CA2238651A1 - Adhesive tape and method of making - Google Patents

Abstract

An adhesive tape is provided which comprises a woven cloth, a polymer embedded into the cloth so as to cause the warp and weft fibers of the cloth to bond together at their overlapping points but not to completely encase the fibers, and a pressure sensitive adhesive coated onto at least a portion of the polymer, wherein the adhesive tape is hand tearable in the down-web and in the cross-web direction. A method of manufacturing such a tape is also provided.

Description

-CA 02238651 1998-0~-26 ADHESIVE TAPE AND METHOD OF MAK~NG

Field of the L~ Liun The ill~ iUn relates to adhesive tapes with woven bAcl~ingc. More particularly the 5 invention relates to woven adhesive tapes that are well-suited for medical uses and are hand tearable in the cross-web and in the web dhc~,Liùn.

E~a~ .uuu.d Cloth or cloth-like tapes are useful in n Ullwuug applir~ti~3nc For ~ plc, cloth-10 like tapes are used in medical a~ where they typically are adhered to skin. Mostof the uses of cloth adl.~;vG tapes in the medical market are for se~u. il~g medical devices and light il...,.ol.ili~aLion support. Some typical applic~ti.mc include securing entlotrAI~h.
tubes, I~AcOg,~l, ic tubes, and chest tubes, SL~l)ilizi..g body splints, and anellc,. ing bulky wound ~e~:,il.gs. Because these applirAti~nc usually include cont~rtins~ skin, one i.llpo.
15 desire for the tape is that the adl-csivG adhere in moist or oily ~inVil~ 'i Other charAct~risti~s often desired in cloth-like a.lllc~ tapes ("woven tapes"3 include a high tensile strength in the down and cross-web directions and ease of tearing by hand in both the down and cross-web directions along a ~ ;A11Y straight line without fraying. Cloth or cloth-like tapes are also used in iu.,lu~l. ial and cu~ul~GIu;àl aprlicAtionc such as in duct 20 tapes, ~LIa~J~iulg tapes, elect~ l tapes, general utility tapes and in abrasives to name a few.
Medical cloth tapes that are currently available are generally mAmlfA~.~lred using a densely woven cotton or synthetic cloth. As the weave density of the cloth used to n~An~lfA~*Ire adhesive tape iu.~lcases, the strength ofthe resulting tape typically increases for the same size fiber. Likewise, as the weave density of the cloth iUI~ asGs it is easier to 25 hand tear the resulting tape in a straight line. Medical cloth-like tapes that are CUI1G11~IY
available typically cc l--~ e a woven cloth backing coated with a rubber based adl~sivG.
Although the quality of the cloth varies, a dense weave cotton is c.. t.. i.. ~ly used which provides a~qll~t~ strength and allows tearing along a straight line. Natural rubber based a~l.c;,i~,s are usually solvent coated and/or calendered onto the backing and exhibit good 30 ~lh~ ci~n to skin but can cause allergic reactions such as rashes. Several c..~ c ~ m~mlf~hlre cloth-like adhesive tapes for medical uses. These tapes include Johnson &
Johnson's Zonas Porous~, Kendall's Curity Porous(l~, and Beiersdorfs T elll~-t~re(l~). Each of these tapcs consist of densely woven cotton cloths completely coatcd or pattern coated with rubber based adhesives.

U.S. Patent 2,352,463 to Wenzelberger et al. teaehes il~Cl~JO:~ulg a flexible barrier sheet or baffle between the fabric and the adhesive to prevent the adhesive from~. .1,~,n. . .1 ;~11y striking through the fabrie of the tape. Wcl~cll)cl - cl et al. teach that this saves adhesive mass and avoids messy conrlitionc as well as ~lolll.,Lil}g the elasticity of thc S fabric without substantially i~.~l~Ulg its weight. The W~ L, . tape is plc~alcd by knife s~lca~ g the elastie or pliable barrier sheet or film. The backing fabrie of Wcl~,lbcl~ ~;l may be a relatively elosely woven m:~t~n~1, a coarse woven material or any eonventional flexible material.
U.S. Patent Number 4,545,843 to Bray dicelosRc an adhesive tape whieh is ~ r~ cd by ~ g at least one layer of heat activated adhesive film to one layer of a ~.,IJ:,I.,.I~ material, and eoating the thereby obf~inr-d laminate with a ~JIC:~:iUIC sensitive adhesive. The filrn is cre~ifi~ ~lly a random eopolyrner of ethylene and acrylie aeid. The adhesive whieh is eoated on the l~min~tf~ cannot flow through the ~ub:~LIalc, even if a porous ~ubsLIalc is used.
U.S. Patent Number 3,853,598 to Raguse .1;C~'1OSR~;: an adhesive tape ~Ill~.fi;~cd of a high thread eount woven synthetic fabric, an aerylie latex primer which is either solvent-based or water-based, and an adhesive eoated on the primer side of the fabrie. The primer bonds the warp and weft threads together to produce a single sheet of material whieh may easily be torn straight in either .Ih~ iLi~JIl.
U.S. Patent Number 3,616,146 to Gabet .l;~eio~c plc~,lued wall textiles whieh are çc)ll.lJ-iscd of woven or nullw~ vcn fabrie whieh has been made Ly~pl-Ol)ie, a c ~.1;...~O~
R~kle plastie resinous film adhered to one faee of the fabrie to ...;. .;. . .; ~- stretch and fraying, and a layer of dry nontacky liquid-softenable adhesive eoated on the exposed surfaee of the filrn.
U.S. Patent Number 2,487,û60 to Pike et al. ~l;c~ s~e a barrier coat for adhesive sheets. The barrier eoat is a synthetie rubber whieh l,...vidc:, a uniform surfaee to p}event pclw~la~ion of the adhesive into the porous baeking. The barrier coat is either eoated from solvent or ealendered onto the porous backing.
US Patent Number 2,415,276 to Buekley et al. rlic~lr)ses a flexible woven fabrie3 0 baeking with a layer of adhesive and an ;~lf-. ~..edi,-~ e eoating cul~l)osed of suitable rubber cc,m~o~ilions whieh when vlllr~ni7ed serve to prevent the adhesive from passing into the fabrie's interstiees. The i,lt~ edia~c eoating is either ealendered onto the surface of the fabrie or .~ ,c~ ~ed into a suitable solvent and then the solution is spread evenly on the surfaee of the fabrie baeking. The Buekley et al. cpeçifi~ m teaches at column 2 lines 24-W O 97/24222 PCTrUS96/20298 29 that while the ;..~ e~ e film adheres to the surface of the fabric it does not enter the interstices of the fabric.
U.S. Patent Number 2,187,563 to Thomas ,1;~ srs an adhesive tape which is al~d by i.,.~.. ~.~ ._l ;. ~g a woven fabric with wax-al~ ; .. acetate~led~i~;lylated chitin 5 cv,,.l-oD;lion~ drying, and ~ 1.. " ;,~, on one side a rubber based pressure S~lD;LiV~;
adhesive. U.S . Patent Number 2,884,342 to Wolffteaches a pressure sensitive aJII~,;7ive sheet material which is cum~.;s~l of a fabric backing ~ c~al~d with a mixture ofresinous materials and has a layer of adh~ , material applied to one side. L.l~ lg results in woven fibers that are encased in a cvlll~o:~iLioll.
The art does not provide a tape which is both ;.. ~ .c .~;vt; to m~mlf~c,~re and exhibits the properties of a cloth-like a~ D;vti tape. These properties include a feel of cloth, the ability to be torn in a straight line without exerting undue force and without c,.~,esDive fraying OC~,UI1ill~,.

Summaly The invention p.uvi~les an adhesive tape which is ;~ ;v~ to m~n~lf~lre, is hand tearable in the cross-web and down-web directions in a :,ul,DL~Ilially straight line without fraying and exhibits tensile strength suitable for medical, ;..J~.~I. ;,.1 and cu..unc..,;al appliçatinn~ Further, the invention tape provides an adhesive tape that has the feel of clo~
20 because the individual cloth fibers are not encased in either an adhesive or a polymer composition. The invention tape is cu...~ cd of a cloth-like s~lbstr~e, a polymer çmhe~l~l~l into the cloth but not f~ P the fibers ofthe cloth and a I~lG~ UI~ sensitive a~ ivti coated onto the polymer. A method of m~mlf~hlring the tape of the invention is also in-.ln-lf~rl An adhesive tape is provided compliD.I.g a woven cloth, a polymer extrusion coated and ~; ~-heM~l into the cloth and capab1e of adhering to the cloth, and a pressure senD;Livt;
adhesive coated onto at least a portion of the polymer, wherein the adhesive tape is hand tearable in a s.lbsl;...l.~lly straight line without fraying. The adl.es;v~i tape has a cloth feel on the lm~o~t~l side. The polymer is selected from the group of polyethylene eldDIvlll~
30 copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene -vinyl acetate, polyu~ e, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile b~t~dif~r~e styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, poly~albul~l~, po1yacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

An adl~csivc tape is y.uv;ded which is colllyfised of a polyethylene-based polymer ....~he~l.L-~ into a woven cloth with an a ll.eaivc cu...yl;;,c;l of a blend of an acrylic and a ;c cl~lu~ coated on the polyJner wherein the un~ind tension of a roll of tape is less than 14N/dm without using a low ~Al.. .:u.. b~qr~Ci7~?. When tom by hand, the edges 5 of such an a ll~ca;v~ tape do not curl or fray.
An adllesiv~ tape is y-uv;ded which cc,...~ a woven eloth, a polymer ~ bc~Aed into the c1Oth so as to eause the down-web and cross-web fibers of the eloth to bond together at their ov~ points but not to c~lmrl : ~y encase the fibers, and a plr SDulC~
s~ aiLivc adhesive eoated onto at least a portion of the polyrner, wherein the a~ll.esivci tape is 10 hand tearable in a s~-l.a~ lly straight line without fraying. The all.c;,;v~, cv.,.yoa;lion is yl~e.dl~ly c... ~ ed of a blend of an aerylic pressure-sensitive adbesive and a th~ ;r"~ . The adhesive Cu~ JuD;Lion C' ~ r ~ at least 5 weight pereentadhesive and the col--yoaiLion has a ~--ulyl olo~y ~OI~yliDiulg at least two distinct Aomqin~ a first domain being D.~bs~ Ily c~.. l;.. -uc in nature and a second domain being fibrillose 15 to srhictose in nature parallel to the tnajor surface of the a ll.caiv~ within said first domain.
Optionally, the adhesive is co..,y,iDed of a blend of an acrylic ylciDDulc-scllDiLivc adhesive and an ~qlq~tr,rnPr and a tqr~ifif?r, the cu,--yu;~;lion cc,lllyli~ulg at least 5 weight percent adhesive and the culllyua;lion having a l~ul~1lol3gy cul~y~;ail~g at least two distinct Aomqin~ a first domain being sul.al~ lly c~...l;---~,..~ in nature and the second domain 20 being fibrillose to s. .1.;~se in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within the first domain.
A method of making an adhesive tape is also provided. The method cu...y. ia~s the steps of (a) providing a woven cloth substrate having a first side and a second side, ~b) ~plyu~g a polyrner onto the first side of the sul"ll~lc at a 1~ . c, rate and amount to 25 cause the fibers of the ~ul.al . ~ ~ to bind without causing the polymer to completely encase the fibers of the cloth, and (c) coating a pressure sensitive adhesive onto the polymer side of the polymer coated auballalc wherein the Icaullil~g a~ll,.,;,iv~ tape is hand tearable in a substantially straight line without fraying.
An adhesive tape is provided which co,..y.;aes a substrate conryl;aed of regularly 30 spaced fibers in the down-web and cross-web Ih~i~,liu"s wherein the fibers are not woven, a polymer applied and partially ~ ...b~lA~d into the auball~lc such that the down-web and cross-web fibers are not completely encased by the polyrner, and a pressure S~laiLivc adhesive coated onto at least a portion of the polymer, wherein the adhesive tapc is hand tearable along a s~ y straight line without fraying.

-W O 97/24222 PCT~US96/20298 A colllp..~ baeking is also provided, the backing culllpli:.illg a substrate having a first side and a second side, a poly.ll~.l on the second side ofthe s~,l.sllale and the polymer A(~ intothe ,~ suehthatthe O~,.la~ g fibe}s ofthe substrate are bound together but the poly-m--er does not extend through to the first side of the subst~t~ :, and S wherein the resulting G ~ "1'0-';1'; backing is hand tearable along a :,~.1 .sl ;...1 ;~lly straight line without fraying.

Brief Dcs.,. ;I tiUII of the Drawin~s Fig. 1 is a 50 times m~ifi~atif~n light Illi~,lu~ldi~h of a woven eloth for use in the 1 0 invention.
Fig. 2 is a 50 tim--es m~ifi~tinn light lu;el~l~;la~ of a cullllJ~lalivt; samplec.nll~ ,d of woven eloth solvent-coated with a polymer p~ alt;d by the method ofCo...l-~ e F- -mr~.e 12.
Fig. 3 is a eross-sectinn~l view of the sample of Figure 2.
Fig. 4 is a 60 tim--es .. .~. .; r~ n s~ g eleetron nlicl~ ~;ldph (SEM) of a top view of a sample of the invention.
Fig. S is a 60 times m~ificatil n SEM of a cross-secti~n~l view of the sample ofFigure 4.
Fig. 6 is a 20 times ...~.;r..~ ... SEM of atop view of a ~....p~r:~l;ve sample 20 pl~ altidbymethodsofC.~ p~ l;veFY~tnp'~ 11.
Fig. 7 is a 100 times m~gnifir~tion SEM eross-sectional view ofthe c.. l.~l~l;v~
sample of Pigure 6.
Fig. 8 is a light mi~;,u~;laph of a cvlu~Jaldliv~; sample of woven doth/polymer backing whieh was torn in the eross-web direetion; this is an unacceptable tear and is 25 ~lPcign~ted as a "1" tear deseribed in the test methods below.
Fig. 9 is a light l~u~ lgld~Jh of a culllpaldliv~ sample of woven cloWpolymer backing whieh was tom in the eross-web direetion; this is an average tear and is ~ gn~ted as a "3" tear ~.;l~ed in the test methods below.
Fig. 10 is a light uu~lO~,Ial~h of a sample of woven eloth/polymer baeking plG~ldL~id 3 0 aeeording to the invention which was torn in the cross-web direetion; this is an eY~r]l~nt tear and is rll ~;y~ l as a "5" tear des.;l;bed in the test methods below.

D~r.~;~ il .. .c "Cross-web" as used herein refers to the direction on a cloth or wcb which is p ~ ;C~ rtothedown-webdirection.
"Df 1~",;.~ n" as used herein refers to the polymer lifting and peeling away from the cloth on a poly~ner/cloth c.. p~ backing.
S "Duw~ b" as used herein ~efers to the direction that a cloth or web is m~mlf~ctllred, the term is S~llull,yllwu.7 with ".nd~h-ne di~G.;Lu 1" or "web dilG~;L;ul~."
"~LI ud; lg" as used herein refers to the process of placing a molten material on a web to obtain a c~ u.,;Le mslt~riz~l ~r ~ as used herein refers to the process and the product resulting from cu~llbillulg an existing film and a web in the pl~.7~ ie of heat.
"Low ~ b~qfL~ " as used herein refers to any material applied to a tape backing to reduce the arlh~ n of the pressure sensitive adhesive to the backing when LUlWl~ld;ll,~ a roll of tape.
"Pressure ;,...~;~iv~i adhesive" as used herein refers to materials which adhere to a 15 ~ ,1 .,.k~ with no more than applied finger pressure and are ag~lc.,~,ivtily and p~ .lly tacky.
"Substrate" as used herein refers to a matenal having regularly spaced s.lt,sl~..l ;_lly parallel fibers in the down-web and cross-web dil~ioll and the fibers may or may not be interlaced in a weave.
'Woven" as used herein refers to strips, strands or fibers of material that are interlaced to form a cloth. The fibers are ~,..1,-,1~..l ;~lly parallel in the warp direction and s..h,l;...l;~lly parallel in the weft dil~ iun.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments Thecloth-likeadh~,.,ivetapeofthe invention is cul.l~ ,ed of at least three Culul~ullcill~. These include (1) a woven cloth or Su~ LId~e~ (2) a polymer, and (3) a ;;.7Sulc; sensitive adhesive. Each of these GulllpOII~ iS desG,;bed below along with a description ofthe n~e~7.,dly order ofthe c.,.. p.. 1~ and the physical char~ctericti~c ofthe resulting adhesive tape.
Woven Cloth/S~Ibstr~qte A woven cloth of synthetic or natural fiber is useful in the present il~vt;~Lion. If a snbst~nti~lly straight tear line is desired it is illl~olLulL that a nollvvov~ll randomly oriented fiber web is not used. If a woven cloth is used, the p~ dicular weave of the warp and CA 022386~1 1998-05-26 wet threads provide straight lines along which a propStgzttP~d tear may contimle.
Alternatively a regularly spaced fibrous :~ub:~Ll~le may be used in the invention. The substStntistlly parallel down-web and cross-web threads of the suhstrztte provide straight lines along which the invention tape can be torn. An example of such a sul,~ .le is 5 CLAFt D fabric as available from Amoco/Nisseki CLAF Inc. of Atlanta, GA. It is de~ bl_ that the tape of the illv~ is easily torn along a straight line since straight line tears result in less waste and result in tapes that are easier to use than tapes that tear l~edly.
Any density weave of cloth is useful in the tape of the invention. Looser weave cloth generally permits lower costs and greater ~ u~r~ y. Tighter weave cloth pernuts 10 easier tear and higher tensile prùpGlli~,s for the same si~ fibers. Generally, as the weave density h~ul~,ase~ the cost of the cloth also iu~;l~,es. However, high density cloths are usually easier to tear than low density cloths~ As the weave density of the cloth de~ir~asc;"
the cost of the cloth also decreases and the ability to tear the cloth in a straight line dec.~ses. As one will l~co~~ in order to reduce mztnllfsu~.h~ring costs it is dPeirS~hlP, to 15 use a low density weave cloth for cloth tapes since the raw material costs are reduced. The illv~;llLiull allows this without COl,l~lullli ~illg tearability of the tape.
Weave ~lPn~itipc in the range of 5 warp threads per 2.5 cm (1 inch) by 5 weft threads per 2.5 cm (1 inch) to 300 by 300 are useful in the present invention. Generally, a looser weave is used to prepare constructions that require i-~;l~sed cul.rulll.a~ility or 20 de.,l~,~;d cost. Tighter weave substrates are used in constructions that require a high tensile strength. In sJ~ldifi~ n nnhztlsln~d weave constructions are useful when palLi~iulal p~., r.. ,.t.re plU~,lLGS are desired in one direction. The pelrull,,dllce properties are not ~ece~scLl.ly in the perpen~irlllstr dil~,~,LiUI~. For example, the greatest cross-web and down-web P~rtngzttion occurs when the fiber orientS~tion is rotated 45 degrees. One skilled in the 25 art will ~ 5~COY. .i ~t' that it is I~C~ to assess the desired pt;lro~.na.lce of the resulting tape when ~cl~ l; . .g the density of the woven cloth. Tf drape is ~I..~Ul L~Lt~l a lower density weave is chosen, huwtivl;;l, a lower density weave may require a thicker polymer layer if P.~ Çllent tear properties are re,quired. This is de~.,l ibed more fully below. Therefore, the p~.rulll~.ce of the resulting tape is di p~ 1 upon several p~ lt~ j, one of which 30 includes the weave density of the woven cloth.
The composition of the fibers of the woven cloth or of the :iul3~LIa.Le is either natural or synthetic or a c.~. . .1.;. .,.~i~tn thereof. F.x 1 . "I.lP~ of natural fibers include cotton, silk, hemp and flax. Examples of synthetic fibers include rayon, polyester, acrylic, acrylate, polyolefin, nylon and glass. As with weave density, the choice of fibers which cu...~ ,e the woven cloth chosen to make the tape of the invention is d~ l upon the cost, the desired feel or hand, drape, tensile strength, te~r~bility and general p~,. r.... ~ ~cC of the resulting tape. Woven eloths ~ ~ of 7,y~ ,lic fibers are generally less ~ aiVC than those c~Jnlyl;~ed of natural fibers. IIvw~,v~,,, the desired feel of a tape ... r~ .. cd from a S natural fiber woven cloth may vuL~ h the cost c~ 7id~alions when choo~,u.g the fiber content of the woven cloth. One feature of the invention is that the fibers of the .,. .1.~,l . i.
are not co~ letcly :iaLulalcd with or encased in the polysner which is ~l~cc. ;bed in more detail below. Thus, for ~y~mple~ if the tapes of the invention are c..... .~fiscd of a woven cloth, the tapes ...z ;- ~l ~ ;. . the feel of the woven eloth even thoug_ they also include a polymer 10 in their cu,.~ Lion. One skilled in the art will ~ ~;~,~ .;, ., the desired properties of a tape and will choose the fiber content of the woven cloth or ~..1.s~ c to correlate with these properties.

