MOLD WITH RELEASEINNER-LINER AND ITS MANUFACTURING PROCESS DESCRIPTION FJELD OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to an injection, cast or blow molded plastic piece, a mold or die for its injection, cast or biow motding which requires no final finishes during its construction or addiLional mold release agents throughout its lire, 2 process for obtaining a modified Addition Silicone Rubber (ASR) suitable for building said motd, a modified ASR thus obtained and procedures for obtaining a die by using said ASR.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ASR was created and developed to be used as a permanent mold-release agent although, due to its great resiiiency and because it is not possible to securely attach it to any stiff member, its use has been forever limited to gravity casting, for molds do not withstand the least pressure without distortion. This problem has been extensively disclosed and discussed in the previous art. Many efforts have been made to combine it with other materials that will give it the appropriate strain resistance for it to be used in die-casting; however, these attempts have encountered the problem of the lack of tackiness of ASR.

This invention has overcome this issue by achieving a perfect bond between a thin coating of ASR and metals, plastic laminates or any other element which confers the suitable mechanical strength to make the use of this system as an injection, cast or blow molding die, etc. possible.

In a major aspect of this invention, there is disciosed an injection, cast of b ! ow moided plastic piece requiring no mold release agent whatsoever and which, as a consequence of such absence of a release agent, has optimal painting and adhesive coating properties and does not require any pretreatment prior to applying paint or an adhesive thereon.

Said injection, cast of blow molded plastic piece can take a number of different shapes, including, but not limited to, automotive parts such as auto bumpers.

Another kind of articles that can be built with the subject pieces are shoe soles, particuiarly those of sports shoes, which in many instances are applied by means of adhesives or vulcanization to the other portion of the shoe, often with very poor results regarding the duration of the surfaces thus attached.

In a second aspect, this invention refers to the method of making dies or molds without requiring the use of any mold release agent on processing plastics, either by internal or extemal application. Indeed, ever since the aforementioned materials began to be processed, it has always been necessary to use some agent that precludes the natural tackiness thereof to any element that might 9 contact the materials involved in the process. This has caused innumerable difficulties, the most important one of which is the waste of time it implies, the presence of failure or breakage on removing the pieces and the resulting damage to dies or molds, added to the impossibility of achieving a good anchorage in the painting of finishing of the pieces being processed. Similar issues are encountered in industry when trying to bind plastics in the process of making sneakers, for example.

With respect to the problems herein stated, and since the application of painted plastics is becoming widespread in industry, it is important to emphasize that, in the processing of injection, cast or blow molded pieces or pieces made by any other similar method, the presence of mold-release agents under pressure and temperature makes it possible to combine such pieces, such residual mold- release agent being responsible for preventing a good adherence of the subsequent finish to the molded piece. Therefore, in order to try to neutralize this problem, technicians depend upon a variety of post-mold-release operations and those carried out before applying the final coating, which operations are always complex and add to the cost of the product. However, no matter how much care is taken, the quality of the bond between the finishing coating and the piece is defective. The attempts being made and the poor results achieved in the automotive industry, as far as the body aspect is concemed, are clear examples of the aforementioned problems.

In the present invention, ASR still functions as a mold-release agent but, since it is used as a very thin film bound to the rigid substrate, which is in fact the shape retaining element, a) it makes it possible to apply pressure to a mold, wherein the surface contacting the material to be processed is made of ASR. This results in the injection mold obtained not requiring any mold-release agent at all throughout its lifte. b) it is different from any injection dies made of metal or synthetic resins which, up to this day, must always use additional intemal and external release agents.

Therefore, it is important to bear in mind that 1. Internal mold-release agents are mixed into the batch of product to be processed, whereby the entire manufactured piece has a certain amount of release agents, which makes it unsuitable for being painted or glued, in spite of correx and costly subsequent operations, for the mold-release agent is incorporated into the product.

2. Extemal mold-release agents (generally silicone-based) must be applied to the mold to prevent the pieces being processed from sticking thereto.

