End separating device for sheet having a backing paper

Abstract: An end separating device for a sheet having a backing paper (E), which can easily separate a film of the sheet from the backing paper (E) without requiring half cutting of the sheet. A fixing and separating member (30A) is fixed to a movable blade (22) of a cutter for cutting a tape (2), and another fixing and separating member (30B) is fixed to a fixed blade (24) of the cutter. These fixing and separating members and cooperate to bend and fix a cut end portion of the tape (2). Accordingly, the cut end portion of the tape (2) is bent. After the tape (2) is released from the fixing and separating members, a film tape (2) is elastically returned to an original condition owing to its relatively large stiffness, but a backing paper (E) is plastically deformed at the bent portion. As a result, the film tape (2) can be separated from the backing paper (E). In other embodiments of an end separating device, a separating member (53) is passed along end surfaces of free end portions of the sheet. The separating member (53) bends the end surfaces to plastically deform the backing paper (E) and enable separation of the backing paper (E).

Description: The present invention relates to an end separating device for a sheet having a backing member, preferably a backing paper, and, more particularly, to an end separating device for a sheet comprising a film and a backing paper superposed with respect to one another through an adhesive layer, wherein the backing piper is to be separated from the film at an end portion of the sheet so that the entire backing paper may be easily separated for use of the sheet. Widely used in various fields is a sheet made by forming an adhesive layer on one surface of a film and attaching a backing paper to the adhesive layer. In general, such a sheet is used in such a manner that the backing paper is separated from the film at an end portion of the sheet with fingers or the like, and then, the film thus separated is to be attached to various kinds of medium. Such a sheet is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,927,278, for example. As a measure for easily separating the backing paper from the film of such a sheet, it is known that the film only is cut at a suitable position of the sheet to effect half cutting of the sheet. In using such a half-cut sheet, the sheet is bent at the cut portion and the film is then separated from the backing paper. Such a half-cut sheet is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,066,152 (corresponding to European Patent Publication No. 0319209), for example. However, according to the former separating method such that the backing paper is separated from the film at the end portion of the sheet with fingers or the like, it is difficult to separate the backing paper from the film with the fingers because the film and the backing paper are closely attached to each other through the adhesive layer even at the end portion of the sheet. Further, there is a possibility that the end portion of the sheet is bent in the course of repetition of a separating operation, rendering the separation of the backing paper more difficult. On the other hand, according to the latter separating method such that the half-cut sheet is used, the film can be easily separated from the backing paper because the film only is previously cut. However, it is difficult to form a cut in the film only. Particularly when employing a thin backing paper, it is necessary to use high-precision parts in a half cutting mechanism for forming the cut in the film only, and it is also necessary to control assembly of such high-precision parts with high accuracy. Accordingly, the use of such high-precision parts and the high-accuracy control of assembly of the parts cause an increase in cost. Further, there is a possibility that the backing paper is partially cut in spite of such high-accuracy control, with the result that the easy separation of the film from the backing paper cannot be attained. Additionally, in the case of using the half-cut sheet mentioned above, a part of the film separated together with the backing paper is obliged to be wasted, causing an increase in running cost of the sheet. GB-A-2008028 discloses a number of devices for separating laminated layers. The second embodiment, on which the precharacterising portion of appended claim 1 is based, has two blades for cutting a sheet and a ridge around which the sheet is bent to separate the laminate sheets. The sheet is pressed between the ridge and a sponge element and a plate 46 is moved into a slot so as to push the sheet over the edge of the ridge. It is an aim of the present invention to provide an end separating device for a sheet having a backing paper, which can easily separate a film of the sheet from the backing paper without requiring half cutting of the sheet. It is another aim of the present invention to provide an end separating device for a sheet having a backing paper, which can reduce the running cost of the sheet. