JPH0638860A - Plastic mirror and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a plastic mirror high in light reflection factor at a low cost by forming a thin silver skin layer by means of silver plating after the surface of transparent plastic resin in a form of a plate or a film is activated so as to be coated with a surfactant. CONSTITUTION:A transparent polycarbonate resin in a plate form is immersed in a tin chloride aqueous solution for one minute, and next, it is immersed in a palladium chloride aqueous solution for one minute so as to be activated at its surface, so that it thereby adsorbs palladium having a catalytic function. Following which, a surfactant solution is thinly applied over the surface of the transparent resin plate, so that hydrophilic property is imparted thereto. A silver plating solution immediately after those such as an ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution, a sodium hydroxide aqueous solution and a glucose aqueous solution are mixed by the ratio of 4:1:1 at ambient temperature equal to or more than 15 deg.C, is applied over the surface of the transparent resin plate as to be left as is. By this constitution, after a thin silver layer has been formed, a copper protective film is formed thereon by a copper sulphate aqueous solution and a reducing agent solution, and back coating is then applied thereto so as to be sealed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plastic which is electrolessly silver-plated on a plastic substrate made of acrylic resin (polymethylmethacrylate, methacrylic resin, PMMA), acrylic resin having a surface treatment (hard coat, etc.). The present invention relates to a mirror and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a mirror having a high light reflectance, silver is applied to a glass substrate by a non-electrolytic silver mirror reaction in which a silver plating solution containing an ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution is reduced on one side of a transparent glass substrate with glucose or the like. There is known a glass mirror in which a silver coating is formed by precipitating.

The glass mirror thus formed is
Care must be taken when handling as there is always a risk of injury due to damage. Further, if the glass plate is too thin, it is difficult to handle it during manufacturing, and therefore a certain thickness is required. For this reason, the weight of a large product in particular increases significantly, and special consideration must be given to its transportation and installation.

Therefore, in consideration of the danger of injury due to breakage, the difficulty of handling, etc., a mirror having a plastic resin substrate has been considered. As a method of manufacturing this plastic mirror, a method utilizing a silver mirror reaction that is generally used when manufacturing a normal glass mirror can be considered first. That is, this method forms a silver coating by an electroless silver mirror reaction in which a silver plating solution containing an ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution is reduced with glucose or the like.

However, unlike the case of glass, even if the silver mirror reaction is caused on the plastic surface, silver does not easily deposit on the plastic surface. Even if it is deposited, the deposition surface is rough, and only a silver film with a low light reflectance, which is dull and cloudy, can be formed. In addition, it does not adhere firmly to the plastic surface and the silver coating easily peels off after washing with water. Furthermore, even if the silver plating solution is flown on the plastic surface, the plating solution is repelled and does not spread uniformly, so that a large-area uniform silver coating cannot be formed. Due to these technical difficulties, it has been said that a plastic mirror cannot be manufactured by the method utilizing the silver mirror reaction.

Attempts have been made to apply a dispersion of colloidal silver particles with a brush to make a plastic mirror, but only a colored, low-quality product has been produced.

Therefore, as a method of manufacturing a plastic mirror, a method generally used at present is to form a thin film layer of aluminum, silver or the like on transparent plastic by vapor deposition or sputtering in a high vacuum. Is the way.

[0008]

However, the plastic mirror manufactured in this manner has a low light reflectance and is darker than an ordinary mirror made of glass. Moreover, it is often used as a reflector rather than as a mirror because it gives the impression that it is a low-grade product (low quality) such as pinholes are easily formed. Further, the manufacturing by these methods has a problem that an expensive device is required and the manufacturing cost becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-quality plastic mirror having a high light reflectance which is lightweight, safe, and easy to manufacture, and a manufacturing method thereof. .

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the plastic mirror of the present invention comprises a plastic resin,
A surfactant applied to the surface of the plastic resin,
It is composed of a silver thin film layer formed by a silver plating method in a state where the surface active agent is applied to a plastic resin surface.

The method for producing a plastic mirror of the present invention comprises applying a surfactant to the surface of a plastic resin and then forming a silver thin film layer by a silver plating method.

