JPH04250031A - Postcard material and postcard preparation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a postcard material, of which a laminated postcard can be made into an open and read-type postcard as well as a method of preparing the postcard. CONSTITUTION:A postcard material is composed of the following two continuous elements: (i) a continuous form sheet 11 composed of unit postcard forms 10 connected in a longitudinal direction through a scheduled cut line 14 with the first and the second sprocket hole rows 21, 22 provided at both sides, each unit postcard sheet 10 being defined as a part sheet leaf 16, 17 of almost the same size in a width direction through a folder line 15, and (ii) continuous simulated adhesive film 13 consisting of unit simulated adhesive films 12, each being the same as or a smaller width than those of the part sheet leaves 16, 17 of the unit postcard sheet 10, with at least, the third sprocket hole row 23 at the same interval as that of the second sprocket hole row 22 on the continuous form sheet 11 at an end corresponding to an open part end formed when the continuous form sheet 11 is folded, and introduced into said open part of the continuous form sheet 11.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0010

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a material for making a laminated postcard consisting of two or more sheets of paper folded over each other and pseudo-adhered with a pseudo-adhesive film, and a method for producing such a postcard. Regarding the method.

[0020]

[Prior Art] In place of conventional single postcards, laminated postcards triple the amount of information that can be communicated and allow confidential information to be sent, while still requiring low postage charges. It is becoming widely used. A laminated postcard is a combination of two postcard-sized pieces of paper that are glued together using a laminating film called pseudo-adhesive film, and when mailed, it is treated as one postcard, and after the recipient receives it. The information inside can be read by peeling off the pseudo-adhesive layer of the pseudo-adhesive film. Here, the pseudo-adhesive film is made by laminating a transparent sheet (low softening point sheet) such as polyethylene with a relatively low softening temperature on both sides of a transparent sheet (heat-resistant sheet) with a relatively high softening temperature such as polyester. be. By sandwiching this pseudo-adhesive film between two partial paper sheets and heat-pressing them, the pseudo-adhesive film and the partial paper sheets are strongly bonded and become a permanent bond, but the heat-resistant sheet and the low softening A pseudo-adhesive layer forms between the dot sheet and the paper sheets, and although both parts of the paper sheet are reliably adhered, they can be easily peeled off by hand if some kind of handhold is provided. Note that materials (laminates) for making laminated postcards by performing pseudo-adhesion have already been disclosed in JP-A-1-214484 and JP-A-1-3.
Those disclosed in Publication No. 6493 (product name "N&K Card", manufactured by Nozaki Printing Paper Co., Ltd.) and Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-166
51 Publication, Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-174170, Utility Model Application Publication No. 1999-2
There are those disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No.-14342, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-22874, and Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-24977.

[0030]

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] In order to finish such laminated postcards in a close contact (pseudo-adhesive) state that can be mailed, conventionally, a pseudo-adhesive film was first applied to postcard paper (mounting paper) that was cut into single pieces. This was done by pasting the postcard paper with adhesive, then folding the postcard paper, and applying pressure and/or heat. However, when it is necessary to produce a large number of postcards for direct mail or the like, there is a limit to the processing capacity of such processing using single cut sheets. Therefore, we have developed a continuous process in which postcard paper and pseudo-adhesive film are formed into a continuous body, which is subjected to continuous bending and pressure bonding processes to obtain a continuous body of postcards, and then cut into individual postcards, and such a process. The postcard material used exclusively has been devised by the applicant and has already been put into practical use. but,
In this laminated postcard automatic production process, both the continuous form paper, which is a continuous body of postcard paper, and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film, which is a continuous body of pseudo-adhesive film, must be fed through rows of sprocket holes provided at both ends. . Furthermore, in order to reliably feed the continuous foam paper even after it is folded with a continuous pseudo-adhesive film in between, it is necessary to provide rows of sprocket holes on both sides of the fold line in the center of the continuous foam paper. Ta. For this reason, in the case of laminated postcards that can be continuously produced in this way, it is necessary to cut the sprocket hole rows on both sides and remove them at the same time as cutting into each unit postcard after pseudo adhesion. This complicated the process of creating postcards, resulting in high costs in terms of material and processing costs, and the finished postcards were also insufficient in terms of their appeal. In other words, since both ends of the postcard are cut, when the recipient peels off the pseudo-adhesive surface, the two partial leaves are completely separated. In order to avoid this, it is possible to make one side edge completely adhered instead of pseudo-adhered, but even in this case, both parts of the paper sheets will be connected in a so-called bookbinding type,
There was a drawback that continuous printing was interrupted at the boundary between the two sheets of paper, making it impossible to display a double-page photo or the like beautifully. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide a postcard that allows laminated postcards to be produced continuously and also allows the finished postcards to be made into double-page spreads. The purpose is to provide materials and methods for making postcards.

