WO2004110778A1

WO2004110778A1 - A book cover

Info

Publication number: WO2004110778A1
Application number: PCT/EP2004/005914
Authority: WO
Inventors: Keath Kwong Seto
Original assignee: Henkel Kommanditgesellschaft Auf Aktien
Priority date: 2003-06-06
Filing date: 2004-06-02
Publication date: 2004-12-23
Also published as: AU2004202430A1; AU2004202430B2

Abstract

One subject of the invention is a protective cover for adhesive lamination to a cover of a book comprising, a pliable film (2) having a first and second opposed major surfaces, a first of which is at least partially covered with an adhesive material (3), to form at least one adhesive region, wherein a peelable backing layer (4) of flexible material is applied over and at least coextensive with said at least one adhesive region, which can be peeled away from said pliable film (2) to expose said adhesive material, wherein said pliable film (2) defines at least one region for location against at least one cover of said book, and at least one peripheral tab (7) which includes a said adhesive region (3) on its first major surface, wherein said at least one peripheral tab (7) is to be adhesively secured to the inside of said cover (16).

Description

"A Book Cover"

The present invention relates to a protective and/or decorative covering for a book.

Books that are handled and transported every day undergo degradation of at least the book cover. In environments where there are foodstuffs or liquid present the cover also may come into contact with such foodstuffs and liquid and become marked, degraded or even permanently stained. Exercise and text books for a student at school or in working environments are one such example where damage which may readily occur may wish to be prevented. Library books are another example where such damage may occur.

It is desirable therefore to protect such books when in such example environments and to preserve the cover and aid in the prevention of "dog eared" covers and corners of a book.

A protective cover of adhesive backed plastic film may be applied to such books to achieve such an aim. The protective film water proofs the cover and allows most foodstuffs, liquids and other matter to be easily wiped from the cover leaving it in good condition. The protective cover also lends some rigidity and reinforcement to the book cover, particularly at the comers.

Traditionally such cover material has been sold in rolls. The user must then unroll the material out and hold it flat whilst cutting to size, examples of such products have been marketed under the names Coverseal™ and Duraseal®. The disadvantage in such products being the material has a tendency to return to its original rolled configuration making it difficult to cut. This coupled with having to decide the size and form of cover to cut out can lead to a time consuming process; particularly when more than one book, as is often the case, is required to be covered.

It has therefore been a long felt want and desire to have sheets for covering of books which is available in pre-cut defined sizes for various book sizes which is available in multiple lots for quick and easy covering of books. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a protective film for a book which goes at least someway to overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art, addresses the above desiderata and/or at least provides the public with a useful choice.

Accordingly in a first aspect the present invention broadly consists in a protective cover for adhesive lamination to a cover of a book comprising, a pliable film having a first and second opposed major surfaces, a first of which is at least partially covered with an adhesive material, to form at least one adhesive region, wherein a peelable backing layer of flexible material is applied over and at least coextensive with said at least one adhesive region to capture said adhesive between the peelable backing layer and the pliable film, which prior to application of the protective cover can be peeled away from said pliable film to expose said adhesive material, wherein said pliable film defines (i) at least one region (hereafter "a first panel") for location against at least one cover (rear or front) of said book, and

(ii) at least one peripheral tab which includes a said adhesive region on its first major surface, wherein said at least one peripheral tab is to be adhesively secured to the inside of said cover.

Preferably said protective cover is pre-cut to a size for a particular book size to which it is to be applied (e.g. an A4 sheet or 1B4, 1B5 book size).

Preferably said pliable film is a plastics material such as, but not limited to cast or biaxially oriented polypropylene.

Alternatively said pliable film may be paper based.

Preferably said adhesive material is selected from either a rubber resin or emulsion acrylic adhesive.

Preferably said adhesive material is touch sensitive.

Preferably said at least one peripheral tab is entirely covered with said adhesive material.

Alternatively said first major surface including said first panel and said peripheral tab are entirely covered with an adhesive material.

Preferably there is a second panel for engagement to the first said panel.

Preferably said first and second panels are connected.

Preferably said first and second panels are connected together via a spine coverable area of said pliable film.

Preferably said first and second panels are formed from one sheet of said pliable film.

Preferably a spine recoverable region of said pliable film is interposed between the first and second panels.

Preferably each said panel is substantially quadrilateral in shape and there are three tabs on the peripheral regions of each said panel.

Preferably each of said three tabs is co-extensive with its respective periphery.

Preferably said peelable backing layer is at least co-extensive with those regions of said first surface having adhesive thereon, and preferably with the entire pliable film.

Preferably each said tab(s) is formed at its edge to be at an angle of between 0° and 90 ° to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

Preferably each said tab(s) is formed at its edge to be at 45° or less to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

Alternatively each said tab(s) is formed at its edge to be at an angle of between 45° and 90 ° to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

Preferably there are indicia or a line denoting, on said peelable backing layer, the division of said first and second panels, or at least the location in the middle between said first and second panels.

