Laser weldable compositions, articles formed therefrom, and methods of manufacture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10456987-B2
Application number	US-201716096010-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2017
Priority date	Apr 28, 2016
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A laser weldable composition comprising a polyester component, 5 to 50 weight percent of a filler; and 10 to 30 wt. % of a poly(ester-carbonate) copolymer comprising carbonate units and ester units of the formula (I) wherein: T is a C 2-20 alkylene, a C 6-20 cycloalkylene, or a C 6-20 arylene; R 1 and J are each independently (a) a bisphenol A divalent group, and (b) a C 16 or higher divalent group (b1), (b2), or (b1) and (b2), wherein (b1) is a phthalimidine divalent group, and (b2) is a third divalent group, wherein the C 16 or higher divalent group (b1), (b2) or a combination of (b1) and (b2) is present in an amount of 40 mol % to 50 mol % based on the total moles of the bisphenol A divalent groups and the C 16 or higher divalent group; and the composition, when molded into an article having a 2.0 mm thickness, provides a near infrared transmission at 960 nanometers of greater than 50% and a thermal resistance according to HDT 1.8 MPa flat (ISO 75/Af) is greater than 160° C.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A laser weldable composition comprising
a polyester component comprising a poly(butylene terephthalate) homopolymer, a poly(ethylene terephthalate) homopolymer, a poly(cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) homopolymer, a poly(butylene terephthalate) copolymer, a poly(ethylene terephthalate) copolymer, a poly(cyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate) copolymer, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing;
5 to 50 weight percent of a filler; and
10 to 30 wt. % of a poly(ester-carbonate) copolymer comprising
carbonate units of the formula

and
ester units of the formula

wherein:
T is a C 2-20 alkylene, a C 6-20 cycloalkylene, or a C 6-20 arylene;
R 1 and J are each independently
(a) a bisphenol A divalent group of the formula

and
(b) a C 16 or higher divalent group (b1), (b2), or (b1) and (b2), wherein
(b1) is a phthalimidine divalent group of the formula

wherein
R a and R b are each independently a C 1-12 alkyl, C 2-12 alkenyl, C 3-8 cycloalkyl, or C 1-12 alkoxy,
each R 3 is independently a C 1-6 alkyl,
R 4 is hydrogen, C 1-6 alkyl, or phenyl optionally substituted with 1 to 5 C 1-6 alkyl groups,
p, q, and j are each independently 0 to 4, and

(b2) is a third divalent group of the formula

wherein
R c and R d are each independently a C 1-12 alkyl, C 2-12 alkenyl, C 3-8 cycloalkyl, or C 1-12 alkoxy,
each R 6 is independently C 1-3 alkyl or phenyl,
X a is a C 6-12 polycyclic aryl, C 3-18 mono- or polycycloalkylene, C 3-18 mono- or polycycloalkylidene, (Q 1 ) x -G-(Q 2 ) y - group wherein Q 1 and Q 2 are each independently a C 1-3 alkylene, G is a C 3-10 cycloalkylene, x is 0 or 1, and y is 1, and
m and n are each independently 0 to 4;

wherein
the C 16 divalent group (b1), (b2) or a combination of (b1) and (b2) is present in an amount of 40 mol % to 50 mol % based on the total moles of the bisphenol A divalent groups and the C 16 divalent group; and
the composition, when molded into an article having a 2.0 mm thickness, provides a near infrared transmission at 960 nanometers of greater than 50% and a thermal resistance according to HDT 1.8 MPa flat (ISO 75/Af) of greater than 160° C.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the C 16 divalent group (b) is the phthalimidine divalent group (b1).

3. The composition of claim 2 , wherein R 1 and J are each independently the bisphenol A divalent group, or the phthalimidine divalent group, and at least a portion of the J groups are the phthalimidine divalent group.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the C 16 or higher divalent group (b) is the third divalent group (b2).

