Title: ENCAPSULATED FLEXIBLE POLYURETHANE FOAM AND METHOD FOR MAKING POLYOL TO FORM FOAM

 Number/Link: US2012295998

Applicant/Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECH LLC

Publication date: 22-11-2012

“Gist”: Soy-polyols with reduced smell produced by UV irradiation of soy oil in the presence of air and at room temperature. The polyols are useful to produce polyurethane car seat foams.  

Why it is interesting:  For a number of years now quite some research is being done on the use of bio-based polyols in polyurethanes, usually by chemical companies like Dow and Cargill, but -remarkably- Ford also have a number of patents in this field. Ford’s bio-patents usually relate to soy-oil, maybe there is some influence of the American soy lobby.

Soybean Farm (Wikimedia)