Abstract:
A tamper evident label system including a label sheet having an adhesive located thereon and at least one tear guide line or score line located thereon or therethrough. The label sheet includes indicia indicating the tamper evident nature of the label.

Description:
[0001]     The present invention is directed to a tamper evident label, and more particularly, to a tamper evident label including tear guide lines or score lines located thereon.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     It is often desired to send documents and other components in a secure manner using tamper evident envelopes, packages or other containment means so that any attempted opening or tampering with the containment means is apparent. To that end, various tamper evident labels and envelopes have been used. However, existing tamper evident labels and envelopes may be able to be relatively easily defeated, and may not provide clear evidence of attempted opening or tampering. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved tamper evident label.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     The present invention is a tamper evident label which is difficult to defeat and which provides clear visual evidence of any attempted tampering or opening of the associated envelope, package or containment means. In particular, in one embodiment the invention is a tamper evident label system including a label sheet having an adhesive located thereon and at least one tear guide line or score line located thereon or therethrough. The label sheet includes indicia indicating the tamper evident nature of the label.  
         [0004]     In another embodiment the invention is a tamper evident label system including a containment means including a body, an inner cavity having a mouth, and a flap. The flap is movable between a closed position wherein the flap generally covers the mouth, and an open position wherein the flap generally does not cover the mouth, and the flap is located in the closed position. The system further includes a label sheet having an adhesive located thereon and at least one tear guide line or score line located thereon or therethrough. The label sheet is adhered to the flap and to the body to maintain the flap in the closed position.  
         [0005]     Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  is a front view of one embodiment of the tamper evident label of the present invention;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the tamper evident label of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a front view of a sheet of labels;  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a front view of an alternate embodiment of the tamper evident label of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a rear view of an envelope in its open position;  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a rear view of the envelope of  FIG. 5  in its closed position and with a tamper evident label fixed thereto; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 7  is a rear view of the envelope of  FIG. 6 , with the flap opened. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0013]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the tamper evident label of the present invention, generally designated  10 , includes a label sheet  12  that is, in one embodiment, generally rectangular in top or front view. However, the label sheet  12  may take a wide variety of forms or shapes besides rectangular, including but not limited to square, circular, triangular, hexagonal oval, irregular, etc. The label sheet includes a text side  14  and an adhesive side  16 . The text side  14  may include various indicia  18  located or printed thereon which indicate the tamper evident nature of the label  10 . For example, the indicia  18  may include text such as “tamper evident,” “tamper resistant,” “tamper proof,” “confidential,” etc. If desired, a sheet of labels  10  may be provided ( FIG. 3 ), each label  10  being die cut and secured to a release liner  20  so that each label  10  can be easily separated from the release liner  20  (i.e., by manually peeling the labels  10 ).  FIG. 3  illustrates a sheet having six labels  10 . However, it should be understood that the sheet may include more or less labels located thereon, including ten labels or various other numbers of labels.  
         [0014]     The label sheet  12  may include an adhesive located on its adhesive side  16  to enable the label sheet  12  to be adhered to a substrate. The adhesive may be any of a wide variety of adhesive or binding means, and may include pressure sensitive adhesives, adhesives which require water to be activated, or various other adhesives. The adhesive is preferably a relatively strong adhesive such that when the adhesive (i.e., label sheet  12 ) is secured to the surface or substrate (such as an envelope or other paper or paper-based products), any attempted removal of the label sheet  12  will cause the label sheet  12  and/or substrate to tear or fragment before the adhesive releases. For example, when the label sheet  12  is adhered to paper, cardboard or the like, any attempted removal of the label sheet  12  will cause tearing, marring, marking or separation of the paper or cardboard substrate, or of the label  10 . Thus, for example, the adhesive may have a peel force of three to four or more pounds per label measured perpendicular to the orientation of label  10  on a stainless steel base member.  
