JP2007002047A - Aqueous clear coating composition and method for forming clear film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aqueous clear coating composition capable of being suitably controlled in drip properties, capable of forming a film having a good external appearance, and given by taking the environment into consideration, and to provide a method for forming the clear film. <P>SOLUTION: This aqueous clear coating composition contains an active energy ray-curing compound having an unsaturated bond, a photopolymerization initiator, an aqueous acrylic resin, and a melamine resin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an aqueous clear coating composition and a clear coating film forming method.

In the coating of automobile bodies and the like, it is widely performed to form a top coat film composed of a base coat film and a clear coat film. In particular, since the clear coating film constitutes the outermost layer in the coating film of an automobile body or the like, various physical properties such as high appearance, water resistance, and weather resistance are required, and the clear coating material having such physical properties is required. Various compositions are used.

On the other hand, in the field of automotive paints, attempts have been made to reduce the amount of organic solvents used from the viewpoint of environmental considerations, etc., and in order to achieve these purposes, water-based paints have been studied. It has already been put to practical use in intermediate coatings and base coatings. However, in the water-based clear paint, it is difficult to satisfy all of the above-mentioned required physical properties, so that the water-based coating has been delayed.

In particular, in a water-based clear paint, it is desired to sufficiently control the sagging property. When sagging occurs, unevenness on the surface of the coating film is generated, and the appearance becomes poor due to the deterioration of smoothness. Therefore, it is a very important problem to prevent sagging. . In particular, since the body of an automobile has a complicated shape, it has been extremely difficult to control smoothness. Such problems also occur in solvent-based clear paints. However, in solvent-based paints, the viscosity increases due to the volatilization of the solvent. is there. However, such a problem becomes more important in water-based clear paints because water volatilization is slow.

For example, it is not preferable to apply a paint having an excessively high viscosity on the surface near the horizontal of the object to be coated in order to obtain smoothness. When a coating film is formed with a low-viscosity coating, a naturally smooth surface is formed. On the other hand, with a high-viscosity coating, the coating that forms the coating does not flow and the surface is difficult to smooth.

On the other hand, since the surface close to perpendicularity easily flows down when the viscosity is low, the coating film needs a certain degree of viscosity. However, since it is not practical to change the type of paint used between the surface close to horizontal and the surface close to vertical, the smoothness of the horizontal and vertical surfaces as described above using the same paint composition It is required to achieve both.

In Patent Document 1, in order to control sagging in an intermediate coating material, a melamine-curing coating composition containing an active energy ray-curable compound is applied to an object to be coated, and then active energy ray irradiation is performed for preliminary curing. After that, a method for forming a coating film is described in which the coating film is completely cured by heating.
In Patent Document 2, a paint composition containing a photocurable composition, a thermosetting resin composition, a photopolymerization initiator, and a photoacid generator is used after coating and thickening the coating film by light irradiation. A method for forming a thermosetting coating film that is heated and cured is described. However, these are methods for forming a coating film by curing a paint containing an organic solvent, and there is no description of a coating method for an aqueous clear paint in which the problem of appearance deterioration due to sagging is significant. Moreover, when using a photo-acid generator, there exists a possibility that properties, such as the water resistance of a coating film and a weather resistance, may deteriorate, and forming the coating film which has higher water resistance and a weather resistance was calculated | required.

JP-A-11-300272 JP 2003-245606 A

In view of the above, the present invention can suitably control the sagging property, can form a coating film having a good appearance, and is an environment-friendly aqueous clear coating composition and method for forming a clear coating film Is intended to provide.

The present invention is an aqueous clear coating composition comprising an active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond, a photopolymerization initiator, an aqueous acrylic resin and a melamine resin.
The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is preferably a compound having a (meth) acrylate group.

In the present invention, the step of applying the above-mentioned aqueous clear coating composition to the object to be coated (Step 1), and the uncured coating film obtained by Step 1 are irradiated with active energy rays from a substantially vertical plane. It is also a clear coating film forming method characterized by comprising a step of performing (Step 2) and a step of curing the object to be coated after performing Step 2 (Step 3).
It is preferable that the viscosity of the coating film after performing the said process 2 is 2000-500000 mPa * s.

In the clear coating film forming method of the present invention, before step 1, the intermediate coating is applied on the cured electrodeposition coating layer, and this is heated and cured to form a multilayer coating film (A -1) and a step (A-2) of applying a base coating material on the multilayer coating film is preferable.
In the clear coating film forming method of the present invention, before step 1, the intermediate coating material is applied on the uncured electrodeposition coating film, and these are heated and cured to form a multilayer coating film (B-1). ) And a step (B-2) of applying a base paint on the multilayer coating film is preferred.
The clear coating film forming method of the present invention preferably includes a step (C) of applying a double clear coating after Step 3 above.
In the present invention, the object to be coated is an automobile body or an automobile assembly part, and is a painted object to be coated by the above-described clear coating film forming method.
The present invention is described in detail below.

