Patent Publication Number: US-10767031-B2

Title: Cottonseed oil based liquid color composition and plastics coloring method using the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION 
     This patent application is a 35 USC 120 continuation-in-part application, claiming the benefit of the priority of parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/432,495, now published as United States patent publication US 2017-0152366 A1, filed 14 Feb. 2017 in the name of Stephen B. Maguire and entitled “Cottonseed Oil Based Liquid Color Composition and Plastics Coloring Method Using the Same.” This patent application, through the &#39;495 application and the parent of the &#39;495 application, namely U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/333,579 filed 17 Jul. 2014 in the name of Stephen B. Maguire and entitled “Liquid Color Composition with Cottonseed Oil Base,” published 22 Jan. 2015 as United Stated patent publication 2015/0020713 A1, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,708,462 on 18 Jul. 2017, claims the benefit of the priority under 35 USC 120 of the &#39;579 application (now the &#39;462 patent) and the benefit of the priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/847,119 entitled “Liquid Color Composition with Cottonseed Oil Base” filed 17 Jul. 2013 in the name of Stephen B. Maguire. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERAL FINANCING RESPECTING THIS INVENTION 
     Not applicable. 
     INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     Applicant hereby incorporates by reference the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,468,904 A and 3,488,204 A as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,921,132 A, 7,201,290 B2, 8,042,578 B2, 8,627,852 B2, 8,757,217 B2, 9,188,118 B2, and 9,708,462 B2 and United States patent publications U.S. 2002/0122103 A1, 2002/0189667 A1, 2003/0071868 A1, U.S. 2005/0126638 A1, U.S. 2010/0322644 A1, U.S. 2010/0322644 A1, U.S. 2016/0040661A1 and U.S. 2017/0152366 A1. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention involves use of cottonseed oil as the primary ingredient or a secondary ingredient of a liquid carrier when manufacturing liquid color for the plastics industry and when fabricating plastic articles of a desired color. 
     Description of the Prior Art 
     Plastic products are most often colored. 
     Color pigments begin in powder form. Because powder is messy and difficult to handle, it is almost always pre-dispersed into some “carrier” that is easier to handle. 
     Typically color pigment is pre-dispersed into pellets of plastic resin, with the pellets containing typically 50% pigment, by weight. In the United States, these pellets are referred to as “concentrate” and in Europe as “masterbatch”. 
     As used herein the term “process machine” embraces extruders and injection molding presses. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A better method to make the pigment easier to handle is to pre-disperse the pigment into a liquid carrier. This is one of the methods to which this invention is directed. 
     The liquid carrier for the pigment must be compatible with the plastic resin to which it is to be added. Different resins may require different carriers. When selecting a liquid carrier, certain characteristics are desirable while other characteristics must be avoided. 
     Surfactants, or “soap-like” carriers, can cause “slip” during the molding or extrusion process, which must be avoided. 
     The liquid carrier must not break down at the high temperatures required in the molding or extrusion process that melt the plastic resin. 
     Carrier liquid that imparts an odor to the final part cannot be used when molding or extruding products to be used to contain food, such as plastic water bottles. 
     Cost and availability of the carrier liquid are always factors. 
     Heretofore, no single liquid carrier solves all these problems. However this invention is based on the discovery that cottonseed oil is superior to other carriers in meeting a number of these requirements and solving many of the aforementioned problems. Cottonseed oil is not known to have previously been used as a carrier for pigment in making liquid color for use in plastics molding or extrusion. 
     Cottonseed oil has a relatively high flash point, and a high smoke point, well above 400° F. Most other liquid carriers smoke below 400° F. 
     Cottonseed oil has very little odor. Cottonseed oil is known to be used as a cooking oil that does not impart flavor to the food being cooked. This is a benefit when molding or extruding plastic products used for food packaging. 
     Cottonseed oil is high in antioxidants, providing an advantage in preserving products packaged in plastic that has been molded or extruded using a cottonseed oil carrier for the liquid color providing the color for the product packaging. 
     Cottonseed oil is high in vitamin “E”, an antioxidant, which is often required as an additive when using other carriers. 
