WO1979000581A1

WO1979000581A1 - Improvements in or relating to self-adhesive label webs and to registration devices for such webs

Info

Publication number: WO1979000581A1
Application number: PCT/GB1979/000019
Authority: WO
Inventors: H Cunnington
Original assignee: Norprint Ltd; H Cunnington
Priority date: 1978-02-02
Filing date: 1979-02-01
Publication date: 1979-08-23
Also published as: GB1596466A; JPS55500060A; EP0009492A1

Abstract

Labels coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive. The labels (10) are mounted on a backing strip (12) treated with a release agent and individual labels are divided from one another by a V section cut (16). Preferably the cut has an angle of the order of 120 . The labels may be rectangular, square or of parallelogram shape. The invention is applicable to labels for price marking which are intended to be dispensed from a hand-held label applicator.

Description

This invention relates to label webs which incorporate a backing strip of, for example, silicone-treated paper and labels on one face thereof coated with a self-adhesive medium which does not adhere permanently to the backing strip.

It is conventional practice in labelling machines such as hand-held label applicators, to peel individual labels from a silicone-treated (or other adhesive release agent) backing strip by passing the complete web over a sharp edge, such as a pin roller, and redirecting the backing strip through an angle in relation to its initial path and, because of the relative stiffness of the labels themselves in relation to the backing strip, the individual labels become peeled from the backing strip and thus available for application to an article.

This means for detaching labels from the backing strip requires that in the design of a label applicator, the web as a whole must not pass around any edges, upstream of the peeling device, which might, in operation give rise to premature peeling from the backing strip.

It is also an important feature of label applicators that the labels should be precisely located at a printing station to ensure that registration is maintained throughout the whole of the web. For large size, stationary, machines sensing of the individual labels to ensure proper location presents no particular problems and photo-cells with their associated electronic circuitry are customarily employed to ensure that registration is maintained at all times. This approach is not, of course, practicable with hand-held label applicators and to overcome the difficulty special label webs have been developed which enable mechanical indexing of the web by engagement of a transverse surface of web so that registration can be maintained at all times. Such webs are, however, relatively costly to produce and it is clearly desirable to use a "plain" web of labels on cost grounds.

Further, it is conventional to effect registration of individual labels at a printing station by a registration device disposed downstream of a sharp edge at which labels are dispensed. This has the disadvantage that the force required at the registration device is high because of the friction effect of the edge. Some forms of previously proposed registration devices require high tension in the web to maintain accuracy, but this required high strength paper as the backing strip, which increases the cost of the web.

A registration device suitable for use with label webs in accordance with the invention is described in our copending PCT application PCT GB 79/00005 dated 11th January, 1979.

According to the present invention there is provided a label web comprising an adhesive-release agent backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive coated labels on one face of the backing strip, the individual labels being formed transversely of the web by divergent cuts which extend through the material of the labels.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a label web comprising a silicone-treated backing strip and a continuous series of pressure-sensitive adhesive coated labels on one face of the backing strip, the individual labelsbeing defined, transversely of the strip by V-cuts each having an angle, in cross-section, in the range 120° to 140° and the backing strip having lines of weakness each coincident with one of said V-cuts.

A label web embodying the invention will now be describedby way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which

Figure 1 is a plan view of a label web in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the label web of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 is a label web in accordance with Figures 1 and 2 as it is being dispensed from a peeling device.

The label web illustrated in the drawing has labels 10 of parallelogram shape and which extend across the whole width of the backing strip 12 of silicone-treated (or other adhesive release agent) paper. To avoid the adhesive 14 on the labels creeping to the edge of the backing strip, the labels may be spaced from the edges of the backing strip by a small distance.

In order to control the peeling of the labels from the backing strip, as indicated in Figure 2, the transverse cuts 16 are formed in the paper of the labels of shallow V-form preferably having an angle in excess of 120° and, by the cutting operation, the labels are cut right through but the cuts do not necessarily extend into the backing strip. As will be appreciated the thickness of the web is substantially exaggerated in Figure 2. Preferably, the angle is greater than 120° and it is also possible to provide corresponding perforations or other lines of weakness in the backing strip, particularly if the web is to be used with a registration device, such as disclosed and claimed in copending PCT Application No. PCT GB 79/00005 dated 11th January, 1979, since the label paper and backing stiffness at the cut must be low to ensure proper conformity with the device.

The cuts defining the transverse edges of the labels are not necessarily of symmetrical V section and may alternatively be of U Section, symmetrical or otherwise. The cut should, in contrast to conventional cuts, have a markedly diverging cross-section.

It should be emphasised that labels 10 do not necessarily have a parallelogram shape and can be rectangular or square.

As indicated in Figure 3, the shape of the labels enables the applicator such as that disclosed in our copending PCT Application No. PCT GB 79/00005 dated 11th January, 1979, to have both a reel carrying a fresh web and a separate reel carrying a rewound backing strip only without the applicator becoming excessively bulky. As will be apparent the labels are dispensed in a skewed manner so that the incoming complete web lies at an angle to the spent backing strip and the corresponding reels can therefore lie on the same rotational axis and need not be side-by-side with their axes parallel.

The labels will normally face inwardly towards the registration device as described in our copending PCT Application No. PCT GB 79/00005 dated 11th January, 1979, hut in an alternative arrangement the labels will face outwardly.

As will be apparent the label web hereinbefore described is very simple in nature and requires no costly cutting tools and involves little or no waste of material during the manufacturing process. At the same time by use of an appropriate registration device, indexing of the web can be accurately controlled.

Claims

1. A label web comprising an adhesive-release agent backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive coated labels on one face of the backing strip, characterized in that the individual labels (10) are formed transversely of the web by divergent cuts (16) which extend through the material of the labels.

2. A web of labels according to claim 1, characterized in that the cuts (16) are of substantially V-shaped cross-section.

3. A label web according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that lines of weakness are provided in the backing strip coincident with the cuts defining adjacent labels.

4. A label web according to claim 2 characterized in that the V is defined by an angle of at least 120°.

5. A label web according to claim 2 or claim 3, characterized in that the shallow V is defined by a cut of approximately 120°.

6. A label web according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the cross-section of the cut (16) is asymmetrical.

7. A label web according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the labels (10) are of parallelogram shape.

8. A label web according to any one of claims 1 to 6 characterized in that the labels (10) are of rectangular shape.

9. A label web according to any one of the preceding claims characterized in that the labels (10) are spaced from the longitudinal edges of the backing strip.

10. A label web comprising a silicone-treated backing strip and a continuous series of pressure-sensitive adhesive coated labels on one face of the backing strip, characterized in that the individual labels (10) are defined, transversely of the strip by V-cuts (16) each having an angle, in cross-section, in the range 70° to 140° and the backing strip has lines of weakness each coincident with one of said V cuts.

11. A label web comprising an adhesive-release agent backing strip and pressure-sensitive adhesive coated labels on one face of the backing strip, characterized in that the individual labels (10) are formed transversely of the web by divergent cuts (16) which extend through the material of the labels and the backing strip has lines of weakness co-incident with the cuts.