The present application relates to finishing printed labels, and is particularly directed to a thermal transfer ribbon for finishing a printed label and a method of manufacturing a thermal transfer ribbon therefor.
Printed labels obtained from label printers (e.g., laser jet, inkjet, flexographic, or lithographic) are usually laminated with a clear pressure-sensitive overlaminate to provide a finished label. As shown in the known arrangement 10 in FIG. 1, a label is printed at a label printer 12. A separate label laminator 14 then applies a clear pressure-sensitive overlaminate on the printed label to provide a finished label 20 as shown in FIG. 2.
The finished label 20 has a substrate 30 which includes a liner portion 32, an adhesive portion 34, and a label portion 36 on which layer 40 is printed by the label printer 12. The finished label 20 also has an overlaminate 50 which includes an adhesive layer 52 and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer 54 applied by the label laminator 14. During the lamination process, the label laminator 14 applies the overlaminate 50 (i.e., the adhesive layer 52 and the PET layer 54) to the printed layer 40 to provide the finished label 20.
A drawback in the known arrangement 10 shown in FIG. 1 is that the label printer 12 and the label laminator 14 are different pieces of equipment. A label printed by the label printer 12 needs to be physically carried to the label laminator 14 so that the label laminator 14 can apply the clear pressure-sensitive overlaminate to provide the finished label 20 as shown in FIG. 2. Separate processes on two different pieces of equipment are involved in the known arrangement 10 shown in FIG. 1 to provide the finished label 20. It would be desirable to provide a finished label which involves only a single piece of equipment.