WATERBORNE FABRIC AND TEXTILE COATING OR TREATMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to novel waterborne copolymer dispersions produced by emulsion polymerization useful as a fabric coating or treatment to improve the performance properties of textile products. The new compositions contain at least one vinyl monomer, a vinyl silane and an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic ester derived from hydroxy fatty acid esters having at least one double bond in their backbone. The invention is also directed to the method of using the waterborne vinyl copolymer dispersion as a coating to improve the performance properties of textile products.

Description of the Prior Art Coatings are applied to fabrics and textiles to enhance their characteristics such as wearability, soil and water resistance, stain resistance and to make them wrinkle proof.

Numerous processes and compositions are known to those of skill in the art.

Previously available fabric treatments fail to provide the wrinkle resistance, soil and water resistance, and wear resistance needed in more demanding end use applications for clothing, furniture and other textile products.

Accordingly, it would be an advancement in the art to provide a waterbome fabric treatment to enhance the performance of textile products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a copolymer that is suitable for treating fabrics and textiles comprising an aqueous dispersion of : a polymer obtained by the polymerization of : (i) an internally plasticizing and crosslinkable monomer derived from a semi-or non-drying oil; and (ii) one or more of ethylenically unsaturated monomers copolymerizable therewith; and (iii) a vinyl silane.

In further aspects of this invention novel methods of treating fabrics using the above mentioned compositions are also provided.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The plasticizing and crosslinkable monomers suitable for forming the compositions of this invention are derivatives of semi-or non-drying oils having an ethylenically unsaturated ester of a long-chain olefinic compound. Preferred monomers of this invention are acrylate or methacrylate esters of long-chain olefinic monomers derived (or obtained) from either castor oil or lesquerella oil.

The preferred internally plasticizing and crosslinkable monomers derived from semi-or non-drying oils of the present invention are substituted ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid esters of long-chain olefinic compounds of the formula I : wherein (a) Ri, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, and R7, are the same or different and are each independently selected from the group consisting of : hydrogen; alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; alkoxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; and linear or branched alkyl and fluoroalkyl groups having the formula CnHxFy, where n is an integer from 1 to 10, x and y are integers from 0 to 2n+1, and the sum of x and y is 2n+1 ; (b) Rs is selected from the group consisting of : - CN ; - COOR ; - CH20H ; -CH20R ;

- CONR'R" ; and - CH2NR'R" ; where (i) R is selected from the group consisting of : phenyl and substituted phenyl; tolyl and substituted tolyl; benzyl and substituted benzyl; alkoxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; hydroxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; acyloxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; a linear or branched alkenyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms; linear or branched alkyl and fluoroalkyl groups having the formula CnHXFy, where n is an integer from 1 to 10, x and y are integers from 0 to 2n+1, and the sum of x and y is 2n+l ; and a multifunctional moiety having the structure II or III: where R12 and R13 are the same or different and are independently selected from the group consisting of : a substituted or unsubstituted, saturated or unsaturated fatty acid chain; acrylic and substituted acrylic; a linear or branched alkyl or alkenyl carboxylic acid moiety having 2 to 30 carbon atoms; and monoalkyl esters of maleic and fumaric acids, where alkyl group contains 1 to 4 carbon atoms;

(ii) R', and R"are the same or different and are independently selected from the group consisting of : hydrogen; phenyl and substituted phenyl; tolyl and substituted tolyl; benzyl and substituted benzyl; alkoxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; hydroxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; acyloxyalkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms; a linear or branched alkenyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms; and linear or branched alkyl and fluoroalkyl groups having the formula CnHXFy, where n is an integer from 1 to 10, x and y are integers from 0 to 2n+1, and the sum of x and y is 2n+1 ; (c) Rg, RIO, and Ru are the same or different and are independently selected from the group consisting of : hydrogen; a carboxylate of the formula-COOR, where R is alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, or phenyl and substituted phenyl; phenyl and substituted phenyl; tolyl and substituted tolyl; benzyl and substituted benzyl; a linear or branched alkenyl group having 2 to 10 carbon atoms; and linear or branched alkyl and fluoroalkyl groups having the formula CnHXFy, where n is an integer from 1 to 10, x and y are integers from 0 to 2n+1, and the sum of x and y is 2n+1 ; and (d) a, a', b, b', and c, are integers, where a and a'have a value of from 0 to 10, b and b'have a value of 0 to 2 with the proviso that sum of b and b'is 1 or 2, and c has a value of from 0 to 20.

These monomers are described in greater detail in U. S. Patent No. 6,203, 720 B1, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In another specific embodiment of this invention, the internally plasticizing and crosslinkable monomer is derived (or obtained) from a non-drying oil having a substituted ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid ester of a long-chain olefmic ester of the formula IV.

