GB2271529A

GB2271529A - Colour printed glass slabs for walls and floors

Info

Publication number: GB2271529A
Application number: GB9321175A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chen Shihua
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-10-14
Filing date: 1993-10-14
Publication date: 1994-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2013-10-14
Also published as: GB2271529B; MY110828A; GB9321175D0

Abstract

Colour printed glass slabs for walls and floors are made by printing on a glass plate (1) a coloured image (2), preparing a light, moulded foam slab of magnesia (4), adhering the glass (1) to the foam slab (4) using an adhesive (3) and chamfering the resultant product. The process employs offset printing technology which can print a photographic pattern on the glass plate with 95% fine and dense dots, reproducing colour landscape scenes. The process does not involve high temperature sintering in a kiln, so the product is free from cracks. <IMAGE>

Description

A Process for Making Color Printing Glass Slabs for Wall and Floor and the Resulting Product The present invention relates to a process for making color printing glass slabs for wall and floor, the product being used as surface decorative material for wall and floor in the fitting -up of a building.

At present, earthenware or porcelain slabs are widely used in the fitting-up of buildings. The process for making this sort of elab comprises selecting clay, stones and other accessory materials, milling and stirring them for several hours into a fine and even slurry, baking it to dry and then making slab blanks out of it, glazing the blanks and printing patterns on them with silk-screen printing technology, and finally, firing them at high temperature in the kiln. Since this method requires a large amount of earth and clay, it is apt to occupy farmland and destroy land resources. Besides, the mixing milling, stirring and stoving of the raw materials and the high temperature sintering of the blanks require the consumation of a large amount of energy.Also, the surface of the blanks of these earthenware or porcelain wall and floor slabs are not sufficiently smooth, their regularity being poor and thickness not even, therefore, only the silk-screen printing process can be employed to print a monotonically colored and bold-lined patterns on the products, and the glazed surface is subject to craze cracks during firing and is easy to wear out. TheEe disadvantages greatly affect the decorative property and the service life of these earthenware or porcelain wall and floor slabs. As viewed from the point of development,they can not satisfy the requirements of developments for the architectural area to a higher rank.

Through documentary search, it is found that the chinese patent application no. 89105834. 6 entitled "the manufacturing method of a porcelain glass painting" introduces a painting comprised of porcelain, glass and pattern. The manufacturing method comprises adhering one or more than one layer of glass plate on a piece of porcelain plate, on or beneath the glass plate being printed with patterns, firing the plates at a temperature of 760 850 C so that the contacting surfaces between porcelain and glass plates, glass plate and glass plate are adhered to be one integral body to form a porcelain glass painting.

More specifically, the glass plate is placed within the boundary of a pattern on a porcelain plate and fixed by liquid adhesive.

The glass plate is then applied and painted with porcelain glaze colors forming a pattern and fired in a patterned surface baking kiln, Alternatively, it is also possible to draw a pattern on the porcelain plain blanks with glaze colors, fired in a biscuit kiln and then adhered with a glass plate and baked in a patterned surface baking kiln. This method has two disadvantages; firstly, it requires the baking in a patterned surface baking kiln, thus consuming a large amount of energy, and secondly, the pattern is done by manual work, thus being unable to reproduce the scenes of the nature having a photographic effect.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the above -mentioned disadvantages and to provide a process for making color printing glass slabs for wall and floor, in which high -temperature firing is not to be used nor will farmland be occupied.

Another object of the present invention is to replace the currently used silk- screen printing with offset printing technology to print out photographic pattern with 95% highly fine and dense printing dots. Still another object of the prsent invention is to provide a sort of color printing glass slabs for wall and floor that are free from ageing cracks, the patterns on which can reproduce scenes of the great nature that are utterly true to life and will not be easy to wear out, the surface being flat and smooth with good regularity and even thickness and they are easy to be used in fitting-up.

The objects of the present invention are to be achieved through the following measures.

