Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02188823 2001-11-16
PATENT
ON 49873
DECAL ORGANIZATION TOOL
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of decal manufacturing and use and provides
a
decal organization tool and process which solves a wide range of long existing
and
unaddressed problems.
Many products produced by industry are sufficiently complex, and sometimes
even potentially dangerous to a customer, that numerous safety messages,
warning
signs, instrucrions and other notices must be affixed to the product before
sale. In
addition, most products carry signage on which the manufacturer is identified,
its
trademark and model numbers are set forth, and relevant patent numbers
presented. In
some situations, the signage will include decorative striping, manufacturer
logos and
the like. Typically such warning and information signs are associated with the
product
by a substantial number of individual decals which are applied to the product
at
appropriate locations on the product, and all such signage will be referred to
hereafter
as decals or decal messages. As examples of the types of products requiring
multiple
decal messages, hazardous products such as large tools and machines,
construction
equipment such as front-end loaders, tractors, stump grinders, lift trucks,
highway
construction vehicles and the like will commonly carry six to twenty-five or
even more
decal messages in accomplishing these purposes. If a manufacturer produces
more
than one product or model, the number of required individual signs used by the
manufacturer may be multiplied by the number of products or models. If the
product
is sold in foreign
21~~~2
PATENT
ON 49873
language speaking countries, the number of signs may be multiplied again by
the
number of such foreign languages.
The importance of all such decal messages being applied to the product is
high.
In some product situations, failure to attach a key warning or instruction
sign may
result in serious customer injuries and substantial product liability damages
being
assessed against the product manufacturer. In recent years, increasingly
stringent
requirements established by OSHA have mandated that certain information and
warning signs be present. Consequently it is now more important than ever that
a
manufacturer be certain that all the required warning and instruction signs be
constantly in inventory and consistently applied to the product before
shipment.
Using the tools and processes of prior art decal manufacturing, it has not
been possible
to achieve such consistency, and human error is a frequent problem.
Generally all such signage has been applied to the product in the form of
individual decal messages, and the decisions to create and place particular
decal
messages on a product are usually generated at different times and come from
either
government requirements or different business departments of the manufacturer,
some
messages being generated from the engineering department to assure that
operating
instructions are understandable, others coming from the marketing department
to
enhance the appearance and attractiveness of the product, and still others
originating
from legal departments to provide legal notices and to warn customers of
potential
2
2.~ 8~8~3
PATENT
ON 49873
dangers and avert later product liability losses.
Typically specific product signage needs are recognized gradually over a long
period of time, and consequently the decal messages are ordered at different
times as
new needs evolve or are recognized, and no one person at the manufacturer's
facility
becomes involved in assessing the total picture of all decal messages used by
the
manufacturer or for compatibility or consistency among the decal messages.
Decal
purchase decisions generally result in multiple, isolated orders to one or
more outside
decal manufacturers who will seldom know anything more about the decal message
or
the reasons for it other than that the particular decal message has been
ordered. The
product manufacturer's purchasing director will seldom have time to concern
himself
with compatibility or consistency between existing decals, or the problem of
reliable
and consistent application of the decals to the product. The task of
installing decals is
usually assigned to the newest and least experienced employees, who are not
qualified
to assess a decal program. Often a minimum wage salary is paid to the
installer of the
decals on the theory that little skill is required for the job. However, any
significant
failure by this often new employee to affix all the critical decals to the
product can
result in staggering legal damages in the event of death or serious injury of
a customer.
Generally most now used individual decal messages carry their own company
stock number and are usually separately inventoried and separately restocked
like all
other machine parts by the product manufacturer's purchasing agent. As decal
3
2.~ 888
PATENT
ON 49873
messages are used up and restocking occurs, individual suppliers of the decal
messages begin to change, and the decals change in size, shape, and in color
shades.
Eventually the many decals used on a single product no longer have harmonious
matching colors.
Size and shape differences in the corners of signage occur as a result of
decals
being manufactured at different times from different bidders. A first decal
manufacturer may produce a particular decal with square corners. The next
bidder
may produce the same decal with corners featuring a quarter round having a
particular
radius. Later manufacturers may use a different radius with the quarter round.
The
result is increasing incompatibility between signage that comes together on a
single
product.
Although the manufacturer of a product generally wishes to have the colors of
his signage be matching and aesthetically pleasing, as individual decals are
reordered
at various times and from changing suppliers, colors on new printed signs will
inevitably evolve to shades and hues different from the original and the
differences
will be increasingly perceptible.
A more serious and frequently encountered problem with prior art decals is
that
of obtaining an aesthetically pleasing outer margin around the border of the
decal
message. Typically a decal message will include text which is centered within
a line-
style interior border or other interior border. A thermal die cut is made
outside the
4
~~~~gz
PATENT
ON 49873
line border and ideally should be spaced equally outward from the line border
at all
locations around the border. Because the vinyl material on which most decal
messages are printed is flexible and stretchable, the material tends to flex,
stretch and
slip unpredictably during the thermal die cutting process. Consequently the
cut has
usually been nonparallel to the border or unevenly spaced relative to the
border. The
larger the size of the vinyl sheet the greater is the degree of stretching and
slippage.
The unpredictable nature of this stretching makes it extremely difficult to
consistently
produce such decals without also producing an irregular margin. When such a
decal is
applied to a product of some specific color, the decal margin generally forms
a sharp
contrast area with the product, and the interior line border on the decal and
its
irregular spacing from the decal edge is further emphasized Most manufacturers
would prefer all decals used on their carefully finished machines to be
aesthetically
pleasing, provided with even and attractive margins, and compatible with one
another.
Currently manufactured collections of separate decals used with mufti-decal
products
cannot consistently achieve these goals. The invention provides an effective
and
inexpensive solution to this long existing problem of irregular margins.
