Booklet comprising a plurality of detachable leaflets

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a booklet, comprising a complete outer front and back cover, and also comprising a plurality of independently detachable leaflets contained within the booklet. Preferably, the booklet and the plurality of leaflets all originate from a single band of paper or card.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to the manufacture of booklets, and in particular to improvements therein. In particular, the present invention concerns a particular structure of booklet, which will be described in more detail hereinafter.

[0002] Although many types of booklets are known, it has thus far proven difficult, on an industrial scale, to provide booklets having a front and back cover and containing multiple leaflets that were individually detachable. One of the reasons for this is that traditionally, such leaflets are manufactured separately, and often either on a different site, or at a different station in a manufacturing unit, where the leaves or sheets making them up are pinned or glued together, and then brought in separately into the brochure on an individual basis. This kind of process greatly complicates the manufacture on an industrial scale, increasing material and staff costs, but also increasing the time necessary to manufacture any given batch of booklets. In addition, the separation, out of the production line, of the assembly stage of the leaflets, can lead to placement error within the booklet and the risk that the leaflet therein will fall out during later handling, or that the booklet as a whole will not present a sufficiently rigid structure to withstand later transportation and manual handling.

[0003] The present applicants have discovered how to provide a booklet having multiple leaflets, that can be made via an in-line process, without having to separate out all of the traditional stages of manufacture, whilst at the same time having a sufficiently rigid structure to be able to withstand further handling without leading to product damage. In particular, one object of the present invention is a booklet, comprising a complete outer front and back cover, and also comprising a plurality of independently detachable leaflets contained within the booklet. Preferably, the booklet and the plurality of leaflets all originate from a single band of paper or card. Even more preferably, the paper or card has a surface weight comprised between about 60 g/cm² and 200 g/cm², preferably 90 g/cm² and 170 g/cm².

[0004] In a particularly preferred embodiment, the band of paper or card is cut into at least three strips. Equally preferably, the plurality of leaflets is made from at least two strips of the band superimposed one on top of the other substantially in register.

[0005] In still yet another preferred embodiment, the two strips each comprise an adhesive grid and adhesive-free zones.

[0006] Advantageously, and preferably, the adhesive grid of one of the strips is assembled in register with a part of the adhesive grid of the other strip. Even more preferred is the fact that the adhesive grid and adhesive-free zones of said strip only cover part of the upper face of said strip.

[0007] In particular, a preferred embodiment specifies that a part of the first strip is folded over around an axis onto another part of said same first strip bearing the adhesive grid and a part of the second strip is folded over onto said third strip around the same axis, such that the first and second strips form an amalgamated strip.

[0008] In this case, the amalgamated strip preferably comprises a plurality of pairs of cuts or slits, and more preferably three pairs of cuts. In such an embodiment, the amalgamated strip also preferably comprises perforations that link respective extremities of each cut in each pair of cuts, thereby forming detachable leaflets or cut-outs. It is to be noted that the cut outs formed by the cuts and perforations can be of any suitable shape, for example, square, rectangular, elliptoid, triangular, polygonal, curved, or any other desirable shape, provided that the perforations linking respective extremities of each cut in each pair of cuts are of sufficient size to create a semi-rigid spine for the detachable leaflet. This means that circular cut outs are least preferred if the spine formed thereby is not sufficiently long to form a semi-rigid spine for the leaflet.

[0009] In still yet another preferred embodiment, a third strip can comprise an embossed or cut shape or form, preferably a logo or design. This strip also preferably comprises an adhesive grid, and adhesive-free zones, and the said adhesive grid and adhesive-free zones most preferably cover approximately half of the upper face of said third strip. In this embodiment, the adhesive grid and adhesive-free zones of the third strip are located just off register, and underneath, the adhesive grids and adhesive-free zones of the amalgamated strip of first and second strips, such that when the first and second amalgamated strips are positioned on the third strip, a part of said amalgamated strips along a centre line of the third strip do not lay on the adhesive grid or zone, thereby creating a non adhered area forming a cut-out tongue or spine, by which the cut outs may be released. It will thus be understood that to form the cut-out tongue the perforations are preferably made through amalgamated first and second strips at a position which corresponds to where said amalgamated strips do not adhere to the third strip.

[0010] It is particularly preferred that the third strip be folded about an axis over onto the amalgamated strip, thereby forming the front and back cover of the booklet.

[0011] Advantageously, and even more preferably, the assembled strips are clipped on their unfolded side to form the independently detachable leaflets.

[0012] In another preferred embodiment, at least one cut out defines not a booklet, but a housing adapted in shape and size for receiving an object that is subsequently located within the housing, for example, a sachet, or a CD, such as a miniature CD. In this case, the paper or card that was initially present is removed from the strips, thereby creating the housing. The object can be housed either by mechanical friction due to the shape of the cut-out, for example, as with a CD, wherein the edges of the housing are designed to overlap a part of the diameter of the object, or alternately, the object can be temporarily held in the housing by detachable adhesive.

