EP1974899A2

EP1974899A2 - Label manufacturing apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: EP1974899A2
Application number: EP08251162A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ian George Reflex Labels Ltd. Vision House Kendall
Original assignee: Reflex Labels Ltd
Current assignee: Reflex Labels Ltd
Priority date: 2007-03-31
Filing date: 2008-03-28
Publication date: 2008-10-01
Also published as: EP1974899A3; GB2447990A; GB2447990B; GB0706360D0

Abstract

Label manufacturing apparatus 55 forms rolls of label web at 82 from stock material 56, which consists of label material carried by a liner or backing paper. Labels are printed on the web at printing stations 58. The label material is kiss cut at a cutting station 60 to define the outline of the labels. This defines waste label material around the labels. The waste material is stripped from the web by a suction arrangement 64 having a suction pump 68 and a mouth 66 into which the waste material is drawn.

Description

The present invention relates to improvements in, or relating to methods and apparatus for label manufacture, and to improved label products.
Embodiments of one aspect of the invention provide label manufacturing apparatus comprising a waste station for receiving a web, the web having a liner, and the liner carrying label material which has been cut to define labels and waste material outside the labels, the waste station being operable to strip waste material from the liner, and the waste station comprising a suction arrangement having a mouth into which waste material is drawn by suction as the web passes through the waste station.
The apparatus may further comprise a first cutting station for cutting the label material to define the labels and the waste material. The cutting station may be operable to kiss cut the label material. The cutting station may be operable to define lines of labels along the web, the labels of each line extending transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
The apparatus may further comprise a second cutting station operable to separate neighbouring lines of labels which extend along the web, by cutting along the liner to form strips of liner, each accommodating a line of labels. The or each cut may be made along a non-straight line along the liner, to accommodate lines of labels which extend transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels. The, or at least one of the cuts may be made along a periodic curve.
The second cutting station may cut discontinuously along the line. The discontinuous cutting may leave necks of uncut material which tie together neighbouring lines of strips.
The apparatus may define divergent paths for neighbouring liner strips after the second cutting station, to break the necks as the neighbouring strips diverge. There may be guide members defining divergent paths for respective liner strips. There may be a winding station for winding the liner strips and corresponding lines of labels into rolls. The winding station may provide a plurality of winding axes for respective liner strips, whereby neighbouring liner strips are separated by breaking the necks as they approach the winding axis.
Examples of this aspect of the invention also provide a method of manufacturing labels from a web having a liner carrying label material which has been cut to define labels and waste material outside the labels, in which the waste material is drawn from the liner by a suction arrangement as the web passes.
Neighbouring lines of labels, which extend along the web, may be separated by cutting along the liner to form strips of liner, each accommodating a line of labels. The or each cut may be made along a non-straight line along the liner, to accommodate lines of labels which extend transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels. The, or at least one of the cuts may be made along a periodic curve. The cuts may be discontinuous to leave necks of uncut material which tie together neighbouring lines of strips.
Divergent paths may be provided for neighbouring liner strips after cutting, to break the necks as the neighbouring strips diverge. Respective liner strips may be guided along divergent paths. The strips may be guided to a winding station for winding the liner strips and corresponding lines of labels into rolls. The winding station may provide a plurality of winding axes for respective liner strips, whereby neighbouring liner strips are separated by breaking the necks as they approach the winding axis.
In another aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a label web comprising a strip of liner material carrying label material, the label material defining neighbouring lines of labels along the web, the labels of each line extending transversely over the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
The labels may be defined by printing. The labels may be defined by cutting. The label material may be kiss cut to define the labels.
In another aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a label web comprising a strip of liner material carrying a line of labels along the strip, at least one edge of the strip being non-linear.
The or each edge may be a periodic curve. The labels may have a varying width along the web, the width variation being accommodated by the non-linear edge or edges of the strip.
Examples of embodiments of various aspects of the invention may now be described in more detail, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig 1 is a side view of an arrangement for kiss cutting a web of material;
Fig 2 is a front elevation of an arrangement for full cutting a web of material;
Fig 3 is a plan view of a label web in accordance with one aspect of the invention;
Fig 4 is a diagrammatic side elevation of label manufacturing apparatus in accordance with another aspect of the invention; and
Fig 5 is a plan view of a finished label web produced by the apparatus in Fig 4.

