Novel stationery

Abstract

 The present invention describes novel adhesive stationery having at least one adhesive coated member releasably attached, by its adhesive coated surface, to a release member. Separation lines variously arranged in either or both the release member and the adhesive coated member allow a portion of the adhesive coated member to be detached for attachment elsewhere and for removal of part of the release member which allows the thus uncovered surface of the adhesive member to be attached to another part of the novel stationery thus forming a loop. The novel adhesive stationery of the present invention can be used for example as luggage labels.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to novel stationery and in particular to tickets, labels, tags and passes for use in the travel industry in particular the airline industry.

[0002] Conventionally airline passengers are given, amongst other things, on checking in at an airport, a ticket for their flight, a boarding pass and a luggage label. These items conventionally are produced separately with no means of cross referencing the various items being used in the sense that there is no means of telling from, for example, the luggage label the identity of its owner or conversely there is no means of telling from the ticket or the boarding pass the amount of luggage that the person has.

[0003] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide articles of novel stationery which can be used to provide a cross reference between them so that, for example, it is possible to tell from the luggage label the name and ticket number of the owner of the luggage. This novel stationery is intended to assist in particular the security at airports since it should help prevent unaccompanied baggage being loaded onto planes since the airline, by using the claimed novel stationery will be able to correlate each piece of luggage with a particular passenger on a flight.

[0004] According to the present invention there is provided novel stationery having one or more members having an adhesive coated surface said members being releasably attached to and covered by a non-adhesive coated member and having at least a first and second separation lines each of said separation lines extending through at least one of said adhesive coated or non-adhesive coated members characterised in that the said first and second separation lines are placed so as to allow both a portion of an adhesive coated member to be removed from the novel stationery for attachment to an article and to allow an adhesive coated area of an adhesive coated member to be exposed thereby allowing a loop to be formed by attaching that adhesive coated area to a part of the novel stationery.

[0005] According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an article of novel stationery comprising or including first and second members of which said first member is adhesively coated on one surface and the said second, non-adhesively coated, member is releasably attached to and covers the said adhesive coated surface of the said first member characterised in that the said first member has a first separation line in it whereby a portion of the said first member can be removed and the said second member has a second separation line in it whereby a portion of the said second member can be removed leaving an uncovered adhesive coated portion of the said first member which can be adhered onto the said article of stationery to form a loop, the portion, which can bear information about e.g. the luggage owner, of the said first member can then be attached to another article e.g. a ticket.

[0006] According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided an article of novel stationery, comprising or including three members of which said first and third members are adhesively coated on one surface and a second, non-adhesively coated, member is sandwiched between the adhesively coated surfaces of the first and third members characterised in that the said first member has a first separation line in it and said first and second members having a second separation line in them, said second separation line being coincident with the first separation line or nearer the centre of the stationery than the said first separation line whereby in use the portion of the first member up to the first separation line can be removed and adhered to an article and the portions of the second and first members up to the second separation line can be removed leaving an uncovered adhesive coated area of the third member which can be adhered onto said article of stationery to form a loop.

[0007] According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for facilitating the provision of a unique common identification code for a plurality of individual items in a set of stationery said method comprising programming a computer firstly to generate a unique identifying code from input data and secondly using the computer to operate printing equipment to place said code onto the individual items of stationery which form a set.

[0008] According to a yet further aspect of the present invention there is provided a set of stationery comprising at least a luggage label and a boarding pass characterised in that each item of stationery in a set bears the same unique identifying code.

[0009] It will be appreciated that the novel stationery of the present invention has a number of advantages from the security point of view in that because e.g. a luggage label (the first and second members) and security tabs (the removal adhesive portions of the first member) are all originally part of the same piece of stationery it is easy, either by pre-printing these parts or printing on them as they are used, to ensure that a unique identifier code e.g. a bar code is placed on the luggage label and the security tabs thus allowing the two to be correlated with each other enabling checks to be made to ensure e.g. that the luggage on a plane is accompanied by the appropriate passenger, the security tabs from the novel stationery having been placed on his boarding pass for example. By having more than one security tab on the novel stationery it is also possible to use one of these for each piece of luggage for example thus allowing further checks to be made.