         [0015]     The label sheet  12  may be made of any of a wide variety of materials including plastic, papers, foils and polymers, such as polyester films, polymers and vinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene and the like. The indicia  18  may be printed with various inks or dyes, including water-insoluble inks, pigments, or the like.  
         [0016]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the label sheet  12  may include a plurality of tear guidelines or score lines  22  located thereon. In the illustrated embodiment, wherein the labels  10  are rectangular, the tear guidelines  22  are diagonally oriented; that is, each tear guideline  22  extends from a corner (or edge) of the label sheet  12  towards the center of the label sheet  12 . Each tear guideline  22  may be spaced away from the outer perimeter of the label sheet  12 . Each tear guideline  22  is a cut or an area of weakness or the like such that the tamper evident label  10  is tearable along the tear guideline  22  and/or along the ends of the tear guidelines  22 . Thus, for example, the tear guidelines  22  may be perforation lines, areas of weakness, fold lines, score lines (cut either fully or partially through the thickness of the label sheet  12 ) and the like.  
         [0017]     The shape and arrangement of the tear guidelines  22  may vary from that shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . For example,  FIG. 4  illustrates an alternate embodiment of the label  10  wherein the tear guidelines  22  are two generally perpendicular intersecting tear guidelines  22  forming a generally “+” shape. The tear guidelines  22  may be desired to be arranged so as to allow the label  10  to be relatively easily torn along the tear guidelines  22  while simultaneously not significantly compromising the stiffness of the label  10  for ease of handling.  
         [0018]     The tamper evident label  10  of  FIGS. 1-4  may be used with an envelope, package, bag, file, folder, notebook, box, book, pouch, pocket, portfolio or other containment means  30 , an example of which is shown in  FIGS. 5-7 . In particular, the envelope  30  may include an envelope body  32  having an inner cavity  34  and a mouth  36  which provides access to the inner cavity  34 . The envelope  30  may include a flap  38  which is movable between an open position ( FIG. 5 ) wherein the flap  38  generally does not cover the mouth  36 , and a closed position ( FIG. 6 ) wherein the flap  38  generally covers the mouth  36 .  
         [0019]     In order to utilize the tamper evident label  10  of  FIGS. 1-4  with the envelope  30  of  FIG. 5 , the envelope  30  is moved to its closed position. The tamper evident label  10  is then applied to the envelope  30 , adhesive side  16  down, to adhere the label  10  to the envelope  30 . The label  10  should be applied such that the label  10  is adhered to both the flap  38  and the body portion  32  of the envelope  30  as shown in  FIG. 6 .  
         [0020]     When the label  10  is securely adhered to the envelope  30 , any attempted removal of the label  10  will generally result in tearing of the envelope  30  and/or of the label  10 . For example, any attempted opening of the envelope  30  (i.e., attempted opening of the flap  38 ) may cause the label  10  to tear, for example, along the upper two tear guidelines  22 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . Thus, the label  10  provides evidence of the tampering, or attempted tampering, of the envelope  30 .  
         [0021]     The diagonal configuration of the tear guidelines  22  allows the tamper evident label  10  to tear along a path to separate the label  10  into upper and lower fragments. Furthermore, the shape and arrangement of the diagonal tear guidelines  22  provide sufficient tear guidelines  22  to allow the label  10  to be relatively easily torn, but does not include so many tear guidelines  22  so as to compromise the strength of the label  10  which would make the label  10  difficult to handle and apply to the envelope  30 . Furthermore, when using the label  10  of  FIGS. 1-3 , the upper tear guidelines  22  may be generally aligned with the lower edge of the flap  38  (which is generally “V”-shaped) such that attempted opening of the envelope  30  allows the label  10  to easily tear along the upper tear guidelines  22 . In this case, the two upper tear guidelines  22  are generally “V”-shaped, although the two upper tear guidelines  22  (or in fact any of the other tear guidelines) may be combined into a single tear guideline rather than being separate, discreet tear guidelines.  
         [0022]     Having described the invention in detail and by reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be apparent that modifications and variations thereof are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.