Preferably said peelable backing layer is severable at said line.

Preferably there is a visual difference, indicia or line defined by one of said peelable backing layer or said pliable film between the tab and its respective panel indicating the preferred line of folding of said tab.

Preferably there is a visual difference (e.g. colour, texture, or finish) between the first and second panels.

Preferably there are graphics visible from the second surface of said pliable film.

Preferably the backing sheet includes instructions (graphics and/or text) on the preferred method of application of said protective cover.

Preferably said backing sheet is separable such that at least the peelable backing layer over a panel is removable whilst leaving the peelable backing layer on a peripheral tab, or vice versa.

In a second aspect the present invention consists in a protective cover as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

In a third aspect the present invention consists in a method of application of a protective cover as hereinbefore described to a book comprising the steps of i) exposing adhesive or the panel region(s) of said protective cover, ii) aligning said book with indicia of said protective cover, iii) applying said exposed adhesive panel region(s) to said book, iv) exposing the adhesive of the tab(s) of said protective cover, v) folding this/these tab(s) over onto the interior of the cover of said book to form a protective cover, at least in part adhesively affixed to said book.

In a further aspect the present invention consists in a retailable pack containing a plurality of protective covers as hereinbefore described.

Preferably said retailable pack includes at least three protective covers.

Preferably said protective pack includes protective covers of different size.

Alternatively said retailable pack includes protective covers of the same size.

A method of making a protective cover as herein described.

In yet a further aspect still the present invention consists in a book laminated with a protective cover as hereinbefore described.

This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the protective cover,

Figure 2 shows the same view of Figure 1 with one side of the peelable backing layer removal initiated,

Figure 3 shows a book, front and rear covers flat and open, pages up, having been applied to the panels of the protective cover, the peripheral tabs waiting to be applied to the front and rear cover inside,

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of Figure 3 with one peripheral tab folded in, and the predicted location of others in phantom,

Figure 5 shows the view of Figure 4 with all tabs folded in and the protective cover finally attached to the front and rear covers of the book,

Figure 6 shows a number of the covers of Figure 1 as they would appear in a bag, pack or like container presented to the user - a flap for access, to the interior and the protective covers, being open,

Figure 7A shows a cross section through protective cover showing the pliable plastic film (bottom) the adhesive layer (middle) and the peelable backing layer (top) and Figure 7B shows another lay-up embodiment having printing and a metallised layer intermediate of the pliable film and adhesive, Figure 8 shows a similar cross-section to that of Figure 7 with the exception that the pliable plastic film has been applied to the outside cover of a book and the top layer now is the cover of the book, and

Figure 9 shows a view similar to that of Figure 8, with the exception that the protective covers are individually folded in half and stacked individually in the pack.

The protective cover 1 consists of a pliable plastics film 2 over which is applied an adhesive layer 3. The layer in the present embodiment is applied to one entire major surface area or part thereof of the pliable plastics film.. A peelable backing layer 4 is applied over at least those areas to which adhesive has been applied, however other embodiments are envisaged where this need not be so - these will be explained shortly. The use of a peelable backing layer allows the protective cover with its adhesive regions to be stored and handled easily keeping the adhesive regions in good condition for later application.

The pliable plastics film is preferably cast polypropylene, biaxially oriented polypropylene or metallised polyethylene terephthalate, however any pliable film which can be adhesively coated is suitable and/or any particular surface treatment. One example of a preferred material for the pliable plastics film 2 is a biaxially oriented polypropylene, which has the book cover presenting surface printed 22 on and thereafter optionally given a surface treatment 23 (for example but not limited to, a further lamination with a metallised film or a metallised coating), which surface is then overlaid with adhesive 3 in the desired locations. Such metallised coating gives the book cover an opaque finish from the exterior, whilst still allowing the desired printing to show through.

The adhesive 3 is a rubber resin or emulsion acrylic adhesive and the peelable backing sheet 4 is a silicon coated paper. The pliable plastics film 2 thickness is preferably in the range of 40 microns to 70 microns; 50 microns being the preferred thickness. The adhesive thickness is preferably in the range of 10 microns to 30 microns; 20 microns being the preferred thickness. The peelable backing layer weight is preferably between 50 to 60 gms; 50 being the preferred weight. Other materials may be substituted which perform the same or similar function without departing from the scope of the invention.

The pliable film comprising the protective cover may be transparent. However it may also be coloured, opaque, patterned or has graphics or similar treatment to give it additional decorative appeal and function. The panels 8 may each be visually different as may the tabs in relation to each other and/or the panels also. The indicia markings 12 may be printed on either side of the peelable backing layer 4 or may be on either side of the pliable film 2.

