PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A COATED RUBBER ITEM AND RUBBER ITEM

Abstract

A process for the production of a coated rubber item, comprising: (i) provision of a semifinished product having the main shape of the rubber item, where the semifinished product is composed of a rubber composition comprising at least one rubber and at least one crosslinking agent; (ii) coating of the semifinished product with a solvent-free coating composition comprising at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization, (iii) crosslinking of the rubber composition and polymerization of the coating composition, to give a coated rubber item;
wherein the boiling point of the at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization is 150 C. and the crosslinking of the rubber composition takes place at the same time as the polymerization of the coating composition.

Claims

1. A process for the production of a coated rubber item, comprising the following steps: (i) providing a semifinished product having the main shape of the rubber item, wherein the semifinished product is composed of a rubber composition comprising at least one rubber and at least one crosslinking agent; (ii) coating the semifinished product with a solvent-free coating composition comprising at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization, and (iii) crosslinking of the rubber composition and polymerization of the coating composition, to give a coated rubber item; characterized in that the boiling point of the at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization is 150 C. and the crosslinking of the rubber composition takes place at the same time as the polymerization of the coating composition.

2. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the crosslinking agent is a peroxide compound.

3. The process according to claim 1 characterized in that the coating composition comprises a friction-reducing additive and optionally at least one thermal initiator.

4. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization has at least one functional group selected from an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, an acrylamide group, a methacrylamide group, a styryl group and a vinyl group.

5. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the glass transition temperature T.sub.G of the homopolymer of the monomer or of the copolymer of the monomer mixture is below 20 C., measured by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

6. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that the melting point of the at least one monomer amenable to free-radical polymerization is above 60 C.

7. The process according to claim 1, characterized in that step (iii) is carried out in a salt bath.

8. A coated rubber item comprising a structure made of crosslinked rubber on which a polymer layer obtained via free-radical polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers with boiling point 150 C. has been grafted.

9. A method of producing a friction-reducing coating, the method comprising a) applying, to a surface requiring coating, a coating composition comprising the following: at least one monomer with boiling point above 150 C. amenable to free-radical polymerization, at least one friction-reducing additive and at least one thermal initiator, and b) heating the coated surface to a temperature above the decomposition temperature of the initiator.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the surface is the surface of a rubber item or is the surface of an article across which a rubber item is intended to slide.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the rubber item is a wiper-rubber profile (10) of a windshield wiper and the article over which the rubber item is intended to slide is a windshield.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE

[0050] The single drawing FIGURE is a partial, cross-sectional view of a windshield wiper according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The drawing partially depicts a windshield wiper comprising a semifinished rubber product in the form of a wiper-rubber profile 10 which comprises a wiper lip 12 which has a wiping edge 11 and is made of a rubber composition composed of 100 parts by weight of EPDM rubber and 2 parts by weight of di-tert-butyl peroxide, a stock 13, only part of which is depicted here, made of the rubber composition, and, arranged between the stock 13 and the wiper lip 12, what is known as a tiltable web 14 made of the rubber composition.

[0052] The wiper lip 12, the stock 13 and the tiltable web 14 have a surface composed of a coating layer 15 which in the interests of visibility has been enlarged in the depiction in comparison with the wiper lip 12, the stock 13, and the tiltable web 14. The thickness of the coating layer 15 here is about 10 m, and it is composed by way of example of 54% by weight of ethyl triglycol methacrylate (ETMA), 45% by weight of graphite particles with diameter from 30 to 50 m and 1% by weight of di-tert-butyl peroxide.

[0053] In the present case the coating layer 15 is present only in the regions that can generally come into contact with a glazing unit of a motor vehicle during the wiping procedure. However, in other embodiments of the process of the invention it is also possible that the coating layer 15 is present over the entire surface.

[0054] The wiper-rubber profile 10 depicted in the drawing is produced by first extruding a main shape composed of the stock 13, the tiltable web 14 and the wiper lip 12, and then applying the coating composition described above thereto through a nozzle. The resultant coated semifinished rubber product is vulcanized in a salt bath (50% by weight of KNO.sub.3, 40% by weight of NaNO.sub.2, 10% by weight of NaNO.sub.3) at 220 C. The coating layer 15 is polymerized simultaneously.

[0055] Pretreatment of the surface of the rubber structure constituted by the wiper lip 12, by the tiltable web 14 and by the stock 13 can sometimes be necessary in order to produce a homogeneous surface. After vulcanization of the semifinished rubber product and polymerization of the coating layer 15 the wipe-rubber profile 10, in particular the wiper lip 12, is subjected to a wash process and cut to the desired dimension.

[0056] The invention is not restricted to the embodiments described here and the aspects highlighted therein. Within the scope provided by the claims there are many possible modifications available to the person skilled in the art.