Background of the invention
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The invention relates an adhesive label for labelling transportable items comprising goods, such as palletized goods. The invention further relates to a plurality of adhesive labels, a pallet comprising goods, a method for transporting information on palletized goods and use of an adhesive label.
Description of the Related Art
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Goods are being transported back and forth all the time by trucks, trains, airplanes and other forms of transportation and to identify the goods during transport and at delivery it is known to somehow provide the goods with different forms of identification. This could be in the form of a machine readable identification such as a barcode formed as a sticker and/or a delivery note printed on a piece of paper e.g. comprising information on the sender, the consignee and a packing list containing information on the transported goods.
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Probably the most common way to transport general cargo at least in Europe is on a Europe pallet or Euro EPAL (also known as euro pallets), which is standardized pallets measuring about 800 x 1200 mm and typically made of wood. The goods to be transported are stacked on the pallet to form a transportable item and if necessary the goods are secured by means of straps, wrapping film, plastic sheet, laminating film or other.
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At the dispatch station a delivery note is typically placed inside a closed plastic pocket which is attached to the transportable item and at arrival at the consignee the delivery note is removed from the plastic pocket and archived.
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However these plastic pockets are relatively expensive and the task of placing the delivery note in the pocket and removing it again is relatively time consuming.
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An object of the present invention is therefore to provide for advantageous technique for providing and transport information in relation with transportable goods such as palletized goods.
The invention
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The invention provides for an adhesive label for labelling transportable items comprising goods, such as palletized goods. The label comprises a first facestock part comprising a delivery note including a packing list of at least parts of the goods, a second facestock part comprising a machine readable identification, wherein at least the first facestock part is attached to the adhesive label by means of an facestock adhesive so that the facestock adhesive substantially remains on the adhesive label if the first facestock part is removed from the adhesive label, making the detached first facestock part substantially non-sticky.
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It is advantageous to provide the delivery note and the machine readable identification on a single label in that it simplifies the working procedure by avoiding having to produce both a barcode sticker and a delivery note which has to be placed in a separate plastic pocket. Furthermore by providing the delivery note on the adhesive label the plastic pocket is no longer necessary and costs can therefore be reduced.
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It is also advantageous that the label is made so that the detached delivery note is substantially non-sticky because it hereby is possible to archive the note without it sticking to other notes or other objects.
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It should be emphasised that by the term "facestock" is to be understood the face material of the label. The facestock can be made of paper, film, plastic, fabric, foil or any other material suitable to be used as the top layer of the label i.e. the part of the label on which information is carried e.g. by printing.
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It should also be emphasised that by the term "machine readable identification" is to be understood any kind of machine readable code such as data matrix codes, barcodes, 2D barcodes or any other kind or code or items enabling identification via electrical means such as RFID tags or identification by means of sound emmision, light emission, magnetism or any other type of item or technique enabling interaction which is machine readable and can identify the transportable items and/or the goods.
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It should also be emphasised that by the term "substantially non-sticky" is to be understood that the first facestock part do substantially not adhere to other objects due to facestock adhesive on the facestock part i.e. substantially all the facestock adhesive remains on the adhesive label. It does not mean that the detached first facestock part do not adhere at all. It is still possible that the first facestock part could adhere to other objects due to electrical charges originating from static electricity, van der Waals attraction force or some other phenomenon causing the detached first facestock part to adhere.
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In an aspect of the invention, said first facestock part and said second facestock part are formed as two separate facestock parts on said adhesive label.
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Forming the first facestock part and the second facestock part as two separate facestock parts is advantageous in that it hereby more easily is possible to remove the delivery note without removing the machine readable identification.
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Furthermore, forming the first facestock part and the second facestock part as two separate facestock parts is advantageous in that enables that the two facestock parts can be removed at different times.
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In an aspect of the invention, at least said first facestock part comprises holes adapted for placing said first facestock part in a ring binder.
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Providing the first facestock part with holes is advantageous in that the detached delivery note thereby can be archived directly without further processing.
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In an aspect of the invention, at least a part of said first facestock part and/or said second facestock part is coated by varnish.
