PRINTED PRODUCT

Abstract: A multi-ply leaflet comprising a first ply and a second ply, the first ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; the second ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; a portion of one face of one of the ply being provided with a sealing material; a portion of the sealing material being provided with an adhesive; a portion of one face of the other ply being adhered to the adhesive; and wherein the bond between the adhesive and the sealing material and/or the bond between the adhesive and other ply is weaker than the bond between the sealing material and the ply on which the sealing material is provided. The structure has the advantage that a large volume of information can be presented on a leaflet which is suited to automated folding operations without deterioration in the leaflet's presentation.

Description: PRINTED PRODUCT The present invention concerns improvements in and relating to products, principally paper based products such as multiply leaflets, and also to methods of manufacture thereof. More particularly, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a multi -ply leaflet having ply which are adhered together by a dry peel adhesive. It is often necessary to accompany products with a large amount of printed information. This is particularly the case in the pharmaceutical industry where detailed information must accompany drugs which are supplied to pharmacists, doctors and patients. This information is usually contained in a folded leaflet which accompanies the drugs. Leaflets are generally produced in a large size which is dependant on the quantity of information required to be present, normally information relating to the drug and its side effects. Changes in legislation regarding print point size and extra information in various languages has made it difficult to enlarge the leaflet size without compromising the pack integrity and/or introducing problems in printing and folding. Attempts to enlarge the leaflet size have been made with one edge of two leaflets being joined together to give an enlarged size. This is then either sealed together with a hinge or the leaflets are folded or have a further sealant applied to the other edge. This has the effect, however, of creating a sachet form which on folding can give air entrapment and cause further creasing. This is due to problems with irregular thicknesses of the edges when adhered together. As a consequence folded leaflets can be difficult to produce. Printing on the portions contained near the adhesive is also not practical in such cases as on peeling apart, the adhesive pulls the print with it, text transfer, giving an unattractive appearance. The present invention includes amongst its potential aims to provide a versatile extended leaflet structure which offers ease of production and use and is rugged enough to withstand conditions encountered in use, for instance automated folding operations, without deterioration in the leaflet's presenta ion . Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a multi-ply leaflet comprising a first ply and a second ply, the first ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; the second ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; a portion of one face of one of the ply being provided with a sealing material; a portion of the sealing material being provided with an adhesive; a portion of one face of the other ply being adhered to the adhesive; and wherein the bond between the adhesive and the sealing material and / or the bond between the adhesive and other ply is weaker than the bond between the sealing material and the ply on which the sealing material is provided. In this way, for instance with the sealing material and adhesive applied to the first ply, if the second ply is peeled from the multiply leaflet then the sealing material will remain bonded to the first ply rather than be peeled away. Any text printed on the one face of the first ply and covered by the sealing material will therefore remain in place and not be damaged. The corresponding position applies with the sealing material and adhesive applied to the second ply. The multi-ply leaflet of the invention therefore has the advantage that ply can be peeled from the leaflet without text transfer from the ply below. The portion of the one face on which the sealing material is provided is preferably at least 50% of that face, to prevent air entrapment. More preferably at least 70%, still more preferably 90% and preferably the entire face is provided with sealing material. The proportion of the sealing material which is provided with an adhesive may be more than 50% of that area. More preferably at least 70%, still more preferably at least 90% and ideally all of the area is provided with an adhesive. The portion of the one face of the other ply which is adhered to the adhesive may be at least 50% of that face. More preferably at least 70%, still more preferably at least 90% and preferably the entirety of one face is adhered to the adhesive. Preferably the first ply and second ply are separate from one another prior to being adhered together. The multi-ply leaflet of the invention thus has the advantage that as the leaflet is formed by adhering layers together rather than by folding or just edge sealing, the resulting leaflet has a uniform thickness. The resulting multi -ply leaflet also does not contain folds in which to trap air. The multi-ply leaflet according to the invention is relatively simple to transport and store . Preferably, a portion, such as all, of both the opposing faces of the