Faster curing rubber articles

• Main Authors: PATRICK JOHN REILLY, CARL TREVOR ROSS PULFORD, RICHARD MICHAEL D'SIDOCKY, RAN DING
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 24.04.2001
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; LAYERED PRODUCTS; LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT ORNON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDEDFOR; SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; TRANSPORTING; WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE, IN GENERAL; WORKING-UP

The present invention is directed toward a method of producing faster curing rubber compounds than cannot be made by current factory mixing methods (Banbury or mill). In the inventive method, an ultra fast curing elastomeric article comprising an elastomeric compound is produced. The elastomeric compound has a fast cure package comprising co-reacting agents. The cure package permits the elastomeric compound to achieve a ninety percent cure, at a cure temperature of 120 DEG C, in less than 30 minutes. The ultra fast curing compound is produced by preparing two non-productive elastomer compounds (10, 12), wherein each non-productive compound (10 or 12) is prepared with a co-reacting agent of a co-reacting cure package not added to the other non-productive compound (12 or 10). The non-productive elastomer compounds (10, 12) are layered in alternating layers with a thickness relative to the diffusion rate of the co-reacting agents in each non-productive elastomeric layer (10, 12) to effect diffusion of the co-reacting cure agents the adjacent layers to form a layered compound (22). The layered compound (22) is cured to form the elastomeric article.