[0010] Reverting to the first, second and third aspects of the present invention it should be appreciated that further separation lines, other than the two previously disclosed separation lines, may be incorporated into the claimed articles of stationery and also that separate separation lines in the various members may also coincide spacially with each other so that in effect a number of separation lines will extend as one through two or more adjacent members of the article of stationery. Thus for example in an article of stationery having a first and second member a separation line, in each of the two members, which is spacially coincident, will allow portions of the first and second members to be removed as one unit from the article of stationery.

[0011] The first member is preferably in the form of a sheet and can be made from a large number of materials including for example paper and plastic in particular polyester. Preferably the first member will have printing and information on its non adhesive coated surface.

[0012] The third member is also preferably in the form of a sheet and can be made from a large number of materials including for example paper. Preferably the third member will have printing and information on its non adhesive coated surface.

[0013] The adhesives used to coat one surface of the first and third members can be selected from any known suitable adhesives including for example pressure sensitive adhesives such as acrylic adhesives. Preferably the adhesive is coated over all of one surface of the first and third members although first and third members which do not have adhesive coated all over one surface may be employed. Thus first and third members coated with a discontinuous, pattern spread, porous, or partially spread adhesive may also be employed

[0014] The second member is preferably a sheet of material to which adhesive will either not adhere strongly or will adhere less strongly than to the said first and third members so that the adhesive remains bound to the first and third members and not to the second member. Preferably the second member is made from materials including for example plastic, silicone coated paper or any other known release material or paper.

[0015] It will be appreciated that the materials used to make the members of the present invention, in particular the materials used to make the first and third members can be those that show evidence of unauthorised tampering with the materials. Such tamper evident materials, including for example security inks and dyes which can be incorporated into adhesives, are well known to the man skilled in the art and need not be described here further.

[0016] It will also be appreciated that graphics and dyes, for example, may be incorporated into the adhesive layers so that if for example a security label is removed from a suitcase without authorisation some of the adhesive, with the graphic, will remain on the suitcase to provide evidence of tampering. Obviously other materials may also be incorporated into the adhesive layers.

[0017] Other security devices including for example holograms can be attached to or printed onto the first and third members of the present invention. These can be used to prevent unauthorised parties fraudulently copying articles of stationery such as luggage lables and tickets which are the object of the present invention.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment all members of the present invention are flat sheets of the same overall size although for example first and third members which are smaller than the second member may be employed.

[0019] Novel stationery of the present invention may be made in such a form that the first member comprises only one item, for example a luggage label or alternatively the first member may comprise more than one item, for example a luggage label, ticket and boarding pass. Suitably all the items can be joined together in a conventional fashion including for example separation lines between the various items forming the first member or alternatively all the items which form the first member can be physcially separate from each other whilst forming the first member of the present novel stationery.

[0020] By separation line is meant any known means including cuts, perforations and weakened areas which allow the two portions of a member separated by the separation line to be separated readily from each other.

[0021] It will be appreciated that known methods, for assisting in the separation of adhesive coated members from non-adhesive coated members, which are well known to the person skilled in the art may be incorporated into the novel stationery disclosed herein.

[0022] Reverting to the last two aspects of the present invention it will be appreciated that a computer capable of running the special programme developed for this invention must be employed. The computer programme developed for this invention firstly generates a unique identifier code from input data. This data can include for example personal data including for example the name, destination, flight number, seat number of the person to whom the ticket, label etc is being issued. Thus for example the first part of the code can be generated by the persons surname, the second part of the code can be generated by the destination and so on until the unique identifier code is complete. Because each variable used to create the code differs it should mean that a unique code is created each time.

[0023] It will be appreciated that the unique identifier code can be in any suitable format including for example an alpha-numeric code, a bar code, a magnetic code or any other suitable code. Preferably the code is printed onto the novel stationery and is in a form which can be read and interpreted by machines including for example optical readers and magnetic card readers.

[0024] Preferably the unique identifier code is printed onto each item of the set of novel stationery however in addition the printer may also print all the other necessary information onto a set of novel stationery which is blank to begin with.