first and second ply are provided with sealing material . The portion of both faces provided with sealing material may be the same or different. The portion of faces provided with sealing material may be of the level provided above. This has the advantage that both the face of the first ply and the face of the second ply which are potentially in contact with adhesive are provided with sealing material . One or both of the sealing materials may be provided with adhesive on at least a portion, such as all, thereof. The portion of both faces provided with adhesive may be the same or different. Preferably the portion of one or both of the faces provided with adhesives is provided for the proportions stated above. Both faces of one or both of the first and second ply may be provided with sealing material. This has the advantage that both faces of each ply are protected by sealing materials from any adjacent adhesive. Both the first and second faces of each ply can therefore be printed with matter which will be protected from text transfer by sealing material. Preferably, the sealing material is provided as a layer. Preferably the sealing material comprises a varnish, for instance a cured varnish, preferably a varnish cured by the application of ultraviolet light. In this way the cured varnish is rendered impervious to adhesive, is simple to apply and reliably bonds with the ply and / or their sealing materials . The sealing material may be continuously provided on the one face of the first ply and / or the one face of the second ply. Alternatively, the sealing material may be provided on that portion, or a marginally larger portion, of the one face of the first ply and / or the one face of the second ply on which the adhesive is provided. The remaining part of the face of the ply which does not receive the adhesive may be free of the sealing material in such cases. The sealing material may be an ultra violet cured single part varnish system. The varnish system may be based on acrylate monomers, particularly synthetic acrylate monomers. Preferably the varnish may include photo initiators. The curing wavelength of the varnish may be between 300 and 400nm, for instance between 350 and 380nm, ideally 365nm. The sealing material may be a two part system, for instance a cationic system. The system may comprise an acrylate monomer based system, for instance a system activated by the addition of a catalyst. Preferably the sealing material is printed down on the one or more faces. An engraved roller or printing plate may be used to apply the sealing material. The system may provided a print head or coated system for use in the application of the sealing material . Preferably, the adhesive is a dry peel adhesive, preferably a dry peel emulsion or a hot melt. This has the advantage that once the ply of the leaflet have been peeled apart there is no residual adhesion on the faces of the ply so that they are not sticky to the touch. The adhesive may be provided in proximity to one or more edges of the ply. The adhesive may be applied in strips along such edges. The strips may be continuous or discontinuous. The adhesive may be provided in strips across the ply. Again, the adhesive may be discontinuously or continuously provided. More preferably the adhesive is provided and distributed over substantially all of the sealing material. The adhesive may be distributed in a continuous layer or coat or in a discontinuous manner, such as a dotted pattern. The provision of adhesive distributed over the substantial portion of the sealing material was beneficial in avoiding trapping of air between the ply. The adhesive may be provided on one or both of the first or second ply. The adhesive may be an aqueous based adhesive, for instance an emulsion adhesive such as a aqueous based emulsion acrylic adhesive. Alternatively or additionally a synthetic hot melt system may be used, for instance an acrylic hot melt system. A portion of the one face of one of the ply and a portion of the opposing one face of the other ply may be provided without the sealing material. These portions, or part thereof, may be provided with adhesive. In this way, the adhesive can be adhered to a portion of both the first and second ply so as to form a hinge of a more permanent nature . Preferably, the portions in question are provided at one edge of the first and / or second ply. The multi-ply leaflet may comprise a third or more ply. Preferably adjacent plys are adhered to one another according to repeats of the structure used to adhere the first and second plys to one another. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of manufacture of a multi-ply structure, the multi-ply structure comprising a first ply and a second ply, the first ply comprising first and second sides, the second ply comprising first and second sides, the method comprising the steps of : - providing at least a portion of a first side of one of the ply with a sealing material; curing the sealing material; providing at least a portion of the cured sealing material with an adhesive; contacting a portion of the other ply in contact with the adhesive. The method may further comprise cutting the multi-ply structure at one or more locations to form one or more multi-ply leaflets. The method may further provide supplying the multi -ply leaflets to a packaging process, for instance to incorporate the leaflets into a package alongside a product. The multi-ply structure may be rolled or otherwise stored prior to the transportation and / or cutting operation and / or packaging operation. The method may further comprise, as