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an end separating device for a sheet comprising a film and a backing member superposed on each other through an adhesive layer, said end separating device comprising: a first sheet fixing and bending member comprising a first projecting portion and a first recessed portion and a second sheet fixing and bending member comprising a second recessed portion for receiving the first projecting portion and a second projecting portion to be received in said first recessed portion, the first and second sheet fixing and bending members being for bending and fixing an end portion of the sheet having a predetermined length from an end edge of the sheet said and for separating the film from the backing member at the end portion of the sheet against an adhesive strength of the adhesive layer; characterised in that the second projecting portion and the first recessed portion are arranged to mate together with an interposed gap corresponding to the thickness of the sheet. With this construction, the end portion of the sheet having a predetermined length from the end of the sheet is bent and fixed by the sheet fixing and separating member, so that the film of the sheet is separated from the backing paper at the end portion of the sheet against the adhesive strength of the adhesive layer. Other objects and features of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description and appended claims when taken with the accompanying drawings. The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying figures, wherein: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a tape cassette applied to a tape printing device with an upper case of the tape cassette removed, in a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of a cutter mechanism mounted to the tape cassette shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of a cutter constituting the cutter mechanism shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a fixing and separating mechanism fixed to the cutter, illustrating a condition where a tape cut by the cutter is bent and fixed by the fixing and separating mechanism; Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a structure of the tape. There will now be described some preferred embodiments according to the present invention with reference to the drawings. Figs. 1 to 5 illustrate a preferred embodiment according to the present invention applied to a tape printing device for making a printed tape T. Referring first to Fig. 1 which is a plan view of a tape cassette 1 arranged in connection with the tape printing device (an upper case of the tape cassette 1 being removed), the tape cassette 1 includes a tape spool 3 around which a transparent film tape 2 is wound, a ribbon spool 5 around which a thermal ink ribbon 4 is wound, and an adhesive tape spool 7 around which a double-sided adhesive tape 6 having a separable backing paper E is wound with the backing paper E forming an outer surface of the roll of the adhesive tape 6. These spools 3, 5 and 7 are rotatably supported within the tape cassette 1 in cooperation with respective supporting portions provided on a lower surface of the upper case (not shown). Similarly, a ribbon take-up spool 8 is rotatably supported within the tape cassette 1 at a position among the spools 3, 5 and 7. The ribbon take-up spool 8 rotates with a ribbon take-up shaft (not shown), so that the thermal ink ribbon 4 used for printing is taken up around the ribbon take-up spool 8 by driving the ribbon take-up shaft. The tape cassette 1 is formed with a recess 9, and a thermal head 10 is located in the recess 9. A platen roller 11 is located to face the thermal head 10 in pressure contact, so that printing of characters or the like is effected on the film tape 2 through the thermal ink ribbon 4 by the cooperation of the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 11. A pressure roller 12 and a tape feed roller 13 are rotatably supported in pressure contact with each other on the downstream side of the thermal head 10 along an advancing direction of the film tape 2 (i.e., at a left lower position as viewed in Fig. 1). The pressure roller 12 and the tape feed roller 13 function to feed the film tape 2, on which characters or the like have been printed through the thermal ink ribbon 4 by the thermal head 10, together with the double-sided adhesive tape 6 having