The surface of the plastic resin may be activated before applying the surfactant.

As the material of the plastic resin, a material having a colorless and transparent, colored and transparent, milky, white or glass color tone can be used. The plastic resin may be surface-treated. A hard coat is desirable for this surface treatment.

The plastic resin may be formed in a plate shape or a film shape, or may be formed in a hollow shape and a silver thin film layer is formed inside thereof, or a plate shape having a curved surface, a bent surface or an uneven surface. May be

By coating the surface of the plastic resin with a surfactant, the hydrophobic surface becomes hydrophilic and the silver plating solution spreads uniformly without being repelled by the resin surface. Therefore, a uniform silver coating layer can be formed on the resin surface.

Further, if the surface of the resin is activated before the surface active agent is applied, silver plating can be easily performed.

[0017]

The present inventor tried to make a plastic mirror using various plating in order to make a plastic mirror having a high light reflectance, which has never been seen in the world until now. Was not obtained. The main reason for this is that the surface of the plastic resin has hydrophobicity, so that it is not easy to uniformly plate the resin surface, and high light reflectance cannot be obtained.

Even if an electroless silver mirror reaction of reducing a silver plating solution containing an aqueous ammoniacal silver nitrate solution with glucose or the like is caused on the plastic surface, unlike the case of glass, silver is not easily deposited on the plastic surface. Rough even if deposited
Only a dull, cloudy silver coating with low light reflectance was produced. In addition, they did not adhere firmly, and the silver coating easily peeled off after washing with water. Further, the silver plating solution was repelled on the surface of the plastic, and it was not possible to form a large area and uniform silver coating.

Therefore, as a result of various experiments conducted by the present inventor, after applying a surfactant to the surface of a plastic resin, a very simple method of forming a silver thin film layer by a silver plating method is used to obtain a light reflectance. It turns out that it is possible to make high-quality plastic mirrors that are as good as glass mirrors.

The plastic mirror manufactured by the method of the present invention cannot be obtained by a conventional plastic mirror manufactured by directly applying the conventional silver mirror reaction or a conventional plastic mirror manufactured by a vacuum deposition method or the like. It had high reflectance and high quality, and had almost the same properties as a glass mirror. Thus, the scientific elucidation of the reason why high-quality plastic mirrors, which could not be obtained by the conventional method, can be obtained by the method of the present invention must be researched in the future. According to the above, it is considered that the reason is as follows.

That is, the hydrophobic property of the plastic surface can be made hydrophilic by applying an aqueous solution containing a surfactant to the surface of the plastic resin. The surfactant has a hydrophobic part and a hydrophilic part in the same molecule. Therefore, the surfactant is adsorbed at the hydrophobic portion on the surface of the plastic resin having the hydrophobic property. As a result, the hydrophilic part of the surfactant is located outside the plastic resin surface. Since the hydrophilic part of the surfactant has the property of uniformly spreading the aqueous solution on the plastic surface, pouring the silver plating solution in this state spreads it uniformly without being repelled.

However, since the surfactant interferes with the silver mirror reaction on the surface of the plastic resin, the concentration of the surfactant in the applied aqueous solution must be as low as possible. For this reason, when the silver plating solution spreads uniformly and an aqueous solution containing a surfactant having a concentration that does not disturb the silver mirror reaction is applied, a uniform silver coating layer can be formed on the surface of a large area plastic resin.

In the method of the present invention, when a silver thin film is formed by depositing silver on the surface of a plastic resin by an electroless silver mirror reaction in which a silver plating solution containing an aqueous ammoniacal silver nitrate solution is reduced with glucose or the like. Etc.,
If you use a plastic resin that has been hard-coated in advance,
When the complex ion of silver in the ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution is reduced by glucose, the precipitation reaction of silver easily proceeds on the hard coating surface of the plastic resin, and the silver coating adheres firmly to the hard coating surface, which is the same as a glass mirror. You can make a high quality mirror.

