MXPA00000293A - Highly plasticized pvc ball - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for the fabrication of a ball by roto-moulding, decorated on the external surface in its 360º, characterized for applying to its external surface a varnish formulation compatible with the material of the body of said ball, wherein said varnish is a formulation that essentially consists of a water base polyurethane, a leveling agent, an anti-foaming and a cross-linking agent, and wherein said varnish layer prevents the appearance of exudation and tack on the external surface of the ball, and guarantees the adequate maintenance of the decoration of the external surface of the ball, even if it is bounced against abrasive and rugged surfaces, obtaining therefore an inflatable article or ball that looks nice and which is inflatable without the need of mechanic means.

Description

HIGHLY PLASTIFIED PVC BALL INVENTOR: ALMA MILANES DÍAZ, Mexican citizen, with address at Calzada Independencia Norte No. 779, Interior 2, ZIP Code 44280, Guadalajara, Jal., México CAUSAHABIENTE: GRUPO INDUSTRIAL SALVER, S.A. DE C.V., a Mexican company, with address at Calle 2, 2412-A, Industrial Zone, Postal Code 44940, Guadalajara, Jal., Mexico SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION The invention object of this application is related both to a process for the manufacture by rotomolding an inflatable article, particularly a ball, and to the composition of a varnish formulation applicable to the surface of said inflatable article, in order to obtain a article with a permanent impression, difficult to deteriorate by the use of it. The inflatable item or the ball object of this application is characterized, among other things, by being configured as an article that can be inflated without the aid of a compressor or an inflation pump, which allows its marketing in a deflated manner, characteristic last that added to the finish of its surface make of said article a highly attractive product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of balls are known that differ from each other, deriving their differences both by their manufacturing process and by the formulation used for the manufacture of the body of the same, including among such differences the surface characteristics of both its printing and its finish superficial.

As antecedent to the product that concerns us, reference is made to Mexican Patent 163049, which protected a procedure for the manufacture of a ball of foamed polyvinyl chloride as well as the ball itself, whose essential characteristics in regard to the procedure derived from the fact that the foaming of the corresponding ingredient was carried out as part of the rotomolding process, thus achieving that the ball body had a set of cells uniformly distributed therein, which resulted in a low weight ball that could be inflated with the mouth.

The article mentioned above and derived from its physical characteristics was particularly intended for use by infants, that is, said article was designed for light, non-aggressive use, however, and in order to make said product attractive for users, it has been normal practice the printing of its surface with landscapes, drawings of various kinds, children's characters, etc., however, this article presents a disadvantage derived from the fact that it is difficult to maintain an adequate print quality on its surface for a reasonably long time, since that in its use some of the cells caused by the foaming of the plastisol with which said balls are made come to open, thus deteriorating the quality of the printing on its surface, thus ceasing to be, after a relatively short use , a striking article.

The invention object of the present application, also results in the manufacture of a PVC ball, made by a rotational molding process, printed at 360 °, inflatable without the aid of specialized equipment and which can also be marketed deflated, since a of its characteristics is that it can inflate precisely with the mouth, but with the great advantage that derived from its surface treatment after making the corresponding impression, the constant use of it and for long periods does not result in the deterioration of said impression .

As mentioned previously, the ball or inflatable article of the prior art mentioned above, the deterioration of its surface impression is derived to the opening of the surface cells, since the body of the ball is precisely made of a foamed PVC.

There are also inflatable items or balls made from a PVC laminate, from which sections of said laminate are smooth in the form of segments which, once their edges are joined to each other, form a ball, said segments being joined to each other by a high frequency process. The high frequency process, even when it constitutes an antecedent in the ball manufacturing process and the article thus obtained, the ball of the invention is obtained by a rotomolding process, from which it is inferred that the aforementioned procedure does not constitute an antecedent opposable to the invention object of this application.

