EP1234683B1 - Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen - Google Patents

Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1234683B1
EP1234683B1 EP02076790A EP02076790A EP1234683B1 EP 1234683 B1 EP1234683 B1 EP 1234683B1 EP 02076790 A EP02076790 A EP 02076790A EP 02076790 A EP02076790 A EP 02076790A EP 1234683 B1 EP1234683 B1 EP 1234683B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
adhesive
sheet members
sheets
belt
coating material
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP02076790A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP1234683A3 (de
EP1234683A2 (de
Inventor
Mark S. Vogel
Kim K. Tsujimoto
Gregory F. Stifter
Bernard F. Pierre
Frederic P. Leriche
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
3M Co
Original Assignee
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co filed Critical Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co
Publication of EP1234683A2 publication Critical patent/EP1234683A2/de
Publication of EP1234683A3 publication Critical patent/EP1234683A3/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1234683B1 publication Critical patent/EP1234683B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
    • B65H29/66—Advancing articles in overlapping streams
    • B65H29/6609—Advancing articles in overlapping streams forming an overlapping stream
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B42—BOOKBINDING; ALBUMS; FILES; SPECIAL PRINTED MATTER
    • B42C—BOOKBINDING
    • B42C3/00—Making booklets, pads, or form sets from multiple webs
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/08—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line
    • B05C1/0808—Details thereof, e.g. surface characteristics
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/08—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line
    • B05C1/0821—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line characterised by driving means for rollers or work
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/08—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line
    • B05C1/0826—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line the work being a web or sheets
    • B05C1/0834—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line the work being a web or sheets the coating roller co-operating with other rollers, e.g. dosing, transfer rollers
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/14—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length using a travelling band
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C13/00—Means for manipulating or holding work, e.g. for separate articles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C9/00—Apparatus or plant for applying liquid or other fluent material to surfaces by means not covered by any preceding group, or in which the means of applying the liquid or other fluent material is not important
    • B05C9/04—Apparatus or plant for applying liquid or other fluent material to surfaces by means not covered by any preceding group, or in which the means of applying the liquid or other fluent material is not important for applying liquid or other fluent material to opposite sides of the work
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C9/00—Apparatus or plant for applying liquid or other fluent material to surfaces by means not covered by any preceding group, or in which the means of applying the liquid or other fluent material is not important
    • B05C9/08—Apparatus or plant for applying liquid or other fluent material to surfaces by means not covered by any preceding group, or in which the means of applying the liquid or other fluent material is not important for applying liquid or other fluent material and performing an auxiliary operation
    • B05C9/14—Apparatus or plant for applying liquid or other fluent material to surfaces by means not covered by any preceding group, or in which the means of applying the liquid or other fluent material is not important for applying liquid or other fluent material and performing an auxiliary operation the auxiliary operation involving heating or cooling
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
    • B65H29/58—Article switches or diverters
    • B65H29/62—Article switches or diverters diverting faulty articles from the main streams
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H29/00—Delivering or advancing articles from machines; Advancing articles to or into piles
    • B65H29/66—Advancing articles in overlapping streams
    • B65H29/6654—Advancing articles in overlapping streams changing the overlapping figure
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H37/00—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating devices for performing specified auxiliary operations
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H37/00—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating devices for performing specified auxiliary operations
    • B65H37/02—Article or web delivery apparatus incorporating devices for performing specified auxiliary operations for applying adhesive
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H39/00—Associating, collating, or gathering articles or webs
    • B65H39/02—Associating,collating or gathering articles from several sources
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H39/00—Associating, collating, or gathering articles or webs
    • B65H39/02—Associating,collating or gathering articles from several sources
    • B65H39/04—Associating,collating or gathering articles from several sources from piles
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/16—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length only at particular parts of the work
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B05—SPRAYING OR ATOMISING IN GENERAL; APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C—APPARATUS FOR APPLYING FLUENT MATERIALS TO SURFACES, IN GENERAL
    • B05C1/00—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating
    • B05C1/04—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length
    • B05C1/16—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length only at particular parts of the work
