JP2001509446A - A sheet stack comprising one or more sheets having a repositionable adhesive alternating between opposite edges and different from other sheets - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention comprises a plurality of sheets (201) arranged one above the other, each sheet having a repositionable adhesive (202) along one edge and vice versa. With no adhesive along the side edges, the sheets alternately place the repositionable adhesive edge of each sheet on the opposite edge to keep the sheets stacked. A stack of flexible sheet material (200), wherein the stack comprises at least two different sheets. The present invention also provides a method and apparatus for obtaining a stack of sheets as described above and a dispenser comprising the stack of sheets as described above.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a stack of flexible sheet materials and to a dispenser including such a stack. The stack includes a plurality of sheets where each sheet is adhered to another by a repositionable adhesive and at least two sheets are different from each other. The present invention relates to a method for applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets in which at least two sheets are different, and an apparatus for performing the method.

[0002] US Patent No. 6,417,345 discloses a dispensing device that is used to dispense a sheet material having a narrow band of easily peelable pressure sensitive adhesive applied along one edge. Disclose. The dispenser includes a container having a pair of side walls connected by a top wall and is formed with a laterally extending rectangular opening extending parallel to the side walls.
When removing the top sheet of the stack, the adhesive paint along one edge of the sheet adhered to the edge of the next sheet of the stack is taken out, and the next sheet of the stack is dispensed when the top sheet is pulled out. It is stacked in the dispenser such that its free edge is drawn through the opening. The disclosed exemplary embodiment includes a stack of sheets in which the adhesive staggers between two opposing edges of the stack. Further, these dispensers disclosed in this patent are commercially available. However, the stack of sheets used here typically consists of the same sheets.

There is a need to make one or more sheets in such a stack of dispensers different from other sheets in the stack. For example, it may be desirable to have staggered colored sheets in the stack, or include one or more sheets in the stack, including a message, particularly an advertisement or an indication that the end of the stack is imminent. is there.

[0004] It has not hitherto been possible to produce such a stack of sheets in which the adhesive staggers between the opposing edges. In particular, stacking of sheets, as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,417,345, is typically prepared by striping an adhesive onto a continuous web of sheet material, e.g., paper. Such a process consists of 1
One or more sheets lack the desired flexibility required to produce a different stack from the other sheets.

[0005] WO 94/19419 discloses a process for applying a plurality of individual sheets with an adhesive, for example a repositionable adhesive. This process allows one or more sheets different from other sheets to be inserted during application, thereby producing a stack of sheets with inserts. However, the process disclosed in this patent application is not adapted to produce a stack of sheets in which the adhesive staggers between opposing edges of the stack and is disclosed in the aforementioned US Patent No. 5,417,345. Can be used with a dispenser.

The present invention comprises a plurality of sheets placed one on top of the other, each sheet having an adhesive that can be repositioned along one edge and glued along an opposite edge. A sheet of flexible sheet material that has no adhesive and is stacked with these sheets alternately arranging the repositionable adhesive edges of each sheet on the opposite edge to keep the sheets stacked. Providing a stack, characterized in that the stack comprises at least two different sheets.

The invention also provides a dispenser comprising a stack of sheets as described above,
The dispenser includes wall means surrounding the stack, the wall means having a top wall with a lateral opening through a portion of the top sheet in the stack at the adhesive-free edge.

[0008] The present invention provides a method for applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets. The method comprising: (a) applying a coating material to an endless transfer surface; and (b) transporting a plurality of sheets including at least two different sheets to a transfer position with their ends overlapped. (C) contacting the plurality of sheets with a transfer surface at a transfer position to transfer the coating material to the plurality of sheets, thereby forming a coating area on each sheet; When the material is transferred to the first and second sheets adjacent to each other, the coated areas on the first and second sheets are relatively displaced in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction. A method of applying a coating material to the endless transfer surface.

An apparatus for applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets is also provided. The apparatus: a conveyor configuration for transporting a plurality of sheets to a transfer position with their ends overlapped; an endless transfer surface movable through the transfer position in contact with the transported sheets; On the endless transfer surface, a coating material for the next transfer to the sheet is applied, and in preparation for forming a coating area on those sheets by continuously transferring the transfer material to a plurality of sheets at the transfer position, Coating means arranged to apply a coating material to the endless transfer surface; wherein the coating means transfers the coating material to the first and second sheets adjacent to each other when the coating material is transferred to the first and second sheets. An apparatus capable of applying a coating material to the endless transfer surface such that a coating area on the two sheets is relatively displaced in a direction orthogonal to a sheet conveying direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The flexible sheet material used in connection with the present invention can be any type of flexible material, including paper as well as plastic film materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester. Including. Preferably, the flexible sheet material is paper, and the description will be directed primarily to, but not limited to, the present invention. Preferably, the stack of flexible sheet material is a stack of repositionable notes. Preferably, such a note is applied on one side with a primer and on the other side with a low tack backsize (LAB). The repositionable adhesive is applied to the surface that has been coated with the primer. The undercoat material is about 3-7% by weight Hoechst
Binder MOWIOL ™, manufactured by the company Frankfurt, Main, Germany, and about 3-8% by weight of the pigment AEROSIL ™, manufactured by Degussa GmbH, Frankfurt / Main, Germany, by about 90% by weight water and It may be obtained by mixing.

