Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Check – label – or tag – Barrel- – can- or round box-carried indicia
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-09
2002-05-14
Davis, Cassandra H. (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Check, label, or tag
Barrel-, can- or round box-carried indicia
C040S310000, C040S506000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06385878
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to labels and more particularly to a rotatable label system having a tamper-evident feature.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many consumer products, such as vitamins, medication, and food items are packaged in containers. It is usually desirable to display information in the form of written indicia arranged on the exterior surface of such containers to inform consumers as to the nature and use of the associated product. This information may include directions for use, warnings, dosage amounts, ingredients, company logos, and advertisements. Such information is conventionally printed on a label affixed to the container.
A problem associated with conventional labels is that insufficient area is available to accommodate all of the information which a manufacturer desires to provide to the consumer. Of course, the manufacturer may include all of the desired information on the label by reducing the size or typeface of some or all of the indicia, or by closely spacing the indicia. However, reduction of the size of text and/or graphics may adversely affect the visual appeal of the container, or may render some or all of the information illegible to the consumer. Furthermore, consumers may tend to ignore information presented in “fine print.”
A manufacturer who wishes to provide a relatively large amount of information to the consumer may also opt to to place some of the information on a separate sheet of paper (known as an “insert”) packaged with the container. This technique is commonly employed in connection with health care items, such as over-the-counter medications and contact lens solutions. However, the insert is frequently lost or discarded after the initial use of the associated product, thus causing information set forth thereon to becomes unavailable to the consumer.
An additional goal of product packaging is to prevent the products being tampered with prior to reaching the consumer. Tamper-protection is conventionally achieved by providing a tamper-evident seal or film which must be ruptured or removed in order to gain access to the contents of the container. The rupture or removal of the tamper-evident feature visually indicates to the consumer that the contents may have been previously accessed, and the consumer is thus warned not to purchase or use the product.
In view of the foregoing discussion, there is a need in the product packaging art for a system for increasing the amount of information which can be presented on a product container. There is a more specific need for label system having augmented surface area for presenting written information and an integrated tamper-evident feature.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention avoids or substantially alleviates the aforementioned deficiencies associated with prior art labels by providing a rotatable label system having an integral tamper-evident portion. The rotatable label system generally includes a container for holding a quantity of a consumer product, and a shell of heat-shrinkable material (referred to herein as “shrink-wrap” material) disposed about the exterior of the container and conforming thereto. The shell is preferably adapted with a set of perforation lines, including at least one horizontally oriented perforation line extending circumferentially about the container which divides the shell into a tamper-evident portion and a rotatable label portion. The perforations define lines of weakening which enable a user to quickly and easily detach the tamper-evident portion of the shell from the rotatable label portion thereof. The container is conventionally provided with a removable closure, such as a cap. An upper margin of the tamper-evident portion of the shell extends over a corresponding portion of the cap such that the cap may only be removed by first detaching the tamper-evident portion from the remainder of the shell.
The rotatable label portion of the shell includes at least one transparent window which, when the rotatable label is rotated relative to the container about a central vertical axis thereof, allows selective viewing of co-located indicia arranged on the exterior of the container (either on an inner label affixed to the container, or placed directly on an outer surface of the container). Additional indicia is disposed on regions of the rotatable label portion outside of the window. Because indicia may be placed both on the inner label and on the rotatable label portion of the shell, the manufacturer may advantageously provide a substantially increased amount of information to the consumer.
The present invention also encompasses various methods for constructing a label system of the foregoing description. According to a first method, a cylindrical sleeve of shrink-wrap material, adapted with at least one perforation line defining a tamper-evident portion and a rotatable label portion, is placed over the container and longitudinally aligned therewith such that an upper margin of the sleeve extends over at least a portion of the cap. Heat is then applied to the sleeve to cause it to conform to the container, with the tamper-evident portion covering at least part of the cap. The diameter of the sleeve, as well as the duration and conditions of the heat-shrinking process, are carefully controlled such that the resultant shell does not adhere to the container and the rotatable label portion can be easily rotated relative to the container. In certain embodiments of the invention, the container is shaped or provided with surface features to inhibit vertical displacement of the shell.
According to another method of constructing the label system, a flat sheet of shrink-wrap material is provided having at least one perforation line dividing a tamper-evident portion from a rotatable label portion. A vertically-oriented leading edge of the sheet is contacted with an adjacent portion of the container and held stationery relative thereto while the sheet is wrapped around the container such that a trailing edge of the sheet meets or overlaps the leading edge. Heat is then applied to the sheet to cause it to conform to the container and cap in the manner described above.
The rotatable label system of the invention advantageously provides increased label surface area for presenting product information and combines a label and a temper-evident element into a single structure. Other advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the drawings and detailed description as set forth below.
REFERENCES:
patent: 736035 (1903-08-01), Stevenson
patent: 1064576 (1913-06-01), Washburn
patent: 1312611 (1919-08-01), Chess
patent: 1334031 (1920-03-01), Hahn
patent: 1387625 (1921-08-01), Stein
patent: 1486313 (1924-03-01), Van Antwerp
patent: 2013616 (1935-09-01), Rettenmeyer
patent: 2129364 (1938-09-01), Simons et al.
patent: 2441607 (1948-05-01), Walls
patent: 2468000 (1949-04-01), Taylor
patent: 2504076 (1950-04-01), Lindblom
patent: 2706464 (1955-04-01), North
patent: 2739564 (1956-03-01), North
patent: 2844893 (1958-07-01), Keller
patent: 2860431 (1958-11-01), Barnum
patent: 2931657 (1960-04-01), Lewis
patent: 2935814 (1960-05-01), Freeze
patent: 2971283 (1961-02-01), Parker
patent: 3278182 (1966-10-01), Lescher
patent: 3374911 (1968-03-01), White
patent: 3488880 (1970-01-01), Taylor
patent: 3542229 (1970-11-01), Beyerlein et al.
patent: 3604584 (1971-09-01), Shank
patent: 3733002 (1973-05-01), Fujio
patent: 3960713 (1976-06-01), Carey
patent: 4044889 (1977-08-01), Orentreich et al.
patent: 4203240 (1980-05-01), Goodwin
patent: 4381615 (1983-05-01), Lonsmin
patent: 4405045 (1983-09-01), Villa-Real
patent: 4505497 (1985-03-01), Katzman
patent: 4567681 (1986-02-01), Fumei
patent: 4658974 (1987-04-01), Fujita et al.
patent: 4724973 (1988-02-01), Shah
patent: 4877119 (1989-10-01), Hosking
patent: 5076613 (1991-12-01), Kovacs
patent: 5154448 (1992-10-01), Griffin et al.
patent: 5324559 (1994-06-01), Brombacher
patent: 5342093 (1994-08-01), Weernink
patent: 5403636 (1995-04-01), Crum
patent:
Carr & Ferrell LLP
Davis Cassandra H.
Stephen Key Design, LLC
Yee Susan
LandOfFree
Rotatable label system including tamper-evident feature and... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Rotatable label system including tamper-evident feature and..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Rotatable label system including tamper-evident feature and... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2820320