JP3685116B2 - Artificial marble - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an artificial marble obtained by heat-curing a resin compound containing a thermosetting resin as a main component.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally obtained by thermosetting resin such as unsaturated polyester resin and vinyl ester resin as the main component, and adding resin compound containing filler, curing agent, additive, etc. to desired mold and heat curing. High density artificial marble is known. The resin compound for obtaining the conventional artificial marble does not contain a foaming agent, and the molded artificial marble is a high-density non-foamed one. This non-foamed artificial marble is widely used as a kitchen counter and washbasin for system kitchens.
[0003]
The high-density non-foamed artificial marble of the thermosetting resin as described above has a high design similar to natural marble and has a strong strength. This member cannot be fixed.
[0004]
For this reason, for example, when the sink 5 is attached to the counter which is a molded product of the artificial marble 1, the sink 5 cannot be directly fixed to the artificial marble 1 with the screw 8. Therefore, as shown in FIG. The flange 7 of the sink 5 is screwed to a wooden crosspiece 31 which is fixed to the back surface of the counter made of marble 1 with urethane resin 30 or the like, or is fixed to the back surface of the counter made of artificial marble 1 as shown in FIG. 8 was fixed.
[0005]
By the way, when it is disposed of, it is necessary to separate the artificial marble 1 and the metal sink 5 for the purpose of recycling. In this case, in the case where the sink 5 is bonded and fixed to the artificial marble 1 with the urethane resin 30. Not only is the separation very troublesome and time-consuming, but also the cost required for the separation is high. Further, in the case where the sink 5 is fixed to the wooden crosspiece 31 that is bonded and fixed to the back surface of the counter made of the artificial marble 1 with the screw 8, the wooden crosspiece 31 is bonded to the back surface of the artificial marble 1 in order to attach the sink 5 with the screw 8. Moreover, although this thing can isolate | separate the sink 5 easily by removing the bis | screw 8, since the artificial marble 1 and the wooden crosspiece 31 are adhesive-fixed, there exists a problem that it is hard to isolate | separate.
[0006]
Further, the conventional non-foamed artificial marble has the same high density over the entire width in the thickness direction, and therefore, there is a problem that the entire thickness direction has a high hardness and the workability such as cutting is poor.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to attach other members by screwing, improve the workability such as cutting, and further improve the scratch resistance of the surface. It is a problem to provide.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the artificial marble according to the present invention is an artificial marble 1 obtained by heat-curing a resin compound 12 mainly composed of a thermosetting resin, and the surface side of the artificial marble 1 is not The foamed artificial marble layer 2 is formed, and the back side is a foamed artificial marble layer 3 having a lower density than the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2. With such a configuration, the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side can be easily screwed because it has a lower density than the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the front side. Since the foamed artificial marble layer 2 is not foamed, it has the same design as a conventional general non-foamed artificial marble and can maintain the strength as the artificial marble. In addition, since the artificial marble 1 has the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side, the processing such as cutting is easier than the case where the entire thickness direction is non-foamed.
[0009]
Further, the outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the surface side may be a high hardness layer 4. By adopting such a configuration, the outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the surface side can be made to have a higher hardness by the high hardness layer 4 and the scratch resistance can be improved.
[0010]
Moreover, it is preferable that the high hardness layer 4 is configured to contain a high specific gravity filler. By setting it as such a structure, the high hardness layer 4 can be comprised easily.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the artificial marble 1 of the present invention. The artificial marble layer is obtained by heat curing the resin compound 12 whose main component is a thermosetting resin. The artificial marble 1 of the present invention has a non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the front side and a foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side. The non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the surface side has the same composition as a conventionally known non-foamed artificial marble, exhibits the same design as the conventional artificial marble, and has the same strength as the conventional artificial marble. It is a layer which expresses. On the other hand, the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side is a layer that can be easily screwed and other members can be easily attached by screws 8. The non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the front surface side and the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back surface side are formed by integrally molding the resin compound 12 by heat curing. In addition, if the entire thickness direction is composed of the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2, it is difficult to perform cutting or the like, but the back side is the foamed artificial marble layer 3, so that processing such as cutting is easy. is there.