The protective cover consists of at least one panel section 8, though in the preferred embodiment there are two such panels joined by a spine coverable region 6. Along the sides forming the periphery of the panel are tabs 7; in the preferred embodiment these are at the top, side and bottom of each panel. Tabs may be only present at the top, or bottom or sides, or any combination thereof. The tabs are part of the body of the pliable film and extend therefrom. At the spine coverable region 6 there is no tab material present to allow convenient application of the protective cover to the book. At the vertices of the panel(s) 8 the tabs are cut away to form an angle with the panel side they extend from of between 0° and 90 °.

In one preferred embodiment the tabs 7 are cut away to form an angle of less than or equal to 45° with the panel side they extend from to allow convenient application of the protective cover. In this way they prevent the addition of a cover to a book adding too much bulk to the inside cover.

In an alternative embodiment the tabs 7 are cut away to form an angle of equal to or between 45° and 90 ° with the panel side they extend from to allow convenient application of the protective cover. This particular embodiment gives added security to the corner areas as they will overlap and aid prevention of the cover pealing off.

In the shown embodiment the adhesive 3 is applied to the entire major surface of the pliable film 2, accordingly the peelable backing layer 3 extends over the entire major surface of 2 to cover the adhesive. A line (which also may be severable line) 5 also acting as a guide separates the peelable backing layer 4 into two easily peelable sections.

Alternatively the adhesive may only be applied to a part of the panels or not at all, and may only be applied to part or all of the tabs, such as at the outer extremity 10. In such situations the peelable backing layer may only be applied to the adhesive portions of the tab(s), or may extend across the non adhesive portions also.

The peelable backing layer also has instructions on how to apply the protective cover to the book. These instructions may be pictorial which would transcend language barriers, or have text or a combination of both. The peelable backing layer may also has indicia 12 indicating the preferred location of the edges of the cover of the book and also the preferred location for folding of the tabs 7.

The peelable backing layer may also be further separable at these lines 12 so that the adhesive on the tab need only be exposed immediately prior to its folding and securing to the book. In the situation where the entire pliable film has an adhesive applied and hence is entirely covered with peelable backing this allows selected parts of the cover and adhesive to be exposed only when required prior to attachment to the cover of the book. For instance the pliable film without a peelable backing layer has little flexible integrity and may fold over inadvertently and stick to unwanted locations if the adhesive were exposed all at once. Thus a progressive exposure of the adhesive can be achieved. Likewise by splitting the peelable backing layer at 5, only one panel may be exposed at a time to allow ease of application of the cover.

In applying the protective cover 1 to a book 13, the peelable backing layer 4 of the portion to be adhered is removed from the adhesive area it covers. In the preferred embodiment backing layer 4A is removed, separating at line 5 from 4B and exposing the adhesive. The book spine 14 is then centrally aligned on the separable line 5 and the book cover 16 (the front cover in Figure 3) and rear cover 15 is aligned vertically between the tabs 7 A and 7C (and the indicia 12 A for 7B and 7D) and horizontally between tab 7F and the indicia 12B for tab 7E. Once aligned the exposed protective cover is then rolled onto the outside of the cover 16. The same process is substantially repeated for the rear book cover 15 with removal of peelable backing layer panel 4B. In between or during these steps any air bubbles that may exist trapped between the book cover(s) and protective cover may be removed. This may be achieved either with use of a ruler to "squeeze" the bubbles out if the adhesive has not fully adhered to the book(s), or by a pin bursting the bubbles or by similar means. The use of a touch sensitive adhesive aids the repositioning of the book for whatever reason and also the removal of entrapped air bubbles.

Once the front and back covers of the book have the panel(s) 8 of the protective cover are applied then the tabs 7 may be folded over the book cover(s) edges, to adhere to the interior side of the book cover(s). As stated if a severable line exists, at the line 12 between the protective cover panel(s) 8 and the tabs 7 then (if adhesive is applied to the panel(s) 8) the panels 8 may be exposed whilst leaving the adhesive on the tabs 7 covered. Then the tab cover panel 4C (on tab 7B) can be removed immediate to the tab 7B being folded over to secure to the rear cover inside 17. Likewise with tabs 7E and 7D, and tabs 7 A, 7C and 7F for the front cover inside 18. The angle α of the tab 7 at its edge 20 in one embodiment prevents overlap with a neighbouring tab once folded over and secured to the inside cover of the book. In an alternative embodiment the tabs may overlap in their folded position to help prevention of the tabs becoming unadhered.

In trials, the present invention will allow a matching protective cover to be applied to a matching book size in two or three minutes. Use of standard sheet coverings where the protective cover must be cut out takes 10 to 15 minutes. Thus a substantial time saving is evident with the present invention.

