WO1998006653A1

WO1998006653A1 - Jig for applying an adhesive tape

Info

Publication number: WO1998006653A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/014124
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daisuke Fujiwara
Original assignee: Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company
Priority date: 1996-08-12
Filing date: 1997-08-11
Publication date: 1998-02-19
Also published as: JPH1059340A

Abstract

To provide a jig for applying an adhesive tape onto a nearly flat article without relying upon the skill and sense of the worker but relying upon a controlled contacting force. The jig comprises a jig body (1) capable of being moved over an upper surface (30) of the article in the direction of the tape (20) application; a contacting element (2) which is extended from, or attached to, a tip of said jig body and which, when said jig is moved along the upper surface of said adhesive tape, sequentially presses said adhesive tape against a tape application site of said article so that said adhesive tape is intimately adhered; and a pressure element (3) which is attached to said jig body on the side opposite to the side that faces said adhesive tape and which, when it is pressed against said jig body during the movement of said jig, applies a pressure of a predetermined strength to said article.

Description

JIG FOR APPLYING AN ADHESIVE TAPE

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a jig for applying an adhesive tape to an article. The jig for applying an adhesive tape of the present invention can be particularly advantageously used when an adhesive tape is to be applied to an article having a nearly uniform and flat surface for application. The adhesive tape can be applied without relying upon the sense of the worker but utilizes a controlled contacting pressure, i.e., a predetermined pressure defined for applying the tape or a pressure greater than the above pressure. The invention advantageously enables even an unskilled worker to easily and reliably apply the tape. Here, the "adhesive tape" refers to an article which comprises a base material having the shape of a tape, film, sheet or the like, and a layer of an adhesive agent applied to one surface of the base material. If mentioned more concretely, the application jig of the present invention can be advantageously used for applying a variety of adhesive tapes such as emblems, stickers, stripes, marks, etc. onto the interiors and exteriors of vehicles such as automobiles, ships, aircraft, buildings as well as any other structures. The jig for application is often called a "squeegy."

Background of the Invention

So far. in general, adhesive tapes such as stickers and emblems are stuck to the articles by hand and. as required, by using an auxiliary tool such as a squeegy or the like. Referring, for example, to Fig. 8, an adhesive tape 20 is applied onto an article 30 having a nearly flat surface by using an application jig 10 called a squeegy. As shown, the application jig 10 comprises a jig body 1 and a spatulalike contacting element 2 attached to a tip thereof. To apply the adhesive tape 20 onto the article 30. the worker grips the jig body 1 of the application jig 10 after having determined the position of the tape, and moves the jig 10 in the direction of an arrow A (direction of application) while pressing the tip of the contacting element 2 onto the tape application site as indicated by an arrow C. The operation requires attention so that air will not be trapped between the article 30 and the adhesive tape 20 and that wrinkles will not develop on the tape, and the tip of the contacting element 2 must be continually pressed onto the tape application site with a predetermined strength. In practice, however, air is often trapped, the adhesion becomes defective and the tape is peeled after being used for a short period of time due to insufficient force and/or variation in the contacting force of the contacting element 2 against the tape application site or other causes. When air is erroneously trapped and wrinkles have developed during the work, additional work is required to remove the air from between the article and the tape. This is accomplished by pushing the application jig onto the site where such a defect has developed, or in some cases, the adhesive tape that has been applied must be peeled off and reapplied on the tape application site by using the jig. However, difficulty is involved when the adhesive tape once applied is to be peeled off and applied again. Accordingly, application of the tape must be done carefully without failure.

In order to solve the problems of air trapping and wrinkles, efforts have been made to improve the adhesive tapes. In practice, however, in order to intimately adhere the tape onto the article by fully utilizing the performance of the adhesive tape, a uniform contacting force must be imparted from the application jig to the adhesive tape at the time of applying the tape. This requirement cannot be satisfied by using the application jig that has now been used, but can be satisfied only by relying upon the sense or skill of the worker.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a jig for applying an adhesive tape onto an article, which makes it possible to apply the tape onto the article with a predetermined pressure. This pressure is determined in relation to applying the tape or with a pressure larger than the above pressure. Using the jig of the invention, the predetermined pressure can be applied without relying upon the sense of the worker, so that even an unskilled worker can easily and reliably apply the tape, solving the above-mentioned problems inherent in the prior art. The invention achieves this result by providing a jig for applying an adhesive tape, which is capable of controlling the pressure between the article and the tape. Specifically, the invention provides a jig for applying an adhesive tape on an article, which comprises: a jig body capable of being moved over an upper surface of the article in the direction of the tape application; a contacting element which is extended from, or attached to, a tip of said jig body and which, when said jig is moved along the upper surface of said adhesive tape, sequentially presses said adhesive tape against a tape application site of said article so that said adhesive tape is intimately adhered; and a pressure element which is attached to said jig body on the side opposite to the side that faces said adhesive tape and which, when it is pressed against said jig body during the movement of said jig, applies a pressure of a predetermined strength to said article.

