Curing polyepoxides with a mixture of difunctional and polyfunctional mercaptans

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR CURING AND RESINIFYING POLYEPOXIDES HAVING MORE THAN ONE VIC-EPOXY GROUP TO CONVERT THEM TO HARD INSOLUBLE INFUSIBLE PRODUCTS WHICH COMPRISES MIXING AND REACTING THE POLYEPOXIDE WITH A CURING AGENT COMPRISING A MIXTURE OF A VISCOUS LIQUID TO SOLID POLYMERCAPTAN POSSESSING MORE THAN 2-SH GROUPS, AND FROM 1% TO 50% BY WEIGHT OF THE CURING AGENT OF A FLUID LIQUID POLYMERCAPTAN CONTAINING 2-SH GROUPS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF DIMERCAPTO-SUBSITUTED ALKANOLS CONTAINING UP TO 8 CARBON ATOMS, DIMERCAPTO-SUBSTITUTED ALKANES CONTAINING UP TO 8 CARBON ATOMS, BIS(MERCAPTOETHYL)SULFIDE, BIS(2-MERCAPTOETHYL)ETHER, MERCAPTOACETIC ACID ESTER OF ETHYLENE GLYCOL, ETHYLCYCLOHEXYL DIMERCAPTAN, 1-MERCAPTO-4-(MERCAPTOBUTYL)CYCLOHEXANE, 1,4-DIMERCAPTOCYCLOHEXANE, 1,6-DIMERCAPTO-2-HYDROXYCYCLOHEXANE, AND DI(MERCAPTOETHYL)MALEATE, THE POLYMERCAPTANS IN THE CURING AGENT AND THE POLYEPOXIDE BEING COMBINED IN A CHEMICAL EQUIVALENT RATIO VARYING FROM 0.8:1.5 TO 1.5:8, AS USED HEREIN EQUIVALENT AMOUNT MEANS THAT AMOUNT NEEDED TO FURNISH ONE -SH GROUP PER EPOXY GROUP.