LAB materials include, but are not limited to, acrylic acid copolymers,
Any suitable material may be used, including silicone materials, urethanes, and fluoropolymers. For example, the LAB may be an aqueous solution of the material described in EP-A-0618509, which typically contains about 5% to about 10% solid material. Other LAB materials that may be employed include those described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,202,190 and 5,032,460.

Repositionable adhesives are preferably, for example, US Pat. Nos. 5,050,569; 4,495,318; 4,166,152; 3,857,731; 3691.
No. 140; U.S. Reissue Patent No. 24906; U.S. Patent No. 5,571,617;
And relocatable microsphere pressure sensitive adhesives as described in EP-A-0439941.

[0013] The sheets in the stack may be of any desired size and shape,
Typically rectangular or square, 5 cm to 15 cm wide and 5 cm to 25 cm
Having a length of The number of sheets in the stack varies, but is typically 10 to 10
The number is 0, preferably 25 to 50.

The stack of the present invention includes at least two different sheets. They are,
Although there may be any type of difference, they are preferably of a color, print or material type. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the stack includes only a majority of similar sheets and a few different sheets. Typically, these sheets include messages such as advertisements or an indication that the end of the stack is imminent. Instead, the stack includes a first group of similar sheets and a second group of similar sheets, wherein the first and second groups of sheets, for example, are different in color from each other and are staggered throughout the stack.

The flexible sheet material according to the present invention has a first main surface and a second main surface opposite to the first main surface.
It has a main surface. Along one edge of the second major surface is provided a strippable or striped repositionable adhesive, but any shape of the repositionable adhesive, such as a dot shape, etc. Sometimes used for. These sheets are the only ones in the stack
The second major surface of one sheet is stacked together so as to adhere to the first major surface of the next sheet, and the adhesive paint staggers between the two opposite edges of the stack. Thus, for two consecutive sheets in a stack, one sheet in the stack has a repositionable adhesive along a first edge of two opposite edges and two opposite sides. And no next sheet in the stack has an adhesive that can be repositioned along the first edge and a second sheet of the stack having no repositionable adhesive along the second edge of the edge of the first sheet. It has an adhesive that can be repositioned along two edges.

The stack of flexible sheet materials of the present invention is typically used in a dispenser as described above. This can add unexpected elements to commercial advertisements contained in sheets inserted into the stack, i.e. such sheets will only be visible to the user when the previous sheet for the inserted sheet is withdrawn from the dispenser. Because it does not come. Dispensers suitable for use in the present invention are disclosed in US Pat.
No. 345.

Preferred Apparatus and Method for Applying Flexible Sheet Material The apparatus schematically illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a sheet of any suitable substrate material such as, for example, paper, polymerized film or foil. Priming material, low tack backsize (LAB) material, and repositionable so that the sheets can be used continuously to form repositionable notes for the production of repositionable notes from It is used specifically for applying a special adhesive to individual sheets. In the following description, it is assumed that these sheets (which may be printed in advance) are made of paper unless otherwise specified. This paper is from Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
a Mining and Manufacturing Company (3
Any suitable paper may be used, such as the paper used to construct the relocatable notes available from the M) company under the trade name post-it.

This device has a paper path for receiving a continuous paper sheet (not shown) from a stack in the paper feeding device 1. From this sheet feeder 1, the sheet passes through a sheet inserter 2 (located on one side of the paper path as shown in FIG. 2) and then a dual coater 3.
, To the sheet overlap position 4, dryer 5, sheet guide section 6, and adhesive coater 7 in the direction indicated by arrow 100 along its paper path. The control and synchronization of the drives at the various positions may be performed by a central electronic control unit (not shown), for example, Siemens PLC 135.

As will be described in detail below, when the sheet insertion device 2 is not operating, the sheets are placed in order to reduce the space required between the sheet feeding device 1 and the dual coater 3.
The sheet exits the sheet feeder 1 in a continuous stream where the trailing edge of one sheet overlaps the leading edge of the next sheet. However, these sheets are separately passed through the dual coater 3, where they are individually coated on one side with a primer material and on the other side with a LAB material. The sheets emerging from the dual coater 3 are then re-stacked at the overlap position 4 to form a pseudo web where the trailing edge of one sheet is overlapped by the leading edge of the next sheet. This spurious web is then maintained throughout the rest of the apparatus, but is undesirable in the dryer 5 and the adhesive coater 7
The initial direction of the overlap, which is not suitable for, is reversed when the pseudo web exits the overlap position 4. After passing through a dryer 5 (where the primer and LAB paint are dried), the pseudo web is guided by a guide section 6 (where these sheets are side-aligned and aligned therein), and Adhesive coater 7 (a plurality of adhesive stripes are applied to the surfaces of these sheets coated with primer material in dual coater 3). Further, these sheets are stacked and trimmed as needed to form a repositionable note pad. Instead, the sheets exiting the dryer 5 are stacked and stored, and subsequently
It may be sent again to the adhesive coater as a pseudo web of the stacked sheets.

The sheet insertion device 2, which is not an integral part of the device, can be used when one or more sheets from another stack must be inserted into the stream of sheets entering the dual coater 3. Alternatively, a stack of uncoated sheets with one or more different sheets inserted therein may be sent from the feeder 1 to form the stack of the present invention. This sheet insertion device 2 is provided with a “Sheet coating method and
Apparatus with sheet insertion ", such as that described in UK Patent Application No. 9603345, filed February 16, 1996, entitled" Sheet Coating Method and Apparatus Including Sheet Insertion ".

