JP2022164940A - Engraved diamond crystal and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a method for recording an endurance pattern, such as a character on a diamond surface, and a decorative material having enhanced uniqueness.SOLUTION: (1) Engraved diamond is obtained by forming and recording a character visually recognized on the basis of a structural difference with a periphery, a mark or a pattern selected from a significant figure on the surface of an engraved facet in a loose cut diamond particle having a plurality of facets formed by polishing, (2) A method for manufacturing the engraved diamond crystal comprises [1] forming the plurality of facets on the surface of the diamond crystal by polishing, [2] selecting one or more of the plurality of facets to be used as an engraved facet and [3] forming and recording the character alone or combined, the mark or the pattern selected from a significant figure by causing a change partially and visually recognized in the crystal structure of the diamond surface by subjecting the diamond surface in the engraved facet to selected and converged heating.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a diamond crystal body having a significant inscription on the crystal surface, particularly a faceted cut diamond, in which one or more facets are subjected to recording treatment such as prominent and permanent letters, symbols, or figures. Regarding the body.

Diamonds, which exhibit unparalleled hardness and chemical stability in the mineral world, are excellent abrasives exhibiting outstanding hardness and chemical stability. occupies the throne of the world.

Diamond is an allotrope of carbon, and its highly pure crystals are colorless and transparent, and it is known that they have been used as gemstones since BC. It is also known to have been used as a round gemstone.

As time passed, diamonds began to be used as gemstones in Europe, and in the Middle Ages, polishing methods were developed, and shapes and processing methods that took advantage of the brilliance based on the high refractive index became known, and their use as gemstones spread. did. In particular, since the development of the brilliant cut, which exhibits the highest degree of brilliance by effectively reflecting incident light on the inner surface of the crystal, diamonds have come to occupy the throne of gems, partly because of their limited production.

On the other hand, although we will omit the historical background, it is now understood that natural diamonds were formed deep underground under ultra-high pressure and high temperature by geophysical processes, and were transported near the surface by crustal activity. Many researchers have attempted to synthesize diamond by applying ultra-high pressure and high temperature conditions to carbon materials. Many of the attempts failed, but General Electric Company (USA) succeeded in logical consideration and development of necessary equipment, and succeeded in the world's first industrial synthesis (Patent Document 1).

The synthetic diamond is intended for use as an abrasive, and can be manufactured under relatively low pressure and temperature conditions. It is colored and is not suitable for use as jewelry. However, in recent years, a technique has been established to grow large crystals while avoiding the contamination of impurities by finely controlling the pressure and temperature conditions, and diamonds that can be used as jewelry have also been industrially produced (Patent Document 2).

Raw materials for jewelry diamonds, especially natural diamonds, which account for the majority, have various shapes and properties, so we design usage forms according to the rough stones and polish (cut) them into various shapes such as brilliants, princesses, etc. be done. Cut diamonds (loose, uncut) are fixed to metal pedestals and used as single, independent gemstones or as various design ornaments in which multiple pieces are combined.

All of the above polishing processes use the cleavage of diamond to adjust the outer shape and form facets on the surface, and the shape design makes use of the high refractive index unique to diamond, along with the smooth surface with good reflectivity. and polishing are common. At this time, by utilizing the fact that the refractive index of incident light changes depending on the difference in wavelength, an aesthetic production is also performed in which the light of the spectrally specific wavelength (color) sparkles within the diamond crystal.

As noted above, surface facets are an important element in creating aesthetic value in the construction of a jewelry diamond body or loose. That is, since the aesthetic appearance is provided by the reflectivity of each generated facet as well as the overall shape, each facet surface is required to have a high degree of flatness, and surface unevenness and irregularities are treated as defects and imperfections that cannot be corrected. Target. Therefore, the application of treatments other than polishing to enhance the aesthetic value tends to be perceived as negative work economically and decoratively.

A service is also provided to engrave some information on the main body of a jewelry diamond according to the customer's request (Non-Patent Document 1). In this case, for example, fine alphanumeric characters are engraved on a relatively inconspicuous part, such as a brilliant-cut girdle, to facilitate identification of the diamond.