From the foregoing, it can be inferred that there are various formulations for the manufacture of inflatable articles or balls up to now, and that the manufacture of an inflatable article that, even when subjected to rigorous use tests, lasts in good condition has been highly desirable so far. the printing of its external surface and, furthermore, achieving the manufacture of a ball of the highest quality with a plastisol formulation whose main problem lies in the fact that the printing carried out on the article made with said plastisol or PVC formulation is deteriorates by the phenomenon known as "exudate", obtaining even with the use of said formulation an inflatable product or ball on the outer surface of which there remains a maximum quality impression even after the use of said article for a sufficiently long time, also eliminating the sensation to the touch of stickiness that the articles that are manufactured with d icha formulation of PVC or plastisol used.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION The main objective of the invention is the manufacture of an inflatable article or ball whose outer surface has been printed, in such a way that said impression lasts for a prolonged period of time, despite the aggressive use thereof, also eliminating the sensation of stickiness of its surface.

Another object of the invention is the manufacture of an inflatable article or ball, produced by a rotomolding method and using a PVC or plastisol formulation which, due to its physical properties, has been rejected in the manufacture of such articles, because said formulation presents "the phenomenon of exudate".

It is yet another object of the invention the manufacture of an inflatable article or ball whose outer surface may be entirely printed, without the quality of such printing deteriorating due to the aggressive use of said article, even when it is subjected to a friction action against abrasive surfaces.

It is a further object of the invention to manufacture an inflatable article or ball whose physical characteristics allow it to be inflated without the aid of an inflation or compressor pump.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a varnish formulation applicable to the external surface of said inflatable article, with the purpose of avoiding the phenomenon of exudate and enlarging the time in which said article continues to preserve the quality of its printing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention object of this application which, even though it involves a rotomolding process for the manufacture of balls, which could be said to be already known, it is interesting to describe said procedure in a general form, in order to fully understand the manufacturing process of the ball that occupies us, as well as the advantages or characteristics that are imparted to the article resulting from said procedure, which can be inflated without the aid of the traditional devices used for the inflation of balls.

As a preliminary step to the rotomolding stage, it is necessary to formulate the plastisol used for the integration of the ball body, wherein said formulation consists essentially of mixing 95 to 100 parts of a PVC resin emulsion, adding 150 to 170 parts of a primary plasticizer and 1 to 2 parts of a thermal stabilizer. It is noted that both the primary plasticizer and the thermal stabilizer are ingredients widely known in the art of manufacturing inflatable articles, and that therefore no detail is entered into into the chemical or physical nature of such ingredients.

Once the plastisol is made, it is poured into the corresponding molds made of an alloy of steel and aluminum, constituted by two hemispheres, inserting in one of them and through the respective opening the means of inflation of the ball, of course, the amount of plastisol poured into the molds must be such an amount that corresponds to the previously established weight that the inflatable article will have and according to its size; the molds are closed and these movements of simultaneous rotation and translation are imparted to them and they are introduced in a chamber at a temperature of approximately 210 to 232 ° C, at an atmospheric pressure and for a time of approximately 3 to 5 minutes, after the which the molds are subjected to cooling for a time of approximately 18 to 20 seconds, so that they reach a temperature of 75 ° C, after which the balls are extracted from the molds and cooled, they are inflated taking care that the air pressure is not too high in order to avoid its deformation, leaving them to rest for a suitable time in order that the balls thus manufactured keep substantially the dimensions corresponding to the size or diameter of the molds used.

The inflatable products or balls thus manufactured will be subsequently subjected to a stage of stamping or decoration of its external surface, stamping or decoration that is expected to cover the 360 ° of the article in question.

The product manufactured according to the aforementioned stages, would have the problem of deterioration of its stamping or decoration for the still moderate use of said article, and also present the phenomenon of "exudate" on its external surface, the latter problems that are resolved in accordance with the teachings of the invention by applying a varnish to its external surface, the formulation of which constitutes in itself an essential part of the invention in question.

As regards the aforementioned varnish formulation, it should be mentioned that it is essentially made up of water-based polyurethane; leveling agents: defoamers, and, a crosslinker, in quantities that are dosed in the following manner: said water-based polyurethane constitutes 92 to 97% of the total formulation of said varnish; the leveling agent is provided in a range of 1 to 3%; the antifoam used varies in an amount of approximately 0.5 to 2%; and, the crosslinker constitutes, from the total formulation of the varnish used, 1 to 3%.

The water-based polyurethane is selected from the group of products known in the industry such as Sancure 12683, Sancure 835 and / or Sancure 899; the leveling agents are selected from the group consisting of Surfinol 104, Surfinol 420, Dynol 604 and / or Aerosol OTS; the defoamers according to the teachings of the invention usable in the lacquer formulation are selected from the group consisting of Surfinol DF110L, Foammaster VL and Dehydran 1293; and finally the crosslinker that contributes to the objectives of the invention is selected from Xama 2 and Xama 7.