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Providing the facestocks with an outer layer of varnish e.g. in the form of a thin, liquid protective coating, either matte or glossy, that is applied to the facestock is advantageous in that it adds protection and enhances the appearance of the facestocks. Furthermore, a varnish coat will better protect the printers, in which the information on the facestocks is printed, from harmful interaction with the facestock material..
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In an aspect of the invention, said first facestock part comprises a release coating to facilitate that said adhesive substantially remains on said adhesive label if said first facestock part is removed from said adhesive label making said detached first facestock part substantially non-sticky.
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Providing the first facestock part with a release coating is advantageous in that it reduces the risk of the facestock adhesive sticking to the facestock part. Furthermore, a release coating is a simple and inexpensive way of ensuring that first facestock part can be removed easily.
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In an aspect of the invention, said adhesive label comprises a liner.
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Providing the adhesive label according to the invention with a liner is particularly advantageous in that a label according to the present invention will have to be printed before it is attached to a transportable item such as a pallet including goods and the label will typically have to be printed at a very late stage in the dispatch process i.e. where the pallet is loaded with goods. Thus, it is advantageous if the adhesive label can be printed by more common printers and this requires that the label is non-sticky during the printing process which a liner will ensure.
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It should be emphasised that by the term "liner" is to be understood the backing paper on the back side of the adhesive label. The liner is attached to the label adhesive on the back side of the adhesive label and serves the purpose of protecting the label adhesive until the label is to be attached to an object by means of the label adhesive and it serves to ensure that the adhesive label can be stored and handled without it sticking to other labels or other objects. The liner can be made of paper, film, plastic, fabric, foil or any other material suitable to form backing paper on an adhesive label and the liner can e.g. be provided with a release coating to ensure that the liner releases easily from the adhesive label and to ensure that the label adhesive remains on the adhesive label when the liner is removed from the adhesive label. The liner is also known as backer material, carrier sheet, backing or release liner.
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In an aspect of the invention, said adhesive label comprises an adhesive on both sides making said adhesive label sticky on both a front side and a back side.
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Making the adhesive label sticky on both sides is advantageous in that it hereby is possible to both attach the label to an object by means of the adhesive on the back side and attach separate facestock parts on the front side of the adhesive label.
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In an aspect of the invention, said machine readable identification is a barcode.
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Barcodes are well tested and inexpensive means for providing machine readable identification. Barcodes are also easily printable which is particularly advantageous in relation with adhesive labels.
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In an aspect of the invention, said first facestock part and/or said second facestock part is made in a distinguishable signal colour.
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During the transport of a transportable item the item can be provided with several individual machine readable identifications but when it reaches its final destination it is important than the original machine readable identification provided on the adhesive label is identified and read. By providing the facestock part in a distinguishable signal colour the risk of reading a wrong machine readable identification is reduced.
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The invention further provides for a plurality of adhesive labels according to any of the previously mentioned adhesive labels, wherein the adhesive labels comprise a common liner to form a length of adhesive labels.
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Connecting the labels by means of the common liner is advantageous in that it hereby is possible to freely design the individual facestocks without regard for the neighbouring labels. Furthermore, the liner is typically thrown away when it has been removed form the label and it is therefore of no importance if the liner should comprise tear lines, perforations or other means for ensuring that the labels can be separated easily and neatly. And even if the liner is not provided with means for ensuring a precise and simple separation of the labels it is advantageous that the plurality of labels is provided with a common liner in that the labels are more easy to handle and store when connected and because it is more preferable that a chaotic or uneven separation of the individual labels takes place on the liner than on the label itself.
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In an aspect of the invention, said common liner comprises a perforation between said adhesive labels.
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Perforations are a simple and inexpensive way of ensuring that the labels can be easily and precisely separated when wanted.
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In an aspect of the invention, said plurality of adhesive labels are arranged in a stack of adhesive labels and wherein said adhesive labels in said stack are facing in alternating directions.