[0040]

[Means and operations for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, the laminated postcard production material according to the present invention is characterized by comprising the following elements. i) First and second sprocket hole rows are provided at both ends, a plurality of unit postcard sheets are connected in the longitudinal direction via a planned cutting line, and each unit postcard paper is further arranged so that each unit postcard sheet is connected via a fold line. Continuous foam paper that is divided in the width direction into a plurality of subsheets of approximately the same size; ii) At least the first part of the continuous foam paper is separated at the side edge corresponding to the opening side formed when the continuous foam paper is folded. A unit pseudo-adhesive film having a third sprocket hole row with the same spacing as the second sprocket hole row and having a width that is the same as or narrower than the width of the partial sheet of the unit postcard sheet is cut in the longitudinal direction through the scheduled cutting line. a continuous pseudo-adhesive film to be inserted into said opening of the continuous foam paper, consisting of

[0050] According to the Postal Law, even if a postcard (normally treated as second class mail) is a single leaf, if its size, weight, etc. deviate from the regulations stipulated by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, it is classified as first class mail. (usually referred to as a "sealed letter"), but the "postcard" referred to in this application naturally includes such postcards that are treated as sealed letters under the provisions of the Postal Law.

[0060] Furthermore, as a method for producing a laminated postcard from the above material, the present invention is characterized by comprising the following steps. i) At the same time, the first and second rows of sprocket holes of the continuous foam paper according to claim 1 are fitted by two rows of sprocket rollers, and at the same time, the third row of sprocket holes of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film is fitted on one of the rows of sprocket rollers. The continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film are overlapped in alignment with the second sprocket hole row of the continuous foam paper. ii) Of the continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film that are fed in an overlapping state, the continuous foam paper is continuously folded so as to enclose the continuous pseudo-adhesive film. iii) Permanently bond the continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film by applying heat or pressure. iv) Cut into unit postcards along the cutting line.

[0070] Here, if the postcard paper is made up of three or more partial sheets, in addition to the portions to be adhered with the pseudo adhesive film, the portions to be adhered with the permanent adhesive film are provided for adhesion between the partial sheets. Good too. Even in the case of adhesion using this permanent adhesive film, the method according to the invention allows insertion through only one row of sprocket holes.

[0080]