In the aqueous clear coating composition and the clear coating film forming method of the present invention, an active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond and a photopolymerization initiator are used in combination with a water-soluble thermosetting resin component. It is a feature. When the coating composition containing the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond and the photopolymerization initiator is applied to the object to be coated and then irradiated with the active energy ray, the unsaturated energy is irradiated by the active energy ray irradiation. A polymerization reaction of the active energy ray-curable compound having a bond occurs, and the viscosity of the coating film increases. When the viscosity of the coating film increases, sagging is less likely to occur and the appearance of the clear coating film can be controlled.

By applying the above method using such a coating composition, an excellent sagging suppression effect can be obtained even with an aqueous clear coating composition, and the environmental impact of the clear coating composition is reduced. Can be small.

The present invention is an aqueous clear coating composition comprising an active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond, a photopolymerization initiator, an aqueous acrylic resin and a melamine resin.
The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is preferably a compound having two or more α, β-unsaturated carbonyl groups per molecule. The α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group is a functional group having a double bond between the α carbon and β carbon with respect to the carbonyl group, and examples thereof include a methacrylate group, an acrylate group, a maleate group, and a fumarate group. it can. The case where only one α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group is present is not preferable in that sufficient active energy ray curability is not exhibited. The α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group is preferably 10 or less per molecule, and most preferably 6 or less.

The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is not particularly limited, and includes, for example, (meth) acrylic acid ester of polyol, α, β-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid such as fumaric acid and maleic acid as an acid component. Unsaturated polyester polymer, epoxy polymer (meth) acrylic acid ester, (meth) acryloyl group-containing urethane compound, α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group-containing acrylic polymer, (meth) acryloyl group-containing polyether polymer and ( Examples thereof include a (meth) acryloyl group-containing silicone oligomer.

The (meth) acrylic acid ester of the polyol is an ester of a polyol having two or more hydroxyl groups and acrylic acid. The compound having two or more hydroxyl groups may be a low molecular weight compound or a polymer. The (meth) acrylic acid ester of the polyol is not particularly limited. For example, ethylene glycol di (meth) acrylate, neopentyl glycol di (meth) acrylate, trimethylolpropane tri (meth) acrylate, pentaerythritol tetra (meth) Acrylate, dipentaerythritol hexa (meth) acrylate, 1,4-cyclohexyldimethanol di (meth) acrylate, 4,4′-isopropylidenedicyclohexanol di (meth) acrylate, bis (hydroxymethyl) tricyclo [5,2 , 1,0] decane di (meth) acrylate, 1,3,5-tris (2-hydroxyethyl) cyanuric acid tri (meth) acrylate and other low molecular weight polyol (meth) acrylic acid esters; (Meth) acrylic acid ester of polymer, (meth) acrylic acid ester of polyester polyol, (meth) acrylic acid ester of polyether polyol, (meth) acrylic acid ester of epoxy polyol, (meth) acrylic acid ester of polyurethane polyol And (meth) acrylic acid ester of a hydroxyl group-containing polymer such as poly (meth) acrylic acid ester of silicone polyol. In this specification, (meth) acrylate refers to acrylate and methacrylate.

The unsaturated polyester polymer is not particularly limited, for example, an acid component composed of α, β-unsaturated dicarboxylic acid such as maleic anhydride and fumaric acid, and other polyvalent carboxylic acid used as necessary, Examples thereof include a polymer obtained by polycondensation with a polyol having two or more hydroxyl groups.

The polyol used in the unsaturated polyester polymer is not particularly limited. For example, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, tetramethylene glycol, 1,6-hexanediol, neopentyl glycol, trimethylolpropane, glycerin, pentaerythritol. 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol, 4,4′-isopropylidenedicyclohexanol, bis (hydroxymethyl) tricyclo [5,2,1,0] decane, 1,3,5-tris (2-hydroxyethyl) Examples thereof include cyanuric acid, isopropylidenebis (3,4-cyclohexanediol), and adducts thereof such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and / or caprolactone.

Other polyvalent carboxylic acids that can be used in the unsaturated polyester polymer are not particularly limited, and examples thereof include phthalic acid, tetrahydrophthalic acid, hexahydrophthalic acid, methyltetrahydrophthalic acid, isophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, Mention may be made of maleic acid, fumaric acid, itaconic acid, adipic acid, azelaic acid, sebacic acid, succinic acid, dodecenyl succinic acid, cyclohexane-1,4-dicarboxylic acid and the like.

As said epoxy polymer (meth) acrylic acid ester, the polymer etc. which are obtained by the ring-opening addition reaction of epoxy polymers, such as a bisphenol type and a novolak type, and (meth) acrylic acid can be mentioned, for example.

Examples of the (meth) acryloyl group-containing urethane compound include, for example, an addition reaction between a polyisocyanate compound such as isophorone diisocyanate, tolylene diisocyanate, diphenylmethane diisocyanate, hexamethylene diisocyanate or the like and a urethane prepolymer thereof and 2-hydroxyethyl (meth) acrylate. The compound etc. which are obtained by can be mentioned.

Examples of the α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group-containing acrylic polymer include (meth) acrylate groups obtained by reacting (meth) acrylic acid with an acrylic polymer copolymerized with glycidyl (meth) acrylate. Acrylic polymer having side chain: Acrylic polymer having (meth) acrylate group in side chain obtained by reacting carboxyl group-containing acrylic polymer with epoxy group-containing acrylic monomer such as glycidyl (meth) acrylate Can be mentioned.