Still another problem encountered with the use of commercially available
decals is that the process of applying the decals to the product is
unnecessarily
complicated, slow, and imprecise. Typically when a product, such as a tractor,
may
require thirty or more decals, the employee charged with decal installation
will first
S
2.~8~~~~
PATENT
ON 49873
obtain a list of required decals and then go to an inventory site to obtain
the decals.
This usually unskilled employee must gather each of the thirty or more decals
from
thirty or more separate decal storage files, check identification of each
decal against
individual decal stock numbers on the list, open protective envelopes to
inspect stored
decals, reject dogeared or otherwise damaged decals, and still try to be sure
that all the
right decals are quickly gathered for the specific product.
The employee then must carry this collection of individual decals to the site
where the decals will be applied to the product, risking the possibility of
one or more
of the decals being lost or misplaced between inventory site and application
site. The
employee must peel off the release liner sheet on each of the many decals and
constantly properly dispose of all of the many slippery individual liner
sheets. The
employee usually peels the decals in groups of six or eight for his
convenience. To
carry the sticky decals and keep them separate, he commonly temporarily
affixes the
decals to his person or his clothing while he walks to the product and applies
each
individual decal to the product.
It is known that each time a decal's adhesive comes in contact with a surface
other than the final product mounting surface, the adhesive becomes
contaminated by
such things as dirt, dust, fibers or body oils. As much as 20% of the
potential
adhesion can be lost in this way. With a perfectly applied decal having a five
year
outdoor use life,
6
2.~8~~~3
PATENT
ON 49873
each such unnecessary contamination may shorten that use life by a year. In
effect, it
is desirable that the decals go directly from the release liner sheet to the
product with
minimal extra handling or touching of the decal adhesive to other objects. The
invention provides an effective solution to these problems by consolidating
all the
decals associated with a specific product or model on a single large decal
organization
tool sheet which can be brought as one unit to the application site.
Although it is known to consolidate all the miniaturized decals associated
with
certain toys, such as model airplanes, onto a single small liner,
consolidating the many
separate decals used for large tools or vehicles is not being done. The need
for such
improvement has gone unrecognized even in industries manufacturing products
requiring extensive informational and legal liability warning signage. A
consolidated
sheet of decals has been possible on certain toys because the related decals
are small,
principally decorative and encounter few of the challenges associated with
instructions
or warnings on products of the type described herein. The toy buyer or model
builder
deals only with installing the decals on a single toy model and does not
encounter the
many problems and time constraints faced by a decal installer on an assembly
line.
As applicant developed the present invention, he encountered difficulty with
the problem of thermal die cutting the multiple removal cuts that must
surround the
multiplicity of decals on a single large vinyl sheet. Such problems are not
significant
with small sheets of the type used with toys and models. Because it is
difficult to
7
~1888~
PATENT
ON 49873
consistently center the removal cut on a stretching, flexing vinyl sheet with
even a
single decal, it is still more difficult when many cuts must be made
simultaneously on
a large sheet with many decals and which flexes and stretches much more than a
single individual decal. The inability to create visually attractive margins
about the
many decals when combined on a large sheet was a challenge that had to be
addressed
by the inventor in order to provide decal messages having borders and margins
whose
aesthetic appearance was acceptable.
As an installer applies the many separate prior art decals to the product, at
times the decals will need to be applied in close proximity to one another.
This
condition occurs most frequently at a product location that has parts which
are
potentially dangerous or on a control panel of a vehicle or machine, and as
many as
six or more individual decals may need to be applied in a relatively small
area. As
such decals axe individually applied, the installer will rarely have the time
to assure
that all of the decals axe aligned, parallel to one another, and properly
spaced. Often
the decals are skewed, misaligned, and unevenly spaced from one another,
creating a
sloppy or poorly finished look to an otherwise potentially attractive product.
The
invention provides a solution to this problem.
8
CA 02188823 2001-11-16
EATELLT
ON 49873
Another problem with prior art decals is that a product manufacturer has no
effective way to prove that a critical decal message was placed on the product
in the
assigned location at the time the product was shipped. This issue arises when
a
product is later involved in a death or injury, and a claimant contends that
an essential
instructional or warning decal was negligently omitted from the product. At
present,
product manufacturers have no persuasive, economically feasible way of
confirming
that all the decals were present when the product was shipped. In addition,
the
possibility exists that a victim, after being injured by a product which was
shipped
with a complete collection of decals, may remove the relevant decal so as to
enhance a
claim for product liability against the manufacturer. With these concerns in
mind, it is
desirable that product manufacturers be able to prove at a later date that an
essential
but now missing decal was placed on the product at the time of shipment. Prior
to the
invention there was no known reliable and economically feasible mechanism
which
solved this problem.
It is known to utilize various anti-theft, tamper proof labels for the purpose
of
protecting the integrity of price tags, pharmaceutical labels, identification
labels for
original parts to distinguish them from stolen or counterfeit parts, and for
motor
vehicle identification label purposes, but such anti-theft labels are quite
complex,
expensive and their surfaces commonly self destruct if tampered with. The
surface of
a critical informational or warning decal may occasionally encounter rough
field
9
2~~~~~
PATENT
ON 49873
treatment while in normal use and such a decal could not be allowed to self
destruct
during normal use without creating new liability problems. It is known to
impregnate
the adhesive of such an anti-theft pricing label with an additive which leaves
a
stubborn invisible residue on the product to which it is bonded and wherein
the
residue can be visually detected by shining an ultraviolet light source on the
residue,
even after the label has otherwise been wholly removed. As the ultraviolet
light
reflects from the location to which the label was attached, the outline of the
label
appears as a glowing footprint, but is otherwise not visually detectable by an
observer.
Use of such an additive compound is helpful, but does not in itself provide a
means by
which it can later be proven that a specific warning or instructional decal
was ever
present and does not differentiate one decal from another. This technique of
utilizing
ultraviolet light and an appropriate light sensitive additive on anti-theft
labels of
specialized layer construction is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,346,259
issued
September 13, 1994 and entitled Anti-Theft Label Construction.