In addition, it has been proposed to evaporate a metal such as Mo on a portion of the facets through a photoresist, without directly processing the surface of the diamond, and to record the appraisal data of the diamond (Patent Document 2).

Each of the above conventional methods is a fine engraving on an inconspicuous part avoiding the facets of the cut diamond, especially the main facets, or recording on a metal coating vapor-deposited on a part of the facets, avoiding direct processing on the facets. It is something to do. Although diamonds are used as glittering and minute constituent elements in various ornaments and other uses, it is rare to display characters or symbols on the surface of diamonds by engraving or other processing.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 37-04407 Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-12234

https://www.cgl.co.jp/cgl/inscription.html

The inventor has found that cut jewelery diamonds also have great potential for application as decorative components at the same time. Conventional techniques certainly do not significantly impair the appearance of gemstones, but on the other hand the visibility and conspicuity of the recorded data is not necessarily high. The present invention develops and realizes its potential as a decorative component through relatively simple manipulation.

The present invention provides a solution to the above problems by recording and displaying required information directly on the facets of a cut diamond as patterns such as characters, symbols and figures.

The gist of the present invention is that, in loose cut diamond particles having a plurality of facets formed by a polishing operation, on the surfaces of the engraved facets, characters that are visually recognizable based on structural differences from the surroundings, An engraved diamond body characterized by forming and recording a pattern including one or more combinations selected from symbols or significant figures.

The inscribed diamond bodies of the present invention are effectively produced by the following method. Namely:
(1) forming multiple facets on the surface of a diamond crystal by a polishing operation;
(2) selecting one or more facets from the plurality of facets as the stamping facet;
(3) letters, symbols or significant figures, singly or in combination, by causing partial and visually detectable changes in the crystalline structure of the diamond surface by selective heat treatment of the diamond surface at the inscribed facets; A method for producing an engraved diamond body, characterized by forming and recording a pattern selected from

Although the surface reflection on the facets is somewhat reduced by the engraving process of the present invention, it is estimated that the information provided by the engraved characters and symbols and the impact given by the patterns engraved on the facets more than compensate for this. be In particular, it is possible to create a new aesthetic effect by decorating or designing patterns such as characters and figures to be stamped. For example, it is possible to add a high decorative value by imprinting initials, logos, and other Latin characters and arranging them on a wristwatch dial.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of the shape of a cut diamond (brilliant). 2 is an elevational view of the diamond of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a diamond body having the shape of FIGS. 1 and 2 is engraved. (Example 1) FIG. 4 is an example of another type of inscription on a diamond body shaped as in FIGS. (Example 2) FIG. 5 is a plan view showing another shape example (princess) of a cut diamond. FIG. 6 shows an example in which a diamond body having the shape shown in FIG. 5 is engraved. (Example 3)

In the present invention, engraving on diamond is efficiently achieved by phase transition to non-diamond carbon, typically graphite, in the diamond crystal surface layer. Moreover, it is effective to perform the phase transition by laser light (beam). That is, a focused laser beam is scanned over the stamped facets of the target loose diamond, and the pulse energy output of the laser is controlled according to the input pattern to selectively concentrate and irradiate.

The laser light illuminates each point on the scan line as a pulse. Energy is injected at each point of the irradiated diamond, causing the surface layer to undergo a phase transition to non-diamond, and as the irradiation point moves further, the trajectory of the laser beam is imprinted on the diamond surface as a black line. be done. The depth of the engraving depends on the power and depth of focus of the irradiated laser light, but in the present invention, it is sufficient if the pattern can be visually recognized from directly above, and there is no need to make it deeper, and 20 to 80 μm is sufficient. .

The type and range of patterns that can be used in the present invention depend on the specifications of the laser processing machine to be used. Restricted by the condensed diameter of light.

Characters and symbols can be used as the elements constituting the pattern, and Kanji characters, Kana characters, Latin characters, and numerals of various fonts can be used as the characters. In either case, a simple shape is more preferable because a smoother finish can be obtained.

The resolution or minimum size of the pattern that can be formed depends on the diameter of the light beam used, and the overall design of the pattern is restricted by the effective area of the stamped facets. do. A cut diamond for jewelry has a facet with the largest area called the table at the top, so engraving on this part is most effective, but there are other facets with areas that can be engraved depending on the purpose. It can be used as the stamping facet of the present invention.