    • B05C1/165—Apparatus in which liquid or other fluent material is applied to the surface of the work by contact with a member carrying the liquid or other fluent material, e.g. a porous member loaded with a liquid to be applied as a coating for applying liquid or other fluent material to work of indefinite length only at particular parts of the work using a roller or other rotating member which contacts the work along a generating line
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
    • B65H2301/50—Auxiliary process performed during handling process
    • B65H2301/51—Modifying a characteristic of handled material
    • B65H2301/511—Processing surface of handled material upon transport or guiding thereof, e.g. cleaning
    • B65H2301/5114—Processing surface of handled material upon transport or guiding thereof, e.g. cleaning coating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
    • B65H2301/50—Auxiliary process performed during handling process
    • B65H2301/51—Modifying a characteristic of handled material
    • B65H2301/516—Securing handled material to another material
    • B65H2301/5162—Coating, applying liquid or layer of any material to material
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2301/00—Handling processes for sheets or webs
    • B65H2301/50—Auxiliary process performed during handling process
    • B65H2301/51—Modifying a characteristic of handled material
    • B65H2301/517—Drying material
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2404/00—Parts for transporting or guiding the handled material
    • B65H2404/50—Surface of the elements in contact with the forwarded or guided material
    • B65H2404/55—Built-up surface, e.g. arrangement for attaching the surface to the forwarding or guiding element
    • B65H2404/552—Built-up surface, e.g. arrangement for attaching the surface to the forwarding or guiding element permanent attachment
    • B65H2404/5521—Coating
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
    • B65H—HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL, e.g. SHEETS, WEBS, CABLES
    • B65H2406/00—Means using fluid
    • B65H2406/30—Suction means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for applying coating material, for example pressure-sensitive adhesive, to a plurality of individual sheets, for example sheets of paper.
  • coating material for example pressure-sensitive adhesive
  • the coating is applied to a web of paper from a roll rather than to individual sheets.
  • a primer material to one side of a web of paper and a low adhesion backsize (or release) material to the other side of the web, and then to apply the repositionable adhesive on top of the primer material.
  • the web is dried between coatings and rewound, and the coated roll is subsequently cut into sheets which are used to produce the notes.
  • the invention provides an apparatus according to claim 1. An embodiment is recited in claim 2.
  • the system shown schematically in Figures 1 and 2 is particularly adapted for use in the production of repositionalbe notes from sheets of any suitable substrate material (for example: paper, polymeric film including, but not limited to, polypropylene, polyester and polyethylene), or metallic foil and, in particular, is for use int he application to individual sheets of a primer material, a low adhesion backsize (LAB) material, and, subsequently a repositionable adhesive so that the sheets can be sued to form repositionable notes.
  • LAB low adhesion backsize
  • Zinc-oxide based primers are useful in conjunction iwth the method and apparatus of the present invention, as well as primers described in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,598,112 and 4,822,670, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • a LAB that may be employed in conjunction with the method and appartus of the present invention is described in co-pending United States patent Application Serial No. 08/040,876, filed March 31, 1994 and commonly assigned to the Assigneee of the present invention, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In the following description, it will be assumed that the sheets (which may be pre-printed) are of paper.
  • the system shown in Figure 1 has a paper path entry 1 which receives a succession of paper sheet members (not shown) from any suitable source, for example a stack (not shown).
  • the paper may be any suitable paper, such as the paper utilized to construct the Post-it® brand repositionable notes available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company ("3M") of St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • the paper sheets may be provided in any suitable size (including, but not limited to standard sizes such as A2, A4 and 8.5 inches by 11 inches), as well as thickness, but the paper is preferably between 45 grams per square meter (gsm) to 90 gsm, and is most preferably at about 70 gsm. such sheets define a leading end edge, a trailing end edge, and longitudinal side edges, as well as opposing major surfaces.
  • the sheets travel in the direction indicated by the directional arrow 2 through a double coating station 3, a sheet overlapping station 4, a dryer 5, a sheet guiding section 6.
  • the double coating station 3 together with the overlapping station 4 is the subject of a co-pending patent application filed of even date herewith, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Applying a Coating Material to Sheets", and commonly assigned to the Assignee of the present invetnion, and the contents of that co-pending application are incorporated herein by reference.
  • a plurality of individual sheets S sequential passing thorugh the double coating station 3 are coated on one major surface (the upper major surface as seen in Figure 1) with a primer material and on the opposing major surface with an LAB material and are then overlapped, in the overlapping station 4, in a web0like configuration in end to end relation in which an end portion of each sheet S overlies an end portion of an adjacent sheet S. That pseudo-web of overlapped sheets then moves into the dryer 5 in which water is removed from the primer and LAB coating on the sheets.
