Pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes
A vapor permeable article includes a porous backing substrate and an open fabric applied to one surface of the backing substrate. The open fabric has a greater porosity than that of the backing substrate. The open fabric is coated with an adhesive in such a manner that the open fabric remains porous and vapor permeable. The coated article can have a greater tensile strength in the cross direction than in the machine direction, and the adhesive can penetrate into at least a portion of a thickness of the porous backing.
1 . An article comprising:
a porous backing substrate; and
an adhesive-carrying fabric applied to a surface of the backing substrate, the fabric having a porosity greater than that of the backing substrate and a tensile strength in the cross direction that is greater than the tensile strength in the machine direction, and the adhesive of the adhesive-carrying fabric located on the fabric in such a manner that the fabric remains porous.
2 . An article comprising:
a porous backing substrate; and
an adhesive-carrying fabric applied to a surface of the backing substrate, the fabric having a porosity greater than that of the backing substrate, and the adhesive of the adhesive-carrying fabric located on the fabric in such a manner that the adhesive-carrying fabric remains porous and the adhesive penetrates into a portion of a thickness of the porous backing.
3 . An article comprising:
a porous backing substrate; and
an adhesive-carrying porous fabric having first and second surfaces, the adhesive located on the porous fabric in such a manner that the adhesive-carrying fabric remains porous, said first surface of the open fabric applied to a surface of the backing substrate, and said second surface substantially coated with adhesive, wherein said second surface covers no more than 50% of the article surface area.
4 . The article of claim 1 , 2 , or 3 , wherein the porous backing substrate is selected from the group consisting of woven, knit and non-woven fabrics.
5 . The article of claim 1 , 2 , or 3 , wherein the adhesive-carrying fabric is selected from the group consisting of woven, non-woven and knit fabrics.
6 . The article of claim 1 , 2 , or 3 , wherein the adhesive-carrying fabric comprises a warp knit fabric.
7 . The article of claim 6 , wherein the warp knit fabric comprises a weft insert yarn.
8 . The article of claim 1 , 2 , or 3 , wherein the backing substrate and the adhesive-carrying fabric are of substantially the same elasticity and extensibility.
9 . The article of claim 1 , 2 , or 3 , wherein the adhesive-carrying fabric comprises more than 80% open area prior to application of the adhesive.
10 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the % open area of the adhesive-carrying fabric is reduced by no more than about 10% upon application of the adhesive.
11 . The article of claim 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the porous backing substrate comprises greater than about 25% open area.
12 . The article of claim 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the porous backing substrate comprises greater than about 50% open area.
13 . The article of claim 1 or 3 , wherein the adhesive penetrates into the one surface of the backing substrate.
14 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the adhesive penetrates into about 25% to 75% of the thickness of the backing substrate.
15 . The article of claim 1 , 2 or 3 , wherein the adhesive has sufficient internal cohesive strength that the article is removable from a substrate without separation of the backing substrate and the adhesive-carrying fabric.
16 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the article tears uniformly in the cross machine direction.
17 . The article of claim 1 , 2 or 3 , further comprising elastic yarns, said yarns extensible in the machine direction.
18 . A method of making a pressure-sensitive adhesive article, comprising:
applying an adhesive in a liquid carrier to an open fabric having an open structure in such a manner that the open structure of the open fabric remains open;
contacting the adhesive-coated open fabric to a porous backing substrate in a manner such that the adhesive penetrates a distance into the backing substrate;
and removing the liquid carrier to obtain a breathable pressure-sensitive adhesive article.
19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the open fabric has a tensile strength in the cross direction that is greater than the tensile strength in the machine direction.
20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the step of applying the adhesive comprises passing the adhesive-coated open fabric through a roller to remove excess adhesive.
21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the step of removing the liquid carrier of the adhesive comprises heating the article.
22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein essentially all of the liquid carrier of the adhesive is removed.
23 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the adhesive penetrates through up to about 95% of the backing thickness.
24 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the adhesive penetrates through about 25% to about 75% of the backing thickness.
25 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the porous backing is selected from the group consisting of woven, knit and non-woven fabrics.
26 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the open fabric is selected from the group consisting of woven, non-woven and knit fabrics.
27 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the open area of the open fabric is reduced by no more than about 10% upon coating with adhesive.