Patent ID: 6677030
Filing Date: 2004-01-13
Classification: B32B,G02B,Y10T

Abstract:
An article comprising:(a) a curved substrate having a surface energy less than or equal to that of high density polyethylene; (b) flexible retroreflective sheeting; and a crosslinked tackified pressure-sensitive adhesive adhering said sheeting to said substrate, said adhesive comprising the reaction product of: (i) from about 65 to about 99 parts by weight of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of a first monofunctional acrylate or methacrylate ester of a non-tertiary alkyl alcohol, and mixtures thereof, the alkyl group of which comprises from about 4 to about 12 carbon atoms, which as a homopolymer has a glass transition temperature less than âˆ’25Â° C.; (ii) from about 1 to about 10 part(s) by weight of a polar monomer copolymerizable with the monomer(s) of component (i); (iii) optionally from 0 to about 25 parts by weight of a non-polar ethylenically unsaturated monomer copolymerizable with components (i) and (ii) selected from the group consisting of alkyl (meth)acrylates, N-alkyl (meth)acrylamides, and combinations thereof, whose homopolymer has a solubility parameter of no greater than 10.50 and a Tg greater than 15(C; (iv) from about 1 to about 65 parts by weight of a tackifier based upon the total weight of components (i), (ii), and (iii); and (v) optionally from 0 to about 1 part by weight of a crosslinking agent based upon the total weight of components (i), (ii), and (iii) wherein the adhesive contains sufficient amounts of components (ii) and (iv), and is sufficiently crosslinked, to: (I) have a glass transition temperature less than about âˆ’15Â° C. at a frequency of 1 rad/sec as measured by dynamic mechanical analysis; and (II) enable the sheeting, when wrapped around a low density polyethylene barrel, to remain firmly bonded to the barrel without buckling when cooled from 49Â° C. to âˆ’1Â° C.