Method of depositing adhesives and adhesion control agents

Abstract

A method of depositing adhesives or adhesion control agents using ink jet technology. The adhesive may be used in the manufacture of assembled paper products including greeting cards. The adhesion control agents may be deposited on a plastic sheet used in laminated safety glass.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of depositing an adhesive in a manufacturing process for an assembled paper product comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing a material to be formed into the product;    (b) providing an adhesive application device including an ink jet printing head and a reservoir containing adhesive;    (c) depositing an adhesive onto a surface of a first portion of the material using the ink jet printing head; and    (d) forming the product by bonding a second portion of the material to the first portion of the material using the adhesive deposited onto the first portion of the material.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of changing the position of the ink jet printing head relative to the surface of the material.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing the adhesive includes using a piezo-electric crystal to separate the adhesive into drops.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing includes using a thermal ink jet.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing includes using a continuous ink jet.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing includes controlling the amount of adhesive being deposited on the first material.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing material includes applying a line of adhesive to the first material.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising the step of controlling the thickness of the line of adhesive.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of adjusting the viscosity of the adhesive in the reservoir prior to the step of depositing.  
     
     
         10 . A method of depositing an adhesion control agent in a manufacturing process for safety glass comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing a first and second sheets of glass;    (b) depositing an adhesion control agent onto a plastic sheet using an ink jet printing head;    (c) positioning the sheet of plastic between the first and second sheets of glass; and    (d) bonding the first and second sheets of glass to the sheet of plastic.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of bonding includes placing the glass and plastic sheets into an autoclave.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing includes distributing the adhesion control agent uniformly over the plastic sheet.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of extruding plastic to form the plastic sheet.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the adhesion control agent is distributed after the plastic sheet exits an extrusion device.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing the adhesion control agent includes using a thermal ink jet.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing the adhesion control agent includes using a continuous ink jet.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing the adhesion control agent includes using a using a piezo-electric crystal to separate the adhesion control agent into drops.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing the adhesion control agent includes moving the plastic sheet relative to the ink jet print head.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing includes controlling the amount of the adhesion control agent deposited on the plastic sheet.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of distributing the adhesion control agent includes depositing the adhesion control agent onto both sides of the plastic sheet.  
     
     
         21 . A method of depositing an adhesion control agent in a manufacturing process comprising the steps of: providing a first material and a second material to be bonded together; and depositing an adhesion control agent onto at least one of the first and second materials using an ink jet printing head.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the step of bonding the first and second materials together in an autoclave.