The operation of the sheet feeding device 1 will be described in detail. The paper feeder 1 includes a vertical movable table 10 on which a stack of sheets 11 is disposed and a suction head 12 installed on a rear edge of the stack. It is. When the feeder 1 is operated, the suction head 12 pulls the uppermost sheet from the stack 11 at the rear edge thereof, and the sheet is rolled up by the rollers 13 so as to be carried forward from the feeder onto the conveyor 14. Is moved (with the aid of an air jet from the nozzle 12a). The suction head 12 then returns, while the first sheet is still between the rollers, is moved forward and lifts the next sheet that is rolled up by the rollers 13. Thus, as the sheets pass between the rollers and are conveyed onto conveyor 14, the rear end of each sheet overlaps the leading end of the succeeding sheet. The extent of the overlap depends on the size of the sheet and the relationship between the operation of the suction head 12 and the winding speed of the roller 13. As the height of the stack 11 decreases, the table 10 moves upward to maintain the top of the stack with respect to the suction head 12 in place.

A feeder of the type just described is available under the trademark “41988” from MABEG Machinenbau GmbH, Offenbach, Germany. However, it will be appreciated that any other suitable paper feeder may be used.

Sheets from the sheet feeder 1 are transported by the conveyor 14 across the sheet inserter 2 to a gate 15 at the entrance to the dual coater 3. For the purposes of this description, it will be assumed that the sheet insertion device 2 is not functioning, in which case the overlapping sheets from the sheet feeder 1 will form a continuous stream on the conveyor 14 as shown in FIG. I do. When the first sheet 21 reaches the gate 15, it is determined that the rollers at the upper and lower application positions 16, 17 (described below) in the dual coater 3 have the proper form for conveying and applying the sheet. It is temporarily stopped while rotating to the position. This gate 15 is then opened to allow the first sheet 21 to enter the dual coater 3, after which the gate is closed before the second sheet 22 arrives and the upper and lower application positions The second sheet is stopped until the rollers 16 and 17 rotate to the normal positions again.

The dual coater 3 shown in FIG. 4 and shown in more detail in FIGS. 5 and 6
Will be described. The sheet from the conveyor 14 is picked up by a nip roll pair 30 in the dual coater 3 and is disposed above and below the paper passing through the dual coater, at an upper coating position 16 and a lower coating position 17 (described above). ) Sent in between. As the sheets pass through the dual coater, upper position 16 applies the primer material to one side of each sheet while lower position 17 applies L to the other side of each sheet.
Apply paint of AB material. These sheets are sent to the dual coater 3 without overlapping. This directs all, or a substantial portion, of both major surfaces of the sheet to LAB and primer application. As described below, mechanical means is used to grip and advance the sheet through a dual coater that allows the primer and LAB materials to be applied over the entire major surface of the sheet.

The upper application position 16 includes a weighing roller 31 and an application roller 32 arranged on a paper sheet path passing through the dual coater. The applicator roller 32 cooperates with an applicator drum 33 at the lower applicator position 17 with a metering roller 34 and a transfer roller 35 all located below the paper path through the dual coater. The applicator drum 33 has a rectangular cross-section (shown in more detail in FIG. 7) that includes a conventional sheet gripper 37 (shown in close proximity in FIG. 7) for capturing sheets from the feed nip 30. It has a cut-out portion 36. Furthermore, the drum is covered with a blanket 38 (not shown in FIG. 4) for less than half of its outer periphery, so that the coating roller 32
And the application roller 33 form an application nip only when the blanket is located directly adjacent to the application roller 32. As described below, the upper application location 16 provides a substantially full surface roll application of the primer material on the upper surface of the sheet, and the lower application location 17
Provides a substantially full surface roll application of LAB material on the lower surface of the sheet. In each case, the part engaged with the gripper (as described herein) is not applied.

In the upper application position, a trough 39 for the undercoating material is in close proximity to the nip between the rollers, above which, by means of the surfaces of the metering and application rollers 31, 32, a groove (shown in FIG. ) Are formed with two opposing end walls (not shown) that engage at each other. As the rollers 31, 32 rotate, the undercoat material forms a film on the application roller 32 and is transferred to a sheet passing under the roller.

The thickness of the undercoat film on the application roll 32, and hence the amount of undercoat material applied to the sheet, depends on the viscosity of the undercoat material and the metering and pressure between the application rollers 31, 32 and for a given undercoat material In contrast, it can be adjusted by moving the metering roller toward or away from the application roller and adjusting the speed thereof. The undercoat material is supplied to the trough 39 by a nozzle 40 (see FIG. 6) which receives the undercoat material from the tank 41 by a pump 42. Trough 39 also has an overflow outlet 43 through which excess primer material is returned to the tank.

At the lower application position 17, the trough 44 for the LAB material is likewise
And the transfer roller 35. As in the upper position, the paint material is
A film is formed on the transfer roller, the thickness of which can be adjusted by moving the metering roller 34 toward or away from the transfer roller 35 and by adjusting its speed, thereby allowing the blanket on the application drum 33 Controls the amount of LAB material sent from the transfer roller to cover 38 (rather than on the rest of the drum that transfer roller 35 does not contact).