     Cottonseed oil is available in bulk qualities, and is competitively priced. 
     In one of its aspects, this invention provides a method of fabricating a plastic article of pre-selected color where the method includes preparing a blend, where the blend preferably comprises solid plastic resin pellets and liquid color of a hue and in an amount to impart the pre-selected color to the article to be fabricated, where the liquid color preferably includes cottonseed oil, and thereafter forming the blend preferably under pressure and heat into the plastic article. The method may preferably be accomplished either by injection molding or by extrusion. In practice of this aspect of the invention, the liquid color preferably comprises at least one dispersion of a single pigment in cottonseed oil. Even more preferably, the liquid color may comprise a plurality of dispersions, each of a single pigment in cottonseed oil. 
     The method may further include the liquid color preferably comprising at least one additive to facilitate fabrication of the plastic article, where the additive may be selected from the group preferably comprising lubricants, blowing agents, light stabilizers, nucleating agents, antistatic agents and antioxidants. 
     In another aspect of this invention, the invention preferably provides a liquid colorant for use in molding or extruding plastic products where the colorant preferably comprises pigment dispersed in cottonseed oil. In a more limited aspect of the invention, the invention provides a liquid colorant for use in molding or extruding plastic products consisting of only pigment and cottonseed oil. 
     In still another aspect, this invention provides a liquid colorant for use in molding or extruding plastic products where the colorant preferably includes pigment, cottonseed oil, and at least one additive, with the additive desirably being preferably dispersed together with the pigment in the cottonseed oil. In this aspect of the invention, the additive may preferably be one or more lubricants, blowing agents, light stabilizers, nucleating agents, antistatic agents, and/or antioxidants. 
     In one preferred practice of this invention, a single pigment dispersion is prepared initially by dispersing pigment of a desired color in cottonseed oil to create a liquid blend. The pigment is preferably initially introduced into a vat of cottonseed oil, which acts as a liquid carrier. The pigment is preferably stirred into the cottonseed oil. The pigment is preferably added to the cottonseed oil in the known correct proportion. Typically the batch of pigment added to the cottonseed oil is from 50% to 70% by weight of the resulting pigment-cottonseed oil blend. That is the preferred range; the range can be as low as 25% by weight of pigment, relative to the weight of the resulting pigment-cottonseed oil blend, and can range up to 80% by weight of pigment to the weight of the resulting pigment-cottonseed oil blend. 
     In general, it is desirable to put as much pigment into the cottonseed oil as is possible. 
     Next the dispersion of the pigment in the cottonseed oil is preferably milled by passing the liquid through a mill serving to break down any agglomerates of pigment that may remain in the single pigment dispersion, thereby reducing particle size of the pigment to as small a size as possible. The resulting particles of pigment powder are very, very small, producing the fullest, richest color. Milling the single pigment dispersion allows use of less pigment to perform the particular coloring function, thereby reducing costs. The milling may be done using a roller mill or a sand mill. Both roller mills and sand mills are common industrial mills. 
     In the practice of the invention, it is desirable at times to produce a color or hue that is not one of the colors of the basic pigment. In such case, two or more single pigment dispersions, each dispersion being of a single pigment in cottonseed oil, are prepared. The two or more single pigment dispersions are then blended together to produce a resulting dispersion exhibiting the correct hue or shade of color desired. The resulting dispersion is then milled. This two-step process allows milling of a larger quantity of pigment in the resulting dispersion at one time so that clean up between milling different colors is less frequent and the expense of milling of each of the single pigment dispersions separately is avoided. 
     Use of cottonseed oil as the carrier for the single pigment dispersion or the blend of single pigment dispersions results in liquid color that is compatible with nearly all resins that are currently used in plastic molding and extrusion. The cottonseed oil-based pigment dispersion does not leach out of any finished product, nor does the cottonseed oil by itself leach out of any finished product. The cottonseed oil has been found to hold the pigment powder particles in suspension very well and accepts a high loading of pigment. 
     Pigment-cottonseed oil liquid colorant in accordance with the invention may be used to color most commercially used thermoplastics, whether processed by means of extrusion, injection molding or blow molding, as well as thermoplastics that are processed using less conventional processes. When properly formulated, the pigment-cottonseed oil liquid color according to the invention is not just compatible with a base resin, but frequently improves the fabricating process and/or the performance properties of the fabricated plastic parts. 