  • the dried sheets S are then side registered in the guiding section 6 (or alternative guiding section 6' shown in Figures 3 and 6) so that they are aligned with each other before entry into the adhesive coating station 7 of the present invention.
  • the sheets may be independently coated with a suitable LAB and primer (orother desired coating) by any suitable process, stored and then subsequently provided to the apparatus of the present invention in overlapped end to end relation.
  • Adhesive coating station 7 receives the overlapped sheets S at input 8a along a path 8b to a paper path exit 8c.
  • the sheets are overlapped so that the trailing edge of each sheet overlies the leading edge of the next sequential sheet.
  • the control and synchronization of the drives of the various stations may be performed by a central electronic control unit *not shown), for example a Siemens PLC 135.
  • the paper path 8b is provided by a conveyor (as shown in Figure 1) or the like that receives the pseudo-web of sheets and conveys the sheets from input 8a to exit 8c at a desired rate.
  • the coating station 7 applied a coating material, which is preferably a pressure-sensitive adhesive, to the overlapped sheets on their respective exposed portion of the major surfaces which have already been coated with primer.
  • the adhesive may be a pressure-sensitive adhesive, and preferably is a repositionable microsphere pressure-sensitive adhesive, for example as described in U.S. Patent No. 4,495,318 to Howard, or U.S. Patent No. 3,691,140 to Silver, and may be a water-based adhesive.
  • the adhesive used in conjunction with the present invention may be a microsphere pressure sensitive adhesive (such as is used in the manufacture of Post-it® brand repositionable notes from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company ("3M”) of St. Paul, Minnesota).
  • Such adhesive compositions are described in European Patent No.
  • Adhesives for use with the present invention also include film-forming materials known in the art, including those containing organic solvents.
  • the adhesive is applied by contacting the sheets with an adhesive-coated intermediate carrier 20.
  • the intermediate carrier takes the form of a transfer belt 20 that is an endless belt entrained around rollers 21, at least one of which is driven so that the belt advances in the direction of the arrow 2.
  • a transfer belt may be used, including, for example, a cylindrical drum in contact with both the dispenser and the path of the sheet member.
  • the intermediate carrier will be hereinafter referred to as a transfer belt, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited thereto.
  • the transfer belt 20 moves (preferably at approximately the same rate of advance of the conveyor 8b conveying the sheets S), it passes a coating mechanism 23, a dryer 24 and a transfer station 25, each of which will be described in greater detail below.
  • the adhesive is then dried at least partially (i.e. the moisture content is reduced to a desired level), in the dryer 24 before being transferred to the overlapped sheets at the transfer station 25.
  • the moisture content of the water-based adhesie may be approximately 50%-80% prior to drying and 0%-50% after drying.
  • substantially all of the moisture is removed during the drying process. It is one of the advantages of the present invetnion, as compared to the above identified co-pending United States patent application Serial No. 08/196,460, that the adhesive may be substantially completely dries and still be effectively transferred from the transfer belt to the paper sheet, as is described herein elsewhere in greater detail.
  • the coating mechanism 23 applies at least one longitudinal stripe of pressure-sensitive adhesive to the transfer surface 20b of the transfer belt.
  • One embodiment of the coating mechanism 23 is shown in greater detail in Figure 3.
  • the adhesive is coated onto the belt 20 by a reverse rotating gravure roller 28 which extends across the width of the belt and contacts the belt at the coating station 7.
  • At least one gravure ring 29 ( Figure 4) of cells or cavities is formed in the surface of the roller, each ring extending around the roller at the desired location of an adhesive stripe on the belt.
  • three gravure rings 29 are shown, providing three longitudinal adhesie stripes 36 on the belt 20, but that is not essential.
  • each cell generally has the form of an inverted truncated pyramid.
  • the particular gravure pattern shown in Figure 5 is not essential and can be changed, if found advantageous, to alter the distribution of adhesive within the stripes 36.
  • the adhesive which is to be applied to the belt 20 by the roller 28 is supplied by a pump 31 from a tank 32 to a trough 33 at the coating mechanism 23.
  • a metering roller 34 dips into the adhesive in the trough and, as it rotates, the metering roller picks up adhesive which it then transfers to the reverse rotating gravure roller 28 and, in particular, to the cells in the ring(s) 29.