Examples of the (meth) acryloyl group-containing polyether polymer include compounds obtained by reacting 2- (meth) acryloyloxyethyl isocyanate with a polyether having a hydroxyl group at the terminal.

Examples of the (meth) acryloyl group-containing silicone oligomer include polyorganosiloxane having 3- (meth) acryloyloxypropyl groups at both ends.

The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond may have a plurality of hydroxyl groups in addition to the α, β-unsaturated carbonyl group. The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond contained in the coating composition of the present invention has high reactivity, weather resistance, excellent compatibility, and high gloss. An ester is preferred.

The number average molecular weight (Mn) of the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond contained in the coating composition of the present invention is preferably in the range of a lower limit of 200 and an upper limit of 5000. When the number average molecular weight (Mn) is less than 200, the solvent resistance, water resistance and weather resistance of the coating film decrease due to volatilization during heat curing, decrease in coating film hardness, and decrease in coating curability. There is. When the number average molecular weight (Mn) exceeds 5,000, the viscosity of the active energy ray-curable compound itself having an unsaturated bond increases, and the content of the solution in the diluted paint when applied increases. There is. The lower limit is more preferably 250. The upper limit is more preferably 3000. In addition, in this specification, a number average molecular weight (Mn) is a number average molecular weight of polystyrene conversion measured by GPC (gel permeation chromatography).

The double bond equivalent of the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is preferably in the range of a lower limit of 50 and an upper limit of 1500. When the double bond equivalent is less than 50, an unreacted (meth) acrylate group remains in the obtained coating film, and the weather resistance of the coating film is lowered, or the resulting coating film is hard and brittle. There is a case. Moreover, when it exceeds 1500, the crosslinking density of the coating film obtained will become small and a coating-film physical property and performance may fall. In addition, the double bond equivalent in this specification means the molecular weight per double bond. The lower limit is more preferably 70, and the upper limit is more preferably 1000.

As a commercial item of the active energy ray-curable compound having the unsaturated bond, A-TMM-3L (trade name, manufactured by Shin-Nakamura Chemical Co., Ltd.), M-400 (trade name, manufactured by Toagosei Co., Ltd.), TMPTA (product) Name, manufactured by Toa Gosei Co., Ltd.), D-330 (trade name, manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.), and the like.

The content of the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is preferably a lower limit of 1% by mass and an upper limit of 35% by mass in 100% by mass of the total resin solid content of the aqueous acrylic resin and the melamine resin. If it is less than 1% by mass, the effect may not appear. If it exceeds 35% by mass, the physical properties of the coating film may be affected. The content is more preferably a lower limit of 5% by mass and more preferably an upper limit of 30% by mass.

The aqueous clear coating composition of the present invention further comprises a photopolymerization initiator.
As the photopolymerization initiator, known ones can be used. Specifically, benzoin and benzoin alkyl ethers such as benzoin, benzoin methyl ether, benzoin ethyl ether, and benzoin propyl ether; acetophenone, 2, 2 -Acetophenones such as dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone, 2,2-diethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone, 1,1-dichloroacetophenone; 2-methyl 1- [4- (methylthio) phenyl] -2-morpholinopropanone Aminoacetophenones such as -1,2-benzyl-2-dimethylamino-1- (4-morpholinophenyl) -butanone-1, N, N-dimethylaminoacetophenone; 2-methylanthraquinone, 2-ethylanthraquinone, 2-Tashi Anthraquinones such as re-butylanthraquinone and 1-chloroanthraquinone; thioxanthones such as 2,4-dimethylthioxanthone, 2,4-diethylthioxanthone, 2-chlorothioxanthone and 2,4-diisopropylthioxanthone; acetophenone dimethyl ketal; Examples include ketals such as benzyldimethyl ketal; benzophenones, benzophenones such as 4,4′-bisdiethylaminobenzophenone or xanthones; 2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphine oxide, and the like. Two or more of these may be used, and photopolymerization initiation assistants such as tertiary amines such as triethanolamine and ethyl dimethylaminobenzoate may be used in combination.
Examples of commercially available photopolymerization initiators include Darocur 1173, Irgacure 184, Irgacure 500, Irgacure 2959 (trade names, all manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals) and the like.

The blending amount of the photopolymerization initiator is not particularly limited, and is appropriately set according to the reaction ratio between thermosetting and photocuring. Moreover, it can adjust further according to the kind and quantity of additives, such as a ultraviolet absorber component, according to the grades, such as a required weather resistance. As a general compounding amount of the photopolymerization initiator in the coating composition containing the curable binder used in the present invention, for example, 0.01% with respect to the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond. -10 mass%.

The aqueous clear coating composition of the present invention further comprises an aqueous acrylic resin. Since the acrylic resin is excellent in hydrolysis resistance, by using this acrylic resin, it becomes an aqueous clear coating that can obtain a coating composition having excellent long-term storage stability.