Fig 1 illustrates apparatus 10 for cutting a web 12. The web may be a conventional web for label making. The web 12 has a liner or backing paper 14, carrying label material 16. The liner 14 may be a sheet of paper or other flexible material which is waxed, siliconised or otherwise surface treated to allow self adhesive label material 16 to be releasably stuck to the liner 14. This allows the web 12 to be processed without the adhesive surface of the label material 16 being exposed. Fully formed and printed labels can be peeled from the liner 14 to expose their adhesive face for use, at the time required.
The apparatus 10 includes a platen cylinder 18 which has a resilient surface such as a rubber sheet 20 around its circumference. The cylinder 18 is rotatable about its central axis, as indicated by arrow 21. A cutting cylinder 22 is opposed to the cylinder 18 and rotatable about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the cylinder 18, as indicated by arrow 23. Cutting blades 24 project from the outer surface of the cylinder 22 and extend longitudinally along the cylinder 22 parallel to the cylinder axis. The blades 24 are sharpened along their exposed edges.
The cylinders 18, 22 define a nip 26 through which the web 12 passes in the direction of the arrow 28, as the cylinders 18, 22 turn. As the web 12 passes through the nip 26 the blades 24 engage the label material 16, as can be seen from Fig 1, against the resistance provided by resilience of the rubber sheet 20. In consequence, the blades 24 cut into the label material 16. However, appropriate setting of the width of the nip 26 allows the blades 24 to leave the liner 14 uncut, while cutting the label material 16, thereby leaving cuts 30 through the label material 16 only. This type of cutting, in which not all the layers of the web are cut by the cutting action, is herein termed "kiss cutting".
Fig 2 illustrates alternative apparatus 32 for cutting a web 12a. The apparatus 32 has a cutting cylinder 34 and an anvil cylinder 36. The cylinders 34, 36 are rotatable about parallel axes to define a nip through which the web 12a may pass as the cylinders 34, 36 turn.
The cutting cylinder 34 carries blades 40 which extend circumferentially around the cylinder 34. The anvil cylinder 36 has a plain cylindrical surface, against which the blades 40 will bear as the cylinders 34, 36 turn. Accordingly, the rolling action of the cylinders 34, 36 on the web 12a, together with the blades 40 meeting the anvil cylinder 36, cause the blades 40 to cut through the entire thickness of the web 12a. Cutting through the complete thickness of a web is herein termed "full cutting".
In Figs. 1 and 2, kiss cutting has been illustrated as transverse to the length of the web, and full cutting has been illustrated as longitudinal. Either type of cut could be formed at either angle, or at intermediate angles, and with a variety of shapes, by appropriate design of the blades 24, 40.
Fig 3 illustrates the face of label web 12b. Only the label material of the web 12b is visible in Fig 3, covering a strip of liner material which is not visible. The edges of the liner material are co-terminus with the edges 44 of the visible label material.
Various labels 46 are defined on the web 12b. The labels 46 may be defined by "kiss cutting" as described above, to leave waste material 48 outside the labels 46. Alternatively, the labels 46 may be defined by printing (such as a printed border). The labels 46 may be defined printing and also by kiss cutting. The labels 46 may bear text, images or other printed matter.
The labels 46 are illustrated in this example as having elongated cruciform shape. Other label shapes can be used. The cruciform labels 46 are arranged longitudinally along the web 12b, with the side arms 50 of the cruciform shape extending transversely of the web 12b. Each cruciform label 46 is aligned with a preceding and following label 46 along the web 12b, to form neighbouring lines of labels 46. In Fig 3, three neighbouring lines of labels 46 are illustrated. The line of the middle line of labels 46 is indicated by a broken line 52 in Fig 3. It can readily be seen in Fig 3 that by virtue of the cruciform shape of the label 46, each label 46 has a side arm 50 which extends transversely beyond the nearest extremity of the adjacent label 46 from a neighbouring line of labels. Broken lines 54 in Fig 3 indicate how the transverse extremities of neighbouring labels overlap. Accordingly, it is not possible to draw a straight line along the web 12b, parallel with the length of the web 12b and between neighbouring labels 46, without crossing over at least some part of some of the side arms 50. This results from the interlocking arrangement of the labels 46 on the web 12b.
The area of waste material 48 which exists between labels 46 is minimised by compactly defining the labels 46 across the web 12b in this manner. Accordingly, the amount of waste material 48 is reduced in comparison with the amount to be expected if the labels 46 were defined without interlock of neighbouring lines, i.e. by transversely spacing the labels 46 to a greater degree. However, the complexity of the shape of the waste material 48 is increased by this layout of labels 46, the significance of which will again be remarked upon below.
Fig 4 illustrates apparatus 55 for forming rolls of label web from stock material. Web material 12c, having self adhesive label material on a liner as illustrated with reference to Fig 1, is drawn from a roll 56 of plain, unprinted stock. The web 12c first passes through one or more printing stations 58 to be printed with the printed content of the label being produced, at the relevant positions along and across the web 12c, as illustrated in Fig. 3. This defines interlocking lines of labels. Multiple printing stations 58 may be provided, for example for multi-colour printing.
The web 12c is then fed to a cutting station 60 at which the labels are defined (or further defined) on the web 12c by kiss cutting the label material with the outline of the labels. Upon leaving the cutting station 60 the web 12c may be generally in the form illustrated in Fig 3, with lines of labels defined on the web 12c by the kiss cuts, and with the labels of each line extending transversely to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
The web 12c then approaches a waste station 62. The purpose of the waste station 62 is to strip away the waste material 48 from the web 12c, leaving the labels 46 attached to the liner to the web 12c, and the liner exposed between the labels 46.