  • One or more doctor blades engage the roller 28 to remove any excess adhesive and ensure that all the adhesive on the roller is contained only within the cells 30, thereby ensuring that the adhesive will be transferred in the stripes 36 when the roller contacts the belt 20.
  • the adhesive coating process is a direct gravure coating process. If the roller 28 rotates in an opposite rotational direction as the movement of the belt 20, the coating process is a reverse gravure coating process.
  • the process shown and described herein shall be a reverse gravure process.
  • a smoothing strip 29a is positioned for sliding contact with the adhesive on the gravure ring as the gravure ring rotates to apply the adhesive. It has been found that in some applications, the distribution of the adhesive microspheres is enhanced. That is, when the smoothed adhesive is coated on the paper sheet S, the exposed surface of the adhesive is more uniform and exhibits more controllable and uniform adhesive strengths.
  • the strip 29a is a flexible, polymeric stripe, and most specifically, the strip is a strip of polyester approximately 0.0011 inches in thickness.
  • the adhesive can be transfer coated across the whole width of the belt rather than in discrete stripes.
  • the gravure roller 28 rotates at approximately the same speed as the belt 20 and in the same direction (i.e. clockwise as seen in Figure 3) so that the coating mechanism functions as a reverse roll coating system, but that is not essential.
  • the transfer belt 20 includes a base layer 20a that is preferably a commercially available fiberglass fabric belt, such as is available for J.P. Steven, North Carolina, and ispreferably 0.004 inches in thickness.
  • the belt base layer 20a is coated on front and back major surfaces 20b, 20c with 0.003 inch thick layers 20d, 20e (for a total thickness for the belt 20 of approximately 0.010 inches) of a dispersion of a silicone rubber solution, G.E. SE-100 available from Silicone Products Division of General Electric Co. of Waterford, New York at a 6% solids with 78% benzoyl peroxide in water as a catalyst.
  • a silicone rubber solution G.E. SE-100 available from Silicone Products Division of General Electric Co. of Waterford, New York at a 6% solids with 78% benzoyl peroxide in water as a catalyst.
  • Both coatings 20d, 20e are knife coated and oven dried at 360°F, 60 yards/hour.
  • the silicone layers enhance release of the adhesive from the belt to the sheets S.
  • the outermost surfaces 20g, 20h of the silicone layers 20d, 20e form the transfer surfaces for receipt of the adhesive.
  • the transfer surfaces are preferably textured or vonvoluted.
  • the textured surface takes the form of a pattern of indentations that impose a complementary pattern in the adhesive stripes transferred from the belt to the sheets of papers at the transfer nip 25A.
  • a preferred form of the pattern of indentations is shown enlarged in Figure 10 and generally comprises an array of indentations 20j.
  • the indentations 20j overly corresponding indentations 20g in the surfaces 20b, 20c of the base layer 20a.
  • the indentations 20g in the base layer may be formed during the process of weaving the fiberglass layer.
  • the pattern of indentations 20g may be embossed or otherwise imposed on the surface of the backing layer.
  • each indentation 20j receives one or more microspheres from the gravure roller.
  • the indentations 20j have a width of from 40 microns to 200 microns, and most preferably, a width of appoximately 100 microns, and a depth of from 50 microns to 100 microns.
  • the indentations 20j described above are spaced approximately 10-30 microns in a rectangular array. The adhesive tends to "wet out" on the surfaces 20h, 20i due to the silicone layers 20d, 20e and retain the microspheres in the indentations 20g. Consequently, the adhesive is transferred to the sheets while maintaining the pattern shown in Figure 10.
  • the layers 20d, 20e be of the same thickness, and that both major surfaces 20h, 20i include the indentations 20j, so that, if necessary, the transfer belt 20 may be reversed to present surface 20c for increased usage of the belt.
  • a transfer belt 20 may employed that includes a silicone layer and indentations on only one major surface, if desired, such as for cost reasons.
  • the pattern in the adhesive stripes is further influenced by the form of the gravure pattern and the latter should be chosen with a view to enhancing the even distribution of the microspheres.
  • the sheets are paper, they could (as already mentioned) be formed of other materials, for example: polymeric films or metallic foils.
  • the sheets are paper, they are preferably fed through the apparatus with what is known in the art as the "machine direction" of the paper aligned with the machine process direction (i.e. generally parallel to directional arrow 2 along paper path 8b). In that way, any tendency for the sheets to curl or wrinkle can be further attenuated. Papers of different weights and textures can be used if desired.
