IN-SITU GELATINOUS TRIBLOCK COPOLYMER ELASTOMERS IN POLYURETHANE FLEXIBLE FOAMS

• Main Authors: PETERSON BRUCE W, CRAWFORD MARK L
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.06.2015
• Subjects: AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G; CHEMISTRY; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON; COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONSONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS; METALLURGY; ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; WORKING-UP

Combinations of gelatinous elastomer and polyurethane foam may be made by introducing a plasticized A-B-A triblock copolymer resin and/or an A-B diblock copolymer resin into a mixture of polyurethane foam forming components including a polyol and an isocyanate. The plasticized copolymer resin is polymerized to form the gelatinous elastomer in-situ while simultaneously polymerizing the polyol and the isocyanate to form polyurethane foam. The polyurethane reaction is exothermic and can generate sufficient temperature to melt the styrene-portion of the A-B-A triblock copolymer resin thereby extending the crosslinking and in some cases integrating the A-B-A triblock copolymer within the polyurethane polymer matrix. The combination has a marbled appearance. The gel component has higher heat capacity than polyurethane foam and thus has good thermal conductivity and acts as a heat sink. Another advantage of in situ gel-foam is that the gel component provides higher support factors compared to the base foam alone.