The jig for applying the adhesive tape of the present invention (the "application jig") makes it possible to easily control the contacting force that had previously been a problem. In particular, the contacting force can be provided by various methods as described below. When, for example, a spring action- generating means such as a torsion spring is used as a pressure means, the spring constant of the spring may be changed to adjust the setpoint pressure, the number of the springs may be changed to adjust the setpoint pressure, or a stopper may be provided between the jig body and the pressure element to change the moving angle of the spring thereby to adjust the setpoint pressure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state where a jig for applying an adhesive tape is used according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the jig for applying the adhesive tape shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the jig for applying the adhesive tape shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustrating the constitution before assembly of the jig for applying the adhesive tape according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the constitution after assembly of the jig for applying the adhesive tape shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view illustrating the constitution of a jig for applying the adhesive tape of the present invention before use.

Fig. 7 is an elevational view illustrating the jig for applying the adhesive tape shown in Fig. 6 when in use. Fig. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating use of a conventional jig for applying the adhesive tape.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

In the application jig of the present invention, the jig body can be made of any material in any shape and size convenient for handling. Preferably, the size and shape of the jig body should correspond to the tape application site of the article onto which the adhesive tape is to be applied. That is. it is desired that the jig body is adapted to the site by taking the operability and handling of the jig into consideration. The material suited for the jig body can be a metallic material such as steel, aluminum or alloys thereof; or a plastic material such as polypropylene resin, polyethylene resin, polyacetal resin. ABS resin, nylon resin, fluorine- contained resin and, particularly, Teflon® (Teflon is a trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours), acrylic resin or the like resins. Among these jig materials, particularly suitable materials are light materials that cause less burden when working for long periods of time. For easy handing, furthermore, the jig body itself may be shaped in a manner that can be used as a grip and, particularly, in a shape that can be easily held by hand. Otherwise, a handle or a grip may be attached.

The above-mentioned jig body has a contacting element at the tip thereof which, when it is moved along the upper surface of the adhesive tape, sequentially presses the adhesive tape to the tape application site of the article so as to be intimately adhered thereto. The contacting element may be made of the same material as the jig body and may extend from the tip thereof, or may be made of a material different from that of the jig body and may be attached to the tip of the jig body. Basically, the material of the contacting element can be the same material as the jig body. To help ensure good and intimate adhesion, however, it is preferred that the contacting element is made of a material having a suitable degree of flexibility and resiliency. There is no particular limitation on the shape of the contacting element provided it is suited for effectively carrying out the operation for successively pressing the adhesive tape onto the tape application site of the article so as to be intimately adhered thereto. Preferably, the contacting element has the shape of a spatula or the like. The jig body further has a pressure element. The pressure element is attached to the jig body on the side opposite to the side that faces the adhesive tape. When the pressure element is pressed to the jig body while the jig is moving, the pressure of a predetermined strength is applied to the article. The pressure element can be constituted in various ways. Preferably, however, the pressure element comprises a spring action-generating means attached to the jig body and a spring action-transmitting means integrally coupled to the spring action-generating means and is capable of being pressed against the jig body to properly control the contacting force. The spring action-generating means can be selected from a variety of spring members such as a torsion spring, compression spring, coil spring and a leaf spring, depending upon the desired effect. From the standpoint of easy mounting and easy control of the pressure, a torsion spring is preferably used. When torsion springs are used, the number of the torsion springs, the number of turns of the springs and the angle of use are adjusted to advantageously control the pressure against the article and, hence, to control the pressure in an optimum way. In the application jig of the present invention, the pressure element may be attached to the jig body in a fixed manner or, if desired, in a detachable manner. When the pressure element is detachably attached, many pressure elements can be used for one jig body, i.e., various pressure elements producing different spring actions can be used for one jig body, offering great convenience from the standpoint of handling and preservation of space. The pressure element may have various detachably attaching structures. For example, the jig body may be formed with a predetermined groove or space to which may be fitted a portion of the pressure element or. typically, a member for supporting the spring action- generating means No particular fastening means needs be used provided the member supporting the spring action-generating means does not escape from the groove or the space to which it is fitted When a sufficient degree of fastening is required, however, a screw or any other fastening means may be used

