MXPA98004685A - Elaboration of notes for written printer - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a construction of notes for printers, characterized in that it consists of at least one note for a printer coated with a repositionable adhesive, wherein the note for the printer is removably fixed on a support sheet by means of at least one a removable, removable adhesive, along at least one edge or parallel to at least one edge of the note for the printer, but no more than three edges of the note for the printer, so that such construction passes through a printer of personal computer without damaging the printer or the construction of the note for printed

Description

ELABORATION OF NOTES FOR DESKTOP PRINTER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to means for printing repositionable, personalized notes, utilizing a desktop printer and an array of printable, repositionable items, provided either as a pre-assembled item or as a user-assembled item.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional materials that are said to be compatible with printing devices are label materials that generally consist of an adhesive label completely coated with a removable coating substrate. It is said that these materials pass through the printer without dislodging or interfering with the printing device. In practice this may not always be true. There seems to be a growing desire for adaptation and personalization of the office environment. In addition to this desire for personalization, there seems to be a tendency towards REF: 27560 products "on request" (products that have not been stored, ordered in advance, etc., but are available upon request). For a long time there have been several supply constructions of labels that allow someone to customize shipping and / or shipping labels. For example, the construction of a label with a release liner wider than the label layer was recently described in U.S. Patent No. 5,370,420. The permanent, fully coated adhesive label must be narrower than the release liner to avoid contamination of the printer with adhesive. In WO 92/21119 a permanent, printable adhesive label is described, which has durability outdoors. This document describes a multi-layer construction with a vinyl label layer adhered to a substrate with a release liner and a moisture barrier. The latter is for controlling the wrinkling of the substrate layer by controlling the moisture content via the moisture barrier layer. It is said that without this layer the construction results in significant wrinkling and subsequent delamination of the label that causes interference with the printer.

US Patent No. 5,418,026 discloses a printable label construction comprising at least three layers, two of which are permanently adhered together to control the wrinkling of the construction as it passes through a printing device that applies heat to the building. GB 2 280 659A discloses a printable article which must have at least the adhesive layer around the perimeter of the label. An alternative method is to have a layer completely coated with adhesive on one of the surfaces of the article. In the office environment, the needs to improve productivity, professional image and personal image (creativity) are growing. Often, clerks will need to communicate the same message to multiple people, or make sure that the numbers are accurate and legible (productivity aspects), or have neat, legible memoranda and notes, with a professional appearance (professional image aspects), or have "all the brightness" of his personality in his correspondence (aspects of personal image). Being able to create and produce printed notes on a computer and desktop printer could satisfy those, and other, needs. However, to date that has been a problem, because, to personalize repositionable notes, unlike labels, a requisition was made and that requisition was sent to a commercial printing company. In general, large quantities of the same type of design were necessary to make such an economic order. However, recent developments have allowed smaller print shops or copy shops to adapt and customize a smaller amount of product in a short period of time. But what was really needed was the ability to customize and adapt repositionable notes, with the same convenience as a supply of labels. This was the background with which the present invention was developed.

Brief Description of the Invention Briefly, in one aspect of the present invention, the construction of printer notes is provided, which consists of repositionable substrates coated (discontinuously) with adhesive removably placed on a backing sheet, so that the construction can pass through a personal computer printer without damaging the printer or the item (wrinkling, tearing, bending, detachment, etc.). Typically, this construction could be pre-assembled and similarly packaged at a point of sale of label supply. Alternatively, a preprinted support sheet configuration is provided wherein, the repositionable notes (such as the Post-it® mark notes) of a typical notepad are aligned with the predetermined marks of the configuration and are then made run through a personal computer printer. The user assembles the article by combining the configuration of the pre-printed backing sheet and at least one aligned repositionable note to match the predetermined marks on the configuration of the preprinted backsheet. The present invention provides an array of printable, repositionable articles removably adhered to a backing sheet in a form suitable for printing, wherein the repositionable printable articles are removably attached by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive, wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive is applied to at least a single portion of a surface of each cut article, but not more than three sides of each article, furthermore the adhesive portion may have a continuous or discontinuous configuration. Typically, repositionable, printable articles are coated with an adhesive configured as a strip or band running parallel to the leading edge of the backing sheet, such as a typical repositionable note. However, other configurations contemplated include several strips or bands of adhesive, either parallel to each other or perpendicular to each other. The strip or band can be placed behind the edge and / or can be discontinuous, instead of continuous. Advantageously, the present invention will allow someone to print the same message for multiple persons, personalizing at the same time, greetings, or making sure that the numbers are safe and / or the text is legible (productivity aspects), or have a neat, legible appearance, professional or humorous memorandums, and notes, or that have "all the brightness" of your personality in your correspondence. Being able to create and produce printed notes on a desktop computer and printer, these and other needs could be met.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic view of the configuration of note construction for a printer mounted by the user. Figure 2 is a perspective view of a construction for pre-assembled printer notes.

