FR3106343A1 - Label with gripping tab - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a label (100) with a gripping tab (110), characterized in that it comprises - a lower film (320) comprising - an adhesive lower face (322) against which is removably glued a sheet of protection (330); - an upper face (321) devoid of adhesive capacity; - an upper film (310) comprising - an upper face (311) devoid of adhesive capacity; - a lower face (312) comprising - a first portion against which said upper face of the lower film is permanently bonded and - a second free portion, so as to form a tab for gripping said label. figure for the abstract: figure 1

Description

Label with grip tab

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention finds its place in the field of means for protecting surface parts not to be covered during the application of liquids or other materials to surfaces, and in particular in the field of removable masking films.

More specifically, the invention relates to a label with grip tab, intended in particular to be stuck on a masking film of an area to be masked in order to allow the removal of said film after painting a surface comprising the area to be masked.

The invention finds in particular a particularly advantageous application, although in no way limiting, in assemblies for masking aircraft windows before painting their fuselage.

STATE OF THE ART

Masking devices are known from the prior art for masking one or more areas of a surface in order to protect these areas when applying a specific treatment to said surface. The application of said processing may possibly be implemented according to several successive processing operations.

In the field of aeronautics, and in particular in the context of painting the fuselage of an aircraft, adhesive films are advantageously bonded to areas of the surface of the fuselage to preserve them from the paint.

In the present text, in an example of application of the invention, these zones are constituted by windows of the aircraft.

An aircraft window conventionally comprises glazing embedded in a metal frame riveted to the fuselage of the aircraft. The porthole includes a seal interposed between the glazing and the metal frame. Upstream of the painting operations, a mask, in the form of an adhesive film, is superimposed on the window so as to cover the glazing and part of the seal.

Once the mask is in place, the fuselage is sanded and several coats of paint (usually three coats) are applied.

After painting the fuselage, the mask, generally disposable, is removed. Removing the mask is generally a tedious step, a portion of the mask having to be peeled off using a tool before being removed manually.

Very often, it turns out that the mask only partially peels off, and that certain portions of the mask must be peeled off using sharp tools, such as knives with retractable blades, also called “cutters”.

Thus, the currently existing masks require a long and tedious removal operation, and presenting risks of damage to the area to be masked, or even of injury to the operators performing the take-off of the mask.

None of the current systems therefore makes it possible to simultaneously meet all the required needs, namely to propose a technique allowing the rapid and tool-free removal of a mask from an area to be masked, while protecting the integrity of the area to be masked. mask as well as the safety of the operator performing the removal.

The present invention aims to remedy all or part of the drawbacks of the state of the art mentioned above by proposing a label with a gripping tab intended to be stuck in particular on a masking device, which makes it possible to take off the device from the surface to which it is glued.

To this end, the invention relates to a label with grip tab comprising:
- a lower film comprising
- an adhesive underside against which a protective sheet is removably glued;
- an upper face devoid of adhesive capacity;
- an upper film comprising
- an upper face devoid of adhesive capacity;
- an underside comprising
- a first portion against which said upper face of the lower film is permanently glued and
- A second free portion, so as to form a tab for gripping said label.

Thanks to these arrangements, it is possible to produce a label with a grip tab from a succession of films glued together on all or part of their surface. The grip tab is advantageously manufactured at the same time as the rest of the label, by defining a portion of the lower face of the upper film intended to be glued against the upper face of the lower film, and a portion intended to remain free, from way to form the tongue.

This design of the label is particularly advantageous because the grip tab and the rest of the label form a single piece, i.e. the tab is not an attached part of the label. Thus, the resistance to a tensile force applied to the tab during a removal operation is high. The integrity of the label can thus be ensured, thus ensuring a successful removal operation.

In particular embodiments, the underside of the upper film is fully adhesive, and includes a portion against which an intermediate film is glued, so as to form said free portion of said upper film.

Thanks to these arrangements, it is possible to produce the free portion in a particularly advantageous manner. In fact, the upper film can be cut directly from a sheet of upper film comprising an adhesive lower face, without having to apply an adhesive mass selectively to the area of the upper film intended to be adhesive, such an operation being time-consuming and inaccurate. The zone intended to be non-adhesive, i.e. the free portion of the upper film, is produced by covering the adhesive lower face with an intermediate film on said free portion.

