Exterior automotive laminate with pressure sensitive adhesive

Claim 1

A composite flexible decorative sheet for applying an exterior automotive quality paint finish to a substrate panel, comprising: a first flexible, heat-resistant carrier sheet; a first coat comprising a smooth, weatherable, glossy exterior automotive quality thin film formed on the first carrier sheet and comprising a blend of a fluoropolymer resin and an acrylic resin; a tie coat formed as a thin film on a side of the first coat opposite from the first carrier sheet; an elongation-enhancing second coat formed as a thin film on a side of the tie coat opposite from the first coat, the second coat containing a vinyl chloride polymer, the tie coat providing a means for bonding the first coat and the second coat; a pigment dispersed in the second coat or in a separate color coat layer on a side of the second coat opposite from the first coat, thereby forming a composite paint coat in combination with the first and second coats, in which the exterior surface of the composite paint coat has an exterior automotive quality gloss level and a distinctness-of-image value greater than about 60; the second coat containing a plasticizer in an amount sufficient to inhibit volatile haze in the finished composite paint coat as measured by a less than 20% reduction of said gloss level when subjected to a temperature of 80° C.; a second flexible, heat-resistant carrier sheet; a layer of an acrylic-based pressure sensitive adhesive formed on the second carrier sheet and bonded to a side of the second coat opposite from the first coat, the adhesive layer being applied so that the smoothness of the first coat is not significantly reduced by the bonded adhesive layer; the first and second carrier sheets forming removable protective outer sheets for the composite paint coat, the first carrier sheet being removable from the first coat to expose the weatherable first coat, the second carrier sheet being removable from the pressure sensitive adhesive for use in bonding the composite paint coat to a substrate panel, the second coat having sufficient elongation to enhance the elongation of the first coat so the composite paint coat has a level of elongation in the range from about 50% to about 150% the original dimension of the composite paint coat sufficient to elongate and conform to a three-dimensionally contoured shape of the substrate panel to which the adhesive layer is adhered for bonding the composite paint coat to the substrate without significantly reducing the exterior automotive properties of the composite paint finish, the composite paint coat undergoing said 50 to 150% elongation while retaining the distinctness-of-image of the composite paint coat at a level above about 60.