The protective covers may be sold in packs containing 3 protective covers. The pack may contain a mixture of different cover sizes, but more preferably will contain protective covers 1 of the same size, the pack 19 being marked accordingly. An alternative form of packing the protective cover 1 involves the covers being folded in half at the line 5 and stacked individually in the pack 19.

Claims

1. A protective cover for adhesive lamination to a cover of a book comprising, a pliable film having a first and second opposed major surfaces, a first of which is at least partially covered with an adhesive material, to form at least one adhesive region, wherein a peelable backing layer of flexible material is applied over and at least coextensive with said at least one adhesive region to capture said adhesive between the peelable backing layer and the pliable film, which prior to application of the protective cover can be peeled away from said pliable film to expose said adhesive material, wherein said pliable film defines (i) at least one region (hereafter "a first panel") for location against at least one cover (rear or front) of said book, and

2. A protective cover as claimed in claim 1 wherein said protective cover is pre-cut to a size for a particular book size to which it is to be applied (e.g. an A4 sheet or 1B4, 1B5 book size).

3. A protective cover as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said pliable film is a plastics material such as, but not limited to cast or biaxially oriented polypropylene.

4. A protective cover as claimed in either claim 1 or 2 wherein said pliable film maybe paper based.

5. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said adhesive material is selected from either a rubber resin or emulsion acrylic adhesive.

6. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said adhesive material is touch sensitive.

7. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein said at least one peripheral tab is entirely covered with said adhesive material.

8. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein said first major surface including said first panel and said peripheral tab are entirely covered with an adhesive.

9. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein there is a second panel for engagement to the first said panel.

10. A protective cover as claimed in claim 9 wherein said first and second panels are connected.

11. A protective cover as claimed in either of claims 9 or 10 wherein said first and second panels are connected together via a spine coverable area of said pliable film.

12. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11 wherein said first and second panels are formed from one sheet of said pliable film.

13. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 12 wherein a spine recoverable region of said pliable film is interposed between the first and second panels.

14. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 13 wherein each said panel is substantially quadrilateral in shape and there are three tabs on the peripheral regions of each said panel.

15. A protective cover as claimed in claim 14 wherein each of said three tabs is coextensive with its respective periphery.

16. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15 wherein said peelable backing layer is at least co-extensive with those regions of said first surface having adhesive thereon, and preferably with the entire pliable film.

17. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16 wherein each said tab(s) is formed at its edge to be at an angle of between 0° and 90 ° to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

18. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 wherein said peripheral tab(s) is/are formed at its edge to be at 45° or less to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

19. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 17 each said tab(s) is formed at its edge to be at an angle of between 45° and 90 ° to the side of the panel to which it is joined.

20. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein there are indicia or a line denoting, on said peelable backing layer, the division of said first and second panels, or at least the location in the middle between said first and second panels.

21. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 20 wherein said peelable backing layer is severable at said line.

22. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 21 wherein there is a visual difference, indicia or line defined by one of said peelable backing layer or said pliable film between the tab and its respective panel indicating the preferred line of folding of said tab.

23. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 22 wherein there is a visual difference (e.g. colour, texture, or finish) between the first and second panels.

24. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 23 wherein there are graphics visible from the second surface of said pliable film.

25. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 24 wherein the peelable backing layer includes instructions (graphics and/or text) on the preferred method of application of said protective cover.

26. A protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25 wherein said peelable backing layer is separable such that at least the peelable backing layer over a panel is removable whilst leaving the peelable backing layer on a peripheral tab, or vice versa.

27. A protective cover as herein described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.

28. A method of application of a protective cover as hereinbefore described to a book comprising the steps of i) exposing adhesive or the panel region(s) of said protective cover, ii) aligning said book with indicia of said protective cover, iii) applying said exposed adhesive panel region(s)tab to said book, iv) exposing the adhesive of the tab(s) of said protective cover, v) folding this/these tab(s) over onto the interior of the cover of said book to form a protective cover, at least in part adhesively affixed to said book.

29. A method as claimed in claim 28 wherein said protective cover is pre-cut to a size for a particular book size to which it is to be applied (e.g. an A4 sheet or 1B4, 1B5 book size).

30. A retailable pack containing a plurality of protective covers as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27.

31. A retailable pack of protective covers as claimed in claim 30 wherein said retailable pack includes at least three protective covers.

32. A retailable pack of protective covers as claimed in either claim 30 or claim 31 wherein said protective cover is pre-cut to a size for a particular book size to which it is to be applied (e.g. an A4 sheet or 1B4, 1B5 book size).

33. A retailable pack of protective covers as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 32 wherein said protective pack includes protective covers of different size.

34. A retailable pack of protective covers as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 32 wherein said retailable pack includes protective covers of the same size.

35. A method of making a protective cover as herein described.

36. A book laminated with a protective cover as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27.