In industrial production, adhesive tape sticking has gained more and more in importance. It has become an essential detail in many production areas. Previously, adhesive tapes were used for packaging and in offices but nowadays the pressure sensitive adhesive tapes – equipped with a large range of adhesives and carrier materials - offer many advantages in industrial processing, e.g. in the assembly of components. Using new carrier materials and extenders in adhesives, the adhesive tapes are suitable for multifunctional applications. Along with their traditional binding function they fulfil other functions such as sealing and protection or as thermal and electrical conductors.

Self-adhesive silicone profiles

The company BIOLINK in Geretsried/Germany has succeeded in developing an innovation in the sealing and binding area which is indicative of the future direction. A new application system provides for silicone profiles as self-adhesive components. In the adhesive tape and pressure sensitive product area it is known that silicone is used as a perfect separating agent. This means that silicone is normally glue-repellent. By means of a chemical conditioning BIOLINK has now managed to develop permanently self-adhesive silicone profiles. With this new procedure, tubular, white silicone sealants can be stuck to glass shower doors or sealants in the shower assembly area. As the silicone sealants are self-adhesive, they are very easy to use. At BIOLINK the adhesive tapes - type ProLink 500r or ProLink 500le - are applied to the tubular, white pre-treated silicone sealing material. The self-adhesive sealant can now be fixed to the relevant components without any further treatment. For assembly, one only has to remove the cover which is also coated with silicone. Together with the silicone sealant, the adhesive tape used by BIOLINK prevents leakage or penetration of water and seals the components completely.

In principle, it is a double sided adhesive coating: one side provides a durable connection to the silicone profile and the other side sticks permanently to the component. Such silicone sealants can be fixed permanently to many polar and nonpolar surfaces, e.g. acrylic glass, plexiglass, ceramics, metal, plastics and others.

A perfect solution for the filling and sealing of large openings is the BIOLINK product Prolink 3000. This adhesive tape is 3 mm thick, is made from pure acrylate and is absolutely waterproof. The BIOLINK Prolink series is available in thicknesses of 0.05 to 3 mm and in different adhesive categories.

Large range of applications

Another application of the BIOLINK adhesive tape Prolink series is as a fixing material in the conglutination of rain sensors in cars. Here, the durable and tight connection is as important as the high transparency which is needed for the detectors to recognize the rain drops. In addition, a high temperature and UV stability are required. The adhesive tape must also be resistant to a large number of chemical cleaning agents.

Due to the excellent properties of the adhesive tape which has been especially formulated and produced by BIOLINK, a variety of different materials can be directly coated or they can be provided with a self-adhesive coating at a later time. The high temperature resistance means that the adhesive tapes are indispensable in many industrial sectors; they are also suitable for nearly every application due to the large number of carrier materials which can be used. The BIOLINK adhesive tapes are also perfectly suitable for outside use as they are highly resistant to weathering and UV.

All in all, BIOLINK offers a perfect system to solve specific customer joining problems always over and above the established standards. More information can be found under www.biolink-tapes.com.