Activatable adhesive, labels, and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9653006-B2
Application number	US-201313892443-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2013
Priority date	Sep 17, 2008
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

An activatable adhesive that is formulated to readily absorb energy from a given radiation source, an activatable adhesive label that incorporates such an activatable adhesive, a system for activating such labels, and related methods and uses are described. The activatable adhesive includes a plasticizer, a tackifier, and an adhesive base polymer that includes butyl acrylate, styrene, methyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, and acrylic acid.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A label comprising:
a facestock layer; and
an activatable, polymerized adhesive layer that is coupled to the facestock layer and includes:
i. 20 to 35 wt % of an adhesive base polymer including butyl acrylate, styrene, methyl methacrylate, methacrylic acid, acrylic acid, at least one multifunctional monomer, and at least one chain transfer agent,
ii. 50 to 75 wt % of a plasticizer, and
iii. 5 to 20 wt % of a tackifier,
wherein the adhesive base polymer has a weight average molecular weight within a range of from 10,000 Daltons to 150,000 Daltons.

2. The label according to claim 1 , wherein:
the label is configured to be exposed to a radiant energy;
the radiant energy has a wavelength and an intensity that results in the adhesive layer becoming tacky after exposure to the radiant energy; and
the facestock layer is not discolored after the exposure of the label to the radiant energy.

3. The label according to claim 1 , wherein the facestock layer is made of a material selected from the group consisting of a paper, a polymer film, a metallized paper, a paper backed foil, and a metal foil.

4. The label according to claim 1 , wherein:
the label is configured to be applied to an item; and
the label is configured to be repositioned for one minute after the label is applied to the item.

5. The label according to claim 1 , wherein:
the adhesive layer is activatable;
the adhesive layer has a tackiness;
the label is configured to be applied to an item; and
after the label is applied to the item, the adhesive layer's tackiness prevents the label from being removed from the item.

6. The label according to claim 1 , wherein:
the label is configured to be applied to an item; and
after the label is applied to the item, the label permanently bonds to the item after two minutes.

7. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive layer includes an agent for promoting energy absorption.

8. The label of claim 7 wherein the agent is selected from the group consisting of carbon black, dyes, colorants, pigments, inks, and combinations thereof.

9. The label of claim 8 wherein the agent is carbon black.

10. The label of claim 9 wherein the concentration of carbon black is at least about 0.1%.

11. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive base polymer has a weight average molecular weight within a range of from 15,000 Daltons to 100,000 Daltons.

12. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive base polymer has a weight average molecular weight within a range of from 20,000 Daltons to 40,000 Daltons.

13. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive layer comprises:
24-30 wt % of the adhesive base polymer;
56-68 wt % of the plasticizer; and
8-16 wt % of the tackifier.

14. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive layer comprises:
about 28.6 wt % of the adhesive base polymer;
about 57.1 wt % of the plasticizer; and
about 14.3 wt % of the tackifier.

15. The label of claim 1 wherein the adhesive layer comprises:
about 25 wt % of the adhesive base polymer;
about 66 wt % of the plasticizer; and
about 9 wt % of the tackifier.

16. The label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive base polymer comprises:
from 5-50 wt % of the butyl acrylate;
from 20-85 wt % of the styrene;
from 1-35 wt % of the methyl methacrylate;
from 0.5-5 wt % of the methacrylic acid;
from 0.5-5 wt % of the acrylic acid;
from greater than 0 to 5 wt % of the at least one multifunctional monomer; and
from greater than 0 to 5 wt % of the at least one chain transfer agent.

17. The label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive base polymer comprises:
from 12-48 wt % of the butyl acrylate;
from 23-78 wt % of the styrene;
from 3-30 wt % of the methyl methacrylate;
from 1-2 wt % of the methacrylic acid;
from 1-3 wt % of the acrylic acid;
from 0.5-2.5 wt % of the at least one multifunctional monomer; and
from 1.0-4.0 wt % of the at least one chain transfer agent.

18. The label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive base polymer comprises:
from 9-14 wt % of the butyl acrylate;
from 69-80 wt % of the styrene;
from 2-6 wt % of the methyl methacrylate;
from 1-2 wt % of the methacrylic acid;
from 1-2 wt % of the acrylic add;
from 0.5-2.5 wt % of the at least one multifunctional monomer; and
from 1.0-4.0 wt % of the at least one chain transfer agent;
wherein the at least one multifunctional monomer is ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA); and
wherein the at least one chain transfer agent is n-dodecyl mercaptan (n-DDM).

19. The label of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive base polymer comprises:
12.8 wt % of the butyl acrylate;
77.6 wt % of the styrene;
3.2 wt % of the methyl methacrylate;
1.2 wt % of the methacrylic acid;
1.7 wt % of the acrylic acid;
1.5 wt % of the at least one multifunctional monomer; and
1.9 wt % of the at least one chain transfer agent;
wherein the at least one multifunctional monomer is ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA); and
wherein the at least one chain transfer agent is n-dodecyl mercaptan (n-DDM).

20. The label of claim 1 further comprising:
a reflective layer that is coupled between the facestock layer and the adhesive layer.

21. The label according to claim 20 , wherein:
the label is configured to be exposed to a radiant energy;
the radiant energy has a wavelength and an intensity that results in the adhesive layer becoming tacky after exposure to the radiant energy; and
the facestock layer is not discolored after the exposure of the label to the radiant energy.

22. The label of claim 20 , wherein:
the facestock layer has a bottom surface; and
the reflective layer is made of a material that is applied as a coating to the bottom surface of the facestock layer.

23. The label of claim 22 , wherein the material of the reflective layer is selected from the group consisting of gold, silver, aluminum, and copper.

24. The label of claim 20 , wherein the reflective layer has a thickness of greater than one micron.

25. The label of claim 20 , wherein:
the reflective layer has a reflectivity value; and
the reflectivity value is greater than approximately 90 percent.

26. The label of claim 20 , wherein the reflective layer underlies only a portion of the facestock layer.

27. The label of claim 20 , wherein:
the adhesive layer has a first surface;
the reflective layer has a second surface that is adjacent to the first surface; and
the second surface is textured.

28. The label of claim 27 , wherein the second surface's texture is configured to be retroreflective.

29. The label of claim 20 wherein the adhesive layer includes an agent for promoting energy absorption.

30. The label of claim 29 wherein the agent is selected from the group consisting of carbon black, dyes, colorants, pigments, inks, and combinations thereof.

31. The label of claim 30 wherein the agent is carbon black.

32. The label of claim 31 wherein the concentration of carbon black is at least about 0.02%.

33. The label of claim 1 further comprising a barrier layer.

34. The label of claim 33 wherein the barrier layer comprises at least one polymeric material having styrene moieties.

35. The label of claim 33 wherein the barrier layer protects the label from discoloratio

Assignees

• Avery Dennison Corp

Inventors

• Kian Kourosh
• Lee Souphong
• Hseih Dong-Tsai
• Edwards David N
• Lenkl Johannes
• Bharadwaj Rishikesh K
• Mallya Prakash
• Li Kai

Classifications

• Y10T428/28

  Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or component and having an adhesive outermost layer · CPC title

• C09J133/08

  Homopolymers or copolymers of acrylic acid esters · CPC title

• C08K5/0016

  Plasticisers · CPC title

• C09J2400/163

  in the substrate · CPC title

• Y10T428/2891

  including addition polymer from alpha-beta unsaturated carboxylic acid [e.g., acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, etc.] Or derivative thereof · CPC title