Process for intimately blending thermoplastic resins with additives

Claim 2

A process for producing a uniform blend of a thermoplastic polymer and an additive therefor, said process comprising: (i) forming a mixture of said thermoplastic polymer, said additive, and a liquid medium which vaporizes readily; (ii) feeding the mixture into contact with live steam flowing through a conduit and producing a mixture of fine droplets of the thermoplastic polymer, the additive, said liquid medium, condensed water and steam in said conduit; (iii) introducing the mixture of step (ii) into an enclosed chamber adapted to permit removal overhead of said component which vaporizes readily, entrained condensed water and steam; (iv) removing said component which vaporizes readily, condensed water, and steam from said chamber; and (v) collecting the uniformly blended thermoplastic polymer and additive therefor in a discrete particulate form from said chamber.

Claim 3

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein said additive is also a thermoplastic polymer.

Claim 4

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein said additive is a diorganopolysiloxane homopolymer or copolymer.

Claim 5

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein said thermoplastic polymer comprises a styrene homopolymer resin, a styrene copolymer resin, a polycarbonate, a polyphenylene ether, or a mixture of any of the foregoing.

Claim 6

A process as defined in claim 4 wherein said polyphenylene ether is poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)ether.

Claim 7

A process as defined in claim 4 wherein the polycarbonate is a derivative of bisphenol A.

Claim 8

A process as defined in claim 2 wherein the blended composition comprises a styrene homopolymer resin, a rubber modified high impact polystyrene resin and a styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer resin.

Claim 9

A process as defined in claim 3 wherein the diorganopolysiloxane is blended with a styrene resin.

Claim 10

A process as defined in claim 8 wherein the diorganopolysiloxane resin is a dimethylpolysiloxane gum.

Claim 11

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein said liquid medium which vaporizes readily is methylene chloride.

Claim 12

A process for producing a uniform blend of a thermoplastic polymer and a diorganopolysiloxane additive therefor, said process comprising: (i) forming a mixture of said thermoplastic polymer, an additive selected from the group consisting of diorganopolysiloxane homopolymers or copolymers, and a liquid medium which vaporizes readily; (ii) feeding the mixture into contact with live steam flowing through a conduit and producing a mixture of fine droplets of the thermoplastic polymer, said diorganopolysiloxane additive, said liquid medium, condensed water and steam in said conduit; (iii) introducing the mixture of step (ii) into an enclosed chamber adapted to permit removal overhead of said component which vaporizes readily, entrained condensed water and steam; (iv) removing said component which vaporizes readily, condensed water, and steam from said chamber; and (v) collecting the uniformly blended thermoplastic polymer and diorganopolysiloxane additive therefor in a discrete particulate form from said chamber.

Claim 13

A process for producing a uniform blend of a thermoplastic polymer and a diorganopolysiloxane additive therefor, said process comprising: (i) forming a mixture of said thermoplastic polymer, an additive selected from the group consisting of diorganopolysiloxane homopolymers or copolymers, and a liquid medium which vaporizes readily; (ii) feeding the mixture into contact with live steam flowing through a conduit and producing a mixture of fine droplets of the thermoplastic polymer, said diorganopolysiloxane additive, said liquid medium, condensed water and steam in said conduit; (iii) introducing the mixture of step (ii) into an enclosed chamber adapted to permit removal overhead of said component which vaporizes readily, entrained condensed water and steam; (iv) removing said component which vaporizes readily, condensed water, and steam from said chamber; and (v) collecting the uniformly blended thermoplastic polymer and diorganopolysiloxane additive therefor in a discrete particulate form from said chamber.