阅读说明：本技术 用于包护细长物品、特别地导线的收缩缠绕膜和方法 (Shrink wrap film and method for wrapping elongated items, in particular wires ) 是由 K.克林格伯格 L.古尔德布兰德森 H.西莫尼斯 于 2020-02-10 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及用于包护细长物品、更特别地电缆组的胶带和方法。该胶带必须在用于进一步加工的操作规定内、例如在6分钟内固化,且在固化后必须呈现出所需的尺寸稳定性性质。然而,胶粘剂组合物本身在储存期间一定不固化,因为否则的话它们将不再能被使用。固化温度也不可太高,因为否则的话经常由PVC制成的导线绝缘物可遭受损坏。本发明提供用于包护细长物品、例如更特别地导线或电缆组的方法,其中以螺旋线围绕细长物品引导经拉伸的收缩缠绕膜,或者用经拉伸的收缩缠绕膜在轴向上缠绕细长物品,将细长物品与收缩缠绕膜缠绕物一起形成所需的布置、更特别地电缆组规划,将细长物品保持为该布置并通过在最高达130℃的温度下提供热能而使收缩缠绕膜收缩。(The present invention relates to a tape and a method for sheathing elongated items, more particularly groups of cables. The tape must cure within the operating specifications for further processing, for example within 6 minutes, and must exhibit the desired dimensional stability properties after curing. However, the adhesive compositions themselves must not cure during storage, since otherwise they can no longer be used. The curing temperature may not be too high, since otherwise the wire insulation, which is often made of PVC, may be damaged. The invention provides a method for sheathing an elongated article, such as more particularly a wire or cable set, wherein a stretched shrink wrap film is guided around the elongated article in a helical line or wound with the stretched shrink wrap film in an axial direction, the elongated article together with the shrink wrap film winding is brought into a desired arrangement, more particularly a cable set plan, the elongated article is held in this arrangement and the shrink wrap film is shrunk by providing thermal energy at a temperature of up to 130 ℃.)

1. Method for sheathing an elongated article, such as more particularly a wire or cable assembly, wherein a stretched shrink wrap film is guided around the elongated article in a helical line or wound with the stretched shrink wrap film in an axial direction, the elongated article is brought together with the shrink wrap film winding into a desired arrangement, more particularly a cable assembly plan, the elongated article is held in this arrangement and the shrink wrap film is shrunk by providing thermal energy at a temperature of up to 130 ℃.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the shrink wrap film is shrunk by supplying thermal energy at a temperature of 55 ℃ up to 120 ℃.

3. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shrink-wrap film is oriented at least in the machine direction before it is wound around the elongated article.

4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the shrink-wrap film is oriented at a temperature of 10 ℃ to 60 ℃ below the melting point of the shrink-wrap film.

5. A method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the shrink-wrapped film is oriented at least in the machine direction with a stretch ratio of 1:1.5 to 1: 10.

6. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shrink wrap film additionally comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive.

7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shrink wound film has a width of 10mm-50 mm.

8. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the shrink wrap film is wound spirally around the elongated items with an overlap of 30-70%.

9. A cable harness sheathed with a tape comprising a shrink wrap film.

10. A cable harness producible by the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an adhesive tape and a method for sheathing elongated articles, in particular groups (kits) of electrical cables (cables).

Background

Adhesive tapes have long been used industrially for the production of cable harnesses (looms). The adhesive tape is used for bundling a plurality of electrical conductors before installation or in an already assembled state, to reduce the space occupied by the bundle of conductors, for example by bundling the conductors, and additionally to perform a protective function, for example protection against mechanical and/or thermal stress. Common forms of adhesive tape include a film carrier or a fabric carrier, which is typically coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive. Adhesive tapes for wrapping (packaging) elongate articles are known from, for example, EP 1848006 a2, DE 102013213726 a1, and EP 2497805 a 1.

The present cable assembly, which is wrapped with tape, is generally flexible. However, such flexibility is often undesirable for technical reasons related to manufacturing. In manufacturing, a cable harness is typically prefabricated into a composite cable plan (cable plan) and then inserted into an object to be assembled, such as a motor vehicle. The cable set plan corresponds to the actual three-dimensional arrangement of the individual cable strands in the cable set, i.e. which cable strand is bent at which point and at which angle, where the branching or outgoing line (outbinding) is located, and which splice (connector) is mounted at the end of the cable strand.

