ITPS20090023A1 - PROTECTION AND DECORATION ON CERAMIC BISCUIT OR GLASS IN ENERGY SAVING; NOBILIZATION OF OTHER RAW SURFACES OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS SUCH AS WOOD OR LAPID CONGLOMERATES WITH CONTEMPORARY DUTY OF OPAQUE OR POLISHED FINISHES, OR - Google Patents

Description

DECORATION AND PROTECTIVE GLAZING ON CERAMIC COOKIES OR GLASS IN ENERGY SAVING; FINISHING OF OTHER RAW SURFACES OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS SUCH AS WOODEN OR STONE CONGLOMERATES WITH THE CONTEMPORARY EQUIPMENT OF MATT, GLOSS, OR EMBOSSED FINISHES.

PROCESS, MACHINE, OBTAINED ELEMENTS.

In the known art, the ceramic biscuit decoration takes place by deposition of coloring oxides and subsequent layer of protective showcase after having cooled the ceramic biscuit leaving the baking oven at at least temperatures below 100 ° C. new subjected to cooking in the operation called â € œthird fireâ €.

This involves a considerable expenditure of energy as well as having a reduced possibility of decoration due to the limited use of coloring oxides.

In the ennobling of woody conglomerates, it is known the ennobling with melamine-impregnated decorative papers carried out in a single-compartment press at temperatures of about 200 ° C and simultaneous pressure supply at at least 25 Kg / cm2; this implies the availability of a production chain limited to only some industrialized countries with production by specialized paper mills of huge quantities of colored paper printing bases, the subsequent rotogravure printing of large quantities for each single design, the impregnation in a suspension bath in water of modified melamine, wringing and drying in hot air at 110-130 ° C with consequent waste of energy.

Another disadvantage is the fact that it is not possible to carry out this finishing in low density conglomerates as under the effect of the necessary pressure these would collapse, consequently the conglomerate wood industry is forced to use toxic recycled wood for the shortage of raw materials, where toxicity is increasing with each new recycling.

It is not possible with this technique to ennoble surfaces other than wood conglomerates, such as for example sheets of composite plastic materials, honeycomb panels, fiber cement, plasterboard etc.

The present invention allows to decorate and equip ceramic biscuits with a technical surface with considerable energy savings, exposing them to short heat treatment, including, depending on the thermosetting powder material used, between 130-180 ° C maximum, replacing 1200 ° C. necessary for ceramics, with the further advantage of being able to provide decorations on the entire RAL range with maximum flexibility and the use of metallic, pearlescent, fluorescent pigments, etc., with the further advantage of being able to simultaneously give the surface finish glossy, matt or embossed structures oriented, for example non-slip, without additional surface protection equipment.

The same process makes it possible to ennoble and equip conglomerates of wood particles with a finished technical surface, such as raw chipboard and MDF or HDF panels, to build furniture, or internal coatings or floating floors imitating wood parquets, plastic laminates, phenolic or melamine , or composite laminates, honeycomb panels without surface decoration, or metallic laminates.

For the conglomerates of inorganic aggregates and resinous matrix, such as marble resins, or on fiber cement or plasterboard, the finishing is not currently in use.

The dry finishing with powder paints gives the surfaces a surface resistance far superior to that obtained with the finishing with melamine decorative papers, especially with regard to staining materials such as oil, wine, coca cola, felt-tip pens, etc., which do not produce on the same visible alterations.

For the decoration and protection of the surface I am going to use the powder in use for the ecological dry painting generally carried out with electrostatic deposition on materials that conduct the current connected to earth, available in all the decoration of the RAL scale, also metallized, available in the matrices resinous epoxies, polyesters, acrylics and polyurethanes, polyamide, also in combination with each other, used according to the material to be ennobled according to the firing temperature it bears, or to the final use indoors or outdoors, for the purpose of resistance to exposure to ultraviolet rays.

The system is a combination of a transport system for the slabs to be decorated and protected, with rollers, net or mat of vetroteflon, kevlartefon, carbonteflon, or harmonic steel which mat, closed in a ring, crosses a composed system in sequence:

-from a preheating or non-infrared oven, also combined with hot air; alternatively the heat can also be given to the surface to be ennobled by rubbing on a chromed metal plate, with electric resistances such as an iron, with the advantage of a considerable energy saving in this phase by limiting itself to preheating only the surface layer while the infrared rays would also act in depth.

