Abstract:
A stamp product is described which is self-adhesive and adheres to a release liner. The product is imprinted with stamp graphics and perforated about the periphery of the graphics and through the liner to define each stamp. The liner is cut opposite each stamp making each stamp accessible by tearing both liner and stamp at the perforations or by removal of the liner at each stamp and then tearing the stamp at the perforations.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/080,602, filed May 18, 1998, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/047,992, filed May 28, 1997, the entire teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Traditionally, postage stamps have been manufactured with a water activated adhesive and perforated holes. More recently, the postal services of many countries have converted, at least partially, to a self-adhesive or Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) construction which does not require any medium for activation and is formed from a laminate in which the self-adhesive postage stamps are releasably adhered to a release liner.  
           [0003]    Traditionally self-adhesive stamps utilize die cutting technology proven during the production of billions of PSA unperforated postage stamps. Since 1990, virtually all known commercially-available self-adhesive stamps are die cut around the periphery to provide shape and enhance removal of individual stamps from the release liner. The largest user of self-adhesive stamps worldwide is the United States Postal Service. Originally, their PSA stamps were die cut in straight lines. As such, they were not always recognized by collectors as “stamps” since an important feature for collectors “stamps” is the full hole perforation and the ability of a user to separate individual stamps from each other with the liner intact. Therefore, more recently, the die cut technology was modified to include a sinusoidal pattern so as to create simulated perforations; and even more recently, stamps have been issued with only the liner microperforated to make severing one stamp from another easier.  
           [0004]    These developments in self-adhesive die cut stamps have been designed to create self-adhesive stamps which are well accepted by both the public, the collector and even the postal service itself. The public favors self-adhesive stamps, due to its convenience in use, and collectors find them attractive to collect. However, until self-adhesives acquired simulated perforations, self-adhesive stamps were sometimes rejected by mail carriers as not being stamps (because they didn&#39;t look like stamps).  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Accordingly, a need exists for a self-adhesive stamp product that can meet the user&#39;s need for convenience and which still has the traditional stamp-like appearance before and after use in mail.  
           [0006]    In accordance with the present invention, a postage stamp product is provided comprising a laminate of a sheet of stamp paper containing stamp graphics on one side and a self-adhesive layer on the other side, and wherein said sheet is releasably adhered to a release liner.  
           [0007]    The self-adhesive layer is preferably formed of a pressure sensitive adhesive which is adapted to provide clean perforations using male/female punch tooling. The release level of the adhesive precludes separation of the stamp paper during processing while providing convenient stamp removal from the release liner immediately prior to consumer use.  
           [0008]    The laminate is perforated with a series of holes to form an array of stamps, including liner, connected to one another by unperforated portions. Preferably, the laminate is die cut through the release liner, around each stamp, to provide easy removal of the liner from each stamp.  
           [0009]    Furthermore, in accordance with the invention, a method and apparatus for manufacturing the aforesaid stamp product is provided as follows.  
           [0010]    One or more sheets of self-adhesive unperforated stamp stock laminate are disposed between a perforator comprising an array of upper pins and appropriately disposed lower hollow cutting members. The pins are reciprocally translated through the stock and into a longitudinal bore in the cutting member to perforate the stamp laminate. The length of the pins in relation to the thickness of the laminate and the depth of the longitudinal base is sufficient to perforate the laminate cleanly without carrying the perforation core waste back onto the perforator or laminate. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a partial perspective top view of the preferred stamp sheet construction of the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional exaggerated view along lines II-II.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a partial perspective bottom view of the preferred stamp sheet construction of FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred perforator for perforating the stamp sheets of the invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the pin or needle holder  54  of FIG. 4. 
     
    
       [0016]    The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    A description of preferred embodiments of the invention follows.  
         [0018]    With reference to FIGS.  1 - 3 , a preferred stamp sheet product  10  consists of an N by M array  12  of stamps  14  (preferably in this case N=2×M=10) with optional contiguous borders  34  provided about the periphery thereof A number of such arrays (e.g., six) may be formed as a single laminate and then die cut into separate products  10 . For purposes of simplification, only one N×M array is shown here. The borders  34  can be used to print instructional information for the user, such as the fact that the stamps are “self-adhesive.” On the opposite side of the product  10 , as shown in FIG. 3, a release liner  24  protected by an optional printability undercoating  26  is provided with a die-cut sinusoidal pattern  30  provided thereon running through the thickness of the liner  24  and coating  26 . The pattern  30  runs opposite each stamp  14 .  
         [0019]    As can be seen in the sectional view of FIG. 2, the unperforated unprinted P8A stamp laminate  40  is comprised of several layers or coatings, some of which may be optional, at the option of the end user, and some of which are mandated by the postal authorities. The principal steps in forming the laminate are as follows:  
         [0020]    1) A printability coating  16 , preferably consisting of calcium carbonate, clay and 8Br as a binder is applied to a face paper sheet  18  preferably having a ream size of 25″×38″×500 sheets and a weight of 55-70 pounds per ream.  
         [0021]    2) The undersurface of the face sheet  18  is preferably provided with a coating  20  of a water soluble primer which allows thorough soaking for a period of no more than 30 minutes to separate the stamp face from the adhesive for stamp collector purposes.  
         [0022]    3) The next layer in the construction is an ooze resistant pressure sensitive adhesive layer  22 , which is preferably applied as an acrylic emulsion polymer, but which may also be hot melt coated or applied from a solvent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,444, 5,183,459, 5,264,532 and 5,385,965 (incorporated herein by reference in their entirety) disclose suitable adhesives for use herein.  
