Methods of forming dry adhesive structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9340708-B2
Application number	US-201514841553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 31, 2015
Priority date	Sep 18, 2008
Publication date	May 17, 2016
Grant date	May 17, 2016

Abstract

Methods of forming dry adhesives including a method of making a dry adhesive including applying a liquid polymer to the second end of the stem, molding the liquid polymer on the stem in a mold, wherein the mold includes a recess having a cross-sectional area that is less than a cross-sectional area of the second end of the stem, curing the liquid polymer in the mold to form a tip at the second end of the stem, wherein the tip includes a second layer stem; corresponding to the recess in the mold, and removing the tip from the mold after the liquid polymer cures.

First claim

The inventions claimed is:

1. A method of forming a dry adhesive with a structure including a backing layer and a stem, wherein the stem includes first and second ends on opposite sides of the stem, and wherein the first end of the stem is connected to the backing layer, comprising:
applying a first liquid polymer to the second end of the stem;
molding the first liquid polymer on the second end of the stem in a first mold;
curing the first liquid polymer in the first mold to form a plurality of fibers extending from the second end of the stem; and
removing the plurality of fibers from the first mold after the first liquid polymer cures.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first mold comprises a mushroom configured end of a negative feature therein to create a mushroom configured tip.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stem is perpendicular to the backing layer.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stem is not perpendicular to the backing layer.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
applying an initial liquid polymer to the second end of the stem prior to the step of applying the first liquid polymer; and
forming and curing the initial liquid polymer on the second end of the stem to create a wide flat tip.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the step of forming further comprises the step of pressing the initial liquid polymer on a non-sticky surface to create the initial mushroom tip.

7. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the stem is perpendicular to the backing layer.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the stem is not perpendicular to the backing layer.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
applying a second liquid polymer to each fiber of the plurality of fibers; and
forming and curing the second liquid polymer on each fiber of the plurality of fibers to create a mushroom configured tip.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the step of forming further comprises the step of pressing the second liquid polymer on a non-sticky surface to create the mushroom configured tip.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
applying a second liquid polymer to each fiber of the plurality of fibers;
molding the second liquid polymer on an end of the each fiber of the plurality of fibers in a second mold; and
curing the second liquid polymer in the second mold to form a tip on the end of the each fiber of the plurality of fibers in the second mold; and
removing the tip of the each fiber of the plurality of fibers from the second mold after the second liquid polymer cures.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the second mold comprises a mushroom configured end of a negative feature therein to create a mushroom configured tip.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the steps of:
forming the second liquid polymer to a wide flat tip on the each fiber of the plurality of fibers; and
applying a third liquid polymer to the wide flat tip prior to the step of molding.

14. The method according to claim 13 , wherein the step of forming further comprises the step of pressing the second liquid polymer on a non-sticky surface to create a wide flat tip.

Assignees

• Univ Carnegie Mellon

Inventors

• Sitti Metin
• Murphy Michael
• Aksak Burak

Classifications

• B29C39/10 Primary

  incorporating preformed parts or layers, e.g. casting around inserts or for coating articles {(coating a surface by casting in general B05D1/30, B29C39/126 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• C09J2201/626

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• C09J7/02 Primary

  Chemistry & Metallurgy · mapped topic

• B29C39/123

  Making multilayered articles · CPC title

• C09J175/04

  Polyurethanes · CPC title