The aqueous acrylic resin is a copolymer mainly composed of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid, and is not particularly limited as a monomer used for polymerization of the aqueous acrylic resin. For example, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid Ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid monomers such as maleic acid and itaconic acid; methyl (meth) acrylate, ethyl (meth) acrylate, n-butyl (meth) acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl (meth) acrylate Ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid alkyl ester monomers such as ethyl maleate, butyl maleate, ethyl itaconate, butyl itaconate and the like monoester monomers of ethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid; (meth) acrylic acid 2-hydroxyethyl, (meth) acrylic acid-2-hydroxypropyl, (meth) acrylic acid-4-hydroxybutyl , Hydroxyl group-containing ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid alkyl ester monomer such as a reaction product of 2-hydroxyethyl (meth) acrylate and ε-caprolactone; aminoethyl (meth) acrylate, (meth) acrylic acid Ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid aminoalkyl ester monomers such as dimethylaminoethyl, butylaminoethyl (meth) acrylate; aminoethyl (meth) acrylamide, dimethylaminomethyl (meth) acrylamide, methylaminopropyl (meth) acrylamide, etc. Ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid aminoalkylamide monomers; other amide group-containing ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid monomers such as acrylamide, methacrylamide, N-methylolacrylamide, methoxybutylacrylamide, diacetoneacrylamide, etc. Body; unsaturated fatty acid glycidyl ester monomers such as glycidyl acrylate and glycidyl methacrylate; vinyl cyanide monomers such as (meth) acrylonitrile and α-chloroacrylonitrile; saturated aliphatics such as vinyl acetate and vinyl propionate Carboxylic acid vinyl ester monomers; styrene monomers such as styrene, α-methylstyrene and vinyltoluene. The monomer mixture may be one that uses the monomer alone or may be a combination of two or more components.

The polymerization method for obtaining the acrylic resin is not particularly limited, and known methods such as solution polymerization, dispersion polymerization, and emulsion polymerization can be used.

The acrylic resin may be obtained by further grafting an acrylic resin obtained from the monomer mixture. By grafting the acrylic resin, a structure that is less susceptible to hydrolysis can be obtained. In addition, by grafting, the viscosity of the paint is unlikely to rise even if it is contained in a high concentration in the aqueous paint composition, so that it can be applied with a high solid content and the coating efficiency can be improved.
The grafting method is not particularly limited, and known methods such as solution polymerization and emulsion polymerization can be used.

The aqueous acrylic resin of the present invention preferably has a number average molecular weight in the range of a lower limit of 1000 and an upper limit of 10,000.
When the number average molecular weight of the acrylic resin is less than 1,000, the molecular weight is too low, and the weather resistance and curability as a clear are inferior, and the basic physical properties as a clear may be impaired. On the other hand, when the number average molecular weight exceeds 8000, the viscosity of the clear coating composition becomes too high, so the dilution ratio of the clear becomes large and the coating component is reduced, so that the width of the coating method may be reduced. . The lower limit is more preferably 1500, still more preferably 2000. The upper limit is more preferably 7500, and still more preferably 6000.

In the aqueous acrylic resin, the hydroxyl value of the resin is more preferably in the range of a lower limit of 30 mgKOH / g and an upper limit of 150 mgKOH / g. If the hydroxyl value is less than 30 mgKOH / g, the crosslinkability may be insufficient and sufficient coating film performance may not be ensured. When the hydroxyl value exceeds 150 mgKOH / g, the water resistance and weather resistance of the coating film of the paint obtained using this resin may be lowered. The lower limit is more preferably 40 mgKOH / g, still more preferably 50 mgKOH / g. The upper limit is more preferably 130 mgKOH / g, still more preferably 100 mgKOH / g.

The aqueous acrylic resin preferably has a resin acid value within a range of a lower limit of 10 mgKOH / g and an upper limit of 100 mgKOH / g. If the acid value is less than 10 mgKOH / g, the water solubility may decrease and the stability may be impaired. If the acid value exceeds 100 mgKOH / g, the hydrophilicity of the resin becomes too high, and the water resistance and weather resistance of the coating film may decrease. The lower limit is more preferably 20 mgKOH / g, still more preferably 30 mgKOH / g. The upper limit is more preferably 80 mgKOH / g, and still more preferably 60 mgKOH / g.

The aqueous acrylic resin is preferably contained at a lower limit of 50% by mass and an upper limit of 95% by mass with respect to the total amount of resin solids contained in the aqueous clear coating composition. If it is less than 50% by mass, it may be difficult to ensure the water resistance, weather resistance and appearance of the obtained coating film. When it exceeds 95% by mass, there is a possibility that sufficient cross-linkability is insufficient and sufficient film performance cannot be ensured. The lower limit is more preferably 65% by mass. The upper limit is more preferably 90% by mass.

The aqueous clear coating composition of the present invention further comprises the above melamine resin. It does not specifically limit as said melamine resin, What is normally used as a hardening | curing agent can be used. Of these, hydrophobic melamine resins are preferred. This is because the appearance of the obtained coating film is improved.