Stripping of the waste material 48 is achieved by a suction arrangement 64. The arrangement 64 has a mouth 66 and a suction pump or vacuum arrangement 68 which creates suction at the mouth 66 to draw waste material 48 into the mouth 66 thereby pulling the waste material 48 away from the web 12c. It is envisaged that by appropriate positioning of the mouth 66, and by providing appropriate suction strength, the waste material 48 can be pulled away from the web 12c in a reliable manner, as the web 12c passes through the waste station 62, once the process has been initiatated, perhaps manually, by pulling waste material 48 off the web 12c and placing it in or near the mouth 66. Thereafter, the waste material 48 will be drawn into the mouth 66 as it becomes available, by virtue of the suction and the movement of the web 12c through the apparatus 55.
One or more guide rollers 70 may be provided between the web 12c and the mouth 66, to assist in guiding the waste material 48 to the mouth 66. In this example, an arrangement of guide rollers 70 defines a serpentine path for the waste material 48, which may assist in maintaining tension in the waste material 48 as it is drawn into the mouth 66, and help reduce breakages. Waste material drawn into the mouth 66 may be dealt with in any appropriate manner, such as by chopping for disposal.
The suction action of the arrangement 64 removes the waste material 48 without requiring the waste material to be rolled. In particular, the waste material 48 is not pulled away from the web 12c by rolling onto a mandrel or other rotating member. We have found that the increased complexity of the shape of the waste material 48, arising from the interlocking arrangement of the labels 12c (as discussed above in relation to Fig 3) creates breakage problems when the waste material 48 is pulled away by rolling on to a mandrel. The complexity of the shape causes twisting in the material 48, to different degrees at different positions and at different times, because the dimensions of waste areas differ along and also across the web. This creates breakages. Once the waste material 48 has broken, rolling ceases to be reliable. By contrast, we have found that the use of suction can more reliably pull waste material 48 from the web 12c and is less vulnerable to problems arising from breakage of the waste material 48 as a result of twisting.
After leaving the waste station 62, the remaining parts of the web 12c, being the liner and labels, passes to a second cutting station 72. The second cutting station 72 separates neighbouring lines of labels by cutting the liner to form strips of liner. This is achieved by a full cut (as described above in relation to Fig 2). However, it has been remarked in relation to Fig 3 that the arrangement of the labels 46 on the web 12b prevents a straight line being drawn along the web 12b, between neighbouring lines of labels 46. Accordingly, it is not possible to use a straight line cut along the web, to separate lines of labels. Instead, the second station 72 uses shaped blades to produce non-straight line cuts along the liner. One non-straight line 74 for cutting is illustrated in Fig 3. It can be seen that the line 74 is a curve. In this example, the curve 74 is continuous, without discontinuities, and is periodic, being repeatedly reproduced along the web 12b. Other label shapes may require other shapes for the line 74. However, it can readily be seen from Fig 3 that the non-straight shape of the line 74 accommodates the transverse reach of the arms 50.
Fig 5 illustrates one of the strips into which the web 12c is cut in the second cutting station 72. In this example, illustrating the line 52 from Fig 3, both edges of the liner 14 have periodic curved shapes with relatively wide regions 76 accommodating the side arms 50, and other relatively narrow regions 78.
Conventional straight cut label strips would also include liner material in the regions 77, indicated by broken lines 79 in Fig. 5. This represents additional waste material to be discarded once the labels have been used. In accordance with the embodiment described, material in the regions 77 forms part of a wide region 76 of a neighbouring strip, so that the amount of waste liner material is reduced.
It is desirable for the cut made along the line 74,'at the cutting station 72, is not continuous. In the example illustrated in Fig 5, short uncut necks 75 of material are left to form ties between adjacent strips. The necks 75 allow the cut strips to be handled as a single web as they are fed to a winding station, to be described.
The final process in the apparatus 55 is to roll the cut strips of labels, at a winding station 80a, 80b.
Two example winding stations 80a, 80b are illustrated in Fig 4. Other winding station arrangements could be used. Each of the stations 80a, 80b deals in a different manner with the separation of cut strips by breaking the necks 75 left at the cutting station 72.
In the winding station 80a, strips are wound onto mandrels 82 at different heights. Accordingly, the paths of adjacent strips diverge, generally at 84, as they approach the mandrels 82. This causes the strips to be pulled apart, breaking the necks 75.
The alternative winding station 80b, the mandrels 82 may be at the same height for each strip (so that only one is visible in Fig. 4), but guide rollers 86, or other alternative means are provided to define divergent paths for adjacent strips, between the cutting stations 72 and the mandrels 82. Within the divergent region 88, the adjacent strips are pulled apart to break the necks 75.
Accordingly, each of the mandrels 82 collects a roll of label web comprising a strip of liner material having non-linear edges as illustrated in Fig 5, and carrying a single line of labels along the strip, again as illustrated in Fig 5. The labels can be used by peeling them individually from the strip, for application for an item to be labelled, and may be used in a printing and labelling device of conventional form, for overprinting with product weight, price or other information.
Many variations and modifications can be made from the apparatus described above without departing from the scope of the present invention. In particularly, many different label shapes and non-straight cuts can be devised.
Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

