Polyvinyl chloride-based elements for floor cleaning units

1 . A floor cleaning unit comprising:

at least one PVC/NBR component selected from the group consisting of seals, mounts, tubing, and contact members, said PVC/NBR component including a polyvinyl chloride base resin and, based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin:

(a) from about 10 to about 50 parts nitrile rubber, as an impact modifier;

(b) from about 30 to about 100 parts plasticizer; and

(c) from about 1 to about 4 parts polyvinyl chloride stabilizer.

2 . A floor cleaning unit comprising:

a contact member including a polyvinyl chloride base resin; and

based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin:

(a) from about 20 to about 40 phr nitrile rubber,

(b) from about 60 to about 100 phr plasticizer,

(c) from about 1 to about 5 phr polyvinyl chloride stabilizer,

(d) from about 10 to about 15 phr epoxide plasticizer,

(e) from about 0.05 to about 0.4 phr internal lubricant, and

(f) from about 0.7 to about 1.5 phr external lubricant.

3 . A floor cleaning unit of claim 2 , wherein, based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin, said contact member includes:

(a) from about 25 to about 35 phr nitrile rubber,

(b) from about 70 to about 90 phr plasticizer,

(c) from about 2 to about 4 phr polyvinyl chloride stabilizer,

(d) from about 12 to about 14 phr epoxide plasticizer,

(e) from about 0.1 to about 0.3 phr internal lubricant, and

(f) from about 0.8 to about 1.2 phr external lubricant.

4 . The floor cleaning of claim 3 , wherein, based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin, said contact member includes:

(a) 30 phr nitrile rubber,

(b) about 80 phr plasticizer,

(c) about 3 phr polyvinyl chloride stabilizer,

(d) about 13 phr epoxide plasticizer,

(e) about 0.2 phr internal lubricant, and

(f) about 1.05 phr external lubricant.

5 . A floor cleaning unit comprising:

a sealing member including a polyvinyl chloride base resin; and

based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin:

(a) from about 20 to about 40 phr of nitrile rubber,

(b) from about 60 to about 100 phr of plasticizer,

(c) from about 1 to about 5 phr of polyvinyl chloride stabilizer, and

(d) from about 10 to about 15 phr of epoxide plasticizer.

6 . The floor cleaning unit of claim 5 , wherein, based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin, said sealing member includes:

(a) from about 25 to about 35 phr of nitrile rubber,

(b) from about 70 to about 90 phr of plasticizer,

(c) from about 2 to about 4 phr of polyvinyl chloride stabilizer, and

(d) from about 12 to about 14 phr of epoxide plasticizer.

7 . The floor cleaning unit of claim 6 , wherein, based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin, said sealing member includes:

(a) about 30 phr of nitrile rubber,

(b) about 80 phr of plasticizer,

(c) about 3 phr of polyvinyl chloride stabilizer, and

(d) about 13 phr of epoxide plasticizer.

8 . A floor cleaning unit comprising:

tubing including a polyvinyl chloride base resin; and

based upon 100 parts by weight of said polyvinyl chloride base resin:

(a) from about 20 to about 40 phr of NBR;

(b) from about 50 to about 80 phr of plasticizer;

(c) from about 1 to about 5 phr of PVC stabilizer;

(d) from about 3 to about 8 phr of epoxide plasticizer;

(e) from about 5 to about 15 phr filler;

(f) from about 0.05 to about 0.4 phr internal lubricant; and

(g) from about 0.5 to about 1.2 phr external lubricant.

9 . A process for producing a soft durometer polyvinyl chloride compound comprising the sequential steps of:

adding PVC resin to a mixer and heating, under agitation, to a temperature of from about 140° F. to about 170° F.;

adding plasticizer and stabilizer to the PVC resin and raising the temperature to from about 185° F. to about 195° F.;

adding at least one ingredient selected from fillers, blowing agents, pigments, internal lubricants and external lubricants and raising the temperature to from about 220° F. to about 240° F.

transferring the resultant mixture to a cooling mixer and lowering the temperature to the range of from about 120° F. to about 70° F.;

adding nitrile rubber to the cooled mixture; and

feeding the resultant nitrile rubber mixture to an extruder to shear and fuse the mixture at a temperature of from about 280° F. to about 350° F.

10 . The process of claim 12 , further comprising the step of:

pelletizing the nitrile rubber mixture at the extruder.

11 . The process of claim 13 , further comprising the step of:

forming the pellets into an element of a floor cleaning unit, the element being selected from the group consisting of sealing members, mounts, tubing and contact members.