DIY Coating like Elixir / extracted from patent

[Mustafa Umut Sa]

One liquid polymeric solution which has been found suitable for the present invention is the FluroPel brand fluroaliphatic polymer in a fluorosolvent polymer from Cytonix Corporation, 8000 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, Md. 20705. FluoroPel polymers are hydrophobic polymers that have low surface energies, low biomolecular absorption and sheds organic solvents. Any polymer that is hydrophobic, is pliable and non-hazardous to the touch could also be suitably used. Although destructive testing has not been performed to analyze the distribution of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 within the interstitial voids 20, it is believed that the FluroPel liquid polymeric solution reacts with the surfaces of the wound string 10 as is otherwise well understood in other manufacturing processes using FluroPel or other suitable liquid polymeric solutions.

Referring again to FIG. 2B, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is shown as adhered to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In areas where adhered in cohesive coatings 52, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 forms barriers that repel water and prevent water and water soluble acids and salts from reaching the those coated surfaces of the windings 16 or core wire 12. Any adhering polymer having an average surface energy of no more than 24 dynes/cm would be sufficiently hydrophobic to be satisfactory. In this embodiment, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 has a surface energy of no more than 10 dynes/cm and is quite effective in repelling moisture. Additionally, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment has an average thickness of 1 micron or more, and more preferably an average thickness between 3 and 6 microns. Other suitable hydrophobic polymeric materials 50 may be chosen that form cohesive, durable hydrophobic coatings 52 at thickness either greater or less than that of this embodiment. The cohesiveness of a coating of hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is believed to be enhanced by at least some cross-linking of polymers. The hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment has at least 5%, by weight, cross-linked polymeric material.

It is also believed, based on the well understood nature of the liquid solvent used, that the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is covalently bonded to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In particular, the hydrophobic polymer of the FluroPel liquid solution reacts with the various metal oxides that would be present on the surface of a metal or metal alloy. It is believed that the materials used to make the core wire 12 or wrap wire 14 would contain at least one species of oxides of iron, nickel, gold, copper, zinc or aluminum. Numerous other hydrophobic polymeric materials also undergo linkage reactions which result in covalent bonding with oxides of iron, nickel, gold, copper, zinc or aluminum and may be substituted for the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention may also benefit from the formation of resilient barriers of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 which prevent moisture and debris from entering the interstitial voids 20 and thus contributes to the prevention of corrosion. It is believed that in this embodiment of the invention, resilient barriers would be of secondary importance when compared to the effectiveness of the hydrophobic coatings in preventing corrosion. However, in other embodiments, resilient barriers alone may be sufficient to prevent or reduce corrosion of a wound string 10.

The hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment is also an elastomer. When disposed in the interstitial voids, as in the method of manufacturing as described below, the hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 is believed to form resilient barriers across gaps of the interstitial voids 20. Referring now to FIG. 2C, hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 shown is disposed so as to form a winding-core barrier 54 across the winding-core gap 22 and, similarly, as to form a winding-winding barrier 56 across the winding-core gap 24. As described below, the hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 of this embodiment is disposed in the interstitial voids using either a 2% or a 4% by weight solute to solvent liquid polymeric solution. It is believed that increasing the weight percentage to 10% would more readily form barriers, especially winding-winding barriers 56. Numerous elastomeric polymeric solutions could be substituted for the FluroPel liquid polymeric solution to establish effective resilient barriers.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-6, in the methods of manufacturing the wound string 10 will be further described.

In FIG. 3, an untreated wound string 10A comprising a core wire 12 and a wrap wire 14 as described above is suspended above a bath of liquid polymeric solution 60 which is contained within a reservoir 62. The liquid polymeric solution 60 comprises a solvent and a dissolved polymeric solute. The polymeric solute may comprise monomers, polymers or copolymers, or a combination thereof. However, the end product shall comprise a hydrophobic polymeric material 50. The solvent typically is a non-aqueous solvent. In this embodiment of the invention, the solvent is a fluorinated solvent. In this embodiment the liquid polymeric solution 60 is an at least 2% by weight, and more preferably at least 4%, solution of fluroaliphatic polymer solute.

In FIG. 4, the majority of the length of the untreated wound string 10A is immersed in the bath of liquid polymeric solution 60 and allowed to soak for a period of time to enable penetration of the winding-winding gaps 24 and the deposition of the liquid polymeric solution 60 in the interstitial voids 20. In this embodiment, the string is allowed to sit for at least 10 seconds and more preferably for approximately 15 seconds. The soak time is determined by the viscosity of the liquid polymeric solution 60, the width of the winding-winding gaps 24. Flexing the untreated wound string 10A while in the bath so as to open the winding-winging gaps 24 may reduce the soak time. It is also well known in the arts to conduct the soak while subjecting the bath and string to low pressure conditions. This causes air in the interstitial voids to be more readily displaced.

