Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CORE TAG
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to core tags for identification
of product rolls, and in particular to core tags inserted into
hollow cores of such product rolls, having a portion extending
outside the roll for identification thereof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many thin, flexible materials such as paper, carpeting
and cloth are manufactured, transported and stored in rolls.
Typically, the material is wound around a hollow paper fibre or
plastic tubular core to form a product roll. In storage, such
product rolls are typically placed horizontally and stacked atop
one another with the ends of the rolls generally aligned.
For inventory control purposes, it is desirable to
identify each roll. Although an adhesive label may be placed on
the side of the roll, such a label would not be visible if the
rolls were stacked atop one another. Furthermore, the adhesive
may damage the roll material. Thus, it is desirable to have
identification which may be located at the end of the roll.
Although an adhesive label may be placed on the end of the roll,
such an adhesive label may leave a residue on the material, or
may interfere with unwinding of the material.
One solution is taught by U.S. Patent 1,738,378,
issued December 3, 1929 to Little. Little discloses an end
label for tubular cloth rolls consisting of a round
identification plate mounted flush to another smaller
rectangular plate having flaps. The flaps are folded toward
each other and are inserted into the centre of a core around
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which the cloth is wound. The plate identifies the roll while
the flaps hold the plate in place. While this device offers a
means of identification which may be located at the end of a
roll, it is expensive to produce, transferring indicia to the
identification plate is difficult, and the end label may fall
out of the core during moving, in a windy factory environment,
or if the flaps are not fully inserted into the core.
Another solution is taught by U.S. Patent 5,010,667,
issued April 30, 1991 to Hassinger. This patent discloses a tag
used for identifying rolled drawings. The tag consists of a
generally rectangular sheet having a transverse score line near
an end. The portion of the sheet defined by the score line,
which bears indicia, is bent downward while the remainder of the
sheet is curled and inserted between rolled layers of the rolled
drawing. The portion of the sheet bearing indicia hangs down
from the remainder of the sheet, and the indicia identify the
drawing. Although this device may be manufactured
inexpensively, it is still prone to inadvertent separation from
the drawing in windy conditions, during moving, or if the device
is not fully inserted between the rolled layers of the drawing.
Furthermore, this device is not suitable for use with rolls
having tightly wound layers since insertion between layers would
be very difficult. Additionally, if the material wound on the
roll is delicate, it may be damaged during insertion of the
device.
Thus, there is a need for an end-mounted core tag
which may be used to identify rolls of material, which is
inexpensive to manufacture, readily accepts the application of
identifying indicia thereon, may be put in place without
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damaging the material wound on the roll, and which reduces the
likelihood of inadvertent separation from the roll.
SUN~IP~RY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to obviate or
mitigate one or more of the above identified disadvantages and
shortcomings of current roll identification tags.
In a broad aspect, the present invention provides a
core tag for identifying a product roll, the core tag having
flexible sheet including a first portion with an adhesive
surface in an inactive state, and a second portion having a
surface for receiving identification indicia, the second portion
attached to, and foldable relative to the first portion. Upon
activation of the adhesive surface, the first portion may be
inserted into a hollow core end of the product roll and adhered
to an inner surface thereof using the activated adhesive
surface, and the second portion may be folded to hang down from
the first portion at the hollow core end of the product roll.
Other aspects of the present invention include the
following. The flexible sheet may be constructed of coextensive
first and second layers, the layers adhered to one another by
means of an adhesive provided on a rear surface of the first
layer, and an adhesive release provided on a front surface of
the second layer, the inactive adhesive surface of the first
portion of the core tag being a portion of the adhesive-bearing
rear surface of the first layer covered by a peelable tab,
wherein the adhesive surface is activated by separating the
peelable tab from the adhesive surface. The peelable tab may be
a portion of the second layer overlying the adhesive surface,
the peelable tab being defined by a die cut provided in the
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second layer. Additionally, at an interface line between the
first and second portions, which has a central segment and two
side segments, each of the two side segments of the interface
line may be provided with separation perforations, wherein the
separation perforations may be broken to reduce the width of the
interface line between the first and second portions to
facilitate curling of the first portion and insertion and
adherence thereof within a cylindrical central bore.
