Methods of Vinyl Lamination

Printed vinyl overlaid wood products are increasingly being used in wall paneling, door skins, cabinets, drawer faces, and television cabinets. Chemical plasticizers added to the vinyl film to regulate its flexibility and stretchability determine its durability; rigid films tend to be more durable than fully plasticized films and are more suitable for work surfaces. After the film is prepared, it is printed by gravure either on its face or back; reverse printed vinyl provides its own protection for the printed surface. Plywood, usually lauan, hardboard, or particleboard substrates are covered with the vinyl which has been printed first with a wood grain pattern and then with a basic ground coat. The vinyl can be laminated to the substrates by a cold press technique using vinyl adhesives; by a semi-continuous process using a direct roll glue spreader with an unwind stand and combining roll using a vinyl adhesive in water emulsion; or by a thermoplastic combining operation in high volume production, using emulsion of solution type adhesives, dual spreading to control adhesive flow, and ovens to provide rapid cure of the glue. In large operations, the final step is embossing of wood texture into the vinyl film by passing it under a heated, engraved roll; smaller plants usually buy a pre-embossed film. Though the quality of the lamination can only be evaluated fully after actual use, laboratory quality tests are important. A 32 square foot glue line has to hold only a half pound of reverse printed vinyl in place. Peel strength concerns the consumer, but other characteristics are equally important. The film must not be allowed to relax or creep away from an edge or groove, exposing the substrate. At the National Starch and Chemical Company’s Alexander Laboratories, an Instron testing machine evaluates peel strength. Creep resistance is measured by cutting an X in a lamination, subjecting it to heat aging at 70?C, and measuring the growth of the cut after a given time lapse. Creep resistance depends not only on the adhesive but on the film being used. Heat aging and ultraviolet exposure tests are valuable in comparing adhesives. A change in any of the components of the system–film, adhesive, or substrate–may upset its compatibility.

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