In some highly important identification situations, such as identifying stolen
motor vehicles, it is known to utilize a label which leaves an ultraviolet
footprint as
described above, and wherein the label, before application to the product has
the
vehicle identification number cut into the label by means of a series of lines
or dots
burned through the label with a laser beam to produce a series of numerals. As
a
result, the label, when applied to the vehicle, forms an invisible residue on
the vehicle
~~ ~~52~3
PATENT
ON 49873
surface at the label location except for the open spaces which form the
numerals.
When the label is subsequently removed by a car thief the vehicle
identification
number can still be detected by shining ultraviolet light on the location
where the
label was earlier present. When the ultraviolet light is shined on the label
position, the
label footprint appears with the vehicle number being defined by dots or
spaces on the
footprint. These represent the areas of the footprint which do not contain the
residue
and thus contrast with the rest of the label footprint which contains the
residue.
While such a label may be practical for the critical identification of a
costly
motor vehicle, the label system is quite complex, expensive to utilize and too
costly to
be economically feasible in relatively low cost, low bidder decal markets. The
cost of
assigning specific matrix dot codes and the laser cutting of those codes into
a decal
would not be economically feasible. In addition, the cutting of the decal by
the laser
would often be aesthetically unacceptable, and in outdoor use such cuts would
increase exposure of the decal's adhesive to weathering and shorten the use
life of the
decal. The invention provides a new and inexpensive way to reliably identify
specific
decals even after their removal from the product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises a decal organization tool and process by which all
existing decals associated with and required for a particular product or
product model
11
PATENT
ON 49873
are consolidated onto a single large decal sheet, and the invention includes a
process
by which the problems associated with such consolidation are overcome. The
invention also includes the use of an adhesive which leaves a permanent
residue on the
product and allows the manufacturer to identify every decal placed on the
product
even after the decals have been removed.
Using the teaching of the invention, all decal signs associated with a
particular
existing product using many separate decals are collected and assembled for
manufacture as a new decal organization tool which includes a large decal
sheet
containing all of the separate decals thereon. Manufacturing such a collection
of
decals on a single sheet poses special problems which are solved by the
invention.
The decal tool provides a vehicle by which a decal installer can select one
single
composite decal sheet matched to the particular product and immediately have
available all decals for the specific product. The employee thus avoids the
many
delays of the prior art, including the need to begin with a check list of
required decals,
locating the many separate decal inventory files, opening the various file
storage
envelopes to obtain each separate decal, inspecting for damaged decals, and
transporting the collection of separate decals to the product without any loss
of decals
or errors in selection.
A second feature of the invention includes manufacturing the decal
organization tool in a way which effectively conceals the unavoidable
irregular
12
2I8~~~
PATENT
ON 49873
margins which surround the many individual decal messages on the tool sheet.
As
explained elsewhere, it is challenging to manufacture a large vinyl decal
sheet
containing many vinyl decal messages due to the difficulty of consistently
making the
removal cuts around the various messages in a way that has the messages and
the
printed borders of the messages looking centered on each decal. Because the
vinyl
material expands, stretches and flexes unpredictably during thermal die
cutting of the
removal cuts, the coordination of all the removal cuts so as to consistently
center them
on all the printed decal messages is virtually impossible. The invention
provides a
way to make the decals appear to have visually perfect outer margins even when
the
cutting accuracy of the thermal die is hard to control.
In accord with the invention the many decals are imprinted on a single large
vinyl sheet with intervening gaps positioned between the decals. The
intervening gaps
are filled with a color band having a color which is matched to the color of
the product
on which the decals will be mounted. Removal cuts are made in the decal sheet
by
thermal die cutting, with the removal cuts being placed in the intervening
gaps. This
results in each decal message being surrounded by a colored margin
substantially
matched to the product color so that when each decal is placed on the product
any
irregular margin between the decal border and the decal outer edge is
effectively
concealed by reason of the margin having virtually the same color as the
product. In a
variation of the invention, the intervening gaps may be left transparent so
that the
13
2~88~~
PATENT
ON 49873
margin surrounding individual decal borders will be transparent and the color
of the
product will be visible through such transparent margin.
Another feature of the invention includes the decal being manufactured with an
adhesive to which a special additive has been added. When the adhesive is
applied to
the product, the additive leaves a stubborn but invisible residue on the
product's paint
or on the product itself. The additive remains substantially permanently
bonded to the
paint or product, even after removal of the decal, and this invisible residue
becomes
visible to the eye as a glowing footprint when ultraviolet light is shined on
the residue.
Each decal may also be supplied with a unique pattern of protrusions or
indentations
at the edge of the decal, such protrusions or indentations defining an
irregularity zone
unique to each decal, and which appears as part of the glowing footprint to
allow the
specific decal message to be identified even after removal from the product.
Consequently, when a critical safety or warning decal is removed from the
machine,
perhaps as a means to enhance a spurious product liability claim, one can
readily
determine by use of ultraviolet light on the product, that the particular
decal was
applied to the product at the time of shipping. Such evidence can be extremely
valuable in exonerating a manufacturer from a claim that the manufacturer
negligently
failed to mark the product and warn a customer.
The invention includes a process by which an existing product with a
significant number of separate decals has all its decals collected and those
of its decals
14
CA 02188823 2001-11-16
ON 49873
which are placed closely adjacent each other on a common surface of the
product
identified. A next step consolidates the messages of those closely adjacent
separate
decals to form at least one group wherein all of the decal messages making up
the
group are substantially perfectly aligned with one another and sized to
perfectly fit the
common surface. All of the decal messages, including the group or groups, is
then
printed on a single large decal sheet which includes all the decals associated
with the
product. A removal cut is provided around individual decal messages and a
single
removal cut provided around each consolidated group. This process allows a
manufacturer to eliminate the installing of many closely adjacent separate
decals on a
common surface with the decals usually being misaligned and poorly spaced.
