Sealed thermacolor tag and label structure
View Patent ↗Provided is thermally imagable media in which selected areas may be thermally activated to change color. The thermally imagable media includes a substrate having a first and second surface, the first surface supporting a thermally imagable coating, an extender coating, and a top coating such that when activated the thermally imagable coating produces a visible color. The thermally imagable media is activated in a direct thermal printer.
1. Thermally imageable media in which selected areas may be activated to form color areas comprising:
a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the substrate is a clay coated paper stock, the first surface supporting:
a thermally imageable coating;
an extender coating, which overlies the first thermally imageable coating; and
a top coating, which overlies the extender coating such that when activated the thermally imageable coating produces a color, wherein the extender coating comprises acrylic resin, wax, and water.
2. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the extender coating is applied with a 2.0 to 6.0 bcm anilox roller.
3. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the extender coating is a coating without a colorant.
4. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the thermally imageable coating comprises a colorformer and developer.
5. Thermally imageable media of claim 4 wherein the colorformer comprises at least one of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
6. Thermally imageable media of claim 4 wherein the colorformer comprises at least two of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
7. Thermally imageable media of claim 4 wherein the colorformer comprises cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
8. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the thermally imageable coating comprises 30-40% polymer solids and 60-70% water.
9. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the top coating is a coating without a colorant.
10. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the top coating comprises a water soluble polymer, crosslinking agents, and fillers.
11. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the top coating comprises 5-10% clay, 10-20% polymer solids, and 80-85% water.
12. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 , wherein the thermally imageable media is a continuous web for producing a series of thermally imageable records.
13. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the thermally imageable coating is activated to form at least one of a symbol, image, and word.
14. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the first surface further supports a second thermally imageable coating such that when activated the second thermally imageable coating forms a color.
15. Thermally imageable media of claim 14 wherein the extender coating overlies the second thermally imageable coating and the top coating overlies the extender coating.
16. Thermally imageable media of claim 1 wherein the first surface has a plurality of thermally imageable coatings on the first surface such that when activated the plurality of coatings form a plurality of colors.
17. A method of preparing thermally imageable media, the method comprising:
providing a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the substrate is a clay coated paper stock;
applying a first thermally imageable coating on the first surface;
applying an extender coating over the first thermally imageable coating; and
applying a top coating over the extender coating such that when activated the thermally imageable coating produces a color, wherein the extender coating comprises acrylic resin, wax, and water.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the applying an extender coating comprises applying the coating with a 2.0-6.0 bcm anilox roller.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising applying an adhesive to the second surface of the substrate.
20. The method of claim 19 further comprising applying a release liner to the adhesive.
21. The method of claim 17 further comprising applying a second thermally imageable coating to the first surface such that when activated the second thermally imageable coating produces a color.