Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or... – Noninterengaged fiber-containing paper-free web or sheet...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-02
2004-01-06
Jackson, Monique R. (Department: 1773)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Web or sheet containing structurally defined element or...
Noninterengaged fiber-containing paper-free web or sheet...
C428S297400, C428S300700, C428S457000, C428S458000, C428S461000, C428S463000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06673432
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to structural articles which include water vapor impermeable materials such as metal foils and preformed plastic films. Those structural articles of the present invention which include metal foils may also be useful as radiant energy barriers and as flame and heat dissipating barriers.
For many years substrates such as fiberglass have been coated with various compositions to produce structural articles having utility in, among other applications, the building industry. U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,005 relates to structural laminates made with facing sheets. The laminates described in that patent include thermosetting plastic foam and have planar facing sheets comprising 60% to 90% by weight glass fibers (exclusive of glass micro-fibers), 10% to 40% by weight non-glass filler material and 1% to 30% by weight non-asphaltic binder material. The filler materials are indicated as being clay, mica, talc, limestone (calcium carbonate), gypsum (calcium sulfate), aluminum trihydrate (ATH), antimony oxide, cellulose fibers, plastic polymer fibers or a combination of any two or more of those substances. The patent further notes that the filler materials are bonded to the glass fibers using binders such as urea-, phenol- or melamine-formaldehyde resins (UF, PF, and MF resins), or a modified acrylic or polyester resin. Ordinary polymer latexes used according to the disclosure are Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber (SBR), Ethylene-Vinyl-Chloride (EVCl), Polyvinylidene Chloride (PVDC), modified Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVOH), and Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,032 discloses an acrylic coating comprised of one acrylic underlying resin which includes fly ash and an overlying acrylic resin which differs from the underlying resin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,329 discloses a fire retardant coating composition comprising fly ash and vinyl acrylic polymer emulsion. The fly ash is 24 to 50% of the composition. U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,897 discloses a cover layer material on a basis of matting or fabric which includes calcium carbonate powder and a polystyrene-butadiene dispersion.
Many different coating compositions have been formulated over the years but often such compositions would bleed through substrates, such as fiberglass substrates, if the substrates were coated on just one side, unless the compositions had a high binder content and/or included viscosity modifiers to enhance the viscosity of the coating composition. To prevent bleed through, such coating compositions sometimes had their viscosity increased by blowing or whipping air into the compositions. Although such blown compositions did not bleed through to the other side of mats such as fiberglass mats, the raw material costs for the compositions were high because of the numbers of constituent elements involved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 discloses a structural article having a coating which includes only two major constituents, while eliminating the need for viscosity modifiers, for stabilizers or for blowing. The structural article of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 is made by coating a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same iconic charge. The coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. By coating the substrate with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge, the patentee developed a zero bleed through product while using only two major ingredients in the coating and eliminating the need for costly and time consuming processing steps such as blowing. Structural articles may thus be produced having a low binder content and no viscosity modifiers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 issued to Elk Corporation of Dallas, the assignee of the present application. Elk produces a product in accordance with the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 which is marketed as VersaShield®.
As indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257, VersaShield® has many uses, including utility as a moisture barrier. However, it has been found that the products of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 are unable to provide a satisfactory water vapor barrier. In newly constructed office buildings, owners and tenants frequently desire to have carpeting layed down on concrete floors before sufficient time has passed for the concrete to completely cure. As a result, the water vapor which rises from the concrete often stains the carpet, requiring costly cleaning and/or removal. Although the products of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 provide a moisture barrier, they do not provide a sufficient water vapor barrier and accordingly, they cannot satisfactorily serve in applications where vapor barriers are important, such as in interplies or underlayment between incompletely cured concrete floors and carpeting. The applicants have discovered, however, that by covering the structural articles of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 with metal foils or preformed plastic films, the covered structural articles become essentially water vapor impermeable. Additionally, the applicants have discovered that when the structural articles of U.S. Pat. No. 5,965,257 are covered with metal foils, the structural articles also may be useful as radiant energy barriers and as flame and heat dissipating barriers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, a structural article is made by coating one side of a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge and covering the other side of the substrate with a water vapor impermeable material selected from the group consisting essentially of metal foils and preformed plastic films. The aforementioned coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. The binder material bonds the filler material together and to the substrate. The coating does not bleed through the substrate. The water vapor impermeable material is attached to the other side of the substrate with an adhesive. Alternatively, structural articles may be made by coating both sides of a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. Again, the coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material, the coating does not bleed through the substrate and the binder material bonds the filler material together and to the substrate. In such embodiments, one side of the coated substrate is covered with a water vapor impermeable material selected from the group consisting essentially of metal foils and preformed plastic films. Again, the material is attached to the coated substrate with an adhesive. In other embodiments, one side of the coated substrate is covered with a metal foil water vapor impermeable material and the other side of the coated substrate is covered with a preformed plastic film water vapor impermeable material. Both materials are attached to the coated substrate with an adhesive. In further embodiments, both sides of the coated substrate are coated with the same water vapor impermeable material.
The adhesive which is used to attach the water vapor impermeable material to the substrate, or to the coated substrate as the case may be, is selected from the group consisting essentially of low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polyethylene-vinyl acetate, polyesters polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, nylon and mixtures thereof.
In one embodiment, the coating is from 84% to 96% filler selected from the group consisting of fly ash, charged calcium carbonate, ceramic microspheres and mixtures thereof and from 16% to 4% acrylic latex binder materials. The coating may further include SBR rubber. The acrylic latex binder and the rubber may be cross-linked. In certain embodiments, the substrate consists essentially of glass fibers bonded together by a mixture of from 99% to 75% urea formaldehyde resin and from 1% to 25% acrylic latex.
The coated substrate of the present invention may be any suitable reinforcement material capable of withstanding processing temperatures, such as glass fibers, polyester fibers, cellulosic fibers, asbestos, steel fibers, alumina fibers, ce
Ahluwalia Younger
Kiik Matti
LaVietes Daniel
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Elk Premium Building Products, Inc.
Jackson Monique R.
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