JP2023107365A - Faucet member and manufacturing method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a faucet member capable of making adhered dirt on a surface less noticeable.SOLUTION: A faucet member 1 comprises: a base material body 2; and a decorative layer 3 formed on a predetermined surface of the base material body 2. The base material body 2 is configured such that a base material rough surface 2A having myriad fine unevennesses is formed over an entire predetermined surface. The decorative layer 3 is configured such that a decorative rough surface 3A, which comprises myriad fine unevennesses dependent on an uneven shape of the base material rough surface 2A, is formed on the base material rough surface 2A.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a faucet member and a manufacturing method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a faucet member having a base material body and a decorative layer formed on the surface of the base material body, and a manufacturing method thereof.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for enhancing antifouling properties of a plumbing member used in an indoor plumbing environment. Specifically, by forming a DLC coating layer with excellent chemical non-reactivity on the surface of the base material, even if water scale adheres to the surface of the plumbing member, it can be easily removed. .

JP 2016-172923 A

The technique described in Patent Document 1 cannot prevent the adhesion of stains such as water stains and fingerprints, so the stains attached to the surface tend to be conspicuous. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a faucet member capable of making dirt adhered to the surface less noticeable.

In order to solve the above problems, the faucet member and the method for manufacturing the same of the present invention take the following measures. That is, a first aspect of the present invention is a faucet member comprising a base material body and a decorative layer formed on a predetermined surface of the base material body, A base material rough surface having a myriad of fine irregularities is formed over the entire predetermined surface, and the decorative layer is formed on the base material rough surface with a myriad of fine irregularities depending on the uneven shape of the base material rough surface. The faucet member has a decorative rough surface with unevenness.

According to the first invention, dirt such as water stains and fingerprints adhering to the surface of the decorative layer is removed by the decorative rough surface formed on the surface of the decorative layer depending on the uneven shape of the rough surface of the base material. It can be made difficult to stand.

A second aspect of the present invention is the first aspect, wherein the decorative layer is a DLC coating layer formed by laminating a DLC coating classified as ta-C on the surface of the metal intermediate coating, or nickel plating It is a faucet member having a nickel-chromium plating film layer formed by laminating chromium plating on the surface of the faucet member.

According to the second invention, the decorative layer is formed of a DLC coating layer including a DLC coating classified as ta-C, so that the decorative layer has wear resistance, insulation, heat resistance and chemical non-reactivity. It can be formed as a high-density and hard coating layer with excellent appearance maintenance performance such as elasticity. Further, by forming the decorative layer from a nickel-chromium plating film layer, the decorative layer can be formed as a film layer excellent in appearance maintenance performance such as corrosion resistance, discoloration resistance and weather resistance.

A third invention of the present invention is the first or second invention, wherein the decorative rough surface has a maximum height of 5 to 100 μm, an average spacing of unevenness of 10 to 500 μm, and a number of unevenness of 10 to 100/mm. It is a faucet member that has the uneven shape of ² .

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the decorative rough surface has the uneven shape, stains such as water stains and fingerprints adhering to the surface of the decorative layer can be more effectively made inconspicuous.

A fourth invention of the present invention is any one of the first to third inventions, wherein the base material body contains 50% or more of copper, and the balance is lead, zinc, tin, iron, nickel, and antimony.

According to the fourth invention, stains such as water stains and fingerprints adhering to the surface of the base material main body made of the copper alloy of the above components can be appropriately made inconspicuous.

A fifth invention of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a faucet member, wherein the entire predetermined surface of the base material body is subjected to blasting treatment to form a rough surface of the base material having countless fine irregularities. a mirror-finishing step of mirror-finishing the rough surface of the base material by applying another blasting treatment to the rough surface of the base material; and forming a decorative layer on the predetermined surface of the main body of the base material. a decorating layer forming step of forming the decorating layer on the rough surface of the base material, the decorating layer having a decorative rough surface having an infinite number of fine unevenness depending on the uneven shape of the rough surface of the base material. and a method for manufacturing a faucet member.

