Patent ID: 7226523

Claim:
An automotive windshield replacement method which comprises: a) applying an adhesive to at least one of an automotive windshield substrate and an automobile body substrate, said adhesive comprising at least one urethane prepolymer formed from reaction materials comprising: i) one or more polyisocyanates selected from the group consisting of isophorone diisocyanate, 4,4′-diphenylmethanediisocyanate, 2,4-toluene-diisocyanate, naphthylene-1,5-diisocyanate, 1,3- and 1,4-phenylenediisocyanate, hexamethylene-diisocyanate, 1,12-dodecanediisocyanate, cyclobutane-1,3-diisocyanate, cyclohexane 1,3- and -1,4-diisocyanate, 1-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanatemethylcyclohexane, 2,4- and 2,6-hexahydrotoluene-diisocyanate, hexahydro-1,3- and -1,4-phenyldiisocyanate, perhydro-2,4′ and -4,4′diphenylmethane-diisocyanate; ii) propylene oxide-end-capped triol having a weight average molecular weight of from about 150 to about 250; and iii) one or more thermoplastic polyesterpolyols selected from the group consisting of condensation products of a multivalent alcohol selected from the group consisting of ethyleneglycol, propyleneglycol-1,2, propyleneglycol-1,3, butylene-glycol-1,4, and -2,3, hexanediol-1,6, octanediol-1,8, trimethylolpropane, neopentylglycol, glycerol, pentaerythritol, quinitol, mannitol, sorbitol, methylglycoside, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycols, dipropylene glycol and polypropylene glycols, with multivalent carboxylic acids and/or carboxylic acid anhydrides and/or carboxylic esters selected from the group consisting of succinic acid, adipic acid, octanedioic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, phthalic acid, isophthalic acid, trimellitic acid, phthalic acid anhydride, tetrahydrophthalic acid anhydride, tetrachlorophthalic acid anhydride, glutaric acid anhydride, maleic acid anhydride, fumaric acid, terephthalic acid-dimethylester and terephthalic acid-bis-glycol-ester, each having terminal, primary and/or secondary OH-groups; wherein the urethane prepolymer has a free isocyanate content of from about 0.6 to about 3.5% by weight, based on the weight of the polyurethane, b) contacting the substrates together, within the working time of the adhesive, along at least a portion of the substrate(s) to which the adhesive has been applied; and c) allowing the adhesive to bond the substrates together, wherein the adhesive (1) has a tensile strength of 1.0 MPa or greater when measured at a strain rate of 1 meter/second, (2) has a compression force of less than about 0.18 MPa when measured at 5° C., (3) provides a safe drive-away time according to U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards of one hour or less from application of the adhesive to the windshield and/or automobile body, and (4) provides a working time of about 6 to about 15 minutes.