US-12620326-B2 - Label assembly and method for affixing a label to a surface using the same

US12620326B2US 12620326 B2US12620326 B2US 12620326B2US-12620326-B2

Abstract

A label assembly and a method for affixing a label to a surface, the label assembly comprising: a label support liner having a label receiving surface comprising a release coating, the label support liner including a main liner portion and a removable liner portion separable from the main liner portion; and a label layer extending over the label receiving surface, the label layer including: a label releasably affixed to the label receiving surface, the label including a first label portion overlapping the main liner portion and a second label portion overlapping the removable liner portion such that separating the removable liner portion from the main liner portion and moving the removable liner portion away from the label receiving surface peels the first label portion away from the main liner portion while the second label portion remains affixed to the removable liner portion.

Inventors

Gourgen AMBARTSOUMIAN

Assignees

Gourgen AMBARTSOUMIAN

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20201109

Claims (20)

1 . A label assembly comprising: a label support liner having a label receiving surface comprising a release coating, the label support liner including a main liner portion and a plurality of removable liner portions, each one of the plurality of removable liner portions being individually separable from the main liner portion, the label support liner including a liner side edge, the plurality of removable liner portions each delimited by a liner cut line extending from the liner side edge in a direction transverse to the liner side edge; and a label layer extending over the label receiving surface, the label layer including: a plurality of labels releasably affixed to the label receiving surface and arranged in a single column aligned with the liner side edge, each label including a first label portion overlapping the main liner portion and a second label portion overlapping a corresponding one of the removable liner portions such that separating the corresponding one of the removable liner portions from the main liner portion and from the other ones of the removable liner portions and moving the corresponding one of the removable liner portions away from the label receiving surface peels the first label portion away from the main liner portion while the second label portion remains affixed to the corresponding one of the removable liner portions wherein any one of the removable liner portions is removable one at a time to expose the second label portion of a respective individual one label of the plurality of the labels.
2 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the removable liner portions include first and second removable liner portions positioned such that at least one of the labels overlapping the first and second removable liner portions and the main liner portion.
3 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the at least one of the labels defines a first label, the plurality of labels including a second label located proximal to the first label, the second label overlapping the second removable liner portion and the main liner portion.
4 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein once removed from the label support liner, each label includes a first stiffness section having a first stiffness and a second stiffness section having a second stiffness different from the first stiffness.
5 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the first stiffness section includes the first label portion and the second stiffness section includes the second label portion affixed to the removable liner portion, the second stiffness being greater than the first stiffness.
6 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the liner includes at least one label position indicator, each label position indicator providing an indication relative to a position of a corresponding one of the labels on the liner.
7 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 6 , wherein each label position indicator includes a printed marking defined on a bottom liner face of the liner opposite the label receiving surface.
8 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each label includes a plurality of label sections separable from each other.
9 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein each one of the plurality of label sections overlaps both the main liner portion and the corresponding one of the removable liner portions.
10 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of label sections includes a first label section located towards the corresponding one of the removable liner portions and a second label section located towards the main liner portion, the first and second label sections being separable from each other.
11 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 10 , wherein each label includes a label tear line extending between the first and second label sections.
12 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the first label section is superposed only over the removable liner portion and the second label section overlaps the removable liner portion and the main liner portion.
13 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the first label section overlaps the removable liner portion and the main liner portion, and the second label section is superposed only over the main liner portion.
14 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least some of the removable liner portions are located adjacent the liner side edge.
15 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 14 , wherein each liner cut line includes a first cut line end located towards the liner side edge and a second cut line located towards the liner side edge and spaced apart from the first cut line end along the liner side edge.
