Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With stretching or tensioning means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-05
2002-07-23
Crispino, Richard (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With stretching or tensioning means
C156S522000, C156S555000, C100S176000, C242S156000, C242S419900
Reexamination Certificate
active
06422281
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an adhesive transfer apparatus for selectively applying adhesive to a selected substrate and, more particularly to an adhesive transfer apparatus with a take-up roll. The present invention also relates to a removable cartridge with a pressure applying assembly built therein for use with a generic master processing apparatus.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,584,962 and 5,580,417 each disclose a laminating and adhesive transfer apparatus. The '417 patent discloses a removable cartridge having a pair of rolls mounted therein and that is configured to be removably mounted to the apparatus frame. The '962 patent discloses an apparatus which is configured to be used with a pair of removable feed rolls. In contrast to being mounted in a removable cartridge, the feed rolls of the '962 patent are individually removably mounted to the apparatus frame. Each of these devices can be used to either laminate a selected substrate or to apply an adhesive to the selected substrate.
To perform an adhesive transfer operation with either device taught in the above patents, both a feed roll having an adhesive transfer substrate coated with an adhesive layer and a feed roll having an adhesive mask substrate are removably mounted to the frame either individually or together in a cartridge. The substrates are unwound and fed through a set of nip rollers. A selected substrate is fed between the transfer and mask substrates and a crank handle is manually operated to rotate the nip rollers. The rotating nip rollers cooperate to apply pressure to the substrates and discharge the substrates outwardly therefrom. The applied pressure causes the adhesive layer to bond to both the selected substrate and the portions of the mask extending around the selected substrate.
The discharged substrates can then be severed and the mask substrate can be peeled away from the transfer and selected substrates. As the mask substrate is being peeled away, the portions of the adhesive layer surrounding the selected substrate remain bonded to the mask substrate and are stripped away from the transfer substrate. The resulting article consists of the selected substrate, the transfer substrate, and the portion of the adhesive layer bonded to the selected substrate. The mask substrate can then be discarded and the selected substrate can be peeled off the transfer substrate for adherence to a desired contact surface. The advantage of the process performed by the apparatuses of the '962 and '417 patents is that it reduces the chances of excess adhesive getting on an operator's hands or other undesired surfaces because all the excess adhesive not bonded to the selected substrate is bonded to the mask substrate and discarded therewith.
Manually peeling back the mask substrate, however, does not entirely eliminate the chances of getting the adhesive on the user's hands or other surfaces due to the fact that the user still must manually handle the mask substrate. Also, the mask substrate may be dropped or otherwise mishandled to cause the adhesive thereon to get on undesired surfaces. Thus, there exists a need for an adhesive transfer device which can effectively transfer adhesive to a selected substrate and substantially eliminate all chances of sticking extra adhesive to undesired surfaces. To meet this need, the present invention provides an adhesive transfer apparatus for applying adhesive to a selected substrate. The apparatus comprises a frame, a first feed roll carrying a supply of an adhesive transfer substrate, and a second feed roll carrying a supply of an adhesive mask substrate. The adhesive transfer substrate has a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on an adhesive carrying side thereof. The adhesive mask substrate has a bonding side to which the pressure-sensitive adhesive will bond. The first and second feed rolls are rotatably mounted to the frame and are positioned such that the selected substrate can be inserted between the transfer substrate and the mask substrate. In the illustrated embodiment, the feed rolls are removably mounted either directly or indirectly to the frame for replacement when desired, but may be fixedly mounted to the frame as part of a discardable low cost apparatus. Preferably, the feed rolls may be mounted together in a unitary cartridge; however, it is contemplated that the feed rolls may be removably mounted to the frame individually as in the aforementioned '962 patent, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated into the present application by reference.
A take-up roll is rotatably mounted to the frame. The adhesive mask substrate has a lead end portion thereof connected to the take-up roll. The manufacturer may take the appropriate steps to connect the mask substrate to the take-up roll or the end user can unwind the mask substrate and connect the lead end thereof to the take-up roll. As with the feed rolls, it is preferred that the take-up roll be mounted in a unitary cartridge along with the feed rolls; however, it is contemplated that the take-up roll may also be individually mounted to the frame or may be fixed in the frame as part of a low cost discardable apparatus.
A pressure applying assembly is constructed and arranged to apply pressure to the transfer substrate and the mask substrate with the selected substrate inserted therebetween. The pressure applying assembly may have a pair of cooperating pressure applying structures. These pressure applying cooperating structure may be provided by only one nip roller and a fixed opposing structure with which the nip roller cooperates; a pair of cooperating rotatable nip rollers; or a pair of non-rotatable structures disposed adjacent to one another. Examples of such non-rotatable structures may include resiliently flexible wipers that engage the opposing sides of the substrates fed therebetween to apply pressure thereto or rigid fixed or spring-biased members narrowly spaced apart to apply pressure to substrates having more than a minimum thickness fed therebetween. Further, it is possible that the entire pressure applying assembly or portions thereof may be indirectly removably mounted to the frame by a unitary cartridge along with the feed rolls and the take-up roll. This arrangement is advantageous because the substrates on the feed rolls can be pre-loaded into their operating positions by the manufacturer, thus obviating the need for the end user to attempt loading the substrates. However, it is within the scope of the present invention to have the pressure applying assembly be directly mounted to the frame instead of being mounted within a removable cartridge for removable mounting to the frame. Additionally, the adhesive may be coated on the radially outer surfaces of the transfer substrate and the pressure applying assembly may be provided by one or more springs that press the feed rolls directly together in a nip roller so that they function as nip rollers to apply pressure to the selected substrate and affect the adhesive transfer.
The apparatus is constructed and arranged such that, when the selected substrate is inserted between the adhesive transfer substrate and the adhesive mask substrate, an adhesive transfer operation can be performed wherein (a) the transfer substrate, the mask substrate, and the selected substrate are moved together in a feeding direction (b) the pressure applying assembly applies pressure to the transfer substrate and the mask substrate with the selected substrate inserted therebetween to cause the adhesive on the adhesive carrying side of the adhesive transfer substrate to adhesively bond to one side of the selected substrate and to any portions of the bonding side of the mask substrate which extend adjacent the periphery of the selected substrate and are engaged directly with the adhesive layer, and (c) the take-up roll rotates to wind up a discharged portion of the mask substrate to which the pressure has been applied along with any portions of the adhesive layer bonded to
Ensign, Jr. Thomas C.
Hardy Jerry L.
Velasquez Joseph P. E.
Crispino Richard
Hawkins Cheryl N.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Xyron Inc.
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