JP2006123326A - Manufacturing method of reclaimed material of thermoplastic elastomer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of reclaiming a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer in a short time and easily. <P>SOLUTION: The method produces a reclaimed material from thermoplastic elastomer moldings having thermosetting resin layers. It uses a twin-screw extruder having a screw 11 that has a material pulverizing section 11b and that is equipped in the extrusion exit side with a material melting section 11c. The crushed thermoplastic elastomer stuck with the thermosetting resin is put from a material charging inlet 13 of the twin-screw extruder, finely pulverized in the material pulverizing section 11b, then molten in the material melting section 11c, and extruded after the melting to produce the reclaimed material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a thermoplastic elastomer recycled material for producing a recycled material by regenerating a portion of a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer in a thermoplastic elastomer molded body partly or entirely formed of a thermoplastic elastomer. It is a manufacturing method.

Conventionally, thermoplastic elastomers, synthetic rubbers, synthetic resins, and the like have been recycled to protect the global environment.
In the regeneration of synthetic rubber products, they are pulverized, heated, desulfurized, and recycled (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, rubber is a thermosetting type that performs vulcanization, and recycling requires a complicated process, and the physical properties of the recycled material are not always sufficient.

Therefore, the thermoplastic elastomer is not a thermosetting type like rubber but has elasticity and flexibility like rubber, so that it is easy to recycle, and its use is increasing in recent years.
Such recycling of the thermoplastic elastomer is, for example, pulverizing the thermoplastic elastomer into a predetermined size and mixing it with a new material, or using the recycled material alone for extrusion molding or injection molding.

  However, for example, a thermoplastic elastomer is used in a part of the outer or glass run to be attached to an automobile door or the like, particularly in a portion requiring elasticity. The thermoplastic elastomer portion includes a portion in which flocking is made in order to improve the sliding property with the door glass. This flocking is produced by applying an adhesive (thermosetting resin) to the surface of the thermoplastic elastomer portion, flocking a flocking pile, etc., and then heating to cure the adhesive.

  Such a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer does not melt the thermosetting resin simply by pulverizing and heating and melting. In other words, since the thermosetting resin normally does not melt or decompose at the temperature at which the thermoplastic elastomer melts, even if the crushed thermoplastic elastomer is melted, the crushed thermosetting resin particles remain in it. Because the grains protrude on the surface of the product molded using recycled material, the surface condition of the product is not good, and the recycled material cannot be used or the part to be used is limited I was sorry.

  For this reason, it can be considered that the thermosetting resin layer part is peeled off from the surface of the thermoplastic elastomer product, but usually the thermosetting resin layer is firmly bonded to the thermoplastic elastomer and peeled off. It is difficult to do or takes a lot of work. Moreover, it is difficult to recycle the peeled thermosetting resin.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to use a thermoplastic elastomer molded body having a thermosetting resin layer by pulverizing it very finely. However, since the thermoplastic elastomer is elastic, For example, a special separate process is required, such as cooling and pulverizing to a low temperature where the thermoplastic elastomer freezes and loses elasticity. For this reason, the recycling has been costly and time consuming.
Japanese Patent No. 331048 JP-A-11-209480

  Therefore, there has been a demand for a method capable of easily and inexpensively reusing a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer in a short time.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention of claim 1 is a method for producing a recycled material from a molded body of a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer. A biaxial extruder using a biaxial extrusion molding machine having a screw provided with a material melting part on the extrusion outlet side of a thermoplastic elastomer molded body having a pulverized thermosetting resin layer. The material is injected from the material inlet, further finely pulverized in the material atomization part, and then at least the thermoplastic elastomer of the material is melted in the material melting part, and after melting, includes the finely pulverized material of the thermosetting resin layer. This is a method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer, in which a thermoplastic elastomer is extruded into a long shape to obtain a recycled material.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the method for producing a recycled material from a thermoplastic elastomer molded body having a thermosetting resin layer, the material is melted on the material atomization portion and on the extrusion outlet side behind the material atomization portion. Using a biaxial extrusion molding machine having a screw provided with a portion, a pulverized material of a molded body of a thermoplastic elastomer having a pulverized thermosetting resin layer is charged from a material inlet of the biaxial extrusion molding machine. . By putting a thermoplastic elastomer molded body having a pulverized thermosetting resin layer into a biaxial extruder, fine pulverization and melting can be simultaneously performed by a single biaxial extruder.