According to the fifth invention, the decorative rough surface formed on the surface of the decorative layer depending on the uneven shape of the rough surface of the base material removes stains such as water stains and fingerprints adhering to the surface of the decorative layer. It can be made difficult to stand.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a faucet member according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a sectional view showing typically the section structure of a faucet member. It is process drawing which shows the manufacturing method of a faucet member.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated using drawing.

(faucet member 1)
First, a faucet member 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a method for manufacturing the same will be described. A faucet member 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, is configured as a main body member of a faucet fitting used in an indoor wet environment. In addition, the faucet member 1 may be a pipe of a faucet fitting. The faucet member 1 includes a base material body 2 made of a copper alloy and a decorative layer 3 formed on the surface of the base material body 2, as shown in FIG.

The decorative layer 3 is configured to selectively apply either a DLC coating layer or a nickel-chromium plating coating layer depending on the application of the faucet member 1 . The DLC coating layer is a coating layer formed by laminating a DLC coating classified as ta-C on the surface of a metallic intermediate coating. The nickel-chromium plating coating layer is a coating layer formed by laminating chromium plating on the surface of nickel plating.

The base material main body 2 is made of a copper alloy containing copper as a main component. Specifically, the base material body 2 is made of a copper alloy containing 50% or more of copper and the balance being lead, zinc, tin, iron, nickel, and antimony. The base material body 2 may be made of pure copper, brass, bronze, cupronickel, or nickel silver. The specific shape of the base material body 2 is not particularly limited, and may be tubular such as a circular tube or square tube, a columnar shape such as a circular column or a square column, a spherical shape, a box shape, or a plate shape. good too.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base material main body 2 is cut after being cast into a predetermined shape, and then buffed to a predetermined surface roughness (pre-process S1). After that, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a lead removal treatment step S2 and then to a blasting treatment step S3 to form a base material rough surface 2A, which is a rough surface having countless fine irregularities on the entire surface (see FIG. 2). reference). After that, depending on the type of the decorative layer 3 formed on the surface of the base material body 2, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a mirror-finishing treatment step S4 so that the rough surface 2A of the base material as a whole remains like a mirror while leaving the uneven shape. Finished in a polished state.

Specifically, when the decorative layer 3 is formed of a DLC coating layer, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a mirror-finishing step S4 to mirror-finish the entire rough surface 2A of the base material. However, when the decorative layer 3 is formed of a nickel-chromium plating film layer, the mirror-finishing step S4 of the base material main body 2 is omitted. The reason for this is that when the base material body 2 is plated with nickel-chromium, the base material body 2 is subjected to alkali cleaning in the nickel plating process, and the surface is finished so that the work-affected layer is removed.

After that, depending on the type of the decorative layer 3, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a cleaning treatment step S5 to remove dirt adhering to its surface and to clean it. Specifically, when the decorative layer 3 is formed of a DLC coating layer, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a cleaning treatment step S5 to remove dirt adhering to the entire base material rough surface 2A. However, when the decorative layer 3 is formed of a nickel-chromium plating film layer, the cleaning treatment step S5 of the base material main body 2 is omitted. The reason is the same as the reason for omitting the mirror finishing step S4.

Furthermore, after that, the base material main body 2 is subjected to a decorative layer forming step S6, and a decorative layer 3 made of a DLC coating layer or a nickel-chromium plating coating layer is integrally formed on the base material rough surface 2A. be done. As a result, the decorative layer 3 is formed on the base material rough surface 2A, and has a decorative rough surface 3A which is a rough surface having innumerable fine unevenness depending on the uneven shape of the base material rough surface 2A. As a result, the surface of the faucet member 1 made up of the decorative rough surface 3A can have a configuration in which even if stains such as water stains and fingerprints adhere to the surface, the stains are less noticeable. Each step will be described in detail below.

