Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including variation in thickness
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-13
2001-08-21
Watkins, III, William P. (Department: 1772)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Including variation in thickness
C428S172000, C428S173000, C428S158000, C428S161000, C428S106000, C428S151000, C428S204000, C428S464000, C428S537500, C428S542200, C428S187000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06277468
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a paper-laminated metal sheet including a metal base material and paper laminated on the metal base material. Specifically, the present invention relates to a paper-laminated metal sheet with high aesthetic appearance which has various applications including construction materials for houses and buildings such as inner wall materials, floor materials, ceiling materials, interior materials, panels, and doors, casing members for furniture such as lockers, cabinets, and counters, casing members for electric appliances, interior materials for vehicles such as cars, trains, and ships, and vessels and metal fixtures.
BACKGROUND ART
In an attempt to provide metal sheet on which aesthetic appearance can be made, various techniques have been developed, and the following methods have been in the actual use. In one method, a resin coating is applied to the surface of a plated or non-plated metal base material. After that, beautiful colors, designs or patterns may be printed thereon. As a result, a beautifully coated metal sheet is obtained. In another method, a metal base material is subjected to hot rolling, and a black oxide layer naturally formed during the hot rolling is utilized to make designs thereon. There is also a method for providing a steel sheet or a titanium alloy sheet formed with decorative coatings in various colors. In this method, an oxide layer of navy blue or other colors is artificially formed onto the surface of the metal base material. The metal sheets obtained in these conventional methods have beautiful and aesthetic appearance formed; however, a coolness and touch feel inheriting from metal sheets remain.
On the other hand, film-laminated metal sheets are also known. The film-laminated metal sheets are formed by laminating a film of polyvinyl chloride, polyolefin, or an acrylic resin onto a metal base material. The laminated films are effective in giving high corrosion resistance and scratching resistance to the metal sheets; however, few of them have aesthetic appearance property. In addition, these laminated films are thermoplastic in applications where the processability is important, and therefore, they have low heat resistance. As laminated films, vinyl polyvinyl chloride films have been widely used; however, they generate harmful gas when burned, causing an air-pollution problem.
In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior arts, studies have been proceeded to develop a new type of laminated metal sheets. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-256822 discloses a paper-laminated metal sheet including a metal base material and paper laminated on the metal base material via an adhesive agent. The features of this invention seem to reside in that, when the paper-laminated metal sheet is subjected to a bending process, the portion to be bent is wet -with water and then is bent, thereby preventing the paper from being torn. However, the step of wetting the portion to be bent of the paper-laminated metal sheets one by one makes the production process complicated, and lowers the productivity. In addition, whereas the wet paper-laminated metal sheet can easily bent, the strength of its paper is lowered. As a result, a problem arises in that the paper is damaged or torn during the processing. There is also a problem that, in the state of being wet with water, the paper loses its adhesiveness to the metal base material. Depending on the processings, the paper may peel off from the metal base material.
The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-described situation, and an objective thereof is to provide a paper-laminated metal sheet which can be processed without wetting with water, while preventing the paper from being torn with, and which keeps the aesthetic appearance derived from the paper for a long period of time.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a paper-laminated metal sheet with high strength and processability derived from the metal base material, as well as unbelievably high aesthetic appearance for a metal plate derived from paper, whereby the paper-laminated metal sheet is valuable as a novel material having various applications.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to the present invention, a paper-laminated metal sheet has a structure in which at least a sheet of paper is laminated on at least one side of a metal base material via a pressure sensitive adhesive agent or an adhesive agent layer, and a protective layer is formed on the top surface of the paper-laminated side. With this structure, the paper-laminated metal sheet has a soft and warm touch derived from the paper while eliminating an inorganic appearance and a cold touch inherent to metals. In addition, the protective layer prevents the paper from being damaged during the time when the paper-laminated metal sheet is processed or is used for products. In addition, when the pre-printed paper is used, higher aesthetic appearance is attained. For example, when paper printed with a woodgrain pattern is used, the metal plate is valuable in various applications as a novel material with high quality appearance.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4009319 (1977-02-01), Cline
patent: 4942084 (1990-07-01), Prince
patent: 59-40115 (1984-09-01), None
patent: 61-3652 (1986-02-01), None
patent: 6-91806 (1994-04-01), None
patent: 6-270334 (1994-09-01), None
patent: 7-266526 (1995-10-01), None
patent: 7-256822 (1995-10-01), None
patent: 8-39748 (1996-02-01), None
patent: 8-134799 (1996-05-01), None
Ikeda Mitsuo
Ishimoto Koji
Kii Takeshi
Kishida Noboru
Nakamoto Tadashige
Mitsui Bussan Construction Materials Co., LTD
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
Watkins III William P.
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