  Further pulverize in the material atomization part, and then melt at least the thermoplastic elastomer of the material in the material melting part. After melting, the thermoplastic elastomer is made into a long shape including the finely pulverized material of the thermosetting resin layer. Extruded into recycled material. For this reason, the thermoplastic elastomer can be finely pulverized at the material atomization portion by rotating the screw, and the thermosetting resin can be finely pulverized at the same time. Further, the finely pulverized product is melted in the material melting portion by the rotation of the screw, and the finely pulverized thermosetting resin can be uniformly dispersed in the molten thermoplastic elastomer. It can be used as a recycled material.

  The thermoplastic elastomer molded body having a thermosetting resin layer is provided with a thermosetting adhesive for flocking as a thermosetting resin layer on the surface of the molded body. A method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer.

  In the present invention of claim 2, the thermoplastic elastomer molded body having the thermosetting resin layer is provided with a thermosetting adhesive for flocking as a thermosetting resin layer on the surface of the molded body. It is a thermoplastic elastomer. According to the present invention, it is possible to finely pulverize the thermosetting adhesive, which is an adhesive firmly adhered to the surface of the thermoplastic elastomer, with a twin-screw extruder, and finely pulverize the flocked pile pile at the same time. And can be melted into the recycled material.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the temperature of the pulverized material of the thermoplastic elastomer molded body in the step of pulverizing in the material atomization part is lower than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer, and the material in the process of melting in the material melting part Is a method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer, which is set higher than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer.

  In this invention of Claim 3, the temperature of the grinding | pulverization material of the thermoplastic elastomer molded object in the process of pulverizing in a material atomization part is lower than the melting temperature of a thermoplastic elastomer, and the material in the process of melting in a material melting part The temperature is set higher than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer. For this reason, in the process of pulverizing in the material atomization part, the thermoplastic elastomer remains in a solid state without being melted, and can be pulverized together with the thermosetting resin by rotation of the screw. In the process of melting in the melting part, the thermosetting resin obtained by pulverizing the molten thermoplastic elastomer can be dispersed and kneaded. Therefore, the manufactured recycled material can be obtained as a finely pulverized thermosetting resin dispersed uniformly.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the thermoplastic elastomer molded article having a thermosetting resin layer, at least a seal lip portion is formed of a thermoplastic elastomer, and the seal lip portion is an adhesive made of a thermosetting resin for flocking. A method for producing a recycled material of thermoplastic elastomer which is an outer, inner or glass run for automobiles having a layer.

  According to the present invention of claim 4, the molded article of the thermoplastic elastomer having the thermosetting resin layer has at least a seal lip portion formed of the thermoplastic elastomer, and the seal lip portion is an adhesive made of a thermosetting resin for flocking. An automotive outer, inner or glass run having a layer. Since the outer, inner or glass run for automobiles slides on the door glass, it has a seal lip portion, and the surface of the seal lip portion is flocked to the portion that contacts the door glass so as to reduce frictional resistance. There are many things that have been done. Since the part which contacts this door glass needs a softness | flexibility, it is formed with the thermoplastic elastomer. An adhesive, which is a thermosetting resin, is applied to the surface of the thermoplastic elastomer to plant the hair. The portion in contact with the door glass can be recycled.

  The present invention of claim 5 is a method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer, wherein the recycled material extruded by a twin-screw extruder is cut into pellets.

