Polyester-Amide Based Hot Melt Adhesives

1 . The use of a thermoplastic polyester-amide polymer in a hot melt adhesive formulation, the polymer being selected from the group consisting of:

a) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H1-AA]- and -[DV-AA]-, where H1 is —R—CO—NH—Ra—NH—CO—R—O— or —R—NH—CO—R—CO—NH—R—O— where Ra is R or a bond, R is independently in each occurrence an aliphatic or heteroaliphatic, alicyclic or heteroalicyclic or aromatic or heteroaromatic group, AA is a —CO—R′—CO—O— where R′ is a bond or an aliphatic group, where DV is —[R″—O]— and R″ is an aliphatic or heteroaliphatic, alicyclic or heteroalicyclic or aromatic or heteroaromatic group;

b) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H1-AA]-, -[DV-AA]-, and -[D2-O-AA]-, where D2 is independently in each occurrence an aliphatic or heteroaliphatic, alicyclic or heteroalicyclic or aromatic or heteroaromatic group;

c) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H1-AA]-, —[R—O-AA]-, and -M-(AA) n -, wherein M is an n valent organic moiety, and n is 3 or more;

d) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H1-AA]-, —[R—O-AA]-, and —PA-(CO—O—R) n —, wherein PA is an n valent organic moiety, and n is 3 or more;

e) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H2-D]-, —[R—O-AA]-, and -M-(AA) n -, where H2 is —CO—R—CO—NH—R—NH—CO—R—CO—O— where R is independently in each occurrence an aliphatic or heteroaliphatic, alicyclic or heteroalicyclic or aromatic or heteroaromatic group, and where D is —[R—O]—;

f) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H2-AA]-, —[R—O-AA]-, and —PA-(COOR) n —;

g) a polymer having the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1,2-CO—O-D1-O-] x [CO-AA1,2-CO—O-AD-O] y —H, wherein O-D1-O represents the residual of a diol functionality, wherein CO-AA1,2-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality or a high boiling point diacid ester functionality, wherein O-AD-O represents the residual of a polyamide diol functionality, wherein x and y are the number of repeat units in the polymer block inside the brackets;

h) a polymer comprising repeat units —[H2-D]-, —[H2-O-D2]-, [D-AA]-, and -[D2-O-AA]-;

i) a polymer having the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1,2-CO—O-D1-O-] x [CO-AA1,2-CO—O—CO-DD-CO] y —OH, wherein O—CO-DD-CO—O represents the residual of a diamide diacid functionality; and

j) mixtures thereof.

2 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1,2-O—] x —[CO-AA1-CO—O-AD-O] y —H, wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality.

3 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D2-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1,2-O—] x —[CO-AA1-CO—O-AD-O]y-H, wherein O-D2-O represents a residual non-volatile diol functionality, wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality, wherein O-D1,2-O represents the residual of a volatile diol functionality or a nonvolatile diol functionality.

4 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—] x —CO-AA1-CO—O-M-(O—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—[CO-AA1-CO—O-AD-O] y —H) n-1 , wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality.

5 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—] x —CO-PA-(—CO—O-D1-O—[CO-AA1-CO—O-AD-O] y —H) n-1 , wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality.

6 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—] x —CO-AA1-CO—O-M-(O—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—[O-D1-O—CO-DD-CO] y —OH) n-1 wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality.

7 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D1-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1-O—] x —CO-PA-(—CO—O-D1-O—[O-D1-O—CO-DD-CO] y —OH) n-1 , wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality.

8 . The use according to claim 1 wherein the polymer is of the formula HO-D2-O—[—CO-AA1-CO—O-D1,2-O—] x —[O-D1,2-O—CO-DD-CO] y —OH, wherein O-D2-O represents a nonvolatile diol functionality, wherein CO-AA1-CO represents the residual of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid functionality, and wherein O-D1,2-O represents the residual of a volatile diol functionality or a nonvolatile diol functionality.

9 . A method for applying a hot melt adhesive comprising the steps of: melting a hot melt adhesive formulation of claim 1 to produce a melted hot melt adhesive formulation; applying the melted hot melt adhesive formulation to a first substrate; and cooling the melted hot melt adhesive formulation to produce a solidified hot melt adhesive bonded to the first substrate.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising the steps of: melting the solidified hot melt adhesive formulation bonded to the first substrate to produce a melted hot melt adhesive formulation bonded to the first substrate; applying a second substrate to the melted hot melt adhesive formulation; and cooling the melted hot melt adhesive formulation to produce a solidified hot melt adhesive bonded to the first substrate and to the second substrate.

11 . A method for bonding a first substrate to a second substrate, comprising the steps of: positioning a hot melt adhesive formulation of claim 1 between the first and second substrates; melting a hot melt adhesive formulation to produce a melted hot melt adhesive formulation in contact with the first and second substrates; and cooling the melted hot melt adhesive formulation to produce a solidified hot melt adhesive bonded to the first substrate and to the second substrate.

12 . A woven or nonwoven article bonded by a hot melt adhesive composition of claim 1 .

13 . A case, carton or tray bonded with the hot melt adhesive of claim 1 .

14 . A book comprising a multiplicity of separate sheets stacked to form a book block adhered along one edge by a film of the adhesive of claim 1 .

15 . An improved article comprising a first substrate bonded to a second substrate by way of a hot melt adhesive formulation, wherein the improvement comprises the hot melt adhesive formulation being a hot melt adhesive formulation of claim 1 .