[0025] It will be appreciated that each item in a set of novel stationery can be joined together to form one item or they can be sepearate items. Alternatively they can all be joined in the form of a roll and each item can be removed from the roll after it has been printed. In a preferred embodiment all the items in a set of novel stationery are joined together to form one item.

[0026] By set of novel stationery is meant to include for example a luggage label, ticket and a boarding pass, or any combination thereof or indeed any combination thereof with additional items such as security labels. It will also be appreciated that there may be more than one of each item in a set for example there may be two or more luggage labels however all the items in a set will bear the same unique identifier code.

[0027] A number of advantages arise from having a unique identifier code on a set of novel stationery. For example luggage labelled with coded luggage labels and passengers with coded tickets can have their labels scanned as they board a plane and the information stored in a computer on the plane so that the pilot can ascertain for example if all the luggage and passengers are on board, and whether there is luggage on board that does not belong to a passenger. In addition luggage with a label bearing a unique identifier code that gets lost in transit should be readily identified and returned because the code when read by a suitable machine will identify the airport to which it was being sent and the owner of the luggage.

[0028] It will be appreciated that the present invention can be used to produce novel stationery other than tickets, luggage labels and boarding passes.

[0029] Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the following Figures in which

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic cross section of one embodiment of the novel stationery of the present invention,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic cross section of another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the novel stationery shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic cross section of a further embodiment of the present invention whilst

Figure 5 is a plan view of a set of stationery of the present invention.

[0030] Referring now to Figure 1 this shows an embodiment of the novel stationery comprising a third member 1 made of polyester and having printed information on its top surface 2. The third member 1 is coated on one surface 3 with a pressure sensitive adhesive 4. A first member 5 made from paper has printed information on one face 6 and has adhesive 7 coated on another face 8. A second member 9 , made from silicone coated release paper, is sandwiched between the two adhesive layers 4,7. A first separation line 10 is so placed that a portion 11 of the first member 5 can be removed. The portion 11 when peeled off can be used for example as an adhesive security tag or applied to the ticket of the luggage owner to show how many items of luggage that he has, i.e. one portion 11 on his ticket for each item of luggage. A second separation line 12 is so placed that a portion 13 of the second, and in this case first, members can be removed leaving an adhesive coated face 14 of the third member 1 which can be folded round to adhere to a portion 15 of the third member 1 thus forming a loop as used in a luggage label for example. It will be appreciated that in this embodiment the adhesive coated portion of the first member 5 in portion 13 can also be removed from the second member 9 and attached to an article.

[0031] Alternatively in an embodiment with 3 members as shown in Figure 1 the second separation line 12 could be coincident with the first separation line 10 but extend only through the second member 9 thus forming in effect one separation line through two members. In this case there would only be one portion of the first member 5 to be removed for attachment elsewhere after which a portion of the second member 9, could be removed thus exposing adhesive 14 on the third member 1.

[0032] Referring now to Figure 2 this shows another embodiment of the present invention comprising a first member 5 made of paper and having printed information on one surface 6 and adhesive 7 coated on another face 8. A second member 9, made from silicone coated release paper, is releasably attached to the adhesive layer 7 of the first member 5. In this embodiment additional separation lines 21,22 go through both the first 5 and second 9 members thus allowing portions 23,24 to be removed completely. In this particular embodiment portions 23,24 have regularly spaced holes in them to allow the stationery to be fed into and through a printer in a roll from, portions 23 and 24 being removed and discarded before the novel stationery is used. A first separation line 10 allows a portion 25 of the first member 5 to be removed and adhered to another article. In this particular embodiment information such as ticket numbers and flight numbers can be printed onto portion 25. A second separation line 12 allows a portion 26 of the second member to be removed thus allowing the exposed adhesive area 27 to be attached to the first member 5 to form a loop. It will be appreciated that separation lines 10 and portions 25 of the present embodiment can also be incorporated into the first and or third members of embodiments of the present invention such as that shown in Figure 1.

