The Corona Treatment

Surface electrons on the plastic substrate are affected by flame plasma.

[Sadly this is not a post about a beverage, but about why some labels won't stick to surfaces.]

An interesting phenonmenon sometime occurs when applying labels to plastic or low surface energy (LSE) surfaces: labels just won’t stick.

Why is that? Two articles explain it much better than we can. (Thanks to Wikipedia and MachineDesign; links are listed below.)  Oils from the plastic substrate interfere with the adhesive’s ability to grab to the surface of the plastic. Cleaning the surface with alcohol won’t do the trick.

What needs to be done is treat the surface with a corona, or open flame. The flame will evaporate any surface oils left over from the manufacturing process. It will also microscopically roughen the surface and allow the label to stick.

Of course the appropriate adhesive needs to be called out when the order is placed. You’ll need an LSE adhesive.

Providing this kind of information is what Drake Industries is all about. Our sales staff has the engineering knowledge to “build” the appropriate labels, decals, stickers, and overlays for your needs. Quotes are always free and usually provided within hours.  Contact us at quotes@drake.com or 1.800.531.5073 if you have questions about labels.

Drake has been in business for over 40 years. We are a veteran owned company and all of our products are made in the US.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_treatment

http://machinedesign.com/article/bonding-low-surface-energy-plastics-0615

MetalPhoto Labels

MetalPhoto Characteristics p2

Circular Aluminum Label

This circular label is used aboard aircraft.  The black areas are burned into the photosensitive aluminum with a patented process called Metalphoto.  The images are embedded into the aluminum which means that they cannot be scratched off.

Metalphoto is a popular process for labels used in the marine and aerospace environments.  It is many times more durable than photo etching because the printing process does not damage the integrity of the aluminum. Metalphoto is a preferred process for these, and many other industries, also because labels and plates can endure 1000 degrees farenheit.

For more information about the Metalphoto process or whether it is right for your labeling needs, contact Drake Industries at 800.531.5073 or quotes@drake.com.

Custom Steel Rule Dies

Custom Steel Rule Die

Die Database

 In our 40 + years of making durable labels we have aquired thousands of steel ruled dies.  These dies are available for our customers to use at no additional charge.  This service can cut hundreds of dollars off of an order.

Steel ruled dies produce the closest tolerances and cleanest cuts.  Spacers, specialized adhesives, seals and gaskets are also cut with the dies.

Two die databases will be included in our new website (“Dies for Labels in Sheets” and “Dies for Labels in Rolls”). Contact us at chris@drake.com or 512.610.1170 and we can give you specifics about our available dies.

 www.drake.com

Label This NASA

Coming Soon…. images of our labels for the Apollo Missions.

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Testing Centers – UL or bust?

You have a choice when it comes to selecting testing centers for your products.  UL or Underwriters Laboratories may be the most widely recognized name. Many engineers are finding that CSA or the Canadian Standards Agency is competitively priced with UL and is widely used in the US and globally.

A Texas testing alternative is PTI, Professional Testing, Inc., in Round Rock. They provide MILSTD, FCC, CE, EMC, RTCA and Product Safety testing.

Thanks to Youtube and Rip Curl for the video. (What does surfing have to do with labels?  Nothing but it was the most exciting product testing video we found.)

www.drake.com

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Polycarbonate (Lexan®) Materials Guide

We’re looking forward to the launch of our new website in 2009. It will be less of a “brochure” and more of a interactive resource for client’s labeling needs. www.drake.comWe’ve divided the site into 3 main sections: “For Engineers”, “For Buyers” and “For Artists”. This should save you some time when you get to the site. What follows below is something that you would find in the “For Engineers” section. In the coming weeks we’ll publish more of the Materials Guides.

10 Mil Lexan® is one of the most common materials we use. It is tough enough to stay looking good for a long while so it is perfect for branding. If write-on capability is required for a Lexan® label it is possible to add a polyester overlay.

