Programmable adhesion using nonlinear Kirigami structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11904585-B1
Application number	US-202117248351-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jan 21, 2021
Priority date	Jan 21, 2020
Publication date	Feb 20, 2024
Grant date	Feb 20, 2024

Abstract

The invention relates to an adhesive system comprising a fabricated structure having alternating regions that are unpatterned and patterned along its longitudinal length. Patterned regions have at least one subregion with a non-linear cut relative to the transverse direction across the width of the structure. The geometry, location of the subregion(s), number of nonlinear cuts, and other parameters allow tuning as well as pinpoint programming of the adhesive properties either along the entire width and length or the strip or just at pinpointed subregions of the strip. Such tuning can include not only adhesive strength, but its adhesive strength in certain peeling directions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A reusable adhesive system with programmable adhesive properties for directional releasable adhesion to target surfaces comprising:
a. a flexible relatively inelastic strip, with or without a relatively elastic layer on one side, the strip having a length along a longitudinal axis between front and reverse opposite ends, a width along a lateral axis between opposite lateral edges, and a thickness between opposite sides; and
b. alternating patterned cut and unpatterned regions along the length of the strip;
c. each said cut region comprising:
i. at least one sub-region between opposite lateral edges of the strip, the at least one sub-region having a cut through the thickness of the strip which is non-linear relative the lateral axis between opposite lateral edges of the strip;
ii. the non-linear cut having a size, shape, and position dependent on the type of material of the strip, the thickness of the strip, and the adhesive properties of the each of the at least one sub-region relative to one or more peeling directions.

2. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the non-linear cut comprises:
a. opposite cut termination points along a hinge line; and
b. an intermediate non-linear cut section or sections between the opposite cut termination points that does not cross the hinge line between opposite termination points of the cut;
c. the opposite cut termination points and the intermediate non-linear cut section or sections defining a flap area.

3. The adhesive system of claim 2 wherein the hinge line of the cut is at least substantially in the direction of the lateral axis across the strip.

4. The adhesive system of claim 3 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section of the cut is on a side of its hinge line closer to the reverse end than the front end of the strip.

5. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section is generally U-shaped with cuts at right angles to form a generally rectangular flap area with opposite generally linear and parallel side sub-sections extending generally in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the strip away from laterally spaced apart locations along the hinge line to a generally linear connecting sub-section spaced away from the hinge line and extending generally in the direction of the transverse axis of the strip.

6. The adhesive system of claim 5 wherein at least one of the sub-sections of the non-linear cut is linear.

7. The adhesive system of claim 5 wherein at least one of the sub-sections of the non-linear cut is other than linear.

8. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section is generally V-shaped to form a generally triangular flap area with opposite generally linear and converging side sub-sections extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the strip away from laterally spaced apart locations along the hinge line to a flap peak spaced away from the hinge line.

9. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section is generally polygonal-shaped to form a generally rectangular flap area from the hinge line to away from the hinge line, and a generally triangular flap area extending further away from the rectangular area.

10. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section comprises a cut line forming a flap of:
a. a regular shape;
b. a combination of regular shapes;
c. an irregular shape;
d. a combination of irregular shapes;
e. a symmetrical shape relative an axis;
f. an asymmetrical shape relative an axis;
g. a cut line of sections of straight lines;
h. a cut line of sections of non-straight lines; or
i. a cut line of a combination of sections of straight and non-straight lines.

11. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section has at least two opposite generally side sub-sections to form a flap area extending along the longitudinal axis of the strip away from laterally spaced apart locations along the hinge line to a flap peak spaced away from the hinge line.

12. The adhesive system of claim 4 wherein the at least one sub-region between opposite lateral edges of the strip in a cut region of the strip comprises a plurality of said at least one sub-regions, each with a said cut, thereby creating plural said flap areas with said intermediate non-linear cut section closer to the reverse end of the strip than the front end of the strip.

13. The adhesive system of claim of 11 wherein the plural flap areas are at least generally the same shape and the hinge lines of the plural flaps are at least generally co-linear across the width of the strip.

14. The adhesive system of claim 3 wherein the intermediate non-linear cut section of the cut is on a side of its hinge line closer to the front end than the reverse end of the strip.

15. The adhesive system of claim 3 wherein each sub-region has an area and the flap area for the sub-region comprises a substantial amount of the sub-region area.

16. The adhesive system of claim 1 further comprising plural said alternating cut and interconnecting regions along the strip.

17. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the at least one sub-region of the cut region comprises plural sub-regions and each of the plural sub-regions extends in the same direction along the longitudinal axis of the strip.

18. The adhesive system of claim 17 wherein the cut of each plural sub-region is substantially the same.

19. The adhesive system of claim 17 wherein the cut of each plural sub-region is different.

20. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the at least one sub-region of the cut region comprises plural sub-regions and at least first and second of the plural sub-regions extend in in-opposite directions along the longitudinal axis of the strip.

21. The adhesive system of claim 20 wherein the cut of each plural sub-region is substantially the same.

22. The adhesive system of claim 20 wherein the cut of each plural sub-region is different.

23. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the cut region comprises at least two sub-regions and further comprising a second cut through the thickness of the strip which is non-linear relative the lateral axis between opposite lateral edges of the strip, the second cut having a hinge line adjacent the hinge line of the said cut, but is closer to the front end of the strip than the reverse of the strip.

24. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the strip comprises a layer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

25. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the strip comprises a laminate of an inelastic layer and an elastic layer.

26. The adhesive system of claim 25 wherein the elastic layer comprises polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

27. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein the strip comprises:
a. a PET/PDMS laminate;
b. paper with a low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive;
c. a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA);
d. a soft skin adhesive; or
e. a porous material with pressure sensitive adhesive.

28. The adhesive system of claim 1 wherein each said cut region along the longitudinal axis of the strip comprises a row of at least one cut region along the traverse axis of the strip, and each sub-region of each cut region comprises a column along the longitudinal axis of the strip; wherein each non-linear cut of a sub-region comprises a

Assignees

• Univ Iowa State Res Found Inc
• Lowa State Univ Research Foundation Inc

Inventors

• Bartlett Michael D
• Hwang Dohgyu

Classifications

• B32B3/266 Primary

  characterised by an apertured layer, the apertures going through the whole thickness of the layer, e.g. expanded metal, perforated layer, slit layer regular cells B32B3/12 · CPC title

• B32B7/06

  permitting easy separation · CPC title

• B32B25/08

  of synthetic resin · CPC title

• B32B25/20

  comprising silicone rubber · CPC title

• B32B2250/03

  3 layers · CPC title