Similar to the trough 39 at the upper application position 16, the trough 44 is supplied with LAB material by respective nozzles 45 (see FIG. 6) that receive LAB material from respective tanks 46 by pumps 47. This trough 44 has excess LA
It has an overflow outlet 48 through which the B material is returned to the tank 46.
When the blanket cover portion of the drum 33 moves close to the application roller 32 at the upper position, the sheet coming in from the feed nip 30 of the dual coater 3 is picked up by the gripper 37 in the drum, and Is carried through an application nip between the sheet and the blanket 38, and as the sheet passes through the nip, one side of the sheet is coated with LAB material. The sheet stripper (not shown)
Installed downstream of the applicator roller and applicator drum, it ensures that the sheet does not wrap around either the roller or the drum and is fed to the overlap position 4. The next sheet from the feed roll nip 30 is picked up and transported between the application roller 32 and the application drum 33 when the blanket cover moves again close to the roller 32. The operation of the gate 15 is as follows. It is synchronized so that it can be picked up every time the drum rotates. If the sheet is not waiting at the gate 15 (for example, as a result of a misfeed in the feeder 1 or the inserter 2), that fact is detected by a photocell (not shown) at the gate and the roller 32 Moved away from drum 33 to prevent any mixing of the primer material and the LAB material.

The application by the dual coater 3 is performed only when the blanket cover 38 on the application drum 33 is close to the application roller 32 (that is, when the sheet is passing through the application nip), so that the application is discontinuous. It will be appreciated that L on sheet
Typical laydowns of AB material are from about 0.5 gsm to about 12.0 gsm, and the laydown of the primer material is matched to match to ensure that the applied sheet remains flat. The primer and LAB material are simultaneously applied to the paper sheet at the application site and are preferably selected to have appropriately selected properties such as viscosity,% solids, and application amount, so that the sheet curls or wrinkles. Fear is virtually eliminated. Alternatively, a dual coater that does not apply the primer and LAB paint at the same time can be used, albeit at the expense of the benefits associated with the simultaneous application. For example, the undercoat application position 16 could be located before the LAB application position 17, in which case each of the application roller 32 and the application drum 33 would require a respective counter pressure roller.

The blanket cover 38 on the application drum 33 may be of any suitable type, but is preferably formed from rubber or any other suitable elastomeric material. The blanket 38 is wrapped around the drum 33 and is fixed by an adhesive to a sheet of support material 38A that can be detachably fixed. The support sheet 38A may be, for example, a plastic resin such as that available under the trade name “Mylar”, and the blanket 38 may be made of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
It may be secured to the support sheet by a neoprene adhesive available from Company, Inc. under the trade name "1236". The support sheet 38A is detachably fixed to the drum 33 with, for example, screws. In this way, the blanket 38 can be easily removed from the drum and replaced if necessary. When fixing the blanket 38 to the support sheet 38A in a state where the support sheet is flat, it is preferable to use a soft adhesive to fix the blanket. The flexibility of the adhesive is less important if the blanket 38 is secured to the support sheet after the support sheet has been attached to the drum. Any suitable adhesive may be used to secure the elastomer blanket 38 to the support sheet, particularly as long as it ensures that the corners of the blanket do not rise from the support sheet during the application process.

The coating drum as shown in FIG. 7 has a “Sheet coating ap
It is also described in our UK Patent Application No. 9603366 filed on Feb. 16, 1996 under the name "paratus containing a coating roller".

As an alternative, the blanket cover 38 on the application drum 33 is provided by Wilmington, Delaware, USA. I. It may be a DuPont “CYRELL” polyurethane blanket available from DuPont de Nemours.

At the exit side of the application nips 32, 33 there is a sheet overlap position 4, where the sheets emerge from the application nip, take the sheets and place them on a conveyor 51 (shown in FIG. 5). Rather, there is a gripper unit 50 that is positioned to rest on. The conventional gripper unit 50 comprises a sheet gripper 52 whose movement is performed in an endless chain synchronized with the sheet feed,
A gripper 52 is positioned to receive each sheet exiting the application nip.
A blower 54 located below the paper path at the exit side of the application nip provides a cushion of air to support the sheets as they are conveyed by the sheet gripper 52. The blower 54 incorporates a heater (not shown) that serves to dry the LAB coating on the sheet to some extent to prevent the sheet from adhering to the conveyor. Since this conveyor 51 travels at a lower speed than the chain 53 of the gripper unit, each sheet is deposited on the conveyor with the leading edge of the sheet overlapping the trailing edge of the previous sheet, forming a pseudo web of sheets. I do. Typically, but not necessarily, the range of overlap is from about 1 centimeter (cm) to about 2 cm
It is. Since the conveyor 51 is a vacuum conveyor connected to a low pressure source 55, the sheets are securely held on the conveyor and the overlapping relationship between them is maintained.

The dual coater 3 with the seat overlap position 4 may be based on a “GULLA SPEED GS GS 8000” coater available from Billhofer Machinenfabrik GmbH, Nuremberg, Germany.