  In the present invention of claim 5, since the recycled material extruded by the twin-screw extruder is cut into pellets, the recycled material can be easily mixed with other materials or the same new material. It can be easily used as it is for an extrusion molding machine or an injection molding machine.

  In the present invention, the pulverized material of the molded product of the thermoplastic elastomer can be further pulverized by the screw of the twin-screw extruder at the material atomization portion, and the thermosetting resin can be pulverized at the same time. Furthermore, the finely pulverized material is melted by the screw at the material melting portion, and the finely pulverized thermosetting resin can be uniformly dispersed in the melted thermoplastic elastomer. Available as

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present invention will be described by taking an automobile outer as an example, but other molded products can be used as long as they are thermoplastic elastomer molded bodies having a thermosetting resin layer.
FIG. 1 is a front view of a twin-screw extruder 10 used in the method for producing a recycled material according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the screw portion of the twin-screw extruder 10. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the material atomization portion 11b of the biaxial extruder. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of the outer used in the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the entire manufacturing process of the recycled material of the present invention.

First, the structure of the outer 60 which is the molded body of the thermoplastic elastomer regenerated in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
The outer 60 includes a mounting portion 60a attached to a flange (not shown) of the automobile door and a seal portion 60b that contacts and seals with a door glass (not shown). The mounting portion 60 a has a substantially U-shaped cross section including a vehicle outer side wall 61, a vehicle inner side wall 62, and an upper wall 63. The attachment portion 60a is formed from a hard resin such as polypropylene or polyethylene in order to be attached to the flange. The surfaces of the vehicle inner side wall 62 and the upper wall 63 are covered with a thin film made of a soft material such as a thermoplastic elastomer in order to improve the appearance.

  In the inside of the mounting portion 60 a having a substantially U-shaped cross section, an outer vehicle side holding lip 64 and a vehicle inner side holding lip 65 are extended obliquely from the inner surfaces of the vehicle outer side wall 61 and the vehicle inner side wall 62 toward the upper wall 63. The outer side holding lip 64 and the inner side holding lip 65 sandwich the flange so that the outer 60 can be attached to the automobile door. The vehicle outer side holding lip 64 and the vehicle inner side holding lip 65 may be formed of a thermoplastic elastomer in order to improve flexibility.

  A first seal lip 66 and a second seal lip 67 extend obliquely upward from the outer surface of the vehicle interior side wall 62. On the surfaces of the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67, flocked portions 68, 68 are provided, respectively. The flocked portion 68 is formed from an adhesive (thermosetting resin) applied to the surfaces of the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 and a flocked pile adhered by the adhesive. By this flocking portion 68, the sliding resistance of the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 can be reduced when the door glass moves up and down.

  Since the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 are in contact with and slide against the door glass, flexibility is required, and the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 are formed of a thermoplastic elastomer. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, both the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 may be formed of a thermoplastic elastomer, and only the first seal lip 66 is heated as shown in FIG. You may form with a plastic elastomer.

When the outer 60 is recycled, both the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 are cut in the case of FIG. 4, and only the first seal lip 66 is cut in the case of FIG. Use.
The mounting portion 60a is formed of a hard thermoplastic resin, for example, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., its surface and the holding lips 64, 65 are formed of an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer, and the seal lips 66, 67 are heated as described above. It has curable resin adhesive and flocking pile. For this reason, when the outer 60 is recycled, it is necessary to cut the implanted portion and regenerate it separately.
The mounting portion 60a can be used by mixing it with a new polypropylene material or the like because it is a homogeneous material if it is pulverized even if both a hard thermoplastic resin and a thermoplastic elastomer are present. However, when there is a thermosetting resin, it cannot be used as it is as described above, and another regeneration method is required as described below.

Next, a method for recycling the cut seal lip will be described.
As shown in FIG. 6, the recycled outer 60 is sent to the pulverizer 30. In the pulverizer 30, the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 of the outer 60 formed of a thermoplastic elastomer and having a thermosetting resin adhesive are first cut and separated by the flocking separator 32. When the second seal lip 67 is a hard thermoplastic resin, only the first seal lip 66 is cut and separated. The second seal lip 67 is processed together with the mounting portion 60a.
In addition, in the outer 60 to be regenerated, defective products, cutting waste, extrusion adjustment waste, etc. generated in the manufacturing process can be used.