As said hydrophobic melamine resin, the alkyl etherified melamine resin alkylated, for example is preferable, and the melamine resin substituted by the methoxy group and / or butoxy group is more preferable. As such a melamine resin, those having a methoxy group alone, Cymel 325, Cymel 327, Cymel 370, Mycoat 723; those having both a methoxy group and a butoxy group, Cymel 202, Cymel 204, Cymel 232, Cymel 235, Cymel 236, Cymel 238, Cymel 254, Cymel 266, Cymel 267 (all trade names, manufactured by Mitsui Cytec); My Coat 506 (trade name, Mitsui Cytech, Inc.) having a butoxy group alone Product), Uban 20N60, Uban 20SE (both trade names, manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals, Inc.), and the like. These may be used alone or in combination of two or more. Of these, Cymel 327 and Mycoat 723 are preferred in that the appearance obtained from the compatibility and reactivity with the aqueous acrylic resin is good.

It is preferable that the addition amount of the said melamine resin is a minimum of 5 mass% and an upper limit of 50 mass% with respect to 100 mass% of resin solid content of the said water-based clear coating composition. If it is less than 5% by mass, the crosslinkability is insufficient and there is a possibility that sufficient coating film performance cannot be obtained. When it exceeds 50 mass%, there exists a possibility that the external appearance of the obtained coating film, water resistance, and a weather resistance cannot be ensured. The lower limit is more preferably 10% by mass, and the upper limit is more preferably 35% by mass.

In the aqueous clear coating composition, in addition to the polymer, an ultraviolet absorber, a hindered amine light stabilizer, an antioxidant, crosslinked resin particles, a surface conditioner, and the like may be blended. When using the said crosslinked resin particle, it is preferable to mix | blend in the ratio of 0.01 mass% of lower limits and 10 mass% of upper limits with respect to resin solid content of the curable resin composition of this invention. The lower limit is more preferably 0.1% by mass, and the upper limit is more preferably 5% by mass. When the addition amount of the crosslinked resin particles exceeds 10% by mass, the appearance of the obtained coating film is deteriorated, and when it is less than 0.01% by mass, the rheology control effect cannot be obtained.

The manufacturing method of the said water-based clear coating composition is not specifically limited, A well-known method can be applied to those skilled in the art, such as knead | mixing and disperse | distributing blends, such as the said polymer, using a kneader or a roll.

Although the coating composition of the present invention is water-based, it is not necessary to consider the volatile content of the solvent in adjusting the viscosity, and the sagging can be suitably controlled, and is an environmentally friendly coating. The solution used in the water-based paint is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include well-known ones such as Byketol-Special and Byketol-OK (trade names, both of which are manufactured by Big Chemie Japan). The water-based clear coating composition has a viscosity of Ford Cup No. 4. It is preferable to prepare at 20 ° C. for 20 seconds to 50 seconds. By limiting to this range, the smoothness after coating is excellent and sagging can be suitably prevented.

The present invention is also a method for forming a clear coating film using the above-described aqueous clear coating composition. The method for forming a clear coating film according to the present invention includes a step of applying the above-described aqueous clear coating composition to an object to be coated (step 1), and an activity from a substantially vertical surface with respect to the uncured coating film obtained in step 1. It consists of a process of irradiating energy rays (process 2) and a process of curing the object to be coated after performing process 2 (process 3).

The clear coating film forming method of the present invention forms a coating film without causing sagging even on a substantially vertical surface by applying the above-described aqueous clear coating composition by the above-described coating process. It is something that can be done.

Step 1 is a step of applying the above-described aqueous clear coating composition to an object to be coated. In the step 1, the method for applying the coating composition containing the curable binder is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include brush coating, roller coating, air spray coating, airless spray coating, dip coating, and flow coating. be able to. In particular, when the object to be coated is an automobile body or an automotive part, it is preferable to use an air electrostatic spray coating method or a rotary atomizing electrostatic coating method. The viscosity of the coating composition containing the curable binder can be appropriately adjusted with water according to the coating method. It does not specifically limit as a coating film thickness, According to the use of the coating material obtained, it can set suitably.

Specific examples of the method for applying the clear paint include a micro-microbell and a coating method using a rotary atomizing electrostatic coater called a microbell. The coating film thickness of the clear coating in Step 1 is preferably in the range of a lower limit of 25 μm and an upper limit of 45 μm in terms of dry film thickness.

The step 2 is a step of irradiating the uncured coating film obtained in the step 1 with active energy rays from a substantially vertical plane. That is, by irradiating active energy rays to a substantially vertical surface that is particularly prone to sagging, the viscosity is increased and sagging is suppressed to improve the smoothness of the coating, thereby improving the surface appearance of the coating. It is to make.

Since the above step 2 irradiates active energy rays from a substantially vertical surface, it suppresses the sagging of the vertical surface and the surface close to the vertical which are particularly prone to sagging, thereby suppressing the unevenness of the coating film surface, and the surface appearance Is to improve. Here, irradiation of active energy rays from a substantially vertical plane means that irradiation is performed from a substantially vertical direction with respect to a horizontal plane. However, the irradiation direction does not need to be exactly vertical, and is likely to cause sagging. This means that irradiation is performed at an angle that allows sufficient active energy rays to be irradiated to the surface and a surface close to vertical. In the step 2, the irradiation is performed at least from the substantially vertical direction, but the irradiation from the horizontal may be performed at the same time.

