Appeal No. 95-4036
Application No. 08/137,332
final rejection of claims 1-20, all of the claims in the
application. The subject matter on appeal relates to a
continuous, non-aqueous dispersion polymerization process for
producing a copolymer comprising a vinyl aromatic monomer and
a conjugated diene monomer. Claim 1 is representative of the
subject matter on appeal and reads as follows:
1. A continuous process to produce a copolymer by a non-
aqueous dispersion polymerization process comprising the steps
of:
(a) continuously adding to a first polymerization reactor
via feed streams: a first monomer charge containing 75 to 100
percent by weight of a first conjugated diene monomer and 0 to
25 percent by weight of a first vinyl aromatic monomer, an
organolithium polymerization initiator and a dispersing medium
and polymerizing the monomer charge to form a first block of a
dispersing agent soluble in the dispersing medium;
(b) continuously adding to a second polymerization
reactor via feed streams containing the dispersing medium; the
first block of the dispersing agent prepared in step (a), a
second monomer charge containing 35 to 70 percent by weight of
a second vinyl aromatic monomer and 30 to 65 percent by weight
of a second conjugated diene monomer, and a catalytically
effective amount of the organolithium polymerization initiator
and polymerizing the second monomer charge to simultaneously
form:
(i) a second block of the dispersing agent, the
second block being insoluble in the dispersing medium and
linking with the first block to form the dispersing agent, and
(ii) a product copolymer comprising 35 to 70 percent
by weight of the second vinyl aromatic monomer and 30 to 65
percent by weight of the second conjugated diene monomer,
2
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Last modified: November 3, 2007