[0013]
FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the artificial marble 1 of the present invention. The artificial marble 1 of the present embodiment has the same basic configuration as the artificial marble 1 shown in FIG. 1 described above, but the outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the surface side is a high hardness layer 4. There is a feature in the point. The high hardness layer 4 contains a high specific gravity filler to increase the hardness. The scratch resistance of the surface of the artificial marble layer 1 whose outermost surface portion is the high hardness layer 4 is improved. In addition, since the high hardness layer 4 is integrally formed on the outermost surface portion, there is no need for surface modification by post-treatment such as surface coating.
[0014]
The artificial marble 1 having the above-described configuration can be widely used as a kitchen counter, a wash counter, etc. of a system kitchen.
[0015]
By the way, although other members may be attached to the artificial marble 1, in the artificial marble 1 of the present invention, the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side has a lower density than the non-foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the front side. Therefore, other members can be directly attached by screws. As an example of attachment, an example in which a sink 5 made of metal such as stainless steel is attached to a counter made of artificial marble 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0016]
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the flange 7 of the outer periphery of the sink 5 is applied to the back surface around the opening 6 provided on the counter made of the artificial marble 1, and the screw 8 is inserted from the flange 7 to insert the artificial marble 1. The sink 5 can be directly attached to the artificial marble 1 by screwing screws 8 into the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side. Here, unlike the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the front surface side, the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side of the artificial marble 1 is foamed and has a low density, so that it can be attached with screws 8 and can be easily screwed. 8, the sink 5 can be attached. 3 and 4, when the opening 6 is formed in the counter made of the artificial marble 1, the inner peripheral portion of the opening 6 of the foamed artificial marble layer 3 on the back side is the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the front side. Is formed so as to be slightly recessed from the inner peripheral portion of the opening 6, silicone 9 is applied to the recessed portion, and further, a packing 20 is attached to ensure the water-stopping property of the attachment portion of the sink 5. .
[0017]
In the case where the other member such as the metal sink 5 is directly attached to the back side of the artificial marble 1 with the screw 8 as described above, the artificial marble 1 and the metal made only by removing the screw 8 at the time of disposal. It can be separated and collected from other members such as the sink 5, and the waste of the artificial marble 1 can be recycled very easily.
[0018]
The artificial marble 1 as described above is manufactured as follows.
[0019]
First, the manufacturing method of the artificial marble 1 shown in FIG. 1 is demonstrated based on FIG.
[0020]
First, a resin compound 12 for molding an artificial marble containing a thermosetting resin as a main component is prepared. That is, 100 parts by weight of a thermosetting resin such as unsaturated polyester resin or vinyl ester resin, 20 to 250 parts by weight of filler such as aluminum hydroxide, calcium carbonate, aggregate, 1 to 5 parts by weight of a curing agent, reduced viscosity The resin compound 12 is prepared by mixing 1 to 5 parts by weight of additives such as an agent and a pigment and 5 to 20 parts by weight of a foaming agent. Here, as the foaming agent, one having a low specific gravity is used, and the microcapsule starts to foam at about 110 ° C. For example, “Matsumoto Microsphere F50D (specific gravity 1.13)” manufactured by Matsumoto Yushi may be used.
[0021]
The lower mold 10 is provided with a molding recess 11, and the resin compound 12 having the above composition is injected into the molding recess 11 of the lower mold 10 as shown in FIG. The injection thickness is about 1/4 to 1/2 of the thickness of the molded product. Therefore, in this case, about 1/4 to 1/2 of the depth of the molding recess 11 is injected. Next, the upper die 16 is closed as shown in FIG.