Irradiation of the active energy ray in the above step 2 includes ultraviolet irradiation, sunlight, visible light, microwave, electron beam and the like, and it is particularly preferable to perform the irradiation by ultraviolet irradiation. The ultraviolet irradiation can be performed by irradiating a carbon arc lamp, an electrodeless lamp, a mercury vapor lamp, a xenon lamp, a fluorescent lamp, an argon glow discharge or the like as an ultraviolet irradiation source. Among these, an electrodeless lamp is preferable because it can uniformly irradiate an object having a complicated structure.

The step 2 may be performed immediately after the step 1, or may be performed after the preheating step after performing the step 1, and more preferably performed immediately after the step 1. . The irradiation intensity of ultraviolet light in the step 2 ^is preferably ^{200mJ / cm 2 ~2000mJ / cm 2} , the irradiation time is preferably several seconds.

After performing step 2, it is preferable to adjust the composition of the aqueous clear coating composition and the active energy ray irradiation conditions so that the viscosity of the coating film is 2000 mPa · s to 500,000 mPa · s. If the coating film viscosity is less than 2000 mPa · s, the sagging may not be sufficiently suppressed. When it exceeds 500,000 mPa · s, there is a risk that the smoothness is lost and the appearance of the skin such as the yuzu skin becomes poor. The lower limit is preferably 5000 mPa · s, and the upper limit is preferably 100,000 mPa · s.

The step 3 is a step of curing the object to be coated after performing the step 2 by heating. The curing conditions in Step 3 above vary depending on the composition of the coating composition to be used, and can be appropriately set by those skilled in the art. Generally, the curing time is 80 to 200 ° C, preferably 100 to 180 ° C, and the heating time. Is preferably 10 to 40 minutes.

In the clear coating-film formation method of this invention, you may have a process (process 4) which irradiates an active energy ray further with respect to the coating film after performing the said process 3. FIG. When the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond that has not reacted in Step 2 remains, the properties such as weather resistance may be deteriorated. By performing Step 4, the risk can be eliminated. . The step 4 is to cure the carbon-carbon unsaturated double bond in the active energy ray-curable compound by a radical polymerization reaction, specifically, a carbon arc lamp, an electrodeless lamp, a mercury vapor lamp, A xenon lamp, a fluorescent lamp, an argon glow discharge or the like is irradiated as an ultraviolet irradiation source. Among these, an electrodeless lamp is preferable because it can uniformly irradiate an object having a complicated structure.

As the object to be coated used in the clear coating film forming method of the present invention, it can be used for various substrates such as metal molded products, plastic molded products, foams and the like. And metal molded products such as alloys, anodized, brass, bronze, galvanized steel plates, tin-plated steel plates, nickel-plated steel plates, chrome-plated steel plates, and the like. The clear coating film forming method of the present invention is particularly effective when the object to be coated has a shape having both a substantially horizontal plane and a substantially vertical plane. Therefore, it can be particularly suitably used for a method of coating an object having a complicated shape such as an automobile body, an automobile assembly part, or a special vehicle.

The clear coating film forming method of the present invention is a process in which an intermediate coating is applied on the cured electrodeposition coating layer before the above step 1 and is cured by heating to form a multilayer coating film (A -1) and a step (A-2) of applying a base paint onto the multilayer coating film may be further included.
Moreover, before the said process 1, the process (B-1) which apply | coats an intermediate coating material on an uncured electrodeposition coating film, and hardens these, and forms a multilayer coating film, and said multilayer coating A step (B-2) of applying a base paint onto the film may be further included.

The step (A-1) is a step of forming a multilayer coating film by applying an intermediate coating on the electrodeposition coating layer formed on the object to be coated and then heat-curing it.
The clear coating film forming method of the present invention is preferably applied to a metal molded product capable of cationic electrodeposition coating. The surface of the object to be coated is preferably subjected to chemical conversion treatment. Furthermore, an electrodeposition coating film may be formed on the object to be coated. As the electrodeposition paint, a cation type and an anion type can be used. From the viewpoint of anticorrosion, a cation type electrodeposition paint is preferable.

Moreover, the intermediate coating film may be formed on the said electrodeposition coating film layer. An intermediate coating is used to form the intermediate coating film. The intermediate coating is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include water-based or organic solvent-type ones well known by those skilled in the art. When the intermediate coating is applied, the electrodeposition coating film may be uncured. That is, an intermediate coating material may be applied onto the uncured electrodeposition coating film, and these may be heated and cured to form a multilayer coating film (step (B-1)).
A known method can be used as a method of heat-curing the intermediate coating.

The above steps (A-2) and (B-2) are steps for applying a base coating on a multilayer coating consisting of an electrodeposition coating layer and an intermediate coating layer.
It does not specifically limit as said base coating material, For example, you may include coloring pigments, extender pigments, etc., such as a film-forming resin, a hardening | curing agent, an organic type, an inorganic type, or a luster material. The form of the base paint is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include an aqueous or organic solvent type.