(Blasting step S3)
In the blasting step S3, the surface of the base material body 2 is blasted, and the entire surface of the base material body 2 has a maximum height of 5 to 100 μm, an average unevenness interval of 10 to 500 μm, and a number of unevennesses of 10 to 100/ A rough surface 2A of the base material is formed with irregularities of mm ² . If it is desired to form the base material rough surface 2A only on a partial area of the surface of the base material main body 2, a masking material made of a resin or rubber sheet (not shown) is attached to the other area and blasting is performed. Do it. Thereby, the rough surface 2A of the base material can be formed only in the surface region of the base material main body 2 other than the portion where the masking material is adhered.

By the above blasting, even if the base material main body 2 has a surface with a complicated shape, it is possible to form the base material rough surface 2A in which countless fine irregularities are arranged over the entire surface. Examples of the blasting device used for blasting include an air blasting device (compressor type, blower type, etc.) that projects media (abrasive material) using air, and a shot blasting device that throws media by rotating a motor. be done.

The depth and surface roughness of the base material rough surface 2A formed by blasting can be appropriately controlled by adjusting the particle size, shape, material, projection pressure, projection density, projection time, and the like of media. Examples of media materials include zirconium, alumina (white, brown), silicon carbide (green, black), silica sand, iron, copper, stainless steel, zinc, aluminum, garnet, resin, and glass. Also, the media may be composed of an elastic base material coated with fine abrasive grains.

The shape of the media includes, for example, a spherical shape or an acute angle shape. The particle size of the media is, for example, 5 μm to 2 mm. The media projection pressure is preferably 0.1 to 0.5 MPa. From the viewpoint of finishing the base material rough surface 2A to an appropriate surface roughness, the blasting process uses a medium made of zirconium with a particle size of 600 μm and blasts the base material rough surface 2A at a projection pressure of 0.3 MPa. 15 seconds is particularly preferred.

(Mirror finish treatment step S4)
In the mirror-finishing step S4, the entire base material rough surface 2A of the base material body 2 is subjected to another blasting treatment (mirror-finishing treatment) using a medium having a smaller particle size, so that the surface of the base material body 2 (base material Rough surface 2A) is polished to a mirror-like finish. This mirror-finishing treatment removes fine scratches on the surface of the base material main body 2 due to the previous buffing or blasting treatment.

In the mirror finishing step S4, the entire base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 is ground with a uniform depth of grinding of 2 μm or less. Therefore, even if the entire base material rough surface 2A is mirror-finished after the base material rough surface 2A is formed on the base material main body 2 in the previous blasting step S3, the uneven pattern of the base material rough surface 2A will disappear. no.

The surface roughness of the base material main body 2 finished by mirror finishing can be appropriately controlled by adjusting the particle size, shape, material, projection pressure, projection density, projection time, etc. of the media. In addition, from the viewpoint of finishing the base material rough surface 2A to an appropriate surface roughness, the mirror finish treatment is performed by adding abrasive grains of SDC: metal-coated synthetic diamond with a grain size of 1 μm around a base material with a grain size of 0.5 mm. It is particularly preferable to perform projection onto the base material rough surface 2A at a projection pressure of 0.2 MPa for 5 to 15 minutes using the supported medium.

Specifically, when the base material body 2 is made of bronze, the medium is projected for 5 to 15 minutes, and when the base material body 2 is made of brass, the medium is projected for 8 to 15 minutes. By performing the mirror-finishing step S4 by the above method, the temperature rise of the base material body 2 can be suppressed and the mirror-finishing can be performed.

(Washing treatment step S5)
In the cleaning treatment step S5, dirt adhering to the surface of the base material main body 2 is removed and cleaned by a cleaning method using a hydrocarbon-based cleaning liquid. The cleaning step S5 may be a step of cleaning the surface of the base material body 2 by a cleaning method using an aqueous cleaning liquid, a semi-aqueous cleaning liquid, or a chlorine-, bromine-, or fluorine-based solvent-based cleaning liquid.

