Process of mixing polyethylene with hydrocarbon waxes, and product thereof

Claim 1

PROCESS FOR FORMING APELLETIZABLE POWDER COMPOSITON OF A NORMALLY SOLID, FUSIBLE ALKANE HYDROCARBON, RELATIVELY FLUID AT AND ABOVE ITS FUSION TEMPERATURE, WITH A DIFFICULTLY EXTRUDABLE POLYETHYLENE TO PRODUCE A MORE READILY EXTRUDALE POLYETHYLENE COMPOSITION CAPABLE OF FORMING AHOMOGENEOUS BLEND UPON BEING EXTRUDED IN A SCREW EXTRUDER, SADI ALKANE HYDROCARBON BEING RELATIVELY FLUID AT TEMPERATURE IN THE RANGE 100*D.-130*C. AND HAVING MELT VISCOSITY NOT ABOVE ABOUT 100 POISES AT 140* C., AND SAID POLYETHYLENE HAVING MOLECULAR WEIGHT OF AT LEAST ABOUT 500,000 BY THE IVAN HARRIS FORMULA AND HAVING MELT INDEX NOT ABOVE 0.1 AS MEASURED BY THE STANDARD METHOD ASTM D1238-52T; WHICH PROCESS CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY IN STIRRING SAID POLYETHYLENE IN POWDERED FORM TOGETHER WITH SAID RELATIVELY FLUID ALKANE HYDROCARBON IN FUSED FORM IN PROPORTIONS OF ABOUT 10-50 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF SAID RELATIVELY FLUID ALKANE HYDROCARBON PER 100 PARTS BY WEIGHT OF HIGH MOLECULAR WEIGHT POLYETHYLENE; AND CARRYING OUT SAID STIRRING AT TEMPERAURES NOT ABOVE ABOUT 130*C. AND NO HIGHER THAN THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE MIXTURE FIRST VISIBLY CHANGES FROM PWDERY TO LUMPY; AND CONTINUING SAID STIRRING UNTIL THE POLYETHYLENE POWDER HAS TAKEN UP SUBSTANTIALLY ALL OF THE FUSED RELATIVELY FLUID ALKANE HYDROCARBON BETWEN AND UPON THE POLYMER PARTICLES, WHERBY UPON ALLOWING THE COMPOSITION TO COOL IT RETAINS ESSENTAILLY THE FORM OF A POWDER.