- a series of screen printing screens used in the dry decoration of ceramics which deposit the glazing powder by gravity, without any contact with the slabs;

- a further infrared oven to obtain the melting of the resinous matrix deposited and combined with the dyes;

- a membrane of silicone rubber, glossy or opaque or engraved with embossing closed and sliding in a ring, which can be overlaid under pressure on the underlying plate maintained under tension between rollers, strongly cooled with cold fluids, for example compressed air supplied with cooling nozzles by expansion, the which can reach 10-20 ° C below zero at the outlet, or alternatively a roller with a silicone rubber surface engraved with embossing, or glossy, or opaque, strongly cooled inside by cold fluids, such as cooled liquids or currents nitrogen;

- an additional infrared cooking oven also in combination

of hot air, for the crosslinking of the thermosetting resin matrix and a cooling zone.

This combination of machines gives rise to the finishing process, by gravity depositing the colored or transparent resin matrix in powder on the preheated panel, or not, with one or more dry screen printing screens in series and in register; the powder is brought to the molten state, the silicone membrane or the silicone roller engraved and strongly cooled by fluids is superimposed under pressure on the surface of the molten resin: the contact due to the thermal shock causes the immediate solidification of the resin matrix leaving impressed its own surface finish.

The pressure on the membrane can be carried out by introducing the cooling fluids under pressure.

The panel with the ennobled surface continues in the infrared oven, combined with hot air, or simply with hot air, and subjected to the temperature necessary for the thermosetting crosslinking and for the time necessary for it; a forced cooling zone down to room temperature completes the process.

For slabs intended to be walked on, we can repeat the above treatment using the colorless and transparent resinous matrix containing inert fillers of zirconium silicate or corundum, or â € œSilibeadâ € (very small transparent glass spheres) to give high resistance to abrasion .

This last treatment can very well protect other types of decoration carried out directly on the surfaces through any type of printing in contact with inks, flexo, screen printing, or digital ink jet etc., deposited on a prepared base suitable for printing which is a precedent. ennobling treatment with solid color dry painting powder, with the finish impressed by the cooled silicone membrane.

The decoration of glass plates will take place in transparency and after obtaining the decoration it can be further equipped with a further layer of resinous matrix containing a grain of silica sand or coarse quartz and superimposed, after fusion, with a silicone membrane, strongly engraved, to considerably increase the anchoring surface for the adhesives used in the installation.

On the visible surface of the colored glass plate, it is also possible to deposit the transparent resin in powder with the additives necessary to increase the resistance to abrasion by superimposing an engraved silicone matrix with an anti-slip effect making the plate suitable for heavy traffic in addition to vertical cladding.

The technique of providing the surface finish through the engraved or non-engraved membrane, superimposed on pressure, can be extended to shaped elements, with rounded edges, or with irregular surfaces, by electrostatically overlapping the decorative thermosetting powder and subjecting the elements in steps, with the surface of powder which has reached the liquid state, under the membrane etched and cooled above and pushed by overlying pressure of cold air, or in combination of vacuum and pressure.

For example, the provision of this finish to pre-finished natural wood parquets allows it to be implemented in great savings in painting products with a low environmental impact and in an ecological way without the emission of solvents into the environment, without the formation of polishing dust, in that

the provision of a transparent protective surface is carried out in a single solution, avoiding the numerous steps of deposition of the base, such as sanding it with problems of dust disposal, and the subsequent overlapping of the finish which can only be

glossy or matte, while ours can also be embossed with anti-slip and highly resistant to foot traffic.

The attached drawing n ° 1 exemplifies with (1) the conveyor belt, with (2) the emission source of infrared thermal wave for preheating the surface to be treated (optional), with (3) the series of screen printing screens for decorative powders dry, with (4) the infrared ray emission source for the fusion of the decorative powder, with (5) the silicone membrane closed in a ring and cooled inside, with (6) the polymerization oven, with (7 ) the cooling phase at room temperature for forced ventilation.

