SILCONE TAPE HAVING IMPROVED ADHESIVE PROPERTIES

1 . A removable tape configured for sealing the nozzle plate of an ejection head attached to a fluidic ejection cartridge comprising:

a polymeric backing film;

a first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer having a first adhesive strength applied to the polymeric backing film; and

a second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer having a second adhesive strength applied to the first adhesive layer, wherein the second platinum-cured adhesive layer is configured to adhere to the nozzle plate on the ejection head of the fluid ejection cartridge.

2 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric backing film is selected from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, polyamide, and polyimide.

3 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric backing film has a thickness ranging from about 20 to 30 microns, the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer has a thickness on the polymeric backing film ranging from about 7 to about 20 microns, and the second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer has a thickness on the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer ranging from about 7 to about 20 microns.

4 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric backing film comprises a corona-treated polymeric backing film.

5 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the first adhesive strength is greater than the second adhesive strength.

6 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer comprise different platinum-cured adhesive base materials.

7 . The removable tape of claim 6 , wherein the first adhesive strength has a peel strength ranging from about 150 to about 500 N/m on a dry silicon wafer and the second adhesive strength has a peel strength ranging from about 25 to about 65 N/m on a dry silicon wafer.

8 . The removable tape of claim 1 , wherein the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer comprise the same platinum-cured adhesive base material.

9 . The removable tape of claim 8 , wherein the first adhesive strength has a peel strength ranging from about 150 to about 500 N/m on a dry silicon wafer and the second adhesive strength has a peel strength ranging from about 25 to about 65 N/m on a dry silicon wafer.

10 . A method for making an improved removable tape configured for sealing the nozzle plate of an ejection head attached to a fluidic ejection cartridge, the method comprising:

providing a polymeric backing film;

mixing a crosslinker mixture comprising polydimethylsiloxane and polymethylhydrosilane with a first platinum-cured silicone adhesive base material to provide a first platinum-cured silicone adhesive and with a second platinum-cured silicone adhesive base material to provide a second platinum-cured silicone adhesive;

applying a first layer of the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive having a first adhesive strength to the polymeric backing film;

applying a second layer of the second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer having a second adhesive strength to the first adhesive layer; and

curing the first and second adhesive layers.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method comprises curing the first and second adhesive layers sequentially.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the curing step comprises partially curing the layer of first platinum-cured silicone adhesive at a temperature of at least about 90° C. for about 1 minute and then curing the layers of first and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive at a temperature of about 120° C. to about 150° C. for about 2 minutes to about 3 minutes.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method comprises curing the first and second adhesive layers are cured simultaneously.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the curing step comprises curing the layers of first and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive at a temperature of about 120° C. to about 150° C. for about 2 minutes to about 3 minutes.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer comprise different platinum-cured adhesive base materials.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive and second platinum-cured silicone adhesive comprise the same platinum-cured adhesive base materials.

17 . The method of claim 15 further comprising the step of mixing a first amount of crosslinker mixture with the first platinum-cured silicone adhesive base material and a second amount of crosslinker mixture with the second platinum-cured silicone adhesive base material, and further wherein the second amount of crosslinker mixture is greater than the first amount of crosslinker mixture.

18 . A method for improving the sealing of a nozzle plate of an ejection head attached to a fluidic ejection cartridge, the method comprising:

providing a cartridge body having a cover closing a first end thereof, the ejection head on a second end thereof opposite the first end, and side walls attached to the first and second ends between the first and second ends;

attaching a removable tape to the nozzle plate of the ejection head and to one of the side walls, wherein the removable tape comprises a backing film and a modified platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer having a first adhesive strength adjacent to the backing film and a second adhesive strength less than the first adhesive strength adjacent to the nozzle plate.

19 . The method of claim 18 wherein the first adhesive strength has a peel strength on a dry silicon wafer ranging from about 150 to about 500 Newton/meter (N/m) and the second adhesive strength has a peel strength on a dry silicon wafer ranging from about 25 to about 65 N/m.

20 . The method of claim 18 wherein the modified platinum-cured silicone adhesive layer has a thickness on the polymeric backing film ranging from about 20 to about 30 microns.