the backing paper E, and bring both the tapes 2 and 6 into adhesion to each other in such a manner that a printed surface of the film tape 2 adheres to an adhesive surface of the adhesive tape 6 on the side opposite to the backing paper E. As a result, the printed tape T is finally ejected from a tape ejecting portion 14. Referring to Fig. 5, the printed tape T thus prepared has a multilayer structure such that the printed film tape 2 and the backing paper E are separably bonded together through an adhesive layer D. A cutter mechanism 15 is provided in the vicinity of the tape ejecting portion 14, so as to suitably cut the tape T ejected from the tape ejecting portion 14. The cutter mechanism 15 will now be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a side view of the cutter mechanism 15 taken in the direction of an arrow A shown in Fig. 1. Referring to Fig. 2, a DC motor 16 is provided below a rear left portion of the tape cassette 1 as viewed in Fig. 1. A pinion 17 is fixed to a drive shaft 16A of the DC motor 16. An idle gear 18 is meshed with the pinion 17, and a rocking gear 19 is meshed with the idle gear 18. The pinion 17, the idle gear 18 and the rocking gear 19 constitute a gearing mechanism G. The idle gear 18 and the rocking gear 19 are rotatably supported on a side wall of the tape cassette 1. A rocking pin 20 is fixed to the rocking gear 19 at a position near the center of rotation thereof, and a sensor plate 21 is provided in the vicinity of a gear teeth portion of the rocking gear 19. A cutter sensor F is located outside the gear teeth portion of the rocking gear 19. The sensor plate 21 is detected by the cutter sensor F, thereby detecting a rotational position of the rocking gear 19 to control a drive starting position of a movable blade 22. The movable blade 22 is rotatably supported on a rotating shaft P. A rocking lever 23 is fixed to the movable blade 22 at the rotating shaft P. The rocking lever 23 is provided with a recess 23A, and the rocking pin 20 is inserted in the recess 23A. With this arrangement, when the DC motor 16 is rotated in a forward or reverse direction, the pinion 17, the idle gear 18 and the rocking gear 19 are respectively rotated in the forward or reverse direction. As a result, the rocking lever 23 is rocked through the rocking pin 20, thereby rotating the movable blade 22 about the axis of the rotating shaft P. A fixed blade 24 is fixed to the side wall of the tape cassette 1 by means of screws 25. The movable blade 22 is adapted to be opened or closed relative to the fixed blade 24 with the rotating shaft P operating as a fulcrum. Thus, the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24 constitute a cutter K for cutting the tape T ejected from the tape ejecting portion 14. A fully open angle of the movable blade 22 relative to the fixed blade 24 is set to about 30 degrees in this preferred embodiment. Referring next to Figs. 3 and 4, reference numeral 30 designates a tape fixing and separating mechanism provided on the cutter K comprised of the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the cutter K, and Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a condition where the tape T is cut by the cutter K. The tape fixing and separating mechanism 30 is comprised of two fixing and separating members 30A and 30B. The first fixing and separating member 30A is fixed to an outer side surface of the movable blade 22 along a cutting edge thereof, while the second fixing and separating member 30B is fixed to an outer side surface of the fixed blade 24 along a cutting edge thereof. These fixing and separating members 30A and 30B cooperate to bend a cut end portion of the tape T by a given length several times and fix the cut end portion of the tape T in such a bent condition. As shown in Fig. 4, the first fixing and separating member 30A is provided with a rightward projecting portion 31 and a leftward recessed portion 32 contiguous to each other. The projecting portion 31 and the recessed portion 32 have edges curved with a predetermined curvature so that when the tape T is fixed, it may be prevented from being unduly bent to be deformed or broken. On the other hand, the second fixing and separating member 30B is disposed in opposed relationship to the first fixing and separating member 30A so that a predetermined gap corresponding to a thickness of the tape T may be defined between the first and second fixing and separating members 30A and 30B when the tape T is fixed. That is, the second fixing and separating member 30B is provided with a recessed portion 34 mating with the projecting portion 31, a projecting portion 35 mating with the recessed portion 32, and a tapering portion 36 mating with the tapering