an integral step and / or as a step of a preceding process, the provision of printed matter on one or more sides of one or more of the ply. Preferably printed matter is provided on at least one of the sides of the ply which are adhered to one another. The printed matter may be text, pictures or other matter. The sealing material can be a varnish, for instance applied as a layer. The sealing material may be applied as a coating. Preferably, the method includes curing the sealing material by the application of ultraviolet light. The method may further provide for the curing of the adhesive. Preferably the adhesive is cured by drying, preferably either by air drying or by the application of infra-red radiation. Preferably the adhesive is a dry peel adhesive, preferably a dry peel emulsion or a hot melt. The present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a further embodiment of a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention; Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of a multi -ply leaflet according to the invention during assembly; and Figure 4 shows a further embodiment of a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention. Shown in Figure 1 is a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention comprising a first ply 1 and second ply 2. The first ply 1 has upper and lower faces 4,5. The first ply 1 is an uncoated paper. In alternative embodiments the first ply 1 can be coated paper or self adhesive paper. Text 3 is printed on the desired portion of the upper face 4 of the first ply 1 and may also be present on the lower face 20 of the first ply 1. Coating a large portion of the upper face 4 of first ply 1 is a sealing layer 6. The sealing layer 6 comprises a cured varnish. In this embodiment the varnish is a cationic varnish although in other embodiments other varnishes are possible . Coating the varnish sealing layer 6 is an adhesive layer 7. The adhesive 7 is an emulsion adhesive. If the ply 1, 2 of the leaflet are peeled apart then the newly exposed surface (s) of the cured dry peel adhesive 7 exhibit no residual adhesion and are not sticky to touch. In this embodiment the formed dry peel adhesive 7 is an acrylic based formulation separates by a shear bond once cured. In an alternative embodiment the adhesive can be a synthetic hot melt. The opposite face of the adhesive layer 7 is adhered to the lower face 8 of second ply 2. The second ply 2 is also an uncoated paper. In alternative embodiments the second ply 2 can be a coated paper or self adhesive paper. Text 9 is printed on the desired portion of the lower face 8 of the second ply 2 and may also be present on the upper face 10 of the second ply 2. The varnish of this constructions is impervious to the adhesive, so preventing the adhesive from adhering directly to the upper face 4 of the first ply 1 and / or the text 3 thereo . A user of the multi-ply leaflet according to the invention would typically read any matter printed on the upper face 10 of the second ply 2. This sheet would then be peeled from the leaflet to reveal the lower face 8 of the second ply 2 and / or the upper face 4 of the first ply 1 below. The bond between the varnish 6 and ply 1 is stronger than the bond between the varnish 6 and the adhesive 7. Therefore, as the second ply 2 is peeled from the leaflet the varnish 6 will tend to remain as a covering layer on ply 1 rather than be peeled away with second ply 2. The text printed on the upper face 4 of webbing sheet 3 and below the varnish 6 will therefore remain in place rather than be peeled away. The order to manufacture the two ply leaflet of figure 1 the appropriate faces of the ply 1, 2 are firstly printed with the desired printed matter. The upper face 4 of ply 1 is then coated with a varnish by, for example, a roller or printing plate. The varnish is then cured by application of ultra violet light at 365nm. In an alternative embodiment the varnish is cured by heating. Once the varnish is cured it is covered by the adhesive. The adhesive is applied in an aqueous form using a coating analox. In alternative embodiments the adhesive is applied by a printing plate or roller. The second ply 2 is brought in to contact with the adhesive as shown. The adhesive is then cured by an infrared dryer or by air drying to form the leaflet. The leaflet is then placed in storage to allow the resin and varnish to fully cure. Once assembled the leaflet may be cut to size and stacked to form the feed of leaflets to a packing process. Alternatively, the ply are left as long rolls of many leaflets for cutting to size when required. The rolls may be transported in this form from their location of production to location of use. Shown schematically in Figure 2 is a further embodiment of a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention. The multiply leaflet comprises first and second ply 1 , 2 as previously described. A cured varnish sealing layer 6 extends partly across the upper face 4 of the first ply 1. A hinge portion 11 is defined on the upper face 4 close to the edge of the first ply 1 by an area which is not coated with the varnish sealing layer 6 and conjunction with an adhesive layer 7 which coats both the sealing layer 6 and also the hinge portion 11 of the first ply 1. The opposite side of the adhesive layer 7 is adhered to the lower face 8 of the second ply 2 as shown. The adhesive material extending between the hinge portion 11 of the first ply 1 and the second ply 2 comprises a hinge 12 which securely bonds the first and second ply 1, 2 together. The ply 1, 2 remote from the hinge 12 can be peeled