Instead
the described grouping of decal messages allows a single decal containing all
of the
grouped messages to be applied to the common surface as a unit, resulting in
perfect
alignment and spacing between the decal messages of the group, elimination of
multiple decal applications, and a superior overall appearance.
These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjunction
with the
accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like elements
throughout the several views.
~~g~g~
ON 49873
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a product assembly line on which an employee
is shown utilizing an embodiment of the decal organization tool invention to
install
decal messages on a product.
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a decal organization tool containing a
multiplicity
of decal messages and embodying the invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of the tool of FIG. 2 taken
along cutting plane 3-3 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view like FIG. 3 and in which a decal message
is shown partly removed from its liner sheet.
FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a control panel of the product shown in FIG. l
and
illustrating decals made and used in accord with prior at technology.
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the control panel shown in FIG. 5 and
illustrating
decal messages embodying the invention.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a corner of the decal organization tool shown in
FIG. 2 wherein decal corners are partially peeled back to illustrate a
variation of the
invention.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a decal message embodying the invention
and which has been applied and then partially removed from the product, and
wherein
an ultraviolet light source is used to display an otherwise invisible
footprint created by
16
CA 02188823 2001-11-16
ON 49873
the application of the decal message to the product.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of the footprint of FIG'. 8 taken in the
direction of cutting plan 9-9 in FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged top plan view of a decal message embodying the
invention and applied to the product.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, first and second decal organization
tools
and 1 OA are retained by hangers 13 and 12, respectively on the wall 14 along
the
10 production line 16 of a hazardous product 18, here illustrated as being a
tree stump
grinding machine. FIG. 1 is illustrative of a hazardous product decal message
application site where an employee 20 performs the tasks necessary to apply
all the
decals D associated with decal tool 10A, which are required to be placed on
the stump
grinder 18 prior to its sale and shipment.
It should be understood that the decal tools 10 and 1 OA each constitute an
improved, enlarged and consolidated sheet carrying a multiplicity of decal
messages
D. The sheet associated with tool 10A has had all its decal messages D peeled
off by
employee 20 and applied to the product 18, leaving blank and empty frames F
where
17
CA 02188823 2001-11-16
ON 49873
decals were formerly carried. The sheet associated with tool lU is shown as
still
complete and containing all the decals D originally present on tool 10A. The
sheets
used to carry the decals of tool 10 or l0A will typically be between 24" and
36" high
and up to 48" long.
Many hazardous products of a complex or dangerous character, such as large
tools and
vehicles, require extensive decal signage. The stump grinder 18, with its
large,
powerful, rotating cutting disc 22 requires nearly twenty instructional
messages and
warning and safety signs. The employee 20 is responsible for proper placement
of the
specific decal messages. In accord with the invention, described further
hereafter,
each decal organization tool 10 or l0A comprises a large and improved decal
sheet
which includes virtually all the decals D required for the entire product 18.
Accordingly, a total of approximately twenty or more decal messages D may be
present on tool 10 when tool 10 is first delivered to the application site and
hung at a
convenient operating position on the wall 14 immediately adjacent the product
18.
While the stump grinder product 18 requires about twenty decal messages, it
should be understood that other products may require a greater or lesser
number of
decal messages and that the size of the tool 10 and the number of decal
messages
carried thereon are to be matched to the needs of a specific product or
product model.
The application of each decal message D is important and at times may be
crucial to
18
~~~~8~
PATENT
ON 49873
allowing a customer to properly use the product 18 without harm to himself,
others, or
the machine itself.
The product 18 has a control center 24 which is provided with a control panel
25 (shown in part in FIG. 1) for its operator. Typically, such a control panel
requires
numerous decal messages, and the control panel and the particular messages
associated therewith will be discussed, infra.
The product 18 has a paint coating 26 of a predetermined color selected by the
product manufacturer and for purposes of illustration in this disclosure, the
color will
be presumed to be gold.
Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, the decal organization tool 10 is shown in larger
detail disclosing the multiplicity of decals D 1 through D20 carried by the
tool 10 and
to be applied to the product 18. The tool 10 utilizes an information layer 28
which
will typically be a vinyl film having obverse and reverse faces 30 and 32
respectively.
An appropriate decal adhesive 34 known to the art is applied to the reverse
face 32 of
information layer 28, and the adhesive 34 releasably retains a conventional
decal liner
sheet 36 which underlies the information layer 30.
The use of a releasable decal liner sheet is well known in the decal art, as
are
the types of adhesive utilized with such liners. In accord with the invention,
it is
desired that the adhesive be one which will adhere to the reverse face of a
decal but
allow the decal to be peeled by an employee installer 20 from the release
liner 36 and
19
~.~ 888~~
PATENT
ON 49873
still be sufficiently adhesive that when the decal is applied to the paint
coating 26 of
product 18 or to the product itself the decal will substantially permanently
adhere to
the product 18.
The information layer 28 of the tool 10 has a multiplicity of decal messages
identified as D 1 through D20 imprinted thereon, the decal messages being
imprinted
either on the obverse face 30 or the reverse face 32. It should be understood,
however, that in accord with normal practice, when the message is imprinted on
the
reverse face 32, the layer 28 will be transparent and the image will require
inversion to
allow it being read by an observer facing the obverse face 30. It is
frequently
desirable to print the message on the reverse face of a transparent vinyl
information
layer so as to better protect the message from weathering when the decal is
used in an
outdoor environment.
Surrounding each decal message is a removal cut R (FIGS. 2-4) which
separates the specific decal message from the rest of the information layer 28
but does
not penetrate into the liner sheet 36. In making the cut R around each decal
message,
such cutting is done by thermal die cutting in which a hot cutting edge is
applied to the
area to be cut and thus effectively melts the vinyl of information layer 28
but does not
damage the release liner sheet 36. The removal cuts R made by the thermal die
cutting
~~~~~a
PATENT
ON 49873
mechanism allow the employee installer 20 to pry the edge E of the decal
messages
upward to allow a corner 48 (FIG. 4) to be grabbed by the installer 20 and
peeled off
the liner sheet 36 to allow easy removal of a decal D4.
