Method and apparatus for making an adhesive cleaning sheet
Assignee3M Innovative Properties Company
InventorsThomas E. Haskett, Kim C. Sachs, Randy L. Moseng, Ronald E. Bergsten
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of selectively applying pressure-sensitive adhesive to a nonwoven web and thereby forming a cleaning sheet having adhesive free peaks and adhesive containing valleys includes coating an adhesive transfer roll with adhesive, transferring a portion of the adhesive to raised regions of a female pattern forming roll, and transferring the adhesive from the raised regions of the female pattern forming roll to the web. An apparatus for selectively applying pressure-sensitive adhesive to a nonwoven web and forming a cleaning sheet is also described.
Claims31
A method of selectively applying adhesive to a sheet, comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying a generally even layer of adhesive to at least a portion of a first surface including applying a substantially continuous, elongated bead of adhesive to the first surface and spreading the bead of adhesive to form the layer of adhesive on the first surface;
- (b) transferring at least a portion of the adhesive from the first surface to a portion of a second surface, wherein the second surface is an outer surface of a female pattern forming roll having a raised surface region and a recessed surface region, the raised surface region comprising a continually interconnected surface;
- and
- (c) transferring at least a portion of the adhesive from the second surface to the sheet.
A continuous process for selectively applying pressure-sensitive adhesive to specific recessed regions of a nonwoven web, comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying an elongated bead of pressure-sensitive adhesive to the outer surface of a rotating adhesive transfer roll;
- (b) spreading the pressure-sensitive adhesive to substantially evenly distribute the pressure-sensitive adhesive on the outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll, thereby forming a substantially continuous and uniform layer of adhesive having a substantially constant thickness on the outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll;
- (c) rotating the adhesively coated outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll into contact with a female pattern forming roll having raised surface regions and recessed surface regions, thereby to transfer adhesive from the adhesively coated outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll to the raised surface regions of the female pattern forming roll without transferring adhesive to the bottom of the recessed surface regions, wherein the raised surface comprises a continuously interconnected surface;
- (d) rotating the adhesively coated raised surface regions of the female pattern forming roll to mesh with a mating male pattern forming roll;
- and
- (e) conveying a generally planar nonwoven web of material between the male and female pattern forming rolls, thereby simultaneously forming a contoured web having peaks and valleys and transferring adhesive to the valleys without transferring adhesive to the peaks.
A continuous process of forming a cleaning sheet having peaks and valleys with pressure-sensitive adhesive selectively applied to only the valleys from a generally planar web of nonwoven material, comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying an elongated bead of pressure-sensitive adhesive to the outer surface of a rotating adhesive transfer roll;
- (b) spreading the pressure-sensitive adhesive to substantially evenly distribute the pressure-sensitive adhesive on the outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll, thereby forming a substantially continuous and uniform layer of adhesive having a substantially constant thickness on the outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll;
- (c) rotating the adhesively coated outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll into contact with a female pattern forming roll having raised surface regions and recessed surface regions, thereby to transfer adhesive from the adhesively coated outer surface of the adhesive transfer roll to the raised surface regions of the female pattern forming roll without transferring adhesive to the bottom of the recessed surface regions, wherein the raised surface comprises a continuously interconnected surface;
- (d) rotating the adhesively coated raised surface regions of the female pattern forming roll to mesh with a mating male pattern forming roll;
- and
- (e) conveying the nonwoven web of material between the male and female pattern forming rolls, thereby simultaneously forming a contoured web having peaks and valleys and transferring adhesive to the valleys without transferring adhesive to the peaks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.