Tapes for mobile phones, MP3 players and PDAs are a core focus for tesa. All around the world mobile phones are a fixture of everyday life, and over the last few years the number of mobile phone users has risen above the two billion mark. At the same time, the phones become smaller and lighter and technology improves with added features such as MP3 players, cameras and video capability. tesa´s adhesive tapes contribute to this continual process of refinement and development. Although mobile devices are composed of many tiny individual parts, they can be assembled with very few screws, saving weight and space.

A look inside one of these devices shows the many varied ways in which tesa self-adhesive tapes can be used. The window lens of a phone, for example, is fixed firmly to the outer casing of the phone using a precision die cut of tesa 51965 black, double sided tape.

The battery block, the phone’s heaviest (and when in operation the hottest) component is also fixed with a special double sided tape, tesa 4965, ensuring a secure bond even when temperatures reach up to 100°C for long periods.

The other emphasis of tesa products is greater efficiency during the assembly process. During this, if a tape’s adhesive force on contact (tack) is too high, it can impede proper assembly. Electronic devices are still assembled primarily by hand and even the most experienced occasionally experience errors. The solution is to use a tape with a backing made of strong, tear-resistant polyester (PET) and adhesive with low tack enabling it to be removed and repositioned easily. tesa developed its PET assortment just for this purpose and all double sided tapes in this range are based on the same 12µm PET carrier as tesa 4965 and use the same tackified acrylic adhesive. However, by varying the amount of adhesive tesa was able to create a family of high performance tapes. From tesa 4983 at 30µm to tesa 4967 at 160µm - all feature the same basic characteristics and properties of tesa 4965.

Specific levels of tack also make it possible to use special tapes to protect and fix components temporarily before being later mechanically fastened. In this way, for example, a phone’s LCD can be cushioned on all sides with foam backing attached with an adhesive tape that protects it from humidity and finger marks until the LCD is installed.