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Application
September 2002

PSA Solutions for the Appliance Market

MACfilm is a family of free films for bonding to difficult surfaces like foams, felts and fabrics.

Application convenience. Economics. Elimination of stress points. Customization for difficult surface bonding. These are just a few reasons pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are becoming more popular with appliance manufacturers.

Pressure sensitive adhesives are traditionally used in the consumer- and industrial-appliance industry to provide sound insulation and noise deadening; to act as stiffeners by reinforcing metal walls in appliances such as washers, dryers and stoves; to produce graphic overlays including membrane switches and electroluminescent lighting; and to apply gasketing, screw anchors, insulation, nameplates and faceplates.

MACtac Technical Products, Stow, Ohio, has several products that are heavily used in its key markets to meet specific assembly needs. The appliance market relies on MACmount(r), MACbond(r) and MACfilm(r) because of their engineered properties, enabling them to meet a range of requirements.

Bonding Uneven or Irregular Surfaces

MACmount is double-coated, closed-cell polyethylene foam tape that provides mounting, bonding and laminating for similar and dissimilar materials. According to Bob Frazier, MACtac Technical Products marketing manager, MACmount offers customers a solution when dealing with irregular surfaces. “In addition to its shear strength, MACmount foam tapes are both highly conformable and compressible when applied to uneven, irregular or contoured surfaces.”

The Double-Sided Adhesive

MACbond’s family of double-coated adhesives demonstrate very high tack and are ideal for gasketing, dust-sealing and noise-deadening applications. And according to Frazier, these benefits led to the discovery of another one.

“A customer was having difficulty bonding to low-surface-energy plastics and powder-coated paint finishes — two surfaces that are being used more frequently,” says Frazier. “Solvent-based liquid adhesives are traditionally used in these types of applications, but they are potentially unfriendly to the environment, which our customer wanted to avoid.”

MACtac Technical Products recommended MACbond because of its double-sided properties. First, the adhesive side was applied to the printed nameplate. The second side, which features an aggressive adhesive, was used to bond to the low-energy substrate.

“Our customer obtained excellent adhesion, while eliminating the environmental risk caused by liquid-adhesive fumes,” says Frazier.

Bonding to Difficult Surfaces

MACtac Technical Products recently expanded its family of free films to include IF-2070 (effective in bonding low-density foams, felts and fabrics), IF-2090 (ideal for bonding to polypropylene, polyethylene and powder-coated surfaces) and IF-3070 (developed for high-temperature applications). Along with its existing IF-2010 Series, the company’s free-film product offering is now able to fulfill a range of engineering requirements.

One example of these evolving requirements is the increasing popularity of plastic nameplates (logos, keypads, etc.). By using PSAs to apply plastic nameplates, the adhesive attaches the nameplate while forming a tight, protective seal.

MACtac, a subsidiary of the Bemis Co., Inc., is a global company with manufacturing and distribution facilities in 14 countries.

For more information or to obtain product samples, contact the MACtac Technical Products Group at 4560 Darrow Rd., Stow, OH 44224-1898; phone 800-323-3439, fax 330-689-3932, e-mail MACtactechnical@bemis.com, or visit www.MACtac.com. Or Circle No. 209.