Thus, it is quite understandable that the label with grip tab can be made from simple elements, in particular from two sheets of film each comprising an adhesive face covered with a protective sheet and a sheet non-adhesive intermediate.

In addition, the production of the label only involves simple operations such as cutting, and gluing or peeling, and possibly printing operations. These operations can be carried out using tools that are simple to handle and inexpensive, or even manually.

The invention also relates, according to another aspect, to an assembly for masking an area to be masked, comprising a masking film for the area to be masked as well as a label stuck on the masking film.

More particularly, according to another aspect, the invention relates to an assembly for masking an area to be masked comprising a film for masking the area to be masked and a label, the lower face of the lower film of said label being glued on one side upper surface of said masking film, the lower face of said masking film being intended to be adhered to said area to be masked, and in that it is configured so that the adhesive power between said lower face of the lower film of the label and said upper face of the masking film is greater than the adhesive power between said lower face of the masking film and said area to be masked.

Thus, the masking film can be removed quickly and without tools from the surface of the area to be masked by applying a tensile force on the grip tab of the label. The label being glued to the upper surface, that is to say the outer surface, of the masking film, and the adhesive power between said lower face of the lower film of the label and said upper face of the masking film being greater than the adhesive power between said underside of the masking film and said area to be masked, the masking film peels off from the area to be masked.

In other words, the label is made integral with the masking film during the application of the label before painting, then it is used to remove the masking film after painting before being eliminated at the same time as the masking film, generally disposable.

The present invention also relates, according to another aspect, to a method of manufacturing one or more labels as described above, comprising:
- a first step of semi-nude cutting of a top sheet comprising an adhesive lower face against which a first protective sheet is glued, said semi-nude cutting being carried out on said first protective sheet according to a preliminary cutting line, in such a way separating said first cover sheet into first and second portions;
- a first step of weeding the first portion of said first protective sheet, so as to expose a first adhesive portion of said upper sheet;
- a first step of laminating an intermediate sheet to said top sheet, during which a first portion of said intermediate sheet is permanently bonded to the first adhesive portion of said top sheet;
- a second step of cutting said intermediate sheet according to said preliminary cutting line, so as to separate said intermediate sheet into a first and a second portion;
- a step of removing the second portion of said intermediate sheet;
- a second step of weeding the second portion of said first protective sheet, so as to expose a second adhesive portion of said upper sheet;
- a second step of laminating a lower sheet comprising an adhesive lower face on which a second protective sheet is glued and an upper face devoid of adhesive capacity, during which the second adhesive portion of said upper sheet is permanently glued on the upper face of said lower sheet, so as to obtain a final complex;
- a third step of kiss cut of said lower sheet, said cut being made on the side of the second protective sheet, according to a slit line, so as to separate said second protective sheet into two parts;
- a fourth step of cutting out the flesh of the final complex according to a shape outline of the label, said cutting being carried out on the side of the upper face of said upper sheet.

In particular embodiments of the invention, the method comprises a step of printing a visual of the label on the upper face of said upper sheet, said step of printing preferably being preliminary to said first step cutting.

In particular embodiments of the invention, the method comprises:
- a step of printing marks on an upper face of a top sheet;
- a step of cutting out the flesh and weeding one or more camera points in said upper sheet, said camera points being preferably located in the corners of said upper sheet, so as to determine the orientation of the upper sheet with respect to to a camera communicating with a control unit of a cutting tool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Other advantages, aims and particular characteristics of the present invention will emerge from the non-limiting description which follows of at least one particular embodiment of the devices and methods which are the subject of the present invention, with regard to the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of an aircraft window on which is stuck a masking film and a label with gripping label according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of the window of Figure 1, on which the masking film is partially peeled off.

FIG. 3 is an exploded schematic view in perspective of a label with gripping tab according to the invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a label with grip tab, in a state of storage and handling, in which the protective sheet is glued to the label.

figure 5 is a schematic side view of the label of figure 4, in a state of use, in which the label is a removal label stuck on a masking film itself stuck on an area to be masked .

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the label of FIG. 4, in a state of use, in which the label is a masking label glued directly to an area to be masked.

