US3869307A

US3869307A - Receptive copy sheets and process

Info

Publication number: US3869307A
Application number: US294881A
Authority: US
Inventors: Douglas A Newman; Albert E Brown
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-10-04
Filing date: 1972-10-04
Publication date: 1975-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-04
Also published as: GB1435682A; NL7500787A; FR2298644A1; DE2504135A1; FR2298644B3

Abstract

Copy sheet which is adapted for use as a pattern sheet in connection with the cutting of fabrics and which has an imagereceptive surface which is capable of being imaged by means of ball-point pen, carbon transfer compositions and liquid inks, which surface is non-tacky to the touch and which has release properties with respect to adhesive compositions.

Description

0 finned Siates Paient 11 1 1111 3,869,307 Newman et a1. 1 1 Mar. 4, 1975 [54] RECEPTIVE COPY SHEETS AND PROCESS 3,531,312 9/1970 Newman 117/36.1

, 7 1751' Douglas Newman; Mbw 3:233:31? 11311 B1;f?i.11,.,.. 151 /1555 Brown both Of Glen Cove, 3,681,105 8/1972 Milutin 612111 117/122 P 73 Assignee: Melvin Sharkey, Hewlett, N.Y. gi s; [22] Filed: Oct. 4, 1972 Primary Examiner-Thomas J. Herbert, Jr. [21] Appl' 2947881 Attorney, Agent, or Firn1Th0mas L. Tully; Arthur A.

Johnson [52] 11.8. C1. 117/122 PA, 117/36.1 [51] 11M. C1. C09j 7/02, B41111 5/02 57 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 1. 117/122 P,36.1, 122 PA, C h d df t h 117/33, 76 A, 36.4, 68.5; 161/162 .OPYS P apte use as 1 em 5 5* 1n connecnon w1th the cuttlng of fabrics and wh1ch [56] References Cited has an imagereceptive surface which is capable of being imaged by means of ball-point pen, carbon UNITED STATES PATENTS transfer compositions and liquid inks, which surface is Rizner non tacky to the touch and has release proper- 3'463-654 8/1969 117/361 ties with respect to adhesive compositions 3,472,674 10/1969 1. 1l7/36.1 3,476,937 11/1969 Vrancken 117/361 X 12 Claims, N0 Drawings RECEPTIVE COPY SHEETS AND PROCESS In order to improve the receptivity of paper for a variety of imaging materials, particularly for pressuretransferable layers, it is well known in the art to apply a receptive coating to the paper. This is particularly true with respect to forms and copy pads where up to seven or more duplicate copies are required corresponding to the imaging pressure applied against the original or top sheet.

The conventional receptive coatings generally contain tacky or adhesive binder materials comprising tacky waxes such as paraffin or adhesive resins such as butadiene-styrene copolymers in combination with clay or other inorganic porous filler. Such coatings are either so tacky or adhesive that they attract dirt and cause the sheets to stick together under certain conditions or, if sufficient porous filler is included to overcome these problems, they are not sufficiently adhesive to provide the desired receptivity, and furthermore the coatings are brittle and tend to crack and to transfer or pick to the transfer layer or to an adhesive layer or to the back of the paper if the paper is wound in a continuous roll.

The problem is particularly critical in the case of continuous rolls of pattern paper which have a receptive coating adapted to have a pattern inscribed thereon by means of ball-point pen, carbon paper or liquid ink and which have adhesive applied to the opposite surface for purposes of adhering lengths of the inscribed pattern paper to the uppermost ply of a pile of superposed fabric sheets which are to be cut to the outline of the inscribed pattern. In such rolls the receptive coating is in contact with the adhesive back and must have the ability to release from the adhesive without transferring to the adhesive or pulling the adhesive from the back and- /or tearing the paper.

It is known to provide a smooth plastic coating or an oily coating on the back surface of an adhesive coated paper roll or web to function as a release surface for the adhesive. While this is quite satisfactory for a variety of uses, it is not satisfactory in cases where the back surface of the web must be receptive to ballpoint pen, carbon transfer compositions and/or liquid inks since such surfaces do not accept and/or retain such imaging materials.

With these considerations in mind, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide copy sheets which carry a receptive coating which has improved properties of image receptivity with respect to ballpoint pen, carbon transfer compositions and liquid inks, said coating being non-tacky to the touch and resistant to sticking to other surfaces in contact therewith, such as in a roll.

It is another object of this invention to provide pattern copy sheets and ribbons or strips having said receptive coating on one surface and having adhesive on the opposite surface, for adhering the imaged copy sheet to a fabric sheet to be cut, said receptive coating having the ability to release its adherence to the adhesive on the underside when the sheet is withdrawn from a continuous roll thereof.

