Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Layer or component removable to expose adhesive – Sectional layer removable
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-14
2002-12-03
Chen, Vivian (Department: 1773)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Layer or component removable to expose adhesive
Sectional layer removable
C428S040100, C428S041700, C428S042300, C428S046000, C428S047000, C428S195100, C428S208000, C428S209000, C428S211100, C428S457000, C428S480000, C428S500000, C428S537700, C428S914000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06488999
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a versatile label and/or envelope assembly. The invention is also directed to a coating for a label, and a method of coating a label, which renders treated surfaces of the label printable. The invention is also directed to a tearable line for a label and/or an envelope assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Labels typically have text, or a design, or some type of printed matter on a face sheet. However, certain face sheet materials, such as films and foils, cannot be printed on due to the “unprintable” surface properties of these materials. A protective panel is typically adhered to the face sheet with an adhesive coating, and disposed of as waste once it is separated from the face sheet. The protective panel typically has a smooth surface which is usually unprintable. Furthermore, when a single label is removed from a sheet of labels, a plain, smooth surface of the protective panel to which the single label was adhered is exposed and often discarded as waste, for one reason because nothing can typically be printed on the smooth surface.
When separating a label from a remainder portion of a label sheet, die-cut lines can be too flimsy, thereby allowing the label to separate from the remainder portion before a user desires such separation. Conversely, micro-perforations can be too durable, thereby creating difficulty for a user who attempts to separate a label from a remainder portion, the process of which often results in a torn label.
Envelopes can be used to hold a wide variety of items, including letters, documents, compact discs, DVDs, pictures, baseball cards, and the like. Quite often, it is desirable to have a label for adhering to items within an envelope. In order to label items and store them in envelopes, one must purchase the envelopes and the labels separately. Furthermore, an outside surface of the envelope usually must be labeled to indicate what the contents are inside the envelope.
An envelope having a window is one way to reveal the contents of an envelope, but labels must still be purchased separately in order to label the contents themselves. If the labels and the envelopes are separate items, they cannot be run through a printer simultaneously. Furthermore, if an envelope has a window, the window often occupies a considerable amount of printable surface area on the envelope.
In addition, labels affixed to objects, such as compact discs (CDs), with adhesive can harm the discs if a user attempts to remove the labels. More specifically, damage may be caused by pulling off some of the disc protective coating, metal and dye along with the label. A somewhat contradictory reason to oppose the use of labels with adhesives on CDs is that some adhesives can dry out and become less effective over time, especially in the presence of heat, thus the labels could arguably become unattached while being used in a CD drive. Furthermore, ink printed on a thin label is subject to bleeding through the label and onto the CD, which could easily damage the protective coating on the read/write portion of the CD. However, discs with no labels at all are subject to scratching of the protective coating, metal and dye, which can cause irreversible damage.
A further setback in envelope organization is difficulty in distinguishing one envelope from another. When envelopes are aligned in a row, they typically all look alike. Even when a surface of an envelope is labeled, one must usually sort through a number of envelopes, looking at an entire surface of each one, before finding the sought-after envelope.
Envelope assemblies produced as a continuous web during the manufacturing process can be difficult to produce due to the precision required in separating adjacent assemblies from one another. If a cutting device used to separate adjacent assemblies from one another is even slightly misaligned, a large number of misshapen, nonfunctional assemblies can result from the misalignment.
When assembling an envelope from an envelope assembly, a protective panel is often difficult to separate from a face sheet. Not only does this difficulty lead to frustration, but it can also result in worn edges of the face sheet. Furthermore, once the protective panel is separated from the face sheet, it is often difficult to evenly fold one element of the assembly onto another element of the assembly, thereby resulting in a lopsided, uneven envelope.
Accordingly, a need exists for a new and improved envelope, or envelope assembly, that provides means for labeling the envelope and any contents within the envelope. A need also exists for an envelope that can be more easily identified and organized. A further need exists for an envelope assembly that can be easily manufactured and assembled to form an envelope having a finished appearance.
Furthermore, a need exists for a way to print on typically unprintable label surfaces. A need also exists for an envelope or envelope assembly having a window without a loss of printable surface area. A further need exists for an improved way to separate labels from remainder portions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a label, or an envelope assembly, or an envelope. The label, or envelope assembly, or envelope, has a coating that renders coated surface areas printable. More particularly, even extremely smooth surfaces, such as protective panels, can be printed upon when coated with the coating of the present invention.
The present invention also relates to a tearable line that can be used to separate a label or an envelope assembly from a remainder portion, or from an adjacent label or envelope assembly. The tearable line, having both die-cut lines and micro-perforated lines, is durable enough to withstand bends and turns when routed through a printer, yet weak enough to allow easy separation.
The present invention also relates to an envelope, or an envelope assembly, with a removable panel that can be printed upon simultaneously while printing upon the envelope or envelope assembly. The envelope, or envelope assembly, can further comprise a tab for ease of identification and organization.
The envelope assembly includes a sheet of material having a printable surface on one side and an adhesive covered by a protective panel on another side. The sheet of material comprises an assembly shape preferably having a primary panel adjacent a secondary panel. At least one flap is preferably but not necessarily located along at least one edge of the primary panel and/or the secondary panel.
In one embodiment, the sheet of material is rectangular with micro-perforated and die-cut tearable lines located around at least a portion of a periphery of the assembly shape, thereby separating the assembly shape from a remainder portion of the material.
The protective panel is preferably transparent or translucent, and may also be printable. The adhesive coating at least partially covers one side of a removable panel located on the assembly shape and/or on the remainder portion. Alternatively, instead of adhesive coating, the removable panel can be statically adhered to the protective panel. When the removable panel is removed from a remainder of the envelope or envelope assembly, the transparent or translucent protective panel enables a user to view any contents of the envelope from outside the envelope. Furthermore, when the transparent or translucent protective panel is printable, the envelope or envelope assembly maintains as much printable surface area as an envelope or envelope assembly without a removable panel.
In another embodiment, the primary panel, the secondary panel and/or the remainder portion of the material is preferably perforated, micro-perforated, and/or die-cut to form the removable panel. The removable panel can be in a shape of a compact disc label, for example, so that graphics can be printed upon the printable surface of the primary panel and/or the secondary panel, and the removable panel can then be separated from the primary panel and/or the secondary panel and
Flynn Patrick J.
Flynn Thomas E.
Flynn Timothy J.
Kritz Kenneth A.
Chen Vivian
Pauley Petersen Kinne & Erickson
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