Figures 3a-3i are schematic views of various configurations of strips or adhesive strips applied to notes for the printer. With the present invention the printing is easy and can easily be applied to the sheet material of the sheet since it is very similar to flat paper and not to a low adhesion coating material. Some materials for current labels have impressions on the back side of the coating material (the side not coated with the low adhesion material) to identify the manufacturer, however none appears to have an imprint on the top surface. With the present invention any indications, illustrations of a text, etc., will be visible to the user.

Description of the Preferred Modes In one embodiment, the printer note constructions were preassembled to provide one or more repositionable adhesive notes (such as Post-it® brand notes) of a certain size and color, on a support sheet, similar to a sheet of labels, which means that the sheet can be fed through a printer. Unlike typical labels, however, the backing sheet does not need to be a surface coated with a low energy material, but can be standard bond paper. Additional walk or adhesion methods may be used to help anchor or adhere the notes to the backing sheet as they travel through the printing device, although such walking or additional adhesion is optional. These additional walking devices could be areas of low adhesion adhesive on the support sheet, to temporarily hold down the non-adhesive portions of the notes and / or areas of a film or other substrate on the support sheet, to which the Repositionable adhesive adheres more aggressively, and / or strips or additional adhesive strips on the notes themselves and / or rounded corners on the notes. Referring to Figure 2, the pre-assembled note construction (20) comprises notes (21) mounted at specific locations on a support sheet (25). Those places on the support sheet (25) could correspond to places on the configuration of a program or software where the end user could compose / create his personalized note. The ready-to-print sheets (20) (ie pre-assembled constructions) are inserted into a printer (either in the standard cartridge or in the single-sheet separator feeder), so that the leading edge of the pre-assembled construction (20) is placed in the printer with the arrows (23) pointing in the appropriate direction for the specific printer selected. The notes (21) have a front surface (26), the surface used for printing, and a back surface (22). In general, the notes (21) are coated with a strip or adhesive strip along the upper edge of the back surface (22) of the notes (21). The lower portion of the note (21) is left free of adhesive strip. When the information composed in the program or software configuration is printed on the note sheet ready for printing, the end user can remove the notes from the note sheet after it leaves the printer, and use this as a repositionable note standard. A particularly useful method for manufacturing the pre-assembled note constructions is to laminate a backing sheet with a sheet that has been coated with adhesive strips or bands in a predetermined configuration. Once this sheet is constructed, the notes are created by running the sheet through a die cutter, where the top sheet of the sheet (ie, the printable note sheet) is cut into useful sizes, such as 7.62 cm x 10.16 cm (3"x 4") and the like. Referring now to Figure 1, an alternative embodiment is provided wherein a preprinted backsheet (10) configuration can be used to prepare ready-to-print items. Using such a support sheet configuration (10), commercially available repositionable notes (not shown) such as those readily available under the trade name of Post-it® Notes can be removably applied to the configuration of the leaflet. to support (10) in previously marked positions (eg, the notes designated by 12, 14, 15) in the configuration of the support sheet (10), wherein the adhesive strip on the commercially available repositionable notes is placed on the portion of the configuration designated 16, 17. The sheets constructed by the user are then fed to the printer in the same way as the constructions of ready-to-print, pre-assembled notes. This is a particularly advantageous means of providing ready-to-print note constructions, because a variety of sizes could be used simultaneously. Colors could also be used on a single sheet, simultaneously. In addition, various note settings may be provided, depending on the design and distribution of the provided configuration. Repositionable notes are secured on a bond paper support sheet, which may or may not be coated, when passed through most printers commercially available by end users. However, a walk or additional adhesion may be necessary for some printers. Additional movement or adhesion can be used to alleviate concerns about jamming of the printer and notes that are released when the note sheet travels through the path of the printer, if the adhesive is such that a very good bond is obtained. light between the support sheet and the repositionable note. Different orientations of the strip or adhesive strip have been considered. However, to facilitate its use, as well as to become familiar with its use, at least one edge of the repositionable note is left uncoated. Preferably, there is only a single strip of adhesive and preferably the location of the single strip of adhesive is along the edge parallel to the leading edge of the backing sheet. Referring to Figures 3a-3i, several of those orientations of the strip have been illustrated. For example, referring to Figure 3a, the adhesive strip (31) on the back side of the note (30) is located along the upper edge of the note. This is a typical configuration and is the configuration used in commercially available repositionable notes, such as the Post-it * brand notes. Figure 3b shows an adhesive strip (32) which is positioned along the upper edge of one of the side edges (this could be any side edge). Figures 3c and 3d show a pair of adhesive strips, with a single strip along the upper edge (31) and a second strip (33) placed below the sheet, so that there is a small but distinct separation or where one strip (31) lies along the upper edge and another strip (34) lies along the lower edge. Figure 3e is illustrative of the ability to use different paper forms, such as the notes (33) where the corners are rounded and are configured to have two adhesive strips or bands (310 and 330). Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the geometric shape of the note paper, nor the position of the adhesive strip, as long as the adhesive strip does not cover the entire rear surface of the note or the outer periphery of the note. However, several other configurations could be considered, such as those shown in Figures 3f to 31 within the scope of the invention, wherein Figure 3f illustrates a "strip or strip" (35) consisting of a series of adhesive portions, in an ordered or unordered arrangement, alternatively an ordered strip (37), such as the one shown in Figure 3h could be combined with a single solid strip (31) or yet another ordered strip. Figure 3g illustrates a "strip or band" (36) that was placed along the upper edge of the note (30), as well as along at least a portion of two sides perpendicular to the upper edge of the note ( 30). Referring now to Figure 3i, it could be within range to have a note (30) with the adhesive "strip or band" consisting of a portion (38), where the adhesive is not contiguous along the edges of the adhesive. note, but that is placed behind the edges of the note, so that the edges of the note are free and not laminated in a manner adhered to a support sheet. Although the configurations and embodiments shown in the Figures are illustrative of the invention, those illustrations are part of an exhaustive list of possibilities. The way in which the adhesive coated articles are attached to the backing sheet is only an aesthetic consideration of design. In the Figures, the adhesive strip is shown as a single or double strip. It should be understood that one or many strips may exist if desired, although the preferred configuration is that of Figure 3a to facilitate handling. The location of the strips also depends on the preferences of the consumer and does not alter the functionality for the printing of the article. Suitable materials for the backing sheet or substrate layers for use in the present invention include, but are not limited to, paper, plastic films, cellulose acetate, ethyl cellulose, woven or nonwoven fabric formed of synthetic or natural materials, metal, metallized polymeric film, ceramic sheet material and the like. Generally, these layers are from about 50 μm to about 155 μm thick, although thicker and thinner materials are not excluded. The materials must be such that they can pass through the printing device without unduly damaging the material. The preferred material for these sheet layers is conventional bond paper. Those layers can also be treated, if desired, with release coatings, primer layers and ink receiving coatings, such as coatings that are known to those skilled in the art and coating thicknesses and coating conditions are those that are typical for such known coatings. For example, it may be desirable to apply a release liner to the upper side of the backing paper to decrease the force required to remove the note layer. Similarly, a primer layer can be used to increase the adhesion of the adhesive coating to the note layer. Although any or a combination thereof may be used, this is not essential for the practice of the invention. Optionally, the support sheet (25) can be printed with the logo of a company, indications of use of a product, name of the product and the like. This impression can be found on either side of the support sheet to which the notes adhere removably, or the opposite side. It is preferred that the print is on the side of the backing sheet to which the notes are removably adhered. The applicable primer materials are those that are compatible with the type of adhesive that is being used. For example with the acrylate adhesives materials based on zinc oxide or silica, laminated polybutadiene and the like can be used. Such combinations of adhesive / primer material are known to those skilled in the art and the amounts, coating weights and thicknesses and types of combinations used are those consistent with a typical application as is known to those skilled in the art. Layers that improve the ink receiving capacity may be a coating on the repositionable note such as an acrylic, polyester or urethane polymer containing finely divided clay or silica or calcium carbonate as examples. Suitable release materials may be acrylate, urethanes, silicones, fluoropolymer and the like which are known in the art. When used, these release materials are coated on the surface of the support sheets that are in contact with the notes. These are applied by conventional methods known in the art, and suitable coating weights to provide the desired level of release. Useful peelable materials are those that readily peel off the pressure sensitive adhesive layer and include silicones, fluorocarbons, acrylates, urethanes, chromium complexes, grafted or block siloxane hydrocarbons, and mixtures of those materials. The adhesives useful in this invention are those exhibiting repositionable, removable characteristics. Such adhesives may include microsphere-based adhesives, microparticulate based adhesives, hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives, aerosol adhesives and the like. Some examples of particularly useful adhesives are those described in U.S. Patent No. 3,691,140 which describes copolymer, elastomeric, adhesive microspheres; U.S. Patent No. 4,599,265 which discloses an ultraviolet light polymerized acrylate adhesive that exhibits no buildup; U.S. Patent No. 4,587,152 which discloses structures similar to removable contact adhesive sheets without residue, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Any or a combination of the adhesives can be used in this invention. Other materials exhibiting removable characteristics that are considered applicable to the article and within the scope of the invention described herein may also be used. The adhesive can be coated on at least one larger surface and can be comprised of at least one discontinuous strip or continuous strip, examples of which can be seen with reference to Figures 3a-3i. The printing devices used to test the invention include the two most common types of personal computer printers. Those are the electrophotographic types known as laser and inkjet printers. The first works by applying the image to a photoconductor drum and then transferring the image to the substrate. The image on the article is then fused with the substrate by means of heat and pressure. The temperature of the heat applied in the fusion station is of the order of 204.44 ° C (400 ° F), although this temperature can vary from machine to machine and for different manufacturers. The ink jet works by spraying an ink in the form of drops on the substrate. The image does not heat or melt in this case since the ink is liquid and wet the substrate. The objects and advantages of this invention will be better illustrated by the following examples, although the particular materials and amounts thereof cited in those examples, as well as other conditions and details, should not constitute an undue limitation of this invention. All materials are commercially available or are known to those skilled in the art unless otherwise stated or evident.