  • sheets of size A2 and weight 70 gsm would be used, but the apparatus is readily adaptable to handle sheets of size A4 and weights within the range 70 gsm to 90 gsm and could also handle sheet S weights as low as 45 gsm.
  • Paper is commonly formed by accumulating paper fibers on a wire mesh or screen and compressing the accumulated fibers between the screen and a "felt" or cloth layer opposite the screen layer. This produces paper having a "wire” side and a “felt” side. It has also been found advantageous to convey the sheets S through the apparatus of the present invention with the "wire” side presented for coating of the release material and the "felt: side presented for coating of the primer and ultimately for coating of the adhesive.
  • the dryer 24 is preferably a radio-frequency dryer, for example a particularly adapted version of the Model No. SPW 12-73 manufactured by Proctor Strayfield Ltd. of Berkshire, England operated, typically, at about 27 Mhz, or alternatively, at about 30 Mhz.
  • the dryer is about 2.5 m long in the direction of travel of the belt and has an exhaust 50 through which the interior of the dryer is vented with the aid of a fan 51.
  • the dryer is provided with a control unit (not shown) which adjusts the power of the dryer in accordance with the line speed of the coating apparatus.
  • That control unit may, for example, be a Siemens PLC 55-95U interconnected with the central electronic control unit of the whole apparatus.
  • a radio-frequency dryer requires that the material of the transfer belt 20 be non-reactive (i.e. transparent or otherwise not affected by the radio frequency radiation to a degree that adversely affects the operation of the method and apparatus of the present invention) to radio frequency radiation, such as the embodiment of the transfer belt described hereinabove and shown in Figures 9 and 10.
  • This arrangement offers the advantage that the adhesive is dried without the transfer belt being significantly heated, thereby eliminating any heat transfer from the belt to the coating mechanism 23 and then to the adhesive which could cause the adhesive to coagulate before it has been applied to the belt 20.
  • a radio-frequency dryer also offers the advantages of comparative simplicity and lower energy consumption. Further, the transfer belt 20 requires no prolonged pre-heating to a particular operating temperature and the adhesive is released readily from the belt for transfer to the sheets at the coating station.
  • transfer belt can be used that are incompatible with a radio frequency dryer (i.e. are not transparent or inert to radio frequency radiation).
  • the transfer belt may comprise a metal substrate with a coating of silicone rubber on each side.
  • Other types of dryers that may be employed in the present invention, for example, include an infra-red heater, or a hot air dryer. However, if the dryer causes the belt 20 and then the coating mechanism 23 to become heated it may be necessary to cool the adhesive and the transfer belt to reduce the risk of the adhesive coagulating.
  • the adhesive-coated belt 20 passes through a transfer nip 25A comprising a transfer roller 37 and a counterpressure or nip roller 38.
  • the overlapped sheets from the guiding section 6 (with an alternative guiding section 6' shown in Figure 3 and also in Figure 6) of the apparatus are also directed through the transfer nip 25A and are supported by the counterpressure roller 38 against the transfer roller 37 and consequently against the belt 20 so that adhesive is transferred from the belt to the sheets.
  • the sheets are detached from the belt 20, such as by a vacuum roller 39 and are carried away from the transfer nip on a vacuum conveyor 40 to the paper path exit 8c.
  • vacuum refers to any less than atmospheric pressure that, when applied to the sheet members on a major surface opposite the transfer belt, is sufficient to detach the sheets from the transfer belt. Once detached, the sheets may then be stacked and trimmed to form pads of repositionable notes.
  • the detachment system may be of any suitable type.
  • the vacuum conveyor 40 may be a metallic belt which passes around, and forms a single complete assembly with the vacuum roller 39 as in the delaminating and transfer system available from Honeycomb Systems, Valmet S.a.r.l. of Mulhouse, France.
  • the vacuum roller 39 which removes sheets from the belt 20 may be completely separate from the vacuum conveyor 40, as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 described below.
  • the vacuum conveyor 40 extends at an angle away from the transfer belt 20. When the conveyor is used with a vacuum roller 39, as shown in Figures 3, 6, and 7, that angle may be 3 or 4 degrees, but if the vacuum roller 39 is omited, a smaller angle (about 2 degrees) may be employed.
