fastening & assembly solutions and technology - Approved Business

FAST OCTOBER 2011
PRODUCT REVIEW: TAPES
Tape’s capability
advances touch screen
technology
Adhesive tape specialist tesa has introduced a range of high performance optically clear adhesive
transfer tapes for electronic touch panels and increased its capability to accommodate customers’
process requirements for applying them
Optically clear adhesive (OCA) tapes
are widely used in the electronics
industry to simplify communication with
users through touch screens or touch panels.
Applications are diverse and enable
consumers to access information, use Sat
Nav devices, make purchases and interact
with the latest MP3, Smartphones and
tablet PCs. Over 700 million touch panel
units were sold worldwide in 2010.
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Currently most touch panels use either
resistive or capacitive systems. The resistive
type allows users to select menu
options by exerting pressure with a stylus
or finger, while the latest, extremely high
performance capacitive type, responds to
just a light touch of the finger. Here the
screen surface generally comprises a
high-quality glass, or light weight
durable engineering plastic, covering a
Highly transparent adhesive tapes are produced under cleanroom conditions at tesa’s
Hamburg-Hausbruch plant
sandwich structure made up of multiple
functional layers that transmit the
impulse from the finger within fractions
of a second.
OCAs have to be truly multifunctional.
These optically clear, extremely thin
adhesive tapes must deliver practically
invisible bonding and long product life.
They need to be free of dust particles and
bubbles in order to deliver maximum
transparency while providing outstanding
adhesion and yet be highly resistant to
major temperature fluctuations, humidity,
and UV radiation.
Considerable expertise is required to
produce OCAs and advise customers on
how to apply them. Apart from the highly
sophisticated manufacturing processes
required, a comprehensive understanding
of lamination behaviour is critical to
ensure optimal end product performance.
Working with customers, tesa has
enhanced the lamination performance of
its touch panel tapes and incorporated the
most recent technical benefits in these
latest products.
Manufactured in thicknesses of
between 25 and 125µm tesa OCA transfer
tapes are totally dependable, ultra
clean and designed specifically for use in
touchscreen lamination processes.
Produced under controlled clean room
conditions, the tape assortment - tesa
69301, tesa 69302, tesa 69303, tesa
69304, and tesa 69305 – features optically
clear pure acrylic adhesives. Each
product has high transmission and low
haze characteristics, high temperature
and UV resistance coupled with
enhanced bubble stability (reduced outgassing)
and whitening resistance to protect
screen clarity. Additionally the tapes