GB2520363A

GB2520363A - An attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive

Info

Publication number: GB2520363A
Application number: GB1320460.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dennis Dean Stinson
Original assignee: CORSAIRE COMPONENTS Ltd
Current assignee: CORSAIRE COMPONENTS Ltd
Priority date: 2013-11-19
Filing date: 2013-11-19
Publication date: 2015-05-20
Also published as: GB201320460D0

Abstract

A system for bonding an attachment portion 8 to a substrate 4 comprises at least one nodule 12 projecting from an attachment surface 10 and an adhesive 6, which extends over the attachment surface and the nodule(s). In use, the attachment surface is pushed onto the substrate such that the at least one nodule defines the thickness of the adhesive that secures the attachment portion to the substrate. Preferably, there is a plurality of nodules, which may be hemispherical, cylindrical, pyramidal or rectangular in shape. The attachment surface is usually flat apart from the nodule(s). The adhesive is typically an epoxy or acrylic adhesive. The system finds particular utility in securing a variety of devices, e.g. brackets, fasteners, handles, and cable guides, to substrates such as those found on aircraft, motor vehicles, and boats.

Description

AN ATTACHMENT FOR BEING ATTACHED TO

A SUBSTRATE BY AN ADHESIVE

This invention relates to the adhesive securing of attachments to substrates. More especially, this invention relates to an attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive.

Attachments for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive are well known. The attachments may be a wide variety of devices such for example as mounting brackets, fasteners, handles and cable guides. The attachments may be secured to a wide range of substrates including surfaces on aircraft, motor vehicles, boats and ships. Known attachments include a Swiftbond line of adhesive fasteners manufactured by Nylon Molding Corporation of Pomona, California, United States of America. The adhesive fasteners may be standoffs, angle brackets, cable tie mounts, mounts with clamps, stud mounts, nut plates, and threaded insert attachments. Similar products are manufactured by Click Bond of Reno, Nevada, United States of America.

In many cases, the attachments are not able to be attached to a substrate by an adhesive with a required strength of bond, and in a repeatable manner for different attachments of the same type.

It is an aim of the present invention to obviate or reduce the above mentioned problem.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided an attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive, which attachment comprises an attachment portion for attaching to the substrate, and characterised in that the attachment portion comprises an attachment surface, at least one nodule on the attachment surface and which extends away from the attachment surface and towards the substrate, and an adhesive which extends over the attachment surface and the nodule, and the attachment being such that when in use the attachment portion is pushed onto the substrate then the nodule is able to engage the substrate, whereby the distance by which the nodule extends from the attachment surface defines the thickness of the adhesive which secures the attachment portion to the substrate.

The attachment is advantageous in that the thickness of the adhesive which secures the attachment portion to the substrate is able. to be predetermined. This ensures that the adhesive is not too thick. This is advantageous because if too much adhesive is used, then it may result in a weak bond of insufficient strength. It is also advantageous in that it ensures that the adhesive is not too thin. If the thickness of the adhesive is too thin, then again the bond may not be sufficiently strong.

The attachment is further advantageous in that often the prior art attachments cause the thickness of the adhesive to be too thin. This is because, if the attachment portion of the attachment is pushed too hard against the substrate and there is no nodule present, then the adhesive squeezes out from the edges of the attachment portion. A user thus thinks that the adhesive is in plentiful supply because the adhesive is able to be seen, whereas in fact the adhesive required for giving a bond of adequate strength has been squeezed out of the sides. The remaining adhesive between the attachment portion and the substrate is too thin to give the required bond strength.

The correct thickness of adhesive also avoids wastage of adhesive which ensures that the attachment is cheaper to manufacture.

The attachment of the present invention is also advantageous in that the nodule increases the surface area of the formed joint. More specifically, the adhesive is able to cover the nodule and also the attachment surface not occupied by the nodule. This gives a greater surface area than would be the case without the nodule. The greater the surface area, then the greater the strength of the bond between the attachment portion and the substrate.

Also, advantageously, the use of the nodule provides greater peel strength than would otherwise be the case. It is well known that known adhesive attachments are strong on tension and compression, but peel easily. This is because the known adhesive attachments are able to be peeled away due to the adhesive being in one plane. With the attachment of the present invention, the adhesive covers all of the nodule, in addition to covering the adhesive surface. There is thus a plurality of adhesive planes and the plurality of adhesive planes means that it is not easy to peel off the attachment of the present invention because easy peeling requires just one adhesive plane.

Still further, the attachment of the present invention is advantageous in that the thickness of the adhesive which secures the attachment portion to the substrate is able to be constant between different ones of the attachment means having the same nodule. This consistency means that a plurality of similar attachments in any one situation can be known to be fixed in position with a required consistent bond strength.

The attachment may be one in which the nodule is hemispherical, cylindrical, pyramidal, rectangular, or any other suitable and appropriate shape.

Preferably, there are a plurality of the nodules. The nodules may be in the form of a matrix of the nodules.

The attachment surface will usually be flat apart from the nodules. The attachment surface may however be other than flat if desired.

Any suitable and appropriate known adhesive may be employed as is currently used on known attachment devices. Thus, for example, the adhesive may be an epoxy adhesive or an acrylic adhesive.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a first attachment which is attached to a vertical substrate by an adhesive; Figure 2 is a front view of the attachment shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section through part of an attachment portion of the attachment shown in Figure 1;

S

Figure 4 is a side view of a second attachment which is attached to a horizontal substrate by an adhesive; Figure 5 is a section through an attachment portion forming part of the attachment shown in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a cross section like Figures 3 and 5 but through an attachment portion of a third attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 there is shown an attachment 2 for being attached to a substrate 4 by an adhesive 6. The attachment 2 comprises an attachment portion 8 for attaching to the substrate 4.

