EP0688006A1 - Sheet assembly and apparatus and method of production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Sheets of label carrying paper are produced for use in printers. The labels (15) are formed from sheet material and are separated from each other by cutting lines (16,18,22). The labels ar secured to a carrier or backing sheet (32) by lines of adhesive (40). The cutting of separating lines are formed by passing sheet material between rollers have cutting blades. Following rollers press the labels onto the backing sheet. The labels may be produced with square or radiused cover.

Description

The invention relates to a sheet-like composite of at least one card-shaped information carrier with carrier material lying in the same plane, and to an apparatus and a method for producing such a composite.

Arrangements of information carriers with carrier material are widely known in the prior art. Originally they were mostly in roll form. The arrangement of the information carriers in the network served and still serves to automate and simplify the processing of the information carriers.

A roll-shaped combination of information carriers and carrier material is described, for example, in US Pat. No. 3,920,122. The card-shaped information carriers there are separated from the strip-shaped carrier material by punching; in this example, the department is done by a type of line perforation in a specific configuration, which should make the edges of an information carrier detached from the carrier material appear as smooth as possible.

A sheet-like composite of information carriers and carrier material is disclosed, for example, in US Pat. No. 4,944,978. Here the department of the information carrier from the carrier material is reached by long circular cuts; the circle is only partially closed in the cut produced by punching. So there remain small bridges between the information carriers and the carrier material that form the network provide sufficient strength for printing on the information carriers and must be separated during the subsequent further processing of the information carriers. Since the bridges have a thickness that corresponds to the thickness of information carriers and carrier material, and since the width of the bridges is also not to be neglected, the separation points after removal of each information carrier have unsightly separation residues in the form of irregularities in the edge, such as it is only tolerated in some areas with today's quality requirements. For high-quality applications, for example for business cards, labels on high-priced items, name badges for congresses, etc., arrangements according to this prior art cannot be used because of the unsightly appearance of the end product. However, for the high-quality applications mentioned above, there is a considerable need for a sheet-like composite of information carriers and carrier material. With a suitable design, such a combination enables information carriers to be produced which, on the one hand, have high-quality, in particular colored, solid printing and, on the other hand, can also be reprinted with variable information; it must always be assumed that the ready-to-use information carrier must have a flawless appearance.

Business cards are a good example of a sheet-like composite application. Business cards are of paramount importance in modern business not only because of the company and name entry, but increasingly also because of other information, such as telephone number, extension numbers, fax, car phone number, phone number of a mailbox etc. In particular this additional information often changes due to relocation, transfer or transportation. Even if new employees are hired, you would like to quickly equip them with business cards.

So while one can assume that part of the information on a business card, such as company logo, company and other elements of corporate identity, will remain the same for a long time, another part of the information is subject to a comparatively short-term change.

The conventional printing of business cards using the offset process is comparatively expensive due to the small print runs and is therefore only justified where individual employees need particularly large amounts of business cards.

In the area of small and very short runs, it is therefore desirable to be able to quickly, cleanly and representatively provide business cards with pre-printed permanent information that applies to all or many employees with the variable information that applies in individual cases.

A method which can be used for this is described in DE-B-41 34 288. This prior art teaches that sheet-like cardboard material is first printed in offset or screen printing, then this material is stamped into individual labels or other information carriers in such a way that adjacent information carriers remain connected by a tiny micro-bridge that the composite thus formed then using a standard table-top sheet printer supplemented with variable data and then removes the information carriers from the network.

This known method represents a major step in the right direction, but cannot be used where the tiny remains of the few small micro-webs on the edges of the information carriers, which are still present when the individual information carriers are removed, are disruptive.

The importance of a completely flawless edge of the finished information carrier is known and has already led to the fact that completely punched out information carriers have been glued to a carrier film and after the final printing with the variable information has been removed from the carrier film. This further state of the art naturally produced completely impeccably bordered information carriers from a large range of even the highest quality materials. However, it was disadvantageous that in order to avoid adhesive residues, a coating had to be applied to the back of the information carrier before they were glued to the carrier film. This coating was unnatural to the touch and ruled out printing on the back, which is very desirable in a number of cases, such as bilingual business cards. A much greater deficiency of this known proposal was that the detachment of the individual information carriers from the carrier film required a certain amount of work and, above all, very often had the consequence that the detached information carriers retained a slight bend which significantly impaired the appearance. This conceivably undesirable bend can already be observed if you compare it peel off thin self-adhesive labels from your carrier film; the risk of curvature increases with increasing thickness of the carrier material.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a sheet-like composite in which the single-color or multi-color printing of small editions of card-shaped information carriers using offset and / or table printers can be further reduced in cost and improved in quality compared to the prior art . Furthermore, an apparatus and a method for producing such a composite are to be specified.

