Back to results
US 8,349,963 B2Granted
Crosslinked elastic material formed from a linear block copolymer
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsOomman P. Thomas, John E. Flood
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsOomman P. Thomas, John E. Flood
Estimating the term…
An elastic material for use in an absorbent article is provided. The elastic material contains a crosslinked network formed from a linear block copolymer having a monoalkenyl aromatic midblock positioned between conjugated diene endblocks (e.g., butadiene-styrene-butadiene (“B-S-B”) triblock copolymer). Prior to crosslinking, such linear block copolymers have a relatively low viscosity and thus may be readily formed into a precursor elastic material (e.g., film, strands, web, etc.) that is subsequently crosslinked to achieve the desired elastic and mechanical properties. Crosslinking is typically achieved through the formation of free radicals (unpaired electrons) that link together to form a plurality of carbon-carbon covalent bonds at the conjugated diene endblocks.
An elastic material comprising a crosslinked network, the crosslinked network containing a linear block copolymer having a monoalkenyl aromatic midblock positioned between conjugated diene endblocks, wherein the monoalkenyl aromatic midblock constitutes from 15 wt. % to about 30 wt. % of the copolymer and has a number average molecular weight of from about 5,000 to about 35,000 grams per mole, wherein the copolymer is a triblock copolymer, the monoalkenyl aromatic midblock includes styrene or a styrene derivative, the conjugated diene endblocks include butadiene, and from about 5 to about 25 mole percent of the butadiene units in the conjugated diene endblocks have 1,2 vinyl configuration;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.