Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Coated or structually defined flake – particle – cell – strand,... – Rod – strand – filament or fiber
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-30
2002-09-10
Kelly, Cynthia H. (Department: 1774)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Coated or structually defined flake, particle, cell, strand,...
Rod, strand, filament or fiber
C428S367000, C428S368000, C428S015000, C428S018000, C264S087000, C264S086000, C044S535000, C044S558000, C044S559000, C431S125000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06447906
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to molded articles comprising a plurality of high temperature resistant non-white inorganic fibers for use in the artificial fireplace products industry, and methods of manufacturing the molded fireplace articles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Synthetic fireplace (hearth) products is a rapidly growing area of industry. Propane and natural gas-burning fireplaces and stoves are becoming increasingly popular with consumers who wish to avoid the high maintenance of wood-burners. Artificial, synthetic logs, coals and embers are utilized to replicate the appearance of burning wood. These products must be made of refractory material which can be molded and colored to resemble actual wood.
The prior art reveals several attempts to produce non-combustible artificial fireplace articles, such as fireplace logs, that simulate the natural appearance of wood or bark. Non-combustible synthetic fire-logs have been devised, for use as a decorative substitute for natural wood-logs in an oil-or gas-burning fireplace or stove. In this kind of burning equipment, wood is not required as a combustible and must even be avoided. However, it is often required that such an oil-or gas-burning fireplace or stove looks like its wood-burning equivalents, thereby making it necessary to use “synthetic logs”.
The hearth-products industry uses fibers, such as refractory ceramic fibers and the like, to make artificial firelogs, coals, embers and simulated brick fireplace liners. One type of ceramic fiber that is traditionally used to produce fireplace products is the vitreous alumino-silicate. Alumino-silicate fibers are produced by melting a combination of alumina and silica in approximately equal proportions or by melting kaolin clay in an electric resistance furnace. The molten mixture may be formed into fiber in a variety of different ways. Once formed, the fibers may be molded into a desired shape.
Ceramic fibers are white or near-white in color. In order to impart a realistic appearance to the artificial fireplace products made from ceramic fibers, the exterior surface of the article is traditionally painted to produce a natural-looking surface. For example, a synthetic fireplace log may be painted brown to simulate bark, light tan to simulate end-grain or a split-log surface or black to simulate char. During the production, handling, shipping, installation or use of these products, the painted surface may become chipped, eroded, or abraded sufficiently to remove the paint from a portion of the exterior surface of the product. In such cases, the white color of the fibers comprising the article become visible in the chip or scratch and, thus, the aesthetic quality of the product is substantially degraded or lost due to the unnatural appearance of the flawed area.
An example of such a non-combustible, decorative fire-log intended to be used in combination with combustible synthetic fire-logs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,539 issued to D. Sebby et al. Usually, such non-combustible fire-logs are made of cement and refractory aggregates or ceramic fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,888 reports a method to produce a colored log by vacuum forming a mixture containing ceramic fibers and iron chromite that are for use in natural gas, propane and wood-burning fireplaces and stoves which are both fully-vented and non-vented depending upon the particular design of the heat generating equipment.
In the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,888, the log is produced by vacuum forming using, as starting material, a mixture of ceramic fibers, such as aluminosilicate fibers, and chromite dispersed into water, to which is added a flocculating composition including starch possessing a negative charge to facilitate solid formation, and a colloidal silica/sol possessing a positive charge to improve the adherence of the fibers to each other and thus to improve the handling properties of the resulting molded log. The chromite component and the other mineral pigments that can be added to the composition to produce a log that has a bark-like exterior surface and a dark color to simulate a natural looking arrangement of real wood-logs in an oil- or gas-burning environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,976 relates to the production of imitation fireplace objects by molding a mixture of cement, amorphous mineral silicate, and fiber. Colorants, such as manganese dioxide, may be added to the molding mixture.
A mineral foam is molded into a synthetic firelog in a method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,266. Optionally, one or more pigments may by added to the foam to impart color to the log.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,111 to Smith et al discloses a method for producing chromium oxide coated refractory ceramic fibers. According to the reference, the fibers can be uniformly coated by spraying a solution of chromium ion on the ceramic fibers during the fiberization step and prior to initial cooling to ambient temperature. The coated fibers can be incorporated into mats and blankets having high temperature resistance and low shrinkage.
In each prior art reference described above, the range and quality of color is limited. Because each fiber in the fireplace log is not individually colored, color throughout the entire molded object is not achieved.
Non-white fibers, of a color which simulates the natural color of the material the product represents, would allow the production of a fireplace article which is colored throughout the bulk of the product, rather than just on the exterior surfaces. Fireplace articles comprising combinations of different colored fibers would allow a wider range of color shading and color patterns. Surface aberrations and flaws which might occur during production, handling, shipping, installation or use would not lead to a large degradation in the aesthetic appearance or quality of the artificial fireplace product.
For this reason, development of fireplace articles comprising individually colored inorganic fibers is considered desirable in the art to produce a more durable and realistic end product.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of present invention to provide molded fireplace articles that are colored throughout.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial fireplace article that simulates the aesthetic appearance of natural wood, bark or brick.
It is another object of the present invention to provide molded fireplace articles that are colored throughout, and that simulate the aesthetic appearance of fireplace logs, bricks, coals, embers, liners and inserts.
It is another object of the present invention to provide molded fireplace articles that are colored throughout, so that the aesthetic appearance is not significantly degraded by exterior surface aberrations, such as cracks, chips and scratches.
It is another object of the present invention to provide molded fireplace articles that are high temperature resistant.
It is another object of the present invention to provide fireplace articles that resist shrinkage.
The foregoing objects, together with the advantages thereof over the known art relating to artificial fireplace articles and methods of manufacturing artificial fireplace articles, which shall become apparent from the specification which follows, are accomplished by the invention as hereinafter described and claimed.
The present invention, therefore, provides a molded fireplace article comprising a plurality of non-white inorganic fibers, and characterized in that the non-white inorganic fibers are substantially uniformly coated with a colored metal oxide.
The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a molded articles comprising: providing a plurality of non-white inorganic fibers, mixing the fibers with a binder and a liquid to form a slurry, and forming the slurry into a shaped article.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the non-white inorganic fibers comprising the molded fireplace articles are prepared by the steps comprising: providing a colorant solution formed b
Andrejcak Michael J.
Zoitos Bruce K.
Gray J. M.
Kelly Cynthia H.
Renner Kenner Greive Bobak Taylor & Weber
Unifrax Corporation
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