In order to keep the individual strands of the cable assembly in a defined shape, allowing them to be guided around the engine in the engine compartment (for example without contact with the engine), injection-molded parts are usually subsequently mounted around the taped cable strands. However, a disadvantage of these injection-molded parts is that they require additional material and additional assembly work.

WO 2015/004190 a1 discloses a method for sheathing an elongated article, such as more particularly a wire or cable set, wherein the elongated article is wound in a spiral or in an axial direction with an adhesive tape having a curable adhesive applied thereon, and the adhesive applied on the adhesive tape is cured by providing radiant energy, such as heat. For the thermal curing in this case, a temperature of 175 ℃ is used.

A disadvantage of this method is the high curing temperature, which has little utility, for example, in the automotive industry, in assembling cable harnesses during manufacturing operations, especially since cable insulation, which is often manufactured from PVC, can be damaged. Therefore, cable planning has hitherto been carried out in the form of prefabricated injection moldings. This requires a high level of manufacturing effort.

Thus, desirable tapes are those that are: which hardens at most 130 ℃, preferably at most 120 ℃, more preferably between 60 ℃ and 100 ℃, allowing the winding of the tape to be integrated into the operation of manufacturing a cable bundle or cable planning. The tape must exhibit the desired dimensional stability properties after curing. Furthermore, the adhesives themselves must not cure during storage, since otherwise they can no longer be used. Finally, curing should be performed within the cycle time of the manufacturing operation (about 6 minutes).

Disclosure of Invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an adhesive tape for protecting elongate articles which meets the above-mentioned requirements. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for winding elongated items using the rigid adhesive tape of the invention, and the products obtainable with this method.

As a solution to this technical problem, methods for sheathing elongate articles, such as more particularly wires or cable assemblies, are proposed, in which a stretched shrink wrap film is guided around the elongate article in a helical line or wound with the stretched shrink wrap film in the axial direction, the elongate article is brought together with the shrink wrap film winding into a desired arrangement (placed in the desired arrangement), more particularly the cable assembly, the elongate article is held in this arrangement and the shrink wrap film is shrunk by supplying thermal energy at a temperature of up to 125 ℃. The shrink winding temperature is preferably between 100 ℃ and 120 ℃.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a coiled cable set.

Detailed Description

According to one embodiment of the invention, the elongated article is a cable harness comprising a bundle of a plurality of cables, for example 3-1000 cables, preferably 10-500 cables, more particularly between 50 and 300 cables.

One embodiment of the present invention uses a shrink wrap film having a longitudinal shrinkage of 30% to 75%, preferably 50% to 70%. The shrinkage in the transverse direction only plays a minor role. Therefore, the shrinkage ratio (longitudinal/transverse) is preferably between 80:20 and 50: 50. A further embodiment of the present invention uses a shrink wrap film having a shrink force of 1.1N to 1.8N.

The shrink wrap film may be a monolayer film or a multilayer film. In a further embodiment of the invention, the shrink-wrap film has a thickness in the machine direction of 30N/mm²-1500 N/mm²Preferably 100N/mm²-500 N/mm²The tensile strength of (2). Tensile strength was determined in accordance with DIN-EN-ISO 527-3/2/300.

In one embodiment of the invention, the shrink-wrap film is first oriented at least in the machine direction, preferably at a temperature of 10 ℃ to 60 ℃ below the melting point of the shrink-wrap film, before it is wrapped around the elongated article. It is further preferred that the shrink-wrapped film is oriented at least in the machine direction at a stretch ratio of 1:1.5 to 1: 10.

Shrink wrap films are polymeric films that shrink in one or two directions when heat is applied. They are widely used as packaging and wrapping materials for both small and large products (e.g., industrial trays, bottles, magazines, etc.), with thicker films typically being used for larger articles and thinner films for smaller articles.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the shrink wrap film comprises a polymer selected from the group consisting of: oriented (oriented) polystyrene (OPS film), polyvinyl chloride (PVC film), polyethylene (PE film) such as Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) as described in DE 60304353T 2 (incorporated herein by reference), or Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE), ethylene copolymers, in particular ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymers, polylactic acid (PLA film) and polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET film). The shrink-wrap film preferably has a thickness of 20 μm to 100 μm, more preferably 30 μm to 60 μm.

