JPH11147743A - Artificial stone - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an artificial stone having smooth surface and good appear ance and enabling the development of a large-sized pattern. SOLUTION: This artificial stone develops a pattern by flat pattern-forming material. 2 contained in a resin base material 1. The pattern-forming materials 2 are composed of large-sized materials 3 having particle diameter of 2.5-5 mm and small-sized materials 4 having particle diameter of 0.1-2.5 mm and smaller than that of the large-sized material 3 by >=1 mm. The amounts of the large-sized material 3 and the small-sized material 4 in 100 pts.wt. of the resin in the resin base material 1 are 1-10 pts.wt. and 1-20 pts.wt., respectively. The formation of gaps between the large-sized materials 3 can be suppressed by the intrusion of the small-sized material 4 between adjacent large-sized materials 3 and the sink mark between the large-sized materials 3 is prevented by the presence of the small-sized material 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an artificial stone used as a top plate for a vanity table or a system kitchen, or as a bathroom, a bathtub, or a building material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, artificial stone (artificial marble) has been formed by incorporating a flat pattern material into a resin base material. In this artificial stone, a granite-like pattern or a marble-like pattern is represented by a pattern material. A resin molding material is prepared by mixing a pattern material with a resin, and the resin molding material is desirably cast by a casting method. It is manufactured by molding into the shape of Then, as shown in FIG. 4A, the flat pattern material 2 is contained in a state of being arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the resin base material 1, and the above-described pattern is expressed. Reference numeral 5 denotes a gel coat layer for protecting the surface of the resin substrate 1.

[0003]

However, if only a large pattern material having a particle size of 2.5 mm or more is used as the above-mentioned pattern material, a large gap is formed between adjacent pattern materials as shown in FIG. In this gap, the sink 12 of the resin molding material at the time of molding (curing shrinkage of the resin) causes dents 12 and the surface of the artificial stone becomes uneven, which causes a problem that the appearance is deteriorated. Also, when only a small material having a particle size of less than 2.5 mm is used as a pattern material, a large gap is not formed between adjacent pattern materials and the surface of the artificial stone does not become uneven, but a large pattern is expressed. There was a problem that it was not possible.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide an artificial stone capable of expressing a large pattern having a good appearance without unevenness on its surface. is there.

[0005]

The artificial stone according to claim 1 of the present invention is an artificial stone in which a pattern is represented by a flat pattern material 2 contained in a resin base material 1. As 2, a large pattern material 3 having a particle size of 2.5 to 5 mm and a small pattern material 4 having a particle size of 0.1 to 2.5 mm smaller by at least 1 mm than the particle size of the large pattern material 3 are used. Resin 100 in base material 1
1 to 10 parts by weight of the large pattern material 3 and 1 to 20 parts by weight of the small pattern material 4 with respect to the weight part.

[0006] The artificial stone according to claim 2 of the present invention is:
In addition to the configuration of claim 1, the small pattern material 4 having a particle size of 1.5 to 2.5 mm is 0.6 to 8 parts by weight, and the small pattern material 4 having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm is 0.3 to 0.3 part. It is characterized by comprising 7 parts by weight and 0.1 to 5 parts by weight of a small pattern material 4 of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Further, in the artificial stone according to claim 3 of the present invention, in addition to the constitution of claim 1 or 2, the difference in specific gravity between the resin molding material 6 and the pattern material 2 molded into the resin base material 1 is set to 0.5 or less. It is characterized by comprising.

[0007] The artificial stone according to claim 4 of the present invention is:
The resin substrate 1 according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Is provided with a gel coat layer 5 on the surface thereof. The artificial stone according to claim 5 of the present invention is:
In addition to the structure of any one of claims 1 to 4, a pattern material 2 having an aspect ratio of 10 to 100 is used.

[0008] The artificial stone according to claim 6 of the present invention is:
In addition to the configuration of any one of claims 1 to 5, the pattern material 2 is formed by using at least one selected from a thin resin molded product and mica.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. As a resin constituting the resin substrate 1, a thermosetting resin such as an unsaturated polyester resin, an epoxy resin, or a vinyl ester resin can be used. As the pattern material 2, a thin resin molded product having a shape like mica formed of a thermosetting resin or the like and having a small thickness or a natural mica can be used, but the shape is formed flat. .
When the granular (substantially spherical) pattern material 2 is used, the pattern material 2 is almost in point contact with the mold 7 or the gel coat layer 5 used in molding, so that the pattern material 2 is hardly seen and the pattern is difficult to express. However, in the case of the flat pattern material 2, the pattern material 2 is easily seen because the pattern material 2 is almost in surface contact with the mold 7 and the gel coat layer 5, so that the pattern can be easily expressed.

