Granted Patent B2

US 7,998,531 · App. 12/097,403 · Granted Aug 16, 2011

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A method of forming an impregnated textile, the method comprising:

forming a compound, the compound comprising:

an aqueous dispersion comprising:

(a) at least one polymer selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-based thermoplastic polymer, a propylene-based thermoplastic polymer, and mixtures thereof, and at least one said polymer comprises from 35 to 55 percent by weight of the aqueous dispersion;

(b) at least one polymeric stabilizing agent; and

(c) water;

impregnating a textile with the compound;

removing at least a portion of the water from the impregnated textile at temperature in the range of equal or greater than the melting point of said polymer selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-based thermoplastic polymer, a propylene-based thermoplastic polymer, and mixtures thereof; and

thereby forming a coating comprising a continuous base polymer phase, and a discrete stabilizing agent phase dispersed in said continuous base polymer phase.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impregnated textile has a combined amount of the at least one polymer and the polymeric stabilizing agent in the range of about 10 to about 150 parts per hundred parts by weight of the textile.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the impregnated textile has a combined amount of the at least one polymer and the polymeric stabilizing agent in the range of about 15 to about 75 parts per hundred parts by weight of the impregnated textile.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling at least one of a viscosity of the compound, a concentration of the combined polymer and stabilizer in the aqueous dispersion, or a polarity of the aqueous dispersion.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one polymer is controlled in the range from about 40 to about 50 percent by volume of the aqueous dispersion.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the viscosity of the compound is controlled in the range from about 20 to about 3000 cP.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing a portion of the water by exposing the impregnated textile to an elevated temperature.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the temperature is from about 70 to about 120° C.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the ethylene-based polymer is an ethylene-alpha-olefin interpolymer.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the propylene-based polymer is a propylene-alpha-olefin interpolymer.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound further comprises at least one filler, wherein the filler comprises from greater than 0 to about 200 parts per hundred parts of the combined amount of the at least one polymer and the polymeric stabilizing agent.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound further comprises at least one filler, wherein the impregnated textile has a combined amount of the filler, the at least one polymer and the polymeric stabilizing agent in the range of about 10 to about 300 parts per hundred parts by weight of the textile.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one polymeric stabilizing agent comprises at least one polar polymer.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the polar polymer comprises a polar polyolefin.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the polar polyolefin comprises a partially or fully neutralized ethylene-acid copolymer.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the polar polyolefin comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of ethylene-acrylic acid polymers, ethylene-methacrylic acid polymers, and combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein a combined amount of the at least one polymer and the at least one polymeric stabilizing agent comprises about 25 to about 74 volume percent of the aqueous dispersion.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous dispersion has a pH from about 6 to about 14.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the aqueous dispersion has a pH from about 9 to about 12.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aqueous dispersion has an average particle size from about 0.3 to about 3.0 microns.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the aqueous dispersion has an average particle size from about 0.5 to about 2.7 microns.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impregnated textile comprises a fibrous structure comprising at least one selected from woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and non-woven fabrics.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impregnated textile comprises a fibrous structure comprising a natural fiber selected from the group consisting of flax, hemp, cellulose, pulp, and wood.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impregnated textile comprises a fibrous structure comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of cotton, wool, synthetic wool, cellulosics, synthetic fibers of polyamide, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polypropylenes, polyesters, and combinations thereof.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the compound further comprises at least one selected from a wetting agent, surfactants, anti-static agents, pigments, a neutralizing agent, a thickener, a rheology modifier, a biocide, a fungicide, and combinations thereof.

26. The method of claim 1 , further comprising bonding, or laminating the impregnated textile to another substrate.

Assignments (10)