Compositions: coating or plastic – Coating or plastic compositions – Fat – fatty oil – fatty oil acid or salt thereof containing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-20
2003-09-23
Brunsman, David (Department: 1755)
Compositions: coating or plastic
Coating or plastic compositions
Fat, fatty oil, fatty oil acid or salt thereof containing
C106S278000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06623554
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a class of novel compositions, which are useful for protective coatings. More particularly, the invention comprises
1) gilsonite, which is a mined asphalt and/or some other natural-origin or naturally-derived resin,
2) a naturally-derived solvent such as d-limonene and/or other terpenes and
3) a naturally-derived non-drying plasticizer exemplified by many fatty acid triglycerides. Optionally, additives for controlling rheology, viscosity, lubricity, etc. can be added to obtain specific properties which may be desirable.
What makes the instant invention particularly useful is that the material is either mined directly from the ground as an inert solid, or contains naturally-derived, biodegradable, renewable materials. This makes it more “environmentally friendly” than many of the current coatings on the market, which contain petroleum solvents and/or petroleum asphalt.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide an alternative to more expensive coatings that may be used, such as epoxy coatings. The compositions are useful as protective coatings for painted or unpainted metal surfaces, such as heavy equipment, bridges, piping, tanks, etc.
This invention also relates to a method of protecting said metal surfaces, by brushing, rolling or spraying the above-mentioned composition onto the metal surfaces to be protected.
2. Prior Art
2.1. General Considerations
Corrosion of metal equipment and/or other metal objects is a multi-billion dollar a year problem. Corrosion causes failure of the corroded object, leading to down time, expensive repairs or replacement, and potential liability if the failure occurs in such a way as to harm people.
Epoxy- and similar coatings may be useful in retarding corrosion, but they are in general not easy to apply, requiring substantial effort in surface protection and care, technical expertise and effort during application. Epoxy and similar coatings also suffer from the disadvantage of high cost. Therefore, what is desirable is an effective, low-cost coating.
It is well-known in the industry that asphalt tar, alone or in combination with gilsonite and/or certain other materials form the basis of protective coatings. These coatings are useful to help metal objects to resist the corrosive effects of moisture.
However, many of the current coatings of this type on the market contain petroleum solvents and/or petroleum asphalt. This raises concerns when the coatings are used, due to the presence of such environmentally-unfriendly components.
In particular, an especial concern of many users of protective coatings, is that during application some of the coating may fall on the ground, yielding a violation of various environmental statutes which prohibit spilling or dripping oil or petroleum-derived solvents on the ground. Therefore, coatings which are derived from non-petroleum sources are desirable. It is the object of this invention to disclose such coating materials.
Another type of coating for this type involves gilsonite and drying oils, such as tung oil, in combination with dryers, which are heavy metal catalysts. This type of material tends to become embrittled over time, leading to loss of adhesion. Also, the use of heavy-metal dryers defeats the purpose of utilizing otherwise environmentally-friendly components such as naturally-derived oils.
2.2. Prior Art—Discussion
In a series of patents by Burris and/or Burris et. al. (e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. (this notation is hereinafter referred to as “US”) 4,073,659; 4,094,696; 4,193,815; 4,282,037; 4,621,108; 5,811,477) various combinations of gilsonite, asphalt and/or high-boiling petroleum fractions and/or rubber are disclosed. Some of these mixtures are prepared as emulsions, with various emulsifiers and/or mixing sequences. These compositions find utility in a variety of applications, which include coatings. However, all of these compositions have petroleum-based solvents and/or asphalt. Therefore, a more environmentally-friendly alternative is desirable, one that does not involve petroleum-based solvents and/or asphalt.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,635 to Wiercinski, et. al, discloses compositions which comprise bitumen, oil, an ionomeric elastomer and gilsonite, and optionally a supportive and/or water-proofing membrane. These compositions are used in various water-proofing applications, including as water-proofing coatings. These compositions also suffer from the drawback that they contain oil and/or petroleum-based solvents.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,635 and 4,282,038 to Earing, disclose an encasing system to protect electrical components against water damage, which is one desirable characteristic among others possessed by the compositions. The system comprises, among other things, gilsonite which is modified by thermal depolymerization or by the addition of a high-viscosity process oil. These materials either have to be considerably heated prior to application, or contain process oils. Thus, someone desiring a coating to be applied at room temperature or below, or wanting to avoid using petroleum-derived products in their coating, would not find these compositions desirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,909 to Wilton, et al. discloses an oil- or gas well conduit sealant and method of placing this sealant where it can reduce leakage through the conduit in which it is placed. These compositions comprise water or diesel fuel as a carrier liquid, an emulsifier, and particulate silica and/or gilsonite. A composition comprising water as the carrier for gilsonite will not result in a useful protective coating when sprayed, brushed or rolled on metal surfaces, because gilsonite is not soluble in water to any appreciable extent. Therefore, a more suitable solvent is required for many protective coating applications. Likewise, the use of diesel fuel as the carrier solvent will not satisfy the environmental constraints desired in many applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,896 to Partanen discloses synthetic asphalt mixtures comprising selective blends of tall oil and/or tall oil pitch and gilsonite, and a process of preparing them. Optionally, other ingredients may be added to this mixture, such as aggregate, petroleum asphalt, reclaimed rubber, emulsifying agents, alcohols, fiber binder. The primary advantage to the Partanen compositions is that they are not required to have petroleum asphalt in them, or have reduced amounts of it in them, so are potentially cheaper than petroleum-derived compositions. The primary applications are in paving.
To produce the Partanen mixtures, it is necessary to melt the gilsonite sometimes prior to and always after adding it to the tall oil and/or tall oil pitch, and the mixture is kept heated during processing. The resulting mixtures are generally solids at room temperature, and so would not be useful for room-temperature or below-room-temperature applications.
Partanen does disclose liquid, or “cut-back” types of compositions, using the synthetic asphalt prepared as above, and diluted with alcohols, notably glycol ethers such as polyethylene glycols and/or polypropylene glycols which are advantageous in that they are considered more environmentally-friendly than petroleum solvents. While this is so, these solvents tend to be rather expensive, so less-expensive alternatives are more desirable. Also, although the solvents are not petroleum distillates or fractions, they are not of natural origin, and so their biodegradability can be an issue. It would be advantageous to have coatings that would have solvents that are of natural origin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,134 to Roder and Scriven disclose a pitch that is low in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (“PAH's”) and a method for making it. This composition is comprised of, among other things, coal tar pitch, petroleum pitch and gilsonite pitch. The coal tar is the primary source of the PAH's. Handling compositions containing PAH's is considered to be hazardous, due to an increased risk of cancer. The resultant pitch, due to it's lower coal tar pitch content,
Brunsman David
Chemtek, Incorporated
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