Polymer A polymer is applied to a woven cloth or s~ The polymer is heat yi<~cssable whieh allows one to apply the polyrner onto the eloth or :~"I.cl.<.l~ via methods sueh as, for f~Y~mr~ . u~iv~ - ..;..,.l ;.... or hot melt eoating. ~riitionAlly~ the polymer ean be tol~ct~rnt~rir which allows any resulting tape to stretch across the bias of the woven cloth. Stret.h~bility is desirable if the ~c~ul~l tape is used for medical yulyO~cS since a 20 tape which carl stretch across the bias will improve a patient's comfort by allowing the tape to extend slightly as a result of the patient's ...o v~ m.".~. Polymers useful in the invention are tbose which are me1t yl~;es ,abl~ and include thermoplastics, th~rmop~ ti~ el~c~nrn~r~, and c ~ and blends thereof. E~u~l . s of ~h~....~lA~ içs include but are not limited to polyolefins such as ENGAGETM 8200 available from Dow Ch~mirA1 Co., Al-rANETM
available from Dow ~h~.mi~l Co., FLEXOMERTM 1137 and 1138 from Union Carbide, Linear-Low Density Polyethylene 6806, available from Dow Ch~m~ 1 Co., Midland, Ml;
acrylonitrile-b-lt~ styrene such as CYCOLACTTM DFA 1000R, available from General Fl~ctric~ Pittfield, MA; nylon such as ZYTELTM l59L, available from DuPont;
poly~ llalc such as LEXANTM 101 available from General Electric Plastics; polyvinyl chloride such as TEMPRlTETM 88203, available from BF Goodrich; and ethylene vinylacetate such as ELVAXTM 240 and 40W; available from DuPont and ESCORENETM
LD312.09 from Exxon. Examples of thell..~ld~lic ela~ llcl :, include but are not limited to linear, radial, star and tapered ~lyl~illc-isoprene block copolyrners such as KRATONTM D
1107P, available from Shell Gh~-mi.~l Co. and EUROPRENETM SOL TE 9110, available W 097/24222 PCTrUS96/20298 from EniChem FlsctornPrs Americas, Inc., linear styrene-(ethylene-butylene) block copolymers such as KRATONTM G1657, available from Shell ~hPmi~l Co., linear styrene-(ethylene-propylene) block copolymers such as KRATONTM Gl750X, available from Shell ~h~ 1 Co., linear, radial, and star st~ liPnP block copolymers such as S KRATONTM D 1118X, available from Shell Chf mi~l Co. and EUROPRENETM SOL TE
6205, available from EniChem F~ u~ Americas, Inc., and polyolefin f l~ct~rnp~rs based on mf~t~llncf-n~ catalysis such as ENGAGETM EG8200, available from Dow Plastics Co.
F.Y~."l~lr.c of e1 ~ include but are not limited to natural rubbers such ac CV-60, a controlled viscosity grade, and SMR-5, a ribbed smoked sheet rubber; butyl rubbers, such 10 as Ex7~on Butyl 268 available from Exxon ~hf ~ni.-~l Co., synthetic polyisoprenes such as CARIFLEXTM, available from Royal Dutch Shell and NATSYNTM 2210, available from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.; ethylene-~,.u~.yl~ e;:, polyb..t~ PnPc; polyisobutylenes such as VISTANEXTM MM L-80, available from Exxon ClhPm~ l Co.; and styrene-~utz~liPnp}andom copolymer rubbers such as AMERIPOLTM 1011A, available from BF Goodrich.
One feature of the invention is that the tape is h-and tearable along each of the fiber directions. Without being bound by theory it is believed that the tape of the invention is hand tearablc in both .lh~ iunD because the polymer effectively links and bonds the war and weft fibers together at the overlap points. However, as P~l~inf~ above it is also a feature of the invention that the i,l~,~,.lLion tape retains the feel of cloth which requires that 20 the cloth fibers are not encased. When choosing the polymer it is illl~ulL~IL that the polymer will not c~ ly p~ t, the woven cloth so that the fibers co.l.l!l;Ding the cloth or substrate do not get encased or do not get Culll~ !L~;Iy c ~ rA
Another feature of the invention is that the plt;D~ul~; sensitive adhesive cannot strike through the tape backing due to the construction of the backing. The polymer succpccfillly 25 ~iuLil,iLD the adhesive from pcll~llaLing the cloth or ,.~ r. T-his feature is desirable for a few reasons. First, the tape is less messy because the adhesive is only present where the tape adheres to the substr~te~ Second, the tape is easier to unwind from a roll because the adlleD;vt; does not pf ~rl~ ~1 e the cloth. Third, if the tape is a medical tape it is more CO11LLUI L~ble for the patient if the ~lLGDivci does not p~,ll.,LI~L~; the cloth and adhere to the 30 patient's bedding or to the patient's clothing Alternatively, the polymer can retard the migration of D~l.s~ cf c such as water into the p.c;DD.Ile-Df ..DiLive adhesive.The thi~ nPcc of the polymer is ~ .r.,.~f.. .1 upon the desired properties of the tape and also on the weave density of the cloth or the fiber density of the substr~tP,. The ease with which the tape is tom and the drape of the tape are coll~laL~d to both the weave density and to the polymer thit,~nr cc, As earlier stated, a tape m~nnf~ctl1red with a low density weave is tra~iitinn~lly more difficult to tear. However, as the low density weave cloth is coated with thicker polymer layers which readily bond the .;, uDDUVc~ points of the warp and weft threads, the tape is easier to tear. A thicker polymer layer may decrease the drape of S the tape and create a stifftape but may increase the ease with which it is torn. On the other hand, a high density weave cloth bonded with a relatively thin polymer layer may result in a tape which is easy to tear and exhibits good drape. That is, the tape is not stiff. One must assess the desired l"u~ ies and the cost ofthe tape to ~ ";..F al~plUp~idlC polymer L .,F,~. Plcrclably the po1ymer ~ ofthe il~ Liun tape is in the range of about 12 10 and about 250 microns. Thinner polymer layers generally exhibit better drape and c ...r~ bi1i~y .,I~.a~,L~,.iDLics than thicker polyrner layers but usually also require a higher density cloth to retain tear properties. Tapes having constructions with thin polymer layers and high density woven cloth are useful as medical tapes. Tape construction using thicker polymer layers generally allows looser weave DubDLIdLcs or lower modulus polymeric 15 materials to exhibit good tear ~,ul.".Lies. Such tape Cul~L~ucLions are particularly suited for i. ..1..~n ;~1 applir s~tionc where stiffness is desired such as in duct tape. In ~il,oosu~g the polymer th~ nf~cc one must also COl D;dc, the ~Jl~sDI.lg r~ "- t~ ~ D. I'his is rlr~,5. ~ ;bed below.
With proper SF~ n of polymeric material, ;n-1~. .n.l ;. .l-~ form on the polymer side 20 ofthe cu~ Joai~ polyll~ .ba~ construction which can result in voids when a p,cSaulc-sclla;Livc adllcaivc layer is applied.
The invention ~nfit~ir~tr-c that the polymer layer is cu --~-ised of either a single layer of polymer or is cc,...~,. iDed of more than one layer of polymers having different properties.
A multilayer polymer ~,onDl-u~;Lion can be l,-c~..cd as long as the properties ~IPCC~ ;hed 25 above are considered.
Fillers and dyes are opti~ n~11y added to the polymer when other properties are also desired. Fillers may include ,, ~k anLD, p1~ ;c;,~ . a and 5lntirncitlzlntc For example, titanium oxide is added to the polymer if a white tape is desired. Any filler or dye may be added to the tape as long as it does not interfere with the polymer binding to the woven cloth.
M~m1f~ç*1rin~ the Polymer/Woven Cloth or Substrate Baclcing The method of binding the woven cloth or D~ to the polymer to obtain the tape backing is i~ u-kulL so that the tape of the invention is obtained. A suitable method of coating the polymer on the woven cloth or substrate is one which snffiei~nt1y embeds the polymer into the woven cloth causing the uve~lap~;ng warp and weft threads to bond yet does not cause the polymer to completely ~ G and completely surround the fibers of the woven cloth. If the fibers of the woven cloth are i.,~, G~ldLGd or encased or both by the polymer, the backing no longer has many ofthe de~i-d~le plupGlLiG~ of cloth, that is, it no 5 longer has the drape or feel of cloth. P~,pd~iu~g the backing co...po ,i~e acco~.li..g to the invention results in the desired properties of the invention. It results in a tape which is hand tearable in both the cross-web and down-web directions without excessive fraying and also has the hand or feel of cloth on its ~ rd surface.
A suitable method of coating the polymer on the ~b~ is one which ~ lly 10 embeds the polymer into the sul"~ld~ causing the ov1l1d~f~lg warp and weft threads to bond more tPn~r~ cly than they are already bonded yet does not cause the polymer to c~ ,!ctcly p~n~;lldLG and comrlPtely ~u. .uu..d the fibers of the :,ub~ld~G. If the fibers of the ; are illl~le~ldLGd or encased or both by the polymer, the backing becu..Rs considerably more stiff. P.~,,.dlil.~ the backing Cu~ o~i~e accc,..li,lg to the invention results 15 in the desired ~llUpCl ~ies of the invention. It results in a tape which is hand tearable in both the cross-web and down-web directions without ~ ;VG fraying and does not i~llulG~IalG, saturate or c- "n~ ly encase the fibers.
Since the polymer does not encase the fibers of the woven cloth or ~ub~L dLe, the cu..-po~ backing of the invention has two sides. One side is CUIIIAUI i~Gd of a ~ ~h~ lly 20 c~...l ;....-.us polymer layer while the second side has the feel of cloth if a woven cloth is used.
The Figures illustrate the r~ic-tinctionc- between thc invention and cun~po~ b~rLings plG~alGd by l~;,~l;g a polymer to a cloth or sd~UId~illg a cloth with a polymer. The methods of ol,~.. g the samples shown in Figures 2, 3, 6 and 7 are ~lrscrihed in detail in C-~ ,u~ ive ~.Y~r~p1~s 11 and 12 below. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate how the fibers of a 25 woven cloth are completely ~u~uuulded with polymer if a solution coating or i..-~"~,~.,.l;..,~.
method is used to coat the cloth. As stated earlier, this method of coating results in a co.lll,o:,;Le backing which does not have the feel of cloth. This backing is also cnncidP~bly more stiffthan the c.. l,o~ b~.L-;ugc ~ a.Gd by ~,.L.~.-Iiu.g the polymcr onto the cloth.
The sarnples in Figures 6 and 7 were plGI)alGd by l_ . . .;. .,.l ;. .p a polymer filrn onto the cloth.
30 Although this method of pl~Jdld~ion does not entirely encase the cloth fibers and provides a ~ backing with the feel of cloth, it does not ~ ly bind the .,.u~u~,. points of the warp and weft threads. Tapes IJ.~i~a.~d by 1,....;-.,.l;..g a film to a cloth do not exhibit the same de~i,dblc tear properties as the invention tapes. That is, the lzlmin~ted tapes do not readily WO 97/24222 pcTlrTs96l2o298 tear along a straight line without fraying and without 1 ti4uh illg the exertion of cun ,;d~;. able force.
Compare the samples of Figures 2, 3, 6 and 7 with the samples of the invention shown in Figures 4 and 5. The samples of Figures 4 and 5 were ",~Gd by eALIud;~lg a 5 polymer onto a woven cloth accc...li~.g to the p,c~edu.G df, . ;bf~l in Example 3 below.
Po1ymer 18 is f mhylrlf~i into the fibers of the cloth 24 to provide ~rlf~ bonding of the ~;lOS~uvc;l points 20 and 22. IL,..- ~e., the cloth fibers 24 are not encased with the polymer providing a first cloth side and a second polymer side to the c~....po~ backing sample 26.
Preferably the polymer is eAL, u~cd onto the woven cloth or ~ub~LIaL~; but other10 methods such as platen pressing â free film into the cloth or substrate are also ~ccep~hle One drawback with the platen press method is that it is not c~ ntimlr u~ and would be an ~,Ay~,.~ivt; method of m~mlf~lring the invention. Any other method of coating the polymer onto the cloth or s..l ~ ,1 ~ ia~ is acceptable if the polymer is f~;c~i~onf Iy ~...hf~rlf d into the cloth or :~ub:~LIal~; so as to p.. ;.. -~.. lly weld the ~IU ~Ovt;l points of the warp and weft ffbers together.
In order to embed the polymer into the cloth without allowing the yoly...~. to y~ ,LIa~ the clfJth the yluef,~ g y~. ,.. ,1~. ~ are carefully chosen. One skilled in the art ~cog~;,es that ylu~i~h~g c.~l.J;~;....~ are flfl....rl~.~l upon the polymer used and the following L~ y~laLul~ ranges are provided merely as a general ~li~f~linP., If a polyethylene-20 olefin copolymer is used the polymer is preferably eAL~ uded at a Lti.llye.dLu-G between 176~C
and 232~C, more ylGrGlably between 2û4~C and 232~C, and most preferably between 204~C and 218~C. The rate at which the polymer is extruded is another p~ . ~ .... t.,. which rl~ .es the depth to which the polymer is .onlhe~lflf~li into the woven cloth. If the polymer is not f--. .heflrlf~i deep enough into the woven cloth to bind the ovf;lld~yil.g fibers of the 25 cloth, the cloth polymer COII.yO~it~ may be placed through a calender to apply enough force to bind the cross-over portions of the warp and weft threads. If the post e~LIu~ion calGn~.il.g is ~ccf mpli~hf~l it is ne~i,~a.y that not too much force is applied so that the polymer does not p~ ,L. alt; or cf mplr~ly encase the fibers ofthe woven cloth.