Where R and R9 are as defined above, however, preferably R is either methyl or multifunctional <BR> <BR> moieties II or III. Preferred Rg is either hydrogen or methyl, i. e. , ethylenically unsaturated ester in this preferred embodiment is either acrylic or methacrylic ester. a, a', b, b', and c, in structure IV are integers, where a and a'have a value of from 2 to 4, b and b'have a value of 0 to 2 with the proviso that sum of b and b'is 1 or 2, and c has a value of 5 to 12.

The preferred copolymerizable monomers in this embodiment may be selected from the group consisting of vinyl acetate, vinyl chloride, vinyl ester of versatic acid, acrylonitrile, acrylamide, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, 2- hydroxyethyl methacrylate, glycidyl acrylate, glycidyl methacrylate, acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylate, methyl acrylate, and styrene.

The starting materials for the preferred long-chain olefinic ester IV in the above embodiment are derived (or obtained) from either castor oil or lesquerella oil, or the transesterified product obtained from either castor oil or lesquerella oil with methanol. Thus, the long-chain olefinic ester IV may be formed from appropriate starting material by subjecting it to suitable esterification reaction as described below.

Thus, the preferred starting material for the formation of IV may be selected from the group consisting of castor oil, lesquerella oil, transesterified product of castor oil with methanol, transesterified product of lesquerella oil with methanol, methyl ricinoleate, and methyl lesquerolate. Accordingly, the products formed from these starting materials which are the preferred long-chain olefinic esters IV are acrylate ester of methyl ricinoleate, methacrylate ester of methyl ricinoleate, acrylate ester of methyl lesquerolate, and methacrylate ester of methyl lesquerolate.

Copolymerizable monomers that contain at least one ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable group referred to hereinabove are any of the well known monomers which contain at least one ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable group per molecule and are copolymerizable with the other monomers. Examples of such monomers are acrylic and methacrylic esters <BR> <BR> wherein the ester group contains 1 to about 20 carbon atoms, e. g. , methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, isopropyl acrylate, isopropyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, butyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, decyl acrylate, lauryl methacrylate, benzyl acrylate, and the like. Esters of various other unsaturated acids include butyl fumarate, octyl fumarate, butyl maleate, and octyl maleate.

Other acrylic or methacrylic esters which can be used in this invention are multifunctional acrylates or methacrylates, and includes, for example, propylene glycol monoester of acrylic acid, propylene glycol monoester of methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol monoester of acrylic acid, ethylene glycol monoester of methacrylic acid, glycidyl acrylate, glycidyl methacrylate, hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and hexanediol diacrylate.

Other copolymerizable monomers are vinyl aromatic monomers, such as styrene, para- acetoxystyrene, vinyl toluene, alpha methyl styrene, vinyl pyridine and the like as well as nitriles <BR> <BR> and amides, e. g. , acrylonitrile and acrylamide. Other olefinic monomers such as ethylene, propylene, and butadiene are also suitable comonomers for this invention.

Additional copolymerizable monomers that can be used in this invention are the <BR> <BR> derivatives of the hypothetical vinyl alcohol, i. e. , aliphatic vinyl esters such as vinyl formate, vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl butyrate, vinyl heptanoate, vinyl pelargonate, vinyl 3,6- dioxaheptanoate, vinyl 3,6, 9-trioxaundecanoate, the vinyl ester of 5-Ci2 saturated, teriary, branched carboxylic acids, vinyl esters of neo acids and the like. Other vinyl monomers such as vinyl chloride, vinyl sulfonate, vinyl silanes, and vinylidene chloride are also suitable comonomers.

Vinyl silane monomers that can be used in the copolymer of the present invention include vinyltriisopropoxysilane, gamma-methacryloxypropyltriisopropoxysilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane, gamma-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, and vinyltrimethoxysilane.

As mentioned hereinabove, the compositions of this invention can be used to form solvent-free coatings for fabrics and textiles. Fabrics or textiles coated with the compositions of this invention are more wrinkle proof, soil and water resistant, and wear resistant.

The fabric treatment method can include spray, dip, rollcoat, or any other coating process for fabric or textiles.

This invention is further illustrated by the following examples which are provided for illustration purposes and in no way limit the scope of the present invention.

Example 1 A typical formula for the waterborne vinyl copolymer is as follows: Component Weight percent Butyl acrylate 37 methyl methacrylate 35 hydroxy ethylacrylate 5 vinyltriisopropoxysilane 10 castor oil macromonomer 10 CAM-II (3. 1) 1 methacrylic acid 3 Total 100 This copolymer is dispersed in an aqueous solution and is applied to fabrics and other textiles. Additional fabric treatments such as urea formaldehyde resin, melamine formaldehyde resin, benzoguanamine formaldehyde resin, and their methoxy derivatives can also be included in the solution.

1 CAM-II (3.1) can be formed by charging castor oil (250gm), acrylic acid (60gm), cyclohexane (75gm), and hydroquinone (0.29gm) to a 500 cc round bottom flask equipped with an electric stirrer and Dean-Stark trap. Sulfuric acid (7. 5gm) is added dropwise to the flask and the mixture is reflexed for 5 hours at 98°C.