Who invented packaging tape

The wrong choice of tape can cost companies money, time, and disrupt efficiency. Standard terms used to help describe tape are listed below. Tensile Strength- Measures the force required to pull something to the point where it breaks. Click here for a blog post about tensile strength. Backing Material- Material of a tape the adhesive is applied to. Common tape backing materials are vinyl, cloth, and polypropylene.

Elongation- How far a tape can stretch before it breaks. Elongation is commonly measured in a percentage of stretch, and tensile strength is measured in pounds.

Length- The length of the tape on the roll. Commonly measured in meters, yards, or feet. Width- The width of the tape on the roll. Commonly measured in millimeters or inches. Thickness- How thick tape is. It is commonly measured in mils milli-inch , which is one-thousandth of an inch or Heavier loads tend to put more stress on packages. For heavier loads, strong and wider packing tape is recommended.

Contents that shift within a package tend to cause more stress on the center seal and a stronger wider tape should be considered. When the content of a package is considered valuable, and stronger wider tape should be used to ensure a safe seal and delivery. Wider stronger tapes are ideal for long packages with heavy content.

If the package does not contain heavy contents, a 2-inch tape may be used. Commonly a 2-inch tape is ideal for packages up to 24 inches wide. If the contents of the package are not excessively heavy or contain sharp edges. If the package or box exceeds 24 inches a stronger wider tape should be considered.

Heavy board boxes have a higher strength in the box flaps and put more pressure on the tape seal. Tapes with high shear strength adhesives are recommended for these types of boxes. Rough and corrugated boxes tend to have a washboard surface that may require special high tack adhesives.

Box strength is commonly measured in two forms of measurements. Below are the two common forms to test box strength. Edge Crush Test- Standardized measurement of the compression strength of a column of corrugated board. Results are measured in ECT. A piece of cardboard with a 32 ect means that stood on edge the board can withstand 32 lbs.. Burst Test Mullen Test - The force of pounds per square inch required to burst the side of a cardboard box.

A box with a burst strength of lbs. Cartons shipped individually tend to have more pressure placed upon them due to individual handling. Boxes shipped on pallets are generally sent as a unitized load which exerts less pressure on each box. High or low temperatures when shipping should also be considered when choosing a packing tape. Temperatures, sunlight, and moisture all impact the seal of packing tapes. How Thick is Scotch Packaging Tape? The Scotch brand of Packaging tape is a premium packaging tape made by the 3M Corporation.

The thickness can vary based on the model number. A popular packing tape model is the Scotch roll plus dispenser, which is a 3. Check out some our previous posts! P: F: sales phsinc. What Came Before Tape? How Has Tape Evolved?

How is Tape Made? Previous Post. Next Post. Related Post. Serendipity fascinated Dick Drew. It is, he said, "the gift of finding something valuable in something not even sought out. Flaxlinum Company, a St. Paul insulation firm, contracted to insulate several hundred railroad refrigerator cars, but there was a complication. The insulated bats needed to be wrapped and sealed with something moisture-proof so they could be used in the refrigerated cars.

The company thought Scotch Brand Masking Tape would work. It didn't. Drew, now technical director of 3M's Product Fabrication Laboratory, plunged in. He and his team worked diligently, but after numerous attempts came up empty handed. Nothing, it seemed, was sufficiently watertight. In the meantime, DuPont had developed cellophane, a moisture-proof packaging material. Tests showed cellophane would work as a backing for pressure-sensitive tape. Elated, Drew conducted more experiments, convinced he had found the solution to Flaxlinum's dilemma.

By then, however, Flaxlinum was no longer interested. But many other industries were. In particular, bakers, meat packers, grocers, and confectioners who had adopted cellophane food wrap were clamoring for a moisture-proof and attractive way to seal their new packaging. So Drew and his assistants pressed on. It took them almost a year to produce a marketable product, including what some would recall as "the longest and most discouraging months in 3M's history. It often broke or tore before a full roll was coated.

The adhesive wouldn't adhere evenly. The dark amber adhesive spoiled the look of the colorless, transparent cellophane. Gradually, Drew's team overcame these difficulties. They designed machinery that prevented splits and breaks.

Instead of standard masking tape adhesive, they developed a new, nearly colorless one made from oils, resins, and rubber which helped keep the cellophane transparent. They found that using a primer helped the adhesive hold evenly along the backing. On September 8, , 3M sent its first roll of cellophane tape to a prospective client, who enthusiastically endorsed it. DuPont had developed a heat-sealing process for cellophane, greatly reducing the demand for tape as a commercial package sealer.

It was also the first full year of the Depression, a seemingly bad time to introduce a new product. Almost daily, new ideas sprang up for using the tape to make old things do. It was used to mend book pages, sheet music, window curtains, and even small rips in clothing. Bankers used it to repair paper currency. Secretaries found it perfect for patching broken fingernails. Farmers discovered they could use it to seal cracked eggs. Housewives used it to cap canned milk, remove lint from clothing, secure bait on mousetraps, and repair cracked ceiling plaster.

Goodyear used the tape to cover the inner ribs and beams of its dirigibles, creating an anti-corrosive shield. As a result, 3M prospered and was one of the few companies in the world that didn't lay off employees during the Depression. In the years ahead, 3M would continue responding to consumer demand, developing numerous specialized tapes for household and industrial use.

The company developed more than types of tape to solve war production problems, such as sealing and labeling parts. Rubber shortages during the war prompted 3M to switch to synthetic acrylate adhesives. Although not as strong, acrylate adhesives retained their clarity and actually aged better than rubber-based adhesives, which turned yellow and brittle over time.

It's estimated that transparent tapes are used in more than 90 percent of American homes. The tape that Dick Drew conceived so many years ago has been to the moon as insulation on a lunar lander , featured on Saturday Night Live, and immortalized in fine art.

But Drew, who died in at age 81, never gave up trying to find something better. Yet despite his many successes, which led to his induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Drew never forgot how a bit of sandpaper changed his life. All pressure-sensitive tapes share two common, but deceptively simple, traits: They all have some sort of adhesive attached to a backing.

Yet to make this dynamic duo work requires as many as 30 raw materials and a bit of complex chemistry.