Self-adhesive shaped article

Details Self-adhesive shaped article Self-adhesive shaped article

2000-11-03

2003-10-07

Dixon, Merrick (Department: 1774)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Structurally defined web or sheet

Including variation in thickness

C428S040100, C428S041700, C428S041800, C428S042200, C428S042300, C428S074000, C428S906000, C428S608000, C428S101000, C428S220000, C156S094000, C156S246000, C156S247000, C156S280000, C156S306300

Reexamination Certificate

active

06630227

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention describes an unfoamed self-adhesive product with a fibrous structure for masking. Preference is given to applications for masking surfaces which are to be treated, furnished, upgraded or coated.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the treatment, furnishing, upgrading and coating of surfaces it is common to use self-adhesive masking tapes in order to protect areas which are not to be treated, furnished, upgraded or coated. Following the treatment, furnishing, upgrading and/or coating, these tapes may be removed. Especially when coating with a coating material, this tape may be removed before or after physical or chemical curing. Advantageous materials exhibit a certain level of resistance to the product against which protection is intended. Moreover, they are inert toward the substrate. In addition, there are products for masking over a long period of time.
Especially in the case of masking tapes for decorating and painting work, preference is given to self-adhesive products which can be detached without residue. Absorption, or at least good adhesion, of the coating products on the masking tape is necessary. In general, these products comprise thin papers, foils or films which are adapted to the requirements by means of appropriate treatment steps. In general, these products are available in various configurations, and commercially. A disadvantage of these products in some applications is their low thickness. In the case of spray painting in the automotive refinish sector, in particular, beads and gaps can be sealed off with respect to the spray mist only by means of complicated multiple masking with a thin product. Moreover, products designed in this way possess little compressibility. Another possibility is to insert a foam into the area. However, this does not make it possible to achieve sharp edges. A further disadvantage is that foams always have a cellular structure. Foams of high strength are, accordingly, not very open and are therefore able to absorb a fairly small amount of coating material. Very open foams provide good coating material absorption but exhibit poor strength. Therefore, open foams are unsuitable for strongly adhering application.
EP 0 365 510 discloses an elongate, compressible and flexible foam cushion which withstands surface treatment and is intended for the masking of surfaces that are to be treated.
EP 0 384 624 likewise discloses a foam which has not been cold-welded but which may have been treated with an adhesive.
It was an object of the invention to develop a product which does not have the aforementioned disadvantages.
This object has been achieved by means of a shaped article as claimed in claim
1
, in particular by means of an unfoamed, flexible, elongate shaped article for masking a substrate and having a thickness of more than 3 mm, wherein the shaped article under a load of 5 N/cm (width) has an elongation of at least 10%, is at least partially self-adhesive, is compressible in thickness (or height or Z-direction) by at least 10%, and has a flexural stiffness in the longitudinal direction of less than 200 N×cm
2
.
Simple masking of gaps in substrates is possible specifically through the bulky, flexible nature of the shaped article. In a further embodiment, the shaped article has a thickness of from 4 to 200 mm, preferably from 5 to 120, and with particular preference from 6 to 30 mm. An important factor is that a deformation in the gap is compensated by effective elastic resilience. Depending on the application, the shaped article is compressible in its height (or thickness, Z-orientation) by from 20 to 95% and so covers a wide spectrum of fields of use. In order to ensure effective coverage of curves, without creases, extensibility in the longitudinal direction of at least 10% is required. Preference is given to shaped articles having an extensibility of from 20 to 2000%, with particular preference from 25 to 1000%, with very particular preference from 30 to 500%. An important feature for effective conformation is an appropriate flexural stiffness. For application as a masking material, flexural stiffnesses of less than 200 N×cm
2
have proven advantageous. Preference is given to flexural stiffnesses of between 0.1 and 30 N×cm
2
, with particular preference between 0.5 and 20 N×cm
2
. A significantly safe application was achieved with moldings having a width of at least 4 mm. Preference is given to shaped articles having a width of from 6 to 200 mm, with particular preference from 8 to 30 mm.
Soft coating-material edges are achieved by using, in particular, circular or oval cross sections or edges having circular radii. A height/width ratio of less than one, preferably from 0.1 to 0.95, with particular preference from 0.2 to 0.95, has proven advantageous for the application. Sharp edges may be achieved by means of flat profiles. Furthermore, the shaped article may also be asymmetric in structure, so that only one edge is rounded.
To absorb the coating materials, a sufficiently high degree of wetability is advantageous. Shaped articles comprising substances having a fibrous structure are favorable. However, substances with a large surface area also find application. This is likewise important for effective adhesion of coating material to the shaped article. The addition of auxiliaries may assist.
Furthermore, the shaped article may also have been pretreated. In particular, irradiation, or discharge (e.g., corona) or flame treatment may be used in relation to the application.
In general, the subject matter of the invention comprises oriented or unoriented individual fibers or filaments, the fibers possessing good adhesion with respect to one another.
Spun fiber webs or filament webs have shown themselves to be advantageous. In one preferred embodiment of the subject matter of the invention, the subject matter is obtained by mechanical or aerodynamic, hydrodynamic or thermodynamic processes or a combination thereof. Preference is given to dry-laid, wet-laid or spunbonded webs or laminates formed by combining said types of web. Bulky webs made from spun polymer fibers are particularly preferred as the core. Such webs are produced by entangling the polymeric melt in the face of a stream of air and/or by permanent swivel movements of the spinning manifolds, and is sufficiently well known from the prior art.
When laminated structures are used, wet- or dry-laid webs are also favorable, at least in part, for specific applications.
In an alternative application, the fibers are also processed as threads or multistrand yarns and in wovens or knits. Spacer knits or spacer wovens are advantageous, being connected by more or less rigid spacer threads and so having a sufficiently high long-term resilience.
In one specific embodiment, a web overstitched by means of yarns is used as a three-dimensional shaped structure for masking surfaces, the number of stitches on the web being advantageously at least 3/cm, preferably from 5/cm to 50/cm. The ultimate tensile stress strength of the subject matter of the invention is at least 10 N/cm, preferably from 20 to 450 N/cm, with particular preference from 30 to 250 N/cm, the force being based on the width of the subject matter of the invention.
Accordingly, materials which can be used for the yarns are, advantageously, polymeric fibers of polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, aramid or polyethylene, and also mineral fibers such as glass fibers or carbon fibers. In addition, it is also possible to use multistrand yarns or mixed multistrands, especially Sirospun yarns. For specific applications, single- or multistrand fiber blend yarns may also be used. Furthermore, the yarns may have been at least partly colored in order to make the backing material more visually appealing. In alternative embodiments, fibers of natural origin such as cotton, silk, flax or staple viscose rayon were used.
For specific applications, the yarn may also be elastic, From this there is then regenerated an elastic base support having an elongation of up to 250% under a load of 10 N/c

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