The product made according to the present invention comprises four layers, namely, a layer of glass, a layer of colored pattern.

a a layer of adhesive and a layer of light, molded foam slab of magnesia . The glass layer is a piece of colorless and transparent conventional float glass plate or toughened glass plate, which is to be the top layer. The colored pattern layer is a colored pattern printed on the glass by means of offset printing technology. The adhesive layer comprises room-temperature setting silicon rubber adhesive applied to the colored pattern layer. The layer of light, molded foam slab of magnesia is made by mixing and stirring evenly magnesia and magnesium chloride of technical grade, fine sands, cement, expanded perlite, foaming agent, papid setting agent with water, and moulding them at room temperature .This layer being the bottom layer of the wall and floor slab is to be the carrier of the glass layer, the colored pattern layer and the adhesive layer.It will be directly adhered to the wall or the floor.

The manufacturing method according to the present invention will be carried out through steps in the following sequence; 1. The selection and treatment of glass plate Pieces of S5mm thick colorless and transparent conventional float glass plate or toughened glass plate are selected for use.

The material is to be cut according to the requirements of the specification of the product, then treated with glass cleansing agent so as to make the offset printing ink firmly attached to the printing surface of the glass.

The glass cleansing agent is chiefly composed of hydrofluoric acid and water and mixed with contaminants removing agent, surface -active agent and solvent, in which, the hydrofluoric acid besides its functions of degreasing and contaminants removing, can also etch the glass to make its surface slightly coarse.

Ammonium hydrogen fluoride,acetic acid and normal phosphoric acid are selected to be the contaminants removing agent, and dodecyl sodium sulfonate ,dodecylbenzine sodium sulfonate and glycol n -butyl ether are to be the surface-active agent, and isopropyl alcohol to be the solvent. The avove mentioned materials used should all be of the grade of chemically pure(CP).

The composition of the glass cleansing agent is as follows: hydrofluoric acid (40%) 0.5N10 parts (by weight) dodecyl sodium sulfonate 0.05- 0.07 parts glycol n-butyl ether 4.0 ~ 8. 0 parts acetic acid (20% water solutioni 0.5 h 10 parts isopropyl alcohol 0 ~ 8 parts water added to form a total of 100 parts The method of preparation: adding in turn the above- listed materials to the water according to their parts by weight, and stirring evenly; immersing the glass plate in the cleansing agent for 30 minutes at room temperature and then washing it with water in the normal way,baking or airing it to become dry.

Glass plate of 3-5mm thick ie most desirable.If its thickness is more than 5mm, the weight of the wall and floor slab would be increased, causing the surface decorated to be overloaded; if its thickness is less than 3 mm, the glass is easy to be broken, with insufficient shock resistance and can not be toughened.

2. Off set printing of the colored pattern layer A layer of colored pattern is printed on the surface of the treated glass plate by means of the conventional offset technology.

The conventional offset printing technology including the processes of positive film photography, electronic color separation ,plate masking, PS plate printing down, is employed to carry out direct chromaticity printing on the glass surface ready to be printed by means of the method of roller printing. The printing ink will be cured by ultraviolet rays, and the technological parameter will be in accordance with the requirements set in the specification of the printing ink. For details, Chinese patent no. 88108317. 8 entitled "Plate Glass Painting and Plywood Painting Made by Offset Printing Method can be refered to.The thickness of the colored pattern layer is about 2-3 au m.

Electronic computer is to be used to check the printing qualities,namely, whether the colors, including the colors of red yellow, blue and black can meet the requirements of the proofing norm and whether the cross-grid process printing is correct and exact. The glass plate with qualified colored pattern layer is then cut into pieces of required size by cutting machine.

3. The preparation of the light, molded foam slab of magnesia 20 parts (by weight) of magnesia, 10 parts of magnesium chloride (both being of technical grade), 20 parts of 450# cement 25 parts of 200 mesh fine sands, 20 parts of expanded perlite of volume weight 150 250 m3/kg, trace of foaming agent, such as aluminium powder and rapid setting agent of type 771 are mixed evenly in turn. 100 parts of the above mixture is to be added 50 parts of water, stirred evenly, then poured into a mould applied already with a film of mould releasing agent. A pressure of 0. 5 kg/cm2 is applied and after 30 minutes the mould is released.