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a plan view of a laminated postcard material according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) shows a continuous form paper 11 in which a large number of individual postcard papers 10 are connected, and (b) shows each This is a continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 in which pseudo-adhesive films 12 corresponding to postcard paper 10 are connected. The continuous form paper 11 has planned cutting lines 14 in the width direction that are present at regular intervals.
Although the postcard paper 10 is divided into individual postcard papers 10, there is no cutting line 14 in the state of the continuous form paper 11. Of course, a tear line may be printed or perforations or the like may be used to make it easier to separate. Each postcard sheet 10 is divided into two partial sheets 16, 1 by a central fold line 15.
7, and one side (the surface of the right partial sheet 16 in FIG. 1(a)) is provided with a stamp field 18 and an address printing field 19. Other 3 of postcard paper 10
Correspondence, etc. can be printed or printed on the front side, but confidential information such as the balance of the bank account can also be printed on the two inner sides (in Figure 1, both sides of the back side), which will be the inside when folded later. . Similarly, the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 is divided into individual pseudo-adhesive films 12 by planned cutting lines 20 in the width direction that are present at the same intervals as the planned cutting lines 14 . The cross-sectional structure of the pseudo-adhesive film 12 of this example is shown in FIG.
Shown in b). In this embodiment, the pseudo-adhesive film 12 has a three-layer structure of polyethylene (30)-polyester (31)-polyethylene (32), with the heat-resistant transparent film polyester 31 in the center and the low softening point transparent film adjacent thereto. The area between the polyethylene layers 30 and 32, which are films, becomes a pseudo bond. As will be described later, when the recipient later peels off the laminated postcard, two pseudo-adhesive surfaces composed of these three layers (between polyethylene 30 and polyester 31, or between polyester 31 and polyethylene 3
2). In addition, by applying surface treatment such as anchor coating, corona discharge, or plasma treatment to the polyester 30 side surface of one of these pseudo-adhesive surfaces, the adhesive force on that surface will be strengthened, and the peeling will be suppressed from the other pseudo-adhesion. It can be made to occur only on surfaces. In addition to the structure shown in FIG. 1(b), the pseudo-adhesive film may have a structure in which a low softening point film is provided only on one side of the heat-resistant film. In this case, the heat-resistant film of the pseudo-adhesive film and the postcard paper are separately bonded with a strong adhesive (permanent adhesive). Note that the terms "low softening point film" and "heat resistant film" mentioned here are relative; resins that soften at lower temperatures than the heating temperature for pressure bonding of the pseudo-adhesive film are referred to as low softening point resins (films). , a resin that does not soften at that temperature can be used as a heat-resistant resin (film). Therefore, other materials that can be used as a pseudo-adhesive film include polyethylene (the softening temperature of this resin is relatively low at about 90°C, so it is usually used only as a thermoplastic resin), polyester, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, etc. A combination of so-called thermosetting resins such as thermoplastic resins, urea resins, and melamine resins can be used depending on the heating temperature. Also,
Instead of such a combination of different types of films, a combination of resin films of the same type bonded together can also be used. Furthermore, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 2-25546 can also be used.

Sprocket hole rows 21 and 22 are provided at both ends of the continuous foam paper 11, respectively. Although it is desirable that the hole sizes and arrangement pitches of both sprocket hole rows 21 and 22 be the same, they may be different. The continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 is provided with sprocket hole rows 23 only on one side. The size and arrangement pitch of the sprocket holes of this sprocket hole row 23 are the same as the sprocket hole row of one of the continuous foam paper 11 (if the sizes or pitches of both sprocket holes 21 and 22 of the continuous foam paper 11 are different). do. Slightly inside these sprocket hole rows 21, 22, and 23, there are planned cut lines 24, 25, and 26, respectively (same as the planned cut lines 14 and 20, there may actually be no lines), which will be described later. After the adhesion process, these sprocket hole rows 21, 22,
The portion 23 is cut from the postcard continuum by a continuous cutter. The width of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 excluding the sprocket hole row 23 to be separated (that is, the width of the pseudo-adhesive film 12) is the same as that of each portion of the postcard paper 10.
Make it slightly smaller than the width of 7.