This object is achieved by the characterizing features of claims 1, 12 and 17.

Further embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The proposed solution to the problem has a number of advantages.

First of all, it should be pointed out that the edges of the information carriers separated from the carrier material are flawless. Furthermore, the back of the information carriers are also flawless and printable. In addition, it is even conceivable that high-value information carriers, for example made of thin plastic, are inserted into an inexpensive carrier material and connected in the manner according to the invention, or that one even surrounds a single information carrier with a larger area of carrier material, for example, a membership card in the laser printer to make a club can, which is known to require a certain minimum size for the substrate to be drawn.

The proposed solution is also of considerable advantage insofar as the forces to be released for releasing the information carriers are significantly smaller than in the prior art, so that the risk of the information carriers bending is also eliminated. In addition, the material required for the adhesive tape is considerably less than for the backing film of the prior art, which was provided with an adhesive over the entire surface that only allowed a one-time bond. Finally, the time saved when releasing many information carriers belonging to a group from its carrier material is remarkable. Because at least one end of all the adhesive tapes are glued to one edge area of the carrier material, one can grip this edge area and pull it down over a table edge or the like, while with the other hand gently guides the sheet in the table plane; in this way, the individual information carriers were easily removed with a single movement.

Also to be emphasized is the possibility of using a central strip made of the carrier material between adjacent rows of information carriers, which enables the composite to be printed exactly down to the later separation point. The adhesive tapes are preferably glued to the rear of the information carrier. When using table printers with narrow material feed curves, the narrow adhesive tapes can also be attached to the outside of the radius of the sheets or the composite, i.e. on the later front side.

The solution according to the invention can advantageously also be used in the case of endless webs.

From DE-U-78 36 775 a machine printable endless web is known from several contiguous labeling sections, in which the information carriers are connected to the carrier material lying in the same plane by means of perforations as predetermined tear lines at the boundary of the labeling sections. If, after the information carrier has been printed on, the carrier material is separated from the information carrier, an unclean edge remains on it, which is unsightly and does not meet higher quality requirements. In addition, the detachment of the information carriers from the carrier material formed with a row of transport holes is complex.

With the sheet-like composite according to the invention, it is also possible, in the case of continuous webs, to further reduce the cost of monochrome or multicolor printing of small runs of card-shaped information carriers using offset and / or table printers, and to improve the quality thereof.

Further refinements of the invention are explained in more detail on the basis of the following description of some exemplary embodiments and the drawing.

Fig.1

eine Aufsicht eines Verbundes aus zwei unmittelbar benachbart verlaufenden Reihen von Informationsträgern,

Fig.2

eine der Fig.1 ähnliche Aufsicht mit einem Mittelstreifen zwischen den beiden Reihen von Informationsträgern,

Fig.3

eine Aufsicht eines Verbundes mit einem einzelnen Informationsträger innerhalb eines Blattes aus Trägermaterial,

Fig.4

eine Aufsicht auf eine Endlosbahn mit in Transportrichtung verlaufenden Klebebänder,

Fig.5

eine Aufsicht auf eine Endlosbahn mit quer zur Transportrichtung verlaufenden Klebebändern,

Fig.6

eine schematische Darstellung einer Vorrichtung zur Herstellung eines blattförmigen Verbunds,

Fig.7

eine Aufsicht auf die Vorrichtung gemäß Fig.6,

Fig.8

eine schematische Darstellung des Stanzvorganges und

Fig.9a bis 9d

verschiedene Phasen des Stanzvorganges.

The drawing shows:

Fig. 1

a supervision of a network of two immediately adjacent rows of information carriers,

Fig. 2

1 is a top view similar to FIG. 1 with a median strip between the two rows of information carriers,

Fig. 3

a top view of a composite with a single information carrier within a sheet of carrier material,

Fig. 4

a top view of an endless web with adhesive tapes running in the transport direction,

Fig. 5

a top view of an endless web with adhesive tapes running transversely to the transport direction,

Fig. 6

1 shows a schematic representation of a device for producing a sheet-like composite,

Fig. 7

6 shows a top view of the device according to FIG. 6,

Fig. 8

a schematic representation of the punching process and

Fig.9a to 9d

different phases of the punching process.

