Multi-Layer Return Label Structure for Simpler Package Returns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing return methods for online shipments are cumbersome, time-consuming, prone to errors, and environmentally harmful due to multiple steps and discarded materials.
Innovation Solution
A multi-layer label comprising a first return label affixed to the package with a second shipment label releasably attached, allowing customers to initiate and complete returns by peeling off the shipment label to expose the return label, reducing steps and waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single-layer return label is used, then the return process is simple, but the label cannot provide both shipment and return information
Solution Approach 1:
The label is divided into multiple functional layers: a first layer containing shipment information and a second layer containing return information. Each layer can be independently used or removed based on the operational phase, allowing the label to adapt from shipment to return functionality without requiring separate labels.
Solution Approach 2:
The second layer (return label) is positioned over the first layer (shipment label) in a nested configuration. The second layer includes a transparent window that reveals portions of the first layer, allowing both layers to coexist spatially while providing different information sets for different operational phases.
2Reliability
If multiple separate labels are used for shipment and return, then each label can be optimized for its specific purpose, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The shipment label and return label are merged into a single multi-layer label assembly. Both labels are pre-associated with the same order ID and package information, eliminating the need for customers to manually match separate labels. The return label is positioned to align with the shipment label, ensuring information correspondence while reducing the number of discrete components the customer must handle.
3Loss of information
If traditional multi-layer labels with opaque liners are used, then information can be masked, but substantial waste is generated from discarded materials
Solution Approach 1:
The second layer uses transparent or translucent material instead of opaque material, allowing the underlying first layer to be partially visible through the second layer. This transparency eliminates the need for separate masking liners while still providing the ability to obscure information when needed, as the second layer can be positioned or removed to reveal the first layer as required.
Solution Approach 2:
The label structure is designed so that the second layer can be removed and discarded after the return process is initiated, while the first layer remains attached to the package for the return shipment. This selective discarding minimizes waste by retaining the reusable first layer and only disposing of the consumable second layer after its purpose is fulfilled.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is related to a multi-layer label product that comprises a shipment label in a first layer and a return label in a second layer along with complementary layers for properly bonding the first layer and the second layer in a multi-layer arrangement. The present invention further aims at improving the method by which a customer intends to make a product/order return by using the multi-layer label according to the present invention.