Bag tag and novel laminate for making same

Details Bag tag and novel laminate for making same Bag tag and novel laminate for making same

1996-09-13

2001-10-16

Ahmad, Nasser (Department: 1772)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Layer or component removable to expose adhesive

C040S006000, C040S027000, C040S299010, C040S662000, C040S665000, C283S080000, C428S041700, C428S041800, C428S042100, C428S042200, C428S042300, C428S043000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06303201

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a novel tag useful for tagging luggage and in other tagging applications.
In order to ensure that passenger luggage reaches its proper destination, the airline industry typically affixes a “bag tag” to each piece of checked luggage. A standard bag tag takes the form of a flat, elongated (e.g. 2″ by 19″) strip of material which is marked with the intended destination of the luggage. Normally, the tag is attached to the luggage by inserting one end of the strip through the luggage handle and then securing the two ends of the tag together by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive. To prevent the adhesive from bonding prematurely, a liner is provided as a covering for the adhesive layer. When the tag is to be used, a portion of the liner is peeled off the remainder of the tag, thereby exposing the adhesive. Usually, the liner is printed with a code or other indicia such that the liner also serves as a claim check for reclaiming the checked luggage.
FIGS. 1
to
3
herein illustrate the structure of a typical bag tag in use today. As shown in
FIG. 1
, laminate
20
from which the bag tag is made is composed of flexible paper or plastic liner
22
, paper facestock
24
and reinforcing layer
26
therebetween. One side of reinforcing layer
26
is adhesively bonded to facestock
24
by means of adhesive layer
28
, while the other side of reinforcing layer
26
is adhesively bonded to liner
22
by means of adhesive layer
32
. Release layer
34
is provided between liner
22
and adhesive layer
32
to allow liner
22
to be peeled off of reinforcing layer
26
, thereby exposing the adhesive of adhesive layer
32
.
FIG. 2
illustrates the backside (i.e. the liner side) of a bag tag made from the laminate of FIG.
1
. As shown in this figure, bag tag
36
is composed of body section
38
, projecting section
40
and attachment section
42
. Liner
22
of the laminate is subdivided by cut
43
so that the portion
44
of liner
22
in attachment section
42
is removable, thereby exposing the adhesive of adhesive layer
32
. Unique indicia
46
, which matches the same indicia on the reverse side of the tag (not shown), is provided so that removable liner portion
44
also serves as a claim check. The reverse side of tag
36
in projecting section
40
is also provided with indicia (not shown) identifying the intended destination of the bag. In modern bag tags, this indicia is usually thermally printed on the tag at the check in or baggage counter when the customer checks his luggage.
FIG. 3
illustrates the bag tag of
FIG. 2
when attached to a bag or other piece of luggage.
FIG. 3
is a cross sectional view similar to FIG.
1
and shows the tag of
FIG. 2
secured to the handle
48
of a piece of luggage. To secure bag tag
36
in place, one end of the bag tag, either before or after removal of removable liner portion
44
, is inserted through the handle of the luggage piece. Then, the two ends of the tag are brought together, after removable liner portion
44
has been peeled off, and compressed by hand. This causes projecting section
40
and attachment section
42
of the tag to adhesively bond together thereby forming conjoined web
50
, with body section
38
of the tag forming a closed loop around handle
48
of the luggage piece for securely attaching tag
36
in place.
Bag tags made from elongated strips of material are often subjected to significant physical abuse in normal use conditions. As a result, they are prone to tear, particularly in a tearing zone
52
located as shown in
FIG. 3
in the portion of attachment section
42
proximate body section
38
of the tag. In particular, tag
36
tends to tear in a tearing zone
52
which is defined by the portion of attachment section
42
where liner
22
has been removed and which extends between the end
43
of liner
22
and the point
45
where reinforcing layer
26
of attachment section
42
bonds to liner
22
of projecting section
40
.
In order to prevent bag tags from tearing, particularly in the tearing zones, it is customary to make reinforcing layer
26
from a tear resistant material arranged to extend along the entire length of the tag. For example, in one conventional bag tag of the type illustrated in
FIGS. 1
to
3
, reinforcing layer
26
of the tag (
FIG. 1
) is made from a material known as Valeron®. This material is composed of a laminate of two mono-axially oriented polypropylene layers bonded together such that the directions of orientation of the co-laminated layers are arranged approximately 90° with respect to one another. In another conventional bag tag of this type, reinforcing layer
26
is made from Tyvek® which is a spunbond polyethylene available from DuPont. Valeron® and Tyvek® exhibit a high degree of tear resistance in all directions. Accordingly, bag tags having the structure illustrated in
FIGS. 1 and 2
, when made with a Valeron® or Tyvek® reinforcing layer
26
, exhibit a high degree of tear resistance since they include at least one reinforcing layer along their entire lengths.
Although conventional bag tags such as illustrated in
FIGS. 1
to
3
perform adequately, especially when made from tear resistant materials, they are relatively complicated in structure and hence relatively expensive to manufacture. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a bag tag exhibiting comparable performance properties particularly in terms of tear resistance but which is simpler in construction and hence less expensive to manufacture and use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, tear resistance is imparted to a tag of the general type described above by forming the liner of the tag from a tear resistant material. As a result, the reinforcing layer, layer
26
in the prior art tag of
FIGS. 1
to
3
, can be totally eliminated. Thus, the inventive tag can be formed from a laminate having only two main layers—liner and facestock—rather than three main layers—liner, main body and facestock—as in the case of prior art tags.
To adhesively attach the two ends of the inventive tag together, the liner in the attachment portion of the inventive tag is removable to expose the underlying adhesive, in a manner similar to prior art tags. However, in the inventive tag, only a portion of this liner is removable. Another portion of this liner is intended to remain in place after the adhesive is exposed, this additional liner section serving to reinforce the attachment section of the tag in its tearing zone once the two ends of the tag are joined together. Accordingly, even though the inventive tag is made from only two primary layers rather than three as in prior art tags, it nonetheless exhibits excellent tear strength along essentially its entire length.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4916841 (1990-04-01), Dawson
patent: 5366249 (1994-11-01), Diemart
U.S. application No. 08/713,410, filed Sep. 13, 1996 (copy not included).

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