Alter a curing for 24 hours at room temperature,molded slabs of various size, for example 15.2x 15.2x5(mm); 15.2x20x5(mm), 30.

5x30 .5x8(mm) and 30.5x61x8(mm) are produced.

The above-mentioned mould releasing agent can be made by mixing and stirring 150 200g bleached bees wax (melted at 90 C) with 100g machine oil.

4. Adhering The surface of the glass plate which has been printed with colored pattern is applied evenly with a coating of kim thick silicon rubber adhesive, such as, GPS 4 organosilicon adhesive (manufactured by the Shanghai Rubber Products Research Institute), KH -80 silicon rubber adhesive (manufactured by the Gai District Chemical Works, Liaoning Province), GN-521 (manufactured by the Morning Twilight Chemical Research Institute, Branch I) . After being aligned with the light,molded foam slab of magnesia, a pressure of 0 .05-0.30kg/cm" is applied. After curing for 24 hours at room temperature, a piece of color printing glass wall and floor slab blank is produced.The silicon rubber adhesive can be cured at room -temperature, easy and convenient to use, and with good elasticity, thermal stability and atmospheric ageing resistance.

5. Chamfering The blank of the color printing glass wall and floor slab after properly adhered is chamfered by glass chamfering machine to have a 3mm or 5mm slanting edge. Thus, a finished product of color printing glass wall and floor slab is obtained.

The glass slab of the present invention has the following advantages over the prior art slab.

1. There is no need for high temperature sinterring in the manufacturing process of the present invention, so energy is saved, and no waste gas is discharged, causing no pollution to the atmosphere.

2. Glass is the chief raw material for the present invention, no pottery clay or porcelain clay is needed, therefore no farmland would be occupied and no land resources and ecological equilibrium would be affected.

3. The surface of the glass plate, after being specially treated ,can be printed with 95% highly fine and dense dots by means of offset printing technology with a pattern that will reproduce colorful scenes of the great nature, presenting a strong stereo effect that is true to life, greatly enhancing the decorative effect of the wall and floor slabs. This is more desirable beyond comparison than the earthenware or porcelain slabs with silk-screen printings.

4. The present invention does not employ the process of high temperature sinterring. It employs a process of adhering at room -temperature. Therefore no deformation or ageing cracks would occur on the surface of the glass layer, thereby resulting in the solution of the problem of ageing cracks which the earthenware or porcelain slabs can not overcome.

5. The colored pattern layer according to the present invention lies beneath the glass plate and is sandwiched in between the glass plate, adhesives and the light, molded foam slab of magnesia. That is why the colored pattern will not directly wear off.

6. The bottom layer of the color printing glass wall and floor slab is a layer of light, molded foam slab of magnesia, the water absorbing capacity of which accounts for 10 15%. It can be firmly fixed directly to the wall by the conventional 4501f cement, thus the difficult technical problem that glass plate can not be adhered to the wall directly by cement comes to a solution, greatly reducing the fitting-up cost of fixing the glass plates on the wall.

The product of the present invention has been tested for transparency (according to national standard GB268S 81) , for bending strength (according to GB8917), for rapid cooling and rapid heating resistance ( according to GB2581) and for antifreezing ability (according to GB6955). Ae for the ehearing strength, the testing method described in the unpractical Adhesion Manual" compiled by Li Zi- tung and published by Shanghai Scientific and Technic Documentation ?publishing House can be referred to.

The following is a sheet of Test Report Attached List made by the Product Testing Center of Guandong Province.