cutting edge of the movable blade 22. The recessed portion 34 and the projecting portion 35 have edges curved for the same reason as that mentioned above. The fully open angle of the movable blade 22 relative to the fixed blade 24 is set to about 30 degrees as mentioned above. In other words, the movable blade 22 is movable relative to the fixed blade 24 in the angular range of 0 to 30 degrees in association with the opening or closing operation. Accordingly, the first fixing and separating member 30A fixed to the movable blade 22 is also movable relative to the second fixing and separating member 30B fixed to the fixed blade 24 in the angular range of 0 to 30 degrees. Now, there will be described the operation of the fixing and separating mechanism 30 for fixing the cut end portion of the tape T and separating the film tape 2 from the backing paper E at the cut end portion of the tape T. After the printed tape T is prepared by the tape printing device, the DC motor 16 is driven to operate the cutter mechanism 15 in such a manner as mentioned above. Accordingly, the movable blade 22 is rotated toward the fixed blade 24. At the same time, the first fixing and separating member 30A is moved toward the second fixing and separating member 30B, and they cooperate to bend and fix the tape T. In this condition, the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24 cooperate to start cutting the tape T. When the movable blade 22 is further rotated to completely cut the tape T, the cut end portion of the tape T is fixed by the projecting portion 31 and the recessed portion 32 of the first fixing and separating member 30A and the recessed portion 34 and the projecting portion 35 of the second fixing and separating member 30B. In this fixed condition, the backing paper E of the tape T is plastically deformed at a portion T1 between the tapering portion 36 and a bent portion formed by the recessed portion 32 and the projecting portion 35. Such plastic deformation of the backing paper E is due to the fact that while the film tape 2 is strong in stiffness and can elastically restore an original condition from a bent condition, the backing paper E is weak in stiffness as compared with the film tape 2 and therefore tends to be plastically deformed at the portion T1. Accordingly, at the portion T1 of the tape T, the film tape 2 tends to be separated from the backing paper E against an adhesive strength of the adhesive layer D, starting from the cut end of the tape T. Further, at a portion T2 of the tape T fixed by the projecting portion 31 of the first fixing and separating member 30A and the recessed portion 34 of the second fixing and separating member 30B, the tape T is pressed by the projecting portion 31 from the film tape 2 side. Accordingly, at the portion T2 of the tape T, no plastic deformation of the backing paper E is generated owing to the elastic stiffness of the film tape 2 and the adhesive strength of the adhesive layer D present on upper and lower sides of the projecting portion 31 as viewed in Fig. 4. In this manner, the backing paper E is plastically deformed at the cut end portion of the tape T. Accordingly, when the tape T is released from the fixing and separating members 30A and 30B, the film tape 2 is separated from the backing paper E at the cut end portion of the tape T. As described above, according to the first preferred embodiment, the fixing and separating members 30A and 30B comprising the tape end separating device are fixed to the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24, respectively. Therefore, simultaneously with cutting of the tape T by means of the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24, the film tape 2 can be separated from the backing paper E at the cut end portion of the tape T. Accordingly, the tape end separating device can be manufactured with the reduced number of component parts at a low cost. Further, it is very convenient that the film tape 2 can be separated from the backing paper E at the cut end portion of the tape T every time the tape T is cut. Thus, in the tape T prepared above, the film tape 2 can be easily separated from the backing paper E. Although the fixing and separating members 30A and 30B are provided on the outer side surfaces of the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24, respectively, in respect of an ejecting direction of the tape T to be ejected from the tape ejecting portion 14 in the above preferred embodiment, it is to be noted that this arrangement is merely illustrative and not limitative. For instance, the fixing and separating members 30A and 30B may be provided on the inner side surfaces of the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 24, respectively.

