Louis W. Meyer

A Self-Releasing Rim System for Increased Productivity, Operational Simplicity, and Improved Economics

To the urethane RIM industry there are three w rds which seem to have a magical aura about them... internal mold release. Yet most often, these words are greeted with valid skepticism. In a sense they are believed, but not believed. Since about 1973 it’s been the hope of this industry, that an additive-a fairy dust-might be found, which when added to a urethane chemical system, would bring about the &dquo;magic&dquo; of self-release. Not surprisingly, there remains a lingering doubt that it can really be done effectively. Some of this doubt has been the consequence of the urethane chemical industry having often stated and promised that it had a self-releasing system via the power of an internal mold release agent. Thus far, however, none have proven both workable and effective. Those which have been trialed, have demonstrated but limited usefulness-not enough performance value to warrant acceptable commercial use. This paper describes the attainment of an effective self-releasing urethane system for RIM. It is based on Dow Experimental Polyol, XA-10888.00L. This is an amine modified polyol containing an internal mold release agent designated IMR-II.