The inscription of the pattern on the facets of the cut diamond of the present invention is carried out by local energy input, particularly by selective and focused heat irradiation to a limited site, but the most suitable for this purpose at present is a laser. Since it is light and requires relatively low power, many relatively small laser machines are available.

The process of processing a rough diamond into a jewelry product, which is said to be ultimately determined by artificial work (cutting), is outside the scope of the present invention and will not be described. The diamond for jewelry in the present invention is a faceted diamond body (loose), whether natural or synthetic.

The diamond was engraved using a Yb fiber laser (wavelength: 1064 nm, output: 0.3 W) of a general-purpose laser processing machine (Lasertech 45 Shape manufactured by Mori Seiki Co., Ltd.).

The workpiece diamond was the brilliant-cut loose 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (approximately 2.5 mm in diameter at girdle 3 and 1.6 mm in height), table facet 2 was octagonal and 1.2 mm in diagonal length. This diamond was fixed with an adhesive by using a small piece of acrylic material of about 30 mm ^square and 2 mm thick with a flat bottom as a pedestal, ensuring parallelism between the table facet and the pedestal bottom.

A plastic plate having a uniform thickness was laid in the processing chamber of the laser processing machine, and a workpiece diamond fixed to the pedestal was placed thereon. The processing area on the engraved facet surface was confirmed on the monitor screen of the laser head, and processing was started after adjusting the height to the focus of the laser beam.

The laser operating conditions are as follows:
Pulse duration 100ns, frequency 40KHz
Scanning speed 40mm/s, interval 0.001mm

After the completion of the programmed laser irradiation, the diamond body was recovered, and it was confirmed that the letters "PAX" were engraved perpendicularly to the apex angle of the table facet as designed.

The procedure of Example 1 was repeated to inscribe a combination of Chinese characters and numbers on another brilliant cut diamond loose.
The letters "Dream" and "2021" were registered in the laser processing machine and scanned with laser irradiation under the above conditions. After the operation was completed, the diamond bodies were recovered, which were imprinted in two lines with large and small letters parallel to the base of the octagonal table facet, as shown in FIG.

Graphical symbols and letters were engraved using a laser processing machine.
The diamond body 5 was princess-cut and the octagonal table facet 6 had a diagonal length of 3 mm.

The laser irradiation scan was repeated under the same operating conditions as in the previous example. After the completion of the process, it was confirmed that the table facet of the recovered diamond had a graphic symbol of a tennis player and the letters "SYNTEK" engraved on it.

The engraved diamonds of the present invention are applied to minute accessories, dials of wristwatches and other devices to provide aesthetic effects.

1 diamond body (brilliant cut)
2 table facet 3 girdle 5 diamond body (princess cut)
6 table facet

Claims (10)

In a loose cut diamond particle having a plurality of facets formed by a polishing operation, one selected from letters, symbols or significant figures visually recognizable based on structural differences from the surroundings on the surface of the stamped facets. Or an engraved diamond body characterized by forming and recording a pattern including a combination of a plurality of types. 2. The engraved diamond body of claim 1, wherein said pattern includes single or multiple Latin letters and/or Arabic numerals. 3. The engraved diamond body according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said pattern includes single or multiple kanji and/or kana characters. An imprinted diamond body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the imprinted facets are in the crown portion. 5. An imprinted diamond body according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the imprint facets are table facets. 6. A diamond body according to any preceding claim, wherein the diamond crystals are brilliant cut. 7. The inscribed diamond body of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the inscriptions are made by phase change of diamond to graphite by selective focused irradiation of energy. 8. The imprinted diamond body of claim 7, wherein the phase change depth is greater than or equal to 2 [mu]m. (1) forming multiple facets on the surface of a diamond crystal by a polishing operation;
(2) selecting one or more facets from the plurality of facets as the stamping facet;
(3) letters, symbols or significant figures, singly or in combination, by causing partial and visually perceptible changes in the crystal structure of the diamond surface by selective heat treatment of the diamond surface at the inscribed facets; A method for producing an engraved diamond body, characterized by forming and recording a pattern selected from 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the physical manipulation is a phase transition of diamond to non-diamond by irradiation with a programmed laser beam.

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