[0100] From the postcard material thus prepared (continuous foam paper 11 and continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13),
The following describes how to create a laminated postcard. Figure 2
As shown in (a), the sprocket hole rows 21 and 22 at both ends of the continuous foam paper 11 are connected to sprocket rollers 30 and 31 that match the respective sizes and pitches (the distance between these two sprocket rollers 30 and 31 is is equal to the distance between the sprocket hole rows 21 and 22 of the continuous foam paper 11). Next, one of the sprocket hole rows 23 of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 (the same size as the sprocket hole row 23 of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13,
The sprocket roller 31 of the continuous foam paper 11 having a pitch is hung on the sprocket roller 31 (the one on which the sprocket hole row 22 is hung). After setting the continuous foam paper 11 and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 in this manner, superimposing them on one sprocket roller 31, both sprocket rollers 30,
31 is rotated to simultaneously feed the continuous foam paper 11 and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the continuous foam paper 11 is gradually and continuously folded along the central fold line 15 with the continuous pseudo-adhesive film sandwiched therein, and finally, as shown in FIG. As shown in (c), the continuous foam paper 11 is completely folded in two. Next, the continuous foam paper 11 folded in half is heated and pressurized from both sides, and the postcard paper 10 and the pseudo adhesive film 12 are bonded together.
Glue the. At this time, the low softening point resin layers or adhesives on both sides of the pseudo adhesive film 12 (if the low softening point resin is not coated on one side of the heat resistant resin) strongly adhere to the postcard paper 10. Since the heat-resistant resin and the low-softening point resin inside the pseudo-adhesive film 12 are temporarily bonded, albeit with a weak force, the continuous foam paper 11 is bonded through this bonding process.
is folded in two and integrated into a continuous postcard font. Thereafter, as described above, the sprocket hole rows are continuously cut off along the planned cutting lines 24, 25, and 26, and then cut along the planned cutting lines 14, 20 in the width direction to produce individual postcards.

[0110] In the laminated postcard produced in this way, the two partial sheets 16 and 17 of the postcard paper 10 are adhered to each other over the entire surface, so that it is difficult to open them even though it is pseudo-adhesion. Therefore, it is desirable to take the following method so that the pseudo-adhesive part of a laminated postcard can be easily opened. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the first method is to
At least one of the low softening point resin layers 30 (or 32) is removed in advance. By doing so, when both parts of the postcard paper 10 are heat-pressed and bonded with the pseudo adhesive film 12 in between, the removed part 33 is attached to the postcard paper 10 and the heat-resistant resin layer 3.
There is no adhesive between part 1 and part 3.
You will be able to open it easily using 3 as a clue. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4(a), holes 35 may be made in the portion of the planned cutting line 26 of the pseudo adhesive film 12. In this case, continuous form paper 11
After bending, gluing, and cutting out the sprocket hole row part, as shown in Figure (b), there is a part 36 on the opening side edge where the adhesive is not attached, and using this as a guide, the postcard can be easily opened. You will be able to do things. In addition to the rectangular shape shown in FIG. 4, this hole can have any shape such as an ellipse. In addition to these methods, there are other methods, such as printing ink or the like that prevents adhesion on the postcard paper 10 in advance, or creating an opening between the release layers of the pseudo-adhesive film (between the low softening point film and the heat-resistant film). It is also possible to use a method in which a peeling area is provided to weaken the adhesive force using silicone or the like at the part (i.e., the side edge where the sprocket hole row is cut along the planned cutting line after the pseudo-adhesive film is adhered to the postcard paper by heat-pressure bonding). , which can facilitate opening.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the postcard paper 10 is composed of two partial sheets 16 and 17, but it can also be made up of three sheets. An example of this case is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5A, a continuous form paper 51 in which postcard paper 50 is connected is divided into three partial sheets 54, 55, 56 in the width direction by two fold lines 52, 53, and in the longitudinal direction. The postcard sheets 50 are divided into individual postcard sheets 50 by cutting lines 57. One side of the end of the three partial sheets of the postcard paper 50 (the surface of the right partial sheet 56 in FIG. 5(a)) is provided with a stamp field and an address printing field, and the other side is provided with a stamp field and an address printing field. Confidential information such as deposit information can be printed on the same side of the two partial sheets. Partial sheet with stamp section 56
The opposite sides (back sides) of the two partial sheets 55 and 55 in the center are permanently glued to each other as will be described later, so it is not possible to print or print any meaningful information (no printing or printing). , background patterns can be printed to make internal information difficult to read). In order to permanently bond these two surfaces, an adhesive can be applied to these surfaces in advance, or a separate adhesive film may be inserted between these surfaces. The other side of the partial sheet will be the public communication side when mailed. In this example as well, the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 shown in FIG. 1(b) is used.

