, then in carrying out, on this electrically neutral plastic film, a transfer of marking means for print said message, and then load said printed plastic film,   of a specified amount of static electricity.   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the production of the electrically neutral plastic film consists in producing a plastic film by passing a plastic material over at least one friction roller, and in discharging, by putting it to earth, said film of   static electricity plastic that it is likely to carry.   3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the transfer of marking means for printing, on the electrically neutral plastic film, the message to be displayed is carried out according to one of   following techniques: screen printing, offset, flexography and / or heliography.   4. Device for implementing the method according to one   Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises:   means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film, means for transferring marking means onto said electrically neutral plastic film, and controllable means for charging said plastic film   printed with a specified amount of static electricity.   5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the means for producing an electrically neutral plastic film comprise means for producing a plastic film and means for discharging   said plastic film of static electricity which it is capable of carrying.   6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the means for discharging said plastic film from static electricity which it is capable of carrying comprise at least one roller over which is able to pass said plastic film and multi electrodes - "CORONA" type brushes associated with said roller, at the outlet, these electrodes being connected to earth to obtain the discharge of static electricity carried by said plastic film.   7. Device according to one of claims 4 and 5, characterized by the   fact that the controllable means for charging said printed plastic film with a determined amount of static electricity comprise at least electrode means connected to a source of electric voltage and means for passing said printed plastic film on these electrode means.   8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said source of electrical voltage is a source of 15000 volts suitable for   deliver a current with an intensity of about one amp.   9. Poster produced by implementing the process according to one of the   Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it consists of a   plastic film on which is printed a message to display and that   carries a specified amount of static electricity.   10. Poster according to claim 9, characterized in that said message to be displayed is printed on said film by means of one of the   following techniques: screen printing, offset, flexography and / or heliography.   11. Poster according to one of claims 9 and 10, characterized by   the fact that it further comprises at least one portion of plated sheet on said film.