METHOD OF MAKING AND USING AN ADHESIVE TAPE

Abstract

An adhesive tape is made by providing an elongated and laminated substrate band formed by a woven fabric layer forming an outer face of the band and a flat sound-damping web forming an inner face of the band and comprised of a nonwoven, velour, or foam and then applying an adhesive coating to the inner face of the substrate band formed by the sound-damping web and also providing a marking stripe extending longitudinally of the band on the outer face of the substrate and having a coloring different from that of the woven fabric layer. Thereafter the tape is wound generally helically in succeeding overlapping turns around an elongated object with the inner face turned inward and adhering to the object and the outer face turned outward away from the object while positioning an edge of each turn along the marking strip of the preceding turn while leaving a portion of the preceding exposed.

Claims

1. A method of making and using an adhesive tape, the method comprising the steps of: providing an elongated and laminated substrate band formed by a woven fabric layer forming an outer face of the band and a flat sound-damping web forming an inner face of the band and comprised of a nonwoven, velour, or foam; applying an adhesive coating to the inner face of the substrate band formed by the sound-damping web; providing a marking stripe extending longitudinally of the band on the outer face of the substrate and having a coloring different from that of the woven fabric layer; and thereafter winding the tape generally helically in succeeding overlapping turns around an elongated object with the inner face turned inward and adhering to the object and the outer face turned outward away from the object while positioning an edge of each turn along the marking strip of the preceding turn while leaving a portion of the preceding exposed.

2. The adhesive tape defined in claim 1, wherein the substrate band is provided with the adhesive coating over the entire surface of the inner face.

3. The adhesive tape defined in claim 1, wherein the marking is a stripe worked into the substrate band as a continuous sewing thread, or is applied to the substrate band.

4. The adhesive tape defined in claim 1, wherein the marking is a continuous or interrupted stripe that is applied to or introduced into the substrate band at a predefined spacing from an edge covered by the following turn.

5. The adhesive tape defined in claim 4, wherein a spacing of the stripe from the covered edge is 50% or less of the width of the substrate band.

5. The adhesive tape defined in claim 1, wherein the marking is applied to the substrate band by imprinting, embossing, sewing, gluing, laser, spraying, rolling-on, etc., or combinations thereof.

6. The adhesive tape defined in claim 1, wherein the strip covers only part of a width but the full length of the outer face, the inner face of the substrate band formed by the sound-damping web being completely covered by the adhesive coating.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0032] The invention is explained in further detail below with reference to a schematic drawing, which illustrates only one embodiment:

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a cable bundle wrapped with an adhesive tape according to the invention;

[0034] FIG. 2 shows the adhesive tape according to the invention in the extended state and in a top view, and

[0035] FIG. 3 is section x-x through the adhesive tape according to FIG. 2.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0036] FIG. 1 illustrates a cable bundle 2 wrapped with an adhesive tape 1. The cable bundle 2 is composed of several cables grouped together and extending longitudinally. In this way, a cable set is produced as a whole that is typically used in a car. In principle, other elongated objects 2 can also be wrapped with the aid of the adhesive tape 1 according to the invention instead of the cable bundle 2. That is not shown in detail, however.

[0037] As can be seen in section in FIG. 3, the adhesive tape 1 according to the invention has a substrate band 3, 4 and an adhesive coating 5. The substrate band 3, 4 is composed of a woven fabric layer 3 and a flat web 4 connected thereto. The flat web 4 can be a nonwoven fabric, a velours, or another noise-attenuating layer such as for example a foam layer.

[0038] In this embodiment, the adhesive coating 5 is applied to one face of the substrate band 3, 4, particularly over the entire surface. In principle, however, the adhesive coating 5 can also be a strip coating as described above. Finally, the substrate band 3, 4 is also provided with a marking 6.

[0039] It can be seen that the substrate band 3, 4 has the adhesive coating 5 on its inner face turned toward the object 2. By contrast, the outer face of the substrate band 3, 4 facing away from the object 2 is provided with the previously mentioned marking 6. In this embodiment, and as shown by FIG. 2, the marking 6 is a continuous spacing mark.