The pressure imparted to the adhesive tape from the contacting element can be arbitrarily changed by changing the constitution of the pressure element and. particularly, by changing the constitution of the spring action-generating means, to obtain an optimum force at all times Depending upon the requirement, however, a stopper may be mounted on the jig body in a form of being interposed between the ig body and the pressure element in combination with, or separately from, the constitution of the spring action-generating means The stopper is useful for arbitrarily changing the level of the pressing force when it is desired to obtain a suitable pressure by pressing the contacting element of the pressure element against the jig body The stopper can be made of vaπous materials in vaπous shapes For example, a member having a suitable degree of strength and elasticity can be fastened to the jig body by using an adhesive agent, a screw or any other fastening means to use it as a stopper Suitable examples of the stopper material include natural and synthetic rubbers, foamed plastic material such as foamed polyurethane and vaπous felt materials Furthermore, a screw with a head may be screwed into the jig body such that it partly protrudes from the jig body and serves as a stopper

In the present invention, the article and the adhesive tape applied thereto can be those that are generally used in this field of technology in their own form or can be those that are suitably improved or modified For example, the article can encompass vehicles such as automobiles, buildings, structures, machinery. domestic electric appliances and any other wide range of articles The adhesive tapes will be those obtained by applying an adhesive agent layer such as a layer of acrylic adhesive, epoxy adhesive, urethane adhesive, sihcone adhesive, phenol adhesive or vinyl chloride adhesive onto any base mateπal such as paper, plastic mateπal. etc The adhesive tapes will have various sizes ranging from narrow to wide The tape may be in the form of a sheet or a film Furthermore, the application jig of the present invention can be used not only for applying the adhesive tape but also for applying other tape-like articles having various shapes.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Though the following description particularly deals with the use of a torsion spring as a spring action-generating means, it should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the embodiments shown on the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view schematically illustrating a state where ajig for applying an adhesive tape is used according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, ajig 10 for applying an adhesive tape comprises ajig body 1 made of a thin plastic plate and a spatula-like contacting element 2 fastened by a screw (not shown) to a tip of the jig body 1. The contacting element 2 is made of a flexible plastic. On the jig body 1 is further mounted a pressure element 5 comprising a spring action-generating means 3 and a pressure-transmitting means 4.

Constitution of the jig 10 for applying an adhesive tape is further described by the plan view of Fig. 2 and front view of Fig. 3. In the diagrammed embodiment, five torsion springs are buried in the jig body 1 to form the spring action-generating means 3. each torsion spring having the number of turns of 2 (two turns) and an angle of 135° (angle of use of 90°). The springs are made of a stainless steel.

