GB2286176A

GB2286176A - Sheet of adhesive labels on release backing layer

Info

Publication number: GB2286176A
Application number: GB9501876A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lesley June Turner
Original assignee: Label Connections Ltd
Current assignee: Label Connections Ltd
Priority date: 1994-02-05
Filing date: 1995-01-31
Publication date: 1995-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2015-01-31
Also published as: GB9501876D0; GB2286176B

Abstract

A sheet of laminate material comprises an upper facing layer and an adjacent lower backing layer, said upper facing layer comprising a topmost surface capable of accepting print from a litho printer and from a laser printer or the like and a lowermost surface having a relatively thermostable adhesive coating, said backing layer comprising a support material having on its upper surface a coating of a release agent to allow for controlled release of the upper facing layer. The upper facing layer comprises one or more self-adhesive labels, each label being defined by a discontinuity in the facing layer and being separated from any adjacent label by a gutter, and the sheet comprises adjacent lay and grip margins sufficient to allow the sheet to be processed by an offset lithograph device and is sufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a photocopier, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer or the like. The labels are in a regular array and of any shape such as square, rectangular or circular. Each gutter is a strip of the facing layer material of 1 to 5 mm, preferably 2 mm, in width. The lay and grip margins along two adjacent edges of the sheet are preferably 13 mm wide. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Improvements 1n or Relating to Laminate Materials Field of the Invention This invention relates to improved laminate materials and to a method of making the same.

Background of the Invention Laminate materials consisting of an upper facing layer supported on a lower backing layer are well known. In particular, it is known to provide an upper facing layer with an adhesive coating on its lower surface and to coat the adjacent surface of the backing layer with a release agent, so as to allow the release of the upper facing layer from the lower backing layer. Such an arrangement is typically used in providing sheets of self-adhesive labels, wherein the upper facing layer possesses a topmost surface capable of accepting print from a particular type of printing device.

Commonly, one of four different methods of applying print to a sheet of self-adhesive labels is employed. The four common methods are offset lithography, laser printer, inkjet printer and photocopying. Less commonly, other methods may be used, namely silk screen printing and letterpress printing.

Typically, a sheet of laminate material comprising labels to be printed by offset lithographv will possess "lay" and "grip" margins extending respectively along lay and grip edges. The grip edge is generally the leading edge of the sheet by means of which the sheet is fed through the printer. The lay edge is adjacent to the grip edge and is generally the edge by which the sheet is aligned relative to the printer. However, the lay edge may be the leading edge, depending on the orientation in which the sheet is fed into the printer. Because the lay or grip edges are those edges by means of which the sheet is handled by the offset litho printer there is a margin parallel to each edge which is not accessible to the print.

Conventional sheets for offset litho printing generally comprise facing and backing layers of relatively thick paper, such that the sheet is stable in the moist conditions to which the sheet is exposed during the printing process. Typically such sheets will also comprise a 'gutter' around each label, which is normally removed before printing. This gutter consists of facing layer material separating each label, the purpose of which is to prevent "bleed" (i.e. the running of print from one label to another). Whilst the facing layer is capable of accepting print from an offset litho printer, it is not necessarily capable of accepting print from a laser printer, which has different characteristics. Also, conventional sheets for use in an offset litho printer are generally insufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a laser printer or a photocopier, or may comprise an insufficiently thermostable adhesive.

Conventional sheets of laminate material comprising labels to be printed by a laser printer do not generally possess a sufficient grip margin to allow the sheet to be handled by an offset litho printer. Moreover, the laminate sheets are generally made of facing and backing layers of relatively light paper which is insufficiently stable to be used in an offset litho device. Generally such sheets do not possess a gutter between every adjacent label, as there is no bleed during the laser printing process. The laminate sheet (particularly the adhesive coating of the facing layer) must be sufficiently thermostable to allow printing by the laser printer. Sheets of laminate material for processing through an ink jet printer generally have similar properties to those sheets processed by laser printers.

