Double faced tape with repositional adhesive

A double sided tape has repositional with adhesive associated with a first face. The tape may be in the form of a roll, and the adhesive on the second face may be either repositional or permanent. In order to facilitate rolling, a release liner is provided on one of the adhesive faces. The tape may have perforations, notches, or slits along its length to facilitate detachment of predefined lengths of the tape, as from a dispenser. A tie coat may be applied to each of the faces of the substrate before the adhesive is applied. One face of adhesive can be readily applied to one object (e.g., a shelf or a piece of paper), while the repositional adhesive is then available to removably attach that object to another object (e.g., another piece of paper).

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
 Pads of paper with repositional adhesive applied to one of the faces are an
 extremely popular items for both office and household use. The utility of 
 such a product is, of course, in the use of the repositional adhesive 
 which allows attachment--though readily releasable--to a wide variety of 
 surfaces, and objects, including other pieces of paper. Some consumers, 
 however, would like to be able to use the same principles for attachment 
 of pieces of paper, or other objects, that are other than those 
 commercially supplied from vendors of pads with repositional adhesive, 
 such as 3M and Moore Business Forms. According to the present invention, 
 this highly desirable goal is accomplished by construction of a double 
 sided tape which can be applied to any object, such as a piece of paper, 
 providing to that object the same benefits as are provided by commercially
 available pads. 
 According to one aspect of the present invention, a method of making a 
 double sided tape is provided. The method comprises the following steps: 
 (a) Applying a first adhesive coat to an elongated tape substrate first 
 face. (b) Applying a second adhesive coat to the substrate second face. 
 (c) At least one of steps (a) and (b) being practiced to apply a 
 repositional adhesive. (d) Applying a release liner to the first adhesive 
 to provide a tape. And then, (e) rolling the substrate into a roll with 
 the second adhesive engaging the release liner. 
 There typically is also the further step (prior to step (e)) of making 
 spaced separation-facilitating manifestations in the tape to allow ready 
 detachment of lengths of substrate, adhesive and release liner from each 
 other. Both steps (a) and (b) may be practiced to apply repositional 
 adhesive, or a permanent adhesive may be applied in the practice of one of
 steps (a) and (b). Also, a tie coat may be provided to the first and 
 second (or one of the other) faces of the substrate prior to application 
 of the adhesive thereto to facilitate adherence of the adhesive to the 
 substrate. 
 The invention also comprises a double faced tape. The double faced tape 
 comprises: An elongated tape substrate having first and second faces. 
 First and second adhesives operatively associated with the first and 
 second faces, at least one of the adhesives comprising a repositional 
 adhesive; and a release liner applied to one of the first and second 
 adhesives. A tie coat may be provided between at least one of the first 
 and second adhesives and the first and second substrate faces. Both 
 adhesives may be repositional or one may be permanent. Also, spaced 
 separation-facilitating manifestations, such as perforations, slits or 
 notches, may be disposed along the length of the tape to allow ready 
 separation of portions of the tape from each other. Desirably, the tape is
 in roll form, with a second adhesive on top of a release liner (which 
 covers the first adhesive), in a spiral configuration. 
 According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a 
 method of using a double sided tape having first and second faces with 
 adhesive on both faces, including repositional adhesive on the first face.
 The method comprises the steps of: (a) applying the second adhesive to a 
 first object so that the second adhesive extends outwardly from the first 
 object; and (b) causing a second object to releasably come into contact 
 with the first adhesive, and ultimately removing the second object from 
 contact therewith. 
 Where the second adhesive is permanent adhesive, step (a) is practiced to 
 permanently affix the tape to a fixed object, such as a shelf, furniture 
 edge or a piece of paper. Where both adhesives are repositional, there is 
 the further step of readily removing the tape from the first object and 
 applying it to a third object. A release liner is typically provided on 
 tape covering one of the adhesives, and thus there is the further step of 
 removing the release liner prior to the practice of one or both of steps 
 (a) and (b). Desirably, the tape is in roll form and there are the further
 steps of (c) unrolling the tape from the roll, and (d) separating a length
 of tape from the roll. Step (d) is preferably practiced by separating the 
 tape along predefined, spaced, separation-facilitating manifestations 
 (such as perforations) along its length. 
 It is a primary object of the present invention to allow the desirable 
 features of pads with stick-on adhesive to be applied to numerous other 
 office and household products and uses. This and other objects of the 
 invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description
 of the invention and from the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
 FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the production of double sided tape 
 according to the present invention. The method is practiced utilizing a 
 substrate 11, which may be paper (e.g., 20 lb. paper), cloth, plastic 
 (e.g., transparent plastic material), or the like. 