Examples Description of the General Example A note sheet for printer was constructed by laminating individual repositionable notes, with a size of approximately 7.62 cm x 7.62 cm (3 inches by 3 inches), made in the laboratory or commercially available, each note with one or two strips or strips of removable adhesive through the top of the note or through the top and bottom of the note or through the top and center of the note, to a non-coated sheet of xerographic bond paper # 20 standard (21.59 cm x 27.94 cm (8.5 inches x 11 inches)), so that there would be 6-12 notes on a single piece of xerographic bond paper. Different adhesives and locations of the strips were investigated, as described below.

Example 1 Repositable notes, commercially available as Post-it® Notes from 3M Company, were obtained and used, St. Paul, MN to build the Printer Notes sheets as described in the General Example above. Those notes had an adhesive height of 1.905 cm or 2.8575 cm (3/4"or 1 1/8") wide across the top. Notes with a one inch (2.54 cm) strip of adhesive on top of the note, and a 0.3175 cm (1/8") strip of adhesive on the bottom of the note were made as described, a From the same material used to make the standard Post-it® notes, only the coating procedure was altered to obtain the lower strip of adhesive.

Example 2 Copolymer functional microspheres were coated, as described in US Patent No. Serial No. 08 / 174,620, without solvent on Georgia Pacific xerographic paper # 20 which had been precoated with silica-based primer on one side and a release coating of low energy on the opposite side. The microspheres were coated on the primer coating; the adhesive strip was about 1,905 cm (3/4") wide, this material became the repositionable notes that were built into the final printer notes product as described above in the General Description.

Example 3 An adhesive formulation consisting of polymeric microspheres as described in Example 1, a pressure sensitive acrylic binder, a surfactant and a viscosity enhancing agent, as described in the Patent Application, File No. of Proxy 52032USA5A, filed on October 17, 1995 (Serial No. 08 / 543,958) was coated by transfer using an intermediate silicone band, on Ashdown # 20 paper that had previously been coated with a silica-based primer on one side and a release liner containing silicone, low release, on the opposite side. The microspheres were coated on the primer coating; the strip or adhesive strip was approximately 1.27 cm (0.5") wide, this material was converted to the repositionable notes that were built into the final printer's notes product as described above in the General Example.

Example 4 Repositionable Post-it® Supersepant Notes, commercially available from 3M Company, St. Paul, MN, were obtained. This product, which uses an adhesive microsphere formulation, was used to construct the note sheets for the printer as described above in the General Example.

