PSA Tapes: What Are Your Fabrication Options?
One of the most useful benefits of using pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes is their ability to be fabricated into intricate shapes to create custom parts. This allows manufacturers to have a customized part to use during assembly, something that is easy and quick to apply. They can also be used to create custom gaskets, seals, filters, etc. But shaping is not the only way PSA tapes can be fabricated. There are many ways to create a product that is uniquely tailored to fit any application, no matter how and where it will be used.
These are your typical fabrication and conversion options when it comes to custom PSA tapes.
Laminating
Lamination is the process of combining two materials together. In terms of pressure sensitive adhesive tapes, it can be the process of placing the pressure sensitive adhesive on various materials. Many different types of adhesives, including transfer adhesives, 3M VHB adhesives, thermally conductive and electrically conductive adhesives, and others can be applied to materials like foam, rubber, and more. There are two main types of lamination when it comes to PSA tapes:
Web handling: a laminating method where two webs are joined together using an adhesive. The adhesive is applied to one web (material), and then a second web (of the same or different material) is applied to create a dual-layer laminate. Many types of films, papers, and even aluminum foils can be applied to different materials to give PSA tapes new capabilities.
Heat assist: uses rollers and heat to add pressure sensitive adhesives to a variety of materials (foam, acrylic, rubber, silicone, etc.). Large rolls of PSA tapes can be created, or slitting can be used to cut them down to create smaller rolls.
Laminating is often the first step in the converting process. It allows the customer to customize the exact material composition needed for their part prior to additional converting steps. It is the step that allows the custom part, to start with your choice of custom-made tape.
Rotary and Flatbed Die Cutting
There are two common types of die cutting used to create custom, intricately shaped parts using PSA tapes: rotary die cutting, and flatbed die cutting. Rotary die cutting uses a cylindrical die to cut consistent shapes out of the PSA tape material. It holds tight tolerances and is best used for kiss cutting, easy peel liner tabs, multiple layer laminations, and high-volume orders. Once the die is approved, rotary die cutting allows for rapid turnaround of orders that consist of large numbers of the same part. When it comes to PSA tape fabrication, we can create a large quantity of custom-cut parts that can be placed on a liner and rolled onto a core with tabbed liners, allowing them to be easily used in your assembly process.
Flatbed die cutting involves a hydraulic and mechanical flatbed press that cuts the specific shape out of the PSA tape material. Similar to rotary cutting, PSA tapes fabricated using flatbed die cutting can be put on rolled and tabbed liners. This fabrication method cand be more cost effective in tooling and generally is used for smaller runs of die-cut custom parts than rotary cutting. It also has less strict size constraints when compared to rotary die cutting. Flatbed presses can handle thicker materials that are longer and wider. The drawback to flatbed die-cutting is that converting complexity may be more modest often providing cut to shape parts as individuals or on a roll.
Laser, Knife, and Waterjet Cutting
Laser cutting uses a gas-powered (usually CO2) laser to cut PSA tapes with precision and tight tolerances. It’s ideal for making precision cuts in flexible materials, including holes, slots, fenestrations, etc., with extreme repeatability. This type of cutting can be done on small and large production runs and can be used to make intricate and complex custom PSA tape products, including gaskets. Laser cutting is also ideal for making prototypes and new products for testing in various applications.
Waterjet cutting is a process where materials are cut with a highly pressurized stream of water, resulting in a very clean-cut edge, especially on materials that generally can’t go through the die-cutting process without becoming deformed. Waterjet cutting is ideal for creating complex shapes in materials like rubber without having them suffer edge concavity. It can be used in the creation of gaskets and many other custom parts, and is exceptionally good at cutting three-dimensional shapes. Waterjet cutting can also be used on thicker materials as well as in custom prototyping of products.
Knife cutting (also called flash cutting) is a die-less cutting process that eliminates tooling costs and can be used to cut a wide variety of materials. It allows for tight tolerances and rapid production while wasting the minimum amount of material during fabrication. It’s great for rapid prototyping, cutting very large shapes and can be used to create intricate gaskets and other PSA tape products. The process involves holding the material still on a table while an oscillating knife, router and or cutting wheel cuts through the material at various depths.
Slitting and Spooling
Slitting is the fabrication process of cutting a jumbo log of material down to a specific size. In terms of PSA tapes, it can be used to create specified widths of tapes on rolls that can easily be used during the assembly process. We use high-speed controlled equipment to precisely slit a wide range of materials that include industrial tapes, PSA tapes, foils, foams, rubber, insulation, plastic films and more.
There are two major methods of slitting:
Single knife slitting: generally, the preferred method for short runs that need tight tolerances or tapes cut into odd widths. Can be used to also cut through foil materials, films, fabrics, and elastomers.
Rewind slitting: makes multiple cuts simultaneously taking a log into rolls of tape, making it faster and more ideal for long production runs and long-length rolls. After each cut is made, the master roll is rewound, meaning multiple cuts can be made without changing the roll. It is efficient and yields tight tolerances.
Spooling PSA tapes is the process of slitting and winding logs of material into long lengths increasing your efficiency by consolidating multiple rolls of tape onto a single spool. Longer spools can be used for high-volume manufacturing runs and those with automated processes or machine counterparts. Time is saved by not having to change the roll of tape out as often.