For the hard coat treatment, a solution in which silica sol or the like is added in addition to the silane coupling agent is used.
Since silica (SiO ₂ ) is the main component of the glass composition, the surface of the hard-coated acrylic resin is somewhat closer to the glass surface. Therefore, when the complex ion of silver in the aqueous ammoniacal silver nitrate solution is reduced by glucose, the silver precipitation reaction easily proceeds on the hard coat surface, and the adhesion of the silver coating is good.

In addition to the hard coat, as the surface treatment, a chemical treatment is performed to facilitate the electroless silver mirror reaction of reducing the silver plating solution containing the ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution with glucose or the like on the surface of the plastic resin. is there.
For example, there are silica film coating, activation treatment with palladium salt, etching treatment with chromic acid mixture, plasma treatment, low reflection coating, and the like.

The color tone of the plastic resin may be not only colorless and transparent but also colored and transparent, milky white, white or glass. Since the coloring is throughout the resin, the surface of the resin is hardly affected by the coloring. Therefore, the silver plating of the colored resin can form a good silver coating as in the case of the colorless and transparent resin.

A plastic mirror produced by a silver mirror reaction with a colorless and transparent resin gives a slightly yellowish impression as compared with a glass mirror. The reason is that the glass itself has a light blue color. Therefore, if a resin having a glass color similar to that of glass is used, it is possible to manufacture a plastic mirror having the same color tone as the glass mirror.

Further, in the plastic mirror made of resin which is thinly colored in various colors, the mirror image is not so conspicuous,
It gives a more calm impression than the colorless case. Plastic is easier to color than glass. This new type of colored mirror can be easily manufactured.

Plastic is also easier to process into different shapes than glass. A non-planar mirror,
For example, a mirror having a columnar shape, a hemispherical surface, or the like is difficult to form by the vapor deposition method. Since the wet silver plating solution is a solution, it can be manufactured regardless of the shape of the plastic. It is also possible to easily manufacture a spherical silver mirror inside, which is impossible by vapor deposition.

[0030]

The plastic mirror of the present invention and the method for manufacturing the same will be described below.

The present invention realizes an excellent plastic mirror and a method for manufacturing the same by a simple means, and three concrete examples will be described below.

First, the first embodiment will be described below.

A transparent polycarbonate (PC) resin is used as the plastic resin.
Mold transparent plates of 0.25mm, 0.5mm, 1.0mm and 2.0mm.

As an aqueous solution for activation treatment,
Tin (II) chloride aqueous solution (SnCl ₂ , 1.0g / l 37% HC
l, 1 ml) and palladium chloride aqueous solution (Pd
Cl ₂ , 0.1 g / l to which 0.1 ml of 37% HCl was added).

As the surfactant, linear alkylbenzenes, sodium alkyl ether sulfate, etc. are used. For example, 27% of these surfactants are added to 1 liter of water.
Use a solution (hereinafter referred to as "surfactant solution") diluted with 0.7 ml of a kitchen detergent (for example, Mama Lemon Lion Co., Ltd.) containing the detergent.

As the silver plating solution, ammonia-excess ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution AgNO ₃ 17 to 51 g / l (Liquid A), sodium hydroxide aqueous solution NaOH 40 g / l (Liquid B) and glucose aqueous solution C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₆ 30 g / l (C liquid) is used.

The ammonia-excess ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution used here is prepared as follows. Ammonia water is gradually added to the silver nitrate aqueous solution to form a precipitate. Ammonia water is added until the precipitate disappears, and concentrated ammonia water (28%) is added at 14 ml / l. In the case of silver nitrate 17g / l, 28ml / l of concentrated ammonia water (28%) is added in total.

A method of manufacturing the plastic mirror according to this embodiment using the above materials will be described. A transparent plate of a polycarbonate resin is first dipped in an aqueous solution of tin (II) chloride for 1 minute, and then dipped in an aqueous solution of palladium chloride for 1 minute to activate the surface of the transparent plate, and palladium having catalytic ability is adsorbed on the surface. Next, the surfactant solution is thinly applied to the upper surface of the transparent plate. This is done, for example, by dropping the surfactant solution from the upper side of a transparent plate placed on a plane or spraying it with a mist. As a result, the surface of the transparent plate becomes hydrophilic because the surface active agent is adsorbed on the surface of the hydrophobic transparent plate with the hydrophilic part facing outside, and the silver plating solution spreads smoothly without being repelled by the transparent plate surface. Like However, since the surfactant also has an effect of hindering the plating, the coating amount of the surfactant solution should be minimized.

