Method of conditioning a water swellable hydrocolloid
First Claim
1. A method by which a water-swellable hydrocolloid, for use in mechanical forming processes is conditioned to a given water content and is rapidly heated from a lower temperature to a higher temperature without virtually changing its water content, characterized by(a) slowly conditioning the hydrocolloid at the lower temperature to obtain an even distribution of water within every particle and through the bulk of the hydrocolloid,(b) transferring the hydrocolloid into a gaseous atmosphere of the desired higher temperature, said gaseous atmosphere is loaded with water to the proportion in equilibrium at the higher temperature with the predetermined water content of the hydrocolloid, and(c) removing the hydrocolloid from the said gaseous atmosphere within a short time sufficient to heat the hydrocolloid to the desired higher temperature but not sufficient to affect any substantial exchange of humidity.
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Abstract
Method to condition water-swellable hydrocolloids for use in mechanical forming processes such as die molding or injection molding. To avoid long conditioning times at high temperature, the hydrocolloids are conditioned to the predetermined water content at ambient temperature and then rapidly heated, just before processing, in a gaseous stream loaded with water to the equilibrium conditions needed to maintain the predetermined water content of the hydrocolloids at the high process temperature of the mechanical forming.
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12 Claims
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1. A method by which a water-swellable hydrocolloid, for use in mechanical forming processes is conditioned to a given water content and is rapidly heated from a lower temperature to a higher temperature without virtually changing its water content, characterized by
(a) slowly conditioning the hydrocolloid at the lower temperature to obtain an even distribution of water within every particle and through the bulk of the hydrocolloid, (b) transferring the hydrocolloid into a gaseous atmosphere of the desired higher temperature, said gaseous atmosphere is loaded with water to the proportion in equilibrium at the higher temperature with the predetermined water content of the hydrocolloid, and (c) removing the hydrocolloid from the said gaseous atmosphere within a short time sufficient to heat the hydrocolloid to the desired higher temperature but not sufficient to affect any substantial exchange of humidity.
Specification