1 to 5 show various exemplary embodiments of a sheet-like composite which consist of at least one card-shaped information carrier with carrier material lying in the same plane. The information carrier and the carrier material are completely separated from one another by means of continuous punch cuts or the like. For the releasable connection of information carrier (s) and carrier material, at least one narrow adhesive tape, which is coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive, is provided, which covers at least part of the die cuts between adjacent rows of information carriers and / or between information carriers and carrier material and adheres the components of the composite to one another. The width of the information carrier perpendicular to the course of the adhesive tape is a multiple of the width of the adhesive tape.

1 shows a top view of a first composite 10 according to the invention, which has rows of information carriers 15 arranged on both sides of a common punching line 14, of which six complete and two broken-off information carriers can be seen in FIG.

The left row of information carriers 15 in FIG. 1 is delimited on its left side by a punched line 16. The right side of the right row of information carriers 15 is similarly delimited by a punch line 18. In the exemplary embodiment shown, all the punching lines 14, 16, 18 run parallel to one another and are not interrupted. They end at their upper end in FIG. 1 on a transverse punching line 20 which is the uppermost two information carriers in the illustration 15 separates from an upper edge region 28 of the composite 10.

Parallel to the above-mentioned, transverse punching line 20, between two information carriers shown one above the other in the drawing, 15 further punching lines 22, 24, 26 are attached, which run continuously from the left punching line 16 to the right punching line 18.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, in this exemplary embodiment there is a lateral (left) edge area 30 to the left of the punch line 16 and a lateral (right) edge area 32 to the right of the punch line 18. The three edge regions 28, 30, 32 described together form the carrier material of the composite 10, which in the exemplary embodiment surrounds the group of information carriers 15 on all sides.

A total of four adhesive tapes 40 are shown hatched in FIG. 1, which in practice have a width of less than 10 mm, preferably about 7 mm, and are glued to the composite via the punching lines 20, 22, 24, 26 such that they each run with about half their width on one and the other side of the punching lines mentioned.

The adhesive tapes 40 carry a pressure sensitive adhesive on the surface facing the composite 10 and can be easily removed from the information carrier without leaving any residues on the stuck surface.

As can also be seen in the drawing, the free ends of the adhesive tapes 40 are guided over the punching lines 20, 22, 24, 26 into the edge regions 30, 32 of the carrier material and are glued there to the edge regions. The preferred arrangement can also be seen, namely that the adhesive tapes are only provided running parallel to one another. The consequence of this is that by grasping one of the edge regions 30, 32 and holding down the adjacent information carrier 15, it can be separated from the carrier material with a handle and with very little effort, although the adhesive tape is sufficiently strong to hold the bond easily in a table printer, for example to print on a laser or color printer.

The exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2 differs from that according to FIG. 1 in that a central web 35 of the carrier material is inserted between the two rows of information carriers 15, so that two parallel stamping lines 14a, 14b are formed from the one punching line 14 of the exemplary embodiment described first become.

In addition, this exemplary embodiment shows how the different punching lines 14 to 26 run when the information carriers 15 have rounded corners. Otherwise, the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2 does not differ from that in FIG. 1.

The median strip 35 enables the information carriers 15 to be printed cleanly and precisely up to the punched lines 14a, 14b. In practice, this requires that the Printer must be able to print a small amount laterally beyond the edge of the information carrier without thereby affecting the laterally adjacent information carrier 15.

In the exemplary embodiments described above, both the upper edge region 28 and one of the two lateral edge regions 30, 32 can be omitted without impairing the functionality of the composite and the easy separability of the card-shaped information carriers 15 from the remaining edge region.

While it can be imagined that the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 1 and 2 consist of a sheet the size of, for example, DIN A4, FIG. 3 shows a composite 10 'for the reprinting of an individual information carrier 15 which is in a Carrier material with a size of, for example, DIN A 5 is embedded.

The composite 10 'thus has a large-area carrier material in relation to the size of the information carrier 15 with a wide upper edge 28', a very wide lower edge 29 'and two lateral edge regions 30', 32 '. Since there is only a single information carrier 15, the number of punch lines is limited to an upper punch line 20 ', a lower punch line 21', a left punch line 16 'and a right punch line 18'. Also in this embodiment it can be seen that the adhesive tapes 40 run into the edge area and are glued there, so that even in the case of this embodiment an easy detachment of the information carrier 15 from the composite 10 'is possible.