3. A portion of the mold-release agent necessarily appiied to the moid is inevitably transferred to the piece, under the existing pressure and temperature conditions during the injection, cast or blow molding, thus making it impossible to remove it from the piece thereby obtained.

The surface of the product made according to the present invention is similar to that of a cataphoresis-treated metal, because of the crosslinking that occurs between the base product and the product applied when painting or applying adhesive thereto, as if the paint or adhesive were Uscatteredx into the surface of the piece, unlike the finishing of pieces by other processes wherein the paint or adhesive remains"floating"on the surface.

WO 91-01208, EP 0294043, US 3.838,110 and US 3,880,949 are related to the present invention. Nevertheless, none of them predicts or suggests the improvement fully disclosed hereinbelow.

As an example of an external mold-release agent, European Patent PE 0294043 to Dow Coming, describes a method of molding high water, high resiliency, low flammability polyurethane foam articles with good loading characteristics wherein a permanent mold-release agent is used. The mold release composition, made of silicone, is used to treat the surfaces of a mold. The composition imparts release characteristics to the mold which last through multiple molding cycles, allowing for recoating with said composition and making it possible to produce defect-free foam articles. The composition consists essentially of a high and a low molecular weight hydroxyl endblocked polydimethylsiloxane, a sifoxane crosslinker having SiH functionality, a catalyst and an inert solvent.

As an example of intemal mold-release agent, PCT Patent WO 91-01208, issued to Robert William Wilson et al, a mold-release agent is absorbed into a microporous carrier, said carrier being incorporated into the base material (such as a plastics material) for molding. The release agent thus becomes dispersed throughout the base material and serves to assist the release of the subsequently molded component from the mold or die, without any need for preliminary spraying of the mold or die with an additionat retease agent. As a consequence of that, molded articles are not paintable or bondable, since the release material is spread throughout the mass. It is extremely difficult to have paint adhere to the surface of articles obtained by the above method.

In addition, there are teflon-coated release agents such as those disclosed in US Patents 3.838,949 and US 3,838,110 to Thiokol Chemical Co.

Particularly, US Patent 3,838,949 discioses a mold that requires no addition mold release agent, at least one surface of which, the one in contact with the molding composition, comprises a cured polyester containing fiuorocarbons prepared from polyepoxides, which have epoxy functionality of about two epoxy groups per molecule and a carboxyl-ended polymer ; wherein said carboxyl-ended polymers contain pendant allyl or vinyl groups and wherein at least some of the pendant groups are converted to 2-perfluoroalkyl-1-iodoethyl or 3-perfluoroalkyl-2-iodopropyl groups so as to provide a 1 to 40 percent fluorine content therein. US Patent 3,838,110 discloses a mold-releasing composition, which may be used as either the casting composition or, in its cured state, as a moid or mold liner. It is not necessary to use any addition mold release agent with the above composition, which is made from (a) carboxy or hydroxy-ended polymers containing pendant 3-perfluoroalkyl-2-iodopropyl or 2-perfluoroalkyl-1-yodo-ethyl groups, and (b) poiyisocyanates or polyepoxides. The latter two patents have represented the first attempts to make release agent-free molds, but due to their high cost and poor results, their use has been discontinued. Furthermore, the teflon-coated material was torn, scratched and easily deteriorated, and it turned out to be very expensive when replaced. Also, die making was extremely time consuming DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is the first object of this invention to provide an injection, cast or blow molded plastic piece which does not have even a trace of a mold-release agent, having at the same time optimal painting and adhesive coating properties requiring no pretreatment prior to being painted or coated with an adhesive. it is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a die for injecting or casting plastics, which requires no final finishes during its construction or addition mold-release agents throughout its ife.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process for obtaining a modified Addition Silicone Rubber (ASR) suitable for building said mold, as well as a modified ASR thus obtained.