Test Report Attached List

Serial Testing Items Norm Requirements Testing Results no. 1 2 3 1 Transparency > -70 (%) 84.8 | 84.9 85.7 I 2 Bending Strength > =30 (NQPa) 42.30 39.26 46.29 3 Shearing Strenth > -2.5 (N/mm2) > 4.36 > 4.48 > 4.38 4 Freezing & Melting Taking -20125'C 3h, 10-2C 3h Test as one cycle, after 30 cycles, Satis- Satis- Satis no cracks, color change, defor- factory factory factory mation, air bubbles has been found 5 Acid Resistance Immersion in 6% HCI solution for Test 336h, no cracks, deformation Satis- Satis- Satis air bubbles and obvious color factory factory factory change has been found 6 Alkali Resistance Immersion in 5% NaOH solution for Test 336h, no cracks, deformation Satis- Satis- Satis air bubbles and obvious color factory factory factory change has been found 7 Water Resistance 50+2-C, relative humidity 9099e/c Satis- Satis- Satis Test 288h no cracks, color change, defor- factory factory factory mation, and air bubbles has been found 8 Heat Resistance 100+2-C, 100h, no cracks, deformation Satis- Satis- Satis Test , air bubbles and obvious color factory factory factory change has been found The invention will be further described in the following in more detail with reference to the accompanging drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical view of the structure of the color printing glass slab for wall or floor; and Fig. 2 is a flow chart of the manufacturing process of the color printing glass slab for wall or floor.

The wall and floor slab of the present invention comprises four layers, namely, a layer of glass (1), a layer of colored pattern (2) , a layer of adhesive (3) and a layer of light, molded foam slab of magnesia (4). The glass layer (1) is a piece of colorless and transparent conventional float glass plate, which is to be the top layer. The colored pattern layer (2) is a colored pattern printed on the glass plate by means of offset printing technology.The adhesive layer ( 3) comprises room -temperature setting silicon rubber adhesive , applied to the colored pattern(2). The layer of light, molded foam slab of magnesia (4) is made by mixing magnesia and magnesium chloride of technical grade, with 200 mesh fine sands, expanded perlite of volume weight 150 250 m3lkg, foaming agent, rapid setting agent and water,and moulding them at room temperature. This layer, being the bottom layer of the wall and floor slab, is to be the carrier of glass layer(1), colored pattern layer(2) and adhesive layer(3). It will be directly adhered to the wall or the floor.

According to Fig. 2, the cutting and the pre-treatment of the glass material drying process of the glass are included in step I.

The processes from designing the product pattern to the drawing of draft pattern by artisan, taking photographs of scenes of the great nature,carrying out the electronic color separation, plate making, PS plate printing down, offset four color process printing on glass, curing treatment by light, as well as the automatic testing the printing quality by electronic computer and the cutting of the qualified printed glass plate are all included in Step I[ of the process of offset printing the colored pattern.

The preparation of light, molded slab belongs to Step m, and the adhesion of glass plate with the molded slab belongs to Step W.

Chamfering after the adhesion belongs to Step V . Finally the finished product is obtained, Again the process of making color printing glass slab for wall and floor will be further described incorporating the embodiment.

1. The selection and treatment of glass plate Pieces of 5mm thick colorless and transparent conventional float glass plate or toughened glass plate are selected for use.

The material is to be cut according to the size of the six patterns and then treated with glass cleansing agent. The compositon of the cleansing agent is as follows: ( selecting one from the three) Name of Materials parts by weight 1 2 3 hydrofluoric acid 0.5 6 10 dodecyl sodium sulfonate 0. 07 0.07 0. 6 glycol n-butyl ether 8. 0 -- 8. 0 acetic acrid(20%) 5.0 5.0 - isopropyl alcohol -- 8. 0 8.0 water 86. 43 81. 93 73. 5 The preparing process comprises pouring the above- listed materials in turn into water according to its parts by weight, adding water to the required amount and stirring.

The glass plates are immersed in the cleansing agent for 30 minutes at room temperature then washed with pure water, and finally baked or aired to be dry.

2. Offset printing of the colored pattern layer The conventional offset printing technology including the processes of positive film photography, electronic color separation ,plate making, PS plate printing down, is employed to carry out direct chromaticity printing on the glass surface ready to be printed by means of the method of roller printing. The printer used is a Type JB600 Offset printer, and the printing ink Fairy brand light curing offset printing ink manafactured by Tientsin Printing Ink Factory. The ink is to be cured for 0. 1~0 .3 seconds by a high pressure mercury lamp, the distance from the lamp being 20-40m. The thickness of the colored pattern layer is about 2~ 3 11 m.

After being automaticallv checked for printing quality by computer, the qualified products are cut by cutting machine ready for further processing.