Examples of suitable polylactic acid shrink wrap films are available from Taghleef Industries, United arabib entitles under the trade nameNTSS.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the shrink wrap film additionally comprises a pressure sensitive adhesive, which means that the tape is secured to the elongate article after wrapping and before shrinking.

The adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA), in other words an adhesive which allows permanent adhesion to virtually all substrates even under relatively weak applied pressure and which can be separated from the substrate again substantially residue-free after use. PSAs have permanent pressure-sensitive tack at room temperature, so that they have sufficiently low viscosity and high tack to the touch and therefore wet the surface of the adhesive substrate in question even under low applied pressure. The bondability of the adhesive derives from its adhesive properties, while the removability derives from its cohesive properties.

According to the invention, the pressure-sensitive adhesives used are structural adhesives (construction adhesives, assembly adhesives) (see alsoGeorg Thieme Verlag, literature code RD-19-04489, updated last: 9 months 2012). According to DINEN 923:2006-01, a structural adhesive is an adhesive that forms a bond capable of maintaining a specified strength in a structure for a defined longer period of time (defined according to ASTM: "an adhesive for transferring a required load between adherends exposed to a working environment typical for the structure concerned" (bonded materials used for transferring required loads from adhesives to service environments for the structure concerned) "). They are therefore adhesives for highly secure adhesion both chemically and physically, and in the cured state they contribute to a substrate which enhances the adhesion, and are used for the manufacture of structures made of metal, ceramic, concrete, wood or reinforced plastics. In particular, the structural adhesives of the present invention are based on reactive adhesives (phenolic, epoxy, polyimide, polyurethane and others).

Preferred PSAs are those as described in published european patent applications EP 2520627 a1, EP 2522705 a1, EP 2520628 a1, EP 2695926 a1, EP 2520629 a1 and EP 3433330 a1 (incorporated herein by reference).