Conventional sheets of laminate material comprising labels to be printed by a photocopier are substantially similar to those for printing by a laser printer. They do not generally possess lay and grip margins sufficient for processing by an offset litho printer, do not generally possess a gutter between every label, are made of relatively lightweight materials and are relatively thermostable to allow printing by means of a photocopier.

In summary, conventional sheets of laminate or an ink-jet material comprising labels to be printed by a laser printer may be used to print by means of a photocopier and vice versa, but neither are ideally suited to processing by, and accepting print from, an offset litho printer.

Similarly, conventional sheets of laminate material comprising labels to be printed by an offset litho printer are not suitable for accepting print from laser or ink-jet printers nor a photocopier.

Summary of the Invention In a first aspect the invention provides a sheet of laminate material comprising an upper facing layer and an adjacent lower backing layer, said upper facing layer comprising a topmost surface capable of accepting print from a litho printer and from a laser printer or the like and a lowermost surface having a relatively thermostable adhesive coating, said backing layer comprising a support material having on its upper surface a coating of a release agent to allow for controlled release of the upper facing layer, wherein the upper facing layer comprises one or more self-adhesive labels, each label being defined by a discontinuity in the facing layer and being separated from any adjacent label by a gutter and wherein the sheet of laminate material comprises adjacent lay and grip margins sufficient to allow the sheet to be processed by an offset lithograph device and is sufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a photocopier, a laser printer or an ink-jet printer.

As used above, the term "print" is intended to encompass print, ink, toner and the like. The sheet of laminate material in accordance with the invention is thus suitable for processing by an offset lithograph printer, a photocopier, laser or ink-jet printer and desirably even a silk screen or letterpress printer.

In a second aspect the invention provides a method of making a sheet of laminate material in accordance with that defined above, comprising conjoining an upper facing layer and a lower backing layer and causing one or more discontinuities in the upper facing layer so as to define one or more labels, so as to form a sheet of laminate material comprising adjacent lay and grip margins sufficient to allow the sheet to be processed by an offset lithograph device, said sheet being sufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a photocopier or laser or ink-jet printers or the like.

Preferably the lay and grip margins are of a width sufficient to accommodate a typical default indent setting for a laser or ink-jet printer. In particular, it is preferred that the lay and grip margins can accommodate twice the width of a typical default indent setting for a laser printer. In one such preferred embodiment the lay and grip margins are each 13mm wide. Lay and grip margins of this size also possess the advantage that they can accommodate a 'bleed' during printing via the offset litho process and still retain a sufficiently large dry area of margin for the sheet to be processed without wet print fouling the printer.

The preferred embodiments allow one sheet of laminate to be used for a range of indent settings in a laser printer, whilst not creating excessive waste material.

It is preferred that the waste gutter around each label is in the range 1 to 5mm wide. This range is found to be sufficient to prevent problems due to bleed in offset litho printing without creating excessive waste.

Preferably the gutter is 1-3mm wide, most preferably 2mm wide. It is also preferred that the gutter is of equal width for every label on a particular sheet of laminate material, as this facilitates formatting and/or layout when printing by means of a laser or ink-jet printer or a photocopier. Conveniently the gutter is retained on the sheet of laminate material prior to and during the printing process, especially where the printing is accomplished by means of a photocopier, laser or ink-jet printer.

The laminate sheet is conveniently of standard A4 size, although it may be larger or smaller than this.

The facing layer preferably has a density in the range 7075 grams per square metre (gsm), (excluding the adhesive coating). The backing layer preferably has a density in the range 70-85gsm, more preferably 75-85gsm, and most preferably 79-81gsm (excluding the coating of release agent).

The laminate is preferably totally chlorine free (TCF) or elemental chlorine free (ECF) and preferably woodfree.