     The range of thermopolymers with which the cottonseed oil colorants and single pigment cottonseed oil dispersions of the invention may be used is quite broad, and includes acrylic, nylon, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonate, polybenzimidazole, polyether sulfone, polyetherether keytone, polyethermide, polyethylene, polypropylene, polythenylene sulfide, polyphenylene oxide, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polytetrafluoroethylene, as well as others. 
     Liquid color according to this invention may be formulated in various ways to provide various advantageous product characteristics. For example, commodity colorants may be formulated in accordance with the invention to maximize savings without sacrificing processability and cosmetic appearance of the final plastic parts. Such commodity colorants offer the processor economies of color and are suitable for mass manufacture of volume parts such as housewares, disposable goods, toys and the like. 
     The invention also has applicability to providing liquid color for use in fabricating articles designed for outdoor use, specifically for lawn and garden applications, for the toy and recreation industries. The liquid color in accordance with the invention may be formulated to meet very stringent requirements of heat stability and color fastness of the resulting fabricated color parts. Such parts may be used in applications requiring extended exposure to sunlight and/or unusually high temperatures during the fabrication process. 
     The liquid color according to the invention may be produced to provide special effects such as fluorescent, phosphorescent, pearlescent, and non-dispersing finishes, where such unconventional appearances are dictated by the design of the parts. 
     Liquid color in accordance with the invention is typically from 20% to 40% cheaper than use of pelletized color concentrate. 
     In another method for practicing the invention, one may make liquid color for use in the course of molding or extruding plastic parts by initially providing a collection of pigments. Next, one selects a formula for the pigment(s) and liquid carrier that will provide liquid color in a desired hue for coloring plastic parts being molded or extruded. Selecting the formula may be a “trial and error” process, in that slight changes in hue as required by a customer require changes in the pigment constituency, thereby requiring experimentation as to the exact formula of pigments required to produce the required hue. 
     Once the formula has been established for the amount of pigment(s) and the amount of liquid carrier, the pigments are selected in amounts required in the formula by the collection of pigments. A liquid carrier of cottonseed oil is provided in an amount according to the formula and the selected pigments are then blended, preferably but not necessarily all at once, into the cottonseed oil to produce a required liquid color. When this approach is used, the finished liquid color is generally not milled, as the mill would have to be cleaned after every color blend. However, such liquid color can be milled if necessary. This method of the invention avoids the two-step process of making the single pigment dispersions, milling single pigment dispersions individually, and then combining the single pigment dispersions to produce the required liquid color. 
     The processing of thermoplastic resin and/or the performance of the fabricated plastic parts can often be greatly enhanced through use of additives. Many commercial resins already include additives. However, significant benefits can be derived from further modification of such compounds in many cases. Moreover, use of additives affords a plastics processor the opportunity to tailor the plastic resin material to a specific application. 
     Processing aid-type additives improve productivity of the molding or extrusion machinery through reduction of internal friction; these additives are referred to as “lubricants.” Other processing aid-type additives change polymer morphology and are referred to as “nucleating agents.” Still other processing aid-type additives remove excessive heat and are in the form of endothermic blowing agents. Yet additional processing aid-type additives suppress thermal decomposition during processing and are generally referred to as “antioxidants.” 
     Other additives, such as blowing agents and optical brighteners, enhance aesthetics and/or performance properties of the final parts by, for example, providing antistatic properties or ultraviolent light stabilization characteristics to the product. 
     Modification of properties of thermopolymers through the addition of various chemical additives is economically preferable to the introduction of an entirely new resin. The most economical way to add these additives to the molding or extrusion process is through the use of liquid color, in accordance with this invention. 
     This invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the invention. The disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as being illustrative and not restrictive with the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. Suitable additives within the scope of the invention are discussed below: 
     Glide Slip Agents: Plastic processing often needs a slip agent to assist in polymer flow and provide internal and external slip characteristics. Friction characteristics, when processing polymers, requires slip/lubricants in order to improve cycle times, improve dispersion, assist mold release and improve assembly of molded parts. The amount of slip depends on the process and end use requirements. Consumer packaging requirements often need slip for the finished product, but the plastic processor may also need it to improve processing and plastic parts assembly. 