In the cleaning process step S5, first, as rough cleaning, a process of removing abrasive adhering to the surface of the base material main body 2 by water cleaning is performed. Next, as main cleaning, a process of cleaning the surface of the base material body 2 by emulsion cleaning is performed. In this emulsion cleaning, cleaning is performed by combining an ultrasonic cleaning method in which water is vibrated by ultrasonic waves and a vacuum cleaning method in which the inside of a cleaning tank is repeatedly decompressed to near vacuum and pressure is applied internally.

By combining the emulsion cleaning with the ultrasonic cleaning method, it becomes possible to effectively clean the stain adhering to the base material body 2 . In addition, by combining the emulsion cleaning method with the vacuum cleaning method, it is possible to effectively clean small gaps in the base material body 2 by spreading the cleaning liquid even into blind holes and blind holes that cannot be cleaned under atmospheric pressure. becomes. In particular, by combining the vacuum cleaning method and the ultrasonic cleaning method, the effect of the ultrasonic waves is higher than that under atmospheric pressure, so that cleaning can be performed more effectively. In addition to or instead of the cleaning method described above, emulsion cleaning may be combined with a degassing cleaning method, a rotary cleaning method, an oscillation cleaning method, or a shower cleaning method.

By combining the degassing cleaning method, it becomes possible to further enhance the effect of ultrasonic waves when using the ultrasonic cleaning method. By combining the rotary cleaning method and the oscillating cleaning method, it is possible to physically create a flow of the cleaning liquid and further enhance the cleaning effect. Also, the ultrasonic waves tend to hit the surface of the base material body 2 evenly. In addition, as a method of physically creating a flow of the cleaning liquid, there is a method of circulating or bubbling the water. Moreover, by combining the shower cleaning method, it becomes possible to wash the base material body 2 appropriately by spraying the cleaning liquid not only from above but also from the sides and below. Other cleaning methods include a high-pressure jet cleaning method, a spray cleaning method, a brush cleaning method, and the like.

As a result of the cleaning, dirt such as oil adhering to the surface of the base material body 2 is dissolved in the cleaning liquid and diffused throughout the cleaning liquid. In addition, dirt adhering to the base material body 2 is dissolved in the cleaning liquid and replaced with the cleaning liquid. Next, in the cleaning process step S5, the surface of the base material main body 2 is subjected to vapor cleaning as rinsing cleaning. In the vapor cleaning, dirt remaining on the surface of the base material main body 2 is cleaned with higher accuracy by cleaning with steam obtained by boiling the cleaning liquid.

Next, in the cleaning process step S5, as a drying process, a process for drying the cleaning liquid remaining on the surface of the base material body 2 is performed. This drying treatment is performed by so-called vacuum drying. Vacuum drying is a known method in which the boiling point of the cleaning liquid is rapidly lowered by reducing the pressure in the cleaning tank to near vacuum, thereby bumping and drying the cleaning liquid. By using vacuum drying, it is possible to effectively accelerate the bumping drying of the cleaning liquid by reducing the pressure in the cleaning tank heated by the previous vapor cleaning. Can be dry processed.

The drying treatment may be performed by hot air drying or suction drying. Hot air drying is a known method for drying the surface of the base material body 2 by sending hot air into the cleaning tank. Suction drying is a known method for drying the surface of the base material main body 2 by sending compressed hot air into the cleaning tank and at the same time drawing it out from the opposite side with a suction blower. Hot-air drying and suction drying can also be applied to a cleaning tank using an aqueous cleaning liquid that cannot be vacuum-dried.

(Decorative layer forming step S6)
In the decorative layer forming step S6, the decorative layer 3 made of a DLC coating layer or a nickel-chromium plating coating layer is integrally formed on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2. As shown in FIG. Below, first, the DLC coating layer forming process for forming a DLC coating layer on the base material rough surface 2A will be described.

In the DLC coating layer deposition step, first, an intermediate coating deposition step of forming a metal intermediate coating over the entire base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 is performed. Next, a DLC film forming step is performed to form a DLC film classified as ta-C over the entire intermediate film that has been formed. That is, the DLC coating layer forming process includes an intermediate coating forming process for forming an intermediate coating and a DLC coating forming process for forming a DLC coating.

