| CLASSIFICATION | CommPat. Market |
| COMPANY | This data is not available for free |
| MARKETING BY | This data is not available for free |
| PATENT NUMBER | This data is not available for free |
| PATENT GRANT DATE | October 12, 1999 |
| PATENT TITLE |
Coated structural articles |
| PATENT ABSTRACT | A structural article comprises a substrate having an ionic charge which is coated with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. The coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. The substrate is preferably fiberglass, the filler is selected from the group consisting of fly ash, charged calcium carbonate, ceramic microspheres and mixtures thereof and the binder material is preferably acrylic latex. The substrate is preferably bonded together using a mixture of urea formaldehyde and standard acrylic. In a preferred embodiment, the coating comprises nearly 85% of the structural article and a filler which is approximately 50% fly ash and 50% calcium carbonate comprises approximately 85% to 95% of the coating. |
| PATENT INVENTORS | This data is not available for free |
| PATENT ASSIGNEE | This data is not available for free |
| PATENT FILE DATE | August 14, 1998 |
| PATENT PARENT CASE TEXT | This data is not available for free |
| PATENT CLAIMS |
What is claimed is: 1. A structural article comprising a substrate having an ionic charge coated with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge wherein said coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material and wherein said binder material bonds the filler material together and to the substrate and wherein said coatings does not bleed through said substrate. 2. A structural article according to claim 1 wherein said substrate is fiberglass, said filler is selected from the group consisting of fly ash, calcium carbonate, ceramic microspheres and mixtures thereof and said binder is acrylic latex. 3. A structural article according to claim 2 wherein said substrate is planar and is coated on one side with said coating. 4. A structural article according to claim 2 wherein said substrate is planar and is coated on both sides with said coating. 5. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides a water repellent material. 6. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides an antifungal material. 7. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides an antibacterial material. 8. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides a surface friction agent. 9. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides a flame retardant material. 10. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article further includes on one or both sides an algaecide. 11. A structural article according to claims 1, 3 or 4 wherein said article is colored with dye on one or both sides. 12. A structural article according to claims 2, 3 or 4 wherein said substrate is bonded together by a binder material consisting essentially of urea formaldehyde and acrylic latex. 13. A structural article coated with a coating consisting essentially of a filler material and a binder material wherein a) said article is from 10% to 25% by weight glass fibers and b) said coating is from 84% to 96% filler selected from the group consisting of fly ash, charged calcium carbonate, ceramic microspheres and mixtures thereof and from 16% to 4% acrylic latex binder material. 14. A structural article according to claim 13 wherein said coating further includes SBR rubber. 15. A structural article according to claim 14 wherein said acrylic latex binder and said rubber are cross linked. 16. A structural article according to claim 15 wherein said glass fibers are bonded together by a mixture of from 99% to 75% urea formaldehyde and from 1% to 25% acrylic latex. 17. A method for making a structural article comprising the steps of coating a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge wherein said coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material and wherein said binder material bonds the filler material together and to the substrate. 18. A method according to claim 16 wherein a) said coating is prepared by mixing the filler material and the binder material until the viscosity of the coating increases; and b) the substrate is then coated with the more viscous coating. 