From the output end of the conveyor 51, the sheets move to a further vacuum conveyor 56 (FIG. 1) which carries them through the dryer 5 (described in detail below). Between the conveyors 51, 56, these sheets pass through an arrangement that reverses the direction in which they are overlapped. This arrangement, including the blower 60 shown in FIG. 4, is shown diagrammatically in FIGS. Blower 60 (Conveyor 51
, 56, below the paper path), this arrangement includes a stationary vacuum cylinder 61 with closed ends 62 located just downstream of the blower above the paper path. As shown in FIG. 9, a portion of the vacuum cylinder 61 oriented toward the blower 60 is formed with a plurality of openings 63, and the other portion of the cylinder is closed. In use, the interior of the cylinder passes through one of the
6 by a line 67. Typically, cylinder 61 is about 15c
The openings 63 (of a cylinder with three rows arranged at 30 mm intervals) having a diameter of m have a diameter of 6 mm and are arranged in the rows at 30 mm intervals.

The arrangement shown in FIG. 8 functions as follows. The operation of the blower 60 is such that a discontinuous jet of air overlaps between each pair of successive sheets 64, 65 (i.e., when the sheet 64 begins to move onto the conveyor 56 and the sheet 65 begins to leave the conveyor 51). 8, so that the rear end of the sheet 64 and the leading end of the sheet 65 are raised as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. The rear end of the sheet 64 then enters under the influence of the vacuum in the cylinder 61 acting via the opening 63 and is attracted towards the cylinder and held there, while the sheet 6
The leading end of 5 falls and returns on the paper path. The sheet 65 continues to move forward on the conveyor 56, while the conveyor 56 pulls the rear end of the sheet 64 away from the cylinder 61 and returns it on the paper path, but the rear end of the sheet 64 is now Will be located above, not below, the leading end of the.

It will be appreciated that when the sheet is in a flat position on the conveyors 51, 56, the vacuum in the cylinder 61 does not affect the sheet, so this vacuum can always be applied. This vacuum causes it to attract the rear edge of the sheet (such as sheet 64 in FIG. 9),
It should be applied at a level sufficient to ensure retention, but not so large that the sheet is not dislodged by the forward movement of conveyor 56. Plate 6 if necessary
8 can be installed above the cylinder 61 and blower 60 (as shown in FIG. 8) to direct a jet of air from the blower toward the cylinder.

Any other suitable arrangement may be used to change the direction of sheet overlap between the conveyors 51, 56, eg, losing the benefits associated with the arrangement of FIG. But similar to those described in GB-A-2166717, for example,
Including air knife alone or equivalent mechanical arrangement.

Returning to FIG. 1, the pseudo web of sheet moves from the sheet overlap position 4 to the dryer 5, where moisture is removed from the undercoat and LAB paint. This dryer 5 is preferably a high frequency dryer, for example Procto, Berkshire, UK
r Strayfield Ltd. Specific No. of Model No.
. SP890 GF "C" -AG. The dryer 5 includes a control unit (not shown) for adjusting the output of the dryer according to the line speed of the apparatus. The control unit may be, for example, a Sieme interconnected with the central electronic control unit of all devices.
nts PLC 55 95U. The overlapping sheets
It is placed on the endless belt 56 and passes through the dryer 5 continuously and is dried at a rate that reduces the tendency of the sheets to wind, but allows them to emerge in a substantially dry state. The use of a high frequency dryer is not essential and the overlapped sheets may instead be dried using infrared heating or hot air. Alternatively, the endless belt 56 may be heated to dry the sheet. However, high frequency drying is desirable because of its simplicity and low energy consumption.

Since the sheet is unlikely to be lifted from the belt 56, the sheet is
It is desirable to change the direction of sheet overlap before entering (as described above)
It is possible to defer the operation until the sheet is dried. In that case, the device shown in FIG. 8 would be located at the outlet of the dryer 5.

Downstream of the dryer 5, the overlapping sheets move through the guide section 6,
There, the sheets are side-aligned, aligned with each other and prepared to proceed to the adhesive coater 7. In the adhesive coater 7, the overlapped sheets pass through a transfer position 70 (see FIG. 10a), where they are transferred to an endless transfer belt 7.
1, the belt is pre-coated with adhesive paint in the form of dots or a plurality of stripes extending in the longitudinal direction of the belt.

The transfer belt 71 is hung around the roller 72 on which at least one of them is driven, so that the belt can move in the direction of the arrow 73. When the transfer belt 71 moves (at the same advancing speed as the overlapped sheet), the transfer
, Dryer 75 and transfer location 70, each of which is described in detail below. Preferably, the adhesive is at least partially dried in dryer 75 before being transferred to the overlapped sheet at transfer location 70 (ie,
The water content is reduced to the desired level). For example, the water content of the aqueous adhesive may be approximately 50% to 80% before drying and may be 0% to 50% after drying.
Preferably, substantially all of the moisture is removed during the drying process.

The application mechanism 74 applies a repositionable adhesive to the transfer surface 76 of the transfer belt 71. The application mechanism is, for example, a rotary gravure roller 77 for applying an adhesive.
May be used. The gravure roller 77 (FIGS. 10a and 10b) is in contact with the transfer belt 71, spreads over its width, and has at least a first (770) and a second (771) gravure formed on the surface of the roller. The first gravure 770 and the second gravure 771 extend only to a part of the outer periphery of the gravure roller 77 and are relatively displaced in the radial and axial directions. An adhesive is applied on the transfer belt. Gravure 770, 7
71 is preferably in the form of a strip in which a repositionable adhesive is applied to the stripes of the adhesive, or whose gravure is circular or elliptical so that a point shape of the repositionable adhesive is applied. There may be.

