Foldable die cut self-adhesive label sheet for labeling cd-roms

• US 20050089663A1
• Filed: 02/28/2003
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ccl Label Incorporated (CCL Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Avery Dennison Corporation
• Inventors: Utz, Martin, Bachner, Inge, Weirather, Steven C., Wong, Galen, Hodsdon, Jerry
• Granted Patent: US 7,709,071 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 428/42.300
• CPC Class Codes: B65C 2009/267 for non-circular shaped compact discs
• CPC Class Codes: B65C 9/265 specially adapted for compact discs
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 3/0288 Labels or tickets consisting of more than one part, e.g. with address of sender or other reference on separate section to main label; Multi-copy labels
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 23/40 Identifying or analogous means applied to or incorporated in the record carrier and not intended for visual display simultaneously with the playing-back of the record carrier, e.g. label, leader, photograph
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/14 Layer or component removable to expose adhesive
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1486 Ornamental, decorative, pattern, or indicia
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/149 Sectional layer removable
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/1495 Adhesive is on removable layer
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/15 Sheet, web, or layer weakened to permit separation through thickness
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/163 Next to unitary web or sheet of equal or greater extent
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/216 Ornamental, decorative, pattern, or indicia
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/218 Aperture containing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24777 Edge feature
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24793 Comprising discontinuous or differential impregnation or bond

Abstract

A label sheet (1) having a release liner (16) and a column of labels (12) releasably adhered thereto is modified to allow easy removal of the labels. The liner has a weakened separation line (30) formed by cuts and ties running underneath a column of labels near the edge of the labels, and notches (18) at the top and bottom of the sheet aligned with the cuts and ties. A matrix (14) surrounding the labels, if present, also has cuts and ties, with the cuts and ties in the matrix parallel to and slightly offset from the cuts and ties in the liner. The separation lines are strong enough that the label sheet can be fed through a printer, yet weak enough that a user can tear off the liner and matrix along the separation lines, thus leaving a minor edge of a column of labels exposed for easy removal from the label sheet.

Claims

1. A label sheet assembly modified for easy removal of labels by hand, comprising:

a release liner; and

a sheet of facestock material releasably adhered to the release liner, the facestock material including labels, said labels including at least a first label column, the facestock material further including a matrix bordering said labels on at least two sides of said labels, each label abutting at least a portion of the matrix and separated therefrom by die cuts;

wherein;

a first weakened separation line is formed in the release liner, the first weakened separation line running below the labels within the label column and offset from a center of the label column toward an edge thereof;

a distance from said first weakened separation line and said edge of said label column is less than 1 cm such that a partially used label sheet assembly may be placed on a flat working surface such as a table without creating a significant adhesive bond between said labels and said flat surface;

a second weakened separation line is formed in the matrix, the second weakened separation line running generally parallel to the first weakened separation line;

the release liner has a notch therein, the notch being aligned with the first and second weakened separation lines;

the first and second weakened separation lines are offset from each other by an offset distance, said offset distance being less than 2 mm, so that a user can tear off a strip of the liner and a strip of the matrix in a single motion leaving each label within said column of labels with a first portion of its underlying liner removed and a second portion of its underlying liner remaining, thereby allowing easy removal of said labels from said label sheet assembly after said tearing operation without the need for the user to first perform any other physical preparation of the label sheet prior to said tearing operation.

2. The label sheet assembly of claim 1 wherein:

the second weakened separation line is defined by a plurality of cuts and ties in the liner;

a strongest one of said ties is positioned next to said notch; and

a plurality of weaker ties are positioned along said weakened separation line underneath the label column.

3. The label sheet assembly of claim 1 wherein:

said facestock further includes at least a second label column, each label column having associated therewith respectively a weakened separation line in the release liner, a weakened separation line in the matrix, and a notch in the liner at each end of the weakened separation line in the liner.

4. The label sheet assembly of claim 1 wherein said assembly is of a size suitable for printing on a printer attached to a personal computer, and wherein said assembly is strong enough to be fed through and printed upon by said printer.

5. The label sheet assembly of claim 4 wherein said assembly is approximately 8½

inches×

11 inches.

6. The label sheet assembly of claim 4 wherein said assembly is approximately A4 sized.

7. The label sheet assembly of claim 4 wherein said assembly has a plurality of label columns arranged lengthwise on said assembly.

8. A label sheet assembly modified for easy removal of labels by hand, comprising:

a release liner; and

a sheet of facestock material releasably adhered to the release liner, the facestock material including at least one column of labels formed therein;

wherein;

a first weakened separation line is formed in the release liner, the first weakened separation line running below the column of labels and offset from a center of the column of labels toward an edge thereof; and

the assembly is sufficiently strong along said first weakened separation line such that the assembly can be fed through a printer in communication with a personal computer, yet is sufficiently weak such that a user can tear off a strip of the liner in a single motion leaving each label within said column of labels with a minor portion of its liner removed, thereby allowing easy removal of said labels from said label sheet assembly after said tearing operation without the need for the user to first perform any other physical preparation of the label sheet prior to said tearing operation.

9. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein:

the facestock material further includes a matrix on at least two opposing sides of said assembly and positioned over said weakened separation line;

a second weakened separation line is formed in the matrix, the second weakened separation line running generally parallel to the first weakened separation line; and

said first and second weakened separation lines are close enough together that a user can tear off a strip of the liner and a strip of the matrix in a single motion leaving each label within said column of labels with a minor portion of its liner removed.

10. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein said first weakened separation line is defined by a plurality of cuts and ties formed in the release liner.

11. The label sheet assembly of claim 9 wherein said second weakened separation line is defined by a plurality of cuts and ties formed in the matrix.

12. The label sheet assembly of claim 10 wherein said first weakened separation line includes at least one tie underneath each label within said column of labels.

13. The label sheet assembly of claim 9 wherein said release liner has a notch formed therein, the notch being aligned with both the first and second separation lines to facilitate a user tearing off the strip of liner and the strip of matrix along the first and second separation lines.

14. The label sheet assembly of claim 13 wherein said sheet of facestock material is smaller than the release liner, and the notch in the liner does not extend to the facestock.

15. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein said first weakened separation line is offset from said second weakened separation line by an offset distance of less than 1.0 mm.

16. The label sheet assembly of claim 13 wherein the weakened separation line in the liner has a strongest point adjacent the notch.

17. The label sheet assembly of claim 9 wherein the weakened separation lines exhibit a combined average tensile strength within the range of about 2 gm/cm to 15 gm/cm.

18. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein the assembly has a long edge and a short edge, and said first weakened separation line runs parallel to said long edge.

19. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein said first weakened separation line runs underneath labels of said first column of labels and less than 1 cm from an edge of said column of labels, such that a partially used label sheet assembly may be placed on a flat surface without creating a significant adhesive bond between said labels and said flat surface.

20. The label sheet assembly of claim 8 wherein said first weakened separation line is defined by a plurality of cuts and ties in the liner, and wherein a ratio of cut length to overall separation line length is greater than 95%.

21. A label assembly suitable for use with a computer printer and having easily removed labels, comprising:

a backing sheet;

at least first and second aligned sets of labels releasably adhered to the backing sheet;

a first set of cuts and ties in the backing sheet parallel to and near an edge of said first aligned set of labels, and a second set of cuts and ties in the backing sheet parallel to and near an edge of said second aligned set of labels;

wherein;

the first and second sets of cuts and ties in the backing sheet provide a sufficient level of strength such that the assembly can be fed through and printed upon by a printer operatively connected to a personal computer; and

immediately after said printing operation and without further mechanical change to the assembly;

a user can tear the assembly along said first set of cuts and ties thereby removing a portion of the backing sheet from said first aligned set of labels, to facilitate easy removal of labels within said first aligned set of labels individually from said backing sheet; and

a user can tear the assembly along said second set of cuts and ties thereby separating the assembly into a first part containing the first aligned set of labels and a second part containing the second aligned set of labels.

22. The label assembly of claim 21 further comprising:

facestock material, said facestock material having cuts therein, the facestock material cuts being generally parallel to said backing sheet cuts and horizontally displaced less than 2 mm therefrom.

23. The label assembly of claim 21 wherein the ties in the backing sheet include at least first and second outer ties near edges of said backing sheet, and a plurality of inner ties disposed internal to said backing sheet relative to said first and second outer ties, said outer ties being stronger than said inner ties.

24. A desktop printable label sheet in having labels which can be easily individually manually peeled for use, comprising:

a release liner having a first linear weakened separation line therein;

a sheet of facestock material adhered to said release liner by a pressure sensitive adhesive, said facestock material including;

a plurality of labels, at least some of said labels overlying said weakened separation line; and

a border surrounding said plurality of labels on at least two sides, said border having a second linear weakened separation line therein;

wherein said label sheet can be printed upon by a desktop printer, and a user can manually tear away in a single motion a narrow strip of said release liner and said border leaving at least some of said labels with a narrow strip of their respective underlying release liner portions removed such that said labels can thereafter be easily manually removed one-by-one from said label sheet.

25. The label sheet of claim 24 further including at least one notch at an edge of said release liner aligned with said first weakened separation line, such that a user can begin tearing away said narrow strip starting at said notch.

26. The label sheet of claim 24 wherein said first and second linear weakened separation lines are generally parallel and less than 2 mm apart.