Typewriting machines – Sheet or web – For feeding web record-medium
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-07
2001-08-28
Hilten, John S. (Department: 2854)
Typewriting machines
Sheet or web
For feeding web record-medium
C400S621000, C400S586000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06280107
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a peeling device for peeling e.g. a peel-off paper from a peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape, a tape processing device including the peeling device and a trimming device for trimming e.g. an end of the peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape in the form of a label e.g. into one with a radius, and a tape printing apparatus incorporating the tape processing device.
2. Prior Art
As a conventional trimming device of the above-mentioned kind, one for being mounted in a tape printing apparatus has been proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 3-28739. In this tape printing apparatus, there is mounted a trimming device conforming to the tape width of a peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape to be trimmed, and the trimming device is replaced by another according to a change in the tape width of a tape employed. The trimming device is comprised of a cutter unit for trimming an end of a strip of peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape and a guide member for guiding the strip inserted therein to the cutter unit. The strip of the peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape, which has desired characters and figures printed thereon and has been delivered out of the tape printing apparatus, is inserted into this trimming device, whereby an end of the peel-off paper-backed tape is automatically trimmed to have corners thereof formed into ones with a radius.
On the other hand, as a conventional peeling device of the above-mentioned kind, a peeling device has been proposed e.g. by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-169749. The proposed peeling device is provided as an attachment to a tape printing apparatus, and useful in effecting a permanent deformation of part of a peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape by sandwiching a corner portion thereof between a punch and a die of the device. A substrate tape and a peel-off paper as components of the peel-off paper-backed adhesive tape restore their shapes differently to respective permanently deformed shapes due to a difference in their materials, so that the punching causes the peel-off paper to be slightly peeled at a portion thereof from the substrate tape. The resulting slightly separated or peeled portion is used as a portion for seizure by the user when he peels the peel-off paper off the substrate tape.
In the proposed peeling device, however, it is required to determine an area and depth of hitting of the punch on the die by taking into account the rigidity of the substrate tape and that of the peel-off paper, the difference in rigidity between them, and adhesion of the adhesive to the peel-off paper, so that the peeling cannot be effected with sufficient reliability which meets the demand of the users. Further, since not only the peel-off paper but also the substrate tape is permanently deformed, the substrate tape acquires a so-called bent property, which makes the substrate tape affixed to an object liable to have pebbling or easy to be removed from the object.
Further, since the trimming device and the peeling device do not operate at the same time, when they are simply mounted e.g. in a tape printing apparatus, it is expected that they are provided with respective drive sources, such as motors. This results in duplication of components of the tape printing apparatus, resulting in increased size and manufacturing costs of the whole apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a first object of this invention to provide a peeling device which is capable of carrying out a peeling operation for peeling off the peel-off paper from an adhesive tape with high reliability and efficiency.
It is a second object of this invention to provide a tape processing device in which a trimming mechanism and a peeling mechanism share as many component parts as possible to thereby attain reduction of size and manufacturing costs, and a tape printing apparatus incorporating the tape processing device.
To attain the first object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a peeling device for peeling off part of a peel-off paper from an adhesive tape, the adhesive tape being formed of a laminate of a substrate tape having one surface thereof coated with an adhesive and the peel-off paper affixed to the substrate tape via the adhesive,
the peeling device comprising:
a drive source for generating a driving force;
a rotational member for being rotated by the driving force transmitted from the drive source;
a peeling projection arranged on an end face of the rotational member and rotated to be brought into contact with a substrate tape-side surface of an end of the adhesive tape to carry out a bending and releasing action on the end of the adhesive tape; and
holding means for guiding the adhesive tape inserted therein to the peeling projection and for holding part of the end of the adhesive tape other than a free end portion of the end, which is brought to the peeling projection.
According to this peeling device, when an end of the adhesive tape is brought through the holding means to the peeling projection rotated by the rotational member, a free end portion of the end of the adhesive tape repeatedly receives a bending and releasing action from the peeling projection. Since the peeling projection rotated is brought into contact with a substrate tape-side surface of the end of the adhesive tape, the free end portion of the end of the adhesive tape is bent with the substrate tape-side surface being positioned outward and the peel-off paper-side surface being positioned inward. A radius of curvature (R) of this bend is smaller on the peel-off paper-side and larger on the substrate tape-side, which causes an interlayer slip to occur between the substrate tape and the peel-off paper against adhesion of the adhesive. Further, by this interlayer slip, the end of the peel-off paper is slightly protruded from that of the substrate tape. As a result, when the peeling projection bends the adhesive tape with the largest bending angle and thereafter releases the same, the end of the peeling projection first leaves the substrate tape and then with a very short delay it leaves the peel-off paper. When the end of the peeling projection leaves the substrate tape, it still catches the peel-off paper, whereas the released (free end of) substrate tape starts to return from the state bent together with the adhesive to an original linear state thereof. At this time point, if the spring force of the substrate tape exceeds the adhesion of the adhesive for affixing the peel-off paper to the substrate tape, the peel-off paper starts to be peeled (at this portion) from the substrate tape. Even if the peel-off paper is not peeled off, since the adhesion of the adhesive is reduced, the peel-off paper is eventually removed from the substrate tape after peeling actions repeatedly effected thereon. Further, if the bend is within the limit of elastic deformation of (the free end of) the substrate tape and within the range of permanent deformation of (the free end of) the peel-off paper, after the bending operation is canceled, the substrate tape recovers its original shape, whereas the peel-off paper remains as bent, and hence does not adhere to the substrate tape again. On the other hand, the peeling projection is arranged on an end face of the rotational member and hence the end of the substrate tape can be brought deep enough toward the center or rotation axis of the rotational member, whereby the whole peeling device can be made more compact in construction than when the peeling projection is formed on the peripheral surface of the rotational member.
Preferably, the peeling projection is rotated to be brought into contact with the free end portion of the end of the adhesive tape in a manner such that the contact is made continuously from a tip side toward a root side of the free end portion of the end of the adhesive tape.
According to this preferred embodiment, the free end portion of the end of the adhesive tape is bent progressively from a portion having a smaller affixi
Kameda Takanobu
Kamijo Noriyuki
Moriya Tomohiro
Shimmura Tomoyuki
Watanabe Kenji
Chau Minh H.
Hilten John S.
Hogan & Hartson LLP
Seiko Epson Corporation
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