FIG. 7 represents a block diagram of a method of manufacturing a label according to the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of the final complex resulting from the manufacturing process of FIG. 7, comprising several triangular labels.

Figure 9 is a schematic view from below of a sheet showing cutting lines of the manufacturing process of Figure 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This description is given on a non-limiting basis, each characteristic of an embodiment being able to be combined with any other characteristic of any other embodiment in an advantageous manner.

Note that the figures are not to scale.

The invention relates, according to a first aspect, to a label 100 intended to be stuck on a device for masking an area to be masked, such as a masking film 101. According to this first aspect, the label 100 is a label removal, making it possible to remove a masking film 101 from an area to be masked.

Subsequently, the use of the terms "upper" and "lower" refers to an assembly consisting of a label 100 and a masking film 101 stuck on an area to be masked, the qualifier "upper" referring to an element close to the area to be masked and the qualifier "lower" referring to an element far from the area to be masked. Thus, a lower film is closer to the area to be masked than an upper film and a lower side of a film is closer to the area to be masked than an upper side of this same film.

The masking film 101 covers an area to be masked, such as the window 200 of an aircraft window 102, as can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, as well as in FIG. 5, which is a sectional view of FIG. 1. In this example of non-limiting implementation of the invention, the masking film 101 is intended to protect the glass 200 of the window 102 from spraying paint, during the painting of the fuselage 103 of the aircraft. Therefore, the masking film 101 has the shape and dimensions of the area to be masked, corresponding in the present example to the shape and size of the window 102. Such masking films are known per se from the state of the technique.

In order to facilitate the removal after painting of the masking film 101, which is for example made of a flexible material such as polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC, a label 100 with a grip tab 110 is stuck on one side. upper 203 of the masking film 101 before painting.

Using the grip tab 110 of the label 100, it is possible to simply remove the masking film 101, which is stuck by a lower surface 204 against the window 200. Thanks to this feature, it is not thus no need to use tools, in particular sharp tools, to peel off the masking film 101 from the window 200.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, a simple tensile force, for example applied substantially in the direction and direction of the arrow 206 on the tongue 110, makes it possible to detach the masking film 101 from the window 102.

Referring to Figures 3 through 5, a label 100 is made up of several different films, including an upper film 310 and a lower film 320.

The upper film 310 has an upper face 311 which is devoid of adhesive capacity, which is preferably printable, in order to be able to display usage information or the name of the manufacturer, for example.

The upper film 310 also has an adhesive lower face 312 . The adhesive power of the lower face 312 is, for example, obtained by applying a layer of adhesive mass 313 to the upper film 310.

The lower film 320 has an upper face 321 which is devoid of adhesive capacity.

The lower film 320 also has an adhesive lower face 322, the adhesive power of the lower face 322 being, for example, obtained by applying a layer of adhesive mass 323 to the lower film 320.

The lower 320 and upper 310 films are secured by their upper and lower face respectively. More precisely, the upper face 321 of the lower film 320 is glued against the lower face 312 of the upper film 310.

More particularly, a first portion of the lower face 312 of the upper film 310 is permanently glued against the upper face 321 of the lower film 320, and an intermediate film 340 is glued on a second portion of the lower face 312 of the upper film 310 , so as to constitute a free portion of the label 100.

Indeed, the intermediate film 340 prevents any sticking of the upper 310 and lower 320 films on said second potion. Thus, the free portion of the label forms a grip tab 110, which can be grasped to peel off a masking film from an area to be masked. A "free" portion is understood to mean a portion devoid of adhesive capacity, extending from the periphery of the upper film 310.

Preferably, the upper and 310 and lower 320 films have the same area A3.

Thus, the first portion of the lower face 312 of the upper film 310, of area A315, is glued against a first portion 325 of the upper face 322 of the lower film 320, of area A325, equal to the area A315, the sum of the areas and A325 being equal to A3.

Similarly, the second portion of the lower face 312 of the upper film 310, of area A316, is opposite a second portion 326 of the upper face 322 of the lower film 320, of area A326, equal to the area A316, the sum of the areas and A326 being equal to A3.