The method for applying the base paint to the object to be coated on which the multilayer coating film is formed is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include spray coating and rotary atomization coating, from the viewpoint of improving the appearance. A multi-stage coating using these methods, or a coating method combining these methods is preferable.

In the clear coating film forming method of the present invention, a base paint is applied to an object to be coated to form a base uncured paint film, and then the aqueous clear paint composition is applied onto the base uncured paint film in the above step 1. To the base uncured coating film and the clear uncured coating film, and the base uncured coating film may be coated by a two-coat one-bake method in which the base uncured coating film and the clear uncured coating film are cured simultaneously. After heat-curing, the water-based clear coating composition may be applied to form a clear uncured coating film, and the coating may be performed by a 2-coat 2-bake method in which heat-curing is performed.

When the coating is performed by the 2-coat 1-bake method, the coating film thickness by the base paint is preferably in the range of a lower limit of 10 μm and an upper limit of 20 μm as a dry film thickness.

In the multilayer coating film forming method of the present invention, when the base coating material is water-based, the base uncured coating film is applied before the aqueous clear coating composition is applied in order to obtain a good finished coating film. It is desirable to heat at 40 to 100 ° C. for 2 to 10 minutes.

The base uncured coating film formed by the above method is simultaneously heated in the above step 3 together with the clear uncured coating film obtained from the above step 1 and the above step 2 in the clear coating film forming method of the present invention. It can be cured to form a multilayer coating.

Moreover, when forming a multilayer coating film by the said 2 coat 2 baking, after carrying out the heat curing of the uncured coating film of the said base, a clear coating film is formed by performing the said steps 1-3, and a multilayer coating film is formed. It can be.
The heating temperature when the base uncured coating film is heat-cured is preferably within a range of a lower limit of 100 ° C. and an upper limit of 180 ° C. More preferably, the lower limit is 120 ° C and the upper limit is 160 ° C. The heat-curing time varies depending on the curing temperature or the like, but when it is performed at the above-mentioned heat-curing temperature, it is appropriate to be 10 to 30 minutes.

The clear coating film forming method of the present invention may further include a step (C) of applying a double clear coating after Step 3 above. The double clear coating is for forming two or more clear coatings when a higher appearance is obtained or when the particle size of the pigment in the base coating is large. Examples of these forming methods include the methods described in JP-A-11-253877.

The water-based clear coating composition and the method for forming a clear coating film of the present invention can suitably control the sagging property and satisfy the physical properties such as appearance performance required for the clear coating film. A film can be formed. That is, the sagging property can be improved while maintaining the physical properties of the clear coating film, whereby a clear coating film having excellent appearance characteristics can be obtained. Moreover, since the coating composition of the present invention is water-based, it has no problems such as VOC and is environmentally friendly.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example is hung up and demonstrated in more detail, this invention is not limited only to these Examples. In the examples, “part” means “part by mass” unless otherwise specified, and “%” means “% by mass” unless otherwise specified.

(Production Example 1 Production of acrylic resin)
A flask equipped with a condenser, a solvent recovery device, a stirring bar, a thermometer, and a nitrogen introduction tube was charged with 40 parts of DPM, heated to 130 ° C. and held, then 15 parts of acrylic acid as a monomer, 16 parts of hydroxylethyl methacrylate, 39 parts of ethyl acrylate, 5 parts of styrene and 5 parts of MSD-100, 20 parts of NK ester M-90G (manufactured by Shin-Nakamura Chemical Co., Ltd.), initiator Kaya ester-O (t-butylperoxyhexanoate, A mixture of 13 parts (manufactured by Yakuzo Akzo) and 10 parts DPM (dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether) was added dropwise over 3 hours. Then, after stirring at 130 ° C. for 30 minutes, 0.3 part of Kayaester-O and 5 parts of DPM were added dropwise over 30 minutes. Thereafter, the temperature is lowered to 110 ° C., and 20 parts of Cardura E10P (trade name, manufactured by Japan Epoxy Resin Co., Ltd.) and 2.6 parts of TBAH (tetrabutylammonium hydroxide) are added and stirred at 110 ° C. for grafting. It was. When the acid value reached 58.8, the solvent was removed, all the solvent was removed, neutralized with 100% DMEA, and deionized water was added. The obtained acrylic resin liquid had a solid content of 44.8% by mass and a GPC number average molecular weight of 3000.

Example 1
2 parts Tinuvin 384 (Ciba Geigy UV Absorber), 2 parts Tinuvin 292 (Ciba Geigy Light Stabilizer), 2 parts Nippon Paint Acrylic Surface Conditioner (solid content 50% by mass) are mixed and added. An agent solution was obtained.

Acrylic resin 178 parts obtained in Production Example 1, Cymel 327 (Mitsui Cytec Co., Ltd. Melamine) 22 parts, A-TMM-3L (Shin Nakamura Chemical Co., Ltd. special acrylate) 10 parts, Darocur 1173 (Ciba Geigy Co. photopolymerization initiator) ) After 2 parts were stirred and mixed with a disper to homogenize, the obtained additive solution was further added and stirred to obtain a curable coating product. The obtained curable coating product was subjected to ion exchange water to change the viscosity of the coating composition to No. Dilute to 40 seconds with 4 Ford cups (20 ° C).

