US5459175A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Optical fiber primary coatings and fibers coated therewith
Assignee: Henkel Loctite Corp
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Filing: 1993-06-22
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Granted: 1995-10-17
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Expires: 2013-06-22
Abstract
Abstract A curable thiol-ene composition specially adapted for use as a primary coating on optical fibers comprises a polythiol and a compound having a plurality of norbornene groups thereon, are characterized in that one of either the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups or the polythiol has a backbone of a poly(tetramethylene oxide), or is an oligomer thereof, and the poly(tetramethylene oxide) has a molecular weight of between 250 and 5,000. The formulations are relatively low viscosity liquids at practical application temperatures and cure substantially completely with very low irradiation fluence. The formulations cure in ambient air. There is no need to exclude oxygen or to control humidity. The formulations of the invention can be cured using low intensity UV lamps which do not generate significant amounts of heat. The cured products have excellent low temperature flexibility, good humidity and water absorbtion resistance and good thermal oxidative stability. The formulations may be applied to optical fibers using conventional techniques and cured with UV-vis or EB irradiation.
Inventors
- 👤 John G. Woods
- 👤 Margaret A. Rakas
- 👤 Anthony F. Jacobine
- 👤 Louis M. Alberino
- 👤 Philip L. Kropp
- 👤 Donna M. Sutkaitis
- 👤 David M. Glaser
- 👤 Steven T. Nakos
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 06:16
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/44; G02B6/4401; G02B6/4429; G02B6/443; B; B29; B29C; B29C64/00; B29C64/10; B29C64/106; B29C64/124; B29C64/129; B29C64/135; C; C03; C03C; C03C25/00; C03C25/10; C03C25/104; C03C25/106; C07; C07D; C07D263/00; C07D263/02; C07D263/30; C07D263/34; C07D263/36; C07D263/42; C08; C08F; C08F6/00; C08F6/02; C08G; C08G65/00; C08G65/02; C08G65/32; C08G65/329; C08G65/331; C08G65/332; C08G73/00; C08G73/02; C08G73/028; C08G75/00; C08G75/02; C08G75/04; C08G75/045; C08G75/12; C09; C09D; C09D4/00; G03; G03F; G03F7/00; G03F7/0037; G03F7/004; G03F7/027; G03F7/0275; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/29; Y10T428/2913; Y10T428/2933; Y10T428/2938
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
99 words
A curable thiol-ene composition comprising a polythiol and a compound having a plurality of norbornene groups thereon, wherein the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups or the polythiol has a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide), or the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups or the polythiol is an oligomer of a parent compound having a plurality of norbornene groups and a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide) or is an oligomer of a parent polythiol having a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide), and the poly(tetramethylene oxide) has a molecular weight of between 250 and 5,000.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
99 words
A curable thiol-ene composition comprising a polythiol and a compound having a plurality of norbornene groups thereon, wherein the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups or the polythiol has a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide), or the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups or the polythiol is an oligomer of a parent compound having a plurality of norbornene groups and a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide) or is an oligomer of a parent polythiol having a backbone consisting of a poly(tetramethylene oxide), and the poly(tetramethylene oxide) has a molecular weight of between 250 and 5,000.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
12 words
A composition as in claim 1 further comprising a free radical photoinitiator.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
A composition as in claim 1 wherein the compound having the plurality of norbornene groups thereon is a norbornene terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide) or a norbornene functional oligomer of a said norbornene terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide) and a polythiol.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
A composition as in claim 3 wherein the ratio of norbornene to thiol groups is between 1.0:0.8 and 1.0:1.3.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
A composition as in claim 3 wherein the norbornene terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide) is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR6## wherein n is an integer of 1-30.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
20 words
A composition as in claim 3 wherein the polythiol of said composition is fully miscible with the plural norbornene compound.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
12 words
A crosslinked polymer produced by curing a composition as in claim 3.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
14 words
A polymer as in claim 7 having a Tg of -20° C. or less.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
14 words
A polymer as in claim 8 having a Tg of -35° C. or less.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
A polymer as in claim 9 having a Tg of -50° C. or less.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
16 words
A polymer as in claim 7 having a modulus of less than 800 psi (5.52 MPa).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
16 words
A polymer as in claim 7 having a degree of water absorption of less than 1.0%.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
A composition as in claim 1 wherein the polythiol of said composition is a thiol functional oligomer of a norbornene terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide) and a stoichiometric excess of a compound having at least three thiol groups thereon.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
111 words
A composition as in claim 1 wherein the polythiol of the composition is a thiol functional oligomer formed from a mixture of norbornene and thiol functional compounds, the mixture having a value for r in the equation: ##EQU2## of between r 1 and r 1 /10, where α is the fractional conversion at the gel point, f a and f b are the weight average functionalities of the norbornene and thiol compound components, respectively, r is the stoichiometric imbalance defined as the ratio Na/Nb, where Na and Nb are, respectively, the number of equivalents of norbornene and thiol groups present and r 1 is the value calculated for r when α=1.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
22 words
A composition as in claim 1 which is a liquid having a viscosity of no more than 10,000 mPas at 60° C.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
22 words
A composition as in claim 9 which is a liquid having a viscosity of no more than 2,000 mPas at 25° C.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
A composition as in claim 1 wherein the molecular weight of the poly(tetramethylene oxide) is 650-1000, as determined by hydroxyl number.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
A composition as in claim 1 wherein the polythiol of the composition is selected from the group consisting of trimethylolethane tris-mercaptopropionate, trimethylolpropane tris-mercaptopropionate, trimethylolethane tris-mercaptoacetate, trimethylolpropane tris-mercaptoacetate, pentaerythritol tetramercaptoacetate, pentaerythritol tetrakis-β-mercaptopropionate and oligomers thereof with a norbornene terminated poly(tetramethylene oxide).
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
11 words
A composition as in claim 1 further comprising an adhesion promoter.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
57 words
A composition as in claim 19 wherein the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of acrylic and norbornene acid phosphate esters; itaconic, acrylic and methacrylic acids; maleic, fumaric and norbornene dicarboxylic acids and their half esters; and thiol, epoxy, norbornene, acrylic or methacrylic functional silane compounds having two or three hydrolyzable groups bound to silicon.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
38 words
A composition as in claim 20 wherein the adhesion promoter is selected from the group consisting of 3-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane, mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane, and glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane and is present in the composition at a level of 0.1-3.0 percent by weight.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
12 words
A crosslinked polymer produced by curing a composition as in claim 1.
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