Then, the solutions A, B and C are mixed at a ratio of 4: 1: 1 at room temperature of 15 ° C. or higher, and the mixed solution (silver plating solution) immediately after mixing is applied with a surfactant solution. Place it on the upper surface of the transparent plate and let it stand. This silver plating solution spreads uniformly without being repelled on the upper surface of the transparent plate by the action of the surfactant, and a uniform silver mirror (silver thin film layer) is formed on the surface by the silver mirror reaction. In order to protect this silver thin film layer, a copper protective film is formed on it with an aqueous solution of copper (II) sulfate and a reducing agent solution (zinc powder suspension), and a backing paint is applied and sealed.

The plastic mirror manufactured as described above has a high light reflectance and a clear image when viewed from the polycarbonate resin surface side.

Incidentally, the higher the concentration of the aqueous solution of silver nitrate in the aqueous solution of ammoniacal silver nitrate in excess of ammonia, the thicker the silver coating and the higher the light reflectance, but since silver nitrate is an expensive reagent, it is thin considering economic efficiency. The silver plating may be repeated twice or more depending on the concentration.

In the above embodiments, the plate-shaped resin is used as the plastic resin, but the resin is not limited to the plate-shaped resin and may be formed into a film-shaped resin. Also in this case, the plastic mirror can be easily molded as in the case of the resin plate. The thickness of this film is about 0.02 mm to 0.5 mm.
Note that other thicknesses may be used.

When this film is used as a mirror, a backing plate for supporting is attached to the back side in order to keep the film surface flat. Or stick it on the wall of the building as it is.

As described above, a plastic mirror having a high light reflectance can be manufactured extremely easily and at low cost.

Moreover, the plastic mirror is lighter in weight than the glass mirror, and is safe without the risk of damage due to impact. Furthermore, since it is lightweight and safe, it is ideal as a mirror body to be attached to the inner surface of the lid of a compact container for filling cosmetics. Further, it is extremely useful as a mirror to be installed on a wall surface of a large area, which is very difficult with a glass mirror. In particular, a film-shaped plastic mirror is useful because it can be attached like a wallpaper.

Since the plastic mirror of this embodiment can be freely bent after manufacturing, it can be easily attached to a curved wall such as a circular column of a building or a corrugated wall, which is extremely useful. Is.

In the manufacturing method, the activation treatment may be omitted. In this case, the light reflectance of the manufactured plastic mirror is slightly inferior, but it can be made as a sufficiently practical mirror. Particularly when a polycarbonate resin is used, a plastic mirror having a relatively high light reflectance can be manufactured.

Further, in this embodiment, the surface active agent is an anionic surface active agent such as linear alkylbenzene series and sodium alkyl ether sulfate, and "Mama Lemon (Lion Co., Ltd.)" containing 27% of these surface active agents. However, the same action and effect can be obtained by using other kitchen detergents or other surfactants. Soap (an alkali salt of fatty acid) as an anionic surfactant
, Alkylnaphthalene sulfonate, etc., cationic amines such as primary amines and quaternary ammonium compounds, nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene derivatives and sugar esters, amphoteric surfactants such as higher alkyls. Amino acids can be used.

Further, although the polycarbonate resin is used as the plastic resin in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, methacrylic (PMM)
A) resin, polystyrene (PS) resin, acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS) resin, and various other resins that can be formed transparent can be used.

In this embodiment, the plastic resin plate has a thickness of 0.
Although the plate having the thickness of 25 mm, 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm and 2.0 mm is used, the same action and effect as described above can be obtained by using the plate having another thickness (for example, a plate thicker than 2.0 mm). .

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the explanation has been made by taking the plate material of the plastic resin as an example, but not limited to the plate material, a plastic film may be used. This plastic film includes polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (P
P) and other polyolefin films, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and other polyester films, nylon 6,
Polyamide film such as nylon 66 and nylon 12, polynitrocellulose, polycellulose acetate (C
Cellulose such as A), polyvinyl alcohol (PV
A film composed of A) or the like can be used.

