MOLDING MATERIAL OF SAPONIFIED ETHYLENE-VINYL ESTER-BASED COPOLYMER
Provided is a melt-molding material which is produced using an EVOH resin and has improved feeding property. A pellet mixture comprising a first EVOH resin pellets (pellet 1) each having approximately circular or elliptical cross-section and having an ethylene unit content of 20 to 34 mol %, and a second EVOH resin pellets (pellet 2) each having ethylene unit content of 35 to 60 mol %, wherein the difference of ethylene unit content between the pellet 1 and the pellet 2 is from 10 to 30 mol %.
3 . The molding material according to claim 2 , wherein said cutting is performed by extruding molten saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer into water and cutting the still molten saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer in water.
4 . The molding material according to claim 1 , wherein a ratio (pellet 1/pellet 2) in weight of content in said pellets of molding material of the first saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet (pellet 1) to the second saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet (pellet 2) is in the range of 95/5 to 50/50.
5 . The molding material according to claim 1 , wherein the pellet mixture is a dry blend of the first saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet and the second saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet.
6 . The molding material according to claim 1 , wherein the first saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet has a cross-section of ellipse or circle having maximum major axis of 1 to 10 mm and maximum minor axis of 1 to 10 mm, and the second saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet has a cross-section of ellipse or circle having maximum major axis of 1 to 10 mm and maximum minor axis of 1 to 10 mm.
7 . The molding material according to claim 6 , wherein
the first saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet has a ratio (m/n) of maximum major axis (m) to maximum minor axis (n) is from 1.0 to 2.0, and
the second saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellet has a ratio (m′/n′) of maximum major axis (m′) to maximum minor axis (n′) is from 1.0 to 2.0.
8 . A method of improving feed property when saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer pellets are fed with screw for melt extrusion molding thereof, comprising
using a pellet mixture of a first saponified ethylene-vinyl ester copolymer pellet (pellet 1) and a second saponified ethylene-vinyl ester copolymer pellet (pellet 2),
wherein the pellet 1 has an ethylene unit content of 20 to 34 mol % and is approximate circle or ellipse in cross-section, and the pellet 2 has an ethylene unit content of 35 to 60 mol % and is approximate circle or ellipse in cross-section, and they differ in their ethylene unit content by 10 to 30 mol %.