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 lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
wherein the injecting step includes passing the blend through a static mixer.
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.
36 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 lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
wherein the injecting step includes passing the blend through a static mixer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16)
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
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3. 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 measured using the Instrumented Dart Impact Test 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);
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). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19)
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
-
20. 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 that includes an elastomer;
blending the first, and second 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 and second materials prior to the blending step;
wherein resulting articles included a material having a lamellar morphology, a droplet morphology having a rubber domain size of about 0.1 micron to about 5 microns, or a combination thereof;
wherein the injecting step includes passing the blend through a static mixer;
wherein the elastomer includes a copolymer of alpha-olefins selected from the group consisting of i) ethylene and propylene, ii) ethylene and 1-butene, iii) ethylene and 1-hexene; and
iv) ethylene and 1-octene, and the first polyolefin includes a polypropylene homopolymer or an impact polypropylene copolymer.
- feeding to an injection molding machine a first material that includes a polyolefin;
Specification