Claims
- 1. A polyurethane-polymer composition suitable for preparing a lightweight tire support, said composition comprising:
(A) at least one polyol; (B) at least one chain extender; and (C) at least one isocyanate, said at least one isocyanate being present in an amount effective to react with said at least one chain extender to provide a hard-segment polymer and in an amount effective to react with said at least one polyol to provide a soft-segment polymer, said soft-segment polymer and said hard-segment polymer being present in an amount effective for providing a tire support prepared from said composition with temperature stability and load-bearing capability.
- 2. The composition of claim 1, wherein said isocyanate is present in an amount effective to react with said at least one chain extender to provide said hard-segment polymer in an amount of at least 25 weight percent and no greater than 45 weight percent based on the total weight of said composition.
- 3. The composition of claim 1, wherein said hard-segment polymer and said soft-segment polymer can be formed in an amount effective to provide a tire support prepared from said composition with a tensile modulus of at least 20 mPa at 80° C. and no greater than 60 mPa at 80° C. as determined by ASTM D638.
- 4. The composition of claim 1, wherein said hard-segment polymer and said soft-segment polymer can be formed in an amount effective to provide a tire support prepared from said composition with a tensile modulus of at least 30 mPa at 80° C. and no greater than 50 mPa at 80° C. as determined by ASTM D638.
- 5. The composition of claim 1, wherein said hard-segment polymer and said soft-segment polymer can be formed in an amount effective to provide a tire support prepared from said composition with a temperature stability such that a tensile modulus of said tire support changes by no more than 15 percent over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 6. The composition of claim 1, wherein said isocyanate comprises a first isocyanate and a second isocyanate.
- 7. The composition of claim 1, wherein said isocyanate comprises at least one of 4,4′-, 2,4′-, and 2,2′-diphenylmethanediisocyanate (MDI) and said isocyanate is substantially free of toluenediisocyanate.
- 8. The composition of claim 1, wherein said composition comprises an isocyanate content of from 6 weight percent to 15 weight percent.
- 9. The composition of claim 1, wherein said polyol comprises a polyether polyol.
- 10. The composition of claim 1, wherein said polyol comprises at least one of polypropylene oxide, polybutylene oxide, polyethylene oxide, and polytetramethylene oxide.
- 11. The composition of claim 1, wherein said polyol comprises a first polyol and a second polyol, said first polyol being polypropylene oxide and said second polyol being an ethylene oxide-capped polyol.
- 12. The composition of claim 1, wherein said chain extender comprises at least one of an aliphatic amine chain extender, an aromatic amine chain extender, and a modified amine chain extender.
- 13. The composition of claim 1, wherein said chain extender comprises 3,5-diethyl-2,4- or 2,6′-toluene diamine.
- 14. The composition of claim 1 further comprising at least one of a catalyst, a filler, a fire retardant, a colorant, an antistatic agent, a reinforcing fiber, an antioxidant, and an acid scavenger.
- 15. A lightweight tire support, said tire support comprising:
(A) a hard-segment polymer comprising a reaction product of an at least one first isocyanate and an at least one chain extender; (B) a soft-segment polymer comprising a reaction product of an at least one second isocyanate and an at least one polyol, said at least one second isocyanate being the same as or different from said at least one first isocyanate; and (C) said hard-segment polymer and said soft-segment polymer being present in an amount effective for providing said tire support with load-bearing capability and temperature stability.
- 16. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support weighs no more than 8 kg.
- 17. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support weighs no more than 5 kg.
- 18. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said hard-segment polymer is in an amount of at least 25 weight percent and no greater than 45 weight percent based on the total weight of the composition.
- 19. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said hard-segment polymer is in an amount of at least 28 weight percent and no greater than 42 weight percent based on the total weight of the composition.
- 20. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a tensile modulus of at least 20 mPa at 80° C. and no greater than 60 mPa at 80° C. as determined by ASTM D638.
