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US 2026/0192497 A1Published application
Method of making a foamed article
AssigneeSahara International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem)
InventorCamillo DELFINO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of making a foamed article including mixing a first ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer and a thermoset polyurethane to form a composite, mixing the composite, a second EVA copolymer, a compatibilizer, and a foaming agent to form a mixture and forming the foamed article from the mixture. A compression set of the foamed article is 0-100% lower than a compression set of a foamed article made by the same method but without the thermoset polyurethane polymer.
Claims19
A method of making a foamed article, comprising:
- mixing a first ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer and a thermoset polyurethane to form a composite;
- mixing the composite, a second EVA copolymer, a compatibilizer, and a foaming agent to form a mixture;
- and
- forming the foamed article from the mixture,
- wherein a compression set of the foamed article is 0-100% lower than a compression set of a foamed article made by a same method but without the thermoset polyurethane polymer.
2 more elements
2:
- The method of claim 1, further comprising, processing the thermoset polyurethane polymer prior to the mixing with the first EVA copolymer by at least one of mechanical grinding, cryogenic grinding, and waterjet powdering.
3:
- The method of claim 1, further comprising, processing the thermoset polyurethane polymer prior to the mixing with the first EVA copolymer by at least one of two-roll milling, kneading, and homogenizing in a Banbury mixer.
4:
- The method of claim 1, wherein a particle size of the thermoset polyurethane polymer is less than 5 mm.
5:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the thermoset polyurethane polymer is a flexible crosslinked polyurethane foam.
6:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture comprises 1-60 parts of the composite relative to 100 parts of the second EVA copolymer.
7:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the compatibilizer is at least one selected from the group consisting of a grafted polyolefin and a styrenic block copolymer.
8:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture comprises 1-30 parts of the compatibilizer relative to 100 parts of the second EVA copolymer.
9:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture further comprises a reactive surfactant.
10:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the first EVA copolymer has a molecular weight of 500-3,000 g/mol and a vinyl acetate content of 30 to 45 wt %, based on a total weight of the second EVA copolymer.
11:
- The method of claim 10, wherein the second EVA copolymer has a molecular weight of 40,000-70,000 g/mol and a vinyl acetate content of 15 to 30 wt %, based on a total weight of the second EVA copolymer.
12:
- The method of claim 11, wherein the composite comprises 1-50 parts of the first EVA copolymer, relative to 100 parts of the thermoset polyurethane.
13:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the forming is by at least one of injection molding and compression molding.
14:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the thermoset polyurethane polymer forms a co-continuous polymer phase with the second EVA copolymer in the foamed article.
15:
- The method of claim 1, further comprising heating the mixture to a temperature at which the second EVA copolymer melts and the foaming agent decomposes thereby producing a foam.
16:
- The method of claim 1, wherein the thermoset polyurethane polymer is waste from injection molding processes.
17:
- The method of claim 1, wherein a resiliency of the foamed article is 0-100% larger than a resiliency of a foamed article made by a same method but without the thermoset polyurethane polymer.
18:
- The method of claim 1, wherein an elongation at break of the foamed article is 0-100% larger than an elongation at break of a foamed article made by a same method but without the thermoset polyurethane polymer.
19:
- A foamed article produced by the method of claim 1.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.