Power top PU-50 (trade name) made by Nippon Paint Co., Ltd., which is a cationic electrodeposition coating, is applied to a dull steel plate having a length of 300 mm, a width of 100 mm and a thickness of 0.8 mm treated with zinc phosphate so that the dry film thickness is about 25 μm. Electrodeposition coating was performed, and Olga P-2 sealer (trade name) manufactured by Nippon Paint Co., Ltd. was applied by air spraying so as to have a dry film thickness of about 40 μm, followed by heat curing at 140 ° C. for 30 minutes. A black aqueous base paint was applied by air spray to the coating test plate so as to have a dry film thickness of 16 μm, and the coating test plate was heated and cured at 140 ° C. for 30 minutes. Further, it was sharpened with # 1000 sandpaper, wiped with petroleum benzine and degreased to obtain a coated test plate.

Immediately after this coating test plate was placed in the vertical direction and the above-prepared paint was air-sprayed to a dry film thickness of about 40 μm on the upper 70 mm portion, F600 (240 W / cm) electrodeless manufactured by Fusion UV Systems Japan Co., Ltd. The lamp was irradiated with ultraviolet rays under the conditions of a bulb type H bulb, a conveyor speed of 4 m / min, and a lamp distance of 10 cm. Thereafter, it was placed vertically and cured by heating at 140 ° C. for 30 minutes to obtain a test plate.

(Examples 2 to 14)
Based on each formulation in Table 1, a curable coating was prepared under the same heating conditions as in Example 1 to obtain a test plate.

(Comparative Examples 1-4)
Based on each formulation in Table 2, a curable coating was prepared under the same heating conditions as in Example 1 to obtain a test plate.

(Evaluation methods)
Each test board obtained above evaluated the coating film of the obtained paint test board by the evaluation method shown below. The results are shown in Table 1.
(1) Viscosity measurement The same operation was performed except that a tin plate was used in place of the coating test plate, and the paint film on the tin plate before irradiation with UV and the coating film on the tin plate after irradiation were scraped off, respectively. The viscosity was measured at a temperature of 25 ° C. using an E-type viscometer (VISCONIC EMD viscometer manufactured by Toki Sangyo Co., Ltd.).
(2) Sagging evaluation i) It was measured how many mm sagging of the paint applied to the 30 mm unpainted portion of the lower part of the tape sagging paint test plate after heat curing.
ii) Hole sagging property The same procedure is used except that a 10 mm diameter, 10-point, 0.8 x 100 x 500 mm hole saucer is used in place of the above-mentioned paint test plate, and the hole portion of the inclined sauce plate It was measured how many mm sagging of the paint of the paint from the lower part of the hole after heat curing, and the film thickness where the hole sagging was within 5 mm was shown.
(3) Pencil hardness Pencil hardness was measured in accordance with JIS K5400 8.4.2.
(4) Appearance of coating film The appearance of the obtained cured coating film was visually evaluated. The evaluation criteria were as follows.
A: Wrinkles and dents are not observed.
◯: Almost no wrinkles or dents are observed.
Δ: Wrinkles and dents are slightly observed.
X: Generation | occurrence | production of wrinkles, dents, etc. is recognized by many.

From Tables 1 and 2, the clear coating films obtained from the aqueous clear coating compositions of the examples had sufficient sagging and good appearance performance.
On the other hand, sagging was not sufficiently suppressed in the clear coating film obtained with the aqueous clear coating composition of the comparative example.

The water-based clear coating composition and the clear coating film forming method of the present invention are methods suitable for coating automobile bodies, automobile parts, special vehicles, etc., thereby maintaining various physical properties required for the clear coating, Sagging can be suppressed, and thereby a clear coating film having an excellent appearance can be formed.

Claims (8)

An aqueous clear coating composition comprising an active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond, a photopolymerization initiator, an aqueous acrylic resin, and a melamine resin. The aqueous clear coating composition according to claim 1, wherein the active energy ray-curable compound having an unsaturated bond is a compound having a (meth) acrylate group. A step of applying the aqueous clear coating composition according to claim 1 or 2 to an object to be coated (step 1);
A process of irradiating active energy rays from a substantially vertical surface (process 2) to the uncured coating film obtained by process 1, and
A process of curing the object to be coated after performing the process 2 (process 3)
A method for forming a clear coating film, comprising: The clear coating film forming method according to claim 3, wherein the viscosity of the coating film after performing Step 2 is 2000 to 500,000 mPa · s. Before step 1, an intermediate coating is applied on the cured electrodeposition coating layer, and this is heat-cured to form a multilayer coating (A-1), and the multilayer coating The method for forming a clear coating film according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a step (A-2) of applying a base paint thereon. Before step 1, an intermediate coating is applied on the uncured electrodeposition coating, and these are heat-cured to form a multilayer coating (B-1), and on the multilayer coating The clear coating film forming method according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a step (B-2) of applying a base paint. The method of forming a clear coating film according to claim 3, 4, 5, or 6, further comprising a step (C) of applying a double clear coating after the step 3. The object to be coated is a car body or a car assembly part, and is a paint to be painted by the method according to claim 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.