3. The preparation of the light, molded foam slab of magnesia Material Used Parts by Weight Specification magnesium 20 technical grade magnesium chloride 10 technical grade cement 20 460# fine sands 26 200 mesh expanded perlite 20 volume weight 150- 250m8/kg aluminium powder 2. 5 No.771 rapid setting agent 2.5 After the above materials have been evenly mixed, 50 parts of water are added to the mixture and stirred evenly. Then the whole is poured into a mould already applied with a film of mould releasing agent. A pressure of O.Skgicm2is applied and after 30 minutes the mould is released.After a curing of 24 hours at room temperature,molded slabs of the size 15.2 x 15.2 x 5(mm) or 30.5 x 30.5 X 8(mm) are produced.

4. Adhering The surface of the glass plate which has been printed with colored pattern is applied evenly with a coating of 1 mm thick GPS-4 organosilicon adhesive (manufactured by the Shanghai Rubber Products Research institute). After the glass plate and the light molded foam slab of magnesia are aligned with each other, a pressure of 0 .2Okgjcm2is applied. After a curing of 24 hours at room temperature, a piece of color printing glass wall and floor slab blank is produce.

5. Chamfering The above-mentioned blank is chamfered by glass chamfering machine to have a 3mm slanting edge. Thus, a finished product of color printing glass wall and floor slab is obtained.

Claims

Claims:

1. Process for making colour printed floor or wall tiles comprising offset printing an image onto a surface of a glass plate and adhering the glass plate to a foam blank of magnesia with the printed surface of the glass plate facing towards the blank.

2. A process according to Claim 1 wherein the glass plate is 3 to 5 mm thick, colourless and transparent float glass plate or toughened glass plate.

3. A process according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein, prior to the offset printing, the glass plate is treated with a cleansing agent.

4. A process according to claim 3 wherein the cleansing agent includes 0.5 to 10% by weight hydrofluoric acid, 0.05 to 0.07% by weight dodecyl sodium sulfonate, 4 to 8% by weight glycol n-butyl ether, 0.5 to 10% by weight 20% aqueous solution of acetic acid, optionally up to 8% by weight isopropyl alcohol and balance water.

5. A process according to Claim 3 or Claim 4 wherein the glass plate is immersed in the cleansing agent for up to 80 minutes at room temperature.

6. A process according to any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein, following the treatment of the cleansing agent and prior to the offset printing, the glass plate is washed with pure water and then baked or aired to dry.

7. A process according to any proceeding claim wherein the offset printing is achieved by roller printing.

8. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the ink with which the image is printed is subsequently cured by ultra-violet light.

9. A process according to any preceding claim in which the thickness of the printed image is between 2 and 8 micrometres.

10. A process according to any preceding claim wherein the foam blank of magnesia is formed by adding 50 parts by weight of water to a mixture of 20 parts by weight technical grade magnesia, 10 parts by weight technical grade magnesium chloride, 20 parts by weight cement 450#, 25 parts by weight 150 to 250m2/kg expanded perlite, 2.5 parts by weights foaming agent and 2.5 parts by weight rapid setting agent, evenly stirring, powdering the evenly stirred mixture into a mould, applying pressure to the mould, releasing the mould and allowing the moulded product to cure.

11. A process according to claim 10 in which a pressure of 0.5kg/cm2 is applied to the mould for 80 minutes.

12. A process according to Claim 10 or Claim 11 in which the moulded product is allowed to cure at room temperature for 24 hours.

13. A process according to any preceding claim in which the glass plate is adhered to the blank of magnesia using a silicon rubber adhesive.

14. A process according to Claim 13 in which the glass plate and the foam blank of magnesia are adhered to one another under a pressure of 0.05 to 0.80 kg/m2.

15. A process according to Claim 13 or Claim 14 in which the silicon rubber adhesive is allowed to cure at room temperature for 24 hours.

16. A process according to any preceding claim in which the completed floor or wall tile is chamfered.

17. A colour printed wall or floor tile prepared by a process according to any preceding claim.

18. A process for making colour printed wall or floor tiles substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawing.

19. A colour printed floor or wall tile substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.