Cured chlorinated ethylene-higher alpha olefin copolymer and curing agents therefor

Claim 1

A CURED CHLORINATED LOW PRESSURE COPOLYMER HAVING AN OLEFIN CONTENT OF 15 TO 85 MOL PERCENT ETHYLENE AND 85 TO 15 MOL PERCENT OF AN ALPHA OLEFIN CONTAINING FROM 3 TO 8 CARBON ATOMS AND A CHLORINE CONTENT OF FROM 2 TO 15 WT PERCENT, THE COPOLYMER ITSELF HAVING BEEN PREPARED WITH A CATALYST OF A REDUCED HEAVY TRANSITION METAL HALIDE AND A REDUCING METAL-CONTAINING COMPOUND, AND THE CHLORINATED COPOLYMER BEING CHARACTERIZED IN HAVING BEFORE CURING (A) A CRYSTALLINITY OF LESS THAN 25%; (B) A SOFTENING POINT OF LESS THAN 25*C.; (C) A TENSILE STRENGTH OF FROM 50 TO 1000 P.S.I.; (D) AN APPARENT MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AT -50*C. OF FROM 10,000 TO 400,000 P.S.I., AND (E) AN INTRINSIC VISCOSITY IN TETRALIN AT 125*C. AT A CONCENTRATION OF ONE GRAM PER LITER OF 0.4 TO 3.5; SAID CURING BEING EFFECTED WITH A CURING MIXTURE CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF (1) FROM 0.5 TO 15 PARTS OF A METAL-CONTAINING SUBSTANCE SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ZINC, CADMIUM, MANGANESE, IRON, COPPER AND LEAD INORGANIC SALTS, OXIDES AND METAL POWDERS AND (2) FROM 0.5 TO 10 PARTS OF A CURING AGENT WITH CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF A DIALKYL DITHIOCARBAMIC ACID SALT, SAID PARTS BEING BASED ON 100 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF CHLORINATED COPOLYMER,