Delphon Industries, LLC

Gls Corporation

The Goodyear & Tire Rubber Company

Rajesh Kumar Varma

Darby Allen Davis

Claudia Leigh Allison

Lawson G Wideman

Manoj Ajbani

Christopher Kiehl

A carrier for reversibly immobilizing one or more objects is disclosed. The carrier comprises a frame having a major axis, a top surface, a bottom surface, and one or more openings through the frame along the major axis. The carrier also comprises a film comprising a thermoplastic elastomer material and having a top surface and a bottom surface. The film is attached to the frame based on thermal bonding of the top surface of the film to the bottom surface of the frame, is under tension along the major axis, and is free to flex at the openings. The top surface of the film comprises one or more exposed top surface portions that are accessible through the openings. The exposed top surface portions exhibit a holding force on stainless steel as per ASTM D1000 that is greater than that of the bottom surface of the film.

Carrier for reversibly immobilizing one or more objects

The invention relates generally to carrier materials. More specifically, the present invention relates to silicon-free thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) materials for use in carrier devices. In some embodiments, a textured film to temporarily immobilize a device is provided, characterized in that a surface of the film in contact with the one or more objects is comprised of textured topology.

Silicone-free thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) materials for use in carrier devices

Carrier devices having silicone-free thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) materials

The present invention relates to a soft thermoplastic elastomer composition that is free of thermoplastic resin that can be utilized in manufacturing shoe sole inserts, seals, gaskets, wheels, and that can be overmolded on a hard substrate, such as a metal or a thermoplastic resin, for grips or handles on various household items. The present invention more specifically discloses a thermoplastic elastomer composition that is made by a process comprising: (1) mixing (A) a block copolymer comprising a first polymeric block that is comprised of repeat units that are derived from a vinyl aromatic monomer and a second block that is comprised of repeat units that are derived from a conjugated diolefin monomer, wherein the repeat units in the second block are hydrogenated, and wherein the repeat units in the second block are elastomeric in nature, (B) a crosslinkable elastomer, and (C) an oil, to produce an un-crosslinked three component blend; and (2) dynamically crosslinking the crosslinkable elastomer in the un-crosslinked three component blend during a thermo-mechanical mixing step; wherein the thermoplastic elastomer composition is void of thermoplastic resins.

Thermoplastic elastomer composition

A thermoplastic elastomer ('TPE') which is oxygen-permeable is provided with excellent barrier properties against oxygen by melt-blending with a liquid polyisobutene oil plasticizer in an amount insufficient to render the plasticized elastomer tacky. If made tacky, enough detackifier is used to allow the product to be formed into a removable seal. The TPE may be a conventional thermoplastic vulcanizate or a block copolymer of a vinylaromatic compound, typically styrene, and a conjugated diene, typically butadiene or isoprene, or mixtures thereof; the block may be a diblock, triblock or higher block, but the preferred polyblock copolymer is a triblock with styrene end-blocks and a butadiene/isoprene mid-block. Preferably the diene mid-block is hydrogenated to provide a poly(lower)monoolefin mid-block. When the TPE is a TPV, some or all of the mineral oil used to make the TPV processable may also be substituted with the polyisobutene plasticizer. The elastomeric product is particularly useful for sealing elements for containers in which foods, beverages and medical products must be preserved for a long period.

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San Ramon, CA, United States of America

Rajesh Kumar Varma