  • a modified version 7' of the appartus shown in Figure 1 is shown in Figure 6.
  • Corresponding parts of the apparatus carry the same reference numerals as in Figure 1.
  • the double coating station 3 as shown in Figure 6 differs slights from the shown in Figure 1 in that the lower station 12 is located slightly downstream of the upper station 11 so that the primer and LAB materials will not be applied absolutely simultaneously.
  • the adhesive coating station 7' shown in Figure 6, and in greater detail in Figure 7, is generally similar to that shown in Figure 1, except that the coating mechanism 23 uses at least one coating die 42 to apply the pressure-sensitive adhesive to the belt 20 instead of the gravure roller 28.
  • Each coating die has a die slot (not shown) directed towards the belt, through which a stripe 44 ( Figure 8) of adhesive is applied directly to the belt. The dies are spaced across the belt at the desired locations of the adhesive stripes.
  • Each die 42 has a respective supply line 45, including a respective pump 46 of any suitable type and a filter 47 through which adhesive is supplied to the die from a reservoir 48.
  • the rate at which adhesive is coated onto the belt 20 is readily adjusted by changing the speed of the pumps 46 which are driven under the control of the central electronic control unit of the apparatus in dependence on the line speed of the apparatus.
  • Die coating of the adhesive stripes as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, enables the location of the adhesive stripes on the belt 20, and hence on the paper sheets to be more easily adjusted and increases the flexibility of the coating process.
  • a single die may be provided with a slot that is divided to apply the adhesive at the desired locations across the width of the transfer roll.
  • the vacuum roller 39 which removes sheets from the belt 20 following the transfer of the adhesive stripes 44 at the transfer nip 25A is separate from the vacuum conveyor 40 in the apparatus shown in Figure 6. It could, however, form a complete assembly with the vacuum conveyor as explained above with reference to Figure 1. Further, it is within the spirit and scope of the present invention, that the vacuum roller 39, with or without the vacuum conveyor 40, may be independently employed with any apparatus for coating a coating material onto a pseudo web of overlapped sheets, including, for instance, the aforementioned system disclosed in co-pending United States Patent Application Serial No. 08/196,490.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
  • Coating Apparatus (AREA)

Claims (2)

  1. Vorrichtung zum Auftragen eines Beschichtungsmaterials auf Wasserbasis auf mehrere Blattteile, aufweisend:
    (a) ein Fördermittel (4) zum Befördern mehrerer der an den Enden überlappend angeordneten Blattteile entlang eines Wegs;
    (b) eine Quelle für das Beschichtungsmaterial;
    (c) einen Spender (7) in Strömungsverbindung mit der Quelle zur gesteuerten Abgabe einer Menge an Beschichtungsmaterial auf Wasserbasis mit einer gewünschten Geschwindigkeit;
    (d) einen Zwischenträger (20), der neben dem Spender gehalten wird, wobei der Zwischenträger eine Transferoberfläche aufweist, die sich in den Weg der Blattteile erstreckt, wobei die Transferoberfläche zum Kontakt mit den überlappenden Blattteilen entlang des Wegs eingerichtet ist, wobei die Transferoberfläche dem Spender so dargeboten ist, dass das Beschichtungsmaterial an einer Stelle in einem Abstand zu dem quer verlaufenden Kontakt mit den überlappenden Blattteilen aufgenommen wird, wobei der Zwischenträger zum Transfer des Beschichtungsmaterials von dem Spender auf die überlappenden Blattteile in Vorwärtsrichtung bewegbar ist;
    (e) eine Ablösewalze (39), die neben dem Weg der Blattteile angeordnet und zum Kontakt mit den Blattteilen nach dem Auftragen des Beschichtungsmaterials eingerichtet ist, wobei die Ablösewalze mit einer Quelle (40) für Vakuum verbunden und so eingerichtet ist, dass sie zum Ablösen der Blattteile von dem Zwischenträger das Vakuum an den Blattteilen anlegt, und
    (f) ein Trockner der nach dem auf der Transferoberfläche des Zwischenträgers liegenden Beschichtungsmaterial auf Wasserbasis gerichtet ist zur Reduktion des Wassergehalts des Beschichtungsmaterials vor dem Transfer des Beschichtungsmaterials vom Zwischenträger auf die überlappenden Blattteile.
