Patent Publication Number: US-2005126701-A1

Title: Rolls of badge stock for use in printing identification badges in roll-fed printers

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) on U.S. Provisional Application for Patent Ser. No. 60/519,529 filed Nov. 12, 2003. This application also relates to U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/210,158 filed Jul. 28, 2004. Both of these applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to identification badges. The invention also relates to printing stock that may be printed upon to create identification badges and, more particularly, to such printing stock that is in roll form.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Identification badges have been addressed in many different ways. One of the most common is a self-adhesive identification badge that is adhered directly to clothing. Other identification badges include a rigid plastic substrate on which an adhesive label is applied. A strap with a clip attached to the substrate so that the badge can be attached to clothing. Conventional identification badges are printed in laser or inkjet printers. The printing stock for such conventional badges is configured as a label sheet that is fed into a laser or inkjet printer.  
      There remains a need in the art for a convenient, inexpensive, and easy-to-use printing stock for making identification badges.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to identification badges. The invention also relates to printing stock that may be printed upon to create identification badges and, more particularly, to such printing stock that is in roll form.  
      According to one embodiment of the invention and by way of example only, a printing stock assembly for printing identification badges with a roll-fed label printer includes a release liner and a plurality of stock badges. The release liner may have a plurality of spaced apart weakening lines, thereby defining a panel therebetween. Each of the stock badges includes a face stock and an adhesive layer. The stock badges are releasably attached to the release liner in single-file manner between the weakening lines, respectively. The face stock the stock badges includes a verso half and a recto half divided by a fold line. In addition, the face stock may include a pair of strap apertures formed in the verso and recto halves in a mirror image about the fold line. Accordingly, after printing, a stock badge may be removed from the release liner, thereby exposing the adhesive layer. The face stock may then be folded about the fold line such that the adhesive layer of the verso half is adherent to the adhesive layer of the recto half to form a two-sided identification badge. The strap apertures aligned with each to form a through hole to receive a strap.  
      One of the advantages of utilizing the printing stock assembly is that identification badges may be made easily and inexpensively. There is no need for a plastic card substrate on which to adhere labels. In addition, information may be printed on both the verso and the recto halves of the face stock so that the resulting identification badge can have information on both the front and the back side of the card.  
      According to another embodiment, the printing stock assembly may be wound about a core to form a roll of badge stock. The roll of badge stock may be easily mounted in a roll-fed printer so that individual labels can be printed. The weakening lines of the assembly allows a user to tear off individual badge units after printing with a panel of the release liner still attached to the face stock.  
      Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a roll of badge stock according to a number of portrait embodiments;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a roll of badge stock according to a number of landscape embodiments;  
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  are front and side views, respectively, of an identification badge in portrait orientation;  
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  are front and side views, respectively, of an identification badge in landscape orientation;  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a roll-fed label printer;  
       FIG. 6  is a fragmentary front plan view of a printing stock assembly in portrait orientation;  
       FIG. 7  is a fragmentary back plan view of a printing stock assembly of  FIG. 6 ;  
       FIG. 8  is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line  8 - 8  of  FIG. 6 ;  
       FIGS. 9A, 9B , and  9 C are fragmentary cross-sectional views taken along line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 6 , respectively illustrating alternative embodiments of a badge unit;  
       FIGS. 10A, 10B , and  10 C illustrate successive steps in folding a face stock to form a badge;  
       FIG. 11  is a fragmentary plan view of a printing stock assembly in landscape orientation;  
       FIG. 12  is a fragmentary front plan view of a printing stock assembly according to a number of embodiments with a liner section;  
       FIG. 13  is a fragmentary back plan view of a printing stock assembly of  FIG. 12 ;  
       FIG. 14  is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line  14 - 14  of  FIG. 12 ;  
       FIG. 15  is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a face stock with a liner section being removed from a release liner;  
       FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional view of the face stock with liner section of  FIG. 15  folded to form a badge;  
       FIG. 17  is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a face stock without a liner section being removed from a release liner;  
       FIG. 18  is a fragmentary front plan view of a printing stock assembly according to other embodiments with a liner section;  
       FIG. 19  is a fragmentary back plan view of a printing stock assembly of  FIG. 18 ;  
       FIG. 20  is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line  20 - 20  of  FIG. 18 ; and  
       FIG. 21  is an exploded perspective view of a roll of badge stock mounted on a spool of a printer. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to the drawings in more detail, portrait and landscape embodiments of roll of badge stock  100  are respectively illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The portrait embodiment of the rolls of badge stock  100  shown in  FIG. 1  may be used for printing an identification badge  102  with a portrait orientation as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . Similarly, the landscape embodiment of the rolls of badge stock  100  shown in  FIG. 2  may be used for printing an identification badge  102  with a landscape orientation as shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . The roll of badge stock  100  may be configured for operation with a roll-fed label printer  104  as shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , in a number of embodiments the roll of badge stock  100  may include a printing stock assembly  106  wound about a core  108 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , in a number of embodiments the printing stock assembly  106  may include a release liner  110  and a plurality of stock badges  112 . In roll form, the release liner  110  may be longitudinally elongated and may include a plurality of transversely disposed weakening lines  114 , with the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction being indicated by arrows L and T in  FIG. 6 . As shown in  FIG.7 , a panel  116  of the release liner  110  may be defined between successive weakening lines  114 , which will be discussed in more detail below. The stock badges  112  may be spaced apart longitudinally in a single-file manner along the release liner  110  discretely between successive weakening lines  114 . In a number of embodiments, the weakening lines  114  may include perforations.  