Adhesive A ylG~UlC; sensitive adhesive is coated onto the polymer side of the culllyO~;L~backing to obtain the tape of the invention. Any pressure s~ ;Liv~ adhesive is useful for y.Gya. iu.g the tape of the illvGIlLiull. When ~hoo~inp the apl.. ul,. idle pl ~ UIG sensitive adhesive one must consider the intended use of the tape. For in~nrr~, if the tape is a CA 0223865l l998-05-26 medieal tape the ad-h-esive desirably has good initial ~q~heci~n~ will tolerate the pr~_s~.l~ of nlG;~Lult; without l~ aaillg and the qrlh~si~n will not build aulJa~ ;nlly over time. Other applieations sueh as ;..~ 1 uses where a duet tape may adhere to steel or metal would require a difr~l~llL a Ih~,~;vc whieh is ay~lu~l;aLc for the required p~,. r~ .. ,.. I.-ce of the tape.
5 This adheaivt; may require good initial adl-ca;on with a s~ 1 inerease in ,qAh~ci~n over time. Toleranee ofthe pr~ ,n~,e of Ill~ Lu.c probably is not as eritieal for ;...l..c~ l tape a~ as for aJI..,;.;.,~,~ used for medieal applirqtinnc Pressure s~,lla;live adhesives require a delieate balanee of viscous and elasticproperties whieh result in a four-fold balanee of q~lheci~n coh~oci~n aLIcl. l.;.. c~ and 10 elastieity. Ple;aaulc-sensitive ad-h-esives generally cOIllpl;ac ~ , a whieh are either hlllclcllLIy taeky, or elqct<~rnl rs or IL~ llu~JlasLic ~1 -C~ which are ~ W with the addition of tackiryiu.g resins and plqcti~.i7ing oils. They ean be eoated in solvent or as water-based .o.mnlci~nc to reduee the material ViSCOa;Ly to a level that is easily applied to the backing c....~po~ of the invention.
Major dasses of pressure-a~,,.aiLivc adh~sivcs useful for yl cyalil~g the tape of the invention inelude but are not limited to natural rubbers; synthetie rubbers sueh as butyl rubber, and linear, radial, star, b.~cl.cd and tapered block eopolymers sueh as sty-rene-b~ltq~ nf; styrene-ethylene/butylene and aly.~,nc isoy.~ c; acrylics, ecpeei~lly those having long chain aLkyl groups; and cilicnn~c One plt;aau~i sensitive adhesive suitable for use in the invention is co-ny-;sed of a blend of about 5 to 95 weight percent of at least one acrylic yl~aaulc;-s~lsiLiv~; adhesive and about 5 to 95 weight percent of at least one thermoplastic el~ . ;c mqteriql, the culllpoaiLion having a morphology cc IllyliaUI~; at leact two distinct tl~tmqinc a first domain being sl~bstqntiqlly c~ uouc in nature and a second dornain being fibrillose to s~hict~se in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive compoaiLion witbin the first domain.
The thermoplastic Pl~ctorneric material may optionq-lly contain a tackifying resin or plqcti~i7f r, in which ease it also may be an a~ll.csivti. This adhesive is yl~lJalcd by (1) melt blending about 5 to 95 weight percent of at least one acrylie pleaaulG-~ siLiv~i adhesive and about 5 to 95 weight pereent of at least one Ll,~;l-..u~,lasLie çl~ctorn~rie material, (2) forming 30 the melt blended materials under shear o m ' ~ con-litionc or both or forming and drawing the melt blend, to form an adhesive cul..yosiLion and extruding the adhesive colllyoaiLion onto the polymer side of the baeking e- mposife of the invention to folm a pJ~;;aaul~-s~ iLiv~; aJl.e~ivt; tape, the adhesive having a morphology Gulllyliaulg at least two distinet d--m~inc a first domain being ~ulJal 1..1;~11y eontinllous in nature and the second domain being fibrillose to s~ ose in nature in the adhesive forn~ing direction wvith the first domain. Further aspects of plc~Jal hlg sueh an a&esive are detailed in CulJ~u~lulg U.S .
Patent ~pplir~tit~n Serial Number entitled, ''P~c~ ulc-Sensitive A&esive,"
attorney docket number 51072USAIB filed on even date h~ . . iLh, the text of which is 5 illeu~l~u~t~,d by ~~f~ e.
Alternatively the acrylic/~h .... ,~ claslv~ blend is solvent blended, knife eoated and oven dried in order to drive the solvent from the a~lw~ivc. Such a solvent blended, solvent eoated aJL.,;,;vc blend does not exhibit the morphology deseribed in the previous pal~ld~h for the melt blended, extruded adll~iaiVC blends. One skilled in the art 10 may ehoose the a~J~JI~l;alc bl ~ E and eoating te~hni~lues An adva ILage with using the melt-blending and extruding method is that it is solvent-free ~ , that it is more envh~u~ lly friendly than the solvent mPthnt1c When l--c~al .ng the aerylie/~h~. . . ,~l~ctjc r1~ . blend prcssure s.,.l ~;livcadhesive, the following deseribes the acrylie pressure sensitive C~ JUII~,.IL used to prepare a 15 suitable blend. Aerylic ~Ic~ulc-sGl~;Livc a~lhe~ , generally have a glass 1., ~
k,llpclalul c of about -20~C or less and may COIIIIJI ;se from 100 to 80 weight pereent of a C3-C12 alkyl ester colll~ le.lL such as, for ~Y~mr!e, isooctyl acrylate, 2~yl-hexyl aerylate and n-butyl acrylate and from 0 to 20 weight pereent of a polar CUIIIIJUIIC1I1 sueh as, for eY~mple, aerylic aeid, nlcll~.ylie aeid, ethylene vinyl aeetate, N-vinyl pyrrolidone and 20 styrene maeromer. Preferably, the acrylic ples~u.c-sensitive adhesives collllJIise from 0 to 20 weight percent of aerylic aeid and from 100 to 80 weight percent of isooetyl acrylate.
The acrylic l le ~sul~i-sensitive adhesives may be self-tacky or ta~'~ifi~A Useful t~ ifier.~
for acrylies are rosin esters sueh as FORALTM 85, available from Hereules, Inc., aromatie resins sueh as PICCOTEXTM LC-SSwk, available from Hercules, Ine., and ~liph~ti~
25 resins such as ESCOREZTM 1310LC, available from Exxon Ch~mir~l Co. Of eourse, such an aerylie adhesive is useful in the present invention alone or formed into a blcnded adhesive.
Thr ~ . .p1~.sl ;c elasL(3lll~.~ iC materials are materials which form at least two phases at 21~C, have a glass tr~ncition Lclllpcràlulc greater than 50~C and eYhibit elastie properties 30 in one of the phases. Thermoplastic cla~Lol ..c. ic materials useful in the such a blend adhesive include, for example, linear, radial, star and tapered styrene-isoprene block eopolymers such as KRATONTM D1107P, available from Shell ~h~mi~z~l CO and EUROPRENETM SOL TE 9110, available from EniChem Fl~torn~rs Amerieas, Ine., linear styrene-(ethylene-butylene) bloek copolymers such as KRATONTM G1657, available from Shell ChP-mir~l Co., linear styrene-(ethylene-propylene) block copolymers such as KRATONTM G1750X, available from Shell ~ h~omic~l Co., Iinear, radial, and star styrene-b ' - block copolymers such as KRATONTM Dl 11 8X, available from Shell ChPmir~l Co. and ELTROPRENETM SOL TE 6205, available from EniChem Flqctorneri Amerir~, 5 Inc., and polyolefin cldaLu~ based on n~pf~l1ocpnp! catalysis such as ENGAGETMEG8200, available from Dow Plastics Co., and POIYCL1Ie~DLCI P~ such as HYTRELTM, G3548, available from DuPont.
Another suitable fa~ ;Vt; for use in the present aJh.,a;vc includes a ~Icaaulc sensitive ~IL~a;vc blend cul~lp~;aed of an acrylic pressure sensitive adll~i,;vc and an 10 e~ ". ..~ . with a tackifier. The adhesive cu~ es about 5 to 95 percent by weight of an acrylic adhesive and about 5 to 95 percent of at least one rl ~f~ .. ;c material with a tackifying rosin. As dcs~,~ ;I,cd above with ~c~clcl~ce to the thermoplastic rl ~l.. e~ /acrylic adhesive blends, the el ~u. . .r ~ /acrylic adhesives may be p~ cd either by solvent blending or by melt blending. The resulting adhesive may be extruded to obtain an adhesive having 15 m ~~ vY Col..lJI;sll.g at least two distinct ~ n qin~, a first being sllhstsmt~ ly contiml~ls in nature and the second being fibrillose to 5~ .,c in nature in the adhesive forming direction with the first domain. F~ f ~ ;C materials are materials which generally form one phase at 21~C, have a glass transition L~m~.,.dLulc less than 0~C and exhibit elastic properties. Fl~ . ;c m~trri~l~ useful for plcf~f~.l..g such a blend adhesive include, for 20 c~n~l-, natural rubbers such as CV-60, a controlled viscosity grade, and SMR-5, a ribbed smoked sheet rubber; butyl rubbers, such as Exxon Butyl 268 available from Exxon~h~ nnir:~l Co., synthetic polyisoplcllcs such as CARIFLEXTM, IR309, available from Royal Dutch Shell and NATSYNTM 2210, available from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.;
ethylene-propylenes; polybllt~ nes; polyisobutylenes such as VISTANEXTM MM L-80,25 available from Exxon Ch~nnie~l Co.; and aLyl~"le~ flif~n~ random copolymer rubbers such as AMERIPOLTM lûl lA, available from BF Goodrich.
These elastorneric rnaterials are ~ ;r"~l with tackifying resins, liquid rubbers or pl~cti~i7f~rs to lower their melt viscosity to f;~rilh~te the f~rm:~tir~n of fine ~ .e. a;...~ with the smallest phase .1;.. ~ preferably less than about 20 microns when blended with the 30 ac}ylic pl~aau.e-sensitive adhesive. Tackifying resins or pl~tiei7~rs useful with the torn~ric m~tl~:ri~lc are preferably miscible at the . clf l~r level, i.e., soluble in, any or all of the polymeric se~..- ..l~; of the el~ " ..~. ;c material. The tackifying resins or plzlctiri7.ors may or may not be miscible with the acrylic ~ ault;-s~ aiLiv~ adhesive. The tackifying resin, when present, can generally COnl~JI;a~ about S to 300 parts by weight, morc typically about 50 parts to 200 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the " " - ic m~tRri~l The pl~ctiri7 ~rs, when present, can generally c.,~ e about 5 to 400 parts by weight, typically up to 100 parts, more typically up to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the Rl~CtOrnrric mz-trri~l Specific~. .' oft~rlrifiRrcusefulfor~ Ja~illganacrylic/r1-~1.. ,.. blend aJl.~;.iv~; include rosins such as FORALTAI 85, a st~hili7rd rosin ester from Hercules, Inc., the SNOWTACKTM series of gurn rosins from Tenneco, and the AQUATAC series of tall oil resins from Arizona-Sylvd l.~ yl~Ll~cl;c hy~Lu.~dlbo~ resins such as ESCOREZTM
1310LC ~liph~tir resin and ESCOREZTM 2393 ~lirh~tirJd~ul~ c resin, both from Exxon 1 û ~hRmir~l Co. and WlNGTACKTM 95 from Hercules, Inc.; terpene resins such as ZONAREZTM M1115 from Arizona C.hr.mir:ll Co.; and liquid rubbers such as VISTANEXTM LMMH and VISTANEXTM LMMS, both from Exxon ChRmir~l Co.
Natural rubber p-c:,:,u~ s~ ;Live adhesives may also be used in the present invention. Natural rubber ~ u~ s_~ ive adhesives generally contain ...h~ lr~ natural rubber, from 25 parts to 3û0 parts of one or more tacl~irj.l.g resins to 100 pa~ts of natural rubber, and typically from 0.5 to 2.0 parts of one or more ~ntir,xi~1~ntc, The natural rubber may range in grade from a light pale crepe grade to a darker ribbed smoked sheet.
Ta~,~iryil~g resins typically included in such an adhesive include wood rosin and its hy~llu~r--,~l~l dei-ivdLivc:" terpene resins of various SOn~ g points, and ptiL.~ ' based resins, such as, the ESCOREZTM 1300 series of C5 sllirh:~tic olefin-derived resins from Exxon. ~ntir,xirl~nte are often used to retard the oxidative attack on the natural rubber that causes natural rubber ~ u,t;-s~,l. ,iLive adhesives to loss their cohesive strength. They include aminos, such as N-N'-di-,B .~d~hlLyl-1,4-phenylrnPAi~minP., ph~nnli~.c such as 2,5-di-(tert alnyl) hydrsqllin-mr, tetrakis[methylene 3-(3',5'-di-tert-buty-4-hydl(3~ylJhc~yl)propionate].. hll.~.r., avdila~lo as IRGANOXTM 1010 from Ciba-Geigy Corp., and 2-2'-methylenebis~4-methyl-6-tert-butyl phenol), and dithi~~ c, such as zinc ~1ithio~lik~ltyl cdll dnldLc. Other m~trri~lc can be addcd for special l~u~oses, inrlll~ing pl~cfir.i7rrs, pigments, and curing agents to vulcani~e the adhesive partially.
Synthetic rubber pressure-sensitive adhesives may also be used in the present 30 invention. These are generally rubbery c~ which are either self-tacky or require tackifiers, that can be used as either pressurc-scl,:,iLi~1e adhesives or as tz~r.Lifier.s and modifiers to other pressure-sensitive adhesives. The self-tacky syrlthetic rubber pressure-sensitive adhesives cûnl~lise either butyl rubber, a copolymer of isc~l~uLylc~l~ with less than 3 percent isoprene, polyisobutylene, a h~"no~)olymer of isoprene, polybllt~ on~, or Wo 97/24222 PCT/US96/20298 styrene/bllt~.lirnP! rubber. Butyl rubber pressure-sensitive adLL,;,ivr~, often contain from 0.5 to 2.0 parts per 100 parts butyl rubber pressure-sensitive adhesive of an ~ntiS~xi~nt such as zinc dibutyl tlithi~s~b~ul~aLt;~ Polyiaul~uL~ e pressure-scl~iLiv1 adhesives do not usually contain ~ntir,xi-l~nt~ The synthetic rubber pressure-sensitive adhesives, which generally 5 require L~4kirlel." are also generally easier to process. They c ....1.. ;se polyl,u~li~.,.e or styrene/bllt~-lirnP, rubber, from 10 parts to 100 parts of a t~qrl~ifipr~ and generally from 0.5 to 2.0 parts per 100 parts rubber of an oxifl~nt such as IRGANOXTM 1010. An ex~mple of a synthetic rubber is AMERIPOLTM 1011 A, a styrene/but~lipnp rubber available from BF Goodrich. Tackifiers which are useful include derivatives of rosins such 10 as FORALT'A 85, a stabilized rosin ester from Hercules, Inc., the SNOWTACKTM series of gum rosins from Tenneco, and the AQUATACTM series of tall oil rosins from Arizona-Sylvachem; and synthetic Ly-llueall/oll resins such as the PICCOLYTETM A series,poly~ll,Gnes from Hercules, Inc., and the ESCOREZTM1300 series of C5 ~liph~tic olefin-derived resins. As with most adhe~,ivr~, other materials can be added for special ~ull.ùsrs, 15 inr.hl-1inp Lyd~u~,r-~ d butyl rubber, ~ ; and curing agents to vulcanize thc adhesive partially.
Yet another class of plr~ ,ult sen.,iLi-~, aJIIes;v~s useful for the present invention include block copolyrner pressure sensitive adhesives which genera1ly cOI-l~li ,e e~ r~ ..r.. :~
of the A-B or A-B-A type, where A n,~ ts a thermoplastic poly~Lylrl.e block and B
20 Ir~lrscllL; a rubbery block of polyisu~lenc, polybl-t~ nP7 or poly(ethylene/butylene), and resins. F.xi....l.lP5 ofthe various block cupolylllr~l~ useful in block copolymer ~)1c;'7.7UIt;-se,~,iLiv~ h_i,ivt;., include linear, radial, star and tapered styrene-isoprene block copolymers such as KRATONTM Dl 107P, available from Shell f.hPmir~l Co., and EI~ROPRENETM SOL TE 9110, available from EniChem F~ menr~c~ Inc.; linear 25 styrene-(ethylene-butylene~ block copolymers such as KRATONTM G1657, available from Shell l~.hPm~ Co.; linear styrene-(ethylene-propylene) block copolyïners such asKRATONTM G1750X, available from Shell Chpmir~l Co.; and linear, radial, and starstyrene-butadiene block copolymers such as KRATONTM D1118X, available from Shell~h~mir~l Co., and EUROPRENETM SOL TE 6205, available from EniChem Fl~etr,rn 3() ,~mrric ~, Inc., The poly.,~yl~lle blocks tend to form domains in the shape of spheroids, ~ ylill~l." or plates that causes the block copolymer pl~ ,ult;-sensitive adhesives to have two p-h-ase structures. Resins that accori~t~ with the rubber phase generally develop tack in the plC;bbUIC;-sellb;liV~ adhesive. Examples of rubber phase ~c~ resins include WO 97/24222 PCT/uS96/20298 ~liph~tir olefin-derived resins, such as the ESCOREZTM1300 series and the WlNGTACKTM
series, available from Coo~ , rosin esters, such as the FORALI'M series and the STAYBELITETM Ester 10, both available from Hercules, Inc.; hyL~ d hydlL~dlbulls7such as the ESCOREZTM 5000 series, ~vailablc from Exxon; po1y~l~.cl.es, such as the S PICCOLYTETM A series; and terpene phenolie resins derived from petroleum or ~ .lulc sources, such as PICCOFYNTM A100, available from Hercules, Inc. Resins that ~
with the l1.~. ,,...~,1~u;~. phase tend to stiffen the 1~ ,ule-s~ adLI- ,iv~. Thermoplastic phase-~cco~ .e resins include polyaromatics, such as the PICCOTM 6000 series of aromatic LyJluca~bun resins, available from Hercules, Inc.; cuuul d~ c-indene resins, such as the CUMARTM series, available from Neville; and other high-solubility p~.. ~ .. resins derived from coal tar or petroleum and having S-~n~-~;--g points above about 85~C, such as the AMOCOTM 18 series of ~ h~ hyl styrene resins, available from Amoco, PICCOVARTM 130 alkyl a. ulllalic polyl.ld~,.l. resin, available from Hercules, ~c., and the PICCO 1 kX ~ M series of ~ll.t.~ .yl styrene/vinyl toluene resins, available from IIc.~,ules.
15 Other mzlt~rlsllc can be added for special l~ulyoses~ ;..rhJ.I;..~ rubber phase pl~ctici7in~
Lydlu~'d~bull oils, such as, TUFFLOTM 6056, available from Areo, Polybutene-8 from Chevron, KAYDOLTM, available from Witco, and SHELLFLEXTM 371, available from Shell ChPmi~l Co.; pig,,..,.,l~;, zmtioxiA~ntc, such as IRGANOXTM 1010 and IRGANOXTM
10763, both available from Ciba~eigy Corp., BUTAZATETM, available firom Uniroyal20 ~hPnnir.~l Co., CYANOXTM LDTP, available from American Cy~n~miAe. and BUTASANTM, available from Mon~nt~) Co.; ~ntif~ ;, such as NBC, a nickel dibutyl.1;lh;~.b~u~ ;, available from DuPont; and ultraviolet light il~LibiLul:~, such as IRGANOXTM1010 and TINUVINTM, available from Ciba-Geigy Corp.
Another class of pressure s_.~;liv~; adhesives useful in the invention include silicone 25 p~ ul~; s~,n:iiliv~ adhesives. Silicone pressure s~,,c,iliv~ adhesives generally collll~lise two major Col~ll)OI-~,ul:i, a polymer or gum, and a tackifying resin. The polymer is ~pically a high mnlecnl~r weight polydi l~ Lyl~;k.~.f. or pol~/d;.ll~,~lyidiphenyi~ilnY~nP, that contains residual silanol r.. ,~ y (SiOH) on the ends of the polymer chain, or a block copolymer Culu~ iulg lower mo] a ~ weight polyd;ul~lLyl~;lnY~n(, or polydu~ llyldiphenylcilc~y~n~
30 ~e~ . . .~. .l ~i connrcted by diurea linkages. The tackifying resin is generally a three-~lim--ncion~l silicate structure ~at is ~ r,d with llulle~lykiiloxy groups (OSiMe) and also contains some residual silanol fimr.tinn~lity F~mple~ of tackifying resins include SARTOMERTM 545, from General Electric Co., Silicone Resins Division, Waterford, NY, .~

