Hot melt adhesive heating by means of microwave

A method for attaching an article of manufacture to an object, said article being substantially rigid and made from a material substantially resistant to microwaves, said article having a mass of hot melt adhesive attached thereto and a susceptor arranged in a heat transfer relationship with said hot melt adhesive, said mass of hot melt adhesive being in a relatively solid state in which it will not adhere to said object, said susceptor being selected so that when said article is subjected to microwaves in a household microwave food oven for a predetermined time said susceptor will transfer sufficient heat to said mass of hot melt adhesive to cause said mass to change to a tacky state in which it is capable of adhering to said object, said method comprising the steps of:

• (a) disposing said article, attached hot melt adhesive and susceptor in a container in a household microwave food oven,
• (b) subjecting said article, hot melt adhesive and susceptor to microwaves in said oven for said predetermined period of time so that said mass of hot melt adhesive is heated to a tacky state,
• (c) removing said article and attache hot melt adhesive from said microwave oven after said predetermined period of time while said hot melt adhesive is still in a tacky state, and
• (d) contacting at least a portion of said mass of hot melt adhesive while said adhesive is still in a tacky state with the object to adhere said article to said object.

A method for attaching an article of manufacture to a surface, said article being substantially rigid and made from a material substantially resistant to microwaves, said article having a mass of hot melt adhesive attached thereto and a susceptor arranged in heat transfer relationship with said hot melt adhesive, said mass of hot melt adhesive being in a relatively solid state in which it will not adhere to a surface, said susceptor being selected so that when said article is subjected to microwaves in a household microwave food oven for a period of time said susceptor will transfer sufficient heat to said mass of hot melt adhesive to cause said mass to change to a tacky state in which it is capable of adhering to a surface, said method comprising the steps of:

• disposing said article with said hot melt adhesive and susceptor attached thereto in a household microwave food oven,
• subjecting said article, hot melt adhesive and susceptor to microwaves in said oven for a period of time within which said mass of hot melt adhesive is heated to a tacky state,
• removing said article and attached hot melt adhesive from said microwave oven after said period of time while said hot melt adhesive is still in a tacky state, and
• contacting at least a portion of said mass of hot melt adhesive while said adhesive is still in a tacky state with a surface to adhere said article to said surface;
• wherein said susceptor has an optical density of 0.15 to 0.35;
• wherein said article and attached hot melt adhesive and susceptor are enclosed within a container having a cover, said container being formed of a flexible plastic that is substantially resistant to microwaves,
• said method further comprising the step of keeping said article and attached hot melt adhesive and susceptor encased in said container during steps (a), (b) and (c).

In a process for attaching an article to an object in a home in which the article having a mass of hot melt adhesive attached thereto is pressed against said object so that said hot melt adhesive bonds said article to said object, said hot melt adhesive being at a temperature high enough so that said hot melt adhesive is in a tacky state when said article is pressed against said object, the improvement for heating said hot melt adhesive to a temperature at which said hot melt adhesive is in a tacky state comprising

• (a) placing a combination into a household microwave food cooking oven, said combination comprising
• (i) said article,
• (ii) said hot melt adhesive attached to said article, said hot melt adhesive being at a temperature below which said hot melt adhesive is in said tacky state, and
• (iii) a susceptor arranged in heat transfer relation with said hot melt adhesive so that heat generated in said susceptor will heat said hot melt adhesive when said combination is subjected to microwaves, said susceptor having an optical density of 0.15 to 0.35,
• (b) preparing said combination for attachment to said object by subjecting said combination to microwave energy in said household microwave food cooking oven for a time sufficient so that said hot melt adhesive is heated to a tacky state,
• (c) removing said combination from said household microwave cooking oven while said hot melt adhesive is still in said tacky state,
• (d) transporting said combination to said object for attachment thereto while said hot melt adhesive remains in said tacky state, and
• (e) attaching said article to said object by means of said hot melt adhesive.

In a process for attaching an article to an object in a home in which the article has a hot melt adhesive attached thereto and is pressed against said object so that said hot melt adhesive bonds said article to said object, said hot melt adhesive being heated to a temperature at which said hot melt adhesive is in a tacky state when said article is pressed against said object, wherein said hot melt adhesive is heated to a temperature at which said hot melt adhesive is in a tacky state by the steps comprising,

• placing a combination into a household microwave food cooking oven, said combination comprising
• said article,
• said hot melt adhesive attached to said article, said hot melt adhesive being at a temperature below which said hot melt adhesive is in said tacky state, and
• a susceptor arranged in heat transfer relation with said hot melt adhesive so that heat generated in said susceptor will heat said hot melt adhesive when said combination is subjected to microwaves, said susceptor having an optical density of 0.15 to 0.35,
• preparing said combination for attachment to said object by subjecting said combination to microwave energy in said household microwave food cooking oven for a time sufficient so that said hot melt adhesive is heated to a tacky state,
• removing said combination from said household microwave cooking oven while said hot melt adhesive is still in said tacky state,
• transporting said combination to said object for attachment thereto while said hot melt adhesive remains in said tacky state, and
• attaching said article to said object by means of said hot melt adhesive;
• wherein said combination further includes a container wholly enclosing said article, said hot melt adhesive and said susceptor so that heat generated in said hot melt adhesive from said household microwave cooking oven will be retained in said hot melt adhesive when said combination is transported from said microwave oven to said object.

An article of manufacture combined with an adhesive, a microwave susceptor, and a container, the combination comprising,

• an article of manufacture adapted for attachment to a surface, said article being substantially rigid and made from a material substantially resistant to microwaves,
• a hot melt adhesive attached to said article, said hot melt adhesive being in a relatively solid state in which it will not adhere to said object, and
• a susceptor arranged in heat transfer relation with said hot melt adhesive so that said susceptor will heat said mass of hot melt adhesive to a tacky state when said article is subjected to microwaves in a household microwave food oven for a predetermined time, whereby said article, hot melt adhesive and susceptor can be disposed in a household microwave food oven and subjected to microwaves over said predetermined period of time and thereafter said article and said hot melt adhesive removed from the microwave oven with said mass of hot melt adhesive being in a tacky state capable of adhering said article to a surface, and
• a container comprising a receptacle and a cover for said receptacle, said container adapted to receive said article, said hot melt adhesive and said susceptor, said container being formed of a flexible plastic that is substantially resistant to microwaves;
• wherein said cover is openable to expose said article within said receptacle to enable said article and said hot melt adhesive to be removed from said container, said receptacle having a hand grip portion enabling said article to be gripped within said container and held by gripping said hand grip portion of said receptacle while said article is disposed within said receptacle thereby enabling said article to be located against said object while said hot melt adhesive is in said tacky state, the flexible plastic forming said receptacle being shaped to receive said article, said hand grip portion of said receptacle comprising portions of said flexible plastic disposed on opposite sides of a portion of said article, said portions of said flexible plastic adapted to be squeezed toward said portion of said article to enable said article to be gripped within said container.

An article of manufacture adhesively attachable to a surface, and a container for said article comprising, in combination,

• an article of manufacture having a portion for receiving an adhesive material,
• an adhesive material applied to a portion of the article of manufacture, the adhesive material capable of being heated to a tacky state in which the adhesive material will adhere the article of manufacture to a surface,
• a microwave energy susceptor in contact with the adhesive material applied to a portion of the article, and
• a container surrounding at least a portion of the article of manufacture, the container having a covered opening which when opened exposes the portion of the article of manufacture to which the adhesive material is applied.