A method for continuously producing postcards using such postcard materials is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. As shown in the figure, the continuous foam paper 51 is continuously pulled out and folded into a Z shape, and then passed through two sprocket rollers 60, 61.
is superimposed with a continuous pseudo-adhesive film. Here, the continuous foam paper 51 is fed by two sprocket rollers 60 and 61, but the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 is fed by one of the sprocket rollers 60 and 61.
1, and the continuous foam paper 51 and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 are superimposed on the sprocket roller 61. When the continuous foam paper 51 is folded into a Z-shape, the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 is sandwiched between the two partial sheets 54 and 55. Thereafter, the central partial sheet 55 and one end partial sheet 56 of the three partial sheets are permanently bonded by heating and pressure bonding in the same manner as in the above embodiment. Partial sheet of paper at the other end 5
4 is pseudo-adhered by the pseudo-adhesive film 12. The cross-sectional structure in this state is shown in FIG. 5(b). Note that all the adhesion (two sides) between the three partial paper sheets 54, 55, and 56 may be pseudo adhesion. Furthermore, in order to facilitate the unsealing of the pseudo-adhesive surface, it is desirable to provide a non-adhesive region at the end in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

In all of the above embodiments, the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 was fed by itself by the sprocket roller, but in order to more reliably feed it simultaneously with the continuous foam paper 11, 51, the sprocket roller A reinforcing strip may be attached to the hole row 23. One example is shown in FIG. 8, in which paper strips 70 are pasted on both sides of the sprocket hole array 23 of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13. In FIG. 8, the strips 70 are attached to both sides separately, but one reinforcing strip is bent at the center in the longitudinal direction, and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film 13 is
It may also be attached by sandwiching the ends of it. Moreover, various reinforcement measures as shown in FIGS. 10(c) to 10(f), which will be described later, can be taken.

As a third embodiment of the present invention, as in the second embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 9 shows an example of using both at the same time to create a postcard. As shown in FIG. 5(a), postcard paper 80 is made up of three partial sheets 81, 82, and 83, and is folded into a Z-shape as shown in FIG. 4(b). A pseudo-adhesive film 90 and a permanent adhesive film 91 are inserted into the openings on both sides formed at this time, but the pseudo-adhesive film 90 is inserted using only the sprocket hole row on one side, and the permanent adhesive film 91 will be described later. As it is somewhat stiff, it is inserted using the sprocket hole rows on both sides. For this reason, the postcard paper 80 is provided with rows of sprocket holes on both sides and on both sides of one fold line, but as shown in FIG. The sprocket hole rows are cut from cut lines 84 and 85. Since the tear line 85 does not cut out the fold line between the partial sheets 81 and 82, after the pseudo adhesive between the two partial sheets 81 and 82 is peeled off, both the partial sheets 81 and 82 become a complete spread. Note that when a relatively thick permanent adhesive film 91 is used, the sprocket hole array at the fold line portion of the postcard paper 80 becomes unnecessary. It is also possible to use another pseudo-adhesive film instead of the permanent adhesive film 91 to create a three-leaf laminated postcard that can be opened from both sides.

[0160] Figures 10(a) to (f) show the various sprocket hole rows of the permanent adhesive film used in this example.
). In (a), the sprocket hole array is provided only on one side as described above. If a relatively thick film is used, it is possible to insert only one row of sprocket holes like this, but in general, permanent adhesive film is composed of a single layer film, so it is weak and stiff. It may be difficult to support the sprocket to the other end using only one sprocket hole row. In such a case, one option is to feed only the permanent adhesive film through both rows of sprocket holes, as shown in (b). Also, (c)
As shown in (f), reinforcing strips can also be attached to the sprocket hole rows.