The alignment of the adhesive tapes 40 in the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 1 to 3 is preferably transverse to the running direction of the composite 10, 10 'during printing in a table printer or the like. Additional adhesive strips running vertically to the adhesive tapes 40 are dispensed with.

It is also worth mentioning that the information carrier 15 made of cardboard or plastic can be used not only for business cards or for high-quality labels, but also as name badges for conferences, as table name badges, as invitation cards or entrance tickets, as credit cards, club cards, membership cards or the like. can be used and also, for example as insert labels for folders, registers and many other purposes. It is also conceivable that some copies of the sheet-like composite 10, 10 'are acquired unprinted and printed with their own laser or color printer with the complete information content of the business cards, which could be useful in the case of particularly small runs and in this way at very cheap and still leads to high quality products.

The edge areas and the card-shaped information carriers of the exemplary embodiments described above do not necessarily have to consist of the same material. It can make sense to copy information carriers 15 made of plastic in the manner shown in the drawings within the edge regions of the composite and then by means of the adhesive tapes 40 detachable fixation Furthermore, the exemplary embodiments can be modified such that the information carriers get rounded corners; the punching lines 16 and 18 would then run correspondingly curved in the area of the punching lines 20 to 26. The same applies to the transitions between the intersecting die-cut lines 14, 22, 24 and 26. It can easily be imagined here that a die-cut line encompassing the rounded corners or a corresponding die-cut line section has a star-shaped residue of carrier material at the location of the intersection points of the 1 would be bordered, and it can also be imagined that these star-shaped residues would be retained on the adhesive strip 40 when the information carriers 15 were detached from the composite from the adhesive layer 40.

All of the punching lines mentioned above merge into one another, so that there are no bridges made of the material of the information carrier and / or of the material of the carrier material between adjacent parts of the assembly, and each information carrier consequently has a flawlessly surrounding edge.

4 and 5 show two exemplary embodiments in which the composite is designed as an endless web, the carrier material extending at least in the transport direction of the endless web and having an edge region suitable for machine transport of the endless web.

4 shows a sheet composite formed as an endless web 45 composed of information carriers 51 which are arranged in two webs and which lie on the same plane Carrier material 50 are enclosed from two sides. The information carriers 51 and the carrier material 50 are completely separated from one another by means of continuous punch cuts 52. For the releasable connection of the information carrier 51 to the carrier material 50, the die cuts between the information carrier and the carrier material are covered by a narrow adhesive tape 56 coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive. In this exemplary embodiment, the carrier material 50 extends in the transport direction 57 of the endless web 45 and thus forms an edge region 60 of the endless web. In the carrier material, in the transport direction 57, rows of transport holes 58 are provided on each side of the endless web, which are suitable for the mechanical transport of the endless web.

The rows of information carriers adjacent to the endless web in the transport direction are separated from one another by a median strip 53. This median strip and the adjoining areas of the information carriers 51 are covered by an adhesive tape 59 in order to ensure the cohesion of the endless web.

To increase the internal connection of the endless web, micro-webs 65 can be formed between successive information carriers in the transport direction, which, after the information carriers have been separated from one another, leave no or hardly visible residues on the edge of the information carriers.

The continuous web shown is foldable like a fanfold. For this purpose, the endless web has known folds at certain intervals. In the continuous web shown, it is possible to apply the adhesive edges on the front as well as stick on the back of the information carrier. The width of the adhesive tapes is similar to that of the sheet-like composite under 15 mm, preferably 7 to 9 mm.

Between rows of information carriers adjacent in the direction of transport, a star 62 is formed at the point of intersection between four information carriers, because of the respective rounding of the corners of the information carriers, which is expediently punched out and mechanically removed before the labels are printed so that they do not get lost during the printing process Printer detaches such a star or causes a jam. The median strip 53 can also be removed during the continuous web production, for which purpose the label webs then expediently come very close, i.e. 1 mm, are arranged side by side and the adhesive tape 59 bridges the gap between adjacent webs. In the case of cardboard material with a thickness of 0.2 to 0.25 mm, there is no need to worry about gluing with the folded fan-fold sheet.

