Wash durable cold apply adhesive for apparel labeling and embellishment

1. A crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive, comprising:

a pressure sensitive crosslinkable adhesive, prepared by dissolving an acrylic adhesive polymer(s) in an organic solvent carrier with thorough mixing to produce a solution containing from about 20% to 60% solids; and

at least one first polymer consisting of a mixture of monomers, which is the reaction product of a first ethylenically unsaturated monomer selected from the group consisting of an alkyl ester of acrylic acid, an alkyl ester of methacrylic acid, an ester of a carboxylic acid and an unsaturated alcohol and mixtures thereof; an optional second ethylenically unsaturated monomer selected from the group consisting of an olefin monomer, a vinylaromatic monomer and mixtures thereof; and from 1% to 10% by weight of the at least one first polymer of a polar monomer comprising a mixture of a third monomer comprising a monomer of the formula I and a fourth monomer comprising a monomer of the formula II:

H 2 C═CH-L 1 -OH  I

H 2 C═CR 1 -L 2 -CO 2 H  II

where L 1 and L 2 are independently selected from the group consisting of a direct bond and an alkylene group of formula —(CH2) m —[X—(CH2) n ] o —;

R 1 is H or methyl;

m and n are independently selected from the group consisting of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4;

o is from 0 to 10; and

X is absent or is a group selected from the group consisting of —CHR—, —O—, —S—, —CO 2 —, —CO—, —CONH—, —NHCO—, and —NHCO 2 —, where R is lower alkyl;

and where the monomer of formula II comprises acrylic acid or methacrylic acid and where the fourth monomer further contains an ethylenically unsaturated non-functional monomer consisting of an olefin monomer selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and isobutylene;

a first multifunctional crosslinking agent having at least two epoxide rings or at least one epoxide ring and at least one aziridine ring; and

a second multifunctional crosslinking agent having at least two isocyanate groups and the first multifunctional crosslinking agent and the second multifunctional crosslinking agent are used in a ratio of below 13:1;

where at least one of the isocyanate groups is an isocyanate-terminated oligomer of a diisocyanate and a dihydroxy compound or a diamine compound, and the oligomer contains from 2 to 10 diisocyanate-derived moieties;

where an amount of the monomer of formula I and the monomer of formula II are present in the at least one polymer so that the adhesive has a desired mole ratio of 10:1 of hydroxyl groups to carboxyl groups and the adhesive is used in a laminate comprising a first substrate layer and a second fabric layer laminated to a face of the first substrate layer such that the laminate is a label that does not leave a heat mark on a fabric after labeling.

2. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 1 , further comprising a second polymer;

said first polymer being the reaction product of the first ethylenically unsaturated monomer; the optional second ethylenically unsaturated monomer; and the monomer of formula I; and

said second polymer being a reaction product of the first ethylenically unsaturated monomer; the optional second ethylenically unsaturated monomer; and the monomer of formula II.

3. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 1 , wherein the second multifunctional crosslinking agent is selected from the group consisting of toluene diisocyanate, bis(4-isocyanato phenyl)methane, bis (4-isocyanato hexyl)methane, hexamethylenediisocyanate, tetramethylenediisocyanate, oligomers thereof, and mixtures thereof.

4. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 1 , wherein the monomer of formula I is a hydroxyalkyl acrylate monomer, vinyl alcohol, or allyl alcohol.

5. A crosslinkable pressure sensitive adhesive composition, comprising:

(A) from about 10 parts by weight to about 100 parts by weight of a first acrylic resin having from 1% to 10% by weight of the first acrylic resin of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having a hydroxy substituent;

(B) from about 0 parts by weight to about 90 parts by weight of a second acrylic resin having from 1% to 10% by weight of the second acrylic resin of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having a carboxyl group, wherein said parts by weight are based on the total weight of the first acrylic resin and the second acrylic resin in the composition,

(C) a polyisocyanate crosslinking agent derived from the reaction between a polyol and a diisocyanate; and

(D) a polyepoxy crosslinking agent which reacts by ring opening polymerization; and

where the polyepoxy crosslinking agent is added to the first and second acrylic resins prior to addition of the polyisocyanate crosslinking agent to reduce a reaction rate between the polyisocyanate crosslinking agent and the first and second acrylic resins;

wherein the crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive contains the ethylenically unsaturated monomer having the hydroxy substituent and the ethylenically unsaturated monomer having the carboxyl group in an amount that produces a mole ratio of the hydroxyl substituent to the carboxyl group of about 10:1, and the crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive is used in a laminate comprising a first substrate layer and a second fabric layer laminated to a face of the first substrate layer and the laminate comprises domed labels, beads, glitters, stones, holographic foil and/or circuitry embedded garment and battery powered attachments; and

where the crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive is prepared by dissolving the first and second acrylic resins in an organic solvent carrier with thorough mixing to produce a solution containing from about 20% to 60% solids; and

where one or both of the first acrylic resin and the second acrylic resin further comprise non-functional monomer units, where the non-functional monomer units comprise an ethylenically unsaturated non-functional monomer consisting of an olefin monomer selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene, and isobutylene.

6. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 5 , wherein the crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive comprises from about 10 parts by weight to about 90 parts by weight of the first acrylic resin; and from about 10 parts by weight to about 90 parts by weight of the second acrylic resin.

7. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 6 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated monomer having a carboxyl group is selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, crotonic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, salts thereof, and mixtures thereof.

8. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 6 , wherein the ethylenically unsaturated monomer having a carboxyl group is selected from the group consisting of an ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid, an ethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid, an ethylenically unsaturated anhydride of a dicarboxylic acid, an alkyl monoester of an ethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid, and mixtures thereof.

9. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 5 , wherein the laminate is a label that does not leave a heat mark on a fabric after labeling.

10. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 5 , where the polyepoxy crosslinking agent is selected from the group consisting of epoxy modified bisphenol A, epichlorohydrin epoxy resins, phenol novolac epoxy resins, resorcinol epoxy resins, multi-epoxy functionalized glycidyl ether or glycidyl esters or amines, and elastomer modified epoxy resins.

11. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 5 , where the solution contains from about 25% to about 54% solids.

12. The crosslinkable pressure-sensitive adhesive of claim 1 , where the solution contains from about 25% to about 54% solids.