It should be noted that a protective sheet 330 is removably glued against the lower face 322 of the lower film 320, thus allowing handling and storage of the label 100 without loss of adhesive power of the lower face 322. protective sheet 330 is removed when the label 100 is stuck on the upper face 203 of the masking film 101.

In order to allow effortless removal of the protective sheet 330, said sheet comprises at least one non-stick face 331, said face being intended to be glued against the lower face 322 of the lower film 320. Such a protective sheet can be made in paper covered with a layer of silicone material.

In particular, the protective sheet 330 can advantageously be split along a slit line 332, which makes it possible to slightly detach said sheet 330 from the lower film 320 when the label 100 is folded slightly, so as to create a convex surface on the side of the lower film 320.

It should also be noted that the upper 310 and lower 320 films are preferably in PVC, although they may be in another material, plastic or not. The intermediate film 340 is preferably made of polyester, although it could also be of any other material that can take the form of a film.

In general, the upper 310 and lower 320 films, the intermediate film 340, the masking film 101 and the protective sheet 330 have thicknesses of the order of a micrometer.

It should also be noted that the adhesive masses 313 and 323, coated on the upper 310 and lower 320 films, are suitable for adhering two surfaces to each other permanently or not, depending on the type of surfaces to be bonded. . In particular, the surfaces of the lower faces 312 of the upper film 310 and upper 321 of the lower film 320 are adapted to allow permanent bonding using the adhesive mass 313. Similarly, the surfaces of the lower faces 322 of the lower film 320 and upper 203 of the masking film 101 are adapted to allow permanent gluing using the adhesive mass 323. Permanent gluing is referred to as non-reversible gluing without damaging the label 100, as opposed to removable gluing.

In particular, it should be emphasized that the adhesive power of the adhesive masses 313 and 323 of the label 100, applied to the surfaces described above, is greater than the adhesive power of an adhesive mass 205 applied between the lower surface 204 of the masking film 101 and the area to be masked, i.e. the window 200 of the window 102.

The intensity of the adhesive power may vary depending on the surface condition of the faces of the films and/or the type of adhesive mass used.

Indeed, this condition is necessary for the masking film 101 to peel off from the area to be masked when pulling on the grip tab 110 of the label 100. If this condition is not met, the label 100 would detach from the masking film 101 during the operation of removing said film, and the effect sought by placing the label 100 on said film would not be obtained.

The label 100 has just been described in an application in which the area of the zone to be masked is greater than the area of the label.

However, it should be emphasized that the label 100 can itself be used directly as a device for masking an area to be masked, if the area of the area to be masked corresponds to the area of the label 100. According to this second aspect of tag 100, tag 100 is a masking tag.

In this case, the characteristics of the adhesive mass 323 applied to the lower face 322 of the lower film 320 are such that a removable bonding, that is to say reversible, between the surface of said lower face 322 and the area to be mask is realized. In this way, a removal of the label 100 after painting is possible without leaving residues on the area to be masked. This alternative mode of use is illustrated in figure 6, where the label 100 is stuck directly on the glass 200 of the porthole 102.

This alternative embodiment is particularly suitable for areas to be masked of reduced surface area, such as screw or rivet heads, or hatches on a cabin or bodywork.

In this embodiment, and in general, the shape of the label is advantageously circular, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, oval, square, square with rounded edges, or triangular, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, although it can also take any other form.

Another object of the present invention relates to a manufacturing method 700 of a label 100 as previously described.

Generally, labels 100 are manufactured in batches, by cutting into a final complex. In the non-limiting example represented in FIG. 8, twenty labels 100 of triangular shape are intended to be cut out of the final complex 860.

The term "complex" refers to an inseparable assembly of two materials, in particular two films of materials with different properties. The operation associated with the realization of a complex is called “complexing”. In particular, a manual lamination is called "rolling".

By final complex is meant the result of the assembly of several sheets of film so as to obtain a layout of films as it appears in the label 100 previously described.

Subsequently, the manufacturing process 700 refers to a top, bottom, intermediate and protective sheet which correspond to the upper 310, lower 320 and intermediate 340 film, as well as the protective sheet 330 of the label 100 cut in the final complex 860.

