WO2004109627A1 - Supporting film for adhesive labels - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention deals with the field of processed for labelling vessels, in particular bottles, made of any type of material, and more precisely those processes that use adhesive labels provided in a reel on a support made of a PET film. A PET film is provided, for supporting the adhesive labels, on whose opposite face to the one on which the labels are applied, other labels are printed to be preferably used for the same vessels on which the adhesive labels are applied or other vessels through labelling processes that provide for the cutting of lengths of labels from the reel and for the gluing of the vertical edges of said labels through hot glues in order to form tubular labels that adhere to the vessel according to processes of a known type.

Description

TITLE: SUPPORTING FILM FOR ADHESIVE LABELS

D E S C R I P T I O N The present invention deals with a supporting film for adhesive labels. As known, for labelling vessels like bottles with adhesive labels, reels of silicone paper are used in which the label are fixed, such labels already having an adhesive that will be used to attach them onto the vessel or bottle.

Recently, instead of using paper as support, a film made of PET is used due to manufacturing speed reasons.

Generally, for low manufacturing speeds, silicone paper is used, while for high speeds, a support made of PET, completely transparent and without stamping, is used.

Once having performed the operation of detaching the label from the support, the labelling machine rewinds the reel of paper or plastic film on a cardboard or plastic tube without any particular care.

In both cases, these reels are macerated with high disposal costs. It must be taken into account that current labelling machines reach such speeds as to bring about a consumption of PET films of about 300 - 400 meters/minute.

Recently, it has also been common to label vessels with labels made of transparent PET printed on plastic films and provided in reels, that are cut into crops to form labels that are transferred through drum devices on the vessels where the label is hot-buttered on its front and back sides with a vertical band of glue.

Object of the present invention, therefore, is recovering discarded reels of supporting films for adhesive labels, completely doing without disposal problems of these reels and tecovering and exploiting valuable materials.

This object is fully reached by the supporting film for adhesive labels, subject of the present invention, that is characterised by what is included in the below-listed claims and in particular in that it provides that labels that can be used in a labelling process with hot glues or for forming tubular labels in a heat-shrrnMng film are provided printed on the opposite face to the one on which the adhesive labels are fixed.

This and other characteristics will be better pointed out by the following description of the supporting film for adhesive labels and of a preferred embodiment of their related use, shown merely as a non-hmiting example in the enclosed table of drawing in which:

- figure 1 shows in a side view a length of the supporting film for adhesive labels;

- figure 2 shows, in a schematic view, the process for recovering the supporting film and its use for a following labelling; - figure 3 shows in a plan and schematic view a labelling machine that uses the film on a reel with adhesive labels, and the same film for a labelling that completely wraps the vessel. With reference to figure 1, 1 designates a film made of PET on a face 3 of which adhesive labels 2 are fixed. On the other face 4 of the film, the label printout 5 is included along the whole film.

In several vessels or bottles, it is provided to apply more than one label, such as for example in beers where a small label (stamp) is applied on the neck and below the actual label: in both cases the labels can be made of PET.

Advantageously but not exclusively the adhesive labels are the stamps and the supporting film has printed thereon the labels for the same bottle, as shown in figure 2. The diagram in figure 2 provides for a reel 10 of film 1, on the front face of which small labels or stamps 2 are applied, that are transferred (in the station 14 in figure 3) on bottles 11 through known techniques.

The film that is unwound when labelling the adhesive labels is rewound in order to form a reel 12 carrying printed labels 5. The reel 12 is reused on the same machine, as shown in figure 3, in a station 13 that performs the unwinding and cutting of the film to form labels that are transferred through known techniques on the bottle.

By operating in this way, the reel for the supporting film that has become a reel of labels is immediately reused for the same vessels labelled with the adhesive labels.

Since the non-adhesive labels must wind the whole vessel, they must have a development that is shghtiy greater than the small labels or stamps: therefore, the reels of film that are recovered are not enough for supplying a labelling machine and therefore they will have to be reintegrated with reels of non-recovered labels.

Claims

1. Supporting film for adhesive labels characterised in that it provides for the printing on a supporting film (1) of adhesive labels (2) of another type of labels, such printing being made on a face (3) of the film that is opposite to the face (4) on which said adhesive labels are immovably fixed.

2. Film according to claim 1, characterised in that it bears printed labels on the opposite face to the one supporting the adhesive labels, said printed labels being used to label the same vessel on which the adhesive labels are applied.

3. Film according to claim 1, characterised in that it is wound in a reel.