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Connected adhesive labels can in principle be supplied in two ways: rolled up or in a stack. If several connected labels are printed in succession labels supplied on a roll will curl up more or less chaotically whereas label supplied in a stack will tend to stack also after being through a printer. This is advantageous in that it reduces the risk of the labels being damaged and it makes it easier to handle the connected labels.
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Even further the invention provides for a pallet comprising goods to form a transportable item, wherein the transportable item is provided with one or more adhesive labels according to any of the previously mentioned adhesive labels.
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Using the adhesive labels according to the invention is particularly advantageous in relation to palletized goods in that palletized goods typically both needs barcodes or other kinds of machine readable identification, to identify the entire transportable item or at least some or all of the transported goods - most often substantially during the entire lifespan of the transportable item - and it needs a delivery note to identify the sender, the consignee artd/or the goods on the pallet to the person or persons facilitating the transport and/or the consignee of the palletized goods in a form which can be removed from the transportable item before the goods are de-palletized.
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The invention also provides for a method for transporting information on palletized goods. The method comprises the steps of:
- placing one or more goods on a pallet to form a transportable item,
- printing a delivery note on a first facestock part of an adhesive label, wherein the first facestock part is attached to the adhesive label by means of a facestock adhesive,
- providing a machine readable identification on a second facestock part of the adhesive label,
- attaching the adhesive label on the transportable item at a first processing station, wherein the adhesive label is attached to the transportable item by means of a label adhesive of the adhesive label,
- transporting the transportable item to a second processing station, and
- removing the first facestock part from the adhesive label, wherein the facestock adhesive substantially remains on the adhesive label to make the first facestock part substantially non-sticky.
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Hereby is provided an advantageous embodiment of the invention.
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It should be noted that the order in which the steps of the method is listed in no way is limiting in relation to the order in which the method is performed. It is e.g. possible that the delivery note is printed before the goods are placed on the pallet, the machine readable identification could be provided before the delivery note is printed and before the goods are placed on the pallet and so on.
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In an aspect of the invention, said adhesive label is an adhesive label according to any of adhesive labels mentioned previously.
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Even further the invention provides for use of an adhesive label according to any of adhesive labels mentioned previously on a pallet of palletized goods.
Figures
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The invention will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which
- fig. 1
- illustrates an embodiment of an adhesive label, as seen in perspective,
- fig. 2
- illustrates a cross section of the embodiment of an adhesive label shown in fig. 1, as seen from the side,
- fig. 3
- illustrates a printed adhesive label, as seen from the front,
- fig. 4
- illustrates a length of adhesive labels with perforations, as seen in perspective,
- fig. 5
- illustrates a stack of connected adhesive labels, as seen from the side, and
- fig. 6
- illustrates an embodiment of a pallet comprising goods and an adhesive label, as seen in perspective.
Detailed description of related art
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Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an adhesive label 1, as seen in perspective.
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In this embodiment of the invention the adhesive label 1 comprises two separate facestock parts 4, 6 in the form of a first facestock part 4 and a second facestock part 6 but in another embodiment the adhesive label 1 could comprise more facestock parts such as three, four, five or more or the first facestock part 4 and/or the second facestock part 6 could be subdivided into two or more separate parts.
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In this embodiment the facestock parts 4, 6 are attached to the adhesive label 1 by mean of a facestock adhesive 8 provided on 11 the front side 11 of the label 1.
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The back side 12 of the label 1 is in this embodiment provided with a liner 10 to protect the label adhesive 17 until use and to ensure that the label 1 can be handled and stored without it sticking to other labels 1 or other objects.
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In this embodiment of the invention both the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 can be separated from the adhesive label 1 in that both parts 4, 6 are formed as separate sheets that are attached to the adhesive label 1 by means of the facestock adhesive 8 on the front side 11 of the adhesive label 1. However in another embodiment of the invention only the first facestock part 4 would be removable in that the second facestock part 6 would be formed integrally with the adhesive label 1 e.g. by making the front side 11 of a part of the adhesive label 1 act as the second facestock part 6.