  The parts of the first seal lip 66 and the second seal lip 67 that have been cut and separated are crushed into fine particles by the crusher body 31. The pulverized pulverized material is sent to the pulverized material storage tank 40 through the pulverized material transport pipe 34 by the pulverized material transport blower 33. The pulverized pulverized material is preferably pulverized to a diameter of about 10 mm or less for subsequent conveyance and regeneration processing of the biaxial extruder 10.

  The pulverized pulverized material sent to the pulverized material storage tank 40 is stored in the hopper 41. The particles stored in the hopper 41 are dried if necessary. Thereafter, the necessary amount of the pulverized material is appropriately sent to the pulverized material supply feeder 20 installed in the vicinity of the biaxial extruder 10 by a blower (not shown) through the pulverized material transport pipe 44.

The pulverized material supplied to the pulverized material supply feeder 20 is stored in a hopper 21 as shown in FIG. The pulverized material supply feeder 20 is installed on the feeder base 25 and is disposed in the vicinity of the biaxial extrusion molding machine 10.
An agitator 22 is provided inside the hopper 21, and the pulverized material is agitated so that the stored pulverized material is smoothly sent to the raw material feeder 24. The hopper 21 is provided with a raw material level monitoring sensor 23 so that the amount of pulverized material in the hopper 21 can be monitored. For this reason, the quantity of the pulverized material in the hopper 21 of the pulverized material supply feeder 20 can be kept constant.
The pulverized material in the hopper 21 is supplied to the hopper 12 of the biaxial extrusion molding machine 10 by a raw material feeder 24 provided at the lower part of the hopper 21.

The biaxial extruder 10 is provided with a cylinder 15, and two screws 11 are inserted into the cylinder 15. The two screws 11 are provided with spiral ridges and are arranged so that the ridges mesh with each other.
The biaxial extruder 10 is provided with a material inlet 13 for introducing a pulverized material into a cylinder 15 near the base of the screw 11 described later, and a hopper 12 is connected to the material inlet 13. The pulverized material supplied from the pulverized material supply feeder 20 is supplied into the cylinder 15 from the hopper 12 via the material input port 13.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the screw 11 is formed with a material atomizing portion 11b on the inlet side where the pulverized material is charged, and on the outlet side to be extruded behind the material atomizing portion 11b, the material melting portion is formed. 11c is formed. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the screw 11 at the material atomization portion 11b. As shown in FIG. 3, a part of the material atomization part 11b is provided so that the crest parts of the screw are engaged with each other.

The pulverized material supplied to the material atomizing portion 11b is obtained by pulverizing the seal lips 66 and 67 of the outer 60, and is a molded product of a thermoplastic elastomer to which a thermosetting resin as an adhesive and a flock pile are attached. The part is crushed. This pulverized material is further finely pulverized by the material atomization portion 11b.
In the material atomization part 11b, the pulverized material to be pulverized is set to have a diameter of 0.25 mm or less after pulverization.
At this time, the flocked pile formed of the bonded nylon or the like can be finely pulverized to the same extent.

Next, the finely pulverized pulverized material is sent to the material melting part 11c and melted. In the material melting part 11c, the thermoplastic elastomer is melted by the two screws 11, and the finely pulverized thermosetting resin can be uniformly dispersed in the melted thermoplastic elastomer. Available as
The melted material is extruded linearly from the extrusion outlet 14 of the twin-screw extruder 10.