and MQD-32-2 from Shin-Etsu Silieones of America, Inc., Torrance, CA. M~nnf~chlre of typieal silicone pressure-sensitive adhesives is descl;b~l in US Pat. No. 2,736,72 I(Dexter). M~m~f~r,~lre of silieone urea block copolymer yl~s:~ule-sensitive adhesive is desclibed in US Pat. No. 5,214,119 (Leir, et al). As i-lpntifi~l with other classes of 5 ~/lG:~w~-st;ll .iLive a~ll,e~ ., other materials can be added to the silicone plt;~SUI~ s_l~;Liv~
adhesives, inr~ linp but not limited to p~ ;. ;,r ~, and fillers. Fillers are typically used in amounts from 0 parts to 10 parts per 100 parts of silieone yl~ ult;-sensitive adhesive. FYrm~' of fillers that can be used inelude zine oxide, siliea, carbon blaek, pig.ll~llL~, metal powders and calcium ~,allJullaL~.
As ~1~ s- ;bP~d in each class of ~ u~c;-sensitive adhesives above, t~r~ifir~r~
pl~ctiri7Prs and fillers are optionally inel~lde~ in ylci~ult; sensitive adhesives used for the present invention. These culll~on.,..L~ are added to design the adhesive so that it is partieularly suited for its intended use. Tackifiers can be inrh~lpd such as hydrocarbon resins, rosin, natural resins such as .l;...~ ,d or hydrogen~tP,d balsams and rctrrifiP,d abietic 15 acids, polyl~ly~ s~ terpene phenl~lirc~ phenol-for~naldehyde resins, and rosin esters. Other addiLivt;s such as alllUl~JIlUUS polyyluyyl~ C or various waxes may also be used.
pl_~l;r;~ such as polybutene, pal~L~IlliC oils, p~LI~)latulll, and certain phth~l~tec with long ~liph~tir. side chains sueh as ditridecyl rhth~l~ts may be added to the adhesives used in the invention. Pigments and fillers may also be i.,co,~,ul~Led into the adhesive culllyosiLiun in 20 order to m~nipnl~te the l~luytilLi~s of the adl.~,ia;v~ accold;,l~, to its intended use. For inct~nre, very fine p;~ increase cohesive strength and stiffllpcc~ reduce cold flow, and also reduce tack. Plate-like ~;~,,P..I~i such as mica, graphite, and talc are ylcrwl~d for acid and rhPmir~ ce and low gas perlneability. Coarser y;glll~ s increase tack. Zinc oxide i"cl~ases taek and eohesive strength. ~1.. ;.. hydrate, lithopone, whiting, andthe 25 coarser carbon blacks such as thermal blacks also inerease tack with moderate inerease in col~iv;ly. Clays, LydldLt;d silicas, calcium citir~trc silico-~ and the fine furnace and thermal blacks increase cohe ,ive strength and stiffness. Finally, ~ntinxitl~ntc may be used to protect against severe enviru.. ~ aging caused by ultraviolet light or heat. One skilled in the art will l~csg~ that certain citn~tinnc call for special types of plzlctit~i7f~
30 tackifiers, ~!i~n~nL~, fillers and/or ~ntinxirl~ntc and s.~lecti..n can be critical to the p~. r.. .. re of the adhesive.

Low Adhesion Rar~ci7f~ (LAB) _ CA 0223865l l998-05-26 WO 97/24222 PCT~US96/20298 The ill7~ LiOn may optinnqlly include a layer of low a-tl.k-: ... bqr~ci7~ The LABs may include, for ~qYAmplP~, waxes such as polyethylene and o!~ l; ci~ .onPc such as olycik7YqnP!c and long chained l.-d K,I.~I polymers such as polyvinylctp!s~r~tp~polyvinylc,a,l,dn~ales and flufj.fJcd-l.un copolymers. However, a feature ofthe invention is 5 that it provides a tape cu.~L.u~iLiu~. which does not require low a~tl.P~ backsize in order to achieve easy unwind from a roll of tape if the a~ UIJI.dt~ col..l,i. dLion of adhesives and ;Ir backing is; , ~ 1. If the polymer is polye~ylene-based and the adhesive is either an acrylic/ll.~ J;.~ rlq .~.. - - blend or an acrylic/el-~(u.. blend with or without tq.~t~ifienc, p~qcti~i7~rS or fillers, a LAB is not nc~;,;~dly. By easy unwind it is 10 meant that the adhesive relea~es from the clo~h side of the tape Witl.7Out l~ Uilillg undue force and without the adhesive pulling away from the polymer side of the backing.
Ms7n~lfqc~lring costs are reduced in tape construcfions ofthe il.~,c.lLion since an adtlitinnq-ms7feriql the low ~57.n~P- .n b~ ,ci7P~ is not n~,c~;:, .aly in order to prf vidc a useful pressure ~,.~iLiv~; adhesive tape having good unwind plu~tl~ie F.~ c The invention is further eYplS inP~i by the following PYs7mplf-c which are intended as n...ll;...;l;..p Unless uLll~ se ;~ r~i all parts and percents are t;~ aed in parts by weight.
Unless otherwise ;.. ~ r~l the following test methods were used in the r--~

Tear Samples were grasped between the index finger and the thumb of both hands and torn in the cross direction of the sample. The tear line was e ~ d for fraying and/or 25 d~ "l ;nn of the polymer from the cloth. The an ount of force required to initiate fhe tear was also considered. The ~ e~ was then tested in a similar fashion in the machine direction with the same observations noted. If minimal fraying and no rlf 1 ~ was obsc. v~;d in the sample, and l~laLi~Cly low forces were needed to initiate and propagate the tear across the sample, the sa~nple ftr...h. .~ r,d acG~ t71e tear properties. If ftr l -. . .;. .- l ;.). .
30 fraying, or large forces were ncce:,sàir to initiate and plùl)~dk;; the tear the sample had unacceptable or poor tear properties. This pro~lult; was repeated for the down-web direction. For both the web direction and cross-web direction tears, the tear was rated as:
Very poor tear with excessive fraying and df 1~",;""l inn A le~ lLitLivt;
tear flf~;g~._lr~i as "1" is shown in Figure 8.

2 Poor tear with large amount of fraying and df ~ ;on 3 Average tear with some fraying and little AP1 ~ ;nn A lG~ ,G~ liv-e tear ~P~ A as "3" is shown in Figure 9.

4 Good tear ~-vith minimal fraying and no A~ ;nn FY~ ~nt tear with no fraying or ~ m A IG~JIG.7.,.lta~iVG tear df ~ nl~ as "5" is shown in Figure 10.
Tapes or b~-'L ;..~,s ~.IG~.alGd ?~ ' B to the invention exhibit tears of 4 or 5 when torn by hand and the tear line is ~ 1; 11y straight.

Tensile MPd,U--,.. ~,.-l, Tensile strength at break, Pl~n~tion at break and moA~ s of an eYtruded film, adhesive tape and/or fabric in the . ~ ., or cross direction, either wet or dry was drtP~ninpd in the following manner. A 10.2 cm long by 2.5 cm wide sample was placed between the Instron Tensile tester jaws to expose a 5. 1 cm gauge length. The clu.,~Leàd 15 and chart speeds were set at 25.4 c~ per m-dnute~ The jaws were drawn apart at 25.4cm~min until a break was detected by the ~ rhin~ Tensile, elong~tinn~ and Fndllll~c(force required to elongate a sample n percent) were c~lc~ tPd via the Instron sunwal G.

Adhesion to Steel ~Aheci~n to steel was dG~GIlllu.ed without any sample dwell on the steel accol.lillg to this procedure. This test ~ldd~d is based on the ATSM D 1000 Adhesion Test.
Tape samples were cut into 2.5 cm by 30.5 cm strips. The samples were adhered tothe center of a cleaned steel surface (cleaned with 50% n-heptane/50% iso~,lu~yl alcohol) adhesive side down, so that 12.7 to 17.8 cm of sample eyt~onAed beyond the steel surface.
The tape was rolled once in each direction with a 2.0 Kg roller at a rate a~3~lux;...~ y 5.1 cm per second. The free end of the sample wac then doubled back on itsclf and ~J~ ;- ~-~ I~ly 2.5 cm was peeled from the steel plate. The end of the panel from which the ~l)e~ had been rclllovGd was placed in the lower jaw of the tester. The free end was 30 folded to form a small tab and was placed in the upper jar as above. The ~,I.e~ ;-. . -. was mech~nic~lly l~,movGd from the plate by aclivdillg the Instron at a crosshead speed of 30.5 cm per m-inute and data was recorded on the Col..~ Gl sunwalG. The average of three peel values were reported in ounces per inch and converted to the units of Newtons/A~c;~

Adhesive Adhesion to Cc l.l,)o~ilt; Backin~ (2 Bond) A strip of the sample was placed on the panel as described above so that the sample 1~1 2.5 cm beyond each end of the panel. With the roller des~,il,ed above, the sample was rolled once in each ILlt; ,~iUII at a rate of 5.1 cm per second. Another strip of sample 5 was applied with the &JL~iVC; Cùvt;lh~ the b~L ~ of the first. This was rolled once in each direction with a 2.0 Kg }oller at a rate of dp~ ;-",.t. Iy 5 . 1 cm per second. The free end of the satnple was then doubled back on itself and al~pl. 'y 2.5 cm was peeled from the initial bonded ~ The end of the panel from which the sample was removed was placed in the lower jaw of the tester. The free end was folded to form a small tab and 10 was placed in the upper jaw as above. The sample was ...r.1~ lly removed from the ~l~e. ;...- -. by activating the Instron at a elus~L~ad speed of 30.48 cm per minute and data was recorded on the cun~ut4. surLwal~i~ The average ofthree peel values were reported in the units of ounces/inch and Cullvt;l L id to Newtons/~

Hand or Flexibilitv The following pl~lUlt~ ~s~ the method of ~ .g the "hand" drape or flexibility of cr---.l-oc;~, m~t-~n~lc(nullvvu~ s, wovens, etc,) using the Thwing-Albert Handle-O-Meter~
Samples were cut into squares having n~u~ lL~ such as 20.3 x 20.3 cm or 10.2 x 10.2 cm. The web and cross-web direction of the samples was rnarked on each sample Areas c.,.. l;~;.. ; . ~g wrinkles or creases were avoided when ~ ,al illg the ~l .e~ ;.. C.
The slot width on the Thwing-Albert Handle-O-Meter was set to 0.6 cm and a ~,pG-: ..~ -.
was placed under the blade with the web direction pel~J~ ..l;c~ r to the slot. The direction tested was always p~,.l,~...li. ..l~, to the slot. The ~alaLus was activated causing the 25 platform to rise and engage the ;,I,e~im~,.l and forced the ~l~ec ~ ..- into the slot opening. The platform motion stopped when the test cycle was c~lll~lctcd and displayed the .. ~,~;.. -res~ nee force of the blade ~ . cd while pushing the sample through the slot. The plU~lUlti was then repeated by putting the cross-web direction pel~ ..l irlll:lr to the slot.
The sample was rotated 90 degrees and both sides ofthe ~l~e~ were l,~a~u.~d, thus two 3 0 values were obtained for both the web direction and the cross-web dircction. The values were averaged to obtain the web direction and the cross-web direction Illea~ul~ L~. -Generally, as drape or hand IlleaSUl ~ lL:i decrease the sarnple is more c- .. r.. ~hle Unwind Adhesion CA 02238651 1998-0=,-26 W 097/24222 PCT~US96/20298 This plucedulc; was used to measure the force necessary to unwind tape from a roll.
An Instron tensile tester was mf~clified by removing the bottom grip of the sample holder and C~ui~J~illg it with an unwind fixture that It;St;IIIL~ a spindle. A 2.5 cm wide finished roll of the tape was placed on the fixture and h~ U~ a 10.2 cm piece of tape was S u IWClu ld from the roll. A tab was formed at the end. The tab was placed in the upper grip of the Instron so the gauge length was al.~,rf.,~ ;. . ,~t~1Y 5.1 cm. The crosshead was started in motion at a rate of 30.5 cm per minute and unwound at least 15.2 cm from the roll. The average unwind ~ m~ was ~~,culded by the Instron sunwdl~; and was reported as anaverage in ounces per inch and con~ _I t~l to ?T.,~. t~,.~,/~1f~ -~elr~ . The u~woulld portion of 10 thetapewasalso~ 1foradhesivetransfer, ~IF1~ 1 ;on, ortearing.

Moisture VaPOr Tl .~ Ol- of ~l~trriz~lc The moisture vapor L~ rl rates of the samples were tested using either the upright method or the inverted method as des.il.l,ed below.
Upri~ht method: Glass bottles were filled with a~piu~ t,1y 50 ml of water.
Three test samples and three control samples were cut into 3.8 cm d;a.ll~ile. samples using a round die cutter. The samples were sandwiched between two foil rings which had holes in the centers. A rubber gasket was placed between the bottorn of the foil and the glass C. ~- ~~ F., A screw cap with a 3 .8 cm d;al.leL~;I hole was att~f h~d to the glass jar enf lo~i 20 tbe foil-samp1e ~u~dw;~,ll and gasket to the glass. The samples were co~ 1 for four hours at 40 degrees C at 20% humidity in a control cha~llbel . The cap was then tightly secured to the jar and the jar was removed from the ~,Lullbel and weighed on an analytical balance to the nearest 0.1 gram. The jars were rf;turned to the cl~a~ or at least 18 hrs (at the cfmflitionc listed above). The bottles were then ~ vvt;d and weighed ;.. ,f-,.l ;i. IP,IY to 25 the .01 gram. Moisture vapor rates were r~lf ul~ted by the change in weight mnltirlif~l by the exposed area divided by the time they were exposed. Rates are reported in grams per square meter in Z4 hours.
Inverted method: The same p-ucelulti was followed as outlined above. However, after conditioning the samples in the cL~u..l)e~ and ~ ing, the samples were returned to 30 the cLall.l)el and the bottles were inverted so that the water cont~r,ted the test surface. The bottles were left ~ LullJed for at least 18 hrs. The bottles were then removed, weighed, and Illu;i,Lul~: vapor tr~ncmiecion rate was c~lr~ tf-~ as above.

Two Bond: Anchora~e. Bond This ~..u~Ju.~ was used to measure the force neces.,al~ to remove a pressure sensitive adhesive coating from its backing using ~na~,Lill~, tape m~mlf~t~hlred by 3M
Company as Tape No. 254 as a test tape. Sarnples were cut into 2.5 cm wide x 30.5 cm long strips. Using a clean steel plate, a 2.5 cm wide strip of double coated tape (3M Brand S Double Stick Tape available from 3M of St. Paul, ~;. .. ~F r ~ ) without liner was centered and ~tt~t~ht~i to the plate. The ~l.e ;-.. tape was s~lJ~ posed on the double coated tape t .~ .g the adhesive side of the tape. A 30.5 cm strip of test tape was then centered on the s~e-; .. bonding the a~ of the ~l.e. ~ . to the a.ll.~;,iv~ of the .,~, d test tape.
The construction was then rolled at 228.6 cm per minute with the 2.0 Kg roller. A tab was 10 formed with the s~ld~l test tape, attached to the jaw, and the carriage was searted in motion (a~...x;...~ y 127.0 cm per minute). The carriage moved ehe cull.,Ll uclion while the jaw held ehe test eape. The force required to remove ehe adhesive was reported in ounces/inch and f~llv~l ~d to Newtons/de. ;. . .~ ~l and observations of any failures that might have oc~ull~id were made. F~ p' of failures include splitting, 15 eransfer~ or backing ~ ' ~ cm from the double coaeed tape were noted.

5 Bond The following plU~IUl~ was used to measure the cohesive strength of the adhesiveusing a 1,750 gram seatic load. Six samples were cut into 1.3 cm wide by 15.2 cm long 20 ~l~e~ ;. . .- . strips. The end of ehe strips were aetached in a 1.3 cm x 1.3 cm area bonding adhesive to adhesive. The other ends were wound around brass hooks. One hook wasattached to a ~ . y pcg while the other was attached to a 1,750 gram weight. When the samples del)u.l~ed from one another, the weight fell activating a shut-offtimer. The average of three samples was reported in minutes to debond.
Web Porositv This procedure was used to measure the porosity of backing materials by lll~uling the time required for a volume of 10 cc of air under constant ~.t;S:,u.t; to pass through a known area of sample. Samples were cut into 5.1 cm x 5.1 cm squares. Using a 30 Gurley D~ o...~ , samples were inserted into the orifice plates and f l~mpefl The spring catch was rlief~!n~ lowering the inner cylinder to settle under its own weight. The time for the top edge ofthe cylinder to rcach the ZERO line was .~colded which was the time it took 10 cc of air to pass through the sample as ...e~.~ul~d in seconds. If the cylinder did not move after 5 minutes, a value of 301 seconds was recorded. As sample materials increase in porosity, the time interval de.;l~ses. The average results ofthree samples was reported.