It is an advantage of this invention that the present image-receptive coatings are translucent so as to provide a natural appearance, smooth to the touch so as to facilitate handling of the sheets and flexible so as to permit flexing and folding of the sheets without damaging the coating.

ing a normally tacky or adhesive wax and/or resinouselastomer and at least about 10 percent by weight, based upon the weight of the binder material, of an inert synthetic organic polymer in the form of spheres having an average particle size between about 1 and 40 microns. The polymer spheres are present as such in the receptive coating and therefore must be insoluble in the volatile solvent used to apply the coating to the sheet and are inert with respect to the binder material so as not to be plasticized or otherwise disturbed in the coating.

Basically 'it appears that the compositionof the polymer spheres may be varied widely depending upon the identity of the binder material and the volatile solvent or temperature used to apply the coating. Spheres suit able for use in one system may be compatible with or plasticized by the waxes or resins or soluble in the solvent, or meltable at the temperature used, in another system. Preferred because of their inertness, temperature resistance and insolubility with respect to most wax and resinous binder materials and volatile solvents are the high melting point polymer spheres commercially available under the trademarks Polymist (Allied Chemical Company) and Fluon (Imperial Chemical Industries). Polymist A 12 comprises polyethylene spheres having an average sphere size of 12 microns, a melting point of 284 F and a specific gravity of 0.99. Fluon F comprises polytetratluroethylene spheres having an average sphere size of less than 5 microns, a melting point greater than 600 F and a specific gravity of 2.28. Polymist 5 is a similar material having an average sphere size of 4 microns and a melting point of about 660 F. All of these materials are available in the form of dry powders which can be conveniently mixed with the wax hot melt or the solution of the binder material with which they are to be used.

The preferred resinous elastomers are polybutene, polybutadiene, butadiene copolymers with styrene and- /or acrylonitrile, polyvinyl ethers, polyisoprene, polyisobutylene, and the like. The preferred materials are the lndopol polybutenes available from Amoco Chemicals Corporation and having mean molecular weights ranging from 320 (Is-l0) up to 2150 (ll-1900), and the Vistanex isobutylene polymers available from En jay Company and having mean molecular weights ranging from 8,700 to 11,700. These materials are generally used in association with secondary resinous binder materials, preferably with which they are compatible, at least at elevated temperatures, and which are less adhesive so as to provide a blend having the desired degree of adhesiveness. Such other resins include polyolefins such aspolyethylene and polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylic and methacrylic polymers and copolymers, polyvinyl butyrate, nylon, and the like. The preferred secondary resinous binder materials are the polyethylene emulsions available from Allied Chemical Co. under the trademark Polyethylene A-C. Polyethylene A-C 6 has an average molecular weight of 2,000 and a softening point of 222 F. The only requirement is that if a mixture of resins is used, the resins must be soluble, at least at elevated temperatures, in a common solvent or solvent mixture which is not a solvent for the polymer spheres.

The preferred wax binder materials are the normally tacky waxes such as beeswax, paraffin wax, or the like, alone or in combination with an adhesive resinous binder material such as a polybutene elastomer or the like. Such mixtures are applied as hot melts. In general most waxes can be used in association with an adhesive resinous binder material which plasticizes them to produce a tacky combination.

The weight ratio between the polymer spheres and the binder material will vary depending upon the degree of adhesiveness of the binder material and the final properties desired. In general the ratio ranges between about 311 and 1:10, the preferred ratio being about 1:2.

It is not completely clear how the polymer spheres function in the present receptive coatings but it appears that the spheres migrate to the surface of the coating during drying or cooling of the coating to form a surface stratum of discrete polymer spheres which are tightly bonded to the binder material. Thus the surface of the coating is not adhesive to the touch and feels smooth. However, under the effects of imaging pressure, the adhesive binder material exudes around the polymer spheres and/or the spheres are pressed partly below the surface of the binder material whereby the adhesive binder contacts and holds the imaging material being pressed thereagainst. In the absence of imaging pressures, the polymer spheres maintain the adhesive binder material substantially out of contact with the hands or with sheets pressed thereagainst under overall pressures less than localized impact or imaging pressures.

According to the embodiment of the present invention in which an adhesive, such as spaced adhesive applications, is present on the underside of the sheet or web, opposite the receptive coated side, this may be accomplished by first applying the receptive coating to one surface of the sheet or web and then applying the adhesive to the other side so that when the web is wound on a roll, the adhesive will contact the receptive coating, which has release properties, and no separate interleaf sheet is required. The adhesive preferably is applied in the form of spaced squares or stripes of double-sided adhesive tape which is commercially available, or may be printed on in the form of spaced squares, dots, stripes, circles, or the like, using a solution of any of the elastomers mentioned hereinbefore in a volatile solvent, followed by evaporation of the solvent. Generally the adhesive applications are spaced by from 1 to 4 inches, the spacing permitting the sheet to be easily removed from adherence to another sheet such as a ply of cloth without damage to the latter.