Lexan® labels meet UL PGDQ2 and CSA LR 32470 regulatory requirements.

This is intended as a guide only. Achieving the desired effects for your label in terms of appearance and longevity require the correct materials and environmental considerations. Contact us at 800.531.5073 or sales@drake.com for material and adhesive specs or for a more thorough discussion of your needs.

Polycarbonate/Lexan® 10 Mil (Most Common Thickness)

Physical Properties
Suitable for Compound Curved Surfaces	No
Suitable for Flat and Curved Surfaces	Yes
High Temperature Resistance	Excellent
Dimensional Stability	Excellent
Water Resistance	Good
UV Resistance☼	Limited
Chemical and Solvent Resistance	Good
Abrasion Resistance	Good
Other
Colors Available: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, White, Blue, Brown, Black PMS Color Matching Available
Available with Fire and UV Resistance
Common uses include Branding and Recognition Labels, Instruction Labels, Identification Plates, Nameplates, Dials, Overlays/Panels and Serial Number Tags
Processes: Silk Screened or Digitally Printed, Die Cut to Customer Design and Waste Material Removed
UL PGDQ2, Component – Marking and Labeling Systems File Number (MH 14125 R)
CSA Canadian Standards Listed LR 32470
Adhesives for Labels in Sheets (Other Adhesives Available):
Pressure Sensitive Acrylic HSE (DI 907)	2 mil
	3.5 mil
Pressure Sensitive Acrylic HSE (DI 901)	5 mil
Other thicknesses are available (5 mil, 10 mil, 20 mil)
Options
Serial and Variable Data (Digital Press Only)	Yes
Barcodes (Digital Press Only)	Yes
Interior Cutout Size and Shape	Any
Clear Windows Size and Shape	Any
Exterior Shape	Any
Write On Surface∞	Yes
Optional Finish/Overlay in Matte or Clear

*Proper Adhesive should be chosen based on the specific application.

☼Continuous exposure to UV light may cause discoloration. We recommend polyester for extreme outdoor exposure.

∞Write on surface capabilities with an additional polyester overlay.

Contact us at 800.531.5073 or chris@drake.com for material and adhesive specs or for a more thorough discussion of your needs.

www.drake.com

Digging Diigo

This doesn’t have anything directly to do with labels but we want to make the Label This blog a useful resource. And since our readers do a lot of research on the internet this tool applies.

Diigo is a new web annotation tool that allows you to manage the information that you find on the internet. You knew there had to be an easier way… The really cool thing about Diigo is that it lets you share that information quickly and easily. Here’s a quick video that explains some of the basics.

If you have a blog all you have to do is install the Diigo toolbar, highlight what you are reading and you can have a blog post almost immediately. We also like the little Diigo widget that is provided.

Thanks to tracksuitceo[dot]com for the heads-up. Tracksuitceo is another really useful blog, but definetly nothing about labels here.

www.drake.com

Under Construction::Coming Soon

We found this great Knovel: Engineering Search Engine widget recently at widgetbox.com. Soon it will be a permanent fixture on the blog.

Future plans also include:

• A new website expected to launch in early ’09,
• Videos highlighting some interesting problems we have helped engineers to resolve,
• Regulatory issues, materials and adhesives items,
• Posts about our clients and their wide range of products, and
• Interesting assorted links.

Let us know if there are any specific topics you’d like to see addressed.

www.drake.com

Drake In Space

None of us were here at Drake Industries when our label was attached to this EVA unit but it is still thrilling to think that somehow, no matter how many degrees of separation apart, we were a part of this project. In subsequent posts we’ll show some of our other products that went up with other missions. But for now it is enough to consider a small contribution to the NASA legacy.

Labels and overlays aren’t the first things that are thought of when space travel comes up but even as the smallest switch is vital to the success of a mission, so is an identifying label.

www.drake.com 800.561.5073