Preferably, the transfer belt 71 also includes a synchronization means 711 such that the application of the repositionable adhesive on the transfer belt 71 is started from a predetermined position (see FIG. 10c). For example, the transfer belt 71 may have a mark in the form of a vertical stripe extending across the transfer belt 71 or, for example, a square marked portion along one edge. Such a mark can be used to position the gravure roller 77 on this part of the transfer belt 71, so that when the application to the transfer belt is started, the gravure roller 77 is in contact with the first and second gravure 770, 771. Transfer belt 7 between
1 is contacted. To assist in correctly positioning the gravure roller 77 with respect to the synchronization means 711 on the transfer belt, the gravure roller 77 may include synchronization means (not shown), for example, in the form of a mark. . When the gravure roller 77 is positioned at the start of coating, the coating is performed on the transfer belt 71 as shown in FIG. 10c.

As shown in FIG. 10C, the gravure roller 77 is brought into contact between the first and second gravure bands 770 and 771 in the synchronization means 711 on the transfer belt 71, and the gravure roller 77 and the transfer belt 71 The adhesive is applied to the transfer belt 71 from the first gravure band 770 by making a half rotation while maintaining the contact between the first and second gravure bands. When the gravure roller 77 is further rotated by half a rotation while maintaining contact with the transfer belt 71 to make one rotation, the repositionable adhesive from the second gravure band 771 is applied to the transfer belt. Since the first and second gravure bands 770 and 771 extend only to a part of the outer periphery of the gravure roller and are relatively displaced in the radial and axial directions, the first and second gravure bands 770 and 771 are applied on the transfer belt 71 as a result. The application of the adhesive from the first and second gravure bands 770, 771 causes a lateral displacement and is discontinuous. Preferably, the discontinuous length of the striped portion of the adhesive corresponds to at least the length of the sheet in the transport direction. Thus, if the start of the sheet is synchronized with the start of the adhesive stripe, the adhesive stripe resulting from the first and second gravure 770, 771 is alternately applied to the sheet.

Synchronization of the start of the adhesive strip with the start of the sheet may be performed by detecting the position of the transfer belt 71 and the start of the sheet. This is, for example, the transfer belt 7
This can be performed by providing a black striped portion at the start position of each sheet, which is detected by the synchronizing means 711 on the first unit and further detected by the contrast cell. Detection of the position of the transfer belt 71 and the start of the sheet may thus be used to adjust the speed of the transfer belt 71 and / or the speed of transport of the sheet to obtain proper synchronization.

The adhesive to be applied to the transfer belt 71 by the gravure roller 77 is supplied from a tank 79 to a trough 80 in an application mechanism 74 by a pump 78.
The metering roller 81 is immersed in the adhesive in the trough, and as it rotates, the metering roller lifts the adhesive, which transfers it to the counter-rotating gravure roller 77, and in particular, to the gravure. One or more doctor knives (as in 82)
Engage the gravure roller 77 to remove excess adhesive and ensure that all adhesive on the gravure roller fits only within the gravure cells, thereby ensuring that the adhesive is striped or transferred to the transfer belt 71. The spot is transferred.

The transfer belt 71 with the adhesive stripes passes through a dryer 75 (FIG. 1) where the adhesive stripes are at least partially dried (ie, 0% to 50%). This is done to improve the adhesion of the adhesive to the sheet. This dryer 75
Are preferably high frequency dryers, for example, Proktor, Berkshire, UK
The Strayfield Ltd. Model No.
SPW 12-73, typically about 27 MHz, or alternatively about 30 MHz.
Operated at MHz. The dryer has a length in the belt movement direction of about 2.5 m, and has an exhaust portion (not shown) through which the interior of the dryer is ventilated with the aid of a fan 84. The dryer has a control unit (not shown) that adjusts the output of the dryer according to the line speed of the coating device. The control unit may be, for example, a Siemens PLC 55 interconnected with a central electronic control unit for the entire device.
It may be -95U.

The high frequency dryer is non-responsive to high frequency radiation (ie, unaffected by high frequency radiation to the extent that it is transparent or adversely affects the operation of the method and apparatus of the present invention). Must. This arrangement allows the adhesive to dry without excessive heating of the transfer belt, thereby also allowing the adhesive to solidify before the adhesive is applied to the transfer belt 71. This is advantageous in that any heat transfer to the adhesive is eliminated. Induction dryers also offer the advantage of relatively simple and low energy consumption. Furthermore, the transfer belt 71 does not require preheating, which takes a long time to the operating temperature in particular, and the adhesive is easily separated from the belt for transferring to the sheet at the application position.

Preferably, the transfer belt 71 is made of a layer made of a fiber glass cloth having a thickness of about 0.1 mm and coated on both sides with a layer of silicone rubber having a thickness of about 0.15 mm.

However, other forms of the transfer belt that are incompatible with the high frequency dryer (ie, not transparent or inert to high frequency radiation) may also be used, at the cost of losing the benefits associated with the non-reactive belt. You will understand what you can do. For example, the transfer belt
It may be composed of a metal substrate coated on both sides with silicone rubber. Other types of dryers that may be employed include infrared heaters, or hot air dryers. However,
If the dryer heats the transfer belt 71 (and the coating mechanism 74), the adhesive and the transfer belt must be cooled to reduce the risk of the adhesive solidifying.

