Why Adhesive Tape?

Why would I choose adhesive tape over other methods of securing?

Adhesive tape gives you the ability to bond dissimilar materials to difficult surfaces, while filling in gaps to form a tight seal. Adhesive backed tape and foam can also bring about improvements in health, safety and disposal when you consider respiratory issues from sprays, burns from melt liquid adhesives and the trash generated from aerosol cans and tubes of used liquid adhesives.

Many manufacturing companies find that by using adhesive backed material in their production process, they save production time. First, many people say tape is a “clean” application. It does not require cleanup like many liquid adhesives. Second, it is hard to coat a substrate, especially by hand, with sprays and liquids and end up with a uniform thickness. Tape, foam and other flexible materials solve this problem by offering a uniform product thickness to the substrate on which they are being applied. Third, most adhesive backed material can be spooled into long lengths. This lowers operating costs by allowing longer runs with less machine downtime. Finally, there is no wasted time waiting for glues or epoxy to dry, set up or cure.

Adhesive backed material can help create improvements in productivity by giving engineers greater design flexibility, like using lighter, thinner materials or by converting the adhesive backed material to match their manufacturing requirements. Many engineers also like the “clean look” when two or more substrates are bonded together with adhesive backed material because it eliminates the visible mechanical fasteners, which can distort surfaces and create visual interruptions – taking away from the aesthetics of the original design. Mechanical fasteners can also create a lot of stress on parts that are bonded, which often can create noise. Tape does not create such stress. Plus, by designing-in adhesive tape and other adhesive backed material into their manufacturing process, many companies can eliminate the need to bond both substrates together at the same time and location. Furthermore, the workers applying tapes do not have to be as skilled or high wage earners, as welders and craftsmen. This saves time in money in logistics costs.

This information was provided by Lance Schneider, E-Business Manager at Budnick Converting, Inc.

Help Me Find A Tape

I am looking for a flexo plate mount tape that has a rubber adhesive and polyvinyl chloride backing for my high quality printing process. It needs to be 20 mils thick. Can you help me find that product?

This task can be quite simple if you have the right tools. There are many product finders available on the Internet, but TapeInfo.com is easily navigable and has the largest database of flexible materials you'll find online.

Once there, you can use their drop-down advanced product search engine to find exactly what you are looking for. You can Build-A-Tape, Solve-A-Tape, Compare-A-Tape, Spec-A-Tape, Search-By-Brand or Search-By-Type-Of-Tape.

In this case, we will use the Build-A-Tape function. Due to the fact there is no manufacturer preference, we will choose (All). We will choose FlexoPlateMount as the category, PVC as the backing and rubber as the adhesive. Click view and your results will come up shortly.

Click here for your results.

TapeInfo.com can help you find almost any product you need. However, if you can't find your product online, a representative would gladly assist you further.

Click to contact a TapeInfo Representative.

Acrylic versus Rubber

How quickly will full bond strength result with acrylic tapes versus rubber based tapes?

Acrylic tapes will typically take 24 – 72 hours to build to full strength while rubber based adhesive typically achieve their full bond strength within a matter of minutes.

This information was contributed by Gregory Wright, Technical Service Manager at Venture Tape Corporation. Visit Venture Tape Corporation's website for more information.

Application Temperature

What is the ideal tape application temperature?

The ideal adhesive tape application temperature is situation dependent. Environmental temperatures and the temperature of the tape and substrate you are applying the tape to can be different. The surface energy of the substrate, cleanliness, pressure used to apply the tape and dwell time before the tape is put into service can all have an effect on performance.

However, most tape manufacturers suggest applying tapes at temperatures above 40-50 degrees F. When the tape or substrate is cold the adhesive hardens and does not properly “wet out” or bond to the substrate. In severe applications, heat and pressure can be introduced to decrease dwell time and promote the bond strength.

Before applying tapes, always make sure that the surface is clean, dry and free of dust, oil or other contaminates. A mixture of 50/50 isopropyl alcohol and water is often suggested to clean surfaces.

This information was asertained from Gary Smith, Marketing Manager at Budnick Converting, Inc. To learn more about Budnick Converting visit www.BudnickConverting.com