16 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the liner cut line includes first and second linear cut line portions extending away from the liner side edge and a third linear cut line portion extending between the first and second linear cut line portions.
17 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the third linear cut portion is substantially parallel to the liner side edge.
18 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 16 , wherein each one of the first and second linear cut line portions includes a notch.
19 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 18 , wherein each notch has a pair of parallel linear edges spaced apart from each other to define a gap therebetween.
20 . The label assembly as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the label layer further includes a non-label portion affixed to the label receiving surface and disposed adjacent the plurality of labels.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The technical field generally relates to adhesive labels. More particularly, the technical field relates to label assemblies and to methods for affixing labels to items using label assemblies. BACKGROUND Label assemblies usually include a label support liner, as well as one or more label(s) being releasably affixed thereto. Typically, to remove a label from the support liner, a user wedges a fingertip, fingernail or another tool under a corner or edge of the label to lift the corner or edge of the label off from the liner. Some users may instead slide a finger or tool along the liner next to the label towards an edge or corner of the label to catch the edge or corner of the label and thereby try and peel off the edge or corner of the label from the liner. Once a corner or edge of the label has been lifted, the user then grasps the corner or edge of the label lifted from the liner and pulls the corner or edge of the label away from the liner to peel the label off the liner. Unfortunately, these types of manipulation are time-consuming, inconvenient, and may damage the label, especially the corner or edge of the label which was lifted using a fingernail or tool. For example, it is known that peeling of polymeric thin facestock (0.4 mil-5.0 mil) and flexible labels which in general have higher elongation values either in machine or traverse directions or both, are more difficult. These prior art labels tend to conform to the support liner movement and even with bending is hard to separate the corner or the edge of the label from the support liner. Even after the separation from the support liner and after the peeling, these thin and flexible labels become flimsy and tend to bend and stick to fingers or to itself. This is often due to the fact that film labels have some significant static charges accumulated on their surfaces which, in the absence of the support liner, may cause them to stick to any nearby object including the fingers of the user. Furthermore, at the moment of applying the prior art label to a substrate such as a vial, microscope slide, automobile part, or any other flat or cylindrical or other type of object, it may become difficult to control the positioning of the label due to the fact that adhesive is already stuck to the finger of the user on one side which, combined with static charges, may interfere with controlling the proper positioning of the label on the substrate. Another technique consists in bending the liner near the edge or corner of the label to try and cause the edge or corner of the label to lift off the liner, or at least to facilitate the wedging of a fingertip, fingernail or tool under the edge or corner of the label. Again, this technique may damage the label. This technique may also require the use of both hands, which may not be possible or practical in some circumstances. For example, if the label is to be used in a medical context to label a container in which a specimen such as a blood sample collected from a patient, the user, in this case a medical professional, may still be attending to the patient and therefore may not have both hands available. Moreover, peeling off the label from the liner reveals an adhesive underside of the label. The finger of the user grasping the label may therefore come in contact with the adhesive underside of the label. This may cause the label or part of the label to become at least temporarily stuck to the user's fingers, which hinders the process of affixing the label to a desired surface. This may further cause the label to not be properly applied on the surface, which can reduce readability of any inscription on the label, may reduce the adhesion of the label on the surface and/or may create one or more pockets under the label in which contaminants may accumulate. Touching the adhesive may also cause adhesive contamination in the area of contact with the skin and diminish its performance for intended applications such as to resist harsh solvents such as xylene, toluene, industrial thinners, etc., or resist to cryogenic temperatures such as inside dry ice or liquid nitrogen at −196° C., or liquid helium at −269° C., or resist to high temperatures such as at 120° C. or higher (e.g. up to 600° C.) inside steam autoclave or furnace. In cases where labels must be handled with gloves such as in medical or other types of laboratories, or in sterile environments, the labels can stick to gloves and become very difficult or impossible to remove from the glove causing disruptions due to a need to change the gloves in the midst of the procedure which in turn can have undesirable consequences. SUMMARY In accordance with one implementation, there is provided a label assembly comprising: a label support liner having a label receiving surface comprising a release coating, the label support liner including a main liner portion and a removable liner portion separable from the main liner portion; and a label layer extending over the l