The following example is given as an illustration of a specific method for producing a receptive copy sheet using specific compositions according to one embodiment of the present invention.

A web of 8 pound Kraft paper is coated on one surface with a continuous smooth layer of the following composition, applied at a weight of about 2 pounds per ream (3300 square feet):

Ingredients Parts by Weight 6 grams -Continued Ingredients Parts by Weight Polyethylene Spheres A 12 (Allied) 6 dov Mineral spirits 88 do.

The composition is prepared by dissolving the polyethylene A-C 6 resin and the polybutene resin in 30 grams of the mineral spirits solvent at a temperature of 220 F, using agitation, to form a clear solution. The balance of the solvent is then added and the solution is cooled to room temperature. The solution passes through a cloud point and turns white and increases in viscosity due to at least a portion of the A-C 6 resin coming out of solution. Then the Polymist spheres are added with agitation to form a uniform mixture which is coated onto the paper base.

The coated paper is heated to a temperature of about F to evaporate the solvent and form the dried receptive coating which weighs about 2 pounds per 3,300 square feet of paper base and which has a translucent whitish color. It has been found desirable to heat the dried coating to an elevated temperature above the softening temperature of the binder material but below the melting point of the polymer spheres, i.e., from 225 F to 250 F in most cases, to produce receptive coatings having the best properties.

If the coated paper is to be used as pattern paper in connection with the cutting of fabric to conform to the outline of the pattern imaged on the sheet, it is preferred to provide the uncoated surface of the paper base with a multiplicity of spaced adhesive applications. This may be accomplished by bringing the uncoated surface of the paper base into contact with a printing roller adapted to apply a multiplicity of spaced lines or dots of a solution of an adhesive binder material such as polybutene resin, polyvinyl ethyl ether or butadiene-styrene copolymer, dissolved in a volatile organic solvent, to print the adhesive solution thereon followed by evaporation of the volatile organic solvent to leave the adhesive residue.

The receptive coating has excellent receptivity to ball-point inks, commonly used in the garment field to mark a pattern outline on a pattern sheet. It also has excellent receptivity to the so-called dry hectograph copy inks which comprise dye-colored oil images which are impressed against the pattern sheet to form duplicate copies, in the absence of volatile solvents which present a danger in the garment field. U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,683 is set forth as illustrative of such process and inks.

The receptive coating also has excellent receptivity to carbon transfer compositions and to the so-called carbonless copy transfer compositions which generally are not pressure-transferable except to a specially coated receptor sheet. In cases where three or more copies are being made in the carbonless copy system, the sheets employed commonly have the receptive coating present on the top surface of the sheet and the carbonless transfer layer on the under surface of the sheet for pressure-transfer to the receptive coating on the top surface of the next underlying sheet. U.S. Pat. No. 3,410,711 is set forth as illustrative of such a system and of transfer layers suitable for use with the present receptive layers.

It is also noted that the present receptive coatings have pressure-adhesive properties and therefore can be used as adhesive tapes in systems where it is advantageous to use a tape which is non-adhesive to the touch but which becomes adhesive under the effects of heavy pressure applied by hand or by pressure roller, or the like.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

We claim:

1. Receptive copy sheet comprising a flexible foundation having on the surface thereof a receptive coating which is capable of being imaged by means of ballpoint pen ink, pressure-sensitive transfer compositions and liquid inks, said receptive coating comprising from about 25 percent to 90 percent by weight of a solid adhesive resinous binder material and from about percent to 25 percent by weight, based upon the weight of said binder material, of polymer spheres consisting of an inert synthetic organic polymer and having an average particle size of from about 1 to 40 microns, said coating having said spheres at the surface thereof and being non-adhesive to the touch and said adhesive resinous binder being exudable under the effects of imaging pressure at ordinary room temperatures to displace the polymer spheres and render the surface of the coat ing adhesive in the impressed areas.

2. A copy sheet according to claim 1 in which the receptive coating is present on one surface and the opposite surface contains a material which is adhesive to the touch, said receptive coating having release properties with respect to said adhesive material whereby said sheet can be collected on a roll and then unwound without damage to the sheet, to the receptive coating or to the adhesive material.

3. A copy sheet according to claim 2 in which the adhesive on the opposite surface is present in the form of spaced applications.