The process for the formulation of the varnish consists essentially in mixing the ingredients mentioned in the preceding paragraph, in their respective quantities, by stirring the mixture with a marine propeller type stirrer for a period of time of approximately 5 to 15 minutes, under atmospheric conditions.

Once the balls manufactured by means of the aforementioned rotomolding process have been decorated, they are varnished with the aforementioned varnish formulation, subsequently introducing said balls, thus varnished, to a tunnel whose temperature fluctuates between approximately 65 to 95 ° C. , after which the product is finished and ready to be launched on the market.

As can be derived from what has been described here, it must be pointed out that the novelty of the ball manufacturing process lies essentially in the application stage of the varnish formula whose composition is essential for the achievement of the objectives indicated above and that the finished product, that is to say the ball, presents as an essential and distinctive feature the layer of varnish provided on its previously decorated surface, which gives the product a characteristic of permanence for a long time, in good condition, of the decoration of its surface external and which also avoids the phenomenon of exudation or stickiness on its external surface, negative characteristic of the products or balls of the prior art manufactured with the PVC formulation mentioned above.

From the tests to which the product obtained in the aforementioned manner was subjected, it was clearly noticeable that the decoration of the external surface of the balls still persisted in a highly striking manner even in spite of having been subjected to a sustained bounce on abrasive surfaces or rough and without presenting to the touch at any time the phenomenon of "exudate" that gives rise to the stickiness characteristic of those balls manufactured with a formulation of the plastisol as previously indicated, which guarantees to a large extent the manufacture of a product of high quality, that even though it has been manufactured by a rotomolding process, basically traditional, results in a product with competitive advantages over similar products From what has been described above, it is clearly inferred that each and every one of the initially proposed objectives has been amply fulfilled, and that it is obvious that changes can be conceived both in the formulation of the varnish and in the manufacturing process of the article of the invention , it is intended that said changes form part of the protection that is requested as long as said changes are considered within the scope or scope of the appended claims.

Claims (7)

1. - A procedure for the manufacture of a ball by rotomolding, decorated on its external surface in its 360 °, characterized in that said process because it includes the step of applying on its external surface, a varnish formulation compatible with the PVC formulation of the body of the ball, wherein said varnish is constituted by water-based polyurethane, a leveling agent, an antifoam and a crosslinker in amounts ranging from 92 to 97%, 1 to 3%, 0.5 to 2% and 1 to 3%, respectively.

2. - A method for the manufacture of a ball by rotomolding according to claim 1, wherein after the application of the varnish to the surface of the ball, it is subjected to a temperature ranging between about 65 to 95 ° C.

3. A ball made by rotomolding, characterized in that it presents on its external surface a layer of varnish whose formulation consists essentially of: water-based polyurethane, a leveling agent, an antifoam and a crosslinker whose proportions are between 92 to 97%, to 3%, 0.5 to 2% and 1 to 3% respectively.

4. A ball manufactured by rotational molding according to claim 3, further characterized in that said ball can be inflated with the mouth.

5. A ball manufactured by rotational molding according to any of claims 3 to 4, further characterized in that the decoration of the external surface thereof is permanent even when said ball is subjected to a rebound against abrasive or rough surfaces, without that the phenomenon of exudation and / or stickiness is present on its external surface.

6. A varnish formulation for application on the surface of inflatable articles, characterized in that said formulation is formed by: water-based polyurethane in an amount of 92 to 97%; leveling agents in an amount of about 1 to 3%; an antifoam in an amount of about 0.5 to 2%; and, a crosslinker in an amount of about 1 to 3%, based on the total of said formulation. 7 - A varnish formulation for application on the surface of inflatable articles according to claim 6, further characterized in that the water-based polyurethane is selected from the group consisting of Sancure 12683, Sancure 835 and Sancure 899; the leveling agent is selected from the group consisting of Surfynol 104, Surfynol 420, Dynol 604 and Aerosol OTS; the antifoam is selected from the group consisting of Surfynol DF110L, Foammaster VL and Dehydran 1293; and, the crosslinker is selected from the group consisting of Xama 2 and Xama 7.