Color stable pigmented polymeric films

Details Color stable pigmented polymeric films Color stable pigmented polymeric films

2000-08-08

2004-11-02

Chen, Vivian (Department: 1773)

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or...

Including a second component containing structurally defined...

C428S328000, C428S329000, C428S330000, C428S331000, C428S480000, C359S885000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06811867

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to color-stable polymeric films and products made therefrom. More particularly, the present invention relates to color-stable pigmented polymeric films made of a polyester.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tinted polymeric films, and particularly tinted polymeric films made of a polyester, find utility in a broad range of applications. These films, for example, can be applied to a base transparent substrate (e.g., a window or auto glass pane) to provide a neutral color tint to the window or auto glass. They can also used to tint the surface of a display device, mirror, or other piece of optical equipment.
One method for tinting a polymeric base film employs dyeing the base film with one or more color dyes. Typically in such methods, the neutral color, or “tint,” is obtained by imbibing (or blending) the base film material with a combination of yellow, red and blue dyes. While these dyed films generally retain a high clarity and a low haze, prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation (which occurs naturally during outdoor use or by exposure to fluorescent light or other UV-emitting light source) can cause significant degradation of the dye molecules and lead to tinting color alteration, tinting power deterioration, bleachings, and reduced light transmission.
Another method sometimes employed for tinting a polymeric film is to apply a pigmented coating to the surface of a base polymeric film. Generally, such coatings are applied as thin layers and employ a relatively high pigment concentration to achieve a desired tint level. These highly-concentrated pigment coatings can suffer myriad processing and performance drawbacks. For example, the high pigment concentrations necessary to achieve requisite tinting strengths are difficult to uniformly disperse within the thin coating, and these high surface pigment concentrations generally suffer faster environmental deterioration. Moreover, such pigmented coatings typically suffer greater haze and reduced clarity.
There exists, therefore, a need for a pigmented film that is environmentally stable (i.e., color-stable or colorfast), that is easily manufactured and that exhibits low haze and high clarity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, in one aspect, the present invention provides a color-stable, pigmented optical body, the optical body comprising: a single or multiple layer core comprising at least one layer of a thermoplastic polymer material having dispersed therein a particulate pigment, wherein the optical body exhibits a transmission of light within a wavelength band of interest within the visible spectrum of from about 10 to about 90 percent and exhibits less than or equal to about five percent internal haze.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a color-stable, pigmented optical body, the optical body comprising: a single or multiple layer core comprising at least one layer of a thermoplastic polymer material having dispersed therein a particulate pigment, wherein the optical body exhibits an average transmission of light within the visible spectrum of from about 10 to about 90 percent and exhibits an internal haze of less than or equal to about five percent.
In yet another aspect, the invention provides a color-stable, pigmented optical body comprising a single or multiple layer core comprising at least one layer of a thermoplastic polymer material, wherein dispersed within the thermoplastic polymer material is between 0.01 and about 1.0 percent by weight of a particulate pigment having a mean diameter of between about 10 nm and 500 nm, and wherein the optical body exhibits a transmission of light within a wavelength band of interest within the visible spectrum of from about 10 to about 90 percent.
In still another aspect, the invention provides a color-stable, pigmented optical body comprising a single or multiple layer core comprising at least one layer of a thermoplastic polymer material having dispersed therein a particulate pigment, wherein the optical body has a surface roughness, R
a
, of less than or equal to about 60 and exhibits a transmission of light within a wavelength band of interest within the visible spectrum of from about 10 to about 90 percent.
The invention also provides a method of making a color-stable, pigmented optical body, the method comprising:
(a) creating a substantially uniform dispersion of a particulate pigment having a mean diameter of between about 10 nm and about 500 nm;
(b) adding the dispersion to a reaction mass of a condensation polymer forming process, wherein the dispersion is present in an amount sufficient to impart a transparency to the optical body between about 10 and 90 percent;
(c) reacting the condensation polymer forming reaction mass to form a condensation polymer having dispersed therein the particulate pigment; and
(d) forming an optical body comprising at least one layer of the condensation polymer.
In still other aspects, the present invention provides articles, including pigmented window and auto glass films, that incorporate the above color-stable optical bodies.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3830773 (1974-08-01), Barkey et al.
patent: 4408004 (1983-10-01), Pengilly
patent: 4476272 (1984-10-01), Pengilly
patent: 4535118 (1985-08-01), Pengilly
patent: 4546036 (1985-10-01), Renalls et al.
patent: 4603073 (1986-07-01), Renalls et al.
patent: 4737559 (1988-04-01), Kellen et al.
patent: 4751118 (1988-06-01), Wypart et al.
patent: 4865898 (1989-09-01), Fukuda et al.
patent: 5262470 (1993-11-01), Shimotsuma et al.
patent: 6049419 (2000-04-01), Wheatley
patent: 6368699 (2002-04-01), Gilbert et al.
patent: 6569517 (2003-05-01), McGurran et al.
patent: 2003/0017326 (2003-01-01), McGurran et al.
patent: 0 459 967 (1991-04-01), None
patent: 0 894 620 (1999-03-01), None
patent: 56016546 (1981-02-01), None
patent: 58164623 (1983-09-01), None
patent: 58168526 (1983-10-01), None
patent: 11116826 (1999-04-01), None
patent: 2000143842 (2000-05-01), None
patent: WO 95/17303 (1995-06-01), None
patent: WO 95/17699 (1995-06-01), None
patent: WO 96/19347 (1996-06-01), None
patent: WO 97/01440 (1997-01-01), None
patent: WO 97/01774 (1997-01-01), None
patent: WO 97/32226 (1997-09-01), None
patent: WO 99/36248 (1999-07-01), None
patent: WO 99/36262 (1999-07-01), None

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Color stable pigmented polymeric films does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Color stable pigmented polymeric films, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Color stable pigmented polymeric films will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3299187