         [0023]    4) Adhesive layer  22  is formed of a first material coating  25   a  of a Controlled Release Agent (CRA), such as, commercially available GE 88-4335 which is added to a silicone “holdout” material  25   b . Material  25   b  reduces the silicone penetration into the paper fibers and allows a continuous even spread out of the silicon onto the surface.  
         [0024]    5) Next, release liner  24  is applied to the coatings  25   a  and  25   b  and retained thereby. Preferably, liner  24  is formed of about 51 pound per ream paper of the type sold by Avery Dennison under the trademark Stamp Printers Line™.  
         [0025]    6) Lastly, a printability coating  26  (previously mentioned) similar to coating  16  is applied to the underside of liner  24 . The release liner  24  may be printed with suitable graphics (not shown) such as order forms, use instructions, coupons and the like.  
         [0026]    In traditional stamp production, the laminate  40  is then passed to a printing press where the stamp graphics are printed on the upper surface of the laminate. For the present invention, the laminate is die cut and optionally sheeted prior to printing. After die cutting, the laminate is then printed by various methods, preferably lithography, intaglio and/or gravure. Either before or after printing, the border of each stamp is perforated using the method described below.  
         [0027]    The perforation method of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS.  4 - 5  herein.  
         [0028]    First, the stamp laminate  40  (not shown} is fed into the opening  80  between a stationary lower cutting plate assembly  82  and an upper pin assembly  90  of a perforator  50  of the type made by WISTA GmbH of Germany, Model BPA 9070. The assembly  90  consists of a stationary guide member  72  with an intermediate plate  62  affixed thereto, one or more perforated felt sheets  58  and  60 , and a reciprocating needle holder  54  and cover plate  52  to which is affixed a plurality of perforating pins  56  disposed perpendicular to the feed-stock laminate (not shown).  
         [0029]    Lower assembly  82  consists of stationary guide member  73  and a cutting insert  64 . Upper guide bores  68  are provided in plate  72  aligned with cutting bores  70  in guide number  73 .  
         [0030]    As shown in FIG. 5, the pins may be arranged in an array corresponding to the intended periphery of the stamps. Note however, that usually only three sides of the stamps are perforated per cycle in a U-shaped configuration. The laminate is then stepped a predetermined distance, and the bottom of the “U” becomes the top of the prior “U”. In operation the holder  54  and cover plate  52  with the pins  56  attached thereto are reciprocated through the laminate (not shown) which is in opening  80  on the surface of cutting insert  64 . The laminate is cleanly perforated, producing laminate cores  91  which are pushed through the openings  66  in wider diameter bore  92  provided in guide member  73 . In order to provide a clean perforation through the laminate without tearing of the edges at the perforation, it is important to adjust the extent of the reciprocal pin motion with respect to the thickness of the sheets of laminate (which may preferably comprise anywhere from one to five or more sheets, again depending upon the laminate thickness). Also, the adhesive  22  must have appropriate mechanical properties which will minimize stringing and adherence of laminate layers to the pins or bores. To this end the adhesive  22  must also have a certain hardness range to retain integrity of the laminate  40  during and after the punching process. The addition of a control release agent (CRA) in coating  25   a  which reacts with the polysilaxane gives the necessary release properties.  
         [0031]    We have experimented with various sheet thicknesses and have found that an overall laminate thickness of at least 0.009 inches can be perforated satisfactorily (which may require perforating more than one sheet at a time} using a penetration depth of 0.236 inches beneath the surface of cutting insert  64 . Attempts to perforate thinner sheets of stock result in the so-called “toilet lid” phenomenon wherein portions of the perforated core  91  become hinged to the laminate at the periphery of the perforation and do not remain in bore  92 . Likewise, it has been found that overall thickness of greater than 0.028 inches can become too great for satisfactory perforation, resulting in a failure to perforate altogether, damage to pins, and/or tearing of the laminate. In any case, the maximum overall thickness is limited to the width of the opening  80  which is 0.137 inches. The face paper  18  preferably has a tensile strength of 6±0.5 pounds per inch and 4±0.5 pounds per inch in the transverse direction, which provides the requisite cohesivity properties.  
         [0032]    Some of the laminates  40  tested produced a gum-like build-up on the cutting plate  72 , bore  92  and guide bore  68 , creating an undesirable effect. This may be attributable to the particular composition of the laminate and especially the type of self-adhesive  22  used. It is preferable that a pressure-sensitive adhesive which resists edge ooze be used. Such an adhesive is less likely to cause build-up of the core material. Such adhesives are of the elastomeric or acrylic type formed by solvent, emulsion or bulk polymerization, and are cast onto the laminate base by solvent coating, emulsion coating or hot melt coating.  
         [0033]    Preferably the adhesive  22  has release characteristics of at least about 50 grams per square inch, and more preferably in abroad range of 50 to about 200 grams per square inch, or in a more narrow range of about 100 to 150 grams per square inch.  
         [0034]    Having thus described a few particular embodiments of the invention, various alterations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. For example, perforations could be made by laser beams or an abrasion and bump system. In the latter case the paper is passed between the nip of rollers, one of which is abrasive and the other of which has a bump, where the perforations are made. Also, while the system has been described mainly in connection with perforated postal stamps, any type of perforated PSA stamp may benefit from the invention. Such alterations, modifications and improvements as are made obvious by this disclosure are intended to be part of this description though not expressly stated herein, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only, and not limiting. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and equivalents thereto. In that respect, certain terms used in the claims are intended to have the following meanings:  
         [0035]    1. “Clean” perforations or holes are perforations or holes having no appreciable hinged portions of the laminate remaining attached to the perforation/holes after perforation.  
         [0036]    2. “Ooze” resistant adhesive is an adhesive which is sufficiently hard that during perforation the adhesive does not substantially adhere to the perforation pins.  
         [0037]    While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.