The term "woodfree" as used herein is intended to refer to paper free from groundwood, no mechanically-produced pulp being used in the furnish. Preferably the laminate is manufactured in an environmentally "friendly" manner (e.g.

by a TCF or ECF process), from renewable or sustainable resources, any bleaching being achieved by use of peroxides or calcium sulphite. The laminate may be any colour, although it is preferred for the facing layer to be white. The facing and backing layers are preferably of the same colour.

The combination of adhesive and release agent employed must be such that the release of the facing layer from the backing layer does not occur inadvertently, for example whilst the sheet of laminate is being fed through a laser printer or photocopier.

The labels may be any shape (e.g. circular, rectangular) and are preferably spaced in a regular array on the facing layer.

The invention will be further described by way of illustrative example and with reference to the drawings, of which Figures 1 to 3 show in plan view the arrangement of labels on the facing layer of a sheet of laminate in accordance with the invention.

The embodiment shown in Figure 1 is an A4-sized sheet of laminate material, comprising an upper facing layer and an adjacent lower backing layer.

The upper facing layer comprises a topmost paper surface capable of accepting print from a laser printer and a lowermost surface having a relatively thermostable adhesive coating.

The facing layer (excluding adhesive coating) has a density of 70-75gsm.

The backing layer comprises a layer of supporting paper material having on its upper surface a coating of a release agent to allow for controlled release of the upper facing layer from the backing layer. The backing layer (excluding release agent) has a density of 80gsm.

The facing layer comprises a regular array of selfadhesive rectangular labels. Each label is defined by a discontinuity in the facing layer, created by "kiss" cutting, and is separated from each ajacent label by a 2mm wide gutter. The lay and grip edges of the sheet are denoted by arrows cut in the facing layer. The array of labels is displaced from the lay and grip edges by lay and grip margins respectively, each 13mm wide.

The laminate sheet is totally chlorine free, woodfree and made from sustainable resources. The laminate is relatively thermostable so as to allow it to be processed through a laser printer or a photocopier.

Figures 2 and 3 are plan views of similar laminate sheets, comprising an array of rectangular and circular labels respectively. The lay and grip edges are again denoted by arrows. In the embodiment depicted in Figure 3 where the labels are circular, the minimum gutter width between each adjacent label is 2mm.

Claims

1. A sheet of laminate material comprising an upper facing layer and an adjacent lower backing layer, said upper facing layer comprising a topmost surface capable of accepting print from a litho printer and from a laser printer or the like and a lowermost surface having a relatively thermostable adhesive coating, said backing layer comprising a support material having on its upper surface a coating of a release agent to allow for controlled release of the upper facing layer, wherein the upper facing layer comprises one or more self-adhesive labels, each label being defined by a discontinuity in the facing layer and being separated from any adjacent label by a gutter and wherein the sheet of laminate material comprises adjacent lay and grip margins sufficient to allow the sheet to be processed by an offset lithograph device and is sufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a photocopier, a laser printer, an inkjet printer or the like.

2. A sheet of laminate material according to claim 1, wherein the lay and grip margins are both substantially 13mm wide.

3. A sheet of laminate material according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gutter around each label on the sheet is of equal width.

4. A sheet of laminate material according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the gutter is in the range 1 to Smm wide.

5. A sheet of laminate material according to any one of the preceding claims, where the sheet is substantially A4 sized.

6. A sheet of laminate material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the facing layer (excluding the adhesive coating) has a density in the range 70-75 grams per square metre.

7. A sheet of laminate material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the backing layer (excluding the coating of release agent) has a density in the range 75-85 grams per square metre.

8. A sheet of laminate of material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the labels thereon are spaced in a regular array on the facing layer.

9. A sheet of laminate material substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of making a sheet of laminate material in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, comprising conjoining an upper facing layer and a lower backing layer and causing one or more discontinuities in the upper facing layer so as to define one or more labels, so as to form a sheet of laminate material comprising adjacent lay and grip margins sufficient to allow the sheet to be processed by an offset lithograph device, said sheet being sufficiently thermostable to allow processing through a photocopier, a laser printer, an ink-jet printer or the like.