Bleaching and dyeing; fluid treatment and chemical modification – Dye or potential dye composition – additive – treatment,... – Polymeric dye – e.g. – a chromophore pendant from an addition...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-02
2003-08-12
Boyer, Charles (Department: 1751)
Bleaching and dyeing; fluid treatment and chemical modification
Dye or potential dye composition, additive, treatment,...
Polymeric dye, e.g., a chromophore pendant from an addition...
C008S673000, C008S676000, C008S680000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06605126
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to low viscosity polymeric colorant formulations comprising extremely low amounts of viscosity modifiers that significantly reduce the overall viscosity of the resultant colorant formulation as compared with the viscosity of the colorants themselves. In such a manner, the resultant formulation facilitates the utilization of such polymeric colorants within certain coloring processes and methods requiring low viscosity formulations while simultaneously permitting substantial retention of the same high color strength characteristics of the unmodified colorants. Such an unexpected result thus permits production and utilization of a low viscosity formulation that does not sacrifice colorability to an appreciable degree for target substrates or media. The inventive formulations thus comprise any number of polymeric colorants, (i.e., oxyalkylenated colorants comprising at least one chromophore constituent and at least oxyalkylene chain) and at least one viscosity modifying agent possessing a dipole moment of between 1.0 and 5.0 and/or a flash point of from about −20° C. to about 180° C. Such a modifying agent provides a significant reduction in viscosity at low levels (to permit better pumpability of the desired colorants) with no appreciable differences in coloring performance within final target media, and facilitates removal of such modifiers during or after utilization. Methods of production, utilization, and products produced with such formulations and by such methods are also encompassed within this invention.
BACKGROUND OF THE PRIOR ART
All U.S. Patents cited herein are entirely incorporated by reference.
Polyurethane products, such as foams, resins, and the like, have traditionally been colored by pigments, polymeric colorants, and dyes. Generally, these colorations are performed in situ during foam, resin, etc., formation. For instance, polymeric colorants (i.e., polyoxyalkylenated colorants), such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,279 to Cross et al., have been introduced within polyol compositions during slabstock foam production. The “colored” polyol then reacts with an isocyanate composition, in the presence of a catalyst possibly, to form the desired colored foam. Pigments have also been added in the past, most notably in solid, paste, or powder form, to a polyol stream to form the same type of colored foam products. Such compounds are readily available and inexpensive; however, they also exhibit or create problems during handling, mixing (with other pigments to create different shades, for example), and actual incorporation within target media. Furthermore, pigments, being solid in nature, tend to from clumps of solids within target media that leads to aesthetically displeasing consequences or clogging of machinery or instrumentation. Additionally, spills are likely (since the powder or solid form of such pigments do not transport easily due to atmospheric conditions and possible air disturbances), and clothes or hand staining by difficult-to-handle pigment compounds is very likely to occur through the utilization of such solid coloring agents. Also, such pigments are not storage-stable in liquid form, generally, and appear to easily precipitate out of solution after even a short shelf storage duration. Furthermore, such pigments are difficult to control from a uniformity standpoint such that the ultimate polyurethane product may exhibit uneven colorations without proper and time-consuming prior mixing. As such, polymeric colorants have proven to be more desirable than powdered or solid pigments as coloring agents within such polyurethane coloring processes.
Also, thermoplastics have been colored with polymeric colorants in the past, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,690 to Baumgartner et al. Such colorants have proven quite useful and beneficial in their high coloring and low migratory and blooming properties. Pigments have also been utilized for such coloring processes; however, the use of solid and/or powders has, again, suffered from the same handling, precipitation, and uneven coloring problems, particularly in industrial operations. Polymeric colorants are thus more desirable for these procedures as well.
Also utilized to color certain thermoplastic substrates are quaternary ammonium/anionic dye complexes, such as those disclosed within U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,938,828 and 5,948,152, both to Zhao et al. Such colorants provide excellent tinting of thermoplastic compositions but also suffer from high viscosity problems in pumpability, etc., within the necessary machinery.
One drawback in the utilization of such polymeric and/or quat/anionic dye colorants, which are present as either liquids or waxes primarily, but may also exist as solid or very highly viscous pastes, is the difficulty in preparing suitable physical forms of such colorants for universal utility within desired processes. For instance, slabstock foam production requires either a high or low pressure pumping mechanism to introduce such colorants within a polyol stream. If the viscosity of the colorants is too high, such pumping may be deleteriously effected and the coloring procedure may prove too difficult to accomplish or the final product may, as with some pigments, exhibit uneven colorations. Low, and/or controlled, viscosity colorants are thus necessary to facilitate simple modifications of such beneficially coloring colorants for introduction within a variety of different coloring procedures. To date, the great majority of modifications to polymeric colorant viscosities have been accomplished through the physical admixing of large amount of viscosity modifiers, such as, for example FOMREZ®, a ? available from ? Although viscosity modifications have been provided with such agents, the overall color strength available to the end-user has been sacrificed. Thus, the desired colorants were modified for utilization within myriad processes (such as polyolefin, polyester, polyurethane, and the like, coloring methods) in the past, but greater amounts of such low viscosity colorant were required to provide the desired coloring strength (and thus coloring effects) within the target substrates and/or media. (For this invention, the term “color strength” is intended to encompass the degree of color available for introduction within a target composition per actual volume of colorant present, otherwise known as color value. Such a color value is thus directly related to the actual amount of colorant present within the colorant composition.) The greater amount of low viscosity colorant required, the greater the cost to the end-user, and ultimately, to the consumer. There is thus a need to provide a reduced viscosity polymeric colorant composition which does not lose any appreciable degree of color strength upon attaining the desired viscosity level. To date, no such improvement has been accorded this industry by the prior art.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a high color strength, low viscosity, polymeric colorant-comprising composition that also comprises extremely low amounts of viscosity reducing agents. A further object is to provide a polymeric colorant composition that exhibits a significant reduction in viscosity with an extremely low amount of viscosity reducing agent, which does not deleteriously effect the desired coloring procedure, present. A further objective of this invention is to provide a extremely low viscosity polymeric colorant composition that retains substantially the same general color value as a high viscosity composition comprising the same polymeric colorant, wherein the colorant is present in the low viscosity composition in an amount nearly the same as that of the high viscosity colorant.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, this invention is directed to a nonaqueous liquid composition comprising at least one polymeric colorant containing composition and at least one viscosity modifying compound exhibiting a dipole moment of between about 1.0 and 5.0 or, alternativ
Ragsdale Mark E.
Stephens Eric B.
Xia Jusong
Boyer Charles
Elhilo Eisa
Milliken & Co.
Moyer Terry T.
Parks William S.
LandOfFree
Low-viscosity polymeric colorants exhibiting high color... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Low-viscosity polymeric colorants exhibiting high color..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Low-viscosity polymeric colorants exhibiting high color... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3099988