Each of the decal messages D 1 through D20 shown on the information layer
28, such as decal D4, contains information which may include words, symbols,
border
treatments and sometimes decorative material. Often the decal message, such as
message D4, has a border B around it. In the example of decal D4, the border B
is a
simple line border, and is also an "interior" border in that it is spaced
inward from the
removal cut R. Other decals, may have other border treatments. Decal D 12 has
a
filled interior border 42 in which the border is literally defined by the
darkened or
colored background of the decal message. In a third type of border,
illustrated in decal
D16, (FIG. 2) the decal message may consist of words or symbols whose edges
form
no traditional geometric shape but have an overall locus of points 40 which
collectively define a virtual border 44 extending between and including the
"V" and
"r" of the decal and the intervening letters. A fourth type of border 46 ,
shown with
decal message D15, is called a bleed border and is extremely popular. The
bleed
border 46 consists of a wide outer darkened border positioned around the decal
message and wherein the border extends beyond the edge of the decal message D
15.
The removal cut R is made wholly within the width of the bleed border, causing
the
outer periphery of the message to be the color of the bleed border, usually
black.
21
ON 49873
It is desirable in manufacturing decals to have the border B of each decal
look
centered and aligned with the outer edge E of the decal to achieve an overall
pleasing
aesthetic appearance. With prior art manufactured decals this goal cannot be
consistently attained.
While it is desirable to have the information associated with each decal
message perfectly centered within each removal cut R, the elastic and
stretchable
characteristics of the vinyl message layer 28 are such that the vinyl tends to
expand,
stretch and shift during printing and during thermal cutting, and consequently
it is very
difficult to consistently or predictably center the thermal die cutting tool
on all of the
decal messages D1-D20. With decals made using the teaching of the prior art,
the
removal cuts R are usually imperfectly centered on the borders B that surround
the
various messages. As a result of this inability to center an aesthetically
pleasing
removal cut, the margin which exists between the removal cut R and the border
B is
usually noticeably irregular. This irregularity may take the form of the
removal cut R
being nonparallel to the border B, or the spacing between one side of the
border and
edge E being unequal to that at an opposite side of the decal message.
Bearing in mind that it is difficult to obtain a perfectly centered border B
even
when die cutting a single vinyl decal, the difficulty of obtaining perfectly
centered
borders when multiple decals must be cut from a single large vinyl sheet is
compounded and still more challenging.
22
2~ ~~8,~,~
PATENT
ON 49873
With prior art manufacturing of individual decals, the imprinting is generally
done on a commercially available information layer which is manufactured with
a
white base layer. When a prior art decal having the white base layer is
applied to a
product 18 (FIG. 5), an uneven white outer margin M surrounds each decal
border B,
such as with decal L2, and provides a sharp color contrast with the color of
the
product. Under such conditions, the flawed spacing associated with the
irregular
margin M and the off center border B are readily apparent to a viewer.
The need to provide decals with the appearance of substantially perfect
centering has been addressed and solved by the present invention. Referring
now to
FIG. 2 and in accord with the invention, the intervening gaps G which exist on
information layer 28 between the decals D 1 through D20 and which surround the
decals at the sheet edges are provided with a band of color C which is
substantially
identically matched to the predetermined color of the paint coat 26 or the
general
overall color of the product 18 in the case of nonpainted products. By
providing such
a color match C in the gaps G which extend between the borders B of all the
decals,
the color C fills the intervening gaps, and when the removal cuts R are
thermally die
cut around the decal messages, such color C is certain to fill the margin M
between the
removal cut associated with a particular decal and the border B associated
with that
decal as illustrated with decal D 19. When an employee 20 removes a decal from
tool
l0A to apply it to the product 18, the color C which fills the still irregular
margin M
23
~~ ~882,~
PATENT
ON 49873
surrounding the decal border B will substantially match the color 26 of the
paint coat
of the product, and the irregular margin M that would otherwise be visible to
the
viewer visually vanishes to the viewer eye. Because the color match between
product
paint coat and decal margin color C is substantially identical, the viewer
notices only
the vivid contrasting border B and the information within the border. Because
the
information is substantially perfectly centered within the border B, the decal
message
as a whole appears visually perfect. The invention thus addresses and solves
the
problem of visually displeasing irregular margins M which have been
unavoidable in
the thermal die cutting process and effectively conceals those irregular
margins to the
eye of the viewer, giving the visual impression of a perfectly prepared decal.
A variation of the invention is also able to achieve this result of visually
concealing an irregular margin M by having the intervening gaps G between
adjacent
decals and which surround the decals at the edges of the sheet 28 be
substantially
transparent. By using transparency in such gaps, the decal, when applied to
the
product 18 has a transparent margin M between its removal cut R and its border
B,
allowing the viewer to see the product paint coat color through the
transparent margin.
This results in the irregular margin being effectively hidden, with the
viewer's eye
registering the vivid decal border B and the information within the border.
This result
can be obtained by utilizing a transparent vinyl film as information layer 28.
Use of a color band in the intervening gaps G, or alternatively the use of
24
PATENT
ON 49873
transparent vinyl material in those gaps constitutes a product match means
which
allows the viewer to see a color in the margin of each decal message which
substantially matches the color of the product's paint coat 26 or the color of
the
product itself.
In another variation of the invention, the product match means may consist of
the imprinting of a base color layer on one of the faces 30 or 32 of the
information
layer 28, such base color layer substantially matching the color of the paint
coat 26 or
the product color itself if the product is unpainted. The information required
for the
individual decal messages D-1-D20 and their particular borders are then
printed on top
of the base color layer so as to produce the desired decals Dl through D20
with the
base color layer being visible in the gaps G. The thermal die removal cuts R
are then
applied to the various decals of tool 10. Accordingly the utilization of a
base color
layer which is substantially identical to the predetermined color of the
product also
constitutes a product match means and is within the purview of the invention.