[0022]
Next, the lower mold 10 is heated as shown in FIG. When the lower mold 10 is heated, the resin compound 12 in the lower mold 10 is gradually heated, and when the temperature of the resin compound 12 reaches 30 to 60 ° C., the viscosity of the resin compound 12 decreases. When the viscosity of the resin compound 12 is lowered, the foaming agent made of microcapsules having a low specific gravity mixed in the resin compound 12 moves to the upper layer side of the resin compound 12 and the resin compound 12 has a structure as shown in FIG. The upper layer 12a is a layer in which a foaming agent made of microcapsules is collected, and the lower layer 12b of the resin compound 12 is a layer in which almost no foaming agent made of microcapsules is present. When the lower mold 10 is further heated and the temperature of the resin compound 12 reaches around 70 ° C., the activation of the curing agent starts, and the polymerization starts gradually from the lower layer 12b side in contact with the lower mold 10.
[0023]
When the lower mold 10 is further heated, the polymerization of the lower layer 12b further proceeds, and when the temperature of the resin compound 12 reaches about 110 ° C., the foaming agent composed of the microcapsules of the upper layer 12a starts to expand through foaming. In this case, since the bubbles are light, they are likely to rise. In addition, since the lower layer 12b has already been cured, the bubbles 14 are pushed upward instead of going downward as shown in FIG. 5 (e). In this way, after the bubbles 14 are pushed upward and come into close contact with the lower surface of the upper die 16 as shown in FIG. 5 (f), heating of the upper die 16 is started, and both the lower die 10 and the upper die 16 are heated. Then, the resin compound 12 is cured to form a molded product of the artificial marble 1 which is a non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 having a high density on the lower side and a low-density foamed artificial marble layer 3 containing bubbles on the upper side. .
[0024]
Here, in the stage of FIGS. 5C to 5E, only the lower mold 10 is heated without heating the upper mold 16, and the bubbles 14 are pushed upward as described above, so that FIG. As shown in the figure, heating of the upper die 16 is started after it is in close contact with the lower surface of the upper die 16. When the upper die 16 and the lower die 10 are simultaneously heated from the beginning, curing proceeds simultaneously from above and below, including bubbles. Since strain concentrates inside the upper layer 12a and cracking easily occurs, curing starts from the lower layer 12b that does not contain bubbles, and the volume of the upper layer 12a is increased while proceeding from the bottom to the top in this way. The upper mold 16 is heated and cured after the upper layer 12a is brought into close contact with the lower surface of the upper mold 16. In the artificial marble 1 to be molded That cracks are those that can be molded so as not to cause.
[0025]
In the molded product of the artificial marble 1 molded as described above, the high-density non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 on the lower mold 10 side is the same as the conventional artificial marble. Therefore, the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 side is the surface side, The foamed artificial marble layer 3 side is used as a counter or the like on the back side.
[0026]
Next, a method for manufacturing the artificial marble 1 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0027]
The embodiment of the present manufacturing method is basically the same as the embodiment of the manufacturing method shown in FIG. 5, except that a high specific gravity filler is further added as a filler in the resin compound 12 for molding artificial marble. Different. That is, 100 parts by weight of a thermosetting resin such as unsaturated polyester resin or vinyl ester resin, 20 to 250 parts by weight of filler such as aluminum hydroxide, calcium carbonate, aggregate, etc., and high specific gravity filler 5 such as alumina or silica. The resin compound 12 is prepared by mixing ˜50 parts by weight, 1 to 5 parts by weight of a curing agent, 1 to 5 parts by weight of additives such as a thinning agent and pigment, and 5 to 20 parts by weight of a foaming agent. Here, the same foaming agent as in the above-described embodiment is used.
[0028]
The resin compound 12 obtained as described above is manufactured in the same order as in the above-described FIGS. Each stage of FIGS. 6A to 6F corresponds to each stage of FIGS. 5A to 5F. Then, as in this example, the resin compound 12 mixed with the high specific gravity filler is injected into the molding recess 11 of the lower mold 10 as shown in FIG. 6A, and the upper mold as shown in FIG. 6B. 16 is closed, and then the lower mold 10 is heated as shown in FIG. 6 (c) to reduce the viscosity at a resin compound 12 temperature of 30 ° C. to 60 ° C. In FIG. The resulting foaming agent moves to the upper layer side of the resin compound 12, the upper layer 12a of the resin compound 12 becomes a layer in which the foaming agent made of microcapsules is collected, and the lower layer 12b of the resin compound 12 has almost no foaming agent made of microcapsules. In this case, the high specific gravity filler in the resin compound 12 sinks down and gathers at the lowermost layer portion of the lower layer 12b to become the lowermost layer 12c.
