The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 12, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 30, 2000
Zhaolin Zhou, Amber Park, SG;
Rubin Cai, Chai Wan, HK;
Milliken & Company, Spartanburg, SC (US);
Abstract
Improvements for in-mold polyurethane foam and/or resin products and the ability to provide surface coatings of such products exhibiting bright coloration and reduced colorant migration through utilization of easy-to-use polymeric colorants in simplified and environmentally friendly processing methods are disclosed. The inventive surface coating formulations include polyurethane-reactive polymeric colorants admixed with prepolymer and excess amounts of certain isocyanate compounds. Such a composition is applied (by spraying, for example) to a polyurethane prepolymer (for the production of the internal polyurethane article) which is then introduced within a mold in order to form a particularly shaped or configured polyurethane article with a colored surface coating. Upon curing through exposure to heat, the coating composition reacts with the introduced polyurethane prepolymer to form a surface over the target internal polyurethane. The excess isocyanate present within the surface coating has been found to provide surprisingly good non-migration and non-bleed properties to the polymeric colorant thereby permitting the addition of such a highly desired, high color space, and effective polyurethane colorant within such surface coatings. The specific method as well as colored polyurethane articles are also contemplated within this invention.