DPI~ ' S To dclr.~ .. ;-.r. if the polymer pulled away from the woven cloth in a polymer/clot-h backing, the polymeric film was grasped and pulled at about a 40 degree angle across the poly..uil/cloth backing. If the film can be lifted away from the cloth without c~ignifie~n~
d~'u- -- ._~ion of the polymer or of t-h-e cloth, the sample is said to ~1F1 Curl Samples were torn. The torn ~dges were e - ~- .. ; .. 1 to .1~(~.. ;.. F- if they curled or not. Strong curling is co..D;dc.tid undesirable for tapes of t-h-e .I.v~il.tioll.
Skin Adhesion Skin ~-1hFei~n was carried out by placing tape samples 2.5 cm wide by 7.5 cm long 15 on t-h-e back of a human subject. F~.'h tape was rolled down with one forward and one reverse pass using a 2.0 Kg roller moved at a rate of about 30.0 cm/min. ~rlhf~ci~n to the skin was III~UI~l as the peel force required to remove the tape at 180 degree angle at a 15.0 cm/min. rate of removal. Adhesion was l..~.l.~d ;..- ..~ t~ly after initial application (1~ and after 4~ hours (T)-Preferred skin a~ll.e .;ves generally exhibit a T of between about 1.2 to 3.9 N/dm and a T of between about 5.8 to 11.6 N/dm. Results of 9 tests were averaged.

Skin Adhesion Lift Test When the 24 hour skin arlheQi~n test was pe.ru,l,led, the tape sample was L ' -- ~--;--r:
25 for t-h-e amount of area that was lifted (released) from the skin prior to removal of the tape and ratings were given as:
0 no visible lift lift only at edges of tape 2 lift over 1% to 25% of test area 30 3 lift over 25% to 25% of test area ~ 4 lift over 50% to 75% of test area lift over 75% to 100% of test area Results of 9 tests were ~vwd~ed. Preferred skin adhesives will generally exhibit an average rating below about 2.5.

WO 97t24222 PCT/US96/20298 Skin Residue Test When the 24 hour skin ~-lhP-:-,.. test was ,u~,~rO~ ~led, the skin underlying the tape sample was visually ;~ d to ~ .. .;..P the amount of adl.~ residue on the skin 5 surface and was rated as:
0 no visible residue residue only at edges of tape 2 residue cuv~ g 1% to 25% of test area 3 residue cuv~-i... g 25% to 50% of test area 4 residue cuv~;.i.. g 50% to 75% of test area residue cuvw..... g 75% to 100% of test area Results of 9 tests were ~ "~cd. Preferred skin adl..,~ivt;s will generally exhibit an average rating beiow 2.5.

Moist Skin Adhesion Test Human subiects were placed in a controlled envi-u~ room where the L~ e~ c; was ~ ;..Fd at a constant 32~C and 30% relative humidity for 30 minutesto induce p~ if aLion. If after 20 minutes the p~ had not begun to perspire, they were offered hot drinks to further induce p~ Lion. Skin ~lhF~ nc were carried out by 20 placing 2.5 cm wide by 7.5 cm long on the p~ ; pc. ~ d back. Each tape was rolled down with one forward and one reverse pass using a 2.0 Kg roller moved at a rate of about 30.0 cm/min. ~lhFci~n to skin was m~.ll~ as a peel force required to remove the tape at a 180 degree angle at a 15.0 cm/min. Adhesion was l..eas~ d ;~ Iy after the initial applic~ti- n (T). Results of 10 tests were leco..led as glin., averaged. and CullVt;l Le;l to 2~ Newtons/dm.

Example 1 ilh~ctr~tlos varying cloth weave rlFncitil~.c and varying film thi~ l~n~ccec are useful in the present invention.
Films having a thi~n.?cc of 62.5 microns (2.5 mils), 125 microns (5.0 mils) and 225 mic~ons (9.0 mils) were p.cl)al~d using a polyolefin ~l~ctornt~r based on a copolymer of ethylene and l-octene with a melt flow index of 5 dg/min. Thesc films were hot pressed to grade 80 woven cotton cheese cloth (Burcott Mills of C: hi~go, IL) using a Carver platen press at 180 degrees C and 1362 Kg pressure. The various thread cûunts used for the samples arc shown in Table 1 below. The total t~ nesc of the resulting polymer film/eloth er mpo~cites were bet~veen 200-250 mierons. Tensile n.easu~c...~,..~ were eompleted on the poly ner films, woven elothc and e~ ,. . .I.Gc; l ~c ~c~wld~d by the cullll~illd~iull of the two.
Tensi1e ...easu.c.nc..~ were also e~F'~ted on Zonas Porous Brand adhesive tape available 5 from Johnson & Johnson Medieal, Ine. of Arlington, TX as a eontrol. Tables 1-3 show tensile results.

Table 1. Cloth Ten~ ile Thn~ac Count D;.......... Loadt~Break(Newtons) 0~_. DO'A~ 44 C~ C~S 2 DO
~'' C .(! S~ . .:
_.. A_ D~
:~." C:~OS~ 6:
.~~ D ~ 5 C; .OS : 2 S6 D ~
''.~ ~ C~OS~ "2 66~2 DOWl~ 167 6~ ~" CROS 87 Table 2. Filrn Tensile Pol~ Tl ~ ~ - ;es Load ~, Break ~Newtons) ~2.5 mi down 14 62.5 mi cross 7 ': .0 m down .: .: .O m cross .:
~": .0 m down ~'-: .0 m cross . O
Table 3. Clo~/Polymer C., I",osiL~ Tensile Polymer Tl ~ -' - - ~~microns)/Cloth Di. ~ nLoad @, Break (r~
'~ lre~d ~ount per 2.54 cm /_0,__" ~OW~ : 1 C~ r~, 6_._/~ ~_~ C O
6'.~ ." D~
6~ 'i~' C.~O --CJ-~. 2 D~ 0 ~_.: /~C~.~ _ C, ~0~ _ 62.5/~ .: 6 D~J~h~ ' 3 ~: .. : /~.: 6 C~.O ----~2.'/66 ~.~2 DO~h~ 1' 9 6~.S/66'~ ~_ c~o~c 99 : .0/~O~ :: ' D~h~ ~7 ~.' .0/~ _ C ,or 1,~' '' 5 0/~ D~ ~ . 6 .. :,0/~)~.; C~.O ~ _ _onas ~'orous BrandTape D~V~ 7 The cloth and polymer were very difficult to tear alone. The cloth required a large amount of force to tear, and upon tearing the cloth frayed and became unusable. The polymer tore l~,ldlivt;;ly easily once the tear was initi~t~A however, it was not clean or straight. By c~ .~..I,;.~iu~ these two materials at low thread counts acccilJL~l)le tensile and tear properties were achieved.
All of the above cloth weaves were not hand tearable in the cross-web L~c~iLion without excessive fraying as eyen plifi~A. in Fig. 8. IIowt;vci., once the low density weave cloths were formed into C~ O~;~t~ with a polymer the samples were hand tearable in the cross direction. The cu~ usiLti salnples all showed good bonding of the polymer to the cloth, good tensile strength in both directions, 45 degree bias and straight line tearing in the cross and down-web directions.
In sull~maly~ the tensile ~.v~ti.Lics ofthe cloth and cO~ Jobil~s show similar trends.
As the thread count of the cloth ~---;-uases~ the tensile(load at break) of the materials also i,.~,.~ses. In the case of the polymer, changes were seen when different th~ e, were used. The purpose of the polymer layer is two-fold, it serves as a barrier layer for the adhesive and more i~.~o. L~l~ly, it binds the c. u:,~vvel points of the cloth to provide good tear properties in both directions.

Example 2 ill~efr~t(~e that di~r~i.,L polymers are useful in p~cl~a.illg composite b~ in~;~ of the present invention.
Polymeric materials as icl~ntifi~d in Table 4 below were extrusion coated onto 44x36 threads per 2.5 cm cotton cheese cloth (available from DeRoyale Textiles of South Carolina supplied through Burcott Mills of C.h~r~:o, IL). Films were extrusion coated onto the cloth using a 4.4 cm Killion single screw extruder equipped with a 25.4 cm C:~loeren die, and Rotary ~lltc rn~ti~n film take-away system. After the polymer was e~.uded onto the cloth, the polymer/cloth con.~o:,ilt; was nipped between a chrome cast roll and nip roll at 4.5 N per lineal ce~ lr~ at L~ Jc.aLu.~s ranging from 35-70 degrees C. The polymeric films and the ~vces:,ing conditions are listed in Table 4 below.

Table4. Cu~ o~it~ ~",1 ;~ Ji~ .dpolymers Sample Polyrner Polymer Polymer Thread Ext. Cast Line # T.~ .. e Type Thickness Count Temp Roll Speed (microns) (C) Tem (m/min.) p (C) 2A Attane 4802 Polyethylene 75.5-82.5 44x36 254 70 2.1 (Dow) copolymer 2B Attane 4802 Poly~tl.yl~,.,c 50-62.5 44x36 254 70 3.1 (Dow) ~pOly~
2C Attane 4802 Polye~ylene 30-37.5 44x36 254 70 4.6 (Dow) ~.ol~.. ~
2D Flexomer Poly~;lL.~ c 62.5 free 185 70 2.1 1137 (Ur~ion copolymer film Carbide) 2E Flexomer Polyethylene 77.5-82.5 44x36 185 70 1.7 1137 (Union c.~oly~
Carbide) 2F Flexomer Polyt;~.yk~l~c 47.5-52.5 44x36 185 70 2.7 1137 (Union copolymer Carbide) 2G Flexomer Poly~ ylene 33.8-38.8 44x36 185 70 4.0 1137 (Union copolymer Carbide) 2H Hytrel 4056 Polyester 62.5 free 190 50 3.1 ~duPont) ~l~c~.. ~ film 2I Hytrel 4056 Polyester 62.5 44x36 190 50 3.1 (duPont) p~
2J Hytrel 4056 Polyester 72.5-80.0 44x36 190 50 2.3 (duPont) ~ 1~--,---,, 2K ~ytrel 4056 Polyester 45.0-52.5 44x36 190 50 3.4 ~duPont) e~
2L Hytrel 4056 Polyester 35.0-37.5 44x36 190 50 4.6 (duPont) P~ k 2M Flexomer Polyethylene 62.5 free 204 50 3.1 1138 (Union col)olyme. film Carbide) 2N Flexomer Polyethylene 77.5-82.5 44x36 204 50 2.4 1138 (Union copolymer Carbide) Flexomer Poly~;ll.yl~lle 47.5-52.5 44x36 204 50 3.7 1138 (Union copolymer Carbide) 2P Flexomer Polyethylene 32.5-37.5 44x36 204 50 5.5 1138 (Union ~oly...~,.
Carbide) 2Q Flexomer Polyethylene 47.5-52.5 44x36 204 50 3.7 1138 w/1% copolymer red pigment 2R Kraton 1107 Block 67.5-82.5 44x36 204 50 5.3 (Shell) Copolylner 2S Kraton 1107 Block 47.5-57.5 44x36 204 50 7.6 CA 022386~1 1998-0~-26 (Shell) Copolyrner 2T Kra~on 1107 Block 40.0-52.5 44x36 204 50 9.1 (Shell) CU~)GI~ CI
2U LLDPE Polyethylenc 70.0-77.5 44x36 160 38 7.6 6806 (Dow) 2V LLDPE Polyt~ lene 45.0-52.5 44x36 160 38 11.0 6806 (Dow) 2W LLDPE Polyethylene 30.0-32.5 44x36 160 38 13.7 6806 (Dow) 2X 15% Polymer 70.0-77.5 44x36 204 50 2.6 LLDPE blend 6806/ 85%
Flexomer 2Y 15% Polymer 45.0-52.5 44x36 204 50 4.0 LLDPE blend 6806/ 85%
Flexomer 2Z 15% Polymer 27.5-32.5 44x36 204 50 5.2 LLDPE blend 6806/ 85%
Flexomer 2AA 15% Polymer 12.5-20.0 44x36 204 50 6.1 LLDPE blend 6806/ 85%
Flexomer 2BB 30% Polymer 77.5-82.5 44x36 204 50 2.6 LLDPE blend 6806/70%
Flexomer 2CC 30% Polymer 47.5-50.0 44x36 204 50 4.0 LLDPE blend 6806/70%
Flexomer 2DD 30% Polymer 27.5-30.0 44x36 204 50 5.2 LLDPE blend 6806/70%
Flexomer 2EE 45% Polymer 70.0-77.5 44x36 204 50 2.7 LLDPE blend 6806/55%
~ Flexomer 2FF 45% Polymer 47.5-52.5 44x36 204 50 4.0 LLOPE blend _ WO 97/24222 pcTrus96l2o298 6806/55%
Flexomer 2GG 45% Polymer 30.0-35.0 44x36 226 50 6.1 LLDPE blend 6806/55%
Flexomer 2HH Escorene Ethylene 62.5 free 226 50 3.1 LD-312.09 Vinyl film (Exxon) Acetate 2II Escorene Ethylene 75.0-82.5 44x36 226 50 2.5 LD-312.09 Vinyl (Exxon) Acetate 2JJ Escorene Ethylene 22.5-25.0 44x36 226 50 4.0 LD-312.09 Vinyl ~Exxon) Acetate 2KK Escorene Ethylene 22.5-25.0 44x36 226 50 7.6 LD-312.09 Vinyl (Exxon) Acetate 2LL Elvax 240 Ethylene 77.5-82.5 44x36 182 32 3.8 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 2MM Elvax 240 rll~y1 .c 45.0-50.0 44x36 182 32 6.2 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 2NN Elvax 240 Fthylene 25.0-30.0 44x36 182 32 9.5 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 200 Elvax 40W Ethylene 72.5-80.0 44x36 193 32 4.6 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 2PP Elvax 40W Ethylene 47.5-52.5 44x36 193 32 6.1 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 2QQ Elvax 40W Ethylene 27.5-30.0 44x36 193 32 10.1 (duPont) Vinyl Acetate 2RR Engage Poly~LLylc~,e 66.5 44x36 204 68 12.8 8200 (Dow) F~
2SS Engage PolycLLylene 53.0 44x36 204 68 16.5 8200 (Dow) Fl~ctr~m~r 21~ Engage Polyethylene 24.3 44x36 204 68 27.5 8200 (Dow) Fl~t-~ml-,r The Cunl~JOai~i~ p.c~Jalcd in Table 4 were slit to 8.9 cm rolls for post-extrusion c~e~illlellL~. The C~ cS were ~ub;eeted to post calendering to further embed the polymer to the woven substrate. The cloWpolymer c~...po~ was nippcd between a plasma coated cast roll and rubber back-up roll at about 162 degrees C at 193 N per lineal cm between 0.6 to 2.4 m/min. The samples were tested for tensile streng~, elr~n~ti~n~ tear, drape, and porosity. Control samp1es were also tested. The control backing was a non-occlusive, i.e., bl"dll.abT-, woven baclcing ~ of 180 x 48 plain weave acetate taffeta 5 clo~, 75 denier ffber in warp direction, 150 denier fiber in weft direction, available from MilliL-~n and Co. of Spa.~u~l,u.,~, GA. The clo~ was a 70 x 52 bl~ ed pure finished 100% cotton print clo~ available from Burcott Mills of Cl~ g ., IL. Neither the cloth nor the control were coated wi~ polymer.

10 ''able 5 Properties of Diff~rent Polymeric Cc,...~.os;~
Sample Tensile F~ Tear 1=Poor Drape Porosity ~T~/t ) (%) 5=Good (sec.) 2B 144 6 5 139 MD 33.8 2E 162 7 5 17g MD 95.7 2F 144 6 5 93 MD 247.7 2G 132 5 5 78 MD 71.0 21-NPC 119 6 1 90 MD 133.8 2J 136 5 5 113 MD 83.4 2K 123 5 5 60 MD 98.3 2L 126 5 3 51 MD 15.9 2N 146 6 5 142 MD 250.8 137 6 5 86 MD 250.8 2P 121 6 5 45 MD 4.7 l9 CD
2P-NPC 110 6 -- 99 MD 384.4 2R 114 5 5 41 MD >600 2S 112 5 5 31 MD 466.3 2T 111 5 5 30 MD 480.5 2U 169 6 5 412 MD 10.3 2V 159 5 S 296MD 0.6 2W 138 5 4 217 MD 0.2 2X 133 7 5 144 MD 335.3 2Y 119 5 4 98 MD 137.4 2AA 112 5 5 88 MD 126.4 2BB 145 6 5 185 MD 213.1 2CC 133 6 5 108 MD 108.3 2DD 130 6 1 156 MD 152.9 2EE 159 6 5 171 MD 202.1 2FF 146 6 5 127 MD 41.1 2G~ 132 6 1 118 MD 42.3 2II 155 6 5 204 MD 150.1 2JJ 149 5 5 123 MD 115.6 2KK 135 5 4 79 MD 0.3 2LL 130 5 4 68 MD 53.5 2LL- 114 5 4 75 MD 108.1 2MM 114 5 5 59 MD 12.4 2NN 117 5 2 65 MD 0.2 200 117 5 4-5 50 MD 252.5 2PP 123 5 4-5 44 MD 93.9 2QQ 101 5 3 46 MD 1.57 2RR. 124 5 5 84 MD >400 2SS 129 6 5 70 MD ~400 -21~ 111 5 5 64 MD 53.4 Backing 113 5 3 109 MD 0.6 Cloth 77 4 4 31 MD 0.1 NPL = not post calendared In ~u~nll~ly~ trends show that as the polymer thirLn~cc de~il.,dsed, the tensile values also de~,l cas~d s1ightly. Pu,u ,;lies were also affected by the amount of polymer used in the construction. As the polymer dew~ases in ~h;. L .~ , the porosity generally i l.,lGases or S de~;lcdses in seconds). Poly..l~,. . such as the Kraton are relatively llu~pOl'uuS at all thi~ since Kraton is not an oxygen permeable m~tPn~l Composites in which thepolylllc.'s thi~L-n~cc is around 25 microns or below usually are relatively porous. IIuwcv ;;1, at these thi~~L-npecec~ there is too little polymer to bind the ~IU:~UVC~ points of the cloth and to create a barrier for the adhesive. In that case the composite usually displays holes which 10 results in l~,ldlivcly porous constructions wi~ lower tensile ~ lLs.
Tear was greatly affected by the amount of polymer in the COIlllJG~ ;S. Generally, most of the culll~O~it.,~ showed good tear properties if the thirL-n~cc of the polymer was between 37 and 75 microns. Cc,...l.os;lr.~ cc,n.~ cd of polymers at thi. L ~ec~es below about 37 microns generally display poor tear (See, e.g. samples 2L, 2DD, 2NN, 2QQ ). Finally, 15 the polylllel type and thi~nec5 affected ~he drape or cul~ollllability of the construction.
The polymers at thil~lrnecs~c of 50 to 75 microns had high drape or handle-o-meter results.
In the examples above, values ranged from 400-30. In order to reduce damage to the skin and achieve a soft feel, ranges between 60-30 arc desirable. Some of the above samples displayed drape values ~ccept~hle for use in tape constructions.