19. A structural article according to claim 14 wherein said article is roofing underlayment and wherein said filler is charged calcium carbonate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| PATENT DESCRIPTION |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to structural articles and a method for making such articles comprising a substrate having an ionic charge coated with a coating having essentially the same charge and consisting essentially of a filler material and a binder material. For many years substrates such as fiberglass have been coated with various compositions to produce structural articles having utility in, among other applications, the building industry. U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,005 relates to structural laminates made with facing sheets. The laminates described in that patent include thermosetting plastic foam and have planar facing sheets comprising 60% to 90% by weight glass fibers (exclusive of glass micro-fibers), 10% to 40% by weight non-glass filler material and 1% to 30% by weight non-asphaltic binder material. The filler materials are indicated as being clay, mica, talc, limestone (calcium carbonate), gypsum (calcium sulfate), aluminum trihydrate (ATH), antimony oxide, cellulose fibers, plastic polymer fibers or a combination of any two or more of those substances. The patent further notes that the filler materials are bonded to the glass fibers using binders such as urea-, phenol- or melamine-formaldehyde resins (UF, PF, and MF resins), or a modified acrylic or polyester resin. Ordinary polymer latexes used according to the disclosure are Styrene-Butadiene-Rubber (SBR), Ethylene-Vinyl-Chloride (EVCl), PolyVinylidene Chloride (PvdC), modified PolyVinyl Chloride (PVC), PolyVinyl Alcohol (PVOH), and PolyVinyl Acetate (PVA). U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,032 discloses an acrylic coating comprised of one acrylic underlying resin which includes fly ash and an overlying acrylic resin which differs from the underlying resin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,329 discloses a fire retardant coating composition comprising fly ash and vinyl acrylic polymer emulsion. The fly ash is 24 to 50% of the composition. Many different coating compositions have been formulated over the years but often such compositions would bleed through substrates, such as fiberglass substrates, if the substrates were coated on just one side, unless the compositions had a high binder content and/or included viscosity modifiers to enhance the viscosity of the coating composition. To prevent bleed through, such coating compositions sometimes had their viscosity increased by blowing or whipping air into the compositions. Although such blown compositions did not bleed through to the other side of mats such as fiberglass mats, the raw material costs for the compositions were high because of the numbers of constituent elements involved. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a structural article having a coating which includes only two major constituents, while eliminating the need for viscosity modifiers, for stabilizers or for blowing. It is also an object of this invention to provide a low cost, relatively light weight structural article comprised principally of a coating having a low binder content and a high filler content. It is a further object of this invention to provide a relatively light weight, low cost coating which coats a substrate without bleeding through the substrate. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, a structural article is made by coating a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. The coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. By coating the substrate with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge, the applicant has developed a zero bleed through product while using only two major ingredients in the coating and eliminating the need for costly and time consuming processing steps such as blowing. Applicant has discovered that by producing a coating having essentially the same ionic charge as the substrate, a zero bleed through product may be produced having a low binder content and no viscosity modifiers. The coated substrate of the present invention may be any suitable reinforcement material capable of withstanding processing temperatures, such as glass fibers, polyester fibers, cellulosic fibers, asbestos, steel fibers, alumina fibers, ceramic fibers, nylon fibers, graphite fibers, wool fibers, boron fibers, carbon fibers, jute fibers, polyolefin fibers, polystyrene fibers, acrylic fibers, phenolformaldehyde resin fibers, aromatic and aliphatic polyamide fibers, polyacrylamide fibers, polyacrylimide fibers or mixtures thereof which may include bicomponent fibers. The filler may be class F fly ash wherein 90% to 95% by weight of the fly ash is aluminosilicate. Such a fly ash, known as Alsil O4TR, is produced by JTM Industries of Kennesaw, Ga. Alternatively, the filler may be charged calcium carbonate or ceramic microspheres, or a blend of fly ash and calcium carbonate, or a blend of fly ash, calcium carbonate and ceramic microspheres or any combination of these filler materials to meet desired cost and weight criteria. Calcium carbonate and fly ash filler increase the weight of the product, but utilization of ceramic microspheres enables the manufacture of a product with reduced weight and increased fire resistant properties. Ceramic microspheres can withstand heat greater than 2000.degree. F. Also, ceramic microspheres increase compressive strength, absorb no latex and/or water and thus permit the faster drying of the product. Ceramic microspheres also increase product flexibility. Further, the ceramic microspheres help to increase the pot life of the coating. Heavier particles in the calcium carbonate and fly ash filler, although they may comprise but a small percentage of the particles in the filler, have a tendency to settle near the bottom of a storage vessel. When ceramic microspheres are mixed together with calcium carbonate and/or fly ash filler, a dispersion is produced which has an increased pot life or shelf life. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that as the filler particles naturally fall in the vessel and the ceramic microspheres rise, the smaller size filler particles are supported by the ceramic microspheres, thus enabling the microspheres to stay in solution and preventing the filler particles, to at least some extent, from descending to the bottom of the vessel. The table below provides, in percentages, some of the combinations of calcium carbonate, fly ash and ceramic microspheres which applicant has utilized as the filler component in the coating: TABLE I ______________________________________ A B C D E F % % % % % % ______________________________________ 1. Water 18.9 25.9 37.33 25.9 24.9 24.9 2. Acrylic Latex 6.0 6.0 6.42 6.0 6.0 3. Fly Ash 34.0 -- 40.0 -- 20.0 4. CaCO.sub.3 -- 34.0 -- -- 40.0 20.0 5. Microspheres -- -- 56.14 28.0 29.0 29.0 6. Defoamer 0.1 0.1 0.1 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% ______________________________________ The microspheres were a 50/50 ratio of 3M's W1012 microspheres and 3M's smaller diameter G200 microspheres. Although the table shows possible combinations of calcium carbonate, fly ash and ceramic microspheres in the filler component of the coating, it is believed that any combination of these materials may be employed. The coating is prepared by using a binder material such as a high performance heat-reactive acrylic latex polymer to bond the filler materials together and to bond the filler to the substrate. Such a binder material is Hycar 2679 acrylic latex polymer supplied by B.F. Goodrich Company of Cleveland, Ohio. It is believed, however, that any linear polymer, linear copolymer or branched polymer may be useful in preparing the coating. Possible binder materials include butyl rubber latex, SBR latex, neoprene latex, polyvinyl alcohol emulsion, SBS latex, water based polyurethane emulsions and elastomers, vinyl chloride copolymers, nitrile rubbers and polyvinyl acetate copolymers. In a preferred embodiment (Examples III, V and VIII below), the coating comprises nearly 85% by weight of the structural article. In that coating, approximately from 84% to 96% by weight is filler and the remainder is the acrylic latex binder. The filler is approximately 50% fly ash and 50% calcium carbonate. The substrate comprises about 15% by weight of the structural article. Glass fibers comprise approximately 12% by weight of the article and a binder material comprises about 3% by weight of the article. The binder which bonds together the glass fibers is from 99% to 75% (preferably 98% to 94%) by weight urea formaldehyde and from 1% to 25% (preferably 2% to 6%) by weight standard acrylic latex. The substrate may be coated by air spraying, dip coating, knife coating, roll coating or film application such as lamination/heat pressing. The coating may be bonded to the substrate by chemical bonding, mechanical bonding and/or thermal bonding. Mechanical bonding is achieved by force feeding the coating onto the substrate with a knife. Structural articles made in accordance with this invention may be of any shape and may be used in any of a variety of products including roofing shingles, structural laminate facing sheets, building air duct liners, roofing underlayment (or roofing felt), underlayment for organic shingles to provide Class "A" U.L. rating, built up roofing materials, roll roofing, modified roll products, filter media (including automotive filters), automotive hood liners, head liners, fire walls, vapor barriers etc. Preferably, such articles are planar in shape. The substrate is coated on one side or both sides depending on the intended application. For instance, if one side of the substrate is coated with the filler/binder coating, the other surface can be coated with conventional roofing asphalt, modified asphalts and non-asphaltic coatings, and the article can then be topped with roofing granules. It is believed that such roofing material could be lighter in weight, offer better fire resistance and better performance characteristics (such as cold weather flexibility, dimensional stability and strength) than prior art roofing materials. Additionally, the structural