In describing the invention, it has been stated that the color to be placed
within
the gaps G should be the color of the product 18. It should be understood that
the
term, color, as used herein may include black, white and gray scale variations
as well
as the traditional colors of the color spectrum.
In appreciating a further feature of the present invention, it is helpful to
understand other shortcomings of the prior art decals as best illustrated in
FIG. 5.
2~5~3
PATENT
ON 49873
Prior to the invention, all the decals required on a given product were
prepared as
individual, separate decals wherein each decal was separately ordered,
separately
manufactured, separately inventoried and separately applied. FIG. 5
illustrates a
control panel 25 associated with the control center 24 shown in FIG. 1. The
control
panel 25 has a common surface 50 on which various controls and indicators are
located. Using the decals and decal technology of the prior art, a first decal
L 1 is
applied to identify the operating positions associated with an ignition key
switch 52.
A second, separate and independent decal L2 is applied closely adjacent decal
Ll to
identify battery and fuel gages and has circular apertures which surround the
gages.
The decal L2 is difficult and time consuming to align with decal L1 and as a
result
will rarely have its border B or edge E parallel to the border or edge
associated with
decal L1, resulting in a poorly aligned, but closely positioned pair of decals
whose
misalignment is more glaringly apparent and aesthetically displeasing by
reason of the
close proximity. A third decal L3 is positioned to identify the fuse 53 of the
control
system, and will often be applied in a manner which results in its poor
alignment with
decals L 1 and L2. In addition, decals L2 and L3 have traditional uncentered
borders B
which are not centered within the decal edges E and thereby also include
irregular
margins M which are visually obvious and further adversely affect the
aesthetic
appearance of the three decals.
26
~~g~~~x.~D
PATENT
ON 49873
Referring again to FIG. 5 the decals L4 and L5, positioned closely adjacent
one
another, also exemplify the difficulty of mounting closing adjacent decals in
an
aesthetically pleasing, aligned and parallel manner using prior art
technology. Often a
second attempt to reorient an initially crookedly applied decal such as L5
will result in
the decal being torn as at 54, or in damage to a decal corner 55 as
illustrated with
decal L2 or L4.
The shortcomings of the prior art separate decals L1-L5 shown in FIG. 5 are
solved by the invention as illustrated in FIG. 6. In accord with the present
invention,
all the decals which are needed by a particular product such as product 18 are
first
gathered. The collection of decals gathered are then examined and the decals
which
are applied to a common surface such as the surface 50 of FIG. 5 are
identified.
Where a plurality or multiplicity of decals are used on a common surface 50
and are
also closely adjacent one another, as is the case for decals L1, L2 and L3 and
also for
decals L4 and L5, the invention consolidates such closely spaced decals into
groups.
As best illustrated in FIG. 6, the decals Ll, L2 and L3 of FIG. 5 have been
consolidated to define a single consolidated decal D9 containing all the
information
messages of decals L 1, L2 and L3, having a single common line border B
extending
around all such messages and having a single removal cut R encircling the
border B.
It should be understood that the margin M between the border B and the removal
cut R
is filled by product match means such as a band of color C substantially color
27
2.88823
ON 49873
matching the predetermined color of the paint coating 26 of product 18. If
desired, the
color of the interior background area 58 may also be that of the product color
C.
Accordingly, when the decal D9 of FIG. 6 is placed on the common surface 50,
all
disharmonies, misalignments and nonparallel surfaces associated with the
decals L1,
L2 and L3 are effectively eliminated or are visually hidden. Labor time for
installation is reduced by the application of a single decal D9 in place of
three decals
and the elimination of the stocking, gathering, liner removal time etc.
associated with
three decals.
Similarly, the closely adjacent decals L4 and LS of FIG. 5 have been
consolidated to form a group as new consolidated decal D 19 which has an edge
E
thereabout and a single removal cut R and in which the intervening gaps, G
between
decal messages, are filled with a color C band matching the paint color of the
product.
The visual effect of the decal D 19 is that of it appearing to the observer as
if there are
two closely adjacent separate, but perfectly aligned and applied decals like
decals L4
and L5. As a result of the invention, the irregular margin M of the decal D 19
blends
with the product's overall color and visually vanishes.
As best shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 10 when the decal message D 19 is
applied to the surface 50 of product 18, the predetermined color C in the
irregular
margin M, here shown as gold, substantially matches the gold color paint coat
26
associated with the product 18, thereby allowing what would otherwise be an
28
2~.8~$~~
PATENT
ON 49873
irregularly configured margin M illustrated in FIG. 10 to remain virtually
invisible to
the eye while the main border B of the decal message D 19 defines the visual
edge of
the decal message.
Referring next to FIGS. 7-9, a further variation of the decal tool 10 is
illustrated
wherein the adhesive 34 on reverse face 32 of the decal messages such as D4,
D14,
etc. is provided with a chemical additive 70 which when adhered to the paint
coat 26
or to the product surface per se of product 18 forms a stubborn chemical
residue 72 on
or in the product surface or paint coat. In effect, the additive 70 when in
contact with
paint may soften the paint and be absorbed into the surface of the paint as
best
illustrated in FIG. 9 thereby permanently, virtually indelibly, leaving a
residue 72 in
the paint. The residue is preferably one which is not visible to the naked
eye, but
when it is exposed to an ultraviolet light source 76, will visually glow under
the
ultraviolet light, thereby defining a footprint 74 (FIG. 8) having the overall
shape of
the decal D4. By utilization of such additive 70, it is possible to later
determine that
specific decal D4, which was once on the product but later removed, was
originally
applied to that product.