Finally, as a further object of this invention, procedures to produce a die by using said ASR are disclosed.

The above and other characteristics of the invention will become evident from the foliowing description and the appended drawings, the purpose of which is to illustrate the invention, as fully and clearly as possible, wherein: Figure 1 is a view of the topography of a polyurethane sample achieved by means of an Scanning Electron microscope and energy dispersion X-ray microanalysis.

Figure 2 is a view similar to that of Figure 1, but which shows the topography of the paint coating applied onto the above polyurethane sample.

Figure 3 shows a view having the same characteristics as the previous ones, but in this case it is focused on the interfacial zone between the polyurethane member and the paint applied thereon.

Figure 4 shows the microanalysis spectrum of the polyurethane itself.

Figure 5 shows the microanalysis spectrum of the paint applied onto the polyurethane.

Figure 6 shows the microanalysis spectrum of the polyurethane-paint interface.

Figure 7 shows a view of the titanium intensities established between the baseline and 512 indicated in Figure 3; and Figure 8 shows a titanium mapping in the same interface illustrated in the previous figures.

The present injection, cast or blow molded plastic piece offers the major advantage of not having any release agent incorporated thereto, even in trace amounts and, at the same time, exhibiting optimal painting and adhesive coating properties without requiring any preliminary treatments prior to being painted or coated with an adhesive, due to the lack of release agents otherwise incorporated thereto.

Indeed, the incorporation of such release agents to injection, cast or blow molded plastic members is a highly undesirable procedure which has been unavoidable in the art, notwithstanding the efforts made so far to prevent that.

In order to be able to paint or apply an adhesive to the pieces thus obtained, with poor results in every case, repeated washings with isopropyl alcohol are required, as well as the granulation, sanding, fiaming or the incorporation of other anchoring agents to such pieces, which brings about tremendous difficulties from the industrial point of view, adds to the cost of the product.

Thus, in traditional processes, there is a section of miscible thickness usualiy contaminated with residual release agents that cannot be fully removed and which, in fact, render the product impermeable prior to the application of paint thereon, whereby they result in a much lower quality painted end product, as far as the paint of the piece is concerned It will be apparent that this dispersion procedure is essential for the paint adherence and it relies on how this surface is prepared or conditioned.

The die for producing such injection or cast molded plastic piece, which is another aspect of this invention, offers the following comparative advantages : -it makes it possible to considerably reduce the cost of mold-building because no final polishing is required, unlike traditional dies ; -it does not require the use of precision equipment or highly qualifie labor ; -unlike a conventional die, the die of this invention can be repaired as new in a very short time and at a very low cost.

Such die or mold does not require any final finishes during construction, or any addition release agents during its life, It comprises three differentiated layers mechanical strength, the open side of the felt is attached to the chosen substrate, which, as stated herein, is selected between a plastic laminate and a metal substrate compatible with the injection machine to be used, by using an epoxy resin.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, said second layer comprises a binding. material selected among an open cell alveolar material having a cell size of 8 tenths of a millimeter in diameter, and natural or synthetic fibers of suitable shapes.

The present invention contemplates the use of a wide variety of fibers, though fiberglass is preferred due to its characteristics, one of the most important of which is its mechanical strength. As to the shapes the fibers can take, these must be such that, on placing them onto the second layer of ASR, said fibers are not entirely immersed in such ASR.

Altematively, said second layer of ASR is applied on the previously catalyzed and thickness-controlled first layer of ASR. The previously chosen binding material is immediately transferred onto the same as herein disclosed.

This second layer is then let fully vulcanize and the loose material is removed.

Finally, the third layer is attached to a substrate selected between a mezcal substrate and a plastic laminate compatible with the injection equipment to be used by means of an epoxy resin.

