Abrading – Abrading process – Combined abrading
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-26
2003-03-04
Rose, Robert A. (Department: 3723)
Abrading
Abrading process
Combined abrading
C451S029000, C451S038000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06527628
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a frosted glass product, where a glass-made packaging container such as glass bottle, a glass-made table service (tableware) such as cups and dishes, or a glass-made decoration is subjected to a frost processing to form a delustered surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
The frost processing for working the surface of a glass product into a fog-like delustered surface is roughly classified into a chemical method and a mechanical method. Of these, the chemical method is called chemical frosting (or chemical frost processing) and representative examples thereof include (1) a method of mixing a hydrofluoric acid, a fluorine compound or an acid, non-uniformly corroding the glass surface to generate fine recessed faces, and thereby forming a frosted surface. On the other hand, representative examples of the mechanical method include (2) a method called sand blasting (or sand blast processing) of blowing Al
2
O
3
(called “alundum”), SiC (called “carborundum”) or quartz sand to roughen the surface. Other examples include (3) a method of mixing silica powder or the like with a heat-curable resin or a photocurable resin, such as urethane resin, and coating the mixture on the surface of a glass product to obtain a frosted surface, (4) a method of coating and baking a coating material mainly comprising an alkoxy silane, and (5) a method of coating and baking a particulate silica or a metal oxide using a low melting point glass as the binder.
Among these, the method most commonly used for the production of a frosted glass product is the etching method (1) using a hydrofluoric acid, however, since a large amount of a hydrofluoric acid giving rise to the environmental pollution is dealt with, this method is not preferred for workers in view of labor safety and hygiene and a countermeasure must be taken for individual cases. The method (2) has a problem in that since the surface of the glass substrate is roughened by mechanically scratching it, coarse asperities are formed on the glass surface to give bad touch feeling. In other words, the glass product obtained by conventional sand-blast processing clearly differs from the product by the chemical frost processing in that the touch feeling is rough, to say nothing of the appearance. The method (3) of forming an organic material film is in need of improvement because the heat resistance and the surface hardness are low. The method (4) is disadvantageous in that a thick film cannot be formed and due to the use of an organic solvent, the work environment is bad. Also, the method (5) is disadvantageous in that glass powder and a solvent must be mixed for a long time in a pot mill at the time of producing a coating material and in the case of using an organic solvent, environmental pollution and bad working environment arise as problems and handling of the coating material requires great care. As such, each processing method has the above-described defects and therefore, a processing method ensuring touch feeling equal to that in the chemical frost, safe working and mildness to the environment is being demanded.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By taking account of these problems, the present invention provides a method for producing a frosted glass product, where a sand blast processing using a powder class abrasive and a brush polishing treatment are performed and thereby appearance and touch feeling equal to those of a product worked by the chemical frost processing can be attained. In particular, the present invention provides a method for producing a frosted glass product, which is safe in the work and at the same time, mild to the environment.
The invention of claim
1
is a method for producing a frosted glass product, which is a method for obtaining a glass product having a delustered surface such that the surface roughness Ra of the glass is from 0.4 to 1.2 &mgr;m, the method comprising a step of sand-blasting a glass surface using an abrasive having a grain size of less than #220, and a step of brush-polishing the sand-blasted surface.
The invention of claim
2
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
1
, which comprises a step of water-washing the brush-polished surface.
The invention of claim
3
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
1
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed while splashing water.
The invention of claim
4
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
1
, wherein the abrasive is Al
2
O
3
or SiC having a grain size of #400 to #500.
The invention of claim
5
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
2
, wherein the abrasive is Al
2
O
3
or SiC having a grain size of #400 to #500.
The invention of claim
6
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
3
, wherein the abrasive is Al
2
O
3
or SiC having a grain size of #400 to #500.
The invention of claim
7
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
1
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
The invention of claim
8
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
2
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
The invention of claim
9
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
3
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
The invention of claim
10
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
4
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
The invention of claim
11
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
5
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
The invention of claim
12
is the method for producing a frosted glass product as described in claim
6
, wherein the brush-polishing treatment is performed by a nylon brush having mixed thereinto an abrasive having a grain size of #320 to #500.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention is described in detail below.
In the present invention, the appearance and touch equal to those of a glass product worked by the chemical frost processing means a delustered surface where the glass surface roughness Ra is from 0.4 to 1.2 &mgr;m. If the glass surface roughness Ra is less than 0.4 &mgr;m, the transparency is excessively high and the high-grade effect is lost, whereas if it exceeds 1.2 &mgr;m, appearance, touch feeling and the transfer paper printability becomes worse. The Ra of the delustered surface is most preferably from 0.5 to 0.9 &mgr;m.
The construction material of the abrasive for use in the present invention may be any as long as it can render the glass surface foggy and examples thereof include ceramics and glass. With respect to the grain size, a powder class abrasive of less than #220 may be used. Al
2
O
3
#220 generally used in the sand-blast processing gives a coarse glass surface having a surface roughness Ra of about 2.0 &mgr;m. If the grain size is large, SiC and other abrasives similarly form large asperities on the surface, whereas if the grain size is small, although small asperities may be formed on the surface, the processing time is prolonged. Steel is not preferred because the processing takes a long time and even if the grain size is reduced, fine irregularities cannot be formed and a large Ra results. With the same grain size, SiC and glass bead give a larger Ra than
Ito Yuuzi
Kawai Hiroshi
Ishizuka Glass Kabushiki Kaisha
Rader & Fishman & Grauer, PLLC
Rose Robert A.
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