The terms “full-flesh cut” and “half-flesh cut” used below refer respectively to a full through cut in the thickness direction and to a partial cut in the thickness direction. In particular, the kiss cutting of two glued elements is the cutting of a first element, without cutting of the second element. In other words, the cut is not through and the depth of cut is the thickness of the first element.

In this example, the term “weeding” refers to the action of removing part of a first element after a kiss-cut of a first element removably glued to a second element. The other part of said first element remains glued to the second element after weeding.

Preferably, the method 700 includes a first step 701 of printing a visual of the label 100 on one side of the upper sheet. The visual can include for example the outline 802 of the final label, as shown in Figure 8.

It should be clarified that during the manufacture of a 100 label according to the 700 process, a release liner sheet, also called a “stub”, is glued against an adhesive underside of the top sheet. The stub allows storage and handling of the top sheet without impairing the adhesive ability of the underside. The strain is intended to be removed entirely as the 700 manufacturing process progresses, as described below.

The bottom sheet also includes a release liner adhered to an adhesive underside, said release liner being intended to remain adhered to label 100 until use, as previously described.

In addition, the method 700 can also include a step 702 of printing marks, such as in particular camera points 801 located in the corners of the upper sheet. In particular, five camera points 801 can advantageously be printed, three points 801 being located in three distinct corners, and two other points 801 being located in a fourth corner.

Other marks can be cut lines, fold lines, or any other mark that can facilitate the manufacture of labels 100.

The step 702 of printing marks is followed by a step 703 of cutting out the full flesh of the camera points 801 in the upper sheet and the stump. The openings thus cut are then weeded in order to remove any residue resulting from the cut.

Thanks to the openings of the camera points 801, it is possible to determine the orientation of the sheet by analyzing an image acquired by a camera located vertically to the work surface on which the labels are manufactured, said camera being oriented to said work plan. The main advantage of cutting out the camera points 801 is that it allows the orientation to be determined on both sides of the upper sheet, said sheet being turned over during the rest of the manufacturing process 700.

It should be specified that the cutting step 703, like all the cutting steps of the present method 700, is preferably carried out by laser cutting. Although any other known cutting technique, including manual, can be considered, laser cutting has the advantage of allowing fast, precise and contactless execution.

During a cutting step 704, the stump glued to the upper sheet is cut halfway down, according to a preliminary cutting line 901. Thus, the sheet is positioned so that the stump glued to the lower face is pointing towards the laser cutting tool.

It should be clarified that the term "trace" does not necessarily designate a visible cutting line on the element to be cut, but can also be a virtual tracking line as is the case for this example. Indeed, the laser cutting tool is programmed to follow a cutting path defined digitally by the user, but which is not physically visible.

In the present non-limiting example, the preliminary cutting plot 901, shown in broken lines in FIG. 9, corresponds to a rectangle intersecting the bases of the triangular contours of the labels 100. In the cutting step 704, the stump is thus cut into a so-called inner portion and a so-called outer portion. It should be noted that the contours of the labels located on the side not visible in FIG. 9 are shown in dotted lines for explanatory purposes.

This is followed by a step 705 of weeding the outer portion of the stump, so as to expose a first adhesive portion of the lower face of the upper sheet.

Then, during a complexing step 706, the intermediate sheet is glued to the underside of the upper sheet. Bonding, preferably done manually, is permanent between the first adhesive portion of the upper sheet and a first portion of the intermediate sheet. On the non-weeded portion of the upper sheet, the stump and the intermediate sheet are in contact without being glued.

During a step 707 of cutting according to the outline 901 of preliminary cutting, the intermediate sheet is cut so as to separate a second portion from the first portion of the intermediate sheet, which is glued to the top sheet.

This is followed by a step 708 of removing the second portion of the intermediate sheet, thus exposing the interior portion of the stump.

The interior portion of the stump is weeded in a step 709, so as to expose a second adhesive portion of the underside of the top sheet.

During a step 710 of complexing, an upper face of the lower sheet is glued against the second adhesive portion of the upper sheet. The lower sheet is permanently adhered to the upper sheet on an area corresponding to the size of the second adhesive portion of the upper sheet, the remaining surface being simply in contact with the first portion of the intermediate film, without being adhered thereto. A final complex 860 is thus obtained.