Advantageously, the present invention provides an end-
mounted core tag which is inexpensive to manufacture, readily
accepts the application of identifying indicia thereon, may be
put in place without damaging the material wound on the roll,
and which reduces the likelihood of inadvertent separation from
the roll.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be
described with reference to the attached drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a front view of the core tag according to
a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a rear view of the core tag of Figure l;
Figure 3 is a front and top perspective view of the
core tag of Figure 1 with adhesive orphan labels removed, two
lines of separation perforations broken, and the core tag folded
along folding perforations;
Figure 4 is a rear and bottom perspective view of the
core tag of Figure 3 showing a peelable tab peeled away exposing
an adhesive surface; and
Figure 5 is a front perspective view of the core tag
of Figure 3 inserted into a hollow core end of a roll.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The core tag 10 is a flexible elongated card
constructed of two coextensive layers, a first layer 12 as shown
in Figure 1 in front of, and adhered to a second layer 14 as
shown in Figure 2. The core tag 10 also has a first portion 30,
a second portion 32, and side edges 20.
The dimensions of the core tag 10 are determined by
the size of the core within which the core tag is to be
inserted, and the amount of space required for identifying
indicia. In the preferred embodiment, a 10" x 4.5" core tag 10
is provided for use in a core having an inner diameter of
approximately 3 inches.
The first layer 12 of the core tag 10 is provided with
a pressure sensitive adhesive coating (not shown) applied on its
rear surface. The adhesive to be used will depend on the
material used for the core of the roll, whether it be paper
fibre, plastic, metal or wood for example. An example of a
suitable pressure sensitive adhesive for use with a paper fibre
core is light tack germinate adhesive. Between the first
portion 30 and the second portion 32, two lines of separation
perforations 24 extending inwardly from the side edges 20 are
provided. Inward ends 26 of the two lines of separation
perforations 24 are joined by a line of folding perforations 28.
The perforation lines 24 and 28 separate the core tag 10 into
the first portion 30 and the second portion 32. The first
portion 30 of the first layer 12 is provided with die cuts 34
defining two transversely elongated adhesive labels 36. These
labels 36 may be detached from the core tag 10 and applied to
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other documents, for example, for inventory control purposes.
Such labels are commonly referred to as orphan labels.
The second layer 14 of the core tag 10 is provided
with an adhesive release coating (not shown) on its front
surface, an example of a suitable adhesive release coating being
silicone. The two lines of separation perforations 24 on the
first layer 12 also extend through the second layer 14. No
perforations are provided on the second layer 14 corresponding
with the folding perforations 28 on the first layer 12. Die
cuts 40 are provided on the first portion 16 of the second layer
14 to define a peelable tab 42, 11~" x 11~" for example, adjacent
the inward ends 26 of the two lines of separation perforations
24. The die cuts 40 are provided on only three sides of the
peelable tab 42. The uncut bottom edge 44 of the peelable tab
42 substantially overlies the folding perforations 28 on the
first layer 12. The peelable tab 42 therefore covers an
adhesive surface 48 of the rear surface of the first layer, as
shown in Figure 4, rendering the adhesive surface 48 inactive.
Upon peeling away of the peelable tab 42 from the adhesive
surface 48, the adhesive surface is exposed and therefore
activated.
The first layer 12 is constructed of a material on
which indicia may readily be applied on its front surface. Both
the first layer 12 and the second layer 14 may be constructed of
a material thin enough to permit curling of the first portion 30
of the core tag 10, while being strong enough to withstand
handling by the user, and to avoid tearing of the second layer
14 along the folding perforations 28 when the core tag is placed
in a core of a roll. In the preferred embodiment, the first
layer 12 is 40 pound direct thermal paper, while the second
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layer 14 is 78 pound paper. Of course, other suitable materials
may be used for each of the first layer 12 and the second layer
14, plastic or other weights of paper for example.
In use, the front surface of the first sheet 12 is
printed with indicia 46 on the adhesive orphan labels 36, and on
the second portion 32. Such indicia 46 provide identifying
information about the roll, and may for example include
information specifying the material wound on the roll, the
length of the material, the manufacturing batch from which the
material originates, etc.
The orphan labels 36 are then detached from the second
layer 14, such removal being facilitated by the die cuts 34 in
the first layer 12 defining the orphan labels 36, and the
release coating on the front surface of the second layer. These
adhesive orphan labels 36 may be applied to other documents for
example, and may be used for inventory control purposes.