To remove the adhesive tape, it can be picked up from the printer after the information carriers have been printed on rolls and thus automatically lifted off the information carriers and the carrier material. If the median strip 53 remains in the composite, it can be removed from the continuous web together with the adhesive tape after the information carrier has been printed on.

A cardboard roll, for example, is suitable for rolling up the adhesive tapes after printing, which rotates depending on the transport speed of the endless web and rolls up the adhesive tape in each case. Manual rotation of the cardboard roll is also possible.

5 shows a second sheet assembly, which is designed as an endless web 45 and which differs from the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 4 essentially only in that the adhesive tapes 56 run transversely to the transport direction 57 of the endless web 45. Three information carriers 51 are arranged next to one another transversely to the transport direction and are each separated from one another only by a punched line 67.

The rows of information carriers 51 which follow one another in the transport direction are in turn separated by a central strip 53 which, however, in this exemplary embodiment runs transversely to the transport direction 57.

In the production of the sheet-like composite according to the invention, the information carriers must not shift in the slightest between complete punching out and application of the adhesive tape. If the cards were only a few tenths of a millimeter apart, the cards would lie slightly on top of each other, which would cause difficulties in further processing or printing with a laser or inkjet printer.

With a punching or cutting process, flat or rotary, the material is only separated, but there is no gap, as shown in Fig. 8.

Flat stamping processes are ruled out, however, since after the cutting process there is no longer any bond, but rather all components are completely separated from one another. These loose adjacent components with a Providing adhesive tape is technically relatively complex. It is also not possible to apply the adhesive tape before the punching process, since work is being carried out against a flat counter-pressure plate and the adhesive tape would be severed again.

The invention is therefore based on the further object of specifying a device for producing a composite which avoids the disadvantages of stamping printing technology.

This object is achieved in that, in addition to a punching device for punching out information carrier and carrier material and a device for applying the adhesive tape, means are also provided which temporarily fix the position of the information carrier and the carrier material to one another before they are completely separated.

An embodiment of this device is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

The device shown in FIG. 6 in a schematic side view for producing a sheet-like composite essentially consists of a punching device 70 for punching out information carriers and carrier material from a material web 75, a device 71 for applying the adhesive tape 40 and means 72 which - before the complete punching out - temporarily fix information carrier and carrier material in their position to each other. The punching device 70 is designed according to the invention for a rotary punching method and has a punching cylinder 70a and a counter-pressure element 70b. The counter pressure element 70b is in the The present embodiment is also cylindrical, but can also be designed as a flat counter pressure plate, for example.

The device 71 for applying the adhesive tape 40 consists of a laminating roller 71a and a second counter-pressure element 71b, which can likewise be either cylindrical or flat. The adhesive tape 40 or a plurality of parallel adhesive tapes 40 are fed via the laminating roller 71a and applied to the material web.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the fixing means 72 for fixing the information carrier and carrier material are formed by the laminating roller 71a and the second counter-pressure element 71b. In the context of the invention, however, it is also possible that independent fixing means are provided between the punching device 70 and the device 71 for applying the adhesive tape, said fixing means consisting, for example, of rollers pressed against one another. It is also conceivable to replace a roller with a flat counter pressure element.

The function of the device according to the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 9a to 9d:

The material web 75, which can consist, for example, of individual sheets of paper or an endless web, is introduced in the direction of the arrow 76 into the punching device 70, ie into the gap between the punching cylinder 70a and the first counter-pressure element 70b.

The contours of the information carriers to be punched out are engraved on the peripheral surface of the punching cylinder 70a.

The actual punching process is shown in its chronological order with reference to FIGS. 9a to 9d. It can be seen that the information carriers 15 are only completely punched out of the material web 75 at the point in time shown in FIG. 9d. At this point in time, the information carriers 15 would thus be freely movable. However, it should be prevented that the cards move before the adhesive tape 40 is attached. In order to prevent this, means 72 are provided according to the invention which - prior to being completely punched out - temporarily fix the information carrier and carrier material in their position relative to one another. This is achieved in that the material web in the already punched-out area of information carrier and carrier material is gripped by a pressure roller with counter pressure element. In the present exemplary embodiment, this pressure roller is formed by the laminating roller 71a and the counterpressure element by the second counterpressure element 71b. However, it would also be conceivable to form the fixing means 72 by means of transport rollers which are arranged between the punching device 70 and the device 71. In order to ensure temporary fixing of the information carrier and carrier material, the distance A between the punching device 70 and the fixing means 72 must be selected to be smaller than the extension B of an information carrier 15 in the transport direction 76 of the material web 75. This ensures that the information carrier 15 from both the punching device 70 and the fixing means for a short period of time 72 can be fixed in their position in relation to the carrier material.