[0029]
Further, when the lower mold 10 is heated and the temperature of the resin compound 12 reaches about 70 ° C., the activation of the curing agent starts, and the polymerization starts gradually from the lowermost layer 12 c side of the lower layer 12 b in contact with the lower mold 10. Go. When the lower mold 10 is further heated, the polymerization of the lower layer 12b further proceeds, and when the temperature of the resin compound 12 reaches about 110 ° C., the foaming agent composed of the microcapsules of the upper layer 12a starts to expand through foaming. In this case, since the bubbles 14 are light, they are likely to rise. In addition, since the lower layer 12b has already been cured, the bubbles 14 are pushed upward instead of going downward as shown in FIG. In this way, after the bubbles 14 are pushed upward and come into close contact with the lower surface of the upper die 16 as shown in FIG. 6 (f), heating of the upper die 16 is started, and both the lower die 10 and the upper die 16 are heated. Then, the resin compound 12 is cured to form a molded product of the artificial marble 1 which is a non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 having a high density on the lower side and a low-density foamed artificial marble layer 3 containing bubbles on the upper side. . In this case, the lower side of the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 is a high hardness layer 4 obtained by curing the resin compound 12 in which a high specific gravity filler is collected.
[0030]
The molded product of the artificial marble 1 molded as described above is used as a counter or the like with the non-foamed artificial marble layer 2 side having the high hardness layer 4 on the surface side and the foamed artificial marble layer 3 side on the back side. is there.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an artificial marble obtained by heat-curing a resin compound containing a thermosetting resin as a main component, and the surface side of the artificial marble is not Since it is a foamed artificial marble layer and the back side is a foamed artificial marble layer with a lower density than the non-foamed artificial marble layer, the back side foamed artificial marble layer has a lower density than the front side non-foamed artificial marble layer As a result, it is possible to easily attach another member to the artificial marble of the present invention with a screw, and it is easy to attach the other member to the artificial marble. The artificial marble and the separate member can be separated by simply removing the screw, and can be separated and recycled easily. Moreover, since the non-foamed artificial marble layer on the surface side is not foamed, it has the same design as conventional non-foamed artificial marble and can maintain the strength as an artificial marble, reducing the commercial value as an artificial marble. In addition, since the back side of the artificial marble is a foamed artificial marble layer, the processing such as cutting can be easily performed as compared with the case where all of the thickness direction is non-foamed.
[0032]
Further, in the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention according to claim 1, the outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer on the surface side is a high hardness layer. The outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer can be made harder by the high hardness layer, and the scratch resistance is improved.
[0033]
Further, in the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, since the high hardness layer is configured to contain the high specific gravity filler, the high hardness layer is simply configured. It can be done.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of an artificial marble of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the above.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the artificial marble is used as a counter and the sink is attached with screws.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which an artificial marble according to another embodiment is used as a counter and a sink is attached with screws.
FIGS. 5A to 5F are explanatory views showing the manufacturing order of the artificial marble of the above.
FIGS. 6A to 6F are explanatory views showing a manufacturing sequence of artificial marble according to another embodiment of the same.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a sink is attached to a conventional artificial marble counter.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which a sink is attached to another conventional artificial marble counter.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Artificial marble 2 Non-foamed artificial marble layer 3 Foamed artificial marble layer 4 High hardness layer

Claims (3)

An artificial marble obtained by heat-curing a resin compound mainly composed of a thermosetting resin, wherein the surface side of the artificial marble is a non-foamed artificial marble layer and the back side is lower in density than the non-foamed artificial marble layer An artificial marble characterized by a foamed artificial marble layer. 2. The artificial marble according to claim 1, wherein the outermost surface portion of the non-foamed artificial marble layer on the surface side is a high hardness layer. 3. The artificial marble according to claim 2, wherein the high hardness layer is configured to contain a high specific gravity filler.

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