[0040] In fact, the marking 6 has a predefined spacing A from an edge 1a of the adhesive tape 1. Due to its longitudinally extended nature, the adhesive tape 1 has, beside this edge or longitudinal edge 1a, another, opposing or longitudinal edge 1b. Moreover, a center line M can also be seen that divides the adhesive tape 1 in the longitudinal direction into two portions of equal width.

[0041] The longitudinal edge 1a of the adhesive tape 1 is an edge 1a of the adhesive tape 1 that is covered during helical wrapping of the adhesive tape 1 onto the elongated object 2 and, for this reason, is shown by a broken line in FIG. 1. In fact, several turns 7, 8, 9, 10, are visible in FIG. 1. The turn 7 is in fact a leading turn 7 of the wrapping or binding achieved with the aid of the adhesive tape 1. On the other hand, the second, adjacent turn 8 acts as a following turn 8 and is glued onto the leading turn 7 with an overlap spacing A. According to the invention, this overlap A corresponds to the spacing A of the marking or, more particularly, spacing mark 6 from the edge 1a of the adhesive tape 1 covered by the following turn 8.

[0042] In looking at how the thus performed wrapping or binding of the elongated objector cable bundle 2 in this casecontinues, it becomes clear that all other turns 9, 10 are positioned in a comparable manner on the cable bundle or elongated object 2. In fact, the following turn 8 acts as a leading turn 8 in relation to the following turn 9 subsequent thereto. The following turn 9, in turn, is to be regarded as a leading turn in relation to the other subsequent following turns 10. In all of these cases, the overall procedure followed is that the following turn 8 or 9, 10 is securely glued to the respective turn 7 or 8, 9 on the object 2 in consideration of the overlap or overlapping A.

[0043] This overlap A is predefined with the aid of the marking 6. After all, the marking 6 is a positioning aid during the described wrapping. This is done in such a way that the following turn 8 9, or 10 is glued with the overlap A predefined by the marking 6 as positioning aid on the respective leading turn 7 or 8, 9 securely glued on the object 2.

[0044] The marking 6 can be embodied overall as a color mark and have a coloring that differs from, particularly contrasts with, a substrate band coloring. In fact, the substrate band 3, 4 typically has a continuous coloring, for example black. The marking 6 now has a contrasting coloration, for example red, as a color mark. Alternatively or in addition, however, the marking 6 can also be a haptic mark. In this case, the substrate band 3, 4 has a different surface quality in the vicinity of the marking 6 than on its remaining surface. This altered surface quality can be realized and implemented, for example, such that the woven fabric layer 3 provided in this case on the outer face of the adhesive tape 1 is blasted with a laser in the longitudinal direction (cf. FIG. 3). In this way, the woven fabric layer 3 in this embodiment can be melted along the laser beam and/or change the coloring of the substrate band 3, 4 and, in the present case, of the woven fabric layer 3.

[0045] In any case, the marking 6 is defined in this way as a spacing mark and can be used by the assembly worker as a positioning aid during the wrapping process shown in FIG. 1 on the end product. The assembly worker will proceed here effectively by guiding the rear edge 1b of the adhesive tape 1 (when seen in the wrapping direction W) along the marking 6. As a result, the front edge 1a of the adhesive tape 1 (in the wrapping direction W) is automatically covered taking into account the overlap A and defines the edge 1a covered by the respective following turn 8 9, or 10. This can be seen clearly from the extended view in FIG. 2.

[0046] The possibility of working the marking 6 as a whole into the substrate band 3, 4 or implementing the marking 6 together with the manufacture of the substrate band 3, 4 is not shown. Actually, the approach taken is usually to first precondition the substrate band 3, 4 and to provide it beforehand or afterward with the adhesive coating 5. The marking 6 is then applied to this preconditioned substrate band 3, 4.