Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser – Synthetic resins – Mixing of two or more solid polymers; mixing of solid...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-27
2003-05-13
Nutter, Nathan M. (Department: 1711)
Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser
Synthetic resins
Mixing of two or more solid polymers; mixing of solid...
C525S216000, C525S232000, C525S240000, C525S241000, C428S500000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06562907
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to (i) an olefin polymer (ii) a thermoplastic resin composition comprising said olefin polymer and a thermoplastic resin, which thermoplastic resin composition is superior in balance among flexibility, scratch resistance, tensile elongation characteristics, resistance to whitening on bending and stability of surface properties, (iii) a sheet and a tube comprising said thermoplastic resin composition, and (iv) a laminate comprising a layer which comprises said thermoplastic resin composition. In the present invention, the term “sheet” also means a film, and the term “tube” also means a hose.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As disclosed in JP-A 7-102126, a non-rigid thermoplastic resin composition comprising an ethylene-&agr;-olefin copolymer and a crystalline polypropylene resin is expected to become an alternative material of a plasticized vinyl chloride resin. However, as disclosed in JP-A 8-301927, said composition has a problem of stickiness caused by the ethylene-&agr;-olefin copolymer. In order to solve the problem, JP-A 8-301927 and JP-A 9-104720 disclose a method, according to which method the ethylene-&agr;-olefin copolymer is crosslinked by an electronic ray or a peroxide, but the problem of stickiness is not sufficiently solved.
JP-A 11-193309 and JP-A 11-80233 disclose a non-rigid olefin material, which contains no chlorine and is superior in physical properties such as flexibility. However, such a non-rigid material is yet insufficient for uses or specifications, in which a higher performance is required.
Particularly, in the field of skin materials and non-rigid molding materials, it is desired to develop an olefin copolymer capable of giving a thermoplastic resin composition superior in balance among flexibility, scratch resistance, tensile elongation characteristics, resistance to whitening on bending and stability of surface properties.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an olefin polymer capable of giving a thermoplastic resin composition superior in balance among flexibility, scratch resistance, tensile elongation characteristics, resistance to whitening on bending and stability of surface properties, when used in combination with a thermoplastic resin.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a thermoplastic resin composition comprising such an olefin polymer.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a sheet comprising such a thermoplastic resin composition.
The present inventors have undertaken extensive studies to accomplish the above-mentioned objects. As a result, it has been found that an olefin polymer having specific characteristics and specific physical properties can meet said objects. Thereby, the present invention has been obtained.
The present invention provides an olefin polymer having an elastic recovery of from 70 to 100% defined by the following formula (1),
Elastic recovery=stress-residual deformation recovery×100/stretch deformation (1)
wherein the stress-residual deformation recovery and the stretch deformation are obtained from a 100% strain hysteresis curve of a resin composition consisting essentially of 70 parts by weight of the olefin polymer and 30 parts by weight of one polypropylene resin selected from the group consisting of the following polymers (A) and (B), provided that at least one resin composition satisfies the above-defined value of elastic recovery,
(A) a propylene-ethylene copolymer, which has a melt flow rate of 3.0±0.5 g/10 min. measured at a temperature of 230° C. under a load of 2.16 kg, a main peak position (melting point) of 145±2° C. in a crystal melting measured according to JIS K7121 with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and a crystal melting calorie of 87±5 J/g measured according to JIS K7122 with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and
(B) a propylene-ethylene copolymer, which has a melt flow rate of 1.5±0.3 g/10 min. measured at a temperature of 230° C. under a load of 2.16 kg, a main peak position (melting point) of 135±2° C. in a crystal melting measured according to JIS K7121 using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and a crystal melting calorie of 60±5 J/g measured according to JIS K7122 with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), wherein the sample to be measured with a differential scanning calorimeter is prepared according to a process prescribed in JIS K7121 3(2).
The present invention also provides a thermoplastic resin composition comprising from 99 to 1% by weight of the above-defined olefin polymer and from 1 to 99% by weight of a thermoplastic resin.
Further, the present invention provides a sheet and a tube, which comprise said thermoplastic resin composition.
Still further, the present invention provides a laminate, which comprises a layer comprising said thermoplastic resin composition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The olefin polymer in accordance with the present invention means a copolymer of more than one compound selected from the group consisting of ethylene, &agr;-olefins having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, polyene compounds, cyclic olefins and vinyl aromatic compounds, or means a homopolymer of these compounds. Among those olefin polymers, a random copolymer is preferable from a viewpoint of stability of surface properties and flexibility of the thermoplastic resin composition obtained.
As examples of the above-mentioned &agr;-olefins having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, polyene compounds, cyclic olefins and vinyl aromatic compounds, the following compounds can be enumerated.
1. &agr;-Olefin Having 3 to 20 Carbon Atoms
As such an &agr;-olefin, linear and branched &agr;-olefins are exemplified. Specific examples of the linear and branched &agr;-olefin are propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene, 1-decene, 1-undecene, 1-dodecene, 1-tridecene, 1-tetradecene, 1-pentadecene, 1-hexadecene, 1-heptadecene, 1-octadecene, 1-nanodecene and 1-eicocene. Specific examples of the branched &agr;-olefin are 3-methyl-l-butene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 4-methyl-l-pentene, 2-ethyl-1-hexene and 2,2,4-trimethyl-1-pentene. Of these, propylene, 1-butene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, 1-decene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-butene and 4-methyl-1-pentene are preferred.
2. Polyene Compound
As the polyene compound, both a conjugated polyene compound and a non-conjugated polyene compound are preferred. The polyene compound includes, for example, an aliphatic conjugated polyene compound and an alicyclic conjugated polyene compound. As the aliphatic conjugated polyene compound, a linear aliphatic conjugated polyene compound and a branched aliphatic conjugated polyene compound are exemplified. The aliphatic conjugated polyene compound and the alicyclic conjugated polyene compound may contain a group such as an alkoxy group, an aryl group, an aryloxy group, an aralkyl group and an aralkyloxy group.
Specific examples of the aliphatic conjugated polyene compound are 1,3-butadiene, isoprene, 2-ethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-propyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-isopropyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-hexyl-1,3-butadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2,3-diethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene, 2,3-dichloro-1,3-butadiene, 1-fluoro-1,3-butadiene, 2-chloro-1,3-pentadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-hexadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-octadiene, 2-methyl-1,3-decadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-hexadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-octadiene and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-decadiene.
Specific examples of the alicyclic conjugated polyene compound are 2-methyl-1,3-cyclopentadiene, 2-mehtyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-cyclopentadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexadiene, 2-chloro-1,3-cyclopentadiene and 2-chloro-1,3-cyclohexadiene.
The non-conjugated polyene compound includes, for example, an aliphatic non-conjugated polyene compound, an alicyclic non-conjugated polyene compound and an aromatic non-conjugated polyene compound. As the aliphatic non-conjugated polyene compound, a linear aliphatic non-conjugated polyene compound
Hozumi Hidetake
Johoji Hirofumi
Nishiyama Tadaaki
Nutter Nathan M.
Sumitomo Chemical Company Limited
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