apart as previously described. As these ply are peeled apart the varnish sealing layer 6 remains bonded to the upper face 4 of the first ply 1. The multiply leaflet shown in Figure 2 can be manufactured and distributed as a leaflet having both ply 1, 2 adhered together, but with the ply 1, 2 separable other than at the hinge 12 so as to open to form a book. As the adhesive is a dry peel adhesive, once the ply 1, 2 have been peeled apart they become dry pages which are not sticky to the touch. Shown in Figure 3 is a further embodiment of a multiply leaflet according to the invention shown being assembled. The multiply leaflet is similar to the embodiment shown in Figure 1. The figure shows first ply 1 which is provided on its lower surface 5 with printed matter 30. On top of this has been applied the sealing layer 6 and adhesive layer 7. The figure illustrates the second ply 2 being brought into contact with this first ply 1 and its layers 6, 7. Thus the left hand side of the figure the ply 2 has been adhered to the adhesive. The ply 2 is provided with text 9 on the lower surface and text 32 on the upper surface. As with the embodiment shown in Figure 2, this embodiment of a multi-ply leaflet can be manufactured as a one ply leaflet with the sheets adhered together or when required the ply can be produced with a hinge to form a booklet . Shown in Figure 4 is a further embodiment of a multi-ply leaflet according to the invention. The multi-ply leaflet comprises a plurality of ply 12-16 connected together by dry peel adhesive. Unlike the previous embodiments, each ply (except the top and bottom ply) is coated both its top and bottom faces with a varnish sealing layer 6. Adhesive layers 7 are located between adjacent sealing layers 6. The multi- ply leaflet shown in Figure 4 can optionally include a hinge . In order to manufacture the multiply leaflet shown in Figure 4 the ply are firstly printed on both sides with the desired text. The sheets are then coated on both sides with a varnish sealing layer which is then cured. Next, an adhesive is applied to one side of each ply and the ply adhered together. The adhesive layers are then cured by infra-red heating. Finally, the leaflet is cut to the required shape.

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A multi-ply leaflet comprising a first ply and a second the first ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; the second ply comprising first and second faces, one or both of the faces being provided with printed matter; a portion of one face of one of the ply being provided with a sealing material; a portion of the sealing material being provided with an adhesive; a portion of one face of the other ply being adhered to the adhesive; and wherein the bond between the adhesive and the sealing material and / or the bond between the adhesive and other ply is weaker than the bond between the sealing material and the ply on which the sealing material is provided. 2. A leaflet according to claim 1 in which the portion of the one face on which the sealing material is provided is at least 90% of that face. 3. A leaflet according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the proportion of the sealing material which is provided with an adhesive is more than 90% of that area. 4. A leaflet according to any of claims 1 to 4 in which the portion of the one face of the other ply which is adhered to the adhesive is at least 90% of that face. 5. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which the leaflet is formed by adhering ply together and the resulting leaflet has a uniform thickness. 6. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which a portion of both the opposing faces of the first and second ply are provided with sealing material. 7. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which the sealing material comprises a varnish. 8. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which the adhesive is a dry peel adhesive. 9. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which the adhesive is provided in proximity to one or more edges of the ply, the adhesive being applied in strips along such edges . 10. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which the adhesive is an aqueous based adhesive. 11. A leaflet according to any preceding claim in which a portion of the one face of one of the ply and a portion of the opposing one face of the other ply are provided without the sealing material, these portions, or part thereof, being provided with adhesive. 12. A method of manufacture of a multi-ply structure, the multi-ply structure comprising a first ply and a second ply, the first ply comprising first and second sides, the second ply comprising first and second sides, the method comprising the steps of:- providing at least a portion of a first side of one of the ply with a sealing material; curing the sealing material; providing at least a portion of the cured sealing material with an adhesive; contacting a portion of the other ply in contact with the adhesive. 13. A method according to claim 12 in which the method further comprises cutting the multi -ply structure at one or more locations to form one or more multi-ply leaflets. 14. A method according to claim 12 or claim 13 in which the method further provides supplying the multi-ply leaflets to a packaging process to incorporate the leaflets into a package alongside a product.

Inventors: HILL CHARLES ANTHONY, HILL, CHARLES, ANTHONY
Applicants: HILL CHARLES ANTHONY, JARVIS PORTER GROUP PLC, HILL, CHARLES, ANTHONY
Application year: 2000
Main classification: B42D5
IPC codes: B42D5