Next, the second embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, a transparent polycarbonate resin is used as the plastic resin, and this resin forms a plate having a thickness of 0.25 mm, 0.5 mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, 3.0 mm, and 4.0 mm, for example.

As the surfactant, the same surfactant solution as in the first embodiment is used.

As the silver plating solution, ammonia-excessive ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution AgNO ₃ 10 to 17 g / l (Liquid A), sodium hydroxide aqueous solution NaOH 40 g / l (Liquid B) and glucose aqueous solution C ₆ H ₁₂ O ₆ 30 g / l (C liquid) is used.

A mixed catalyst solution is used here for the activation treatment. Dilute aqueous hydrochloric acid solution (37% HCl 20-200 ml to which water was added to bring the total volume to 1 liter) and mixed catalyst solution (37
% HCl 60-320 ml, PdCl ₂ 1 g, SnCl ₂・ 2
22 to 50 g of H ₂ O is added to water to make the total amount 1 liter) and a accelerating solution (40 g of sodium hydroxide added to 1 liter of water) is used.

The ammonia-excess ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution used here is almost the same as in the first embodiment.
That is, ammonia water is gradually added to the silver nitrate aqueous solution to form a precipitate, and ammonia water is added until the precipitate disappears again.
Furthermore, it was made by adding concentrated ammonia water (28%) in the same volume.
In the case of silver nitrate 17g / l, use concentrated ammonia water (28%) in total.
28ml / l has been added.

Using the above materials, a plastic mirror is manufactured by the same manufacturing method as in the above embodiment.

Polycarbonate resin in dilute hydrochloric acid solution 10
After soaking for about 2 seconds, soak for 2-3 minutes in the mixed catalyst solution. further,
Palladium having a catalytic activity is adsorbed on the resin surface by immersing in the accelerating liquid for 5 minutes and washing with water.

Next, a thin solution of the surfactant solution is applied to the polycarbonate resin plate. This is performed by dropping the surfactant solution from the upper side or spraying it with a mist as in the first embodiment. As a result, the plate surface becomes hydrophilic and the silver plating solution spreads smoothly. Keep the application amount of the surfactant solution to a minimum.

Then, the solutions A, B and C were mixed at a ratio of 4: 1: 1 at room temperature of 15 ° C. or higher, and the silver plating solution immediately after mixing was applied to the plate coated with the surfactant solution. Place on top and let stand. This silver plating solution spreads uniformly on the upper surface of the plate, and a uniform silver coating layer is formed on the surface. A copper protective coating is formed on the silver coating layer and a backing coating is applied to seal it. It should be noted that silver plating should be 2 to thicken the silver coating.
Repeat ~ 3 times.

The plastic mirror manufactured as described above can achieve the same actions and effects as those of the first embodiment.

Although the transparent polycarbonate resin is used in the above embodiments, the color tone is not limited to colorless and transparent.
It is also possible to use resins having other color tones such as colored transparency and glass color.

In the manufacturing method in each of the above embodiments, the activation treatment may be omitted. In this case, the light reflectance of the manufactured plastic mirror is slightly inferior, but it can be made as a sufficiently practical mirror.

As the plastic resin, polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, methacryl (PMMA) resin, polystyrene (PS) resin,
Acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS) resin and other various resins can be used.

In this embodiment, the plastic resin plate has a density of 0.
Although a plate having a thickness of 25 mm to 4.0 mm was used, the same operation as described above can be achieved by using a plate having another thickness (for example, a plate thicker than 4.0 mm).
It is possible to exert an effect.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.

In this embodiment, a hard-coated acrylic resin (polymethylmethacrylate, methacrylic resin, PMMA) is used as the plastic resin. With this resin, for example, thickness 0.5mm, 1.0mm, 2.0mm, 3.0mm, 4.0mm, 5.0
A plate having a thickness of mm (other plate thickness may be used) is formed and hard coated with a coating liquid containing a silane coupling agent or the like.

