Polyurethane foam formulation, products and methods
AssigneeJohnson Controls Technology Company
InventorsJames T. McEvoy, Terrence M. McRoberts, Ryoko Yamasaki, William Li, Murray D. Metcalfe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foam article for use in a seat cushion includes an open cell, polyurethane foam material that includes a base polyol; a crosslinker; an isocyanate; a surfactant; and water, that are reacted together to produce a seat cushion having dynamic and static performance specifications that are better than the performance characteristics for a traditional, high resilient material seat cushion, as well as other seating materials.
Claims21
1-43. (canceled)
An open cell, polyurethane foam material, for use in a seat application, wherein the article is made by a process comprising:
- producing a reaction product from reaction components comprising:
- a base polyol having a molecular weight of from 5000 to 10000 and a monol content of less than 10% by weight;
- a crosslinker;
- an isocyanate;
- a surfactant;
- and
- water;
- performing a crushing process comprising:
- a first compression of the reaction product to a first percentage of its original height;
- a second compression of the reaction product to a second percentage of its original height;
- and
- a third compression of the reaction product to a third percentage of its original height to produce the open cell, polyurethane foam material, and the combination of the reaction components and at least the crushing is such that the open cell, polyurethane foam material has a natural frequency between about 2.6 hertz and about 4.6 hertz and a transmissivity of about 1.01 to about 3.5 at the natural frequency for a 25 mm to 150 mm thick cushion;
- and
- wherein the transmissivity is the ratio A/Ao, Ao is an input acceleration to the cushion, A is the measured acceleration response as a result of the input acceleration, and the natural frequency is the frequency at which A/Ao is the highest.
A method of making an open cell, molded polyurethane foam object, comprising:
- reacting a reaction mixture in a mold to produce a reaction product, wherein the reaction mixture comprises:
- a base polyol having a molecular weight of from 5000 to 10000 and a monol content of less than 10% by weight;
- a crosslinker;
- an isocyanate;
- a surfactant;
- and
- water;
- curing the reaction product in the mold;
- removing the reaction product from the mold;
- and
- crushing the reaction product by performing a crushing step comprising a first compression of the reaction product to a first percentage of its original height, a second compression of the reaction product to a second percentage of its original height a third compression of the reaction product to a third percentage of its original height.
An open cell, polyurethane foam material comprising the reaction product of a reaction mixture comprising:
- a base polyol having a molecular weight of from 5000 to 10000, and a monol content of less than 10% by weight;
- bis(2-dimethylaminoethyl)ether as an amine blowing catalyst;
- triethylene diamine as an amine gelling catalyst, wherein a ratio of the amine blowing catalyst to the amine gelling catalyst is 1:3, by weight;
- and
- a copolymer polyol comprising a mixture of an ethylene oxide (EO) capped base polyol and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) polymer solids, wherein a ratio of the base polyol to the copolymer polyol is either 1:1 or 7:3, by weight;
- a crosslinker;
- an isocyanate;
- a surfactant;
- and
- water, wherein the polyol and the isocyanate have an index of from 85-105, and wherein the open cell, polyurethane foam material is crushed such that the open cell, polyurethane foam material has a natural frequency between about 2.6 hertz and about 4.6 hertz, a transmissivity of about 1.01 to about 3.5 at the natural frequency, and a comfort value of less than 13.0 for a 25 mm-150 mm thick cushion;
- wherein the transmissivity is the ratio A/Ao, Ao is an input acceleration to the cushion, A is the measured acceleration response as a result of the input acceleration, and the natural frequency is the frequency at which A/Ao is the highest;
- and
- wherein the comfort value is the natural frequency multiplied by the peak measured transmissivity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.