The intermediate coating is interposed between the base material body 2 and the DLC coating formed on its surface, and functions as an intermediate layer for improving the adhesion therebetween. The intermediate coating is formed directly on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 . At least one metal selected from the group consisting of nickel, titanium, chromium, tungsten, or silicon can be used for the intermediate coating.

The intermediate coating may have a single layer structure composed of one metal selected from the above group, or may have a laminated structure composed of two or more metals. It is particularly preferable that the intermediate coating be made of titanium, which has excellent adhesion to the base material body 2 and the DLC coating, and excellent corrosion resistance.

The intermediate coating is deposited on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 in a layered manner by a sputtering method classified as a PVD method (physical vapor deposition method) in the intermediate coating film forming process. In the intermediate film forming step, first, an ion bombardment treatment using argon ions is performed to remove a passive film such as an oxide film or a hydroxide film exposed on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2. be.

Next, by sputtering, in a vacuum containing an inert gas (argon gas), a negative voltage is applied to the cathode target (film-forming material) to generate glow discharge, and gas ions collide with the film-forming material. Particles of the film-forming material beaten out are deposited on the surface of the base material body 2 to form a dense thin film. By forming the intermediate coating by a sputtering method, a thin film of uniform thickness which is dense and highly adhesive is formed on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material body 2 without exposing the base material body 2 to liquid or high-temperature gas. can be deposited.

The intermediate coating may be formed on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 by an arc ion plating method other than the sputtering method. In the arc ion plating method, a film-forming material is evaporated in a vacuum, and the positively-charged film-forming material ionized (ionized) by arc discharge is attracted to the surface of the base material main body 2 to which a negative charge is applied. It is a known method for film formation.

The DLC coating is formed uniformly on the surface of the intermediate coating formed on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 by a vacuum arc deposition method classified as a PVD method (physical vapor deposition method) in the DLC coating deposition process. The film is deposited in layers in a shape having a sufficient thickness. The DLC coating is classified as ta-C, which is said to have the highest SP-3 structure ratio among DLC (diamond-like carbon), the highest density and hard characteristics by the vacuum arc deposition method. Formed as a coating. ta-C is amorphous carbon with a ratio of SP-3 structure of 50% to 90% and a hydrogen content of 5% by mass or less.

More specifically, the DLC film is formed by a known FCVA method (filtered cathode vacuum arc method), which is known as a method capable of forming a film with few surface defects, among vacuum arc deposition methods. In the FCVA method, droplets (SP-2 structure or macroparticles having a similar composition structure) can be filtered out of the plasma during transport of the plasma, making it difficult for them to adhere to the film.

Since the droplets are less likely to adhere to the film, the surface of the film can be formed in a shape that ensures geometric uniformity (flatness) and chemical uniformity with less unevenness. As a result, the DLC coating can be formed in a shape that has a smooth surface and does not easily deteriorate in mechanical properties. The DLC coating is preferably formed using the above FCVA method so that the surface defects are 20% or less. Also, the DLC film is preferably formed to have a thickness of 0.5 to 5.0 μm and a Vickers hardness of 1,500 to 5,000 Hv. The hardness of the coating is sometimes indicated by nanoindentation hardness when the coating has a thickness of several tens of nm to several tens of μm.

The DLC coating is formed on the base material body 2 with good adhesion by being provided on the base material body 2 with an intermediate coating interposed therebetween. By forming the DLC coating layer in which the DLC coating is laminated on the intermediate coating, the surface of the faucet member 1 is formed as shown in FIG. The decorative layer 3 is formed with a decorative rough surface 3A having a high density, hardness, and high abrasion resistance, which is provided with countless fine irregularities. The DLC coating and the intermediate coating formed thereunder are laminated in a form having a uniform thickness on the base material rough surface 2A of the base material main body 2 by the above-described vacuum arc deposition method or sputtering method. filmed. Therefore, even if the recessed shape of the base material rough surface 2A recessed into the base material main body 2 is not set deep, the surface of the faucet member 1, that is, the decorative rough surface 3A can be formed with an uneven pattern with a clear outline. can be done.

