CA1091007A

CA1091007A - Method of reusing substrate for image presentation

Info

Publication number: CA1091007A
Application number: CA243,194A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Robert A. Shade; Thomas H. Tess; Erland C. Porter, Jr.
Original assignee: Shade Inc
Current assignee: Shade Inc
Priority date: 1975-01-31
Filing date: 1976-01-08
Publication date: 1980-12-09
Also published as: GB1536582A; BE837560A; FR2299668B1; IT1053578B; JPS51100728A; DE2600892A1; SE7600499L; BR7600423A; FR2299668A1

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:
A method of reusing a substrate such as a plastic film by subjecting the same to xerography to place an image thereon, utilizing the image carrying substrate for its intended purpose, and thereafter removing the image from the substrate through the use of a solvent for the particles creating the xerographic image whereby the substrate is suitable for reuse.

Description

10~1007 _ACK&ROUND AND SUMMARY O~ IN~ENTION:

It has become increasingly important to reuse and conserve raw materials and natural resources. One raw material (or natural resource) which is being wasted at a tremendous rate is paper employed in office -use situations.
Frequently, a large number of copies of a memorandum are circulated, studied and then thrown away. Such a wasteful .

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lV~10()7 situation is avoi~ed by tllc instant inventioT- wherein the substrate carryin~ the inform~tional image can be literally "erased" so as to render the substrate suitable for use again and again.

The only attempt that has been made to conserve a natural resource such as paper, particularly the large number of papers passing over desks for informational purposes which are read and thrown away, is to collect the same for reworking at ~he paper mill, i.e., recycling.
All of this is rendered obsolete by the instant invention which utilizes a substrate which can be "erased" or rendered usable by an on-site process at the place of use.
For example, the reusable substrate can be read, returned to a central processing area where the substrate is rejuve-nated or newed and thereafter reused. Also, the invention finds advantageous application for file copies which can be purged after a suitable length of time and the resultant regenerated material then reused.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, a substrate is provided which is capable of receiving an informational image. A wide variety of substrates may be employed such as paper or other core material capable of providing the necessary background for the image and wherein the material is coated or otherwise covered by means of a film or layer which has release properties or the infor-mational image when the same is contacted with a suitable solvent. Where the informational image is created by ink, the corresponding ink solvent is employed, and this applies whether the ink is in liquid or particle form when applied.

lV~ 07 To create the image on the paper, I refet to the peocess of xerography but use the term in a general sense of creating an image on a substrate -- more frequently through the use of the deposition of particles conforming in orientation to the image on the original or master after which the parti~les are fixed. Thereupon the image carrying substrate may be viewed, stored or filed or otherwise made use of until such time as it becomes advantageous to return the substrate to its original unprinted condition.
This can be achieved through the use of suitable solvents, as indicated above and the substrate thereupon readied for future use.

The invention is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which -- -FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the process of the invention; and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate used therein.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 designates generally a substrate which may take a variety of forms although ad-vantageously it may take the form seen in FIG. 2 wherein the numeral 11 designates a paper or other core material laminated between outer film coatings 12 and 13 which, in one form of the invention may be "Mylar~ (Registered Trade Mark), an ethylene terephthalate marketed by E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. Normally, the paper is of the order of 0.02-0.003~ in thickness and has surface dimensions corresponding to the intended usage, viz., 8-1/2" by 11", 8-1/2~ by 13~, etc.
The film coverings 12 or 13 may be of the order of a fraction of a mil, i.e., 0.002-O.OOOln. The films 12 and 13 may ,~ 10~
~ coupled to tlle core ll throug~ a varicty o procedures such as adhesion, extrusiotl, or the like.

Such a substrate is then delivered for image reception to a suitable device schematically represented by the block 14 which carries the legend "xerographic reproduction".
Again, a variety of devices and methods may be employed here ranging from "Xeroxing", according to the procedure of Xerox Corporation to printing on conventional presses.
The resultant product carrying the image as at 15 with 10 the product being designated 10' is shown in FIG. 1 carrying the legend "use". For example, the use may be for an office memorandum where the circulation and life is -limited. Instead of relegating the memorandum to the waste-basket, the used memorandum is merely placed in a rack or other convenient receptacle for pickup and delivery to the rejuvenation station 16 for reconstitution. This may take the form of a press or other web contacting device wherein a solvent suitable for removal of the image is employed.
With the toner particles characteristic of most xerographic 20 machines employed today, a solvent such as toluene or tetrachlorethylene may be employed. Clearly, the character of the solvent is best ascertained as a function of the image creating media.

In the practice of the invention, it is preferred to employ xerographic reproduction which does not alter the surface of the substrate as would be the case with letter press or other impact type printing.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A process for the multiple reuse of plural unit sheet substrates for the presentation and dissemination of visual information, such unit sheet substrates having a protective surface on which is created an image copy by xerographic reproduction or similar means which does not alter the surface of the unit sheet substrates, such protective surface having release properties for the informational image when contacted with a solvent, comprising the steps of collecting such unit sheet substrates after dissemination of such visual information, removing the image copy from the surface of such unit sheet substrates by subjecting such unit sheet substrates to solvent means to release the image copy therefrom and thereby render such unit sheet substrates ready for reuse, creating a second image copy on the surface of such unit sheet substrates by xerographic reproduction or similar means which does not alter the surface of the unit sheet substrates, and redistributing such unit sheet substrates with such second image copy thereon to provide additional visual informa-tion to readers using the same unit sheet substrates as before.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1, wherein during the cleaning step a solvent means such as toluene or tetrachlorethylene or similar solvent means is applied to the protective surface of the unit sheet substrates to release the image copy therefrom.

3. A process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the unit sheet substrates consist of paper sheet stock and the protective surface of the paper sheet stock is made of a film of a suitable plastic.