[0033] Referring now to Figure 3 this shows a plan view of the novel stationery shown in Figure 2. The portion 25, of the first member 5, which can be removed because of the first separation line 10, which is rectangular in shape, is seen clearly as are the holes 31 in the portions 23 and 24. In this embodiment a hologram 32 is incorporated, for security reasons, along one edge of the stationery. It will be appreciated that more than one portion 25 can be removed from the first member 5. Typically 2 or 3 or even more, portions 25 can be removed from a first member 5 provided of course that enough separation lines 10 are provided in a first member 5. In this particular embodiment the article of stationery is approximately 20 cm long and and 5 cm wide.

[0034] Referring now to Figure 4 this shows another embodiment of the novel stationery of the present invention. The first adhesive coated member 5 has a first separation line 10 which extends through into the second member 9 and allows a portion 41 of the first member 5 to be removed and attached to an article after the portion 42 of the second member 9 has been removed thus exposing the adhesive surface 43 of portion 41. A second separation line 12 in the second member 9 allows a portion 26 of the second member to be removed thus allowing the exposed adhesive area on the first member 5 to be attached to the first member 5 to form a loop.

[0035] It will be appreciated that many more embodiments can be devised which will come within the scope of the present application.

[0036] Referring now to Figure 5 this shows a plan view of a novel set of stationery which clearly shows a unique identifier code 51, in this case a bar code with an alpha-numeric code placed on a luggage label 52, a boarding pass 53 and a ticket 54. It will be appreciated that other layouts are possible.

Claims

1. Novel stationery having one or more members having an adhesive coated surface said members being releasably attached to and covered by a non-adhesive coated member and having at least a first and second separation line each of said separation lines extending through at least one of said adhesive coated or non-adhesive coated members characterised in that the said first separation line (10) and said second separation line (12) are placed so as to allow both a portion (11) of an adhesive coated member (5) to be removed from the novel stationery for attachment to an article and to allow an adhesive coated area of an adhesive coated member (1,5) to be exposed thereby allowing a loop to be formed by attaching that adhesive coated area to a part of the novel stationery.

2. Novel stationery as claimed in claim 1 and having a first member adhesively coated on one surface and a second non-adhesively coated member which is releasably attached to and covers the adhesive coated surface of the said first member characterised in that the said first member (5) has a separation line (10) in it, whereby a portion (11,25) of the first member can be removed and the said second member (9) has a second separation line (12) in it whereby a a portion (26) of the said second member (9) can be removed leaving an uncovered adhesive coated portion (27) of the said first member (5) which can be adhered onto the said article of stationery to form a loop, the portion (11,25) of the first member, which can bear information such as ticket number, owner of the luggage can then be attached to another article.

3. Novel stationery as claimed in claim 1 and having a first and third members adhesively coated on one surface and a second non-adhesively coated member sandwiched between the adhesively coated surfaces of the said first and third members characterised in that the said first member (5) has a first separation line (10) in it and said first (5) and second (9) members have a second separation line (12) in them said second separation line (12) being coincident with the first separation line (10) or nearer the centre of the novel stationery than the said first separation line (10) whereby in use the portion (11) of the first member (5) up to the first separation line (10) can be removed and adhered to an article and the portions (13) of the first and second members up to the second separation line (12) can be removed leaving an uncovered adhesive coated area (14) of the third member (1) which can be adhered to said novel article to form a loop.

4. Novel stationery as claimed in any of claims 1,2 or 3 where the separation line (10,12) comprises, a cut, series of cuts, perforations, crack or weakened area in a member.

5. Novel stationery as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the second or non-adhesively coated member (9) comprises a sheet release material such as silicone coated paper.

6. Novel stationery as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the adhesively coated, first and third members (1,5) are made from sheets of paper or polyester.

7. A method for facilitating the provision of a unique common identifier code for a plurality of individual items in a set of stationery charcaterised in that said method comprises programming a computer firstly to generate a unique identifying code from input data and secondly using the computer to operate printing equipment to place said code onto the individual items of stationery which form a set.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7 characterised in that the unique identifying codes is in the form of a bar code.

9. A novel set of stationery comprising at least a luggage label and a boarding pass characterised in that each item of stationery in a set bears the same unique identifying code generated according to the methods claimed in claims 7 and 8.

Drawing