Thermoplastic blend of copolymer rubber and polyolefin plastic

Claim 2

A blend as in claim 2 consisting essentially of 80 parts of (A), the said (A) being an ethylene-propylene-non-conjugated diene terpolymer rubber of an intractable, unprocessable kind that is ordinarily used to make highly oil-extended ethylene-propylene-non-conjugated diene terpolymer rubber, and correspondingly 20 parts by weight of (B), the said (B) being polypropylene.

Claim 3

A blend as in claim 3 having an elongation set at break not greater than 70 percent.

Claim 4

A blend as in claim 3 having a tensile strength of at least 750 psi, an elongation at break of at least 100 percent and an elongation set at break not greater than 70 percent.

Claim 5

A thermoplastic elastomeric blend of A. an uncured unsaturated ethylene-propylene-non-conjugated diene terpolymer rubber containing up to 20 percent by weight of said diene having a zero shear viscosity of at least 1 X 109 poises determined by shear creep data at 135*C. and a branching index of from 1.6 to 3.2 with B. a resinous high molecular weight poly-alpha-monoolefin plastic selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene, wherein the weight ratio of the said terpolymer rubber (A) to the said plastic (B) is within the range of from 85/15 to 60/40, said blend being characterized by the fact that the tensile strength of the blend in psi times the elongation at break of the blend expressed in percent divided by the elongation set at break expressed in percent is at least 4000 psi.

Claim 6

A blend as in claim 6 having an elongation set at break not greater than 50 percent.

Claim 7

A thermoplastic elastomeric blend of (A) an uncured elastomeric copolymer of at least two different alpha-monoolefins with a small amount up to 20 percent by weight of at least one copolymerizable non-conjugated diene, having a zero shear viscosity of from 1 X 109 poises to 100 X 109 poises, determined from shear creep data at 132*C., a branching index of from 1.6 to 3.2, a gel content of from 0 to 60 percent by weight, and an intrinsic viscosity of from 2 to 6, with B. a crystalline resinous high molecular weight poly-alpha-olefin plastic selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene, the amount of (A) being from 50 to 90 parts by weight and the amount of (B) being correspondingly from 50 to 10 parts by weight, the said (A) and (B) being blended together in the absence of cross-linking agent, the resulting blend having an elongation set at break not greater than 70 percent, a tensile strength of at least 750 psi, an ultimate elongation of at least 100 percent, and the product of the tensile strength of the blend expressed in psi times the ultimate elongation expressed in percent divided by the elongation set at break expressed in percent being at least 4000 psi, the said properties in the blend being achieved without vulcanization, the blend being characterized by good molding properties and being reprocessable.

Claim 8

A blend as in claim 8 in which (A) contains 50 to 80 percent ethylene and 50 to 10 percent propylene, by weight.

Claim 9

A thermoplastic elastomeric blend of A. an uncured elastomeric terpolymer of 55 to 75 percent by weight of ethylene, 42 to 20 percent by weight of propylene and 3 to 10 percent by weight of a copolymeRizable non-conjugated diene, having a zero shear viscosity of from 1 X 109 poises to 20 X 109 poises, determined from shear creep data at 135*C., a branching index of from 1.9 to 2.7, a gel content of from 10 to 50 percent by weight, and an intrinsic viscosity of from 2.3 to 5.0, with B. a crystalline resinous high molecular weight poly-alpha-olefin plastic selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene, the amount of (A) being from 60 to 85 parts by weight and the amount of (B) being correspondingly from 40 to 15 parts by weight, the said (A) and (B) being blended together in the absence of cross-linking agent, a temperature sufficiently elevated to melt (B) being achieved during the blending of (A) and (B), the resulting blend, in an uncured state, having an elongation set at break not greater than 50 percent, a tensile strength of at least 800 psi, an ultimate elongation of at least 150 percent, and the product of the tensile strength of the blend expressed in psi times the ultimate elongation expressed in percent divided by the elongation set at break expressed in percent being at least 5000 psi, the blend being characterized by good molding properties and being reprocessable.

Claim 10

A blend as in claim 10, in the form of an extruded article.

Claim 11

A blend as in claim 10 in which the non-conjugated diene is dicyclopentadiene.

Claim 12

A blend as in claim 10 in which the polyolefin plastic (B) is polypropylene.

Claim 13

A blend as in claim 10 in which the polyolefin plastic (B) is polyethylene.

Claim 14

A thermoplastic elastomeric blend of A. an uncured elastomeric terpolymer of 65 to 75 percent by weight of ethylene, 32.5 to 20 percent by weight of propylene, and 2.5 to 7.5 percent by weight of a copolymerizable non-conjugated cyclic diene, having a zero shear viscosity of from 1 X 109 poises to 10 X 109 poises, determined from shear creep data at 135*C., a branching index of from 1.9 to 2.4, a gel content of from 20 to 40 percent by weight, and an intrinsic viscosity of from 3.0 to 5.0, said terpolymer being of an intractable, unprocessable kind that is ordinarily used to make highly oil-extended ethylenepropylene-non-conjugated cyclic diene terpolymer rubber, with B. a crystalline resinous high molecular weight poly-alpha-olefin plastic selected from the group consisting of polypropylene and polyethylene, the amount of (A) in the blend being from 65 to 80 parts by weight and the amount of (B) in the blend being correspondingly from 35 to 20 parts by weight, the said (A) and (B) being blended together at elevated temperature in the absence of curative, a blending temperature sufficiently elevated to melt (B) being achieved during the blending, the resulting blend, in an uncured state, having an elongation set at break not greater than 30 percent, a tensile strength of at least 900 psi, an ultimate elongation of at least 200 percent, and the product of the tensile strength of the blend expressed in psi times the ultimate elongation expressed in percent divided by the elongation set at break expressed in percent being at least 6, 000 psi, the blend being characterized by good shaping properties and being repeatedly reprocessable.

Claim 15

A blend as in claim 15 in which (B) is polypropylene.

Claim 16

A blend as in claim 16, containing 80 parts by weight of (A) and correspondingly 20 parts by weight of (B).

Claim 17

A blend as in claim 15, in which (B) is polyethylene.

Claim 18

A blend as in claim 15, in which the said cyclic diene is dicyclopentadiene.

Claim 19

A blend as in claim 15, in the form of an extruded article.

Claim 20

A method of making an extruded or molded thermoplastic elastomeric shaped article comprising providing a thermoplastic elastomeric blend as in claim 20, and thereafter extruding or molding the said blend in a desired shape without cure, thereby producing without any curing step, a shaped article which is both elastomeric and reprocessable.