Exa}nple 3 ill.lCt~t~c that different adhesives are useful in woven cloth adhesive tape constructions of the present invention. ~ ticm~lly~ Example 3 ilh~ctratec that iirr~;l~illL methoAc of coating the adhesive to the polymer/cloth cul..po~;lt; are useful in 25 pl~a.illg tape constructions of the invention.

R~ in~ Pl ~,al aLion The cloth/polymer Cullll-G~ olllpl;~ed of ENGAGE~M 8200 (a polyolefin available from Dow Plastics Co. of Midland, Ml) extrusion coated onto 44X36 woven cloth (available from Burcott Mills). White backing was plvduced by dry blending 1 part of 50:50 titaniurn dioxide in low density pol~c~l.ylenc (available as PWC00001 from Reed Spectrum, Holden MA) with 3 parts ENGACiETM 8200; forming l,i~.. ~.-d pellets by melt rnixing the blend in a 40 mm twin screw ~ UdCI (available from Berstoffl of Charlotte, 5 NC) of 200~C and ~ ud~-g and p~l1f ti7ing the strands, dry blr nr~ g the ~ l pellets with more uilp ~..~ .l~d ENGAGETM 8200 in a ratio of 1:25; melt mixing the blend and feeding the blend at ~ tl~ 270 g/min into the feed throat of a 6.35 cm lial~l~,t~, Davis Standard Model #N9485 single screw CAII udc, (available from Davis Standard, P~uc~hlr~ CT) at 204~C and extruding a 65.0 micron thick fil n onto the cloth with the cast roll 14 Il~ dlul~ set at 93~C to form a 1,-.. ;.. _1~,; and passing the 1~minzltr~ through the nip of two h~.. ;,....~l rolls at ~.c~:,u.~,~ of 17.7 N per lineal cm (200 pound per in) at ~11 VX;~ . ly 1.1 m/min. This cloth/polymer composite was tested for tear and had r~Yr~llPnt tear properties ~ t;d as "5."

15 Acrylic Plc:~ulc Sensitive Adhesive Plc~)-.<~l;.~.~
An acrylic pressure sensitive all.~,;,;vc (~lr-~;g~ d l~ can~ as "acrylic adhesive") was IJ.c;pal~d in accu..l~l~,c with U.S . patent Number 4,833,179 (Young, ct al.) in the following manner: A two liter split reactor e iu;~,ed with Col~it~ LCI~IIVWC11, nitrogen inlet, sl;~ steel motor-driven agitator, and a hcating mantle with /~ c control was charged with 750 g d~ ~i water, to which was added 2.5 g of zinc oxidc and 0.75 g Ly~ l~ilic silica (CAB-O-SILTM EH-5, available from Cabot Corp. of Tuscola, IL) and was heated to 55 degrees C while purging with nitrogen until the zinc oxide and silica were thoroughly di~Jc~:~ed. At this point, a charge of 480 g isooctyl acrylic, 20 g methacrylic acid, 2.5 g initiator (VAZOTU) 64, available from dupont Co.) and 0.5 g isooctylthioglycolate chain transfer agent was then added to the initial aqueous mixture while Vi~JIVU~ Zlg~ (700 rpm) was ...~ i to obtain a good ~ ..c;.~l~ The reaction was ~..l ;....~ with nitrogen purging for at least 6 hours, during which time the reaction was ...~ o.cd to ...-;.~ ;.. a reaction ~ of less than 70 degrees C. The resulting p~c~ ulc-se~ ivc adhesive was coll~ct~d and ~ l1y pressed to at least 90% solids 30 byweight.

3A. Hot Melt Acrylic/ Thermoplastie F~ o~ . (TPE) Adhesive Blends An a~ ,;,;v~; e~ -;--g a blend of an aerylic adhesive (described above) and c~ u~la~lic el-~n~ ..- - ic adhesive was ~ alcd by melt bl~ l;--g the acrylic adhesive with CA 02238651 1998-0~-26 a thermoplastic eloctorn~r adhesive (,U.~.dl~d by preblending 50 parts th~-rmnF\lqctic elaDlUlllC.iC block cu~oly".cr KRATONTM Dl 107P available from Shell Ch~mi~ Co. of ~nnct~n TX, 1.0 parts ~ntio~ nt IRGANOXTM, 1076, dv~ildl~le from Ciba~eigy of IIdwtl,ollle, NY and 50 parts ~cLryillg resin ESCOREZTM13 10 LC available from Exxon S Ch~m~ c of ~nctr~n~ TX) at ratios shown in the table below by drum ~mlo~riing the pre-col"~-uul,ded ~ c ~ k~ ;c a~ ,;.;vG into an 8.9 cm .l~ ... ~. screw pin barrel mixer, available from The French Oil Mill M~- h;... ,y Co., Piqua, OH, with zone~.n~ IGD ...~ ; .rl between 106~C and 144~C. Water was injected at 1 part per 100 parts plGDDUlG-5~1-D;tiVG a ~ S;VG C ~ pO~ n as the cu~lJo~ n leaves the pin barrel 10 mixer. A gear pump attached to the output end of the pin barrel mixer by a heated pipe delivered the pressure-sensitive adhesive c~ n to a wipe-film coating die, ...~
at a 1~ t; of 160~C, at 0.63 Kg/hour/cm die width onto the polymer/cloth COIII~OD;IG
dcscl;bed above. The baclcing samples were coated with a&esive at thi. ~ .cc~c of 50, 57 and 64 IlI_~lUlll~,ttilD and the effect of a~ll,cs;vG coating weight was G ;~ .1 3M Brand 15 Cloth A&esive Tape available from 3M of St. Paul, MN and Zonas Porous brand tape ~v~ila~le from Jo-h-nson & Johnson Medical, Inc. ûf Arlington, TX were used as Culll~ ilivGS~ " Theresultingtapesamplesandthec~....l-el;I;vetapeswerem~culGd for a~lh~cic n to steel, adhesive ~clh~sif n to backing, tensile strength, porosity and I~lOiDtUlG
vapor Ll;.. .~ rate as d~,D~;I ;l)ed above. Results are shown in Tablc 6 below:

Table 6 Sample Acrylic/TPE CoatingAdh to SteelUnwind Wet To TO (N/dm) T48 (N/dm) Li~ 5) Residue (1-5) O
# ratio (by Thiclaless(N/dm) (N/dm) weight) (microns) r 3B 75/25 50~Jm 27 -~
3C 50/50 50,um 34 6 2.3 1.5 3.7 1.1 0.3 3D 25.75 50,um 38 5 2.1 2.0 2.2 2.9 0.0 3E 20/80 50,un 38 2 2.2 2.3 1.5 2.9 0.0 3F 0.100 50~1m 40 3 1.8 1.5 2.3 3.9 0 4 3G 100/0 57~1m - - --- - ~~~ ~~~
3H 75/25 57~1m 27 --- --- --- - - - D
3I 50/50 57~m 25 - - 1.8 3.4 1.5 0.2 ,~~, 3J 25 75 57~,1m 36 ~ ~ 2.0 1.4 3.1 0.0 00 3K 20/80 57~1m 34 ~ -- 2.1 2.0 2.6 0 0 ., 3L 0/100 5711m 42 - --- I .3 1.1 5.0 0.0 3M 100/0 64~,1m -~
3N 75/25 64~1m 32 --- - - ~ ~- ~ O
50/50 64~1m 38 -- 2 8 1.8 3.2 2.0 0 33P 25/75 6411m 40 - 2.1 1.9 1.8 3.6 0.0 3Q 20/80 64~,1m 41 - 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.4 0.0 3R 0/100 64,1m 42 ~ 1.7 1.9 2.6 4.0 0.0 3M control - 13 96 3.6 1.2 4.1 1.4 0.8 Brand J&J control --- 12 14 2.2 0.9 3.3 1.6 0.5 Zonas ~.
porous W 097/24222 PCT~US96/20298 3B. Solvent Coated Aervlicmlc.,n(~pla~Lic Elasl~t;. Adhesive Blends An adhesive c~-..l;.;..;.~g a blend of an acrylic adhesive and thermoplastic elq~orn~ric adhesive was y-ciya~cd by dissolving the acrylic a ll.~ivc (described above) in a heytane/isuy.~,yyl alcohol 90/10 mix at 25% solids in a 3.8 liter glass jar. TheS thermoplastic e~ " ... ~ ~KRATONTM, 1107) was f~CLifie~i using ESCOl~E~TM 13 lOLC so that a 50:50 ratio was obf~in~A The KR~TONTM /taekifier cul..yo:~;Lion was dissolved in toluene at 50% solids in a 3.8 liter glass jar. Each batch solution was mixed on a roll mixer u~ gl~L at room ~ ~..p~ ..c (25 degrees C). Various blend ratios were yl~dlcd byc~----l.;--;u~. the ~ynuy~ Lc S~ ; acrylic a~lhc:iivc and KRATONTM adl.e:,ivc in 0.9 Iiter 10 glass jars, sealed with lids and allowed to mix on a roll mixer overnight at room tC lly~laLulc.
The adhesives were coated on the cla~/polymer culllyOa;L~:~ described above varying percent solids to produce coatings with a 1~ of 32 ni~,ro~cLcl. The coating was acco..~ ,l~d with a 25.4 cm wide knife coater at several dirrc.~,..L coating gaps 15 ~ ...li..g on the percent solids of the blends. P~uces:~ing con.1itit)n~ are shown in Table 7 below.

Table 7 Sample# Acry1ic/ % Solids Ctg Orifice CT&Thickness Speed Th~.. q,l_~,; (microns~ (mi~l~""Gk;l) (m/min.) c F.l-~l ratio 3S 0:100 50.0% 100 32 1.4 solids 3T 25:75 43.8% 100 32 1.4 solids 3U 50:50 37.5% 100 32 1.4 solids 3V 75:25 31.3% 135 32 1.4 solids 3W 100:0 25.0% 218 32 1.4 solids 3X 10:90 47.4% 100 32 1.3 solids 3Y 90: 10 27.5% 350 32 1.5 solids The coated samples were then ~ubJ ~ to a dual oven system to remove the S solvent in the a~ll.ci,;v~s. The first oven L~ Lu-~ was at 37.7 degrees C while ~e second oven was at 135 degrees C. A liner (Daubert) was inserted before wind-up to ensure the adhesivcs on the samples would not block on ~e ....- o~ d backing surface before testing was ~ ~ k t~. The l~,i,ul~il.g tape samples were n~ult;d for a~lh~osion to steel, adhesive ?~1hf~!cinn to backing, tensile strength, porosity and Ill~ ,Lul~ vapor tr~ncmiCci~n rate as 10 dti~,l;bed above. ~t1rlitir)n:~11y, Zonas Porous brand tape available from Johnson & Johnson Medical, Inc. of Arlington, TX and 3M brand Cloth Adhesive Tape available from 3M of St. Paul, J~inn~ cot~ were tested for the same plVI~(il lies for colll~a~aLive ~Ul l,oses. Results are shown in Table 8 below:

Table 8 ~O
Sample Adhesion Adhesion Tensile F]r~ngpt - 2 Bond Porosity MVTR TO (N/dm) T48 (Nldm) Li~ Residue to Steel to backing (N) (Nldm) (seconds) glm2/day (N/dm) (N/dm) 3S 14 3 120 N 4% --- >300 63 1.8 0 5.2 0.3 g/m21day 3T 12 2 127 N 4% 69 >300 103 1.8 0 4 7 0 0 g/m21day 3U 8 4 109 N 4% 61 >300 134 2.1 2.7 1.5 1.0 glm /day 3V 7 3 109 N 4% 35 >300 134 2.0 3.9 1.5 2.0 glm21day D
3W 7 5 123 N 4% 9 >300 174 --- ~ O
glm /day ~.
3X 20 6 121 N 5% -- >300 55 2.6 0.5 4.8 0 0 g~m21day ,.
3Y 14 7 125 N 4% 37 ~300 134 2.9 5.6 1.1 2.4 glm21day J&J 12 11 190 N 7% 136 4.8 3784 1.4 2.0 2.4 0.3 O
Zonas glm /day 3M 23 35 151 N 5% 125 28.5 830 --- ~ - ---Brand glmtlday Wo 97/24222 PCTtUS96/20298 3C. Hot Melt Acrylictl h~ l.,.OI~la~lic FloctnrnFr/Fillcr Blend Adhesive An adhesive r~ ;"; ~ an acrylic adhesive (des~.ib~l above), thFrmr)p1~ctir~.
e~ ic adhesive, and filler were melt blended in a twin screw extruder fitted with a screw suitable for IL~ l~la ,L;c p1~ and hot melt coated directly onto the S cloWpolymer l~min~te The blend ~1 Ig an acrylic adll~;,iv~ .F~ ;C
el~cl.. - -/~ckifying resin filler at 60/20/20/11.1 parts ~ye~ liv-ely was ~cpa-t;d by feeding KRATONTM D1107 pellets (Shell C'- ') into Bar}el 1 of a 30 mm ZSK 30 Werner-Pfeiderer twin screw extruder, adding a t~. L ;1~. /rlller powder rnixture of ESCOREZTIA
1310 LC (Exxon ChFn~ ) and alumina trihydrate ( Micral 1500 grade from Solex 10 ~nrlnctriFec Norcross, GA) at a ratio 1.8:1 into Barrel 3 ofthe e~lud~;~ and feeding the acrylic adl~;,;v~ ~al~l as de~S~ - ;ho1 above) into Barrel 8 of the twin screw e ~ udel.
The blend was cc,."~,uu"ded in the extruder at 149 degrees C at rpm of d~lU~ cly 400, passed through a screen filter and gear purnp located at the end of the extruder at 166 degrees C and delivt;.tid by a heated pipe to a wipe-film coating die m~ints~ined at 166 degrees C. Extruder outputs were ~",.u,~;~n~l~1y 2.0 Kglhr/14 cm die width. The adll. ~;v~
coating had an average thir~nFcc of a~.u~, dt;ly 50 Illi~;lUlll~
The 30 mm ZSK 30 Werner-Pn~;dti,.;. twin screw extruder with a 45:1 L/D was used cu. .~ ; . .g of 15 barrel section and controlled by 6 zone heaters. The extruder c. ~ .1 ;r~n and ~,.uce~ ng conrlitinnc were as follows:
Zone 1 Zone2 Zone3 Zone4 Zone S Zone 6 Barrels 1-3 Barrels 4-6 Barrels 7-8 Barrels 9-10 Barrels 11- Barrels 14-52 degrees C 135 degrees 149 degrees 149 degrees 149 degrees 149 degrees C C C C C
The sa-m--ples were tested for their arlhAcir n to steel, a~ hf cion to backing, unwind, initial arlhf cir)n to skin and after 48 hours, lift and residue. Results are shown in Table 9 below.
Table 9. ~ ot Melt Acrylic/TPE Fi ler P~ I L c;s Sample A& Adh Unwind T0 N/dm T48 Lift Residue Steel backing N/dm N/dm N/drn N/dm 3C 25 12 9 1.0 3.1 1.0 0.0 EXAMPL~3 4 Example 4 ~ 1. s that adhesives co",~,ised of acrylic adl,esiv~ and e~ u. ..~ . blends which are hot melt coated or solvent coated onto the cu~ o~ile backing are useful in ~ Jalillg tapes acco.~ g to the invention.

CA 0223865l l998-05-26 Backin~ P~c~al~ion The cloth/~.oly...~,. GulllpOr,;lc c~....~..;~,_l of ENGAGETM 8200 (a polyolefinavailable from Dow Plastics Co.) was t~.llU.7;~JII coated onto 44X36 woven cotton cloth S (available from Burcott Mills). White backing was pr~luced by dry bl: .,.l;,~g l part of 50:50 titanium dioxide in low density polyethylene (available as PWC00001 from Reed Spectrum, Holden MA) with 3 parts ENGAGET~ 8200; forming p:~...h~.lrd pellets by melt tnixing the blend in a 40 mm twin screw extruder (av~labla from Berstorffl at 200~C and ~L.ud;..g and pellrl;~ g the strands, dry lcl ' nE, the pi~ -.Ircl pellets with more u-~ ~.. nled ENGAGETM 8200 in a ratio of 1:25, melt mixing the blend and feeding the blend at ~IJlux;~ t~ ly 270 g/min into the feed throat of a 6.35 cm diamclcl Davis Standard Model #N9485 single screw extruder (available from Davis Standard, Pi~.~r~tnr~ CT) at 204~0C and c~ludillg a 65.0 rnicron thick filrn onto the cloth with the cast roll ~r-l.l.e~< n..cs set at 93~C to form a l~ ._lr.; and passing the l:~minzlte through the nip of two ho~ tdl rolls at plcs ,ulc~, of 350 N per lineal cm (200 pound per in) at ~u~;.. -~r,ly 1.1 m/min.
The c-.--.lJrc;~ r~u~ ;d e~cçlllont tear properties when the hand tear test was used.
The acrylic adl.esiv~; used to prepare the adhesive blends for samples of Example 4A, 4B and 4C is described in F~_...ple 3 above.