According to a first embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dry polymer dispersion and the polymer consists of: 5 to 25 wt.%, preferably 10 to 22 wt.% of ethylene, 30 to 69 wt.%, preferably 40 to 60 wt.% of a catalyst having C₄-C₁₂Alkyl acrylates of alkyl, 20 to 55% by weight, preferably 28 to 38% by weight, of vinyl acetate, 0 to 10% by weight of other ethylenically unsaturated compounds, and the PSA comprises between 15 and 100 parts by weight of tackifier (based on the mass of the dry polymer dispersion), as described in EP 2520627 a 1. Preferably, the alkyl acrylate is n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. Other ethylenically unsaturated compounds include: alkyl (meth) acrylates, preferably C (meth) acrylic acid₁-C₂₀Alkyl esters, other than formed with C₄-C₁₂In addition to alkyl acrylate monomers, aromatic vinyl monomers such as styrene, α -methylstyrene and vinyltoluene, C (meth) acrylic acid₁-C₁₀Hydroxyalkyl esters such as, in particular, hydroxyethyl (meth) acrylate or hydroxypropyl (meth) acrylate, vinyl esters of carboxylic acids containing up to 20 carbon atoms such as vinyl laurate, vinyl ethers of alcohols containing up to 10 carbon atoms such as vinyl methyl ether or vinyl isobutyl ether, vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride or vinylidene chloride, amides such as acrylamide or methacrylamide, and unsaturated hydrocarbons having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms such as propylene, butadiene, isoprene, 1-hexene or 1-octene, or mixtures thereof. Additional monomers that may be advantageously added to the polymer are monomers having a functionality of 2 or more, preferably added at 0-2 wt% and more preferably at 0-1 wt%. Examples of polyfunctional ethylenically unsaturated monomers (e) are divinylbenzene, alkyl diacrylates such as 1, 2-ethanediol diacrylate, 1, 4-butanediol diacrylate, 1, 6-hexanediol diacrylate, 1, 8-octanediol diolAcrylates or 1, 12-dodecanediol diacrylate, triacrylates such as trimethylolpropane triacrylate and tetraacrylates such as pentaerythritol tetraacrylate. The polymer dispersion is prepared by an emulsion polymerization process of the components. A particularly preferred embodiment and broad description of the ingredients and the preparation process are found in EP 0017986B 1 and EP 0185356B 1.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dried polymer dispersion consisting of: (a)90 to 99 wt% of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, preferably 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, (b)0 to 10 wt% of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid or anhydride functionality, (c)10 to 1 wt% of one or more ethylenically unsaturated monofunctional monomers other than (a) and (b), such as acrylonitrile and/or methacrylonitrile, (d)0 to 1 wt% of a monomer having a functionality of 2 or more, and the PSA comprises between 15 and 100 parts by weight of an adhesion promoter (based on the mass of the dried polymer dispersion), as described in EP 2522705 a 1. Accordingly, a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a mixture of 2-ethylhexyl acrylate as monomer (a) and acrylonitrile as monomer (c). As monomers (b), acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid and/or maleic anhydride are advantageously used, for example. Acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, optionally a mixture of both, is preferred. Examples of polyfunctional ethylenically unsaturated monomers (d) are divinylbenzene, alkyl diacrylates, for example 1, 2-ethanediol diacrylate, 1, 4-butanediol diacrylate, 1, 6-hexanediol diacrylate, 1, 8-octanediol diacrylate or 1, 12-dodecanediol diacrylate, triacrylates, for example trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and tetraacrylates, for example pentaerythritol tetraacrylate. The polymer dispersion is prepared by an emulsion polymerization process of the components. A description of this process is described (e.g. given) in EP 1378527B 1.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dried polymer dispersion consisting of: (a) 40-90% by weight of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, preferably propyl2-ethylhexyl alkenoate, (b) 0-10% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having an acid or anhydride function, (c) 60-10% by weight of one or more ethylenically unsaturated monofunctional monomers different from (a) and (b), (d) 0-1% by weight of a monomer having a functionality of 2 or more, and the PSA comprises between 15 and 100 parts by weight of a tackifier (based on the mass of the dry polymer dispersion), as described in EP 2520628A. As monomers (b), acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid and/or maleic anhydride are advantageously used, for example. Acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, optionally a mixture of both, is preferred. The monomer (c) comprises: alkyl (meth) acrylates, preferably C (meth) acrylic acid₁-C₂₀Alkyl esters, other than the monomers forming (a), aromatic vinyl monomers such as styrene, α -methylstyrene and vinyltoluene, C (meth) acrylic acid₁-C₁₀Hydroxyalkyl esters such as, in particular, hydroxyethyl (meth) acrylate or hydroxypropyl (meth) acrylate, vinyl esters of carboxylic acids having up to 20 carbon atoms such as vinyl acetate or vinyl laurate, vinyl ethers of alcohols having up to 10 carbon atoms such as vinyl methyl ether or vinyl isobutyl ether, vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride or vinylidene chloride, amides such as acrylamide or methacrylamide, and unsaturated hydrocarbons having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene, isoprene, 1-hexene or 1-octene. Ethyl acrylate is particularly preferred in the present invention. Examples of polyfunctional ethylenically unsaturated monomers (d) are divinylbenzene, alkyl diacrylates, for example 1, 2-ethanediol diacrylate, 1, 4-butanediol diacrylate, 1, 6-hexanediol diacrylate, 1, 8-octanediol diacrylate or 1, 12-dodecanediol diacrylate, triacrylates, for example trimethylolpropane triacrylate, and tetraacrylates, for example pentaerythritol tetraacrylate. The polymer dispersion is prepared by an emulsion polymerization process of the components. A description of this process is described (e.g. given) in EP 1378527B 1.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dried and Electron Beam (EBC) crosslinked polymeric acrylate dispersion, in particular an aqueous acrylate dispersion, preferably having a gel value of greater than or equal to 40%, determined by soxhlet extraction, wherein the polymeric acrylate dispersion comprises a polymer consisting of: (a) monomeric acrylates and optionally (b) non-acrylate ethylenically unsaturated comonomers, wherein the PSA comprises between 15 and 100 parts by weight of tackifier (based on the mass of the dried polymer dispersion), as described in EP 2695926 a 1.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is at 10^-2s^-1Has a shear viscosity at a temperature of 25 ℃ during coating from the dispersion of 200-100000 Pa.s and at 100s^-1Has a shear viscosity at a temperature of 25 ℃ during coating from the dispersion of from 0.1 to 10Pa · s at a shear rate of. The PSA preferably consists of: aqueous acrylate dispersions, in other words polyacrylates finely dispersed in water and having Pressure-Sensitive adhesive properties, as described, for example, in Handbook of Pressure Sensitive Technology of d.satas. Acrylate PSAs are typically free-radically polymerized copolymers of: c₁-C₂₀Alkyl acrylates or methacrylates of alcohols such as methyl acrylate, ethyl (meth) acrylate, n-butyl (meth) acrylate, t-butyl (meth) acrylate, cyclohexyl (meth) acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth) acrylate, n-octyl (meth) acrylate, isooctyl (meth) acrylate, n-decyl (meth) acrylate, n-dodecyl (meth) acrylate, tetradecyl (meth) acrylate, lauryl (meth) acrylate, oleyl (meth) acrylate, palmityl (meth) acrylate and stearyl (meth) acrylate as well as further (meth) acrylates such as isobornyl (meth) acrylate, benzyl (meth) acrylate, phenyl (meth) acrylate and 2-bromoethyl (meth) acrylate, alkoxyalkyl (meth) acrylates such as ethoxyethyl (meth) acrylate. Also included are esters of ethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic and tricarboxylic acids and anhydrides, such as ethyl maleate, dimethyl fumarate, and ethyl methyl itaconate. Also included are vinylaromatic monomers, such as styrene, vinyltoluene, methylstyrene, n-butylstyrene, decylStyrene, as described in EP 2520629 a 1.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dried polymer dispersion consisting of: (a)95.0 to 100.0% by weight of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and (b)0.0 to 5.0% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid or anhydride functionality, as described in EP 2433330 a 1. Preferably, the polymer consists of: 95.0 to 99.5% by weight of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and 0.5 to 5% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid or anhydride functionality, more preferably 98.0 to 99.0% by weight of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate and 1.0 to 2.0% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid or anhydride functionality. In addition to the acrylate polymer described, the PSA (and any residual monomers present) can additionally be admixed with tackifiers mentioned later below and/or with auxiliaries such as light stabilizers or aging inhibitors in the amounts also stated below. In particular, no additional polymers, such as elastomers, are present in the PSA, which means that the polymers of the PSA consist only of the monomers (a) and (b) in the specified proportions.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is in the form of a dried polymer dispersion consisting of: (a)97.0 to 98.0 wt.% of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, (b)2.0 to 3.0 wt.% of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having acid or anhydride functionality. Preferably, the polymer consists of: 97.2 to 97.7% by weight of n-butyl acrylate and/or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, more preferably n-butyl acrylate, and 2.3 to 2.8% by weight of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer having an acid or anhydride function. As monomers (b), acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, itaconic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid and/or maleic anhydride are advantageously used, for example.