Claims: An end separating device for a sheet (T) comprising a film (2) and a backing member (E) superposed on each other through an adhesive layer (D), said end separating device comprising: a first sheet fixing and bending member (30A,22) comprising a first projecting portion (31) and a first recessed portion (32) and a second sheet fixing and bending member (30B,24) comprising a second recessed portion (34) for receiving the first projecting portion (31) and a second projecting portion (35) to be received in said first recessed portion (32), the first and second sheet fixing and bending members (30A,22;30B,24) being for bending and fixing an end portion of the sheet (T) having a predetermined length from an end edge of the sheet (T) and for separating the film (2) from the backing member (E) at the end portion of the sheet (T) against an adhesive strength of the adhesive layer (D); characterised in that the second projecting portion (35) and the first recessed portion (32) are arranged to mate together with an interposed gap corresponding to the thickness of the sheet. The end separating device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second sheet fixing and bending members (30A,22,30B,24) respectively comprise: two cutting members (22,24) for cutting the sheet to form the end edge of the sheet. The end separating device according to claim 2, wherein the second projecting portion (35) and the first recessed portion (32) are disposed respectively on the cutting members (24,22), said second projecting portion (35) and said first recessed portion (32) operating with the cutting members (24,22). The end separating device according to claim 3, wherein each cutting member (22,24) comprises a blade (22,24), the second projecting portion (35) being disposed on one blade (24) and the first recessed portion (32) being disposed on the other blade (22). The end separating device according to claim 4, wherein at least one (22) of the two blades is rotatably mounted to cut the sheet (T). An end separating device according to claim 1, including a gearing mechanism (G) and a cutter mechanism, said cutter mechanism (15) including a cutter sensor (F) and a cutter member (K), the cutter sensor (F) controlling a position of said cutter member (K) according to a position of said gearing mechanism (G). An end separating device according to claim 6, wherein said cutter member (K) comprises two blades (22,24), one of said blades being a fixed blade (24) and the other of said blades being a movable blade (22), said movable blade being rotatably supported on a rotating shaft (P). An end separating device according to claim 5 or 7, wherein said blades (22,24) are movable with respect to one another in an angular range of substantially 0 to 30°. An end separating device according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said movable blade (22) and said fixed blade (24) each have a side surface and wherein said first and second sheet fixing and bending members (30B,22;30B,24) respectively comprise a first fixing and separating member (30A) being fixed to said side surface of said movable blade (22) along a cutting edge of said movable blade (22) and a second fixing and separating member (30B) being fixed to said side surface of said fixed blade (24) along a cutting edge of said fixed blade (24), said first (30A) and second (30B) fixing and separating members cooperating to bend and fix said end portion of said sheet. An end separating device according to claim 9, wherein said first fixing and separating member (30A) has contiguously the first projection (31) and the first recessed portion (32), said first projecting portion (31) and said first recessed portion (32) having curved edges of respective predetermined curvatures. An end separating device according to claim 10, wherein said second fixing and separating member (30B) has the second projecting (35) and the second recessed (34) portion which mate with the first projecting (31) and first recessed (32) portions of said first fixing and separating member (30A), said second projecting portion (35) and said second recessed portion (34) of said second fixing and separating member (30B) having curved edges of respective predetermined curvatures, said second fixing and separating member (30B) being disposed in opposed relationship to said first fixing and separating member (30A). An end separating device according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein said first (30A) and second (30B) fixing and separating members define a predetermined gap therebetween, said gap corresponding to a thickness of the sheet (T). An end separating device according to claim 9, 10, 11 or 12, wherein said movable blade (22) has a tapered cutting edge, said second fixing and separating member (30B) having a tapering portion (36) which mates with said tapered cutting edge. A tape printing device for making a printed tape, comprising: tape preparation means for preparing a multilayered printed tape, said printed tape comprising a superimposed film tape and backing layer, an adhesive layer adhering said film tape and said backing layer to one another; and an end separating device according to any one of the preceding claims, for separating an end of said printed tape prepared by said tape preparation means.

Inventors: HARADA HIRONORI, KITAZAWA YASUNORI, SHIOTA JUNJI, HARADA, HIRONORI, KITAZAWA, YASUNORI, SHIOTA, JUNJI, Harada, Hironori, c/o Brother Kogyo K.K., KITAZAWA, YASUNORI, C/O BROTHER KOGYO K.K., Shiota, Junji, c/o Brother Kogyo K.K.
Applicants: BROTHER IND LTD, BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1992
Main classification: B65H41
IPC codes: B29C63, B65C9, B26D7, B65H41