[0170] The present invention is also applicable to the case where postcard paper is composed of three or more partial sheets and folded arbitrarily in a Z-shape, C-shape, or a combination thereof to create a single leaf postcard. be able to. Furthermore, the present invention can of course be applied to postcards that are not single-paged but double-paged when mailed, such as return postcards.

[0180]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention uses continuous foam paper and continuous pseudo-adhesive film as materials, laminated postcards can be produced continuously. Therefore, even extremely large quantities of postcards can be automatically created in a short period of time. In addition, since the sprocket is only provided on one side of the postcard, the laminated postcards can be opened completely, making it possible to create postcards that display large photos, etc. beautifully without any cuts. . Furthermore, before the postcard is formed, the postcard paper (continuous foam paper) is not pasted with a pseudo-adhesive film containing a low softening point resin, so when printing on the postcard paper, a high-speed electrostatic printing process is required. (This process inevitably includes heating the printing paper for fixing the toner).

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view of a continuous foam paper of the bifold postcard material according to the first embodiment of the present invention, (b) is a plan view of a continuous pseudo-adhesive film, and (c) is a plan view of a continuous pseudo-adhesive film. A cross-sectional view of the film.

FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view of the continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film of the first embodiment being continuously overlapped on a sprocket roller; (b) is a perspective view showing the overlapping state; c) is a cross-sectional view after being superimposed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a pseudo-adhesive film in which the low softening point resin layer at the opening side edge is removed in order to easily open a laminated postcard.

[Figure 4] (a) is a perspective view of postcard paper and a pseudo-adhesive film with holes punched at the cutout lines to facilitate opening of laminated postcards; (b) is a perspective view of postcard paper using the pseudo-adhesive film. A perspective view when the side end is opened after creation.

[Fig. 5] (a) is a plan view of continuous foam paper of the trifold postcard material according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and (b) is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the continuous foam paper folded into a Z shape and glued together. .

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an apparatus for continuously producing postcards from postcard material according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the sprocket part of the device in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a continuous pseudo-adhesive film in which reinforcing strips are provided in sprocket hole rows.

FIG. 9: (a) is a developed view of continuous foam paper, (b) is a perspective view when folded, and (c
) is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing six types of sprocket hole arrays of the permanent adhesive film used in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

10...Postcard paper, 1
1... Continuous foam paper 12... Pseudo-adhesive film 13... Continuous pseudo-adhesive film

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: First and second sprocket hole rows are provided at both ends, a plurality of unit postcard papers are connected in the longitudinal direction via a planned cutting line, and each unit postcard paper is arranged along a folding line. a continuous form paper that is divided into a plurality of substantially identically sized partial sheets in the width direction through the continuous form paper and at least a continuous form at the side edge corresponding to the opening side formed when the continuous form paper is folded; A unit pseudo-adhesive film having a third sprocket hole row at the same spacing as the second sprocket hole row of the paper and having a width equal to or narrower than the width of the partial sheet of the unit postcard paper is cut through the planned cutting line. and a continuous pseudo-adhesive film to be inserted into the opening of the continuous foam paper, the film being continuous in the longitudinal direction. 2. At the same time, while the two rows of sprocket rollers fit the first and second sprocket hole rows of the continuous foam paper according to claim 1, one row of the sprocket rollers feeds the third sprocket hole row of the continuous pseudo-adhesive film. The continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film are overlapped by aligning the sprocket hole row with the second sprocket hole row of the continuous foam paper. Continuously folding the continuous foam paper so as to enclose the continuous pseudo-adhesive film, permanently adhering the continuous foam paper and the continuous pseudo-adhesive film by heating or applying pressure, and cutting the continuous foam paper into unit postcards along the planned cutting line. A method for creating a postcard, which is characterized by the following: