Process for the preparation and vulcanization of a mixture of an olefin polymer withan olefin copolymer

Claim 1

A METHOD FOR PREPARING AND VULCANIZING A POLYMERIC MIXTURE, WHICH COMPRISES; (1) HOMOGENOUSLY MIXING POLYETHYLENE WITH A SATURATED AMORPHOUS COPOLYMER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF COPOLYMERS OF ETHYLENE WITH A LOWER ALPHA-OLEFIN HAVING 3 TO 4 CARBON ATOMS, AND COPOLYMERS OF SAID LOWER ALPHA-OLEFIN WITH EACH OTHER, AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE THE SOFTENING POINT OF THE POLYETHYLENE ABOVE ABOUT 125*C. AND THEREBY OBTAINING A MIXTURE OF A LOWER SOFTENING POINT; (2) ADDING AN ORGANIC PEROXIDE TO THE SOFT MIXTURE, THIS ADDITION BEING AT A TEMPERATURE LOWER THAN THE DECOMPOSITION TEMPERATURE OF SAID ORGANIC PEROXIDE IN THE RANGE OF FROM ABOUT 60*C. TO ABOUT 90*C.; (3) SHAPING THE MIXTURE TO A DESIRED CONFORMATION; AND (4) HEATING THE RESULTING SHAPED ARTICLE AT VULCANIZATION TEMPERATURES FROM ABOUT 150*C. TO ABOUT 180*C.

Claim 2

A METHOD FOR PREPARING AND VULCANIZING A POLYMERIC MIXTURE, WHICH COMPRISES; (1) HOMOGENOUSLY MIXING POLYETHYLENE WITH A SATURATED AMORPHOUS COPOLYMER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF COPOLYMERS OF ETHYLENE WITH A LOWER ALPHA-OLEFIN HAVING 3 TO 4 CARBON ATOMS, AND COPOLYMERS OF SAID LOWER ALPHA-OLEFIN WITH EACH OTHER, AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE THE SOFTENING POINT OF THE POLYETHYLENE ABOVE ABOUT 125*C. AND THEREBY OBTAINING A MIXTURE OF A LOWER SOFTENING POINT; (2) ADDING AN ORGANIC PEROXIDE TO THE SOFT MIXTURE, THIS ADDITION BEING AT A TEMPERATURE LOWER THAN THE DECOMPOSITION TEMPERATURE OF SAID ORGANIC PEROXIDE IN THE RANGE OF FROM ABOUT 60*C. TO ABOUT 90*C.; (3) SHAPING THE MIXTURE TO A DESIRED CONFORMATION; AND (4) HEATING THE RESULTING SHAPED ARTICLE AT VULCANIZATION TEMPERATURES FROM ABOUT 150*C. TO ABOUT 180*C.