There are two big groups of substances that may be used as a binding material in this second embodiment for the purpose stated above, such as: A) Open cell, alveolar materials with sufficient mechanical strength, which can be reduced to the right size, e. g. powdered pumice. These alveolar materials must be ground, and then screened by passing them through metal screens of 6 to 8 tenths of a millimeter, so as to separate ail of those particles that are useful because of their particle size. as follows : a) a first layer being a permanent mold release agent which comprises an addition silicone rubber (ASR) modified such that viscosity is decreased to promote bubble formation and improve tackiness; b) a second transition layer strongly attached to said first layer ; and c) a third layer strongly attached to said second layer and comprising a substrate having enough mechanical strength, selected between a metal substrate and a plastic laminate.

Said layers are arranged inside out in the above order, inside being understood as the part of the die in direct contact with the material to be processed therein.

The ASR in layer a) has been modified in accordance with the following procedure: ASR is treated with 1-8 volume of the initial ASR % distille water at high temperature, preferably between 60 and 80°C, the resulting mixture is then. homogenized and 1-10 volume of the initial ASR % silicone oil is added. To that mixture, 0, 2 to 3 volume of the initial ASR % methyl ethyl ketone peroxide is added, after which 0,2 to 4 volume of the initial ASR % acetic acid is then added.

The resulting mixture is catalized the usual way for ASR's, using the specific catalizer for each type of ASR.

Since it is carried out in absence of mold-release agents, the process of the present invention of obtaining the above die or mold in its various embodiments also represents significant savings in the cost of said mold release agents.

The process for obtaining a die by using the modified ASR previously disclosed comprises the steps of: -heating the modified ASR in accordance with the above procedure, at a temperature of 50 to 80°C with mechanical stirring; mechanical strength, the open side of the felt is attached to the chosen substrate, which, as stated herein, is selected between a plastic laminate and a metal substrate compatible with the injection machine to be used, by using an epoxy resin. in a second embodiment of the present invention, said second layer comprises a binding material selected among an open cell alveolar material having a cell size of 8 tenths of a millimeter in diameter, and natural or synthetic fibers of suitable shapes.

The present invention contemplates the use of a wide variety of fibers, though fiberglass is preferred due to its characteristics, one of the most important of which is its mechanical strength As to the shapes the fibers can take, these must be such that, on placing them onto the second layer of ASR, said fibers are not entirely immersed in such ASR.

Altematively, said second layer of ASR is applied on the previously catalyzed and thickness-controlled first layer of ASR. The previously chosen binding material is immediately transferred onto the same as herein disclosed.

This second layer is then let fully vulcanize and the loose material is removed.

Finally, the third layer is attached to a substrate selected between a metal substrate and a plastic laminate compatible with the injection equipment to be used by means of an epoxy resin.

There are two big groups of substances that may be used as a binding material in this second embodiment for the purpose stated above, such as: A) Open cell, alveolar materials with sufficient mechanical strength, which can be reduced to the right size, e. g. powdered pumice. These alveolar materials must be ground, and then screened by passing them through metal screens ouf 6 to 8 tenths of a millimeter, so as to separate all of those particles that are useful because of their particle size.

B) Short fibers having the appropriate shape and strength, such as those already disclosed herein.

Though not wishing to be bound to any particular theory, it is believed that, since ASR becomes securely attached, there is no transfer of silicone from the die to the workpiece, whereby the piece is completely clean and free of any trace of release agents which might impede its painting or binding.

The foliowing examples frustrante the way this invention was put into practice.

Example 1 This example illustrates the way the modified addition silicone rubber (ASR) was obtained A viscous ASR, RTV-M 4503 (M533) from Wacker S. A. was taken as a bes rubber, and it was vigorously shaken in its own container for 10 minutes, in order to neutralize the natural tendency of these products to settle their heavier components during long periods of rest.