The two lines of separation perforations 24 are then
broken to reduce the width of a connecting line between the
first portion 30 and the second portion 32 to facilitate the
eventual curling of the first portion relative to the second
portion. The core tag 10 is then folded along the folding
perforations 28. Because no corresponding perforations are
provided on the second layer 14 beneath these folding
perforations 28, the second portion 32 and the first portion 30
of the core tag 10 remain attached along the fold. When the
core tag 10 is folded, the first portion 30 is folded rearwardly
relative to the second portion 30. The resulting folded core
tag 10 is shown in figure 3.
As shown in Figure 4, the peelable tab 42 defined in
the second layer 14 is then peeled away from the adhesive
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surface 48 to expose, and therefore activate the adhesive
surface. This is facilitated by the die cuts 40 defining the
peelable tab 42, and the adhesive release coating provided on
the front surface of the second layer 14. Because die cuts 40
are only provided on three sides of the peelable tab 42, when
the peelable tab is peeled away, it remains attached to the core
tag along the bottom edge 44, and the peelable tab need not
necessarily be removed and discarded.
The side edges 20 of the first portion 30 of the core
tag 10 are then curled upward, as shown in Figure 5, and the
first portion is inserted into a core 50 of a roll 52 of wound
material. When the first portion 30 of the core tag 10 is
properly positioned within the core 50, the activated adhesive
surface 48 is pressed against an inner surface 54 of the core.
The core tag 10 therefore identifies the roll 52 of wound
material through the indicia 46 provided on the second portion
32 of the core tag which hangs below the core 50 of the roll.
The core tag 10 is secured in place and prevented from being
inadvertently separated from the roll by adhesion of the
activated adhesive surface 48 on the inner surface 54 of the
core 50.
As will be appreciated, due to its simple
construction, the preferred embodiment core tag 10 is
inexpensive to manufacture. Further, because the core tag 10 is
flat, application of indicia using a typewriter or printer is
facilitated. Such application of indicia may be further
facilitated by providing a continuous sheet (not shown) of core
tags 10 attached to one another along side edges, or top and
bottom edges, with perforations separating individual core tags.
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. The preferred embodiment core tag 10 of the present
invention may be constructed as follows.
First, a first continuous sheet of 4.5" wide 40 pound
direct thermal paper is coated on a rear surface with light tack
germinate adhesive. A second continuous sheet of 4.5" wide 78
pound paper is coated on its front surface with a silicone
adhesive release coating. The first continuous sheet is then
placed atop the second continuous sheet such that the rear
surface of the first continuous sheet removably adheres to the
front surface of the second continuous sheet.
The adhered first and second continuous sheets are
then placed in contact with a first engraved die which applies
perforations to form the two lines of separation perforations 24
on both continuous sheets, and the folding perforations 28 and
the die cuts 34 defining the orphan labels 36, on the first
continuous sheet. The adhered first and second continuous
sheets are then placed in contact with a second engraved die
which applies the die cut 40 defining the peelable tab 42 on the
second continuous sheet. A perforation cylinder then applies
cross-perforations across both sheets at 10" intervals to allow
separation of individual core tags from the continuous sheet.
Because the core tags 10 of the present invention are
then in a continuous sheet, the sheet may be fed through a
printer for application of indicia. The individual core tags
separated from the continuous sheet are ready for use.
Although the preferred embodiment of the core tag of
the present invention has been described in great detail, it is
to be understood that many of the features described may be
altered without departing from the spirit of the invention. For
example, different dimensions may be used for the core tags.
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Additionally, it is not necessary that the core tags include
adhesive orphan labels 36. The two lines of separation
perforations 24 provided on the first and second layers 12 and
14, and the folding perforations 28 provided on the first layer
need not be in the configuration described and illustrated, so
long as the perforations readily permit the core tag to be
folded, while still holding the first portion 30 and the second
portion 32 together. For example, a straight line of
perforations may be provided on the first layer 12, and an
overlying line of perforations may be provided on the second
layer 14 except along a central segment.
It is further to be understood that the core tag of
the present invention may be used to identify any object having
a hollow core, pipes for example.
Additionally, although the adhesive surface has been
described as a portion of the rear surface of the first layer
bearing a pressure-sensitive adhesive, it is to be understood
that other adhesive surfaces may be used, a dry adhesive which
is activated through moistening, for example.
Further modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is
therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described herein.
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