According to a further embodiment, the PSA is crosslinker-free. "without crosslinking agent" in the sense of the present invention means that no compounds capable of crosslinking are added to the PSA. As used herein, the term "crosslinker" refers to a compound as follows: which is capable of linking molecular chains to each other, so that the two-dimensional structure is capable of forming intermolecular bridges and thus a three-dimensionally crosslinked structure. Crosslinkers are those compounds, in particular difunctional or polyfunctional and generally low molecular weight compounds, which are: which under the selected crosslinking conditions are capable of reacting with suitable groups, in particular functional groups, of the polymer to be crosslinked, thereby linking two or more polymers or polymer sites to one another (forming "bridges") and thus creating a network of the polymer to be crosslinked. As a result, there is generally an increase in cohesion. Typical examples of the crosslinking agent are compounds having two or more functional groups which are the same or different within a molecule or at both ends of a molecule and thus capable of crosslinking molecules having similar or different structures with each other. Moreover, the crosslinking agent is capable of reacting with the reactive monomer or reactive resin as defined above without an accompanying polymerization reaction in a practical sense. The reason is that, in contrast to the activators, the crosslinking agents can build into the polymer network, as described above.

The coating weight (coat weight) of the adhesive applied to the support and/or incorporated in the support is advantageously in the range of 30g/m²And 300g/m²More advantageously between 40g/m²And 200g/m²In between, particularly advantageously 50g/m²And 130g/m²In the meantime. Incorporation into the support, in particular a non-woven or woven support, can be carried out by impregnation.

In one embodiment, the shrink-wrap film is 10mm to 50mm, preferably 15mm to 30mm, more particularly 20 ± 2mm wide.

The shrink wrap film is preferably wound around the elongated article in a spiral with an overlap of 30-70%, more preferably 40-50%, more particularly about 50%.

Finally, the invention also relates to a cable harness sheathed with the cured adhesive tape according to the invention, and to a cable harness produced by the method according to the invention.