After letting it rest for 30 minutes in a large shallow vessel, thereby removing the enclosed air, 800 cm3 thereof were metered. Every 5 minutes air was injected through an air gun, at a pressure of 50 poun/sq. inch to help the outcropping bubbles burst. To this rubber, which had been previously heated to 60°C to facilitate its stirring and homogenizing, 24 cm3 of distilled water at 80°C was added and carefully stirred. 16 Cm3 Silicone Oil was then added (also from Wacker) and the resulting mixture was stirred. Thereafter 4,8 cm3 Methyl Ethyl Cetone Peroxide was added to that mixture with stirring. Finally, 4cm3 acetic acid was added to this mass and completely homogenized, as in preceding cases.

As a result of this process, amodified ASR was achieved under the appropriate conditions to be used in the following examptes.

Exemple 2 The following example illustrates the way a die was built according to one of the embodiments of the present invention A-A master die was selected, which master die had a number of release drawbacks such as: 1. Removal between essentially parallel sides of the die at the braces.

2. High definition detail zones with very low relief in the name area and identifying member number.

A thin coating of Vaseline was applied on the master die, using a wipe to remove the surplus on the planar surfaces and a brush in much more detailed zones. The modified ASR was then heated according to the above Example 1, while checking to make sure the temperature was 65°C. 52 cm3 of T 35 catalyzer from Wacker was used and it was mixed by means of an instrument driven by a hand drill spinning at 1250 rpm, which had been made ad hoc.

Said instrument comprised two inverted screws mounted on the same shaft, such that the upper screw would generate a downward stream and the lower screw would produce a stream in the opposite direction. This guaranteed a perfect mixing, as well as the appropriate formation of bubbles. The modified, catalized ASR was then poured onto one of the sides of the master die as a small stream dispersed all over the side exposed thereto. Thereafter, the thickness of the ASR was checked by passing a flexible polyethylene comb with the suitable section on the entire surface of the master die, removing the excess and pushing it off the piece. The high self-leveling power of ASR made the marks left by the comb quickly disappear, causing the exposed side of the master die to have a layer of about 4/10 of a mm ASR over its entire surface, It was noted that, during the time elapsed up to the complete vulcanization of ASR, the bubbles therein enclosed desirably rose to the surface. Then, the bubbles were burst by means of a planar rubber roller, with bubbles appeared completely surrounded by vulcanized ASR. B-Then, an evaporation silicone rubber (ESR) was used, silicone 600 from Bayer S. A was used. It was spread with the help of a spatula all over the vulcanized ASR, carrying out the same operation over one of the sides of the appropriate felt, which was then placed on top of the ESR applied on the vulcanized ASR, such that both faces were in contact with the ESR.

All the air enclosed therein, was then removed by repeatedly passing a suitable coller thereon, thus also pushing the surplus of ESR off the piece.

The ESR was left to set through the felt, and the clean side of the felt was soaked in a suitably catalyzed epoxy resin.

C-Rolling with rovingsand fiberglass felt was continued as is usual in the art, until the right thickness for the application the die would be used for. The same procedure was carried out with the other side of the master die, and so on, until it was completed Example 3 This example shows how a die according to a further embodiment of the present invention was achieved.

The same procedure as disclosed in Example 2, part A was carried out, until the first layer of modified ASR becomes completely vulcanized.

A second layer of ASR was then applied onto the first one in the same manner described in the above Example 2, except that, as soon as the thickness control comb had been passed and the surface was leveled, powdered pumice of a particle size of 0,7 mm diameter achieved by using suitable screens, was spread thereon.

Once this second layer of ASR had vulcanized in its entirety, unattached particles were removed from the surface by using air injection and the surface was soaked in epoxy resin and applied to a previously degreased metal surface that had been treated with an abrasive disc to make it more stringent.

Example4 Finally, various products were obtained by using the dies made in the above Examples 2 and 3. The procedures used for obtaining these products were the usuat ones in the art, with the important proviso that no release agent was used.

The products obtained from these release agent-free dies were submitted to multiple laboratory tests, wherein, e. g., total adherence of the paint or finishing applied thereon proved to be satisfactory.

One of the tests carried out consisted of scraping a painted piece with a machine comprising a mobile arm, at one end of which a brade was securely attached, perpendicularly to the surface of the piece.