     Shield Liquid Light Stabilizer Agents: Liquid light stabilizers are effective in a broad range of plastics and can help achieve long-term sustainability goals as in the recycling of plastics, including products formulated with hindered amines (HALS) and UV absorbers. For certain applications, blends of these two products provide improved performance. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun needs the combination of HALS and antioxidants for long-term stability. Polymer photo-oxidation is a combined action of light and oxygen. The visible result of this action is deterioration of the appearance of the polymer as well as mechanical and chemical concerns. Additive products can protect against these conditions. UV absorbers protect the contents of plastics packaging from ultraviolet rays up to 390 nm. 
     Speed Nucleating Agents: Liquid nucleating agents improve the physical properties of semi-crystalline polyolefins. This results in fast crystallization rates, which allows for improved cycle times and better production capacity along with quality. When the clarifying agent is added to polypropylene, the size of crystalline structures of the polymer reduces to improve the stiffness and clarity. Additionally, when added to the process, the rate of crystal initiation is increased dramatically so the crystals become smaller in size thereby clarifying the polypropylene. These aspects of the invention meet the needs of a well-nucleated product by offering a combination of high crystalline temperature in the polymer with the most isotropic (uniform) shrinkage in the finished product. 
     Guard Antioxidant Agents: Heat is a necessary function for molding plastics. However, under higher than normal processing temperatures, it may be necessary to add an additional stabilizer to maintain the integrity of the polymer. Degradation of polymers, due to excessive heat, can have an effect on the process, product stability and screw barrel contamination. Another factor of concern is the increased use of PCR. Antioxidant additions to the combinations of virgin and PCR resins can provide the heat stability needed to maintain a healthy polymer. Solutions range from a single functional antioxidant, for processing with higher heat conditions, to multifunctional products that improve heat stability as well as long-term heat aging. 
     Foam Liquid Blowing Agents: For many years, foaming agents have been used to reduce the densities of molded and extruded thermoplastics. Today, this need is receiving more attention because of the desire to make plastics more sustainable. This can be accomplished by reducing the amount of plastic needed to make a finished product. By reducing the density, one reduces the amount of plastic used to make molded parts and extruded products, thereby reducing the carbon footprint. Liquid foaming agents can be metered precisely into the melt flow to achieve the desired level of density reduction and are produced without a heat history eliminating pre-decomposition concerns. The selection of endothermic, exothermic, or a combination of both is within the scope of the invention. Processing with liquid endothermic foaming agents also reduce energy required for the process. 
     Clean Antimicrobial Agents: These are inorganic silver based antimicrobials, which inhibit the growth of gram-positive/gram-negative bacteria, mold and yeast. Untreated plastic products run the risk of microbial growth causing unsightly discoloration, staining, unpleasant odors as well as deterioration and corrosion of manufactured products. 
     Gains Flow Modifiers: There are many situations in plastics processing where a slight change in resin dispersion and flow characteristics benefits the process as well as the product. Additives that, when metered at low letdowns, solve processing problems such as poor dispersion, black specks, easier flow properties, better mold release, improved surface characteristics, reduction in sheer stress along with heating, and an overall reduction in energy consumption. The raw materials used in practicing the invention have a history of performing well in plastics. 
     As discussed above and from the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that the principles and particularly the composition and methods disclosed herein can be used for applications other than those specifically mentioned. All such applications of the invention are intended to be covered by the appended claims unless expressly excluded therefrom. 
     As used in the claims below, “comprising” means “including” while “consisting of” means “having only”, and “consisting essentially of” means having the stated constituents plus trivial amounts of other reagents which do not materially affect the claimed invention or products embodying the same. 
     The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all changes which come within the range of equivalency of the claims are to be considered to be embraced within the scope of the claims. Additional objects, other advantages, and further novel features of the invention will become apparent from study of the appended claims as well as from study of the foregoing detailed discussion and description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as that study proceeds.