A plurality of heaters 16 are attached to the outer surface of the cylinder 15 as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, nine heaters with numbers 1 to 9 are attached. The heater 16 corresponding to the material atomizing portion 11b is heated so that the temperature of the pulverized material (thermoplastic elastomer molded product) in the process of pulverizing the material atomizing portion 11b is lower than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer. Then, the heater 16 corresponding to the material melting portion 11c is heated so that the temperature of the pulverized material (thermoplastic elastomer molded body) in the process of melting in the material melting portion 11c is higher than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer. To do.
The plurality of heaters 16 are installed so that the temperature can be individually adjusted. Thereby, the temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer in the cylinder 15 can be controlled in detail.

  For this reason, in the process of pulverizing by the material atomization part 11b, the thermoplastic elastomer of the pulverized material can be pulverized together with the thermosetting resin without being melted. In the process of melting in the material melting portion 11c, the finely pulverized thermosetting resin can be uniformly dispersed and kneaded into the thermoplastic elastomer of the molten pulverized material. Therefore, the recycled material to be produced can be obtained by uniformly dispersing a finely pulverized thermosetting resin.

  The rotational speed of the screw 11 of the biaxial extruder 10 is rotated at a high speed in order to further pulverize the pulverized material. The rotational speed is preferably in the range of 400 to 800 RPM. Due to this high speed rotation, the thermoplastic elastomer and the thermosetting resin can be finely pulverized at the same time by a strong shearing force generated between the screw 11 and the screw 11.

As shown in FIG. 6, the recycled material extruded from the twin-screw extruder 10 is cooled in a water tank 17 and then finely cut by a pelletizer 18 to form a pellet. The pellets can then be dried and recycled.
Since it is formed into a pellet, the recycled material can be easily mixed with other materials or used alone in an extrusion molding machine or an injection molding machine.
The molded article using the recycled material of the present invention is smooth because the thermosetting resin is finely pulverized and uniformly dispersed, so that there is no unevenness on the surface.

It is a front view of the twin-screw extruder used for the method of manufacturing the recycled material of embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the screw part of the twin-screw extruder 10 used for the method of manufacturing the recycled material of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing in the material atomization part of the twin-screw extruder used for the method of manufacturing the recycled material of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the outer before reproduction | regeneration used for the method of manufacturing the reproduction | regeneration material of embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the other outer before reproduction | regeneration used for the method of manufacturing the reproduction | regeneration material of embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole manufacturing process of the recycled material of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Twin Screw Extruder 11 Screw 11b Material Atomization Part 11c Material Melting Part 15 Cylinder 16 Heater 60 Outer 66 First Seal Lip 67 Second Seal Lip

Claims (5)

In a method for producing a recycled material from a molded article of a thermoplastic elastomer having a thermosetting resin layer,
Using a twin screw extruder having a material atomizing part and a screw provided with a material melting part on the extrusion outlet side behind the material atomizing part,
The pulverized material of the molded body of the thermoplastic elastomer having the pulverized thermosetting resin layer is charged from the material inlet of the biaxial extrusion molding machine, and further pulverized in the material atomization section, and then the material At least the thermoplastic elastomer of this material is melted in the melting part, and after melting, the thermoplastic elastomer is extruded into a long shape including the finely pulverized material of the thermosetting resin layer, and used as a recycled material. A method for producing recycled materials.   2. The thermoplastic elastomer molded body having the thermosetting resin layer is provided with a thermosetting adhesive for flocking as the thermosetting resin layer on the surface of the molded body. A method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer.   The temperature of the pulverized material of the thermoplastic elastomer molded body in the step of pulverizing in the material atomization portion is lower than the melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer, and the temperature of the material in the step of melting in the material melting portion is The method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the method is set higher than a melting temperature of the thermoplastic elastomer.   The molded body of the thermoplastic elastomer having the thermosetting resin layer has at least a seal lip portion formed of the thermoplastic elastomer, and the seal lip portion has an adhesive layer made of a thermosetting resin for flocking, The method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is an inner or glass run.   The method for producing a recycled material of a thermoplastic elastomer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the recycled material extruded by the biaxial extruder is cut into pellets.

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