THERMOPLASTIC ARTICLES AND IMPROVED PROCESSES FOR MAKING THE SAME
First Claim
1. A process for manufacturing an injection molded article, comprising the steps of:
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
feeding to the injection molding machine a second material including an admixture of a particulated filler and a second polyolefin;
feeding to the injection molding machine a third material that includes an elastomer;
blending the first, second and third materials within the injection molding machine to form a blend; and
injecting the blend into a tool wherein the process is substantially free of a step of compounding together the first, second and third materials prior to the blending step;
wherein resulting articles will include a material that will have (a) a combination of (i) failure in a ductile mode by multi-axial dart impact testing (Instrumented Dart Impact) of greater than about 90% of samples, at −
40°
C., −
30°
C. or 0°
C.; and
(ii) notched Izod Impact value of at least about 3 ft-lbs/in;
(b) a lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
or a combination of (a) and (b).
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is directed to improved processes for making plastic articles, and articles made therefrom. In a broad aspect, the invention is directed to improved processes and articles made therefrom, that include the steps of providing as separate materials a first material that includes a thermoplastic polyolefin, a second material including an admixture of a particulated filler and a second thermoplastic polyolefin, and a third material that includes an elastomer; applying a shear force to the first, second and third materials, while the materials are at an elevated temperature for blending the materials to form a molten blend; shaping the molten blend and solidifying the molten blend.
53 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A process for manufacturing an injection molded article, comprising the steps of:
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
feeding to the injection molding machine a second material including an admixture of a particulated filler and a second polyolefin;
feeding to the injection molding machine a third material that includes an elastomer;
blending the first, second and third materials within the injection molding machine to form a blend; and
injecting the blend into a tool wherein the process is substantially free of a step of compounding together the first, second and third materials prior to the blending step;
wherein resulting articles will include a material that will have (a) a combination of (i) failure in a ductile mode by multi-axial dart impact testing (Instrumented Dart Impact) of greater than about 90% of samples, at −
40°
C., −
30°
C. or 0°
C.; and
(ii) notched Izod Impact value of at least about 3 ft-lbs/in;
(b) a lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
or a combination of (a) and (b). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
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19. A process for manufacturing an injection molded article, comprising the steps of:
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(a) feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a (i) neat polypropylene homopolymer, (ii) a neat polypropylene impact copolymer characterized by a melt flow rate of less than about 70 g/10 min (at 230°
C., 2.16 kg), and containing greater than about 8 wt % (of the first material) of ethylene, having greater than about 40% crystallinity, or any combination thereof;
(b) feeding to the injection molding machine a second material including an admixture of a particulated filler and a second polyolefin, wherein (i) the particulated filler is a talc; and
(ii) the second polyolefin is a neat polypropylene homopolymer, a neat polypropylene impact copolymer characterized by a melt flow rate of less than about 70 g/10 min (at 230°
C., 2.16 kg), and containing greater than about 8 wt % (of the first material) of ethylene, having greater than about 40% crystallinity, or a combination thereof;
(c) feeding to the injection molding machine a third material that includes an elastomer that includes an alpha-olefin comonomer, and has a density less than about 0.9, a melt flow rate of about 0.5 to about 30 g/10 min (at 190°
C., 2.16 kg), has a glass transition temperature of less than about −
30°
C., or any combination thereof;
(d) blending the first, second and third materials within the injection molding machine to form a blend; and
(e) injecting the blend into a tool wherein the process is substantially free of a step of compounding together the first, second and third materials prior to the blending step;
wherein resulting articles will include a material that will have (a) a combination of (i) failure in a ductile mode by multi-axial dart impact testing (Instrumented Dart Impact) of greater than about 90% of samples, at −
40°
C., −
30°
C. or 0°
C.; and
(ii) notched Izod Impact value of at least about 3 ft-lbs/in;
(b) a lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
or a combination of (a) and (b).
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20. A process for manufacturing an injection molded article, comprising the steps of:
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(a) feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a (i) neat polypropylene homopolymer, (ii) a neat polypropylene impact copolymer characterized by a melt flow rate of less than about 70 g/10 min (at 230°
C., 2.16 kg), and containing greater than about 8 wt % (of the first material) of ethylene, having greater than about 40% crystallinity, or any combination thereof;
(b) feeding to the injection molding machine a second material including an admixture of a particulated filler and a second polyolefin, wherein (i) the particulated filler is a talc; and
(ii) the second polyolefin is a neat polypropylene homopolymer, a neat polypropylene impact copolymer characterized by a melt flow rate of less than about 70 g/10 min (at 230°
C., 2.16 kg), and containing greater than about 8 wt % (of the first material) of ethylene, having greater than about 40% crystallinity, or a combination thereof;
(c) feeding to the injection molding machine a third material that includes an elastomer that includes an alpha-olefin comonomer, and has a density less than about 0.9, a melt flow rate of about 0.5 to about 30 g/10 min (at 190°
C., 2.16 kg), has a glass transition temperature of less than about−
30°
C., or any combination thereof;
(d) blending the first, second and third materials within the injection molding machine to form a blend; and
(e) injecting the blend into a tool wherein the process is substantially free of a step of compounding together the first, second and third materials prior to the blending step;
wherein (i) the screw of the injection molding machine includes a plurality of both in-flow channels and out-flow channels;
(ii) the injection molding machine includes a mixing flight that includes at least one undercut for providing dispersive mixing, at least one bypass channel for providing distributive mixing or both;
(iii) the blending includes dispersive mixing and distributive mixing;
or (iv) any combination of (i)-(iii);
wherein the relative amounts of the first, second and third materials will range from about 30 to 90 parts by weight of the first material, optionally up to about 30 parts by weight of the second material, and about 3 to 40 parts by weight of the third material;
wherein a viscosity ratio of about 0.2 to 7 is employed; and
wherein resulting articles will include a material that will have (a) a combination of (i) failure in a ductile mode by multi-axial dart impact testing (Instrumented Dart Impact) of greater than about 90% of samples, at −
40°
C., −
30°
C. or 0°
C.; and
(ii) notched Izod Impact value of at least about 3 ft-lbs/in;
(b) a lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
or a combination of (a) and (b).
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Specification