[0013] The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a particularly preferred embodiment, illustrated by the accompanying drawings, and provided for purposes of example.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014] 

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a band of paper or card that is cut into three strips according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the positioning and folding of two of the strips of Figure 1 to form an amalgamated strip.

Figure 3 illustrates the cutting and perforation of the amalgamated strip of Figure 2 and the third strip of Figure 1, and assembly of the amalgamated strip onto the third strip.

Figure 4 schematically represents the functioning of the preferred embodiment according to the invention.

Figure 5 is yet another preferred embodiment of the invention in which one of the booklets is replaced with a cut-out for housing an object.

Figure 6 is a schematic representation of a production line for the manufacture of booklets according to the present invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0015] A booklet according to the present invention is obtained from a single band 1 of paper or card stored on a reel, such as that typically used for these kind of products. The surface weight of the paper or card can be comprised from between about 60 g/cm² to about 200 g/cm², and preferably from about 90 g/cm² to about 170 g/cm². The quality of the paper or card can likewise be chosen in a manner known to the skilled person, depending on the look and feel that is required in the finished product. Such choices of paper or card are generally well known, but can include glossy paper, matt paper, filmed paper, laminated paper, preprinted paper, and the like. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the paper or card bears one or more films that provide a magazine type sheen to the card or paper. The use of such filmed or laminated paper is also well known to the art skilled person in paper printing.

[0016] The single band 1 of paper taken from a roll of paper is cut into at least three strips 2, 3, 4 of approximately equal width. More than three strips may be cut from the band, and indeed, if extra strips are cut, these can be used either to reinforce one of the strips 2, 3 or 4, or even simply provide extra pages to include in the leaflets provided within the booklet. On one of these strips 4, glue or adhesive is applied on an upper face of the strip around its periphery and also across the length and width of the strip 4 to form a grid of adhesive 5 defining adhesive-free zones 6. It is to be noted that the adhesive can be applied contiguously to form an unbroken adhesive boundary around the adhesive-free zones 6, or can also be non-contiguous such that the adhesive-free zones 6 are not just the inner areas delimited by the adhesive grid, but also extend to the edge of the strip 4. In such a case, the adhesive can be applied by, for example, dotting onto the strip 4. The skilled person will readily understand that although reference is made to the term "grid", this expression in fact means any particular arrangement of adhesive points on the surface of the strips, be they random, or ordered, since a "grid" in this sense is merely a topological representation of a series of spaced apart points linked together by virtual lines. Where the adhesive is effectively applied in a line or a series of lines so linked to form a grid, these lines of adhesives, due to the superposition of the strips as will be described hereafter, substantially contribute to the overal rigidity of the booklet of the present invention.

[0017] In a next step, the strip 3, which in this example is the middle strip of the three strips initially cut from the band 1, is positioned over or superimposed on the strip 4 such that the two strips leave no overlap and match their surfaces completely. Strip 3 is placed on top of strip 4 and adheres thereto due to the adhesive grid that has previously been applied to the upper face of strip 4. Additionally, adhesive is also applied to the upper face of strip 3 to form another grid 7, defining adhesive-free zones 8, this latter grid only occupying approximately half of the surface area of strip 3, and the grid 7 corresponding exactly to half of the grid 5 of the underlying strip 4. When considering the Figures, the grid 7 matches the positioning of, and is in register with, grid 5 on the right-hand sides of both strips 3 and 4. The left-hand side of strip 3 is left untouched and substantially no adhesive is applied thereto. It should be understood that strip 3 can be superimposed and adhered onto strip 4 either before or after application of the adhesive grid 7 to strip 3. Furthermore, the adhesive can be applied in the same manner as for grid 5, i.e. it can either be contiguous or non-contiguous around the periphery and the length and width.

[0018] Following on from the adhesion of strip 3 to strip 4, strips 3 and 4 are folded about an axis 9, whereby the left-hand side of the upper face of strip 3 upon which no adhesive had been applied is brought to bear on the right-hand side of the upper face of the same strip 3, i.e. strip 3 is basically folded along a centre line represented by axis 9. In doing so, the left-hand side of strip 3 becomes adhered to the right-hand side of the same strip, and since strip 4 was already adhered to strip 3, the underside of strip 4 now becomes the upper face of the amalgamated strips 3 and 4, which are approximately half their initial size and also half the size of strip 2.