Thus, this contact portion without gluing makes it possible to form the free portions, and by extension the gripping tabs 110 of the labels 100, after cutting the labels 100 during a final cutting step 712 presented below.

During a step 711 of kiss-cutting the lower sheet, the protective sheet is cut along a slit line 902 so as to separate said protective sheet into two parts. The rip line 902 is shown in dotted lines in Figure 9.

During a final cutting step 712, the final complex 860 is cut according to a shape trace of the labels 100. Said shape trace follows the contour 802 of the labels 100, in order to cut the labels 100 according to their final shape. In particular, this cut is a full flesh cut, made on the side of the upper face of the upper sheet. Thus, the final complex 860 must be turned over during this step so that said upper face is oriented towards the cutting tool.

At the end of the process 700, one or more labels 100 are therefore derived from the final complex 860 described above.

More generally, it should be noted that the modes of implementation and embodiment of the invention considered above have been described by way of non-limiting examples and that other variants are therefore possible.

Claims (6)

Label (100) with grip tab (110), characterized in that it comprises
a) a lower film (320) comprising
a1) an adhesive underside (322) against which a protective sheet (330) is removably adhered;
a2) a top face (321) devoid of adhesive capability;
b) an upper film (310) comprising
b1) a top face (311) devoid of adhesive capability;
b2) a lower face (312) comprising
b2.1) a first portion against which said upper face of the lower film is permanently glued and
b2.2) a second free portion, so as to form a tab for gripping said label. Label (100) according to the preceding claim, on which the lower face (312) of the upper film (310) is entirely adhesive, and comprises a portion against which an intermediate film (340) is stuck, so as to form the said free portion of the said upper film. Assembly for masking an area to be masked, characterized in that it comprises a masking film (101) for the area to be masked and a label (100) according to one of the preceding claims, the lower face (322) of the lower film (320) of said label being stuck on an upper face (203) of said masking film (101), the lower face (204) of said masking film being intended to be stuck on said area to be masked, and in that it is configured so that the adhesive power between said lower face of the lower film of the label and said upper face of the masking film is greater than the adhesive power between said lower face of the masking film and said area to be masked. Method of manufacturing (700) one or more labels (100) according to any one of Claims 1 to 2, characterized in that it comprises:
- a first step (704) of mid-flesh cutting of a top sheet comprising an adhesive underside against which a first protective sheet is glued, said mid-flesh cutting being performed on said first protective sheet according to a cutting line ( 901) preliminary, so as to separate said first protective sheet into a first and a second portion;
- a first step (705) of weeding the first portion of said first protective sheet, so as to expose a first adhesive portion of said upper sheet;
- a first step (706) of laminating an intermediate sheet to said top sheet, during which a first portion of said intermediate sheet is permanently bonded to the first adhesive portion of said top sheet;
- a second step (707) of cutting said intermediate sheet according to said preliminary cutting line (901), so as to separate said intermediate sheet into a first and a second portion;
- a step (708) of removing the second portion of said intermediate sheet;
- a second step (709) of weeding the second portion of said first protective sheet, so as to expose a second adhesive portion of said upper sheet;
- a second step (710) of laminating a lower sheet comprising an adhesive lower face on which a second protective sheet is glued and an upper face devoid of adhesive capacity, during which the second adhesive portion of said upper sheet is glued permanently on the upper face of said lower sheet, so as to obtain a final complex (860);
- a third step (711) of kiss cut of said lower sheet, said cut being made on the side of the second protective sheet, according to a line (902) of slitting, so as to separate said second protective sheet into two parts;
- a fourth step (712) of cutting out the final complex in the flesh according to a shape outline of the label, said cutting being carried out on the side of the upper face of said upper sheet. Manufacturing method (700) according to the preceding claim, further comprising:
- a step (701) of printing a visual of the label (802) on the upper face of said top sheet, said printing step preferably being preliminary to said first cutting step. A manufacturing method (700) according to any of claims 4 or 5, further comprising:
- a step (702) of printing marks on an upper face of a top sheet;
- a step (703) of full flesh cutting and weeding of one or more camera points (801) in said upper sheet, said camera points being preferably located in the corners of said upper sheet, so as to determine the orientation of the top sheet with respect to a camera communicating with a control unit of a cutting tool.