Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser – Synthetic resins – At least one aryl ring which is part of a fused or bridged...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-16
2001-01-16
Copenheaver, Blaine (Department: 1771)
Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser
Synthetic resins
At least one aryl ring which is part of a fused or bridged...
C524S594000, C524S596000, C524S611000, C528S495000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06174957
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a new adhesive composition based on resorcinol novolac or resorcinol-phenolic novolac. More specifically, the invention concerns a novolac-based adhesive composition containing an aliphatic divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol. The adhesive composition mixed with a hardener has low emission of formaldehyde.
Resorcinol resin and resorcinol-phenolic resin adhesives are commonly used in the wood industry, inter alia because of their satisfactory ageing stability, as well as good water and weather resistance of the glue line. Also, they may readily be cured at room temperature.
Generally, resorcinol resins and resorcinol-phenolic resins are used in the form of novolacs, i.e. precondensates of resorcinol/phenol with formaldehyde, in which the ratio of formaldehyde to resorcinol/phenol is less than 1. The precondensates are cured by further addition of formaldehyde. Since resorcinol is very reactive, a considerable amount of the formaldehyde is added to the resin as curing agent. As a rule, this is done by the user when about to use the resin. It is common that the novolacs are cured with pulverulent curing agents based on paraformaldehyde.
It is well-known that the use of formaldehyde-based adhesives involves the problem of odorous formaldehyde emissions. When the pulverulent paraformaldehyde is dissolved in the precondensate, formaldehyde is released and the adhesive smells. SE 408,063 discloses an attempt to solve this problem by having a curing agent in the form of a suspension of paraformaldehyde in a non-volatile suspending agent. This curing agent does not cause any smell problems when fresh, but when added to the adhesive, the paraformaldehyde reacts with the water in the adhesive mixture, and formaldehyde is released, making the adhesive smell. In attempts to reduce the amount of water in the novolac, viscosity has increased to an unacceptable level, making it impossible to spread the adhesive.
An object of the present invention therefore is to produce an adhesive based on resorcinol novolac or resorcinol-phenolic novolac and having a low emission of formaldehyde after the addition of the formaldehyde based hardener. Another object of the invention is to produce such an adhesive having satisfactory application and gluing properties.
These objects are achieved by an adhesive composition, as defined in the appended claims, which is based on resorcinol novolac or resorcinol-phenolic novolac and is characterized in that it contains 35-75% by weight of novolac, less than 25% by weight of water, and 10-40% by weight of an aliphatic divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol. It was surprisingly found that by reducing the water content in the novolac and replacing it with a divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol, one obtained an adhesive composition which, upon the addition of pulverulent paraformaldehyde, gave off much less formaldehyde smell. The alcohols instead bind the formaldehyde in a larger molecule which does not evaporate and thus does not give off any smell. This molecule is decomposed only at the rate of reaction of the formaldehyde with the resin. Since a divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol is added instead of water, the resulting adhesive will have a viscosity which makes it suitable for spreading. Despite the fact that so much of the water was replaced with the hydroxy compound, the gluing properties of the resin were not impaired, which is highly surprising.
Suitable aliphatic divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohols include compounds of the type HO—Rl—OH or HO—Rl—O—R2—OH, where R1, R2 are (CH2)n, n being ≦5, such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol, and various kinds of trivalent and tetravalent alcohols, for instance glycerol and pentaerythritol. The aliphatic divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol should be added in such an amount that the resulting adhesive composition contains 10-40% by weight thereof, preferably 15-30% by weight. Further, the adhesive composition should contain less than 25% by weight of water, preferably less than 20% by weight. Most preferred, the amount of water lies in the range of 5-15% by weight. The amount of novolac in the adhesive composition should be 35-75% by weight, preferably 45-60% by weight. Together, the novolac, the divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol and the water make up 100% by weight of the adhesive composition.
The novolac used in the adhesive composition according to the invention can be produced in conventional manner. The molar ratio of formaldehyde to resorcinol, or of formaldehyde to resorcinol phenol, should be less than 0.9:1. When a mixture of resorcinol phenol is used, the amount of phenol may be up to 80 mole %, preferably 40-60 mole %, based on the total amount of resorcinol and phenol. Conveniently, the pH of the novolac is adjusted to a value in the range of 6.8-8.7. This results in a good balance between formaldehyde emission and curing speed.
The adhesive composition according to the invention may also contain such conventional fillers as olive-stone meal and almond-shell meal or the like in contents of up to ≦20% by weight, based on the amount of novolac, alcohol and water.
The adhesive composition can be produced by preparing a novolac by conventional condensation. Then, the desired amount of divalent, trivalent or tetravalent alcohol is added, and water in the novolac is distilled off. Alternatively, the binder can be prepared by reducing the amount of water as early as in the novolac condensation, e.g. by using raw materials of such a low water content that there is no need of any distillation. If so, the alcohol is suitably added at an early stage of the condensation. The viscosity of the resulting binder lies in the range of 300-10,000 mPas, based on a pure resin solution. The adhesive composition is then cured in known manner by adding formaldehyde in an amount giving the binder the desired final molar ratio. Suitably, the final molar ratio in resorcinol/resorcinol-phenolic resins of formaldehyde to resorcinol/resorcinol phenol lies in the range of 0.75-1.7, preferably 0.9-1.2. The formaldehyde is preferably added in the form of a pulverulent curing agent based on paraformaldehyde.
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Bonini Maria
Janackovic Anna
Nasli-Bakir Ben
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Casco Products AB
Copenheaver Blaine
Guarriello John J.
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