Because of the growing need for manufacturer protection from spurious
product liability cases, it can be crucial for a manufacturer to be able to
prove that a
particular and important warning or information decal message was applied to
the
product when it left the manufacturer's facility. By adding the described
additive 70 to
29
2~.~~8~
PATENT
ON 49873
the adhesive 34, the chemical residue 72 becomes a permanent part of the paint
coat
26 or of the product 18. If an unscrupulous claimant, after injury by the
product,
chooses to improperly remove a critical warning decal, such as D4, from the
product
so as to enhance his claim against the manufacturer, the footprint 74 left by
that decal
S on the product can be readily detected under ultraviolet light, confirming
that a decal
was present at the footprint location when the product was shipped.
In selecting an appropriate adhesive and additive, it has been found effective
to
utilize a toluol, xylene, or other hydrocarbon based permanent clear acrylic
adhesive
in which an additive is dissolved, or mixed, one effective additive being a
zinc sulfide
solution containing traces of copper. This combination functions as an
invisible die
concentrate within the adhesive and shows up on the product as a blue
footprint under
ultraviolet light. In addition, fluorescing compounds disclosed in U.S.
Patent. No.
5,346,259 supra, or other compounds known to the art may also be used to
generate
the footprint under ultraviolet light conditions. Any such additive capable of
producing a substantially permanent residue on the product without visibly
marring
the product and which is visible under ultraviolet light is usable with the
invention and
within its purview.
It should be understood that the invention may be utilized effectively under
some conditions using only the adhesive additive producing footprint described
above,
but there are also situations where it will be essential to prove that a
specific decal
22 g~82~
PATENT
ON 49873
message was positioned at a particular location on a product. Using only the
adhesive
and additive described above, and having that additive common to all decal
messages
on a product, allows one to identify the location and shape of all such
applied decal
messages but not necessarily to identify and distinguish one identically
shaped decal
message from another. To accomplish the latter, the invention includes a
further
feature in which each decal message may be provided with a unique irregularity
zone
Z illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 6-8.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the removal cuts R of decals D4 and D 14 are
substantially regular and continuous at all portions of the removal cut except
for an
irregularity zone Z in which one or more protrusions P, unique to each
particular decal
message is positioned. The combination of protrusions and the spacing between
the
protrusions allow the creation of a specific footprint unique to each decal
message. It
should be understood that the reverse face 32 of each of the protrusions P is
like the
reverse face 32 of the decal message, being provided with an adhesive 34
containing
the ultraviolet light sensitive additive 70 described earlier. Consequently a
decal such
as D4 or D 14 having a specific, unique irregularity zone Z will also produce
a
footprint 74 on the product to which it is adhered, and the footprint will
have an
outline matching the edge of the decal message and displaying the contour of
its
irregularity zone. This structure allows each applied decal to be uniquely
identified
31
r
PATENT
ON 49873
even after the decal is wholly removed and all visible trace of it disappears
to the eye
under normal light conditions.
The irregularity zone Z may be made up of the protrusions P described in
association with FIG. 7 and having particular combinations and spacing or can
instead
utilize indentations having varying combinations and spacing as illustrated in
FIG. 2
by decals D 11, D6 and D 14. In addition, combinations of protrusions and
indentations, such as illustrated in decal D 17 of FIG. 2 may also be used and
are
within the purview of the invention. While certain of the decal messages have
been
shown as having protrusions which are square, it should also be understood
that the
protrusions may take other forms such as triangular protrusions shown in
decals D 15
of FIG. 2 or generally constant radius protrusions like those shown on decals
D9 and
D 10 of FIG. 2. All such combinations are within the purview of the invention.
A further arrangement in which the decal messages can be readily identified
and coded is to position the protrusions P (or indentations) at regular spaced
intervals
along the edge E wherein a protrusion or an unoccupied protrusion space
appears at
each potential protrusion location. If one views the presence or absence of a
protrusion at a given location as the equivalent of a binary one or zero, it
is possible to
generate a binary number unique to each decal message by having a series of
regularly
positioned protrusions or empty spaces which cooperate to form the binary
sequence.
As will be recognized by those having ordinary binary skill in the coding art,
the
32
2~ ~~~2
PATENT
ON 49873
protrusion may readily be replaced with an indentation or a protrusion of a
different
configuration.
Referring again to FIG. 8, a surface 56 of the product 18 has had a decal
message D4 thereon with the decal D4 and its adhesive being shown as now being
partly removed from the surface. Even after removal of decal D4 and its
adhesive, an
invisible residue 72 will remain embedded in or on the paint coat 26 or to the
surface
of the product, and when ultraviolet source 76 is shined on the surface 56 a
glowing
footprint 74 becomes visible to an observer. The footprint 74 will include a
replication 78 of the irregularity zone Z by displaying the contours of the
protrusions
P as illustrated in FIG. 8. The presence of the detectable footprint 74 and
the
particular combination of protrusions P allow an investigator to conclusively
identify
the message D4 as having been present on the product surface 56 even after its
complete removal from the product.
In operation, the invention has many advantages. Its utilization begins with
an
inspection by the decal manufacturer of the product or products such as
product 18 of
a manufacturer in order to identify the specific collection of decals which
are
associated with each distinct product or model of product being manufactured
and the
location on each product where each specific decal is applied. The decal
manufacturer
then designs a decal organization tool 10 for one or more specific products or
product
models with the tool 10 including all the decals for the particular product or
model so
33
PATENT
ON 49873
that the multiplicity of decals used by that product or model will be on a
single decal
tool sheet, can be purchased as a unit, inventoried as a unit, restocked as a
unit, and
transported from decal storage site to decal application site as a unit,
thereby
eliminating extensive labor and the many possible errors formerly associated
with
those steps. When the decal messages are to be applied to the product 18, the
installer
20 brings two of the decal organization tools 10 and l0A containing the decal
messages for the particular product to the decal application site as shown in
FIG. 1.
Both sheets are placed in an easily accessible and visible location adjacent
the
product. The employee 20 then removes decals D from only one of these sheets,
such
as the left most one 10A, and applies them to the product until all decal
messages on
that sheet l0A have been used. After application, the presence of the sheet
10A,
completely devoid of all decal messages, is conclusive to the employee 20 as
showing
that all the decals have been applied to the product.
