Abstract: There is disclosed a roll of a pressure sensitive adhesive-backed linerless label web with lines of perforation cuts comprised of alternating cuts and ties. The tie at each side margin of the web is weaker than the next adjacent tie to prevent winging up of tabs at the side margins of the web during unwinding of the roll and/or during feeding of the web through a printer, and yet the cuts in the side margins facilitate the initiation of tearing of labels from the web when desired but the weak ties are easy to tear manually and do not substantially impede such initiation of manually tearing.

Abstract: There is disclosed a hand-held labeler for printing and applying labels releasably adhered to a carrier web. The labeler has a handle with an outer elastomeric member provided by a layer of an elastomeric material. The elastomeric member serves as a cushion and also provides a certain amount of friction when the handle is held in the user's hand.

Abstract: There is disclosed an endless flexible printing band and method of making such printing bands. A wide endless band having columns and rows of raised printing characters is molded onto a sheet having columns and rows of visually readable characters corresponding to the printing characters. Following molding, the wide band is slit into a plurality of printing bands.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved thermal printer with a rigid frame made from a main frame plate with compound bends and a base plate, record member supply roll mounting and guide devices, an ink ribbon and record member web feed control system, a print head assembly, and improved ink ribbon cores and spindles.

Abstract: A hand held labeler is programmable to operate in accordance with a sequence of commands forming an application program that is downloaded to the labeler and stored in a random access memory. Each command is associated with a command routine selected from a set of command routines that is stored in a read only memory. The commands of the application program and associated command routines are executed by a microprocessor of the labeler to perform flexible data collection, data manipulation and label printing operations.

Abstract: There is disclosed a spliced web of linerless labels in roll form and a method of making same. The Webs have lines of partial severing along their lengths and the splice is made between two adjacent webs by a frangible tape which enables the labels at the splice to be separated by tearing, and wherein the remainder of the labels are separable by tearing along the transverse lines of partial severing.

Abstract: A release coating composition containing about 50 to about 75 wt. % of an epoxy functional silicone; about 8 to about 25 wt. % of a reactive solvent; about 5 to about 25 wt. % of a reactive diluent; about 6 to about 12 wt. % of a wax-treated silica powder; and, about 2 to about 4 wt. % of a photoinitiator is disclosed. The composition is useful in preparing a low-gloss release coating for use on linerless labels.

Abstract: There is disclosed a hand-held labeler which is easy to load, clean and service. The labeler has a gear driven print head wherein the print head is situated on an upper housing section and the print head is actuated from a lower housing section. The upper housing section can be moved to an open position without interfering with the maintenance of the drive connection with the print head or the advance of a label carrying web through the labeler.

Abstract: There is disclosed an ink roller assembly and a method of making an ink roller assembly. The assembly includes a base comprised of closely spaced connected discs providing capillary chambers and a porous sleeve. The method uses air to expand the porous sleeve while the sleeve is being slipped onto the base.

Abstract: There is disclosed a printing band and method of making same. The printing band has printing characters and human readable characters. The human readable characters and the portion of the band adjacent thereto are coated with a first coating while masking off the printing characters. Thereafter, the outer surfaces of the human readable character are coated with a second coating which is darker than the first coating. The human readable characters are easy to read and are not easily degraded during use.

Abstract: There is disclosed an ink roller assembly and a method of making an ink roller assembly. The assembly includes a base comprised of closely spaced connected discs providing capillary chambers and a porous sleeve. The method uses air under pressure or vacuum to expand the porous sleeve while the sleeve is being slipped onto the base. The sleeve has an internal diameter less than the external diameter of the base.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved thermal printer with a rigid frame made from a main frame plate with compound bends and a base plate, record member supply roll mounting and guide devices, an ink ribbon and record member web feed control system, a print head assembly, and improved ink ribbon cores and spindles.

Abstract: There is disclosed a portable thermal printer having a printer housing, a printing mechanism and an ink ribbon cartridge containing an ink ribbon cartridge containing an ink ribbon. The cartridge has a cartridge housing and an improved brake for applying a slight braking force on a core of an ink ribbon supply roll in the housing. The cartridge is easy to load onto the printer. The cartridge forms part of the printer housing and is latched thereto. The cartridge is slid onto the printer and the cartridge housing detents into position.

Abstract: There is disclosed a hand-held labeler which is easy to load, clean and service. The labeler has a gear driven print head wherein the print head is situated on an upper housing section and the print head is actuated from a lower housing section. The upper housing section can be moved to an open position without interfering with the maintenance of the drive connection with the print head or the advance of a label carrying web through the labeler.

Abstract: There is disclosed a release-coated linerless label web which includes a cleaner and a printable portion. The web can be threaded into contact with a thermal print head and the cleaner can clean the print head and thereafter the web is advanced to printed on a series of labels. The cleaner can be comprised in one embodiment of a plurality of lines of perforation cuts which roughen the surface of the web sufficiently to clean the print head upon many contact of the web with the print head. In another embodiment the cleaner is provided by embossments. In yet another embodiment the cleaner is provided by straining the web. Methods of making and using the web are also disclosed.

Abstract: There is disclosed a hand-held labeler which is easy to load, clean and service. The labeler has a gear driven print head wherein the print head is situated on an upper housing section and the print head is actuated from a lower housing section. The upper housing section can be moved to an open position without interfering with the maintenance of the drive connection with the print head or the advance of a label carrying web through the labeler.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments of an ink roller assembly with a capillary ink metering unit and a surrounding porous ink retaining sleeve, wherein the unit is comprised of a pair of capillary sections connected to each other and wherein capillary sections include a hollow shaft and discs with intervening ink capillary chambers interconnected by passages. In another embodiment, a capillary ink metering unit includes discs on a solid shaft, wherein there are passages interconnecting capillary chambers.

Abstract: There is disclosed a hand-held labeler for printing and applying labels and for printing tags. The labeler has a keyboard, a display, a scanner, and a battery-containing handle. The labeler is user-friendly and compact. The labeler can be easily loaded with label and tag webs of different widths. The labeler has a discharge chute for the carrier web which can be slid to a position outside the labeler for easy cleaning.

Abstract: There is disclosed an improved thermal printer with a rigid frame made from a main frame plate with compound bends and a base plate, record member supply roll mounting and guide devices, an ink ribbon and record member web feed control system, a print head assembly, and improved ink ribbon cores and spindles.