As the surface active agent, a linear alkylbenzene system, sodium alkyl ether sulfate, etc. are used as in the case of the first embodiment, and for example, a kitchen detergent containing 27% of 27% of these surface active agents in 1 liter of water is used. Use 2.0 ml of dilute surfactant solution.

As the silver plating solution, an ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution AgNO ₃ 7 to 34 g / l (Liquid A), a sodium hydroxide aqueous solution NaOH 20 g / l (Liquid B) and a glucose aqueous solution C ₆ H ₁₂ O are used.
_{6 3 to} 15 g / l (solution C) is used.

The ammoniacal silver nitrate aqueous solution used here is almost the same as in the first embodiment. That is, ammonia water was gradually added to the silver nitrate aqueous solution to form a precipitate, and ammonia water was added until the precipitate disappeared again, and concentrated ammonia water (28%) was added in substantially the same volume. Silver nitrate 34g / l
In this case, 56 ml / l of concentrated ammonia water (28%) was added in total.

Using the above materials, a plastic mirror is manufactured by the same manufacturing method as in the above embodiment.

A surfactant solution is thinly applied to a hard coat plate of acrylic resin. This is done by hanging from the upper side or spraying with a mist as in the above-mentioned embodiment.
In the case of a large-area acrylic resin hard-coated plate, spray it by spraying. As a result, the surface of the hard coat plate becomes hydrophilic and the silver plating solution spreads smoothly. Keep the amount of surfactant solution applied to a minimum. That is, the amount of the surfactant solution is limited to the minimum amount capable of uniformly spreading on the surface of the hard coat plate.

Then, the solutions A, B, and C were mixed at a ratio of 1: 1: 1 at room temperature of 15 ° C. or higher, and the silver plating solution immediately after mixing was hard-coated with a surfactant solution. Place it on the top of the plate and let it stand. In the case of a large area hard coat plate, A liquid, B liquid and C liquid are sprayed in the same volume by spraying and mixed on the hard coat plate. The order of spraying each liquid onto this large-area hard coat plate is B
It is possible to spray the liquid and the liquid C first, and then spray the liquid A, and to spray the three liquids at the same time.

The silver plating solution spreads uniformly on the upper surface of the hard coat plate, and a uniform silver thin film layer is formed on the surface. A copper protective film is formed on this silver thin film layer, and a backing paint is applied and sealed. To thicken the silver coating, apply silver plating 2-3
Repeat.

With the plastic mirror manufactured as described above, the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained, and since the surface of the resin is hard-coated, a mirror whose surface is not easily scratched can be manufactured. You can

A plastic mirror using a hard coat plate of acrylic resin has excellent light characteristics and is therefore extremely useful for backlight illumination of liquid crystal displays.

The acrylic resin hard coat treatment in this embodiment may be performed on either one side or both sides.

The color tone of the plastic mirror is not limited to being colorless and transparent, and may be colored in milky or semi-transparent glass or other colors. Particularly, when a glass-colored acrylic resin hard coat plate is used, the color tone of the plastic mirror can be the same as that of the glass mirror. In addition to this, by using various colored mirrors such as milk half, colored in other colors, and those with different shades, it gives a more calm impression than when the mirror image is colorless and transparent. You can create a new type of mirror that gives a different impression than a simple glass mirror.

Although acrylic resin is used as the plastic resin in this embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin, polycarbonate resin (P
C), polystyrene (PS) resin, acrylonitrile-
It is possible to use a styrene copolymer (AS) resin and various other resins that can be formed transparently.

Further, although the hard coat plate of acrylic resin is used as the material of the plastic mirror in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the silica coat plastic resin on which a thin film of an inorganic material such as glass is formed or a chromic acid mixed liquid It is possible to use a plastic resin that has been subjected to an etching treatment, a plastic resin that has been subjected to a plasma treatment to make it hydrophilic, or a plastic resin that has a low reflection coating to suppress surface reflected light.