At the transfer position 70, the adhesive-coated transfer belt 71 passes through a transfer nip 85 including a transfer roller 90 and an idler counter pressure roller 91. An overlapped sheet 86 from the guide section 6 of the device is also passed toward the transfer nip 85 and supported by the counter pressure roller 91 against the transfer roller 90 and thus against the transfer belt 71, as described above. The adhesive is transferred from the belt to the sheet.

The counter pressure roller 91 in the transfer nip 85 has circumferential grooves 92 (FIG. 11) arranged at a plurality of intervals, and a plurality of finger portions 93
0 and are provided immediately downstream to engage these grooves. These finger portions 91
Even after the overlapping sheets 86 exit the transfer nip 85, these sheets continue to move with the transfer belt so that they do not wind around the counter pressure roller 91. These sheets 86 are removed from the transfer belt 71 downstream of the fingers 93 by a separation conveyor in the form of a vacuum belt 95 which also serves to convey the sheets to the paper path exit 96 of the apparatus, as described below. (FIG. 10a). Removal of the sheets from the transfer belt 71 is facilitated by the direction in which the sheets overlap (i.e., the leading edge of each sheet overlaps the rear edge of the preceding sheet).

An additional roller 97 is provided to engage the inside of the downstream transfer belt 71 at the beginning of the vacuum belt 95 so that the transfer belt initially (ie, before the roller 97) forms a small angle ( At about 1 to 3 degrees, then (i.e., after roller 97) is tilted at a larger angle (about 3 to 6 degrees). Typically, the angle at which the transfer belt 71 is inclined to the vacuum belt 95 is about 2 or 3 degrees for a distance of about 50 mm initially, but the vacuum belt functions to release the sheet from the transfer belt, and then about Increase up to 5 degrees to increase separation between transfer belt and sheet. Since the roller 97 is movable as shown by the arrow 97a, the angle between the transfer belt 71 and the vacuum belt 95 can be adjusted.

The vacuum belt 95 is connected to a low-pressure source in a vacuum box 99, and is connected to the vacuum belt 98 in FIG.
The vacuum is applied through the belt to the sheet on the surface of the belt because it is open as shown in FIG. The reduced pressure applied through the vacuum belt 95 is relatively strong in the first part of the belt path, where the relative tilt of the transfer belt 71 is minimized and decreases as the relative tilt of the transfer belt increases. To that end, a partition 101 is formed in the vacuum box 99 and connected via a port 102 to a relatively strongly reduced pressure source, while the other remainder of the vacuum box is connected via a port 103 , Connected to a more moderately reduced pressure source. Furthermore, the reduced pressure in the partition 101 is applied to the belt 9 through a relatively large opening 104 in the surface of the vacuum box 99.
5, but reduced pressure in the rest of the vacuum box is applied through a more restricted opening 105. The reduced pressure applied through the opening 104 is high enough to release the sheet from the transfer belt 71 without damaging the sheet, which further damages the sheet (in this case, for example, the opening 98 Sheet is conveyed to the paper path exit 96 because the rest of the vacuum box 99 is reduced to a level sufficient to maintain the peeled sheet on the vacuum belt (without marking). You. For example, 350 to 550 mm
H ₂ O (typically 400mmH ₂ O) of the vacuum is applied to the initial part of the paper path surface of the belt 75, 150~200mmH ₂ O of vacuum is applied to the remainder of the paper path surface. In each case, the degree of vacuum applied is limited by the need to avoid damage to the sheet and varies by the nature of the sheet material. Once separated from the vacuum belt 95, the sheets are stacked and trimmed, for example, Minnesota Mining and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Manufacturing Company ("3M")
Form a repositionable note pad, available "st-it". The vacuum belt 95 need not be a single belt extending the width of the vacuum box 99, but
It may be composed of a plurality of narrow belts arranged side by side.

FIGS. 14 a to 14 c schematically illustrate the trimming process. Thus, a stack of sheets 200 from the applicator shown in FIG. 1 typically comprises a backing sheet 201, a first sheet 203, a second sheet 204, a sheet 203, 204 different from the first sheet 203. It has a repositionable adhesive 202 applied to the back. First
As shown in FIG. 4b, the stack 200 moves along the line 206 along with the knife 205
, Resulting in an individual stack and the repositionable adhesive staggered between the two opposing edges of the stack. The resulting stack in this way is
It may be further trimmed along a direction perpendicular to that to obtain a stack of desired size and shape (FIG. 14c).

Although the above description refers to sheets as paper, they may also be formed from other materials (eg, as described above), for example, a polymerized film as described above. If the sheets are paper, they are preferably fed to the device with the "machine direction" of the paper sheet aligned with the machine direction; thus reducing the tendency of the sheet to curl or wrinkle. It can be further reduced.

Different weights and paper qualities of paper can be used if needed. For example, the described apparatus is easily adaptable, for example, to handle A4 size paper or A2 size paper. Similarly, this device can be used with relatively heavy paper (eg, 250 gsm
), And lower weight paper (eg, 80 gsm).

When the paper supplied to the dual coater 3 is pre-printed, the above-mentioned method is used for LA printing.
The B coating material is applied from above the printed portion on the sheet. This LA
The B paint, in particular, serves to protect the printed portion against adhesive delamination on adjacent sheets as the sheets are subsequently stacked and cut to form repositionable note pads. The protection provided by the LAB paint also allows the use of stronger adhesives on printed notebooks to be considered. Of course, the printed portion may be applied to the sheet after dual coater 3, whether pre-printed or not, using any conventional printing method.