Claims (1)

CLAIMS: 1- I claim the process referred to in the previous descriptions, characterized by the fact of: - deposit on a surface, heated or not, by means of a screen printing screen used in dry ceramic decoration, by gravity and without contact, a layer of ecological dry painting powder used in the industrial painting of architectural elements, or other, for electrostatic deposition on conductive elements connected to earth, colored or transparent, deposited with a series of screens with registered designs, or alternatively with the deposition of the same decorative powders with digital airbrush; - raise the surface temperature until the powder melts; - superimpose with pressure on the treated surface a silicone rubber membrane, which runs closed in a ring, engraved with embossing or smooth glossy or opaque, strongly cooled, in order to cause the immediate solidification of the resinous matrix in contact, leaving the finish of the membrane itself imprinted ; - exert the pressure above the silicone rubber membrane with the same cooling fluid. - subject the treated surface to heating again and keep it at the polymerization temperature for the time necessary for it; - cool with forced air at room temperature. 2- I claim the finishing system referred to in the previous descriptions characterized by the fact that it consists of the following sequence: - A transport system suitable for resisting heat passes through the entire series of actuator means. - A first IR radiant preheating plate, or alternatively a chromed metal plate heated in contact with the raw surface to be ennobled. - One or more powder screen printing screens. - A second IR radiant plate for powder melting. - A silicone rubber belt, closed in a loop and sliding, engraved or not, kept under tension between rollers, with pressure exerted on top with cold fluid, for example compressed air supplied with cooling nozzles or a nitrogen current supplied by tank in pressure of liquefied gas or other cold fluid inside the ring; alternatively a rubber-coated cylinder, engraved or not, made to adhere under pressure to the surface of the applied powder, made liquid by heating, with cold fluids circulating inside. - A third IR radiant plate also in combination with hot air for polymerization. - A series of forced air nozzles for cooling. 3- I claim, for the ennobling referred to in the preceding descriptions and claims, the superposition of the cooled membrane, step by step, under pressure from above, exerted by the same cooling fluid, simultaneously attracted by vacum from below, for the ennobling of planar elements or shaped, with rounded or not rounded perimeters, with surfaces also with relief or low relief, in contrast to elements already treated on the surface with overlapping of the dry painting powder deposited with an electrostatic system on non-conductive surfaces made conductive with the treatment of salt solutions, colored for the printing base and transparent on the surface decorated by direct contact or digital jet printing. 4- I claim the use of the plant and the finishing process referred to in the previous claims for the provision of decorative surfaces and functional techniques to: ceramic biscuits, porcelain stoneware slabs, slabs of conglomerate materials with resinous matrices of particles of wood such as raw chipboards, MDF, HDF, inorganic aggregate particles such as marble resins, fiber cement panels, plasterboard, glass sheets, marble and natural granite sheets, metal laminates, phenolic and melamine laminates, of composite laminates of fibers of various kinds with resins of various kinds, as well as of honeycomb panels of any material. 5- I claim the use of the implant and the process to equip the materials listed in the previous claim 4 with a technical, transparent surface finish, also filled with zirconium silicate or corundum, or very small transparent glass spheres â € œSilibeadâ €. , and natural materials such as wood intended for pre-finished parquet, marble slabs and limestones of various species to be made resistant to abrasion and unbrickable and resistant to acids. 6- I claim the use of the plant and the process to provide a transparent surface and technical finish, also filled with zirconium silicate or corundum, or very small spheres of transparent glass â € œSilibeadâ €, materials of various kinds printed with cold ink deposition techniques, such as flexography, screen printing, digital inkjet printing, etc. 7- I claim the ennobling of glass plates with this process to give the decorations transparently, or to give a full print background transparently to a previous print applied with four-color or six-color transparent inks, as well as the conferment of a loaded technical background with coarse aggregates to allow to increase the adhesion surface of the adhesives during installation, as well as confer on the visible surface the transparent protective surface with resin filled with corundum, zirconium silicate also embossed with anti-slip structure, to be used in flooring. 8- I claim the elements obtained with the process and the machine according to the previous claims 1-2-3-4-5-6-7