The aspect ratio (particle size / thickness) indicating the degree of flatness of the pattern material 2 is preferably 10 to 100.
When the aspect ratio is less than 10, the pattern material 2 has the same characteristics as the case where the pattern material 2 is granular, and it is difficult for the pattern material 2 to be substantially parallel to the flow direction of the resin molding material 6 due to the moment applied during molding. Become. Therefore, there is a possibility that the pattern material 2 is not substantially parallel to the surface of the resin base material 1 or the surface of the gel coat layer 5 and the pattern material 2 becomes difficult to see and the pattern is difficult to express. On the other hand, when the aspect ratio exceeds 100, the resin becomes too thin and the strength is reduced, and the resin molding material 6 may be broken by stirring and mixing at the time of preparation or may not be able to exert the reinforcing effect of the resin base material 1. . The pattern material 2 may be colored in a desired color such as black, or may not be colored.

The pattern material 2 has a particle size of 2.5 to 5 m.
A large pattern material 3 having a particle size of 0.1 to 2.5 mm is used. As shown in FIG. 2, the particle size of the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 is represented by the length of the longest part in plan view (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2). The large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 are selected and used so that the difference between the particle size of the small pattern material 4 and the particle size of the small pattern material 4 is at least 1 mm or more. If the difference between the particle sizes of the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 is less than 1 mm,
The difference in appearance and function between the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 is reduced, and there is a possibility that the effects of the present invention may not be achieved. The upper limit of the difference in particle size between the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 is 4.9 from the range of the particle size of the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4.
mm. In addition, the small pattern material 4 has a particle size of 0.1 to
It is preferable to use three types, that is, 0.05 mm, those having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and those having a particle size of 1.5 to 2.5 mm. By using the small pattern material 4, the small pattern material 4 can be easily interposed between the adjacent large pattern materials 3 in the resin substrate 1.

In producing the artificial stone, first, a resin, a large pattern material 3 and a small pattern material 4, and if necessary, a filler, a curing agent, a curing accelerator, a release agent, a fiber reinforcing material, a coloring agent A resin molding material 6 is prepared by stirring and mixing materials conventionally used for resin molding, such as a stabilizer, a thickener, and the like. At this time, the type of the resin, the material of the pattern material 2 and each material are set so that the difference between the specific gravity of the resin molding material 6 and the specific gravity of the pattern material 2 (the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4) is 0.5 or less. Is prepared.
When the difference between the specific gravity of the resin molding material 6 and the specific gravity of the pattern material 2 exceeds 0.5, the pattern material 2 floats or sinks in the resin molding material 6 and cannot be uniformly dispersed and mixed. Also during molding until the resin hardens to gel (gel time)
In addition, the pattern material 2 rises or sinks in the resin molding material 6 to be biased, and the appearance and strength of the artificial stone, particularly on a vertical surface (a surface parallel to the vertical direction at the time of molding) may be reduced. The lower limit is 0 because the difference between the specific gravity of the resin molding material 6 and the specific gravity of the pattern material 2 is preferably as small as possible.

The amount of the large pattern material 3 is set to 1 to 10 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the resin. If the compounding amount of the large pattern material 3 is less than 1 part by weight, it is impossible to express a large pattern (large grain) pattern, and the artificial stone may not have a granite appearance or a marble appearance. If the compounding amount of the large pattern material 3 exceeds 10 parts by weight, the large pattern material 3 is likely to overlap near the surface of the resin substrate 1, so that the resin molding material 6 tends to sink in this portion, The surface of the artificial stone may be uneven.

The amount of the small pattern material 4 is set to 1 to 20 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the resin. If the compounding amount of the small pattern material 4 is less than 1 part by weight, a sufficient amount of the small pattern material 4 cannot be interposed between the adjacent large pattern materials 3, and between the adjacent large pattern materials 3. Resin molding material 6 during molding
There is a possibility that the surface of the artificial stone may become uneven due to sinking (curing shrinkage of the resin), and the amount of the small pattern material 4 is 2
When the amount exceeds 0 parts by weight, the small pattern material 4 is likely to be present on the surface side of the large pattern material 3 near the surface of the resin base material 1, and the resin molding material is formed at the overlapping portion of the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4. The sink of No. 6 may occur and the surface of the artificial stone may become uneven.

The small pattern material 4 has a particle size of 0.1 to 0.1.
In the case of using three types, one having a particle size of 0.5 mm, one having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm, and one having a particle size of 1.5 to 2.5 mm, the particle size having a particle size of 0.1 to 0.05 mm is used. The amount of the small pattern material 4 is 0.1 to 5 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin.
The compounding amount of the small pattern material 4 having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm is 0.3 to 7 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin, and the particle size is 1.5.
It is preferable that the compounding amount of the small pattern material 4 to 2.5 mm is set to 0.6 to 8 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin.
It becomes easy to interpose the small pattern material 4 therebetween, so that sink of the resin molding material 6 is less likely to occur and the surface of the artificial stone can be prevented from becoming uneven.