When choosing the smallest possible circumference of the punching cylinder 70a and the first counter-pressure element 70b and also by means of a laminating roller 71a, which is also of small diameter with an associated second counter-pressure element 71b, the elements can be arranged in such a way that there is a small distance A. In practice, dimensions between 40 and 50 mm can be achieved.

If one now selects a format of the information carrier, the extent B of which in the transport direction of the material web 75 is approximately 10% larger than the distance A, the fixing effect described above can be used.

In order to make this process run as perfectly as possible, it is advantageous that not only the punch cylinder 70a but also the laminating roller 71a has an exactly the same peripheral speed. This can be ensured by an appropriate mechanical drive. Corresponding guides can also be provided between the punching device 70 and the device 71 in order to ensure an absolutely flat and uniform guiding of the material web 75.

Claims (17)

Sheet-shaped composite (10, 10 '; 45) made of at least one card-shaped information carrier (15; 51) with carrier material (28 to 32; 50) lying in the same plane,
characterized in that Information carriers and carrier materials are completely separated from one another by means of continuous punch cuts (14, 16 to 26; 52, 54, 67) or the like, - For the releasable connection of information carrier (s) and carrier material, at least one narrow adhesive tape (40; 56) coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive is provided, which covers at least part of the die cuts between adjacent rows of information carriers and / or between information carriers and carrier material and that Parts of the composite are attached together, - And that the width of the information carrier perpendicular to the course of the adhesive tape is a multiple of the width of the adhesive tape. Composite according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two adhesive tapes (40; 56) are provided, all adhesive tapes being aligned parallel to one another. Composite according to claim 1, characterized in that the adhesive tapes (40; 56) have a width of less than 10 mm, preferably 7 mm. Composite according to claim 1, characterized in that the carrier material forms at least one edge region (30, 32; 50) of the composite and is aligned in this edge region approximately perpendicular to the course of the adhesive tapes, the ends of all adhesive tapes being glued to this edge region of the carrier material. Composite according to Claim 1, characterized in that at least one further edge region (30, 32) is provided by an uninterrupted strip of the carrier material and is preferably arranged on the side of the composite which is opposite the first edge region. Composite according to Claim 1, characterized in that a central strip (35; 53) made of the carrier material is provided between two adjacent rows of information carriers. Composite according to Claim 1, in particular for information carriers with rounded corners, characterized in that each information carrier is surrounded on all sides by the carrier material. Composite according to claim 1, characterized in that the composite is designed as an endless web (45) and the carrier material (50) extends at least in the transport direction (57) of the endless web and one for has the machine transport of the continuous web suitable edge area. Composite according to claim 8, characterized in that the adhesive tapes (56) run transversely to the transport direction (57). Composite according to claim 8, characterized in that the adhesive tapes (56) run in the transport direction (57). Composite according to Claim 10, characterized in that at least one micro-bridge (65) is formed between information carriers which follow one another in the transport direction. Device for producing a sheet-like composite according to claim 1, characterized by a) a punching device (70) for punching out information carriers and carrier material from a material web (75), b) a device (71) for applying the adhesive tape (40, 56) and c) means (72) for temporarily fixing the position of the information carrier and carrier material in relation to one another before they are completely punched out. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that the punching device (70) is formed by a punching cylinder (70a) and a first counter pressure element (70b). Apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the device (71) for applying the adhesive tape is formed by a laminating roller (71a) and a second counter-pressure element (71b). Device according to claim 14, characterized in that the fixing means (72) are formed by the laminating roller (71a) and the second counter-pressure element (71b). Apparatus according to claims 13 and 15, characterized in that the distance A between the punching roller (70a) and the laminating roller (71a) is smaller than the extension B of an information carrier in the transport direction (76) of the material web (75). A process for producing a sheet-like composite according to claim 1, characterized by the following process steps: a) information carrier and carrier material are completely separated from one another from a material web (75) by continuous punch cuts, b) at least some of the die cuts between adjacent rows of information carriers and / or between information carriers and carrier material are covered by an adhesive tape, c) whereby the information carrier and the carrier material - prior to the complete separation - are temporarily fixed in their position relative to one another until the adhesive tape is applied.

Images