The attachment portion 8 comprises an attachment surface 10 for attaching to the substrate. There is a plurality of nodules 12 on the attachment surface 10. The nodules 12 extend away from the attachment surface 10 and towards the substrate 4 as can best be appreciated from Figure 1. The adhesive 6 extends over the attachment surface 10 and the nodules 12.

The attachment 2 is such that, when in use the attachment portion 8 is pushed onto the substrate 4, then the nodules 12 are able to engage the substrate 4 as shown in Figure 1. The distance by which the nodules 12 extend away from the attachment surface 10 defines the thickness of the adhesive 6 which secures the attachment portion 8 to the substrate 4.

The attachment 2 is advantageous in that the thickness of the adhesive 6 which secures the attachment portion 8 to the substrate 4 is able to be predetermined. This thickness is able to be predetermined so that it is not too thick, which would result in a bond which was weak. The thickness is also able to be predetermined so that it is not too thin which would again result in a weak bond. As can be appreciated from Figure 1, if the attachment 2 were to be pushed hard against the substrate 4 and the nodules 12 were not present on the attachment surface 101 then the adhesive 6 could be squeezed from between the attachment portion 10 and the substrate 4 which would result in the adhesive 6 being squeezed out from the edges of the attachment portion 10. A user could be caused to think that there was plenty of adhesive 6 present between the attachment surface 10 and the substrate 4 because plenty of adhesive 6 could be seen which has been squeezed out of the sides of the attachment portion 8. However, in reality, there will be insufficient adhesive 6 between the attachment surface 10 and the substrate 4, with the result that the bond between the attachment 2 and the substrate 4 is too weak.

Still further, the use of the correct amount of adhesive 6 avoids wastage of adhesive, and therefore unnecessary manufacturing costs.

Still further, the nodules 12 increas.e the surface area over which the bond can be achieved. More specifically, the adhesive 6 is able to cover the nodules 12 and also the attachment surface 10 not occupied by the nodules 12. This is a greater surface area than would be the case without the nodules 12. The greater the surface area, the greater the strength of the bond between the attachment portion 8 and the substrate 4.

The nodules 12 are further advantageous in that known adhesive attachments are notoriously weak on peel strength. This is because the adhesive on the known attachments extends in a single plane and the attachments can be peeled off by peeling along the adhesive plane. With the attachment 2 of the present invention, the adhesive 6 extends not only in the plane of the attachment surface 10, but also in the plurality of different planes as it goes over the nodules 12. The creation of the different planes provides a plurality of peel planes, which in turn prevents the attachment device 2 easily being peeled away from the substrate 4.

Still further, the nodules 12 ensure that the adhesive 6 is always of the required thickness. Thus a plurality of the same attachments 2 can be guaranteed to have the same thickness of adhesive 6, both before and after the application of the attachment 2 to the surface 4. Thus a plurality of similar attachments 2 can be guaranteed to be consistent in the bond strength that they will provide. This is advantageous in situations where a plurality of the attachments 2 are being used and they must be applied with a consistent and reliable bond strength, for example in aircraft where the attachment may be in the form of a mounting device for mounting components such for example as electric cable bundles, hydraulic lines and assorted electrical components.

Threaded fasteners are another instance of attachment devices 2 which may be used in aircraft or other vehicles and which should all be such that they have a consistent and reliable bond strength.

Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, there is shown an attachment 14 which is like the attachment 2 except that the attachment 14 has nodules 16 which are in the form of square blocks, rather than the nodules 12 which are in the form of hemispheres. The nodules 12 and the adhesive 6 there between are shown in Figure 3. The nodules 16 and the adhesive 6 there between are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 6 is a cross section like Figures 3 and 5 but shows nodules 18 which are triangularly shaped and which alternatively point in opposite directions as shown. The adhesive 6 between the nodules 18 is also shown.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the nodules 12 may be of shapes other than those shown. The attachment surface 10 will usually be flat but it could be other than flat if desired, for example provided with ridges. Any of the adhesives used on known attachments may be employed. Figures 1 and 4 show the attachments 2, 14 with the arm 20 having a mounting formation 22. The arm 20 and the mounting formation 22 may be of pther shapes. The attachments may be of a wide variety of designs and used for receiving a wide variety of products.

Individual components shown in the drawings are not limited to use in their drawings and they may be used in other drawings and in all aspects of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS1. An attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive, which attachment comprises an attachment portion for attaching to the substrate, and characterised in that the attachment portion comprises an attachment surface, at least one nodule on the attachment surface and which extends away from the attachment surface and towards the substrate, and an adhesive which extends over the attachment surface and the nodule, and the attachment being such that when in use the attachment portion is pushed onto the substrate then the nodule is able to engage the substrate, whereby the distance by which the nodule extends from the attachment surface defines the thickness of the adhesive which secures the attachment portion to the substrate.
2. An attachment according to claim 1 in which the nodule is hemispherical, cylindrical, pyramidal or rectangular.
3. An attachment according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which there is a plurality of the nodules.
4. An attachment according to any one of the preceding claims in which the attachment surface is flat apart from the nodules.
5. An attachment according to any one of the preceding claims in which the adhesive is an epoxy adhesive or an acrylic adhesive.
6. An attachment for being attached to a substrate by an adhesive substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.