Label manufacturing apparatus comprising a waste station for receiving a web, the web having a liner, and the liner carrying label material which has been cut to define labels and waste material outside the labels, the waste station being operable to strip waste material from the liner, and the waste station comprising a suction arrangement having a mouth into which waste material is drawn by suction as the web passes through the waste station.
Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first cutting station for cutting the label material to define the labels and the waste material.
Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cutting station is operable to define lines of labels along the web, the labels of each line extending transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
Apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a second cutting station operable to separate neighbouring lines of labels which extend along the web, by cutting along the liner to form strips of liner, each accommodating a line of labels.
Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the or each cut is made along a non-straight line along the liner, to accommodate lines of labels which extend transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the, or at least one of the cuts is made along a periodic curve.
Apparatus according to any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the second cutting station cuts discontinuously along the line.
Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the discontinuous cutting leaves necks of uncut material which tie together neighbouring lines of strips.
A method of manufacturing labels from a web having a liner carrying label material which has been cut to define labels and waste material outside the labels, in which the waste material is drawn from the liner by a suction arrangement as the web passes.
A method according to claim 9, in which neighbouring lines of labels, which extend along the web, are separated by cutting along the liner to form strips of liner, each accommodating a line of labels.
A method according to claim 10, wherein the or each cut is made along a non-straight line along the liner, to accommodate lines of labels which extend transversely of the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
A method according to claim 11, wherein the, or at least one of the cuts is made along a periodic curve.
A method according to any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the cuts are discontinuous to leave necks of uncut material which tie together neighbouring lines of strips.
A label web comprising a strip of liner material carrying label material, the label material defining neighbouring lines of labels along the web, the labels of each line extending transversely over the web to interlock with a neighbouring line of labels.
A label web comprising a strip of liner material carrying a line of labels along the strip, at least one edge of the strip being non-linear.
A web according to claim 15, wherein the or each edge is a periodic curve.
A web according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the labels have a varying width along the web, the width variation being accommodated by the non-linear edge or edges of the strip.