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In this embodiment of the invention both the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 are provided with a release coating ensuring that the parts 4,6 can be separated from the adhesive label 1 and ensuring that the facestock adhesive 8 remains on the adhesive label 1 so that the detached parts 4,6 are non-sticky. However, in another embodiment none or only some of the facestock parts 4,6 would be provided with a release coating or the first facestock part 4 and/or other facestock parts could e.g. be made from a material which naturally would make it release from the facestock adhesive 11.
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In this embodiment the entire back surface of both the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 are made to release from the facestock adhesive 11 when the parts 4,6 are peeled of the adhesive label 1. However in another embodiment only parts of the back surfaces of one or more of the facestock parts 4,6 are made to release the facestock adhesive 11. It is feasible that the first facestock part 4 would be made to release from the facestock adhesive 11 so that the detached first facestock part 4 is non-sticky and the second facestock part 6 would be made without a release coating or other means ensuring that the second facestock part 6 releases from the adhesive label 1 without bringing at least some of the facestock adhesive 11 along on the back side of the second facestock part 6. This could be advantageous in that it would ensure that the first facestock part 4 would be much easier to remove from the adhesive label 1 that the second facestock part 6 hereby ensuring that the risk of the second facestock part 6 being removed by mistake or in an accident is reduced. Furthermore, by ensuring that at least some of the facestock adhesive 11 stays on the second facestock part 6, when it is removed from the adhesive label 1, it is also enabled that the second facestock part 6 can be re-placed at another location on the object the adhesive label 1 is placed on or the second facestock part 6 can be placed elsewhere by means of the facestock adhesive 8 on the back side 12 of the second facestock part 6.
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In this embodiment of the invention the first facestock part 4 is provide with two holes 9 near one or the sides of the facestock part 4. The holes 9 are of such a size and placed in a mutual distance, which makes the first facestock part 4 fit in a standard ring binder via said holes 9 but in another embodiment the number of holes could be different such as one, three, four or more and the holes 9 could be placed differently on the first facestock part 4 or be of a different size depending on the type of ring binder they are adapted to fit in. In this embodiment the holes 9 have a diameter of approximately 5 mm but in another embodiment they could be either smaller or larger.
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In this embodiment the holes 9 are placed with a mutual center distance of 80 mm to make the detached first facestock part 4 fit into a ring binder corresponding to this standard. However if the first facestock part 4 where to be used in e.g. the USA or Sweden the holes 9 would have to be made with other mutual distances, in that the ring binder hole standard in these countries differs from the standard in other countries like Denmark.
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Fig. 2 illustrates a cross section of the embodiment of an adhesive label 1 shown in fig. 1, as seen from the side.
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In this embodiment of the invention the adhesive label 1 comprise a liner 10 made from paper but in another embodiment the liner 10 could be made from another material such as plastic, fabric or other. The liner 10 is peeled of before the label 1 is attached to an object. The liner 10 is on the side facing the label adhesive 17 provided with a release coating to ensure that the liner 10 can be easily removed and to ensure that the label adhesive 17 remains on the adhesive label 1 when the liner 10 is removed. The release coating is in this embodiment a silicone material which is applied to the liner 5 but in another embodiment a release coating could be made from another material. The type of release coating will e.g. vary according to how difficult it must be for the liner 10 and the facestock parts 4,6 to release from the adhesive label 1.
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The adhesive label 1 is not provided with a release coating on neither the front side 11 nor the back side 12 to ensure that the facestock adhesive 8 and the label adhesive are very difficult to remove from the front side 11 and the back side 12 of the adhesive label 1, respectively.
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In this embodiment of the invention the adhesive label 1 comprises three sheet layers but in another embodiment the label 1 could comprise only two if the liner 10 was not present or the label 1 could comprise more than three layers such as four or five separate sheet layers.
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Fig. 3 illustrates a printed adhesive label 1, as seen from the front.
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In this embodiment of the invention the first facestock part 4 has got a delivery note printed on it. The delivery note comprises a packing list 5 of some or all the goods present in the object to which the label 1 is to be attached. The packing list 5 is written in normal letters so that it can be read by any person capable of reading the given language.