Example 5 Repositionable, "eSeetac" notes commercially available from Barton-Nelson Company were obtained. It is believed that these notes have a rubber resin type adhesive which hot melt coated on paper. The notes sheets for the printer as described above in the description of the General Example were constructed from those "commercially available" notes.

Example 6 Repositionable "Memo Fix" grades, commercially available from Aero Company, v Savin ski Dolini, Slovenia were obtained. It is believed that these notes have an adhesive consisting of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, coated on paper. The notes sheets for printers described above in the description of the General Example were constructed from those commercially available notes.

Example 7 A repositionable glue adhesive was obtained, commercially available from 3M Company, St. Paul, MN. This product, which uses an adhesive microsphere formulation, was applied to Ashdown # 20 paper in such a way that the product described in the Description of the General Example was constructed. The adhesive strip on the final notes was approximately 1,905 cm (3/4") wide.

Test Results The printer note sheets described in the previous examples were tested on two different types of printers: an inkjet printer (Hewlett-Packard 1200C) and an electrophotographic printer (Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 4 Plus), a through the tray and the feeder (by deviation) from a single sheet. A standard document with full text was printed on the Note Sheet for the printer. The notes sheets for the printer were checked for jams, wrinkling, stains / run-off of the printer's dye, etc. The results of those tests are shown below; and "OK" indicates that this example passed through the printer successfully.

Exemplc > Single Sheet Tray Laser Tray Laser Ink Jet Example 1 GOOD, GOOD GOOD Example 2 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 3 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 4 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 5 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 6 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 7 GOOD GOOD GOOD Example 1 was also tested on several additional printers and the results are shown in the following Table: Printer Type of Strip in Strip in Two Two Strips Printer Part Part Strips Top Top Deviation Feed Deviation Alimsntacicn Tray Tray Hewlett-500 na WELL na Good Packard Table (continued) Printer Type of Strip in Strip in Two Two Strips Printer Part Part Strips Top Top Deviation Feed Deviation Tray Feed of Bsndeja Hewlett-Laserj et na BIEN na BIEN Packard I I Hewlett- Laserjet WELL WELL WELL WELL Packard IIID Hewlett-Laserjet NO NO GOOD WELL Packard 3Si Hewlett-Laserjet WELL WELL WELL WELL Packard 4+ Hewlett-1200C na BIEN na BIEN Packard Hewlett- Deskwriter na BIEN na BIEN Packard Apple Laserwriter GOOD GOOD GOOD GO Pro naßno applicable because there is no bypass tray in this model. The various modifications and alterations of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and principles of this invention, and it should be understood that this invention should not be unduly limited to the illustrative embodiments set forth hereinbefore. All publications and patents are incorporated herein by reference to the same extent as if each publication or individual patent were specifically and individually indicated and incorporated by reference. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it relates. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims (9)

1. A note construction for a printer, characterized in that it consists of at least one note for a printer coated with a repositionable adhesive, wherein the note for the printer is removably affixed on a backing sheet by means of at least one repositionable adhesive, removable, along at least one edge or parallel to at least one edge of the note for printer, but no more than three edges of the note for printer, so that such construction passes through a personal computer printer without damaging the printer or the construction of the note for printer.

The construction of notes for printers according to claim 1, characterized in that the repositionable adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive based on microspheres.

3. The construction of notes for printers according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive strip is placed along a single edge, wherein the single edge is parallel to the front edge of the support sheet.

4. The construction of notes for printers according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive is not along the edges of the note, but is placed behind the edges of the note, so that the edges of the Note are free and not laminated in a way that is addable to the support sheet.

5. The construction of notes for printers according to claim 1, characterized in that the support sheet is printed on the side in which the notes removably attached are anchored or adhered.

6. A preprinted support sheet configuration, characterized in that it has predetermined marks on it, repositionable notes that have a strip of adhesive along at least one edge of each but not more than three edges taken from a repositionable notepad , they are aligned with the marks of the default configuration and then passed through a personal computer printer.

The pre-printed backing sheet configuration according to claim 6, characterized in that the repositionable notes have a strip of adhesive along a single edge of each note.

8. The pre-printed backing sheet configuration according to claim 6, characterized in that the repositionable notes have a strip of pressure-sensitive adhesive.

9. A user-assembled article, characterized in that it comprises the configuration of the previously printed backing sheet according to claim 6 and at least one repositionable note aligned to coincide with the predetermined marks on the configuration of the previously printed backing sheet.