After the sheet l0A has been emptied of decals, the spaces formerly occupied
by the decals are now empty frames F. These empty frames F are of the color,
usually
white, of the release liner sheet 36, and each frame is typically surrounded
by a color
band C which fills the gaps G on each sheet 10. This color band C vividly
contrasts
with the white of the liner 36 and provides a highly visible highlighted
indicator to the
installer 20 that all decals on the tool l0A have been used. The sharp
contrast
between liner sheet 36 and color band C in the gaps G surrounding the frames F
34
PATENT
ON 49873
allows the installer 20 to quickly scan the sheet l0A and easily confirm that
the decal
application task for the particular product 20 is complete. If decal messages
remain on
the sheet, the installer knows the installation task is not complete.
The second decal tool 10 is kept in immediately readiness in the event that
one or more of the decals from the first decal tool l0A are damaged or torn
during
installation, but is not otherwise used. Over the course of a day or more, an
increasing
number of the extra decal messages on sheet 10 will be consumed as normal
installation errors damage an occasional decal. After the extra decals on
sheet 10 have
been seriously depleted, a further "reserve" sheet 10 will be brought to the
application
site.
As the decal maker prepares the decal organization tool 10, the decal maker
identifies specific decals such as decals L1-LS which are closely adjacent
each other
on the product and which share a common surface, such as those on surface 50
of the
control panel 25 shown in FIG. 5. After identifying such closely adjacent
decals, the
maker consolidates certain of those decals into groups such as the group of
decal
messages L 1, L2 and L3 which have been consolidated into decal D9 in FIG. 6
and the
decal messages L4 and LS which have been consolidated as D19. Each group may
then be provided with a single removal cut R around the entire group. Instead
of the
installer 20 having to install two, three or more individual decals in a small
area and
try to align and place them in an aesthetically pleasing way, a lesser number
of decal
PATENT
ON 49873
groups is applied with all decal messages in each group being compatible,
evenly
aligned, perfectly placed and aesthetically attractive.
Because all of the margins M surrounding the borders B of the decal messages
D 1-D 19 are provided with product match means, such as a color band
substantially
color matched to the color of the product 18, the irregular margin M
associated with
thermal die cut decals is effectively concealed from the eye when the decal is
applied
to the product and the color of the margin M substantially identically matches
the
color of the product.
With the use of this aspect of the invention it becomes practical to produce
large sheets of decals containing a multiplicity of decal messages since the
irregular
margins produced by imperfectly centered removal cuts R due to stretching and
slippage of the vinyl layer 28 is effectively concealed by the use of the
color bands C
in gaps G or by other described product match means.
When a product 18 is destined for foreign markets and the decal messages must
carry foreign language text, a complete decal tool 10 can be printed which
contains
decal messages of the same shape but in which foreign text and symbols are
substituted for the English text version and the entire set of foreign
language decals
can be placed on a single decal tool 10. The invention thus eliminates the
need for
inventorying large numbers of additional separate, individual decals for every
major
foreign market and the problem of unskilled and sometimes marginally literate
36
2I8~B~
PATENT
ON 49873
installer employees distinguishing one foreign language from another when
foreign
notices are utilized. If decals containing a first language ever need
replacement with
decals in a second foreign language, a new set containing the second language
can be
quickly placed to overlie the old decals.
The invention allows the decal messages associated with the decal tool 10 to
be
more effective than the previous collage of separate decals because all the
decal
messages of the tool 10 are manufactured at the same time, have adhesive of
the same
age and use life, and all text fonts, borders, corners, and color shades can
be visually
compatible since made at the same time during the same printing.
The invention avoids the prior inventorying problems where a product
manufacturer had to stock dozens and at times hundreds of different decals and
had to
hand select and gather every different decal for each machine and still have
no straight
forward or reliable way to assure that each model of machine had exactly the
decals
intended for it. Using the invention, when decals must be reordered by a
manufacturer, they can be ordered on the basis of an entire sheet for each
product or
model instead of on an individual decal basis, thereby reducing the number of
inventorying steps, and reducing storage requirements.
In the event the decal requirements for a particular product or model of
machine change, only the decal tool 10 associated with that product needs to
be
changed. This avoids the confusion that occurs when a particular decal is used
on
37
~~ 8~8~~
PATENT
ON 49873
several products and a change to one of the products modifies the decal for
the
changed product but not for the remaining products.
The invention provides an economic solution for proving that a specific decal
or group of decals was applied to the product 18 at the time of shipment by
the
product manufacturer. Because of the presence of the additive 70 in the
adhesive on
the decals, each time the decals are applied to the surface of a product 18,
the additive
bonds to the paint of the product or to the surface of the product, leaving a
stubborn
but invisible residue 72 underlying the decal. In the event that the decal is
thereafter
removed through no fault of the manufacturer, the invisible residue remains on
the
surface of the product 18, and when an ultraviolet light source 76 is
thereafter shined
on the location on which the decal was previously attached, a highly visible
footprint
74 will appear. This footprint 74 will have the same shape and configuration
as the
removed decal, and when the decal is provided with an irregularity zone Z
containing
protrusions or indentations uniquely associated with the particular decal, it
will be
thereafter possible to identify the specific decal which was removed from the
product.
Accordingly, should a product 18 be involved in an accident or a mishap, and
injury occur, the invention allows the manufacturer to quickly determine
whether the
alleged absence of a critical decal was caused by failure to apply the decal
at the time
of manufacture or due to spurious subsequent removal of the decal by
individuals or
instrumentalities beyond the control of the manufacturer.
38
~~ ~8$~'~'
P TE
ON 49873
It is anticipated that various changes and modifications may be made in the
construction, arrangement, operation and method of construction of the
organization
tool disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention as
defined in the following claims.
39
