Linerless Label Segmented Adhesive for Cutter Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Linerless labels face issues with adhesive accumulation on cutter blades during cutting, leading to jamming and print image fading, particularly in thermal recording applications, where existing solutions either limit printer compatibility or reduce adhesive force.
Innovation Solution
A linerless label configuration with a release layer on one surface and an adhesive layer on the other, combined with a backside barrier layer to prevent adhesive permeation, maintains cutter load voltage within optimal limits, reducing adhesive accumulation and ensuring high adhesiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If adhesive is applied over the back surface of linerless labels, then adhesiveness is improved, but adhesive accumulates on the cutter blade during cutting, reducing cuttability and causing jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive layer is segmented into multiple adhesive regions with different properties. Specifically, the label includes a first adhesive region with high adhesive force for strong bonding, and a second adhesive region with low or no adhesive force positioned at the cut line to prevent accumulation on the cutter blade. This segmentation allows the label to maintain strong overall adhesiveness while enabling clean cutting without jamming.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the adhesive layer are assigned different local qualities. The first adhesive region has high adhesive force optimized for bonding strength, while the second adhesive region has low or zero adhesive force optimized for cuttability. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by ensuring each region performs its specific function optimally without interfering with the other.
2Ease of operation
If adhesive amount is reduced to prevent accumulation on cutter blade, then cuttability is improved, but adhesive force decreases, compromising label function
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly reducing adhesive amount across the entire back surface, the adhesive layer is segmented into a first adhesive region with sufficient adhesive force for strong bonding and a second adhesive region with reduced or zero adhesive force at the cut line. This segmentation allows the label to maintain strong adhesive force where needed while enabling clean cutting where required.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive layer exhibits local quality variation, with the first adhesive region having high adhesive force and the second adhesive region having low or zero adhesive force. This local differentiation ensures that adhesive force is maintained in bonding-critical areas while cuttability is improved in cutting-critical areas, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
3Strength
If adhesive remains over the release layer in thermal recording linerless labels, then label adheriveness is maintained, but cutter load voltage increases sharply and print image fading occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive layer is segmented into a first adhesive region that maintains strong adheriveness for bonding and a second adhesive region with minimal or no adhesive at the cut line. This prevents adhesive accumulation on the cutter blade, thereby reducing cutter load voltage and preventing adhesive migration to the thermal head that would cause print image fading, while maintaining strong bonding in the first adhesive region.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the adhesive layer have different local qualities: the first adhesive region has high adhesive force for maintaining adheriveness, while the second adhesive region has low or zero adhesive force to prevent accumulation and migration. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by ensuring adheriveness is maintained where needed while preventing print image fading where adhesive accumulation would occur.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively suppresses adhesive accumulation on cutter blades, preventing jamming and print image fading while maintaining strong adhesive properties, even after repeated cutting operations.
Implementation Method 1
an adhesive layer on the other, combined with a backside barrier layer to prevent adhesive permeation
Implementation Method 2
providing an applied layer containing a release agent such as a silicone-based polymeric compound over a to-be-cut portion of a base
Data Source
Figure 1A~2A
Figure 2B~2C
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Provided is a linerless label including a support, a release layer over one surface of the support, and an adhesive layer over another surface of the support, wherein when the linerless label is cut with an apparatus including a mechanism in which an upper blade of cutter blades is immobilized and a lower blade of the cutter blades is configured to move upward, in a manner that lower blade is inserted into the linerless label from a side of the linerless label at which the adhesive layer is provided, a cutter load voltage during a cutter operation performed after the linerless label is cut five thousand times repeatedly has a difference of less than or equal to 2.0 V from the cutter load voltage during cutting of a label support, which is the linerless label before treated to have adhesiveness.