Soft Touch Barrier Laminate with Polypropylene Elastomer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional barrier laminates fail to achieve a soft touch and matte finish while maintaining high-speed printability and consistent decoration, as the texture often fades during secondary operations like printing and tubing conversion due to high friction and inconsistent finish values.
Innovation Solution
A soft and velvet touch barrier laminate is developed, comprising a printable layer of polypropylene elastomer with high density polyethylene and an anti-block additive, a core layer, a barrier layer between bond layers, and an inner polyethylene layer, which provides a Vicat softening temperature range of 60°C to 90°C, ensuring a soft touch, matte finish, and excellent barrier properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional barrier laminates are used to achieve high-speed printability and consistent decoration, then productivity is improved, but the surface finish becomes glossy and lacks soft touch
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the outer layer by incorporating polypropylene elastomer (3-15 wt%) and specific plasticizers (5-20 wt%) to achieve soft touch and matte finish while maintaining printability and high-speed processing capabilities
2Shape
If UV curing over varnish is used to achieve soft touch and mat finish, then surface finish is improved, but the process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for separate UV curing and varnish application processes by incorporating soft touch and matte finish properties directly into the extrudable polymer composition, which achieves the desired surface characteristics through a single extrusion and forming operation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses specific plasticizers (5-20 wt%) and polypropylene elastomer as intermediary components that mediate between the rigid polymer matrix and the desired soft touch surface, providing the tactile properties without requiring additional curing processes
3Shape
If hot air curing over water based lacquer is used to achieve soft and mat finish, then surface finish is improved, but the manufacturing precision deteriorates due to mat surface appearance loss during heat sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal parameters of the material by selecting polypropylene elastomer with Vicat softening temperature of 60-90°C, which allows the material to maintain its mat surface appearance during heat sealing operations while still achieving soft touch finish
4Strength
If the outer surface is passed through hot air zones or sealed with heat sealing jaws, then bonding is achieved, but the mat surface appearance gets diminished
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal resistance parameters by incorporating materials with specific heat deflection temperatures and thermal conductivity properties, allowing the mat surface to withstand heat sealing temperatures without deforming or losing its appearance while maintaining adequate bonding strength
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present disclosure describes soft and velvet touch barrier laminate with customized polymer alloying which is dry or wet blending of multiple polymers, additives and colorant and making a single compounded polymer mix with designated characteristics. The soft and velvet touch barrier laminate can be used to prepare articles having soft outer surface with a mat finish.