Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-17
2004-03-02
Dixon, Merrick (Department: 1774)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S085000, C156S222000, C156S219000, C156S235000, C156S273300, C156S272200, C156SDIG002
Reexamination Certificate
active
06699352
ABSTRACT:
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT—NOT APPLICABLE
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX—NOT APPLICABLE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. This invention is directed to a system for applying a protective coating to the surface of a wide range of wares that include housewares, the system including applying a protective coating over decorative material that may also be applied in accordance with the present invention; and to the wares produced thereby. The wares include frangible articles for food and drink, and a wide variety of other articles.
2. An extremely wide range of articles currently in use are susceptible to being damaged and made less useful by impact damage and surface wear. Also, the processes used in decorating such wares are frequently slow, labour intensive and costly.
Widespread use is presently made of tableware of frangible materials such as glass, china, and clay; also, stainless steel is used for serving dishes, while cutlery may be of stainless steel, or plated with chromium or even gold and silver. Such wares are in need of improved protection and lower cost decoration.
Glassware can be manufactured at low cost, is hard-wearing, sanitary, and readily washed, but is extremely frangible, and fractures with sharp edges. China wares are more expensive, but have similar characteristics to glassware. Clayware (pottery) is usually weaker than glassware, but is somewhat less dangerous when broken. This group of wares are in need of protection, to increase their strength, and to reduce the danger presented when they fragment.
The decoration of these wares is relatively expensive and somewhat limited.
In the case of articles associated with human consumption of food and drink, the available pigments that can be safely used are severely limited in number. Glass can be batch-coloured, in the melt, prior to being cast.
Surface-applied colours are legally restricted to a limiting class of non-toxic colouring materials.
Surface decorations of glass and ceramics, other than by hand-painting, are presently applied by screen printing or the use of decals, which may be preprinted on a paper or plastic film.
The inks generally need to be inorganic, in order to withstand the high firing temperatures required to fuse the coloured frit.
In the case where a ground glass frit serves as the base, this limits the quality of the print.
The screen printing process is labour intensive, as each colour of the design requires individual application, with associated high costs for screen making and set-up, while time requirements tend to be excessive.
Decals are generally applied by hand, as they usually require precise visual location. The products are then hand-loaded into a 1200 F. degree furnace, to fuse the decoration, and subsequently unloaded by hand.
The existing processes are slow, expensive and labour and energy intensive, and do not lend themselves to automation. Also, the required production facilities are both extensive and expensive.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a protective and decorative system applicable to a wide variety of wares, including wares associated with the handling and consumption of food and drink, that are subject to FDA regulation.
Considering first the protective aspect of the subject process, as it applies for instance in the case of drinking glasses or tumblers.
Using the subject process, the fracture-resistance factor (“frac-R”—resistance to fracture) of a tumbler can be increased as much as tenfold in some instances, compared with the uncoated article, by the application of a relatively thick protective coating forming part of the present invention.
Alternatively, the frac-R can be increased by a more modest factor of say three to four, but with an associated improvement in the fragment-retentability characteristic of the coating, such that when fragmentation occurs, the dispersion of glass particles and shards is significantly limited.
The desired compromise between these two protective aspects can be predetermined by precise control of the thickness of the protective coating, which control is made possible by the present process.
The application of a first adherent coating to a glass surface, in accordance with the present invention facilitates the application of decoration to that surface. The coating is formulated such that, when cured, it accepts the adhesion of printing inks to its cured surface. A further protective coating of non-toxic plastic can then be applied, to encapsulate and hermetically seal the decorated surface.
One embodiment of the subject process employs flow-coating to apply one or more of the coatings. Such coatings may include tinting colours, to give the appearance of coloured glass. The tinting colour may be integrated with the first, adherence promoting coating.
This encapsulation of the applied decoration enables the use of organic colouring materials that would previously have been unacceptable from a health and safety point of view.
The subject coating process may be used in combination with many modes of printing, including a variety of digital printing processes, particularly Digital Ink Jet (DIJ) printing.
In one aspect of the present process, transfer of material to an article may involve a pad printing process.
Application by way of the present process of the subject coatings enables decorative and printed matter to be applied to an extremely wide range of materials that formerly were not readily printed upon.
The subsequent application of a bonded, protective clear coating can then hermetically seal and protect the applied decorative matter.
Such protective coatings are usually tougher than the undercoating, with a hard, abrasion resistant outer surface.
It will be understood that the terms “decoration” and “decorative matter” encompasses prosaic matter including warning notices and other text, as well as including the application of a full colour coating.
In the case of glasswares, the subject process enables the direct application of printed material to an initially plastic-coated glass surface.
In the case of items such as flatware that normally is subject to deterioration in appearance, such as the oxidation of silver, or the wearing off of silver and gold plating, or the deterioration and wear of gold ands silver articles, the application of the subject protective coating can isolate such vulnerable surfaces from oxidation and wearing contacts.
The clear nature of the available coatings renders them virtually visually undetectible to the naked eye.
For other wares having coloured, decorated or marked surfaces that are susceptible to wear or damage, the application of the subject protective coating can greatly extend the effective life of such wear-susceptible surfaces.
The subject protective coating may be an essentially water based plastic composition, preferably incorporating an adhesion promoter which promotes bonding of the coating material to the surface being coated.
Selection of coatings, for either printing upon or as an outer, protective coating is determined by the desired qualities such as Food Use approval, impact resistance, dish washer safe, surface wear resistance (hardness and toughness); etc.
In the case of an undercoating, such as a urethane, selected to receive print material (e.g. ink adhesion), the undercoating may also be selected based upon the degree of adhesion thereto of a selected protective outer coating. Furthermore, the undercoating may incorporate a background colour, usually white, to serve as a base or background for any applied decoration.
Thus, in the case of coatings being applied to receive decoration, the coating material, such as a urethane coating, is formulated to accept the decorative inks or other media that will be applied, and also to accept a hard outer coating in close-bonded relation thereto.
As an alternative to an adhesion promoting element incorporated with the undercoating, a separate adhesion promoting undercoating may be applied, prior to the application of the print-receiving undercoating (for decoration)
Dixon Merrick
Eggins D. W.
LandOfFree
Decorative and protective system for wares does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Decorative and protective system for wares, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Decorative and protective system for wares will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3269463