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AssigneesRegents of the University of Minnesota, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
InventorsLeslie D. Morgret, Michael S. Haas, Marc A. Hillmyer, Wilhelm Risse, Frank S. Bates, Mark T Martello, Sangwoo Lee
Estimating the term…
Chewing gums and chewing gum bases which are cud-forming and chewable at mouth temperature contains a multi-block copolymer having at least two repeating sequences of at least two different polymeric blocks having at least three monomer units each. The multi-block copolymer optionally includes linking units and may be formulated to have non-covalent crosslinking between the copolymer chains. The multi-block copolymer is optionally plasticized with a compatible di-block copolymer to function as an elastomer system in the gum base. Characteristics of the multi-block copolymers can be selected to produce gum bases and chewing gums having desired properties. In some cases, chewed cuds formed from the gum bases may exhibit improved removability from environmental surfaces to which they may become undesirably attached.
A chewing gum composition comprising at least a flavoring agent, a sweetener and a chewing gum base comprising a multi-block copolymer having at least four homopolymeric blocks, each homopolymer block having at least three monomeric units, wherein the multi-block copolymer comprises a repeating sequence of at least two different homopolymeric blocks, wherein at least one of the homopolymeric blocks is a polyester selected from the group consisting of polyester homopolymers of lactic acid, D,L-lactide, D-lactide, L-lactide, and combinations thereof, and wherein there are at least two such sequences present in the multi-block copolymer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.