Glass-reinforced blends of polyphenylene ether resin and polyolefin having improved heat distortion temperature

Claim 2

A thermoplastic composition comprising a homogeneous admixture of (a) a polyphenylene ether resin; (b) a homopolymeric alkenyl aromatic resin, with or without a rubber modifier; (c) from at least 15 to about 95 parts by weight, based upon 100 parts by weight of (a), (b), (c) and (d) of a polyolefin resin; (d) an alkenyl aromatic-based copolymer or terpolymer in an amount sufficient to improved the compatibility between components (a) and (c); and (e) an amount of fibrous glass effective to increase the flexural modulus and the heat distortion temperature of the composition after molding.

Claim 3

A composition according to claim 1, in which the polyphenylene ether resin is poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene)ether.

Claim 4

A composition according to claim 1, in which the poly(alkenyl aromatic) resin is polystyrene.

Claim 5

A composition according to claim 3, in which the polystyrene is rubber modified.

Claim 6

A composition according to claim 1, in which the polyolefin resin is a C 2 to C 4 olefin polymer.

Claim 7

A compositions according to claim 1, in which the polyolefin resin is polyethylene or an ethylene copolymer.

Claim 8

A composition according to claim 1, in which the polyolefin resin is a low density or linear low density polyethylene.

Claim 9

A composition according to claim 1, in which the polyolefin resin is a copolymer of ethylene and a comonomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate.

Claim 10

A composition according to claim 1, in which the polyolefin is an ethylene-ethyl acrylate copolymer.

Claim 11

A composition according to claim 1, in which the alkenyl aromatic copolymer or terpolymer is a styrenic copolymer or terpolymer.

Claim 12

A composition according to claim 10, in which the styrene copolymer or terpolymer is selected from styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymers,

Claim 13

A composition according to claim 11, in which the triblock copolymer has been hydrogenated.

Claim 14

A composition according to claim 12, in which the hydrogenated triblock copolymer is a styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene copolymer.

Claim 15

A composition according to claim 1, in which the fibrous glass comprises filaments the average diameter of which is in the range from about 0.00012 to about 0.00075 inch.

Claim 16

A composition according to claim 1, in which the glass filaments have an average diameter from about 0.005 to about 0.05 inch.

Claim 17

A composition according to claim 1, in which the glass fibers range in length from about one-eight to about 2 inches.

Claim 18

A composition according to claim 16, in which the glass filaments have an average length from about 1/32 to about 1/4 inch.

Claim 19

A composition according to claim 1, in which the glass is of the C or E type.

Claim 20

A composition according to claim 1, which comprises from about 5 to about 95 parts by weight of (a), from a 95 to about 5 parts by weight of (b), from about 15 to about 50 parts by weight of (c), from about 2 to about 30 parts by weight of (d) and from about 5 to about 50 parts by weight of (e).

Claim 21

A composition according to claim 1, which includes one or more supplementary ingredients selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, processing aids, stabilizers, antioxidants, flame retardants, coloring agents, and mineral fillers.

Claim 22

A thermoplastic molding composition which comprises a homogeneous admixture of (a) from about 20 to about 80 parts by weight of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene) ether resin; (b) from about 80 to about 20 parts by weight of rubber modified polystyrene; (c) at least 15 parts by weight of a copolymer of ethylene and a comonomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate; (d) from about 5 to about 15 parts by weight of a hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer wherein two of said blocks consist of poly(alkenyl aromatic) resins and the third block consists of a polydiene; and (e) from about 10 to about 40 parts by weight of glass fibers, said fibers having an average diameter from about 0.005 to about 0.05 inch and average length from about 1/32 to about 1/4 inch, the parts by weight of (a), (b), (c) and (d) totalling 100 parts by weight.

Claim 23

A thermoplastic molding composition which comprises a homogeneous admixture of (a) from about 20 to about 80 parts by weight of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene) ether resin; (b) from about 80 to about 20 parts by weight of rubber modified polystyrene; (c) at least 15 parts by weight of a copolymer of ethylene and a comonomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, methyl acrylate and ethyl acrylate; (d) from about 5 to about 15 parts by weight of a hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer wherein two of said blocks consist of poly(alkenyl aromatic) resins and the third block consists of a polydiene; and (e) from about 10 to about 40 parts by weight of glass fibers, said fibers having an average diameter from about 0.005 to about 0.05 inch and average length from about 1/32 to about 1/4 inch, the parts by weight of (a), (b), (c) and (d) totalling 100 parts by weight.

Claim 24

An article molded from the composition of claim 18.

Claim 25

An article molded from the composition of claim 21.

Claim 26

A composition according to claim 1 wherein component (a) is present in an amount of about 42 parts by weight, component (b) is present in an amount of about 35 parts by weight, component (c) is present in an amount of about 15 parts by weight, component (d) is present in an amount of about 8 parts by weight, and component (e) is present in an amount from about 5 to about 40 parts by weight.

Claim 27

A composition according to claim 21 wherein component (a) is present in an amount of about 42 parts by weight, component (b) is present in an amount of about 35 parts by weight, component (c) is present in an amount of about 15 parts by weight, component (d) is present in an amount of about 8 parts by weight, and component (e) is present in an amount from about 5 to about 40 parts by weight.