      With additional reference to  FIG. 8 , each of the stock badges  112  may include a face stock  118  and an adhesive layer  120  such that the stock badges  112  are releasable attached to the release liner  110 . Accordingly, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 8 , the printing stock assembly  106  may be described as including a plurality of badge units  122  each including one of the stock badges  112  and a respective one of the panels  116  (see  FIG. 7 ) of the release liner  110 . Individual badge units  122  may be detached from the printing stock assembly  106  along the weakening line  114  either before or after printing. Any type of known label stock may be used for the face stock  118  of the assembly  106 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 6 , the face stock  118  of each of the stock badges  112  may be include a verso half  124  and a recto half  126  divided by a transverse fold line  128  which is indicted by the phantom line in the drawings. In addition, each of the face stocks  118  may include a pair of strap apertures  130  disposed in a mirror image about the fold line  128  so that each of the halves  124  and  126  has a respective one of the strap apertures  130 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 9A , the strap apertures  130  may be formed by making a die cut  132  through the entire badge unit  122  and removing the portion of the badge unit  122  within the cut  132  so that the strap apertures  130  are through holes. Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 9B , the die cut  132  may be made through the layers of the badge unit  122  but the portion of the badge unit  122  within the die cut  132  remaining in place for subsequent removal by a user during badge assembly. Still alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 9C , the die cut  132  may be made through the stock badge  112  (i.e., through the face stock  118  and the adhesive layer  120 ) but not through the liner  110 . Accordingly, in this last embodiment, the portion of the stock badge  112  within the die cut  132  may remain attached to the liner  110  when the stock badge  112  is removed from the liner  110  after printing.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 10A, 10B , and  10 C, when removed from the release liner  110 , the adhesive layer  120  of a stock badge is exposed. The stock badge  112  may be folded about the fold line  128  with the adhesive layer  120  of the verso half  124  adhering to the adhesive layer  120  of the recto half  126  to form a two-sided identification badge  102 . With additional reference to  FIG. 3 , the verso half  124  of the face stock  118  may define one side (e.g., a front side) of the identification badge  102 , and the recto half  126  may define the other side (e.g., a back side) of the identification badge  102 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the strap apertures  130  substantially align with other to define a through hole  134  through which a strap  136  is receivable as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
      In portrait embodiments such as shown in  FIGS. 1, 3 , and  6 , the strap apertures  130  may be substantially transversely centered on the verso and recto halves  124  and  126 ; that is, a longitudinal center axis A of the apertures  130  is substantially equidistant between opposing edges of the face stock  118  as indicated by alpha y. Accordingly, when the stock badge  112  is folded about the fold line  128 , the resulting identification badge  102  has a portrait orientation.  
      Alternatively, in landscape embodiments as shown in  FIGS. 2, 4 , and  11 , the strap apertures  130  may be substantially longitudinally centered on the verso and recto halves  124  and  126 ; that is, respective center axes B of the apertures  130  are substantially equidistant between the fold line  128  and opposing ends of the face stock  118  as indicated by alpha x. Accordingly, when the stock badge  112  is folded about the fold line  128 , the resulting identification badge  102  has a landscape orientation.  
      For the purposes of this description, the term “portrait” is used to describe the normal reading/viewing orientation of a piece of media (e.g., a piece of paper) in which the vertical sides are longer than the horizontal sides, and the term “landscape” is used to describe the normal reading/viewing orientation of a piece of media in which the horizontal sides are longer than the vertical sides, which definitions accord the common usage of these terms in the art.  