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In this embodiment the delivery note also comprises information on the sender and the sender's address and the consignee and the consignee's address. These information are also written in normal letters and typically - although not necessarily - in the same language as the packing list 5. In another embodiment the delivery note could comprise further/other information such as information on the prices of the goods, if the goods present some sort of danger (explosives, acids, poison etc.), if the goods should be handled or orientated in a special way and other.
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In this embodiment the adhesive label 1 also comprise a machine readable identification 7 in the form of a standard barcode 13. However in another embodiment of the invention the machine readable identification 7 could be a 2D barcode, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), information made in magnetic ink which is machine readable and decodeable or any other type of identification which can be provided on the second facestock part 6 of an adhesive label 1 and can be read by a machine adapted for this purpose.
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The second facestock part 6 could in another embodiment also comprise further information e.g. the numbers or other information which the barcode 13 or other machine readable identification 7 represent e.g. as a backup if the machine readable identification 7 fail or the second facestock part 6 could comprise further information independent from the information presented by the machine readable identification 7.
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In this embodiment of the invention the first facestock part 4 is formed as one single part but in another embodiment the first facestock part 4 could be subdivided into several separate first facestock parts 4 e.g. a separate part containing the packing list 5 a separate first facestock part 4 containing the sender and/or a separate first facestock part 4 containing the consignee. Likewise the second facestock part 6 could be divided into two or more separate parts. Dividing the facestock parts 4,6 into sub parts could be advantageous in that it enables that e.g. only one part of the delivery note is removed from the adhesive label leaving the remaining part on the adhesive label for later detachment.
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In this embodiment the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 are of substantially similar size but in another embodiment one of the parts 4,6 could be bigger than the other.
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In this embodiment the facestock parts 4,6 each has a size of approximately 15,000 mm2 but the size of the facestock parts may of cause vary dependent on the specific use, different standards, legal requirements or other. However in a preferred embodiment of the invention each of the facestock parts 4, 6 is of a size between 100 and 300,000 mm2, preferably between 1,000 and 200,000 mm2 and most preferred between 5,000 and 100,000 mm2. If the facestock parts 4,6 becomes too small they will become difficult to read both by machine and manually and if they are too big the label becomes more expensive and difficult to handle. The present size ranges therefore provides for an advantageous relation between readability, cost and ability to be handled.
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Fig. 4 illustrates a length 18 of adhesive labels 1 with perforations 14, as seen in perspective.
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Adhesive labels 1 according to the present invention can be made in a multitude of ways. They can be made as single sheet, they can be made as a set of two connected labels 1 (e.g. one for each of two opposing sides of a transportable item) and they can be made as a length 18 of labels 1 as shown in fig. 4.
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A length 18 of labels 1 can also be made in a multitude of ways but in this embodiment the plurality of labels 1 are made from large rolls e.g. with a width of one meter which can be divided into rolls of a smaller width e.g. the width of two neighboring lengths 18 of adhesive labels 1. The rolls e.g. comprise the three sheets and the two layers of adhesive as described with fig. 2 and when the label material is unwound a specially adapted tool will press against the facestock side of the label material to stamp out the shape of the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6. The tool could also stamp out holes 9 in the first and/or the second facestock parts 4,6, it could divide the first facestock part 4 from the second facestock part 6 e.g. without dividing other sheets of the adhesive label 1 and it could perform other operations regarding how the different label parts are shaped and/or divided. All or some of the excess material is then removed such as all material except the liner 10 is removed along the edges of the labels 1 to ensure that the liner 10 can be removed more easily. Perforations 14 are also provided to the liner 10 between each label and the two or more neighboring lengths 18 of adhesive labels 1 are separated from each other to form single lengths 18 of adhesive labels 1.
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In this embodiment of the invention the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 of the adhesive labels 1 are completely blank i.e. nothing is printed on the facestock parts 4,6 but in another embodiment some or all information such as delivery note, machine readable identification 7 etc. could also be printed on the labels 1 during the manufacturing process. E.g. standard text or symbols could also be pre-printed on the labels 1.
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Fig. 5 illustrates a stack 15 of connected adhesive labels 1, as seen from the side.
