Appeal No. 95-3985
Application No. 08/016,644
This is a decision on an appeal from the final rejection
of claims 1 to 17 which are all the claims in the application.
THE INVENTION
Appellants’ invention is drawn to a process of
fluorinating a fluoroelastomer which had been previously
crosslinked by exposure to radiation. Fluorination occurs at
a temperature of
-50°C to about 200°C and at a partial pressure of about 25 kPa
to about 5.0 MPa. The purpose of the invention is to improve
the stability of fluoroelastomers by destroying the presence
of unstable groups within the crosslinked fluoroelastomer.
The absence of unstable groups results in the reduction of
corrosive outgassing. Claim 1 is illustrative and read as
follows.
1. A process for reducing the outgassing of a
crosslinked perfluoroelastomer, comprising, contacting, at a
temperature of about -50°C to about 200°C, fluorine at a
partial pressure of about 25 kPa to about 5.0 MPa, and a
perfluoroelastomer which has been crosslinked by exposure to
radiation.
THE REFERENCES
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007