[0019] Insofar as strip 2 is concerned, it is optionally possible, but preferred, to either emboss, stamp or cut out a shape 13 or a predetermined form, for example a company logo or design on one half of the strip, for example the left-hand side, as seen in the Figures. At the same, or alternate, time as the stamping or cutting of strip 2, the amalgamated strips 3 and 4 can also be cut and perforated. Preferably however, this occurs after positioning of the amalgamated strips onto the third strip, as is described hereafter. In one preferred embodiment, three pairs of cuts or slits 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b, and 12a, 12b are made in strips 3 and 4, wherein each pair of cuts or slits are linked together at one respective extremity by a series of perforations 10c, 11c, 12c, that are also made in the strips 3 and 4, and which extend substantially from one cut 10a, 11a, 12a to the other cut 10b, 11b, 12b. In this way, the cuts and perforations define a plurality of areas that will be detachable from the booklet, independently one from each other. It goes without saying that the pairs of cuts can be made vertically instead of horizontally as illustrated in the Figures, in which case the perforations will be horizontal, thereby enabling production of leaflets that can be detached from top to bottom or vice-versa. Additionally, the cuts and perforations can be shaped in such a way to provide for any shape or desirable form of booklet, for example, rectangular, square, elliptical, triangular, polygonal, star-shaped, curved, and the like, provided that the perforations define a spine of sufficient length and size that enables the spine to remain semi-rigid.

[0020] Turning again now to strip 2, the right-hand side of the strip on its upper face is coated with adhesive to form a grid 14 and adhesive-free zones 15 in a similar, but narrower, register as that of strip 3 and the right-hand half of strip 4. In particular, the adhesive zone of grid 14 is narrower nearer the centre fold of strip 3. The amalgamated strips 3 and 4 are then placed on top of strip 2 in alignment with the adhesive grid 15, such that amalgamated strips 3 and 4 cover approximately half of the surface of strip 2, but leaving an edge or what is referred to here as a spine 21 or cut-out tongue, that will enable the booklet to be detached after perforation, which preferably occurs at this stage. The remainder of strip 2 can then be folded about an axis 16, such that the left-hand side of strip 2 is brought to cover the amalgamated strips 3 and 4. Finally, the whole booklet structure is clipped along the unfolded edge 17 to produce the end booklet. In this way, when the booklet is opened, it is possible, via the spine or cut-out tongue 21 to independently detach each leaflet 18, 19, 20 from the booklet structure, the spine 21 of each leaflet being held together by the adhesive that was applied during construction of the booklet, and the various layers of the folded strips 3 and 4 causing the spine 21 to be semi-rigid. In addition, each leaflet contains at least 8 sides on which a variety of diverse information can be printed or pre-printed. It is also to be understood that the leaflet can comprise more than 8 sides, i.e. one can use more than the two strips 3 and 4 that have been described in the preferred embodiment, for example three or four strips of paper or card, which when doubled up according to the present invention would add more sides to the leaflet.

[0021] The whole booklet structure, due mainly to the combination of the adhesive layers and the strips 2, 3 and 4 folded about each other, has a relatively rigid spine 21 area that contrasts with the flexibility of the independently detachable leaflets. It should also be noted that all of the operations described above are carried out on a single manufacturing in-line unit, thereby reducing cost, wastage, raw materials and manpower, since there is no need for independent processing and transport between stages of operation of the various components making up the booklet.

[0022] Figure 5 represents another particularly preferred embodiment of the booklet according to the present invention. The manner in which this booklet is produced is substantially the same as for the preceding example. The booklet of this embodiment differs in that the cuts 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b, 12a, 12b and perforations 10c, 11c, 12c have been designed to produce two curved shaped detachable leaflets 18 and 20, and a cut-out 22, for example an octagonal cut-out 22. Since this cut-out 22 essentially has no spine 21, when compared to the leaflets 18 and 20, it is discarded. The area left behind in the amalgamated strips 3 and 4 forms a housing 23, in which it is possible to locate or position subsequently an object, such as a perfume sample, free gift, or digital media. The cuts and perforations can be so crafted as to be able to house the object by friction, or even to partly overlap the edges of the object, inserted into the housing 23 via a sliding movement, for example in the case of a digital media such as a CD.

