Claims
- 1. A stopper for use in a substantially cylindrical bottle opening, the stopper having a substantially cylindrical shape to seal the bottle opening and comprising:
a first polymer portion having a first physical property and comprising a polyisobutylene; and a second polymer portion having a second physical property different from said first physical property, said second polymer portion coaxially overlying said first polymer portion.
- 2. The stopper of claim 1, wherein said first polymer portion further comprises a polyolefin.
- 3. The stopper of claim 1, wherein said first polymer portion further comprises a low density polyethylene.
- 4. The stopper of claim 3, wherein said first polymer portion comprises 10 to 30 percent by weight of polyisobutylene
- 5. The stopper of claim 3, wherein said first polymer portion comprises a mixture of metallocene copolymers.
- 6. The stopper of claim 3, wherein said first polymer portion further includes 0.2 percent to 50 percent of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin.
- 7. The stopper of claim 1, wherein said second polymer portion is one of an ionomer resin and an elastomer.
- 8. The stopper of claim 7, wherein said second polymer portion is an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin.
- 9. The stopper of claim 1, wherein said second polymer portion includes one of a styrene-butadiene elastomer, a styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene-elastomer, and a ethylene vinyl acetate elastomer.
- 10. The stopper of claim 1, wherein said stopper is comprised of approximately 95-99% of said first polymer portion.
- 11. The stopper of claim 1, further comprising a third polymer portion, wherein said first polymer portion coaxially overlies said third polymer portion.
- 12. The stopper of claim 11, wherein said third polymer is one of a high density polyethylene polymer and a high density polypropylene polymer.
- 13. The stopper of claim 12, wherein said third polymer portion has a density of 22-25 lb/cu. ft.
- 14. The stopper of claim 12, wherein said third polymer portion has an outside diameter of approximately 12 mm.
- 15. The stopper of claim 12, wherein said third polymer portion has one of a substantially cylindrical shape, a substantially cylindrical shape having an opening extending about its axis, and at least a three-fold radially symmetrical shape extending about its axis.
- 16. The stopper of claim 12, wherein said first polymer is a mixture of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin and a low density polyethylene in a weight ratio of 85:15 and having a density of approximately 15 lb/cu. ft. and a diameter of 9-12 mm,
wherein said second polymer portion is a colloidal alumina having a thickness of 0.2-0.8 mm, wherein said third polymer portion is a high density polyethylene polymer having a density of 22-25 lb/cu. ft., and a diameter of approximately 12 mm.
- 17. A method of protecting liquid in a bottle with a substantially cylindrical bottle opening, comprising:
providing a stopper having a substantially cylindrical shape to seal the bottle opening and including a first polymer portion and a second polymer portion, said first polymer portion having a first physical property and said second polymer portion having a second physical property different from said first physical property, said second polymer portion configured to coaxially overly said first polymer portion; and closing off the bottle by insertion of said stopper into said bottle opening.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said first polymer portion of said stopper includes a mixture of metallocene co-polymers and low density polyethylene.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein said weight ratio of said mixture of said metallocene co-polymers and said low density polyethylene is approximately 3:1.
- 20. The method of claim 18, wherein said first polymer portion of said stopper further includes 0.2 percent to 50 percent of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin.
- 21. The method of claim 18, wherein said second polymer portion of said stopper is one of an ionomer resin and an elastomer.
- 22. The stopper of claim 21, wherein said second material portion of said stopper includes an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin.
- 23. The method of claim 17, wherein said stopper is comprised of approximately 95-99% of said first polymer portion.
- 24. The method of claim 17, wherein said stopper further comprises a third polymer portion, wherein said first polymer portion of said stopper overlies said third polymer portion.
- 25. The method of claim 24, wherein said third polymer is one of a high density polyethylene polymer and a high density polypropylene polymer.
- 26. The method of claim 25, wherein said third polymer portion of said stopper has a density of 22-25 lb/cu. ft.
- 27. The method of claim 25, wherein said third polymer portion of said stopper has an outside diameter of approximately 12 mm.
- 28. The method of claim 25, wherein said third polymer portion of said stopper has one of a substantially cylindrical shape, a substantially cylindrical shape having an opening extending about its axis, and at least a three-fold radially symmetrical shape extending about its axis.
- 29. The method of claim 25, wherein said first polymer of said stopper is a mixture of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin and a low density polyethylene in a weight ratio of 85:15 and having a density of approximately 15 lb/cu. ft. and a diameter of 9-12 mm,
wherein said second polymer portion of said stopper is a colloidal alumina having a thickness of 0.2-0.8 mm, and wherein said third polymer portion of said stopper is a high density polyethylene polymer having a density of 22-25 lb/cu. ft., and a diameter of approximately 12 mm.
- 30. A method of producing a stopper for use in a substantially cylindrical bottle opening, comprising:
extruding a first polymer portion having a first physical property through an extrusion die; coaxially coating said first polymer portion with a second polymer portion having a second physical property that is different from said first physical property to form a body; and forming said body into a shape to substantially seal said bottle opening.
- 31. The method of claim 30, said method further comprising, prior to the step of coating said first polymer portion, blending said first polymer portion with a blowing agent.
- 32. The method of claim 30, wherein said first polymer portion includes a mixture of a low density polyethylene and 0.2 percent to 50 percent of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin, and wherein said second polymer portion includes one of an ethylene/methacrylic acid co-polymer based ionomer resin and an elastomer
- 33. The method of claim 30, wherein said body of said stopper is comprised of 95-99% of said first polymer portion.
- 34. A method of producing a stopper for use in a substantially cylindrical bottle opening, comprising:
extruding a first polymer portion through an extrusion die; coaxially coating said first polymer portion with a second polymer portion; coaxially coating said second polymer portion with a third polymer portion to form a body; and forming said body into a shape to substantially seal said bottle opening.
- 35. The method of claim 34, said method further comprising, prior to the step of coating said first polymer portion, blending said first polymer portion with a blowing agent.
- 36. The method of claim 35, wherein said first polymer portion is extruded with one of a substantially cylindrical shape, a substantially cylindrical shape having an opening extending about its axis, and at least a three-fold radially symmetrical shape extending about its axis.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/208,440, filed Jul. 29, 2002, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/710,548, filed Nov. 10, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/975,413, filed Sep. 19, 1997.
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09710548 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
10208440 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10208440 |
Jul 2002 |
US |
Child |
10739745 |
Dec 2003 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08975413 |
Sep 1997 |
US |
Child |
09710548 |
Nov 2000 |
US |