  2. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, weiter aufweisend einen Ablösegurt neben der Ablösewalze, wobei der Ablösegurt in Bezug auf den Weg der Blattteile nach unten gerichtet ist, um das Ablösen der Blattteile von dem Zwischenträger zu erleichtern.
EP02076790A 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen Expired - Lifetime EP1234683B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US29161094A 1994-08-17 1994-08-17
US291610 1994-08-17
EP95926266A EP0776274B9 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und vorrichtung zum aufbringen einer beschichtung auf bögen

Related Parent Applications (1)

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EP1234683A2 EP1234683A2 (de) 2002-08-28
EP1234683A3 EP1234683A3 (de) 2002-10-02
EP1234683B1 true EP1234683B1 (de) 2006-04-19

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EP02076790A Expired - Lifetime EP1234683B1 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen
EP05000375A Withdrawn EP1531061A3 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen
EP95926266A Expired - Lifetime EP0776274B9 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und vorrichtung zum aufbringen einer beschichtung auf bögen
EP02076789A Expired - Lifetime EP1234682B1 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen

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EP05000375A Withdrawn EP1531061A3 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen
EP95926266A Expired - Lifetime EP0776274B9 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und vorrichtung zum aufbringen einer beschichtung auf bögen
EP02076789A Expired - Lifetime EP1234682B1 (de) 1994-08-17 1995-07-13 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Aufbringen einer Beschichtung auf Bögen

Country Status (6)

Country Link
EP (4) EP1234683B1 (de)
JP (1) JPH10504239A (de)
KR (1) KR970704584A (de)
AU (2) AU699125B2 (de)
DE (4) DE69528464D1 (de)
WO (1) WO1996005065A1 (de)

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DE4305081C2 (de) 1993-02-19 1996-08-01 Minnesota Mining & Mfg Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Auftragen von Haftkleber auf Bogen aus Papier oder dergleichen Material
AU721556B2 (en) * 1996-02-16 2000-07-06 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Improved apparatus and method for applying coating materials to individual sheet members
DE19634594C2 (de) * 1996-08-27 1998-10-22 Windmoeller & Hoelscher Klebstoffauftragsvorrichtung
US6406244B1 (en) 1998-07-09 2002-06-18 Frederic P. A. Le Riche Stack of sheets with repositionable adhesive alternating between opposite edges and containing one or more sheets different from other sheets
DE102007059299A1 (de) 2007-05-16 2008-11-20 Entex Rust & Mitschke Gmbh Vorrichtung zur Verarbeitung von zu entgasenden Produkten
GB2455124B (en) * 2007-11-29 2010-07-14 Finite Engineering Solutions An adhesive dispensing device
JP5693236B2 (ja) * 2008-01-17 2015-04-01 ラ コーポレーション プティ リミテッドＲａ Ｃｏｒｐｏｒａｔｉｏｎｐｔｙ Ｌｔｄ パッド作製装置
WO2020156785A1 (en) * 2019-01-29 2020-08-06 Sidel Participations Glue application device for a labeling unit
CN111013924A (zh) * 2019-12-10 2020-04-17 安徽骄阳软门有限责任公司 一种抗静电纱网及其制造设备

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GB9306009D0 (en) * 1993-03-23 1993-05-12 Ncr Int Inc Sheet handing apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1531061A2 (de) 2005-05-18
DE69528464D1 (de) 2002-11-07
JPH10504239A (ja) 1998-04-28
EP1531061A3 (de) 2006-11-22
EP0776274B1 (de) 2002-10-02
EP1234683A3 (de) 2002-10-02
DE69534794T2 (de) 2006-12-14
DE69528464T2 (de) 2003-08-07
EP1234682A3 (de) 2002-10-02
DE69534951D1 (de) 2006-05-24
EP1234683A2 (de) 2002-08-28
KR970704584A (ko) 1997-09-06
AU699125B2 (en) 1998-11-26
DE69534794D1 (de) 2006-04-27
EP0776274A1 (de) 1997-06-04
DE69534951T2 (de) 2006-11-30
EP1234682A2 (de) 2002-08-28
WO1996005065A1 (en) 1996-02-22
EP1234682B1 (de) 2006-02-22
DE69528464T4 (de) 2006-10-19
EP0776274B9 (de) 2006-03-15
AU5942498A (en) 1998-06-04
AU3007995A (en) 1996-03-07

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