In FIG. 5, the untreated wound string 10 A is removed from the bath of resin and any remaining liquid polymeric solution 60 is removed from the surface. In this embodiment, wiping is the preferred method of removing residual solution, although other methods such using forced air or a second bath in a rinse solvent may be obvious substitutions. In this embodiment, wiping is accomplished by forcing the untreated wound string 10A against a wiping edge, such as the edge of a resilient scraper. In this embodiment, the untreated wound string 10A is forced through an opening 66, preferably circular, in a sheet of resilient material 64, such as squeegee material. The opening 66 closes snugly upon the untreated wound wire 10A and the wire is pulled through to clean the liquid polymeric solution 60 off the exterior surface 36 of the untreated wound wire 10A. The liquid polymeric solution 60 so removed may be recovered and reused. The liquid polymeric solution 60 remains in the interstitial voids 20. It is not required that all the volume of the interstitial voids 20 be completely filled, but the more volume that is filled, the better the wound string 10 will be protected against wear.

Alternatively, FIG. 6 shows a shallow tray reservoir 68 containing the liquid polymeric solution 60. The untreated wound string 10A may be laid in the shallow bath and soaked as above. The untreated wound string 10A may then picked up and drawn through the resilient scraper in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 5.

After the excess liquid polymeric solution 60 is removed as shown in FIG. 5, the untreated wound string 10A is treated so as to form a hydrophobic polymeric material 50 from the liquid polymeric solution 60 remaining in the interstitial voids 20. In this embodiment, the treatment causes the monomers in the liquid polymeric solution 60 to undergo a condensation synthesis reaction. The treatment also causes the adhesion of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In this embodiment, such adhesion is believed to be caused by covalent linkages between the polymer and metal oxides present in the alloys of the wound string 10.

The FluroPel liquid polymeric solution 60 can be treated in environment of between 20.degree. C. and 150.degree. C. In this embodiment, the untreated wound strings 10A are hung to dry for at least 8 hours in a clean room environment maintained at ambient temperatures, and, more preferably, maintained at a temperature of between 20.degree. C. and 25.degree. C. Since normal environmental temperatures are approximately 20.degree. C., heating is not required to treat the FluroPel solution. However, if shorter treatment times are desired, it is believed that significantly shorter treatment times can be achieved by heating the clean room to maintain an environmental temperature of between 70.degree. C. and 90.degree. C. Other hydrophobic polymeric solutions may require different treatment temperatures and drying times.

The end result of these methods of manufacturing is a wound string 10 as shown in FIG. 1 which is resistant to corrosion and whose usable life is extended. Through the application of such hydrophobic polymers into the winding gaps of a wound string, the life of the string is extended without significant effect to the natural tone of the string. Unlike a coated string such as that sold by D'Addario and Martin, or a wrapped covered string such as the Elixir string, the protective material in the case of the present invention is adhered to the interior surfaces 34 of the wound string 10 within the interstitial voids 20 while the exterior surface 36 of the wound string 10 remains untreated. Unlike the treatment of Lazarus, the treatment of the present invention adheres a hydrophobic coating to repel moisture and water soluble corrosive agents. This protects the windings and the core wire from corrosion and from exposure to moisture, dirt and other contaminants that shorten the life of a conventional wound string.

[One Drop]

Thanks, exactly the info I was looking for!

[ducatiman]

uh-huh , its all clear now........

[wahman]

Originally Posted by ducatiman

uh-huh , its all clear now........

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!

[UBU]

lol....right. C&P, I guess. Who really likes coated strings anyway?

[BadMonk]

DIY??? Whew...

[steve66]

Very interesting but a long process.

Wouldn't the biomimetic superhydrophobic material in Nanopin film be a better choice. These surfaces are extremely difficult to wet with water and are easier to apply particularily when the nanopin film is produced with borosilicate glass as the primary substrate. You can heat in a chemical bath deposition to form a brucite type cobalt(II) hydroxide layer with composition using mix a simple solution of cobalt chloride hexahydrate.
The top coating is provided by lauric acid in a separate step.

[Kellraj]

Seems strange to post part of someone's patent here- with no references, context or credit given.

[Thor]

I dip mine in High Fructose Corn Syrup. I guess that's why I suck compared to you.

[jasonbraatz]

Originally Posted by Kellraj

Seems strange to post part of someone's patent here- with no references, context or credit given.

Patent information is public, so while it's a little strange to just copy and paste a chunk out of the patent with no qualification or discussion there's nothing inherently *wrong* with that.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=gbk...AJ&dq=fluropel

Still not sure what the point of this post is though.

[John Wentzien]

Chicken Grease Hydro chloride!

[John Wentzien]

Sulfate...