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein R 1 and J are each independently the bisphenol A divalent group or the third divalent group; and at least a portion of the J groups are the third divalent group.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the C16 divalent group (b) is a combination of the phthalimidine divalent group (b1) and third divalent group (b2).

7. The composition of claim 6 , wherein R 1 and J are each independently the bisphenol A divalent group, the phthalimidine divalent group, and the third divalent group; and at least a portion of the J groups are the phthalimidine divalent group and the third divalent group.

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the third divalent group has a formula

wherein
R c and R d are each independently a C 1-12 alkyl, C 2-12 alkenyl, C 3-8 cycloalkyl, or C 1-12 alkoxy,
each R 6 is independently C 1-3 alkyl or phenyl,
X a is a C 6-12 polycyclic aryl, C 3-18 mono- or polycycloalkylene, C 3-18 mono- or polycycloalkylidene, or a (Q 1 ) x -G-(Q 2 ) y - group, wherein Q 1 and Q 2 are each independently a C 1-3 alkylene, G is a C 3-10 cycloalkylene,
x is 0 or 1,
y is 1, and
m and n are each independently 0 to 4.

9. The composition of claim 8 , wherein the third divalent group has a formula

wherein
R c and R d are each independently a C 1-12 alkyl, C 2-12 alkenyl, C 3-8 cycloalkyl, or C 1-12 alkoxy,
each R 2 is independently hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl,
m and n are each independently 0 to 4,
each R 3 is independently C 1-4 alkyl or hydrogen, and
g is 0 to 10.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein T is a C 6-20 divalent aromatic group.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of the carbonate units relative to the ester units is 2:1 to 1:2.

12. The composition of claim 1 , wherein:
the filler comprises a glass filler and is present in an amount of 10 wt. % to 30 wt. % based on the total weight of the composition;
the polyester component is a poly(butylene terephthalate) homopolymer; and
in the poly(ester-carbonate) copolymer, R 1 and J are each independently a bisphenol A divalent group and a phthalimidine divalent group wherein p, q, and j are zero, and R 4 is phenyl, and both the bisphenol A divalent group and the phthalimidine divalent group are present in the poly(ester-carbonate) copolymer, and the poly(ester-carbonate) copolymer is present in an amount of 15 wt. % to 25 wt. % based on the total weight of the composition.

13. The composition of claim 1 wherein the filler is glass fiber.

14. A process for welding a laser-transmissive first part to a laser-absorbing second part of an article, the process comprising
contacting a first part comprising the composition of claim 1 with a second part comprising a thermoplastic composition comprising an NIR-absorbing agent, where at least a portion of a surface of the first part is placed in physical contact with at least a portion of a surface of the second part to form a welding join area, and
applying NIR-laser radiation to the first part such that the radiation substantially passes through the first part and is absorbed by the second part so that sufficient heat is generated to effectively weld the first part to the second part of the article.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein
the second part comprises a polymer comprising a polycarbonate, a polyester, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing; and
the NIR absorbing material comprises carbon black, organic dyes, metal oxides, complex oxides, metal-sulphides, metal-borides, metal-phosphates, metal-carbonates, metal-sulphates, metal-nitrides, lanthanum hexaboride, cesium tungsten oxide, indium tin oxide, antimony tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

16. The process of claim 14 , wherein the NIR absorbing material is present in the thermoplastic composition of the second part in an amount from 0.00001 to 5 wt. %, based on total

Assignees

• Sabic Global Technologies Bv

Inventors

• Farrell Tony
• Sybert Paul Dean

Classifications

• B29C66/72143

  Fibres of discontinuous lengths · CPC title

• B29C66/7212

  characterised by the composition of the fibres · CPC title

• B29C66/71

  characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined (welding bar compositions B29C65/125) · CPC title

• B29C65/1616 Primary

  Near infrared radiation [NIR], e.g. by YAG lasers · CPC title

• C08L67/02

  Polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds (C08L67/06 takes precedence) · CPC title