 The substrate 11, in web form, is fed to the first stage 12 where, 
 optionally, the first face thereof is coated with a tie coat. A tie coat 
 is utilized if necessary or desirable to ensure that the adhesive and the 
 substrate bond tightly together so that the adhesive will not separate 
 from the substrate 11. One particular example of a tie coat used with a 
 positional adhesive is shown in copending application Ser. No. 07/912,851,
 filed Jul. 2, 1992, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by 
 reference herein. 
 After the first face of the substrate 11 is coated with a tie coat, it then
 passes to stage 13 where it is coated with a first adhesive, and then 
 typically it passes to the stage 14 where a release liner is applied to 
 the adhesive. Then, the substrate 11 passes to the stage 15 where the tie 
 coat is optionally applied to its second face, then to stage 16 where the 
 tie coat on the second face is coated with a second adhesive. The tape 
 ultimately passes to conventional equipment 17 which slits it into 
 narrower width rolls, and then it may pass to step 18 where the rolls are 
 put into dispensers. Optionally, there is the step 19, prior to step 18 
 (typically between the step 16 and 17) of providing spaced 
 separation-facilitating manifestations in the tape (e.g., perforations, 
 notches or slits) to allow ready detachment of predefined lengths of tape 
 from the rest of the roll. 
 Shown schematically in FIG. 1 is one exemplary product 20 may be produced 
 utilizing the method illustrated in FIG. 1. The product includes a 
 dispenser 22 having a tape roll 23 thereon, and a serrated edge or like 
 separation facilitating structure 24 at one end of the dispenser 22. 
 FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary double sided tape 29 according to the 
 invention. On the first face of the substrate 11 is a tie coat 30, and the
 first adhesive 31, covered by a release liner 32. On the second face of 
 the substrate 11 is a second tie coat 33, covered by the second adhesive 
 34. Perforation lines 36 provide for ready separation of the tape portions
 on either side thereof. One or both of the adhesives 31, 34 are 
 repositional adhesive, such as that sold by Moore Business Forms, Inc., 
 with its Note Stix.RTM. pad products, or that sold by 3M with its 
 PostIt.RTM. pad products. Instead of both adhesives 31, 34 being 
 repositional, there are some circumstances where one is permanent. 
 It is highly desirable to provide the tape 29 in roll form (23), as 
 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. In roll form (23), the second adhesive 34 on
 one portion of the tape engages the release liner 32 on another portion of
 the tape, so that those portions do not stick together when wound up in 
 the spiral configuration illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. The exact nature of
 release liner 32 will be varied to be dependent upon the degree of 
 tackiness of the tape adhesive with which it will come in contact. 
 The tape 29 according to the invention desirably includes the tie coats 30 
 and 33, but they may not be essential depending upon the particular 
 chemical nature of the adhesives, and the particular substrate 11 
 utilized. FIG. 4 shows a double sided tape 29' according to the invention 
 in which the substrate 11 has the first and second adhesive coats 31', 
 34', respectively, applied directly thereto, i.e. without a tie coat. 
 FIG. 4 also schematically illustrates a desirable use of the double sided 
 tape according to the invention. According to a method of the present 
 invention, the double sided tape 29' (after removal of the release liner, 
 such as the release liner 32) from one adhesive layer thereof, the first 
 adhesive 31' is applied to a first object. In FIG. 4 the first object is 
 illustrated by reference numeral 40 as a shelf, or furniture edge, 
 although it also may be a piece of paper. The second, repositional, 
 adhesive 34' then faces outwardly and is available to readily removably 
 receive a second object, such as the piece of paper 41. The piece of paper
 41 may be easily applied to the adhesive 34', then readily removed, and 
 another piece of paper applied in its place, or the piece of paper 41 
 reapplied. Where the adhesive 31' is permanent, the tape remains as 
 illustrated in FIG. 4 for a long period of time, and can only be removed 
 by scraping, a solvent, or the like. Where the adhesive 31' is 
 repositional, then the tape 29' also may be readily removed. 
 When removing the tape 29, 29' from a dispenser 20, it may be readily 
 separated along the manifestations (e.g., perforations) 36. Those 
 manifestations (e.g., perforations) 36 may be spaced along the length of 
 the tape 29 to correspond to the average width of adhesive paper (or a 
 common fraction of the length thereof) that is common for paper that would
 be utilized with the invention. 
 It will thus be seen that according to the present invention a method and 
 product are provided for the ready manufacture and utilization of the 
 desirable qualities of repositional adhesive with "make your own" 
 products. 
 While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently
 considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment thereof, it 
 will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many 
 modifications may be made thereof within the scope of the invention, which
 scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation of the appended claims
 so as to encompass all equivalent methods and products.