Next, a nickel-chromium plating film layer forming process for forming a nickel-chromium plating film layer on the rough surface 2A of the base material will be described. In the nickel-chromium plating film layer forming step, the entire surface of the base material body 2 is subjected to nickel plating treatment and chromium plating treatment in this order to form a nickel-chromium plating film layer having nickel plating and chromium plating in a laminated form. to form The nickel plating is preferably formed to a thickness of approximately 7 μm. Chrome plating is preferably formed to a thickness of 0.2 to 0.4 μm.

The corrosion resistance of the base material main body 2 is appropriately enhanced by providing nickel plating on the surface thereof in a laminated manner. In addition, the base material body 2 is provided with a layered chromium plating layer on the surface of the nickel plating, so that the scratch resistance is appropriately enhanced, and the base material body 2 is finished in a good-looking shape with metallic luster. Note that the decorative layer 3 may be formed of a coating layer made of only nickel plating or a coating layer made of only chromium plating instead of the nickel-chrome plating coating layer. Nickel plating has excellent adhesion to the copper alloy forming the base material body 2, is hard, and has excellent corrosion resistance and heat resistance. Chromium plating serves as a protective film for nickel plating and is characterized by excellent scratch resistance, light reflectivity, heat reflectivity and corrosion resistance.

Due to the formation of the nickel-chromium plating film layer, the surface of the faucet member 1, as shown in FIG. A decorative layer 3 having a decorative rough surface 3A excellent in appearance maintenance performance such as corrosion resistance, discoloration resistance and weather resistance is formed. The thickness of each of the nickel plating and the chrome plating may be any thickness that allows the decorative rough surface 3A to be provided with countless fine irregularities depending on the irregular shape of the base material rough surface 2A. It is not particularly limited.

<<About other embodiments>>
As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described using one embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in the above embodiment, and various modifications and additions can be made without changing the gist of the present invention. , and can be deleted. For example, the faucet member of the present invention may be used for the purpose of making stains such as water stains and fingerprints inconspicuous on the surface of the decorative layer, and is used indoors and outdoors around water. The present invention can also be applied to members other than the main body member of the faucet fitting and piping, such as the handle of the faucet fitting.

1 faucet member 2 base material main body 2A base material rough surface 3 decorative layer 3A decorative rough surface S1 pre-process S2 lead removal process S3 blasting process S4 mirror finishing process S5 cleaning process S6 decorative layer forming process

Claims (5)

A faucet member,
Having a base material body and a decorative layer formed on a predetermined surface of the base material body,
A base material rough surface having countless fine irregularities is formed over the entire predetermined surface of the base material main body, and the decorative layer is formed on the base material rough surface depending on the uneven shape of the base material rough surface. A faucet member having a decorative rough surface with countless fine unevenness. The decorative layer is a DLC coating layer obtained by laminating a DLC coating classified as ta-C on the surface of a metallic intermediate coating, or a nickel-chromium plating coating obtained by laminating chromium plating on a nickel-plated surface. 2. A faucet member according to claim 1, wherein the faucet member is layered. The water according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the decorative rough surface has an uneven shape with a maximum height of 5 to 100 µm, an average spacing of unevenness of 10 to 500 µm, and a number of unevenness of 10 to 100/mm ² . plug member. 4. The base metal body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the base metal body is a copper alloy containing 50% or more copper, the balance being lead, zinc, tin, iron, nickel and antimony. A faucet member as described. A method for manufacturing a faucet member,
A blasting step of forming a rough surface of the base material having countless fine irregularities by blasting the entire predetermined surface of the base material body;
a mirror-finishing step of mirror-finishing the rough surface of the base material by subjecting the rough surface of the base material to another blasting treatment;
By forming a decorative layer on the predetermined surface of the base material main body, the base material rough surface is provided with a decorative rough surface having innumerable fine unevenness depending on the uneven shape of the base material rough surface. and a decorative layer forming step of forming the decorative layer.

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