20 4A. Hot Melt Acrylic/Flc~ Adhesive Blends The acrylic/~l~cl~ ....- adhesive blends were plc~alcd in a Werner-Pfleiderer ZSK
30 mm twin screw extruder with a 37:1 L/D e4ui~ ;1 with a Zenith pump for ...l l~. ;..g Samples 4A~H were ~a-cd by feeding the elastomer into barrel 2 ofthe ~"~I.u~l. In barrek 1, the tackifiers were added. Into barrel 6, the acrylic adl,c,ivc described above was 25 added. Samples 4I-4L were l)~c~a~cd by feeding the cld~ ,.;c VistanexTM MML-80 into barrel 2 VistanexTM, LMMH was fed into zone 2 of the extruder. In zone 4, the ts~ ifi~ r.c were added into barrel 6, the acrylic adhesive described above was added. Samples 4M-4P
were pl~Ja~ c~l by feeding the eld ,lu".cr into barrel 2 of the c,.ll udcl . Into barrel 2, the ArneripolTM block copolymer was added. Iirto barrel 4, the t~ ifierc were added. Into 30 barrel 6, the acrylic adhesive des-;l;l,ed above was added.
The adhesive blends were coated onto the backing des~,.~ed above using a 14 cm wiping die at web speeds between 6.8-12.8 m/min to achieve the target coating thi~ of 50 microns. Extruder speeds on the twin screw extmder were held at 200 rpm. Overall flow rates were kept in the 4.9-9.1 kglhr range.

Process I~ dlu~ forthe b1ends wer~:

W O 97/24222 PCT~US96/20298 V V V V

~ _ ~ ~ o o -V V ~ V

~ V V V
V~ @ ,~ @ ~

Ul U~ U~ V

~ V ~ V
,~ @ @ ~, ~ _ _ ~ C~
V ~ V ~

~3 J -- '~

V V ~ V

- ~ ~

3M Brand Cloth A&esive tape was used as a c~ e tape. Samples and the con~rol were tested for ~AhPci~n to steel, ~.lh~ to backing, 2-Bond, 5-Bond, Initial ~lh~cion (To) and Adhesion after 48 hours ~T48) with results showtl in Table 11 below.

Table 11 Sample Acrylic/ Adhesion Adhesion 2-Bo~d 5-Bond Wet T0 T0 T48 Li~ Residue Unwind ~, Fl~ tur to Steel to backing (% (min,) N/dm (N/dm) (N/dm) ratio (N/drn) (N/dm)Transfer) 4A 0/1OOl 28 13 75% 0.4 min. 3,4 4.6 3.5 1,4 2,0 ---transfer 4B 25/75~ 22 6 100% 0.9 2.3 1.9 1,9 2.6 1.3 --4C 50/50 33 11 IOOn/o 0,4 2.7 3.1 4.6 1,0 2.3 34 4D 75/25~ 37 9 lOO'h 0.2 3.1 4.1 6,2 0,8 3,7 4E olloo2 22 2 75% 0,2 1.6 1,7 1,9 1,2 0.3 61 ' ~2 4F 25l752 48 6 75% 0,2 3,2 3,2 3,4 1,4 1.3 72 D
4G 50/502 51 1 90% 0,3 3.8 3,5 5,3 1,3 1,8 46 ~
4 ~ 75/252 48 ' 3 100~/o 0,2 4.4 3,3 6.5 0,6 2,5 34 ,~,,,0 4~ 0/1002 35 3 OO'h 2.9 1.5 -.,3 0,0 5,1 0,0 ~: 25/753 ~1 5 ' 00~/O 2,1 1,9 :,8 1,4 2.3 0,~
.~ 50/503 ~3 6 OOnh 0.6 2.6 ".,2 2.9 1,4 0,~ 59 ~~, 75/253 ~0 10 ' 00~/O 0.~ 3.1 2.6 5.4 0,8 1,2 4M 0/1004 49 5 loon/o 0,'- 3,5 4,0 2,4 2.~ 3,0 4N 25/754 19 11 100~fi 0. 1,7 2.5 3,0 1," 3.7 50/504 22 13 lOO'fi 0.: 1.7 2.8 4.6 0,' 3,6 16 4P 75/254 24 13 lOO~h 0,: 2.1 3.8 5,4 1,2 4.6 16 Control Natural 21 NA 35% 5,7 3.6 0,9 4.6 1,1 1.0 14 Rubber.

I NataynT~ 2210(pOly;ao~ .,), WingtackTM 95(tackifier) at 100 paTtâ/70 parts l~a~ ,ly, 2 NatsynTM 2210, VistanexTM LMMH(pul,~iaOb~ltyl~lc) at 100 parts/167 parts l~.,li~.,l~.
3 Via-tanexT~ MML80, WmgtackT~ LMMH at 100 parts/32 parts/48 parts l~a~
4 AmeripolT~ lOl lA(Styrene-l n '' - elaalu~ l), ForalT~ 85(tackifier) at 100 parts/100 parti l~alJ~ti~ . ~

Wo 97/24222 PCT/US96120298 The data shows that both ~rlh~ci~)n to steel and skin can be manipulated by altering the relative ~Ino~ of actylic adl.~,~ivLi, ~Id~7~lllGI and tackifier, as wcll as the type of f~lqcto~n~.

5 4B Solvent Coated Acrylic/ Fl~ Blend Adhesive CU~ O~;LC Backin~ P,~",~...l;..l~
Example 4B ~ f~f~ lC:~ that ao,yl;c/e~ lLeDive blends which are solvent coated onto a Cu~ ,O ,;LG backing are useful in IJlC~Ja,lillg tapes accvl lulg to the invention.
The cloth/polymer c~ backing used in this ~ . I~ was ~JIc~JalGd as e~pl~inf d in 10 Example 3 above.
Solvent coated adhesive tape satnples were g.,ll~,ldLGd in the following manner. The solvent borne aJl-e;,ivG blends were pl~dlGd by dissolving the acrylic adlle.,ivc (~lee~ be/l above) in a toluene/heptane 90/lO rnix at 20% solids in a 3.8 liter glass jar. The NatsynTM, 2210/VistanexTM LMMH (lOO parts/167 parts) f~ll.l,o~ ions were li~L7olvcd in heptane at 20% solids in a one gallon (3.8 liter) glass jar using a ligl.t~ ; g mixer for 24 hrs. Both master batch sol.~1 ;u-lc were then mixed on a roll mixer for 24 hrs at room L~ dLUlC The various blend ratios were p.~dltid in sitnilar fashion as the master batches. The d~J~IuyliaLc ,..~ acrylic adhesive and el-c~.. "r l blend at that given adhesive ratio were weighed in 16 oz. (O.9 Iiter) glass jars, sealed with lids and allowed to mix on a roll mixer 20 overnight at room L~ ,-dlUI~ (2~ degrees C).

Table 12 Sample Backing Adhesive Orifice Coating Speed Zone 1 Zone 2 Adhesion to T0 T48 Lift Residue Acrylic/ (mil) Thickness (m/min.) Temp. Temp. Steel (N/dm) (N/dm) Fl~tnm~r (Microns) (m - O~ ) (C) (C) (N/dm) ratio 4Q Cloth/Poly 100/0 ~ 386 50.7 1.1 37 135 --- 2.0 9.5 0.2 0.4 mer 20% so: ids 4R Cloth/Poly 0/100 (~ 312 50.0 1.1 37 135 9 1.5 1.4 0.7 0.7 mer 20% so ids 4S Cloth/Poly 25/75 (~ 312 S0.0 1.1 37 135 26 2.0 2.8 0.8 0.4 mer 20% so ids D
4T Cloth/Poly 50/50 ~ 368 51.8 1.1 37 135 23 2.0 6.0 0.7 0 5 o mer 20% so: ids 4U Cloth/Poly 75/25 ~ 380 51.1 1.1 37 135 21 2.2 7.5 0.6 0.5 mer 20% solids 4C Hot Melt AcrvlictFT~ . /Filler An adl.c;~iv~; ~--I 1;..;.~p an acrylic pl~D~ ; s~,l~;Livci adll~,;,;v~, el~sLo~ ..c adhesive and filler were melt blended in a twin screw extruder and hot melt coated directly onto the cloth/polymer hmin~te The blend ~ ~--~ g the acrylic/ çl~orn~r / tackifying resin/ Zinc S oxide/ Alumina hiLydld~ at 50/18.75/31.25/2/ 10 parts res~e~iLiv~;;ly was ~ d.ed by feeding NATSYNT'A 2210 pellets (GOOdy~,dr Tire and Rubber Company) into barrel 1 of a 30 Mm Werner-Pfleiderer twin screw c~l,u~, (45: 1 L:D) adding a premix of the Zinc oxide(KADOXTM 91 lC, from Zinc Colporation of America, Monaca, PA)/Alumina trihydrate (Micral 1500 grade from Solex ~ e, N~ -u ~s, GA) into barrel 3, adding the VISTANEX~M LMMH into barrel S ofthe ~L~udel and feeding the acrylic adhesive into barrel 8 ofthe twin sc}ew extruder. Thc blend was cu...~uu..ded in the extruder at 149 degrees C at rpm of d~,.ux;...~.1y 425, passed through a sc~een filter and gear pump located at the end of the extruder at 166 degrees C and delivered by a heated pipe to a wipe-film coating die ,.~ d at 166 degrees C. Extruder outputs were d~plu~ y 2.0 kg/hr/14 cm die width. The adhesive coating had an average ll~;rL ~ ~$5 of d~!lu~llak;ly 50 ~Lm (2 rnils).
Process Cnn-1iti~ne for Sample 4V were as follows:
Zone 1 Zone 2 Zone 3 Zone 4 Zone S Zone 6 Barrels 1-3 Barrels 4-6 Barrels 7-8 Barrels 9-10 Barrels 11- Barrels 14-52 degrees C 135 degrees 149 degrees 149 degrees 149 degrees 166 degrees C C C C C
Sa~nple 4V was tested for ar1h~Qion p.u~,~"Li~,s and results are shown in Table 13 below.

Table 13 Sample A& steel Adh Unwind T0 N/dm T48 Lift Residue N/drn back N/dm N/dm N/dm 4V 5.9 4.0 13.3 2.1 3.8 0.8 0.2 ZONAS 13.0 15.6 14.3 1.9 3.7 1.2 0.1 Porous Example S illllQ.~r~t~?5 that tape constructions of the invention can be embossed to improve porosity and Illu;~.lul~ vapor L~ ;o.~ rates without unduly de.,.~,~,s..lg ~h~ci~n 2~ of the tape to steel or skin.

WO 97/24222 pcTrus96l2o298 Samples ~5cllCIaLcd in ~.Y~mrl~ 3B above was embossed in order to ~el~laLc the tape. Five foot sections of each sample was placed on a release liner and run through a calender stack at 90.5 degrees C under 120 pli (2 10 N per lineal cm) at 9.45 mlmin. using a roller having a raised square lJy~ lal pattern with 97 holes per square f~ . 3M
5 Brand Cloth Adhesive tape and Zonas Porous Brand tape were used as control tapes. The pf.. r,J.~ samples and control tapes were then tested for ~1h~ on to steel, aflh~cir~n to backing, teDsile streng~, e~ S,.~ , 2-Bond, porosity and ~ L~c vapor ~ rate with results shown in Table 14 below.

Table 14 Physical properties of f....l-o~e~ sample.
Sample Adh to Adh to Tensile Elongati2 Bond Porosity MVTR
Steel backing ~N) on (N/dm) (sec.) (g/m2/da (N/dm) (N/dm) Y?
~ 1 1 0.4 5: . 5 S-. ~ ~~0 47 ~.6 ~ 7 '-. J _8 ~ O --- U2 3 ~- V ~ 9 67 '.
-- X ~ _~ : ~- 5 1 .r --: 2 ~ O ----: ~A 2 ~0 . :5~ ~O ~~
' ' B : ~ A .
' ~ C ! 6 ~ 0 ~=A '.
: ~ D 4 ~ O ~-A .~
S ~E 7 2 -' ~ 6~~ A 20.0 5 ~ F n 2 9 ~~ ~o ~-A 6.0 9'6 S ~ G . ' , 2 ~ ~~- ~-A 3.0 25 2 A ~.0 2120 n~~- ~ A ~6.0 97 ~=A '.0 '~ ~ ' ~ ~': : ~. ~-A ~.0 -A "~
S~~- ~-A :. ) '':
:~0 _ ~ ~- _8 .~) ~_.~
5 ~P ''7 ~ 8 :s.0 " ~ 9 Control - 25 : 6 :~9 5~~3 :25 : 7.0 3' _1 ~ 3M
Brand Control 13 15 186 7% 113 2.0 779 J&J
Zonas Porous The tape samples showed a decrease in a~lhP~ n p~u~ L;~is after embossing. This in-lir~tes that the ~ ,,dLu~ ,u.e profiles for e.~bo ~ ~u* affected the overall ~rlhP5i~n of the s~ nplP-c The possible causes include ~IPt~~~ifir~tir~n due to polymer dc.~ld Idlion, or ~...~-...;..~l;-... from the release liner. In either case, the ~lrbos:,ulg step did not affect the S tensile or elong~tinn properties of the backing and r~ r~l the porosity and MVTR
properties as c<,...l.a.~,d to un~ bo~ d F . ', 8B.
Elnl)o~ .g lowered the a lI,~,;.;vt; ~..ul,.,. L;es of the samples without alrrJ;~ the tensile streng~ or Pl~n~?~ti~n~ ofthe 1~ ,s. L~ uvti~e~ts in the porosity and the IllU;..tUl~i vapor 1.;...~ rate ofthe overall cull ~llu~lion was obse~,d.

FX~mrle 6 shows that adLe~ivt;~ uscd to make an ellllJod.ll.~ of the invention can be cross-linkcd using electron beams.
Cu~lpo~ ; b~ ;..g~ were ~ a~cd accu.dil.g to the protocol dese-ihed in Example 15 3. The ba~l~in~ were coatcd with adhesives as described in FY~mrl~ 4A. Some ofthe samples were e.l~hossed as de~,.;l,cd in Example 5.
Sarnples which ~ ;..P~ f l"~u~ ~ /Ldckifier pressure-se.l .;liv~; adl.~,~;vt;, c ~ ;C~d of either NatsynTM 22 IO/WingtackTM 95 (Samples 6A-6E) or AmeripoITM/ForalTM
85 ~Sarnples 6F-6J) with ~ Jc~,Livt; ratios given in the table below with and without e . . .ho~ were i ., ~ t~d using a Lab Unit Ele~,Ll~u~ Laill Model # CB l 75, Serial # 7521 made by Ener y Scio.n~s of Wil...;..~ ., MA. Samples were treated at û, 2, and 4 Mrad at 175 kv using I pass at 3.8 rn/min by adhering the samples to a polyester carrier web with the ~rlhesive side exposed. The samples were im~ tf~d and ;~ lt-.ly cont~cted with a release liner. Each sample was tested for ~flh~cion of the adhesive to steel, ~rlh~ci~n of the 25 ad~;,iv~ to b~r~ing down-web di-~.,Liu-- tensile strength, t km~1~inn 2 bond, porosity, and llW.;,Lult; vapor l~t~ ;on rate. Results are shown in Table 15 below.

Table 15 Sample Acrylic/Elast E-beam Adh to Steel Adh to Tensile (N~ n~ti- n 2 Bond (N/dm) Porosity MVTR
omer Ratio Dosage/Emb (N/dm) backing (sec.) Wm2/day) ossing ~\I/dm) 6A 0/100~ 2 Mrad 22 10 119 5% 46 >300 53 g/m21day no c ,~ \g 6B 0/1001 4 Mrad 25 14 110 5% 43 >300 45 no ~ oaai~
6C 0/100~ 0 Mrad 17 28 94 5% 81 1.4 2656 embossed 6D 0/100~ 2 Mrad 17 23 117 5% 57 1.5 3679 Gi ~hoa ,~d 6E 0/100~ 4 Mrad 12 17 109 5% 48 0.9 3830 prnl~ssed 6F 0/1002 2 Mrad 33 4 113 6% 42 >300 68 ~~
no l .~
6G 0/1002 4 Mrad 25 4 95 4% 44 >300 68 no embossing 6H O/1002 0 Mrad 19 3 102 5% --- 1.4 3551 P~ ,s;,.d ~
61 0/1002 2 Mrad 21 4 113 5% ~ 1.6 3747 . ,f,. .~ A1 6J 0/1001 4 Mrad 17 3 94 4% --- 1.7 3995 embossed Zonas Natural Rub. N~ 12 10 179 8% 112 2.3 3310 ~-Porous 3M Natural Rub. NA 18 34 136 7% 124 106.3 609 Brand ~ NatsynrM 2210/~ingtackT4 95 100 parts Natsyn/70 parts Wingtack 2 An~eripolTM /ForalTM 85 100 parts Natsyn/100 parts Wingtack co Only slight changes in the ~dl.~ to steel and . ~h~ci~n to backing n~lmherc wercobsGI vcid after hl~lialing the czlmp1ec These changes are not considered critieal.

