Patents for December 2022

Patents as compiled by the editors of Rubber World Magazine for December 2022

Method for manufacturing synthetic rubber latex
U.S. patent: 11,466,129
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventors: Junji Kodemura and Yoshitaka Satoh
Assigned: Zeon
Key statement: A method for producing a synthetic rubber, the method including: an emulsification step of continuously feeding a solution or a dispersion of a synthetic rubber obtained by dissolving or dispersing the synthetic rubber in an organic solvent and an aqueous solution of an emulsifier to a mixer and mixing to continuously obtain an emulsion; a first removal step of removing the organic solvent from the emulsion continuously obtained in the emulsification step in a container while the emulsion is continuously transferred to the container regulated to a pressure condition of 700 to 760 mmHg; and a second removal step of removing the organic solvent from the emulsion that has undergone the first removal step under a pressure of less than 700 mmHg.

Vulcanization tire label
U.S. patent: 11,466,180
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventors: Jun Zhang, Xinhui Zhou, Yuanhua Zhu, Yurun Yang, Biao Shen and Ke Zhao
Assigned: Avery Dennison
Key statement: The present application relates to a vulcanization label that can be used to label tires. The label comprises a facestock layer, a first primer layer, a second primer layer comprising a zinc oxide and a reactive adhesive layer. The two primer layers have different compositions. The second primer layer has a coating weight that is greater than 3 gsm. At least a portion of the second primer is in contact with at least a portion of the reactive adhesive layer.

Method for producing surface treated carbon black, method for producing rubber wet masterbatch and method for producing rubber composition
U.S. patent: 11,466,160
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventor: Kento Dogomori
Assigned: Toyo Tire
Key statement: Disclosed is a method for producing a surface treated carbon black, including a step (step i) of mixing a carbon black containing aqueous slurry solution in which a carbon black is dispersed in water with a dihydrazide compound and subsequently removing the water. Disclosed is a method for producing a rubber wet masterbatch, including: a step (I) of mixing a carbon black containing aqueous slurry solution in which a carbon black is dispersed in water, a rubber latex solution and a dihydrazide compound with each other to produce a carbon black containing aqueous-rubber latex solution; a step (II) of solidifying the resultant carbon black-containing aqueous rubber latex solution to produce a carbon black containing rubber solidified product; and a step (III) of dehydrating and drying the resultant carbon black containing rubber solidified product to produce the rubber wet masterbatch. These producing methods can give a vulcanized rubber low in exothermicity, and a rubber composition restrained from being lowered in scorch property (or having scorch resistance).

Wear resistant rubber compositions, systems and methods
U.S. patent: 11,466,143
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventors: Francisco A. Gozalo, Sanford W. Clark, Tham Meng and Timothy Lane
Assigned: Weir Slurry Group
Key statement: This disclosure relates to wear resistant rubber compositions, such as those, for example, comprising at least one hydroxy terminated polybutadiene, at least one natural rubber, at least one polymerization accelerant; at least one sulfur; and at least one polybutadiene, wherein the wear resistant rubber composition may have an effective crosslinking density of at least about 30 × 10−5 moles/cm3.

Preparation of bimodal rubber, thermoplastic vulcanizates and articles made therefrom
U.S. patent: 11,466,149
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventors: Andy H. Tsou, John R. Hagadorn, Jian Yang, Ron Walker and Sudhim Datta
Assigned: ExxonMobil Chemical
Key statement: Pellet-stable olefinic copolymer bimodal rubber is made using parallel reactors, with one reactor synthesizing higher molecular weight (MW) rubber with dual catalysts, with an improved molecular weight split ratio and an improved composition distribution of the moderate and ultra high MW components, while another reactor synthesizes random isotactic polypropylene copolymer (RCP). The effluents are reactor-blended and result in pellet-stable bimodal rubber (P-SBR), which may be pelletized. When making thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) with P-SBR, the need to granulate rubber bales and subsequently use talc, clay, or other anti-agglomeration agents to prevent granulated rubber crumbs from agglomerating are eliminated. TPVs made with P-SBR have vulcanized rubber particles that are smaller and more uniform in size, resulting in TPVs with higher particle counts and more thermoplastic “ligaments” between the particles, with such ligaments being made stronger by the added RCP. Such thus produced TPVs have a lower hysteresis and flexural modulus and better elastic properties.

Process for producing 3D structures from powdered rubber material and its products
U.S. patent: 11,472,101
Issued: October 18, 2022
Inventors: Dirk Achten, Thomas Büsgen, Dirk Dijkstra, Bettina Mettmann, Levent Akbas, Roland Wagner and Michael Kessler
Assigned: Covestro
Key statement: A process is described for producing a three dimensional structure, the process including the following steps a) applying of at least a first material M1 onto a substrate to build a first layer L1 on the substrate; b) layering of at least one further layer Ly of the first material M1 or of a further material Mx onto the first layer L1, wherein the at least one further layer Ly covers the first layer L1 and/or previous layer Ly−1 at least partially to build a precursor of the three-dimensional structure; c) curing the precursor to achieve the three-dimensional structure; wherein at least one of the materials M1 or Mx provides a Mooney viscosity of >10 ME at 60°C and of <200 ME at 100°C before curing and wherein at least one of the first material Mi or of the further material Mx is a powder. Also, a three-dimensional structure is described which is available according to the process according to the invention.

Carbon and elastomer integration
U.S. patent: 11,466,139
Issued: October 11, 2022
Inventors: Bryce H. Anzelmo and Daniel Cook
Assigned: Lyten
Key statement: Compounds having an elastomer material, a filler material, at least one additive material and at least one accelerant material are disclosed. In various embodiments, the filler material comprises a graphene-based carbon material. In various embodiments, the graphene-based carbon material comprises graphene comprising up to 15 layers, carbon aggregates having a median size from 1 to 50 microns, a surface area of the carbon aggregates at least 50 m2/g, when measured via a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method with nitrogen as the adsorbate and no seed particles.

High stiffness rubber composition
U.S. patent: 11,472,946
Issued: October 18, 2022
Inventors: Odile Gavard-Lonchay and Anne-Lise Thuilliez
Assigned: Michelin
Key statement: The rubber composition comprises at least one resin based: (A1) on at least one aromatic compound comprising at least one aromatic ring bearing at least two functional groups, one of these functional groups being a hydroxymethyl functional group and the other being an aldehyde functional group or a hydroxymethyl functional group; and (A2) on at least one phenolic compound chosen from (A21) at least one aromatic polyphenol comprising at least one aromatic ring bearing at least two hydroxyl functional groups in the meta position with respect to one another, the two positions ortho to at least one of the hydroxyl functional groups being unsubstituted; and/or (A22) at least one aromatic monophenol comprising at least one six-membered aromatic ring bearing a single hydroxyl functional group, the two positions ortho to the hydroxyl functional group being unsubstituted or at least one position ortho to and the position para to the hydroxyl functional group being unsubstituted; and their mixtures.

Method, control device and system for determining a profile depth of a profile of a tire
U.S. patent: 11,472,236
Issued: October 18, 2022
Inventors: Matthias Kretschmann and Shichao You
Assigned: Continental Automotive
Key statement: A method for determining a tread depth of a tread of a tire during operation of a vehicle having the tire, a control device for a vehicle for determining a tread depth of a tread of a tire of the vehicle and a system for a vehicle having such a control device and at least one electronic wheel unit, are provided. Provision is made to determine the tread depth based on a determined instantaneous dynamic wheel radius of a wheel, having the tire, of the vehicle and a determined instantaneous dynamic inside radius of the tire. In addition, at least one further first operating parameter of the tire, selected from the group including an instantaneous roadway gradient, an instantaneous vehicle drive mode and an instantaneous tire material expansion, is determined and taken into consideration.