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by Mustafa Umut Sa

One liquid polymeric solution which has been found suitable for the present invention is the FluroPel brand fluroaliphatic polymer in a fluorosolvent polymer from Cytonix Corporation, 8000 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, Md. 20705....

Did you write this yourself? If not, please cite your source, if for no other reason than to give credit to the people who did!

[Kellraj]

Originally Posted by jasonbraatz

Patent information is public, so while it's a little strange to just copy and paste a chunk out of the patent with no qualification or discussion there's nothing inherently *wrong* with that.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=gbk...AJ&dq=fluropel

Still not sure what the point of this post is though.

Right, it's strange, like I said.

Also, cutting and pasting someone's prioprietary works without listing credit and/or sources is wrong in most senses of the word. Just because a particular occurence isn't illegal, or doesn't get you banned from a forum, it doesn't make it correct.

[KSB - Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Mustafa Umut Sa

One liquid polymeric solution which has been found suitable for the present invention is the FluroPel brand fluroaliphatic polymer in a fluorosolvent polymer from Cytonix Corporation, 8000 Virginia Manor Road, Beltsville, Md. 20705. FluoroPel polymers are hydrophobic polymers that have low surface energies, low biomolecular absorption and sheds organic solvents. Any polymer that is hydrophobic, is pliable and non-hazardous to the touch could also be suitably used. Although destructive testing has not been performed to analyze the distribution of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 within the interstitial voids 20, it is believed that the FluroPel liquid polymeric solution reacts with the surfaces of the wound string 10 as is otherwise well understood in other manufacturing processes using FluroPel or other suitable liquid polymeric solutions.

Referring again to FIG. 2B, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is shown as adhered to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In areas where adhered in cohesive coatings 52, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 forms barriers that repel water and prevent water and water soluble acids and salts from reaching the those coated surfaces of the windings 16 or core wire 12. Any adhering polymer having an average surface energy of no more than 24 dynes/cm would be sufficiently hydrophobic to be satisfactory. In this embodiment, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 has a surface energy of no more than 10 dynes/cm and is quite effective in repelling moisture. Additionally, the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment has an average thickness of 1 micron or more, and more preferably an average thickness between 3 and 6 microns. Other suitable hydrophobic polymeric materials 50 may be chosen that form cohesive, durable hydrophobic coatings 52 at thickness either greater or less than that of this embodiment. The cohesiveness of a coating of hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is believed to be enhanced by at least some cross-linking of polymers. The hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment has at least 5%, by weight, cross-linked polymeric material.

It is also believed, based on the well understood nature of the liquid solvent used, that the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 is covalently bonded to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In particular, the hydrophobic polymer of the FluroPel liquid solution reacts with the various metal oxides that would be present on the surface of a metal or metal alloy. It is believed that the materials used to make the core wire 12 or wrap wire 14 would contain at least one species of oxides of iron, nickel, gold, copper, zinc or aluminum. Numerous other hydrophobic polymeric materials also undergo linkage reactions which result in covalent bonding with oxides of iron, nickel, gold, copper, zinc or aluminum and may be substituted for the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention may also benefit from the formation of resilient barriers of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 which prevent moisture and debris from entering the interstitial voids 20 and thus contributes to the prevention of corrosion. It is believed that in this embodiment of the invention, resilient barriers would be of secondary importance when compared to the effectiveness of the hydrophobic coatings in preventing corrosion. However, in other embodiments, resilient barriers alone may be sufficient to prevent or reduce corrosion of a wound string 10.

The hydrophobic polymeric material 50 of this embodiment is also an elastomer. When disposed in the interstitial voids, as in the method of manufacturing as described below, the hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 is believed to form resilient barriers across gaps of the interstitial voids 20. Referring now to FIG. 2C, hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 shown is disposed so as to form a winding-core barrier 54 across the winding-core gap 22 and, similarly, as to form a winding-winding barrier 56 across the winding-core gap 24. As described below, the hydrophobic elastomeric polymeric material 50 of this embodiment is disposed in the interstitial voids using either a 2% or a 4% by weight solute to solvent liquid polymeric solution. It is believed that increasing the weight percentage to 10% would more readily form barriers, especially winding-winding barriers 56. Numerous elastomeric polymeric solutions could be substituted for the FluroPel liquid polymeric solution to establish effective resilient barriers.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-6, in the methods of manufacturing the wound string 10 will be further described.

In FIG. 3, an untreated wound string 10A comprising a core wire 12 and a wrap wire 14 as described above is suspended above a bath of liquid polymeric solution 60 which is contained within a reservoir 62. The liquid polymeric solution 60 comprises a solvent and a dissolved polymeric solute. The polymeric solute may comprise monomers, polymers or copolymers, or a combination thereof. However, the end product shall comprise a hydrophobic polymeric material 50. The solvent typically is a non-aqueous solvent. In this embodiment of the invention, the solvent is a fluorinated solvent. In this embodiment the liquid polymeric solution 60 is an at least 2% by weight, and more preferably at least 4%, solution of fluroaliphatic polymer solute.