- 21. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a tensile modulus of at least 30 mPa at 80° C. and no greater than 50 mPa at 80° C. as determined by ASTM D638.
- 22. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a tensile modulus that changes by no more than 15 percent over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 23. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a tensile modulus that changes by no more than 10 percent over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 24. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a tensile modulus that changes by no more than 8 percent over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 25. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said tire support has a change in tensile modulus over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. substantially similar to a rubber tire support's change in tensile modulus over a temperature range of −50° C. and 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 26. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said hard-segment polymer is prepared from a chain extender comprising at least one of an aliphatic amine chain extender, an aromatic amine chain extender, and a modified amine chain extender.
- 27. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said hard-segment polymer is prepared from a chain extender comprising at least one of 3,5-diethyl-2,4- or 2,6′-toluene diamine.
- 28. The tire support of claim 15, wherein said soft-segment polymer is prepared from a polyol comprising at least one of polypropylene oxide, polybutylene oxide, polyethylene oxide, and polytetramethylene oxide.
- 29. A polyurethane-polymer composition suitable for preparing a lightweight tire support, said composition comprising:
(A) at least two polyols comprising a first polyol and a second polyol, said first polyol comprising a polypropylene oxide and said second polyol comprising an ethylene oxide-capped polyol; (B) at least one chain extender comprising at least one of an aliphatic amine chain extender, an aromatic amine chain extender, and a modified amine chain extender; and (C) at least one isocyanate comprising at least one of 4,4′-, 2,4′-, and 2,2′-diphenylmethanediisocyanate, said at least one isocyanate being present in an amount effective to react with said at least one chain extender to provide a hard-segment polymer in an amount of at least 25 weight percent and no greater than 45 weight percent based on the total weight of said composition, wherein a tire support prepared from said composition has a weight of no greater than 8 kg, a tensile modulus of at least 30 mPa at 80° C. and no greater than 50 mPa at 80° C. as determined by ASTM D638, and a change in tensile modulus of no more than 15 percent over a temperature range of −50° C. to 150° C. based on dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
- 30. The composition of claim 29, wherein said at least one chain extender comprises 3,5-diethyl-2,4- or 2,6′-toluene diamine.
- 31. The composition of claim 29, wherein said isocyanate is substantially free of toluenediisocyanate.
- 32. The composition of claim 29, wherein said hard-segment polymer is at least 28 weight percent and no greater than 42 weight percent based on the total weight of the composition.
- 33. The composition of claim 29, wherein said tire support has a weight of no more than 8 kg.
- 34. The composition of claim 29, wherein said tire support has a weight of at least 3 kg and no greater than 5 kg.
- 35. The composition of claim 29, wherein said tire support has a change in tensile modulus of no more than 10 percent.
- 36. The composition of claim 29, wherein said tire support has a change in tensile modulus of no more than 8 percent.
- 37. The composition of claim 29, wherein said tire support has a change in tensile modulus of no more than 1 percent.
- 38. The composition of claim 29 further comprising at least one of a catalyst, a filler, a fire retardant, a colorant, an antistatic agent, a reinforcing fiber, an antioxidant, and an acid scavenger.
- 39. A tire support prepared from the composition of claim 29.
- 40. A method of preparing a lightweight tire support, said method comprising:
(A) injecting an isocyanate-side stream into a processing mold designed to mold a tire support, said isocyanate-side stream comprising at least one isocyanate; (B) injecting a polyol-side stream into said processing mold, said polyol-side stream comprising at least one polyol and at least one chain extender; and (C) reacting said isocyanate-side stream and said polyol-side stream in said processing mold to form a tire support, said tire support comprising a hard-segment polymer and a soft-segment polymer, said soft-segment polymer and said hard-segment polymer being present in an amount effective for providing said tire support with temperature stability and load-bearing capability.
- 41. A tire support prepared by the method of claim 40.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/170,343, filed Dec. 13, 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60170343 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09738027 |
Dec 2000 |
US |
Child |
10359785 |
Feb 2003 |
US |