5 Hot Melt Tackified Acrvlic An a lL.,.,ivG c ...~ g an aerylie pressure sensitive a~lhe~ivG (des.,libed in ~ e~s 3 and 4) and ta~iryillg resin were melt blended in a twin serew extruder and hot melt coated direetly onto the cloth~olyl.l~ laminate. The blend c~ ;..;..g an acrylie adhesive/ tackiryi~ resin at 90/10 parts respeetively was pl.,~,~.lGd by feeding acrylie adhesive in barrel 1 of a 30 mm Werner-P~l.,idGI .,. ZSK 30 twin screw eA~I udel, adding a taekifier of ESCOREZTM 1310 LC (Exxon ~hPmi~l) in barrel 1 of the extruder. The blend was cu.ll~uullded in the extruder at 149 degrees C at rpm of aL)plU~;...-It;ly 325, passed through a screen filter loeated and l~ ,e.;livG gear pump at 166 degrees C and delivered by a heated pipe to a wipe-film eoating die ...~ d at 166 degrees C. Extruder outputs were 15 a~pl~x;~ ly 3.6 Kg/hr/14 em die width. The adhe;~lve eoating had an average thir~n~cc of ~PI-JX;---~ Y 50 mierons (2 mils). The hot melt/t~.~kifi~d adhesives were tested and results are shown in Table 16 below.
Table 16 Hot Melt Taekified Aervlie Properties Sample Adh to steel (N/dm) Adhesion to baeking Unwind (N/dm) (N/dm) This example rl~ ol~l . alGs that different adhesives eoated ~rom solvent are usefill in plG~.ali..g tapes ofthe invention.
An acrylie-based adhesive c.~ g iso-octylacrylie/aerylie aeid/styrene IllaCl'U~ at ratios of 96/2/2 at 50% solids in ethyl aeetate was eoated onto clothJpolymer 25 C(,.llpo~i~G samples created in Example 3 above. The same ~uc~lu~G and ~l~;P~ as in F.Y~mpl~. 3B was used to eoat the adhesive. The plucc;,~illg eon-litionc are listed in Table 17 below.
Table 17 P.occi~;.. p, Con-liti~n.c Sample # Baeking Adhesive % Coating Coating Speed Solids Orifice Thi~ npcc 8A Cloth/Polymcr 50.0% solids 125 42.9 1.8 rn/rnin.
mierons miclo W O 97/24222 PCTrUS96/20298 The adl~ ivc-coated samples wcre then tested for ~-lh~cion of the tape to steel, aAh~si~m of the a~ sivt; to backing, web direction tensile streng~, elong~tion~ 2 bond, porosity, and moisture vapor L.~ on rate. Results are shown in Table 18 below.
Table 18 Sample Adhesion Adhesion Tensile Flm~ . 2 Bond Porosity MVTR
to Steel to (N) (N/dm) (sec.) (N/drn) backing (Ntdrn) 8A 31 7 125 5% 37 >300 134 g/m2/day In most cases, the adhesive .1r1~U~ from the po yrner backing when tested against another surface (steel, skin, etc.).

EXAMPL~ 9 This example d~ c that a tape of the invention created by solvent~oating 10 the adhesive to the cloth\polymer cc n.~-o~ backing can be ~.nb~ t;d to improve the oisLulti vapor ~ rate and to increase the porosity of the tape.
A five foot section of the sample g~ al~l in Example 8 was placed on a release liner. This sample was then e...bGssed by running the sample through a calendar stack at 90.5 degrees C under 120 pli at (210 N per lineal cm). The embossed sample had 97 15 holes/cm2 p~l~ld~d area. This sample was then tested for its physical properties along with control tapcs with the results shown in Table 19 below.

Table 19 Sarnple Adhesion Adhesion Tensile Flon~tion 2 Bond Porosity MVT
to Steel to (N) (N/dm) (min.) (N/dm) backing (N/dm) 9A 26 4 113 4% 25 1.1 3871 J&J 12 11 190 7% 136 4.8 3784 Zonas 3M 23 35 151 5% 125 28.5 829 Brand The same trends occur with these e.. bo~ed samples as with the samples in Example 5. That is, the ~ .... to steel and backing dc.;lt;ase with ~l..bos:,iug. However, the tensile properties of the tape did not decrease. The porosity of the tape was improved by e..lbos~il.g holes into the structure as evidenced by the low porosity value and high IllOi~Ult;
vapor l~ ;c~;nn rate.

F.Y~mple 10 rlf~ a~a fibrous regularly spaced sul, ,Lld~es are useful for plc1Ja~ g b~r~ingc for the tape of the illvcllliull.
S An ap~lu~ Iy 12.7 x 12.7 cm square piece of CLAFTM fabric backing available from Amoco Nisseki CLAF Inc. of Atlanta, GA was placed on an d~JI u~ ly 12.7 x 12.7 square piece of 4 rnil thick polymer f~...".;sed of a 10% by weight blend of Kraton 1107 and 90% by weight acrylonitrile b~lt~fli~n~ styrene (ABS) CycolacTM DFA 1000R
available from General Electric of Pittsfield, MA. The CLAFTM fabric backing and polymer were placed between two 25.4 x 25.4 cm square chrome platen plates each having an a~plu~llaLe thi~lrnPcc of about 6400 rnicrons. The sandwiched plates with the backing and polymer in between were then placed into a Wabash Heated Flat Platen Press available from Wabash, MPI of Wabash, lN which was heated to 143~C. The plates were pressed together until a pressure of about 1,362 kg was obt~inf~l and the plates were held at that pl.~ UlC for about 10 seconds. APcer heating and ~plyillg ~1~7~Ul't the plates were cl~ovcd from the press and cooled allowing the sample to eool.
The cooled backing c U.l.~Osilc was torn accu..l;..g to the hand tear test outlined above. Straight line tear was ob~ .Fd in both the down-web and cross-web directions and the tear was ~ ;g~ ~ a "5" acf~, li..g to the tear test :' ~ '~' c,Y

This Cf~ e Exarnple d~ 1 "~ that li....;..,. I ;..~ a polymeric film to a woven cloth as ~ ribed in U.S. Patent Number 4,545,843 to Bray is not a suitable method of ~Ic~a~ hlg the woven cloth/polymer backing for the adhesive tape of the invention.
To the extent possible, the protocol outlined in the Bray patent was followed for p~cl~a il~g the c~ dla~ivc samples ofthis cullll)aldLive example. Bray did not disclose the exact weave density of the fabric. Bleached cotton cheese cloth having a weave density of 44 x 36 threads per 2.5 cm was used for the cullllJala~ive samples and for the control sample. Polymeric film ~,~~ ;scd of ethylene acrylic acid and available as Primacor 3440 30 from Dow ChPmif ~l of Midland, M1 was 19;~1~d to the cloth.
The following methods were used to laminate the film to the backing. The poly...c.ic film and woven cloth were ~imlllt~nl ously passcd through a nip created by a silicone cast roll and a Teflon (~1) treated steel nip roll. The silicone roll was at ambient ~CIII~Itld~UlC and the Teflon (TM) treated steel nip roll was heated to the L~lllyt;ld~ul~

in~ t~d in Table 15 below for each sample ranging from ambient ~;mpe,~ule to 260~C.
Two different ~ I.od~ of placing the cloth and film into the nip were used. Mode A
involved placing the polymeric film against ~e silicone roll leaving the cloth against the nip roll. Mode B involved placing the cloth against the silicone roll leaving the fil~n against ~e 5 nip roll. The mode each sample was run at is listed in Table 20 below.
The sample backing d~ d as control was ~.lcp~l~d acc~ ,g to the invention and is deb~"il,ed in Example 3 above.
Each of the satnples was tested for d~l - " .;u~t;~n tear and curl as outlined above.
Porosity was tested by following ASTM D726 Method A. Results for each of these tests is 10 given in Table 20 below.

O ~
2 ,~
---o U~ , Z oz .~

~ In ~, g o o ~ C~ o, ~ o o o o ~ o ~
~n ; I A ~ A A A -- -- ~ -- ~t -- oo ~ _ _ o ~ o o ~ A

Oz Oz ~ ~ ~ ZO ~ ~ ~ Oz ~ Oz Oz ~ Oz Oz Oz ~ ~ Oz ~ Oz ~ ~ Oz '~3 ~ ~ o o o o o ~ ~ o~ ~ o o o o o o o o o o o E-~ o o o -- -- -- -- -- ~ ~ ~ ~ o o o o z o Cl~ ~ ~ O O O o ~~ v~ O r~ o o o o ~o ~D ~ O

:~ ~ m m ~ ~ m m m m m ~ m m ~ m P: ~ m m m m m P:
O
V Q ~ _ O ~ _ ~ v~
~_U~:~ _______________------___--V

The Cc,...pa.a~ive Samples 1 lA-l lV *splayed unacceptable tear in the down-web and cross-web directions as cu...~a.Gd to the Control which displayed acceptable or tl~cir~hle tear properties in both directions. Figures 6 and 7 are top and cross sectit n~l views l~,D~e~;liv~ / of sample 110. Although the polymer did not completely encase the S cloth as shown in Figure 6, polymer 30 is not ~,...hc-klt-,(l into the cloth fibers 32 so as to bind the crossover pûints of the warp and weft threads of the woven cloth (Figure 7).
Some plUCcsDi-~, plC~' - were t ~ c;d when pr~ctit~ g the method tl- ccribed in the Bray patent. When l_...;. .~ l ;.~g a thin film at high L~ aLul~ with a slow speed, a porous backing resulted and other IJI~DDil-g ~-~,b' - arose. These included c~ntimlollc build up of polymer that melted and flowed through the cloth Op~,ll;.lgS and onto the cast roll. The porous cloth l~nnin~te had a rough surface due to the polymer flowing through the cloth and att~t~hing to the cast roll. Both of these were nn~rcepphle from a process and from a product view point.

This Cc,~ a.aLivG Example shows that DaLul~Lillg~ illlpl~laLillg or solvent-coating the polymer onto the woven cloth does not result in the tape backing of the invention.
Woven cloth having a weave density of 44 x 36 threads per 2.5 cm was coated using a 15.2 cm wide knife :~JI~dGI at a 125 micron gap and at a 500 micron gap with Kraton 1107 in toluene at 30% solids. Figs. 2 and 3 show the sample resulting from coating the cloth with a 125 micron gap. The fibers of the clo~ were encapsulated wi~ the polyrner, therefore, the resultant sample did not have the feel of cloth. However, both the 125 rnicron and 500 micron coated cloth had ~-cept~h'~ tear properties between 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 to 5 where 5 is good and 1 is poor. Porosity testing was done on both samples in 3.4 seconds the 125 micron sample passed 10 cc of air and in 85 seconds and the 500 micron sample passed 10 cc of air.
Ra~l~ing~ plG~dlGd acco.du.g to this c~ l."~a~dLive example are not acceptable because they lack the feel of cloth.

Claims (76)

We claim:

1. An adhesive tape comprising:
woven cloth, a polymer extrusion coated and embedded into said cloth and capable of adhering to said cloth, and a pressure sensitive adhesive coated onto at least a portion of said polymer, wherein the adhesive tape is hand tearable in a substantially straight line without fraying.

2. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said tape has a cloth feel on said uncoated side.

3. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is thermoplastic.

4. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is elastorneric.

5. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene elastorner, copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

6. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein the polymer is comprised of a polyethylene-based polymer and the adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic and a thermoplastic elastomer and the unwind tension of a roll of tape is less than 14 N/dm without using a low adhesion backsize.

7. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein the torn edges of the tape do not curl.

8. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said adhesive is selected from the group consisting essentially of acrylics, synthetic rubbers, natural rubbers, silicones and block copolymers.

9. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and a thermoplastic elastorner, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domaines, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive vtithin said first domain.

10. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and an elastorner and a tackifier, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

11. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two layers.

12. The adhesive tape of claim 11 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two different polymers.

13. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is between about 12 about 150 micrometers thick.

14. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said polymer is between about 25 and 75 micrometers thick.

15. The adhesive tape of claim 1 wherein said woven cloth is comprised of between about 30 x 28 to about 44 x 36 threads per 2.54 cm.

16. An adhesive tape comprising;
a woven cloth having a first side and a second side, a polymer on said second side of said woven cloth and said polymer embedded intosaid cloth such that the overlapping fibers of said woven cloth are bound together but said polymer does not extend through to said first side of said cloth, a pressure sensitive adhesive on at least a portion of said polymer, and wherein said resulting adhesive tape is hand tearable along a substantially straight line in a down-web and in a cross-web direction.

17. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said tape has a cloth feel on said uncoated side.

18. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is thermoplastic.

19. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is elastomeric.

20. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene elastomer, copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

21. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein the polymer is comprised of a polyethylene-based polymer and the adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic and a thermoplastic elastomer and the unwind tension of a roll of tape is less than 14 N/dm without using a low adhesion backsize.

22. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein the torn edges of the tape do not curl.

23. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said adhesive is selected from the group consisting essentially of acrylics, synthetic rubbers, natural rubbers, polyvinyl ethers, silicones, poly-alpha-olefins and block copolymers.

24. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and a thermoplastic elastomer, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

25. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and an elastomer and a tackifier, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

26. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two layers.

27. The adhesive tape of claim 26 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two different polymers.

28. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is between about 12 about 150 micrometers thick.

29. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said polymer is between about 25 and 75 micrometers thick.

30. The adhesive tape of claim 16 wherein said woven cloth is comprised of between about 30 x 28 to about 44 x 36 threads per 2.54 cm.

31. A method of making an adhesive tape comprising the steps of-a) providing a substrate having a first side and a second side, b) extruding a polymer onto said first side of said substrate at a temperature, rate and amount to cause the fibers of said substrate to bind without causing said polymer to completely encase the fibers, and c) coating a pressure sensitive adhesive onto said polymer side of said polymer coated cloth wherein said resulting adhesive tape is hand tearable in a substantially straight line without fraying,

32. The method of claim 31 wherein said substrate comprises a woven cloth.

33. The method of claim 31 wherein said tape has a cloth feel on said uncoated side.

34. The method of claim 31 wherein said polymer is thermoplastic.

35. The method claim 31 wherein said polymer is elastomeric.

36. The method claim 31 wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene elastomer, copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

37. The method of claim 31 wherein the polymer is comprised of a polyethylene-based polymer and the adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic and a thermoplastic elastomer and the unwind tension of a roll of tape is less than 14 N/dm without using a low adhesion backsize.

38. The method of claim 31 wherein the torn edges of the tape do not curl.

39. The method of claim 31 wherein said adhesive is selected from the group consisting essentially of acrylics, synthetic rubbers, natural rubbers, silicones, and block copolymers.

40. The method of claim 31 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and a thermoplastic elastomer, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

41. The method of claim 31 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and an elastomer and a tackifier, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

42. The method of claim 31 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two layers.

43. The method of claim 31 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two different polymers.

44. The method of claim 31 wherein said polymer is between about 12 about 150 micrometers thick.

45. The method of claim 31 wherein said polymer is between about 25 and 75 micrometers thick.

46. The method of claim 32 wherein said woven cloth is comprised of between about 5 x 5 to about 300 x 300 threads per 2.54 cm.

47. The method of claim 31 wherein said adhesive is extruded onto said polymer.

48. The method of claim 31 wherein the polymer and the adhesive are coextruded onto the woven cloth.

49. An adhesive tape prepared by the method of claim 31.

50. An adhesive tape comprising:
a substrate comprised of regularly spaced fibers in the down-web and cross-web directions wherein said fibers are not woven, a polymer coated and embedded into said substrate such that the warp and weft fibers are securely bonded at their overlap points but said fibers are not completely encased with said polymer, and a pressure sensitive adhesive coated onto at least a portion of said polymer, wherein the adhesive tape is hand tearable in the down-web and in the cross-web direction.

51. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is thermoplastic.

52. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is elastomeric.

53. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene elastomer, copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate polyurethane, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

54. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein the polymer is comprised of a polyethylene-based polymer and the adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic and a thermoplastic elastomer and the unwind tension of a roll of tape is less than 14 N/dm without using a low adhesion backsize.

55. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein the torn edges of the tape do not curl.

56. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said adhesive is selected from the group consisting essentially of acrylics, synthetic rubbers, natural rubbers, silicones and block copolymers.

57. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and a thermoplastic elastomer, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

58. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive and an elastomer and a tackifier, said composition comprising at least 5 weight percent adhesive and said composition having a morphology comprising at least two distinct domains, a first domain being substantially continuous in nature and said second domain being fibrillose to schistose in nature parallel to the major surface of the adhesive within said first domain.

59. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two layers.

60. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two different polymers.

61. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is between about 12 about 150 microacters thick.

62. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is between about 25 and 75 microacters thick.

63. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said substrate is comprised of CLAFTM.

64. The adhesive tape of claim 50 wherein said polymer is extruded onto said substrate.

65. A composite backing, comprising:
a substrate cloth having a first side and a second side, a polymer on said second side of said woven cloth and said polymer embedded intosaid cloth such that the overlapping fibers of said woven cloth are bound together but said polymer does not extend through to said first side of said cloth, and wherein said resulting composite backing is hand tearable along a substantially straight line in a down-web and in a cross-web direction without fraying.

66. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein said polymer is extrusion coated onto said cloth.

67. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene elastomer, copolymers of polyethylene, blends of polyethylene and polyethylene copolymer, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane, block copolymers, polyether block amides, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer, polyester block copolymers, polypropylene, polycarbonate, polyacrylics, nylon and blends thereof.

68. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein said backing has a cloth feel on said uncoated side.

69. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein the torn edges of the backing do not curl.

70. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two layers.

71. The composite backing of claim 70 wherein said polymer is comprised of at least two different polymers.

72. The composite backing of claim 65 wherein said polymer is between about 12 about 150 micrometers thick.

73. The composite backing of claim I wherein said polymer is between about 18 and 50 micrometers thick.

74. An adhesive article useful for medical applications, comprising:
a substrate a polymer embedded into said substrate to cause the fibers of said substrate to bond without completely encasing the fibers, and a pressure sensitive adhesive having a To of at least 1 N/dm and a T48 of less than 12 N/dm when adhered to skin as defined by the Skin Adhesion Test as defined herein and wherein said article is hand tearable in a substantially straight line without fraying.

75. The adhesive article of claim 74 wherein the substrate is comprised of a woven cloth.

76. The adhesive article of claim 74 wherein said adhesive is comprised of a blend of at least two components comprised of about 5 to about 95% by weight of a first component comprised of at least one acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive and about 5 to about 95% by weight of a second component comprised of either (a) at least one elastomer with a tackifying resin, or (b) at least one thermoplastic elastomer.