article may be coated with a water repellent material. Two such water repellent materials are Aurapel 330R and Aurapel 391 available from the Auralux Corporation of Norwich, Conn. It is believed that wax emulsions, oil emulsions, silicone emulsions, polyolefin emulsions and surfonyls as well as other similar performing products may also be suitable water repellent materials. Further, structural articles made in accordance with the invention may be coated with an algaecide such as zinc powder, copper oxide powder or the herbicides Atrazine available from e.g. Ribelin Industries or Diuron available from e.g. Olin Corporation, an antifungal material such as Micro-Chek 11P, an antibacterial material such as Micro-Chek 11-S-160, a surface friction agent such as Byk-375, a flame retardant material such as ATH (aluminum trihydrate) available from e.g. Akzo Chemicals and antimony oxide available from e.g. Laurel Industries and/or a coloring dye such as T-1133A and iron oxide red pigments, and other products which can impart specific surface functions. The Micro-Chek products are available from the Ferro Corporation of Walton Hills, Ohio. Byk-375 may be obtained from Wacker Silicone Corporation of Adrian, Mich. and T-1133A is sold by Abco Enterprises Inc. of Allegan, Mich. The additional coatings of, e.g. water repellent material, antifungal material, antibacterial material, etc., may be applied to one or both sides of structural articles otherwise having filler/binder coatings on one or both sides of a substrate. For example, structural articles comprising substrates coated on one or both sides with filler/binder coatings could be coated on one side with a water repellent composition and on the other side with an antibacterial agent. Applicant's invention also involves a method for making a structural article comprising the steps of coating a substrate having an ionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. The coating consists essentially of a filler material and a binder material. In one embodiment, the coating is prepared by mixing the filler material and the binder material until the ionic charge of the mixed materials changes such as to increase the viscosity of the coating. In the preferred embodiment, the substrate is anionic and the coating is essentially anionic even though the cationic nature of the coating increases during the aforementioned mixing. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Structural articles are made by coating a substrate having an anionic charge with a coating having essentially the same ionic charge. Any suitable reinforcement material capable of withstanding processing temperatures may be employed as a substrate in accordance with the invention. Examples include, inter alia, glass, fiberglass, ceramics, graphite (carbon), PBI (polybenzimidazole), PTFE, polyaramides, such as KEVLAR and NOMEX, metals including metal wire or mesh, polyolefins such as TYVEK, polyesters such as DACRON or REEMAY, polyamides, polyimides, thermoplastics such as KYNAR and TEFZEL, polyether sulfones, polyether imide, polyether ketones, novoloid phenolic fibers such as KYNOL, cotton, asbestos and other natural as well as synthetic fibers. The substrate may comprise a yarn, filament, monofilament or other fibrous material either as such or assembled as a textile, or any woven, non-woven, knitted, matted, felted, etc. material. The polyolefin may be polyvinyl alcohol, polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polyurethane, etc. alone or in combination with one another. The acrylics may be DYNEL, ACRILAN and/or ORLON. RHOPLEX AC-22 and RHOPLEX AC-507 are acrylic resins sold by Rohm and Haas which may also be used. The cellulosic fibers may be natural cellulose such as wood pulp, newsprint, Kraft pulp and cotton and/or chemically processed cellulose such as rayon and/or lyocell. The fly ash referred to in the examples was obtained from JTM Industries, Inc. of Martin Lake and Jewett, Tex. and had a particle size such that less than 0.03% remained on an agitated 0.1 inch.times.0.1 inch screen. The ceramic microspheres were manufactured by Zeelan Industries of 3M Center Bldg., 220-8E-04, St. Paul, Minn. 55144-1000. Calcium carbonate was obtained from Franklin Industrial Minerals of 612 Tenth Avenue North, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Black colorant or pigment used in various of the articles of the examples was T-113A sold by Abco, Inc. Foamed structural articles made in accordance with the present invention may be made by any of the known methods for making foamed compositions such as, for example, aeration by mechanical mixing and the other techniques described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,839. |
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| PATENT PHOTOCOPY | Available on request |
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