Milliken + Co

Commscope Technologies LLC

Te Connectivity Corporation

Commscope Connectivity Belgium Bvba

Te Connectivity Germany Gmbh

Stephane Berghmans

Kristof Vastmans

Bert Bergner

Gary William Adams

Guenter Feldmeier

Miguel A Morales

Rudolf Kraemer

Michael Andrew Oar

Filip Du Prez

Nathalie Jeanne Hendrickx

Anne-Marie Prins

Jenci Kurja

Otto Van Den Berg

Unique transparent plastic (preferably though not necessarily polypropylene) articles that can be tailored to become opaque when exposed to a sufficiently high temperature and which returns to substantially the same transparency level upon cooling are provided. Such formulations include polymeric constituents that exhibit melting temperatures well below that for the majority clarified polypropylene, and thus which appear to become amorphous upon exposure to temperatures above such a lower melting temperature, thereby affecting the crystalline formation of the clarified polypropylene to the extent that opacity dominates the appearance thereof. Such lower melting temperature polymeric constituents include species such as low melt flow (up to 10) metallocene polyethylene and/or low density polyethylene, both of which exhibit melting temperatures of from about 60 to about 100&deg; C., well below the typical polypropylene melting temperatures of roughly about 150&deg; C. for homopolymer and about 165&deg; for typical random copolymer. Preferably, as well, the melt flow for the polypropylene may be anywhere from about 1 to about 20, with the most preferable formulation comprising polyethylene and polypropylene components exhibiting similar melt flow properties (e.g., with a difference of at most 5 units) for better mixing results. Methods of producing such temperature sensitive transparent polypropylene formulations and articles are also encompassed within this invention.

Transparent plastic articles comprising certain polymeric components to provide temporary and reversible opacity characteristics

Unique transparent polypropylene articles that can be tailored to become opaque when exposed to a sufficiently high temperature and which returns to substantially the same transparency level upon cooling. Such formulations include non-polypropylene polymeric constituents that exhibit refractive index measurements similar to the base clarified polypropylene at lower temperatures, as well as melting temperatures well below that for the base clarified polypropylene. Upon exposure to temperatures in close proximity to the melting temperature of the non-polypropylene polymeric constituents, the refractive index for such constituents will then become modified to the extent that the overall article appears at least partially opaque. In particular, the non-polypropylene polymeric constituents should exhibit melting temperatures well below that for the base clarified polypropylene, from about 60 to about 100&deg; C. (well below the typical polypropylene melting temperatures of roughly about 160-190&deg; C. for homopolymer and about 140-170&deg; C. for typical random copolymer, both nucleated or non-nucleated). In this manner, a temperature sensitivity measuring thermoplastic article may be provided, and may be tailored to specific temperature ranges dependent on the melting temperatures exhibited by the non-polypropylene polymeric constituents. Methods of measuring temperature levels via the transformation of transparent polypropylene formulations to at least partially opaque versions thereof are also encompassed within this invention.

Transparent polypropylene formulations that become opaque upon exposure to sufficient heat

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Ghent, Belgium

Stephane Berghmans