The sheet take-out arrangement of FIG. 10a was described above as a forming part of an adhesive coater, but may be used in other situations, such as when it is necessary to apply a coating material to a sheet using endless transfer. It will be understood that there are times.

It will also be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the overall configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 without affecting the operation of the adhesive coater 7 (especially the sheet removal arrangement). . For example, the overlap position 4 may be omitted or the sheet may be sent directly from the dual coater 3 to the dryer. In that case, the sheets are stacked just before they are fed into the adhesive coater 7. Such an arrangement was filed on February 16, 1996 and is described in "Method and appa".
ratus for coating sheets on bath side
es with water based material, described in our UK Patent Application No. 9603281, which describes how sheets are collected and stacked from a dryer. It is also described whether the sheet overlaid on the adhesive coater is subsequently re-fed as a pseudo web.

Further, it is desirable, but not essential, that the sheets be sent to the dual coater 3 without overlapping. They may be fed in and through a dual coater, for example, as a simulated web of overlapping sheets as described in WO 94/19419, supra. In that case, the sheet overlap position 4 in FIG. 1 (including the apparatus in FIG. 8 for changing the direction of the overlap) becomes unnecessary.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like structures throughout the several views.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a sheet coating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the relative position of sheets at the entrance to a dual coater forming part of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a dual coater forming part of the apparatus shown in FIG.

5 is the same as FIG. 4 showing a part of the dual coater in more detail;

FIG. 6 shows a paint material supply system for the dual coater of FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged diagram showing a part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 shows the components of FIG.

FIG. 10a is a side view of a portion of an adhesive coater that forms part of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 10b is a diagram of a gravure roller for use with the adhesive coater shown in FIG. 10a. FIG. 10c is a diagram of an endless transfer applied with adhesive stripes using the gravure roller shown in FIG. 10b.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged partial view showing a part of FIG. 10a.

FIG. 12 is a partial plan view of the components shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a partial plan view of another component shown in FIG. 11;

FIGS. 14a-14c schematically illustrate trimming a sheet stack to a pad of a desired size and shape.

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Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A method comprising: a plurality of sheets arranged on top of each other;
With the adhesive repositionable along one edge and without the adhesive along the opposite edge, the sheets are stacked to maintain the sheets stacked. A stack of flexible sheet material, stacked with alternately repositionable adhesive edges disposed on opposite edges, characterized in that the stack comprises at least two different sheets. 2. The stack according to claim 1, wherein the stack comprises a similar majority of the sheets and, unlike the majority of the sheets, one or more sheets inserted into the stack. 3. The stack comprising a first group of similar sheets and a second group of similar sheets, wherein the first group of sheets and the second group of sheets are different from each other and are staggered within the stack. 1. Stack according to 1. 4. The stack according to claim 1, wherein at least two sheets in the stack are different in color and / or printing. 5. A sheet according to claim 1, wherein each sheet in the stack has the repositionable adhesive along one edge in the form of a band or a plurality of dots. Stacking described in. 6. The stack according to claim 1, wherein all the sheets in the stack are made of paper. 7. A dispenser comprising a stack of sheets according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a wall means surrounding the stack, the wall means being the uppermost part in the stack. A dispenser having a top wall with a lateral opening through a portion of the sheet at the adhesive-free edge. 8. A method of applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets, comprising: (a) applying the coating material to an endless transfer surface; and (b) forming a plurality of sheets including at least two different sheets. And (c) contacting the plurality of sheets with the transfer surface at the transfer position to transfer the coating material to the plurality of sheets, thereby coating each sheet. Forming an area to be coated, wherein the coating areas on the first and second sheets are orthogonal to the sheet conveying direction when the coating material is transferred to the first and second sheets adjacent to each other. Applying the coating material to the endless transfer surface so as to cause a relative displacement in a direction. 9. An apparatus for applying a coating material to a plurality of sheets, wherein the conveying apparatus conveys the plurality of sheets to a transfer position in a state where ends thereof are overlapped with each other, and a state in which the plurality of sheets contact the conveyed plurality of sheets. An endless transfer surface that can move through the transfer position at the transfer position, and a coating material is applied to the endless transfer surface in preparation for continuously transferring to a plurality of sheets at the transfer position to form a coating area on those sheets. Coating means arranged so that the coating areas on the first and second sheets are transferred when the coating material is transferred to the first and second sheets adjacent to each other. An apparatus capable of applying a coating material to the endless transfer surface so as to cause a relative displacement in a direction perpendicular to a sheet conveying direction. 10. The gravure roller having a gravure roller having first and second gravure, wherein the first and second gravure extend along a part of an outer periphery of the gravure roller, and have a radius and a gravure roller. The device according to claim 9, wherein the device is relatively displaced in the axial direction. 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the first and / or second gravure is band-shaped, circular or oval. 12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said endless transfer surface includes a synchronization unit. 13. A separation conveyor positioned proximate a path of sheets exiting a transfer position, and a first level of reduced pressure sufficient to separate the sheets from the transfer surface and to attract the sheets to the separation conveyor. To the first length of the separation conveyor proximate to the transfer location, and apply a second level of reduced pressure sufficient to maintain the sheets on the separation conveyor to be carried away from the transfer location. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a reduced pressure source operable to add to the length.