4. A copy sheet according to claim 1 in which the receptive coating is present on one surface and a pressure-transferable imaging layer is present on the opposite surface.

5. A copy sheet according to claim 1 in which the adhesive resinous binder material is selected from the group consisting of polybutene, polybutadiene, butadiene copolymers, polyvinyl ether, polyisoprene and polyisobutylene.

6. A copy sheet according to claim 1 in which the polymer spheres comprise synthetic organic polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene.

7. Process for producing receptive copy sheets capable of being imaged by means of ball-point pen ink, pressure-sensitive transfer compositions and liquid inks comprising the steps of:

a. producing a coating composition comprising a solution of from about 25 percent to 90 percent by weight of an adhesive resinous binder material dissolved in a volatile liquid solvent and from about 10 percent to percent by weight, based upon the weight of said binder material, of polymer spheres consisting of an inert synthetic organic polymer, said spheres being insoluble in said volatile liquid and having an average particle size of from about 1 to 40 microns;

b. applying said composition to the surface of a flexible foundation sheet as a uniform surface layer; and

c. evaporating said volatile liquid solvent to solidify said layer to form on said foundation an imagereceptive layer which has said spheres at the sur face thereof and is non-adhesive to the touch and has release properties, said adhesive resinous binder being exudable under the effects of.imaging pressure at ordinary room temperatures to displace the polymer spheres and render the surface of the layer adhesive in the impressed areas.

8. Process according to claim 7 in which the opposite surface of the flexible foundation is provided with a material which is adhesive to the touch, but which is incapable of forming a strong bond with said image receptive layer when contacted therewith.

9. Process according to claim 8 in which the adhesive is applied to the opposite surface in the form of spaced applications.

10. Process according to claim 7 in which the adhesive binder material is selected from the group consisting of polybutene, polybutadiene, butadiene copolymers, polyvinyl ether, polyisoprene and polyisobutylene.

11. Process according to claim 7 in which the opposite surface of the flexible foundation is coated with a thin pressure-transferable imaging layer.

12. Process according to claim 7 in which the polymer spheres comprise synthetic organic polymer selected from the group consisting of polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene.

Claims

1. RECEPTIVE COPY SHEET COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE FOUNDATION HAVING ON THE SURFACE THEREOF A RECEPTIVE COATING WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING IMAGED BY MEANS OF BALL-POINT PEN INK, PRESSURE-SENSITIVE TRANSFER COMPOSITION AND LIQUID INKS, SAID RECEPTIVE COATING COMPRISING FROM ABOUT 25 PERCENT TO 90 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF A SOLID ADHESIVE RESINOUS BINDER MATERIAL AND FROM ABOUT 10 PERCENT TO 25 PERCENT BY WEIGHT, BASED UPON THE WEIGHT OF SAID BINDER MATERIAL, OF POLYMER SPHERES CONSISTING OF AN INERT SYNTHETIC ORGANIC POLYMER AND HAVING AN AVERAGE PARTICLE OF SIZE OF FROM ABOUT 1 TO 40 MICRONS SAID COATING HAVING SAID SPHERES AT THE SURFACE THEREOF AND BEING NONADHESIVE TO THE TOUCH AND SAID ADHESIVE RESINOUS BINDER BEING EXUDABLE UNDER THE EFFECTS OF IMAGING PRESSURE AT ORDINARY ROOM TEMPERATURES TO DISPLACE THE POLYMER SPHERES AND RENDER THE SURFACE OF THE COATING ADHESIVE IN THE IMPRESSED AREAS.

7. Process for producing receptive copy sheets capable of being imaged by means of ball-point pen ink, pressure-sensitive transfer compositions and liquid inks comprising the steps of: a. producing a coating composition comprising a solution of from about 25 percent to 90 percent by weight of an adhesive resinous binder material dissolved in a volatile liquid solvent and from about 10 percent to 75 percent by weight, based upon the weight of said binder material, of polymer spheres consisting of an inert synthetic organic polymer, said spheres being insoluble in said volatile liquid and having an average particle size of from about 1 to 40 microns; b. applying said composition to the surface of a flexible foundation sheet as a uniform surface layer; and c. evaporating said volatile liquid solvent to solidify said layer to form on said foundation an image-receptive layer which has said spheres at the surface thereof and is non-adhesive to the touch and has release properties, said adhesive resinous binder being exudable under the effects of imaging pressure at ordinary room temperatures to displace the polymer spheres and render the surface of the layer adhesive in the impressed areas.

8. Process according to claim 7 in which the opposite surface of the flexible foundation is provided with a material which is adhesive to the touch, but which is incapable of forming a strong bond with said image-receptive layer when contacted therewith.