Here, in the case of silica-coated plastic resin, heat treatment is not required because this coating can be performed by a low temperature process. Therefore, even in the case of a molded product formed of a plastic resin in a complicated shape, it is possible to apply the coating without affecting the molded product by heat. Further, the surface hardness is increased by this silica coat, and similarly to the case where the hard coat is applied, a plastic mirror having excellent abrasion resistance and being hard to damage the surface can be obtained. By applying this silica coat, silver plating can be performed neatly without activation treatment with a palladium salt. Similarly, in the case of a hard coat, the activation treatment is unnecessary.

In the case of a plastic resin having a low reflection coating, the light reflected on the surface is suppressed to increase the light transmittance, and the light is reflected only on the surface of the silver coating so that the image is not doubled. Improves clarity (looks like a mirror).
The low-reflection coating means that the surface of the base material is coated with three thin film layers of an inorganic material having a sufficiently higher refractive index and a lower refractive index than the base material to almost completely suppress specular reflected light.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the flat plate-shaped mirror is formed of the plastic resin has been described as an example. However, since the shape of the plastic resin can be freely changed, various shapes can be used. Can be molded. For example,
Shapes with many uneven surfaces, those with many grooves on the surface,
It is possible to easily mold a surface having a large number of hemispherical holes, a shape having a bent surface, a hemispherical shape, a spherical shape, and the like. Also in this case, if the above-described manufacturing method is used, the silver plating liquid, which is a liquid, can be adapted to the portions of any shape to form a mirror having a uniform silver coating.

For this reason, for example, a rear-under mirror (Japanese Patent Application No. 58-
244911), the rear-viewing mirror and the lower-viewing mirror are usually composed of separate bodies, but if the plastic mirror of this embodiment is used, the rear-viewing surface and the lower-viewing surface are viewed. It is possible to mold a mirror that is integral with the surface. In addition, the surface looking backward is a convex surface with a large radius of curvature, the surface looking down is a convex surface with a small radius of curvature, and these surfaces are bent and connected integrally, but the shape is complicated. According to the manufacturing method of the example, the back under mirror can be easily manufactured. Further, a hemispherical mirror for guiding light of a microscope, a conical columnar mirror, or the like can be easily manufactured. Furthermore, a silver thin film layer may be formed on the inner surface of a hollow object (for example, a sphere or figurine of a doll) that is hollowed out by molding with a plastic to make a mirror of the hollow object (spherical mirror, etc.). It's easy.

[0086]

As described above in detail, according to the plastic mirror and the method for manufacturing the same of the present invention, a plastic mirror having a high light reflectance can be manufactured extremely easily and at low cost.

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A plastic resin, a surfactant coated on the surface of the plastic resin, and a silver thin film layer formed by silver plating with the surfactant coated on the surface of the plastic resin. The characteristic plastic mirror. 2. A method for producing a plastic mirror, which comprises applying a surfactant to the surface of a plastic resin and then forming a silver thin film layer by a silver plating method. 3. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the plastic resin is activated before the surface active agent is applied. 4. The method of manufacturing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, wherein the surface of the plastic resin is activated before applying the surfactant. 5. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein the plastic resin is made of a material having a colorless and transparent, colored and transparent, milky, white or glass color tone. 6. The method for producing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, wherein the plastic resin is made of a material having a colorless and transparent, colored and transparent, milky, white or glass color tone. 7. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein a surface-treated plastic resin is used as the plastic resin. 8. The method of manufacturing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, wherein a surface-treated plastic resin is used as the plastic resin. 9. The plastic mirror according to claim 7, wherein a hard coat is applied as the surface treatment. 10. The method of manufacturing a plastic mirror according to claim 8, wherein a hard coat is applied as the surface treatment. 11. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein the plastic resin is formed into a plate shape or a film shape. 12. The method for producing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10, wherein the plastic resin is formed into a plate shape or a film shape. 13. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein the plastic resin is formed into a hollow and a silver thin film layer is formed inside the hollow. 14. The method of manufacturing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, wherein the plastic resin is formed into a hollow, and a silver thin film layer is formed inside the hollow. 15. The plastic mirror according to claim 1, wherein a plate material having a curved surface, a bent surface or an uneven surface is used as the plastic resin. 16. The method of manufacturing a plastic mirror according to claim 2, wherein a plate material having a curved surface, a bent surface or an uneven surface is used as the plastic resin.