Method and apparatus for manufacturing pressure sensitive adhesive label stocks with printing under adhesive and product produced thereby

A method of making a continuous strip of laminated printed adhesive labels comprising the steps of:

• dereeling a strip of release stock into a first in-feed location in a stock-processing machine having a plurality of spaced-apart workstations to receive and process moving strip stock;
• at a first workstation, applying a layer of curable silicone to one surface of the dereeled and in-fed release stock;
• at a second workstation, fast-curing the layer of curable silicone;
• at a third workstation, applying a hot melt adhesive to the cured silicone layer on the dereeled strip of release stock;
• at least partially solidifying the adhesive by cooling over a first cooled roller;
• feeding into a second in-feed location separate from the first in-feed location a strip of size-matched, preprinted label stock;
• and
• at a fourth workstation, laminating the label stock strip to the release stock with the printed side of the label stock against and in direct contact with the adhesive;
• wherein the step of applying the silicone is carried out with the use of a rubber coating roller that runs with a surface speed faster than the surface speed of the release stock at the point of application and a smoothing roller which runs at a surface speed slower than the surface speed of the release stock at the point of application.