      With further reference to  FIG. 6 , the face stock  118  may have a longitudinal length l and a transverse width w. Accordingly, the verso and the recto halves  124  and  126  of the face stock  118  may also have a longitudinal length that is about one-half the length l of the face stock  118  and a transverse width that is about equal of the width w of the face stock  118 . In a number of embodiments, the length of each half  124  and  126  (i.e., l/ 2 ) may be greater than the width w. For example, the face stock  118  may have a length l of about 6¾ inches (i.e., the length of each of the halves  124  and  126  may be about 3⅜ inches) and a width w of about 2⅛ inches. Accordingly, when folded to form a badge  102 , the badge  102  may have dimensions of about 3⅜ inches by about 2⅛ inches, which are the dimensions of a standard sized identification badge.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 12, 13  and  14 , in a number of embodiments the release liner  110  of the printing stock assembly  106  may include a plurality of liner cuts  138  defining a plurality of liner sections  140 . As particularly shown by phantom line in  FIG. 12 , the liner sections  140  may be smaller in size than the face stock  118  and located spatially within the face stock  118 . As shown in  FIG. 15 , when one of the face stocks  118  is removed from the release liner  110 , a corresponding one of the liner sections  140  remains adhered to the removed face stock  118 . The smaller dimensions of the liner section  140  (compared to the dimensions of the face stock  118  itself) results in a peripheral section  142  of the adhesive layer  120  being exposed.  
      Accordingly, when the removed face stock  118  is folded about the fold line  128 , the liner section  140  is sandwiched between the verso and recto halves  124  and  126  of the face stock  118  as shown in  FIG. 16 . In contrast, in the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  which are free of liner cuts, when the face stock  118  is removed from the liner  110 , the entire adhesive layer  120  is exposed as shown in  FIG. 17 . The presence of the liner section  140  may mitigate the tendency of the face stock  118  to curl resulting from being in roll form.  
      For the purposes of this description, the term “spatially located” is used to describe the spatial and/or dimensional relationship between the various elements of the assembly  106 . For example, referencing  FIG. 12 , a liner section  140  may be described as being spatially located within the face stock  118 , which indicates that the liner section  140  has at least one dimension that is smaller than a corresponding dimension of the face stock  118  and that the liner section  140  is positioned with respect to the face stock  118  such that liner section  140  does not project beyond any of the edges or sides of the face stock  118 . As another example, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , in a number of embodiments the face stock  118  may be spatially located within a panel  116  of the release liner  110 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 12 , the liner cuts  138  may be spatially located within one of the halves  124  or  126  (e.g., the verso half  124  as shown) such that the liner section  140  does not extend spatially across the fold line  128  as shown in  FIG. 13 . Alternatively, as shown in  FIGS. 18, 19 , and  20 , each of the liner cuts  138  may be spatially located within the entire face stock  118  such that the liner section  140  extends spatially across the fold line  128 . In these latter embodiments, the curl of the face stock  118  is mitigated equally on both halves  124  and  126 .  
      With additional reference to  FIG. 5 , the label printer  104  may be in communication with a computer  144  that is configured to drive the printer  104 . As shown in  FIG. 21 , the printer  104  may include a spool  146  on which the roll of badge stock  100  may be mounted, which in turn operably mounts the roll of badge stock  100  in the printer  104 . One example of a roll-fed label printer is Personal Label Printer, Model No. 9100, which is a thermal label printer available from Avery Dennison Corporation, Office Products North America, Brea, Calif. 92821. Another example is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/979,879 filed Nov. 1, 2003, and entitled “A Label Printer that Dispenses Labels in Non-Peel or Automatic Peel Modes,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The computer  144  and the printer  104  may operate according to a software application executed by the computer  144  or by the printer  104  itself. An example of the operation of the printer  104  and software application may be found in “Personal Label Printer: Quick Start Guide” which is available as Part No. 1271002800, available from Avery Dennison Corporation, Office Products North America, Brea, Calif. 92821.  
      To make identification badges  102 , a user may provide a system for making badges including a roll of badge stock  100 , the printer  104 , the computer  144 , and a plurality of straps  136  (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). The straps  136  may be conventional straps with clips for attaching to clothing that are typically used for identification badges. The user may then cause the printer  104  to print on the face stock  118 . Depending on the desired badge, the verso half  124  and the recto half  126  of the face stock  118  may be printed upon. After printing, the stock badge  112  may be removed from the release liner  110  as described above to expose the adhesive layer  120 . The removed stock badge  112  may then be folded about the fold line  128  also as described above. A strap  136  may then be inserted through the through hole  134  to produce an identification badge  102  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . After printing, a badge unit  122  may be removed from the roll of badge stock  100  by tearing along a corresponding weakening line  114 .  
      Those skilled in the art will understand that the preceding embodiments of the present invention provide the foundation for numerous alternatives and modifications thereto. These other modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to that precisely as shown and described in the present invention.