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The unprinted length 18 of adhesive labels 1 is in this embodiment of the invention stacked by bending the liner 10 at the perforations 14 alternately back and forth to make the labels 1 face up and down alternately and thereby form a stack 15 substantially with the length and width of a single label 1.
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Fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a pallet 16 comprising goods 3 and an adhesive label 1 to form a transportable item 2, as seen in perspective.
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Palletized goods are typically made by starting with an empty pallet 16 and thereafter placing one or more pieces of goods 3 on the pallet 16. To enable easy handling and stacking of the goods 3, the goods 3 are in this embodiment of the invention provide in boxes which can be stacked in one or more e.g. bonding stacks. In another embodiment the goods 3 could be provided in bags, in sack, in cans, in bottles or in any other kind of suitable packaging or container or the goods 3 could be provided on the pallet 16 without any kind of packaging.
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In this embodiment the goods 3 are boxes of copying paper but in another embodiment the goods 3 could be just about anything suitable to be transported on pallets 16.
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After the goods 3 has been placed on the pallet 16 the goods 3 could be secured to each other and/or to the pallet 16 e.g. by wrapping the entire transportable item 2 in plastic film, by securing the load by means of straps or by other means.
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If such load securing means is provided the adhesive label 1 would typically not be placed on the transportable item 2 until after the load securing means is in place to avoid covering the adhesive label 1.
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If the pallet 16 is loaded according to a standard or a premade shipping list or other the packing list 5 on the first facestock part 4 and e.g. the machine readable identification 7 on the second facestock part 6 can be printed on the label 1 well in advance of forming the transportable item 2. But in other cases the labels 1 can not be printed until after the pallets 16 are loaded in that the correct information is not available until then.
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In this embodiment the transportable item 2 is only provided with a adhesive label 1 on one side but in another embodiment of the invention the transportable item 2 could be provided with adhesive labels 1 on two, three, four or more sides and if this is the case the labels 1 could be provided as a length 18 of two, three, four or more adhesive label 1 connected by a common liner 10 so that the correct number of labels 1 could easily be handled and transported from a printer and out to the transportable item 2. Hereby the risk of a wrong number of labels 1 being attached to the transportable item 2 is reduced.
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In another embodiment of the invention the entire label 1 comprising both the first facestock part 4 and the second facestock part 6 could be provide on e.g. one side of the transportable item 2 and then only the machine readable identification 7 on the second facestock part 6 would be provided on other sides of the transportable item 2 e.g. to reduce the risk of failure in the process of reading the machine readable identification 7.
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The adhesive label 1 is typically placed on the transportable item 2 at the place where the pallet 16 is loaded i.e. typically at the sender of the goods 3, however it is also feasible that the label 1 is provided on the transportable item 1 at a separate storing facility or at the place where the transportable item 2 is loaded onto the vehicle, ship, plane or other which will transport the transportable item 2 or the label 1 could be placed during the transport or at another time during the life of the transportable item 2.
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The first facestock part 4 will then typically be removed from the adhesive label 1 once the transportable item 2 reached its final destination at the consignee of the goods 3 but it is also feasible that that the delivery note is removed at an earlier time e.g. at some sort of intermediate station or that the transportable item 2 is provided with more identical or different labels 1 and/or delivery notes to be removed at different stations of the transport of the transportable item 2 from where the labels 1 or label 1 is applied to the transportable item 2 and until the goods 3 is removed from the pallet 16 again.
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The invention has been exemplified above with reference to specific examples of adhesive labels 1, transportable items 2, label design, manufacturing methods and other. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be designed and altered in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in the claims.
List
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- 1.
- Adhesive label
- 2.
- Transportable items
- 3.
- Goods
- 4.
- First facestock part
- 5.
- Packing list
- 6.
- Second facestock part
- 7.
- Machine readable identification
- 8.
- Facestock adhesive
- 9.
- Hole
- 10.
- Liner
- 11.
- Front side of label
- 12.
- Back side of label
- 13.
- Barcode
- 14.
- Perforation
- 15.
- Stack
- 16.
- Pallet
- 17.
- Label adhesive
- 18.
- Length of adhesive labels