Referring to Fig. 1 again, described below is how to use the jig for applying the adhesive tape of the present invention. An adhesive tape 20 is positioned on a tape application site of an article 30 having a nearly flat surface, and the application of the adhesive tape 20 is started in the direction of arrow A. The jig body 1 of the jig 10 is gripped together with the pressure-transmitting means 4, i.e.. means 4 is turned from the state of an angle of 135° shown in Fig. 3 to a state of an angle of use of 90° as indicated by an arrow B in Fig. 1. In this state, the tip of the contacting element 2 is pressed onto the tape application site. While maintaining the pressing of the contacting element 2 at an angle θ. the jig body 1 is moved in the direction of an arrow A (direction of application). During this operation, a strong contacting force is uniformly exerted on the adhesive tape 20 on the article 30. and no air is trapped between the article 30 and the adhesive tape 20. Although the operator presses the jig body 1 together with the pressure-transmitting means 4 against the tape application site, neither pressing force nor careful attention is required, in contrast to previously known application jigs. The angle θ of the contacting element 2 can be widely varied depending upon the kinds of the article and the adhesive tape but is usually from about 10° to 60°. At angles lying outside the above-mentioned range, it is not easy to carry out the operation and the effect of contact becomes poor. There is no particular limitation on the direction (arrow A) for moving the jig 10 for application. However, the adhesive tape is effectively applied when the article is nearly vertical and the adhesive tape is applied from the upper side toward the lower side.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views illustrating the constitution of the jig for applying an adhesive tape according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Before being assembled, the jig 10 for applying the adhesive tape has been divided into the jig body 1 and the pressure element 5 as shown in Fig. 4. In this case, the jig can be easily stored in a small space. Also, various contacting elements 5 producing various contacting forces can be selected for use with the jig body 1. To use the jig, a detachable member 1 1 of the pressure element is fitted to a detachable member-holder groove 12 that has been formed in the jig body 1 to complete the jig 10 for application. In the diagrammed embodiment, the detachable member 1 1 of the pressure element 5 is slidably inserted in the detachable member-holder groove 12 and is secured by a screw though not shown (see Fig. 5). This jig 10 for applying the adhesive tape can also be advantageously used for applying the adhesive tape onto the article as described earlier with reference to Fig. 1. Without the pressure element 5 (see Fig. 4). the jig body 1 itself can be used as an ordinary jig for applying the adhesive tape.

Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional views illustrating the constitution of the jig for applying the adhesive tape according to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention. The jig 10 for applying the adhesive tape shown here is basically the same as the jig shown in Figs. 1 to 3 except that the jig body 1 and the contacting element 2 are molded as a unitary structure using the same plastic material, and that a stopper made of resilient plastic material 13 is provided on the upper surface of the jig body 1 in order to adjust the contacting force of the pressure element 5. Before being used, the jig 10 for applying the adhesive tape is in a state as shown in Fig. 6. To use the jig. the pressure-transmitting means 4 is pressed onto the upper surface of the jig body 1 as shown in Fig. 7. As a result, a predetermined contacting force is exerted from the contacting element 2 to the adhesive tape application site of the article (not shown). In the diagrammed embodiment having the stopper 13. however, the force for pressing is suppressed compared with that of when no stopper is used. In the diagrammed embodiment, the stopper is constituted by a rectangular plastic member. However, the same effect can be also obtained even by using a screw with head or any other member. The contacting element of the jig body is interlocked with the pressure element which includes the spring action-generating means and the pressure- transmitting means. Therefore, the adhesive tape is applied to the article without relying upon the sense or judgment of the worker but with the application of a predetermined pressure determined in relation to applying the tape or with a pressure larger than the above predetermined pressure. This allows even an unskilled worker to apply the tape easily and reliably. Moreover, since the tape is contacted to the article with a constant force, the contacting force can be easily controlled. Furthermore, pressing the tape with a predetermined force makes it possible to effectively prevent the trapping of air between the article and the tape or the development of wrinkles, which often occurred when the adhesive tape was to be applied to a nearly flat article.

Claims

WE CLAIM:

1. A jig for applying an adhesive tape on an article, which comprises: ajig body capable of being moved over an upper surface of the article in the direction of the tape application; a contacting element which is extended from, or attached to. a tip of said jig body and which, when said jig is moved along the upper surface of said adhesive tape, sequentially presses said adhesive tape against a tape application site of said article so that said adhesive tape is intimately adhered; and a pressure element which is attached to said jig body on the side opposite to the side that faces said adhesive tape and which, when it is pressed against said jig body during the movement of said jig, applies a pressure of a predetermined strength to said article.

2. The jig as in claim 1 , wherein said pressure element comprises a spring action-generating means attached to said jig body and a spring action- transmitting means capable of being pressed against said jig body, the spring action-transmitting means being integrally coupled to said spring action-generating means.

3. The jig as in claim 1 or 2, wherein said spring action-generating means is a torsion spring.

4. The jig as in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pressure applied to said article is controlled by changing the number of said torsion springs and by adjusting the number of turns of the individual springs and the angle of use thereof.

5. The jig as in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said pressure element is removably attached to said jig body.

6. The jig as in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a stopper is attached onto said jig body, said stopper being interposed between said jig body and said pressure element.