In FIG. 4, the majority of the length of the untreated wound string 10A is immersed in the bath of liquid polymeric solution 60 and allowed to soak for a period of time to enable penetration of the winding-winding gaps 24 and the deposition of the liquid polymeric solution 60 in the interstitial voids 20. In this embodiment, the string is allowed to sit for at least 10 seconds and more preferably for approximately 15 seconds. The soak time is determined by the viscosity of the liquid polymeric solution 60, the width of the winding-winding gaps 24. Flexing the untreated wound string 10A while in the bath so as to open the winding-winging gaps 24 may reduce the soak time. It is also well known in the arts to conduct the soak while subjecting the bath and string to low pressure conditions. This causes air in the interstitial voids to be more readily displaced.

In FIG. 5, the untreated wound string 10 A is removed from the bath of resin and any remaining liquid polymeric solution 60 is removed from the surface. In this embodiment, wiping is the preferred method of removing residual solution, although other methods such using forced air or a second bath in a rinse solvent may be obvious substitutions. In this embodiment, wiping is accomplished by forcing the untreated wound string 10A against a wiping edge, such as the edge of a resilient scraper. In this embodiment, the untreated wound string 10A is forced through an opening 66, preferably circular, in a sheet of resilient material 64, such as squeegee material. The opening 66 closes snugly upon the untreated wound wire 10A and the wire is pulled through to clean the liquid polymeric solution 60 off the exterior surface 36 of the untreated wound wire 10A. The liquid polymeric solution 60 so removed may be recovered and reused. The liquid polymeric solution 60 remains in the interstitial voids 20. It is not required that all the volume of the interstitial voids 20 be completely filled, but the more volume that is filled, the better the wound string 10 will be protected against wear.

Alternatively, FIG. 6 shows a shallow tray reservoir 68 containing the liquid polymeric solution 60. The untreated wound string 10A may be laid in the shallow bath and soaked as above. The untreated wound string 10A may then picked up and drawn through the resilient scraper in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 5.

After the excess liquid polymeric solution 60 is removed as shown in FIG. 5, the untreated wound string 10A is treated so as to form a hydrophobic polymeric material 50 from the liquid polymeric solution 60 remaining in the interstitial voids 20. In this embodiment, the treatment causes the monomers in the liquid polymeric solution 60 to undergo a condensation synthesis reaction. The treatment also causes the adhesion of the hydrophobic polymeric material 50 to the interior surface 34 of the wound string 10. In this embodiment, such adhesion is believed to be caused by covalent linkages between the polymer and metal oxides present in the alloys of the wound string 10.

The FluroPel liquid polymeric solution 60 can be treated in environment of between 20.degree. C. and 150.degree. C. In this embodiment, the untreated wound strings 10A are hung to dry for at least 8 hours in a clean room environment maintained at ambient temperatures, and, more preferably, maintained at a temperature of between 20.degree. C. and 25.degree. C. Since normal environmental temperatures are approximately 20.degree. C., heating is not required to treat the FluroPel solution. However, if shorter treatment times are desired, it is believed that significantly shorter treatment times can be achieved by heating the clean room to maintain an environmental temperature of between 70.degree. C. and 90.degree. C. Other hydrophobic polymeric solutions may require different treatment temperatures and drying times.

The end result of these methods of manufacturing is a wound string 10 as shown in FIG. 1 which is resistant to corrosion and whose usable life is extended. Through the application of such hydrophobic polymers into the winding gaps of a wound string, the life of the string is extended without significant effect to the natural tone of the string. Unlike a coated string such as that sold by D'Addario and Martin, or a wrapped covered string such as the Elixir string, the protective material in the case of the present invention is adhered to the interior surfaces 34 of the wound string 10 within the interstitial voids 20 while the exterior surface 36 of the wound string 10 remains untreated. Unlike the treatment of Lazarus, the treatment of the present invention adheres a hydrophobic coating to repel moisture and water soluble corrosive agents. This protects the windings and the core wire from corrosion and from exposure to moisture, dirt and other contaminants that shorten the life of a conventional wound string.

I have been preaching this for years.

You guys just haven't been listening...

I rest my case!

[BobKos]

Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith

I have been preaching this for years.

You guys just haven't been listening...

I rest my case!

So THAT'S the magic ingredient to Rock Masters strings. No wonder I like them so much. Of course, now that the secret is out, I can just make them myself from now on....

[xshawnxearthx]

just like every other string coating polymer, stuff won't work. what is it, string life? i think DR has been distro'ing it and it sucks.

more people need to try axe wipes by caig.com so good.