[0023] Turning now to Figure 6, the production line for manufacturing booklets according to the invention is illustrated schematically, both as a cross-sectional flow diagram Fig. 6A indicating the direction of the paper through the production line, and as a perspective view of the paper within the production unit Fig. 6B, in which the various stages of manufacture are indicated. Point A is where the band of paper enters into the production system and this band is separated into at least three strips. Two strips, corresponding to strips 3 and 4, are transported substantially along the same route 24 via rollers 25, whereas strip 2 follows an alternate route 26, via another set of rollers 27. The transport routes 24, 26 of the strips are designed so that it is possible to match up strip 2 with the amalgamated strips 3 and 4 at a later stage. Strips 3 and 4 pass through rollers 25, where the adhesive is applied first to strip 3 at Point B, and then to strip 4 at Point C, at which point strip 4 is also folded over onto strip 3 to form the amalgamated strips. Strip 2 is being transported substantially in register with the amalgamated strips as they all travel from Point C to Point D, where the cutting and perforations are made in the amalgamated strips 3 and 4, and any embossing or cutting of logos is made in part of strip 2. Just after this step, that is, just after Point D, strip 2 is led off away from the amalgamated strips 3, 4 via route 26 and rollers 27. Route 26 takes strip 2 around the production line via rollers 27 and back underneath strips 3 and 4 to Point E, where strip 2 is coated with adhesive, and then brought into register with strips 3 and 4 once again. At this point, the amalgamated strips 3 and 4 are placed onto strip 2 and assembled via adhesion to the adhesive grid areas 14. After subsequent folding over of the other half of strip 2 onto the amalgamated strips 3 and 4, the booklet in the making reaches Point F, where the unfolded edge 17 is trimmed by a cutter 28. The booklets then pass through further sets of rollers to be separated and packaged.

Claims

1. A booklet, comprising a complete outer front and back cover, and also comprising a plurality of independently detachable leaflets contained within the booklet.

2. A booklet according to claim 1, wherein the booklet and the plurality of leaflets all originate from a single band 1 of paper or card.

3. A booklet according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the paper or card has a surface weight comprised between about 60 g/cm² and 200 g/cm², preferably 90 g/cm² and 170 g/cm².

4. A booklet according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the band 1 of paper or card is cut into at least three strips (2, 3, 4).

5. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of leaflets is made from at least two strips (3, 4) of the band (1) superimposed one (3) on top of the other (4) in register.

6. A booklet according to claim 5, wherein the two strips each comprise an adhesive grid (5, 7) and adhesive-free zones (6, 8).

7. A booklet according to claim 6, wherein the adhesive grid (7) of strip (3) is assembled in register with a part of the adhesive grid (5) of strip (4).

8. A booklet according to claim 6, wherein the adhesive grid (7) and adhesive-free zones (8) of the strip (3) only cover part of the upper face of said strip (3).

9. A booklet according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein:

- a part of the strip (3) is folded over around an axis (9) onto the part of said strip (3) bearing the adhesive grid ; and

- a part of the strip (4) is folded over onto the strip (3) around the same axis (9), such that the strips (3, 4) form an amalgamated strip.

10. A booklet according to claim 9, wherein the amalgamated strip comprises a plurality of pairs of cuts or slits (10a, 10b, 11a, 11b, 12a, 12b), preferably three pairs of cuts.

11. A booklet according to claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the amalgamated strip also comprises perforations (10c, 11c, 12c) that link respective extremities of each cut in each pair of cuts, thereby forming detachable leaflets (18, 19, 20).

12. A booklet according to claim 11, wherein the cuts and perforations define detachable leaflets or cut outs of any suitable shape, preferably, square, rectangular, elliptoid, triangular, polygonal, curved, or any other desirable shape, provided that the perforations linking respective extremities of each cut in each pair of cuts are of sufficient size to create a semi-rigid spine for each detachable leaflet (18, 19, 20).

13. A booklet according to claim 11, wherein the perforations and cuts define at least one housing adapted in shape and size for receiving an object that is subsequently located within the housing.

14. A booklet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the strip (2) comprises an embossed or cut shape or form, preferably a logo or design.

15. A booklet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the strip (2) comprises an adhesive grid (14), and adhesive-free zones (15).

16. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adhesive grid (14) and adhesive-free zones (15) cover approximately half of the upper face of the strip (2).

17. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adhesive grid (14) and adhesive-free zones (15) of the strip (2) are located in alignment and substantially in register, and underneath, the adhesive grids (5, 7) and adhesive-free zones (6, 8) of the amalgamated strip of strips (3) and (4).

18. A booklet according to claim 17, wherein the adhesive grid (14) and adhesive free zones (15) of strip (2) are located just off register, and underneath, the adhesive grids (5, 7) and adhesive-free zones (6, 8) of the amalgamated strip of first and second strips (3, 4), such that when the first and second amalgamated strips (3, 4) are positioned on the third strip (2), a part of said amalgamated strips (3, 4) along a centre line of the third strip (2) does not lay on the adhesive grid (14), thereby creating a non adhered area forming a cut-out tongue or spine (21).

19. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the strip (2) is folded about an axis (16) over onto the amalgamated strip (3, 4), thereby forming the front and back cover of the booklet.

20. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the assembled strips (2, 3, 4) are clipped on their unfolded side (17) to form the independently detachable leaflets.

21. A booklet according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover sheet consists of a plurality of plies of paper or card, and an RFID circuit is incorporated between a first ply and a second ply.

22. A booklet according to any one of preceding claims 1 to 20, wherein an RFID circuit is incorporated into at least one of the independently detachable leaflets.

Drawing