Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Circular sheet or circular blank – Recording medium or carrier
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-11
2003-12-30
Kelly, Cynthia H. (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Circular sheet or circular blank
Recording medium or carrier
C428S064100, C428S064600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06670015
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates in general to an article of manufacture for removable and restickable label technology, and in specific to a removable and restickable label for use with an optical disc.
BACKGROUND
Prior art label technology typically involves a label for application which has a permanent adhesive. Thus, the prior art labels cannot easily be removed, and as such, will leave ripped or shredded remains, as well as adhesive residue. This is particularly problematic when the labels are being used to identify the changeable contents of the object upon which they are placed, wherein the labels must be revised or rewritten to reflect a change in notation regarding the identified object. Also, the permanent adhesive can cause problems during the initial placement of labels, as mis-applied labels cannot be removed and thus the label remains in a crooked or misaligned manner.
In particular, use of the prior art labels as applied to optical discs, such as compact discs (CDs), Digital Video Discs (DVDs), as well as rewriteable or recordable discs, leads to undesirable situations. Such undesirable situations often arise where a label is applied to the center of a CD or DVD as an identification tag, but not in a perfectly aligned or centered manner. Such placement can lead to off balanced spinning of the discs around the mechanical center, misreading of an inadvertently covered or damaged readable substrate, and failure in the actual loading of discs into a reader when misapplied and/or multiple applications of labels which lead to raised levels above the surface tolerance levels of the disc reader.
At present, no suitable labels are utilized on such optical discs to overcome such disadvantages. By way of example, even a potential application of prior art restickable and removable technology, such as that exemplified by the product Post-It Notes™ would not obviate the aforementioned disadvantages, because the adhesive used in the prior art is only applied to a portion of the label, thereby leaving a portion to lift, protrude and generally interfere with the spinning of a DVD or CD. Furthermore, even if one were to apply such an adhesive to the whole side of a given label, the label has a potential to inadvertently come off a target surface, such as a DVD or CD, if an adhesive that is too weak (or not “sticky” enough) is used. The result of this would be to interfere with rotation and, in particular, would throw a spinning CD or DVD off balance if not adapted as a perfectly circular and centered shape. By the same token, if an adhesive is utilized that is too strong (or too “sticky”), as is common with prior art optical disc labels, such label may not be easily removed to be replaced or realigned without tearing and/or damaging the surface of the optical disc, thus potentially rendering data on the optical disc unreadable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above, there exists a desire for a label having an adhesive that permits such label to be applied to a surface, removed, and reapplied without tearing, shredding, or leaving adhesive residue behind. There exists a further desire for a label that is capable of being utilized on CDs, DVDs, other optical discs, or other types of digital medium discs without damaging such discs or disrupting the operation of such discs.
These and other objects, features and technical advantages are achieved by an article of manufacture which is based on a restickable and removable label technology and which corrects the problems of the prior art regarding data loss stemming from degradation of reflective coatings of discs etc., as well as mechanical problems arising from incorrectly applied labels, off balance conditions, and every day convenience problems relating to the updating of information on labels and the substitution or reuse thereof.
In a preferred embodiment, a label technology is disclosed wherein a label comprises an adhesive that permits such label to be securely attached to a surface and also permits such label to be removed and reapplied securely to a surface. In a preferred embodiment, such label technology is implemented to be utilized on digital medium discs, such as optical discs (e.g., CDs or DVDs). Such a label technology comprises a circular label having a circular aperture in the center of such label for aligning the label correctly on a digital medium disc. The label technology further comprises an adhesive that permits such label to be securely attached to a digital medium disc, such that the label does not disrupt the operation of the disc. The adhesive also permits such label to be removed from the digital medium disc without damaging such disc. That is, the label may be removed from a digital medium disc without shredding, leaving behind adhesive residue, or otherwise damaging the disc.
The adhesive further permits such a removed label to be reapplied to a digital medium disc securely. Accordingly, if a user initially misapplies the label (e.g., places the label off center on the disc), the user may remove and reapply such label. Additionally, if data stored on a disc changes, the user may remove and replace the label on such disc with a label describing the new contents of the disc.
It should be appreciated that a technical advantage of one aspect of the present invention is that an article of manufacture based on a restickable and removable label technology is disclosed. A further technical advantage of one aspect of the present invention is that a label technology is disclosed wherein a label is applied securely to a digital medium disc without disrupting the functionality of such disc. Still a further technical advantage of one aspect of the present invention is that a label technology is disclosed wherein a label may be removed from a digital medium disc without damaging or disrupting the functionality of the disc. Yet a further technical advantage of one aspect of the present invention is that a label technology is disclosed wherein a label may be securely applied to a digital medium disc, removed therefrom, and reapplied to a digital medium disc without damaging or disrupting the functionality of the disc.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5543001 (1996-08-01), Casillo et al.
patent: 5825292 (1998-10-01), Tsai et al.
patent: 29610644 (1996-06-01), None
patent: 0855713 (1998-01-01), None
patent: WO97/44787 (1997-11-01), None
Eurpoean Search Report, dated Aug. 27, 2001 (EP01102680).
Ferguson L.
Hewlett--Packard Development Company, L.P.
Kelly Cynthia H.
LandOfFree
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