This machine also served to meter the pressure exerted on the piece by the biade, which pressure is variable at the operator's discretion, as well as the number of scraping cycles performed on the surface by the mobile arm.

After carrying out sequential tests performed using different pressure values on the piece, a similar result was achieved in every case, i. e., the blade wore the paint out without detaching it form the piece.

The test method used was D 51 1755, applied by the"Regie des Usines Renault".

Another test performed was test D 24 1699 from the"Regie des Usines Renaultn, which consisted of bombarding the surface of a painted piece with small steel balls at variable speeds of up to 250 km/hour, without being able to distinguish any paint peeling off, or any star markings caused by the impacts thus produced.

These test clearly demonstrated that the product thus obtained and then painted has improved anchorage properties in the paint coating, such properties being much better than the ones exhibited by painted products achieved according to the previous art, i. e by using additional intemal or extemal mold release agents.

Example 5 In order to perform this test a Philips PW 1400 X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer with rhodium anode, LiF. PE TLAP crystals was used, running at 60 Kv and 40 mAmp, with Flow and scintillating sensors, both in air and vacuum atmosphere. Through this procedure, it is possible to identify chemica) elements comprise between sodium and uranium.

Two polyurethane test tubes were analyzed, a painted one and an unpainted one. Both the surface and the inside of the sample were analyzed in both cases. The test was carried out after washing the samples with ethanol, which samples were then directly exposed to radiation.

In the unpainted sample, silicon was identified both inside and out, although no significant differences were qualitatively found between both contents.

In the painted sample the following elements were found : iron, copper, nickel, zinc, magnesium, sulfur, titanium, barium, strontium, lead, silicon and chlorine. The elements with the highest ratio of appearance were titanium and barium.

Scanning Electron Microscope and Energy Dispersion X-Rav Microanalvsis An JEOL 35 CF Scanning Electron Microscope was used, with an EDAX Microanalysis System, Si sensor (li) with UTW window, detecting elements from boron to uranium present in amounts higher than 0,1 weight %.

Sections were performed in areas pertaining to polyurethane (PU), paint and the area close the interface thereinbetween. Sections were placed on graphite sample holders. The sections of interest were placed perpendfcujar to the surface of the sample holder for its surveillance and later microanalysis. The surfaces were covered with a coal coating (necessary for its surveillance and later microanalysis).

Observations of the topography of the sample designated as PU (polyurethane) were carried out, which topography is shown in Figure 1, and the one designated as paint, Figure 2, to establish their location in the sample containing the interface represented by Figure 3.

The microanalysis spectrum for each region is shown below. The spectrum shown in Figure 4 corresponds to PU atone. The presence of C, O, Si and Na was detected therein.

The spectrum shown in Figure 5 shows the results achieved when analyzing paint The fottowing elements were detected: C, O, Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, Ti and Fe.

The spectrum shown in Figure is the one obtained in the PU-paint interface.

Since Ti is the element with the highest signal, a follow-up of the same was performed in the sample pertaining to the PU-paint interface, as shown in Figure 3. In Figure 7 there are depicted the Ti intensities along a tested line, which was quantifie between 0 and 512 points. It was seen that from about 200, corresponding to a point located inside PU, Ti begins to be detected.

In the picture depicted in Figure 8 there is shown a mapping of Ti performed on the above interface zone. in the painted area there is a higher concentration of points corresponding to such element. However, in one of the PU pores it was possible to observe said element in significant amounts. Similar resufts were obtained in further samples of the assayed interface.

Conclusions: The X-Ray fluorescence essay indicates that there are no significant differences between the silicon contents within and on the surface of the test tube being tested In other words, no significant amounts of silicon compound are detected on the surface of the test tube subjected to this assay. in the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Microanalysis titanium was detected in the region close to the layer of paint, corresponding to PU. This is clear evidence that the paint has penetrated into the PU test tube.