Next, the resin molding material 6 prepared as described above is molded by a casting method to form an artificial stone. That is,
First, the gel coat layer 5 is formed on the molding surface of the cavity 9 of the female die 8 of the molding die 7. The gel coat layer 5 is transparent to the extent that the pattern material 2 in the resin base material 1 can be seen through, and a gel coat mainly composed of unsaturated polyester is applied to the molding surface of the cavity 9 by spraying or the like. And is formed by curing
It can be set to 0 to 1000 μm. Next, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Is supplied to the surface of the gel coat layer 5. Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the core 11 of the male mold 10 of the mold 7 is formed.
Is inserted into the cavity 9, and the male mold 10 and the female mold 8 are clamped. By forming the resin molding material 6 in a desired shape in this way and applying heating at room temperature to 90 ° C. in a clamped state, the resin of the resin molding material 6 is cured to form the resin base material 1. The gel coat layer 5 is integrated with the surface of the resin substrate 1. Thereafter, by removing the mold and performing after-curing (heating), an artificial stone having the gel coat layer 5 formed on the surface of the resin substrate 1 as shown in FIG. 1A can be formed.

In the artificial stone manufactured as described above, the flat material is used as the pattern material 2. Therefore, when the resin molding material 6 flows in the molding die 7 during molding, the pattern material 2 In order to minimize the moment applied to itself, the material is oriented substantially parallel to the flow direction.
The surface of the pattern material 2 becomes substantially parallel to the surface of the gel coat layer 5 and the surface of the pattern material 2, so that the pattern material 2 becomes easy to see, and a large pattern of a shade pattern or a marble pattern can be expressed. In addition, a large pattern material having a particle size of 2.5 to 5 mm and a small pattern material having a particle size of 0.1 to 2.5 mm smaller than the particle size of the large pattern material by 1 mm or more are used as the pattern material 2. Since the pattern material was contained in an amount of 1 to 10 parts by weight and the small pattern material in an amount of 1 to 20 parts by weight, the small pattern was formed near the surface of the resin substrate 1 (near the gel coat layer 5) as shown in FIG. The material 4 is interposed between the adjacent large pattern materials 3 so as to be linearly arranged at substantially the same height as the large pattern material 3 so that no gap is formed between the large pattern materials 3. It is possible to prevent sinkage between the large pattern materials 3 with the small pattern material 4 and prevent the surface from becoming uneven. Therefore, an artificial stone having a flat surface and a large pattern can be formed without performing a surface finishing treatment such as polishing.

[0018]

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples. (Examples and Comparative Examples 1 to 4) Unsaturated polyester, filler (aluminum hydroxide), pattern material 2 (mica), and curing agent were mixed under stirring at the compounding amounts (units by weight) shown in Table 1 to obtain a resin. Molding material 6 was prepared. As the unsaturated polyester, "Polymer 3502P" manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Was used. As a filler, "Heidilite H-100" and "Heidirat H-320" manufactured by Showa Denko KK were used. As the pattern material 2, mica flakes (having an aspect ratio of 10 to 100) manufactured by Yamaguchi Mica Industries Co., Ltd. are used. Then, those having a particle size of 0.1 to 2.5 mm were selected and used as small pattern materials 4. As a curing agent, "Kayamec A" (methyl ethyl ketone peroxide) manufactured by Kayaku Akzo Co., Ltd. was used.

On the other hand, a gel coat was sprayed onto the molding surface of the cavity 9 of the female mold 8 by spraying, and the gel coat was cured to form a gel coat layer 5 having a thickness of 400 μm. Thereafter, the resin molding material 6 is placed in the cavity 9 of the female mold 8.
Was supplied to the surface of the gel coat layer 5. Next, the core 11 of the male mold 10 was inserted into the cavity 9, and the male mold 10 and the female mold 8 were clamped. In this state, heating was performed at 60 ° C. for 1 hour. Thereafter, the mold was removed, and after-curing was performed at 80 ° C. for 2 hours to form an artificial stone having a marble-like pattern.

The appearance of the artificial stone thus formed was visually evaluated. The item “surface unevenness” in Table 1 is obtained by observing the unevenness of the surface portion of the artificial stone formed at the bottom surface of the cavity 9, and when the surface looks almost flat, it is regarded as “good”, and the unevenness difference is clearly shown. What was seen was marked as "poor." Was.
Also, the item "Vertical pattern appearance" is shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).
As shown in the figure, the appearance of the pattern on the surface portion of the artificial stone formed on the vertical surface 13 of the female mold 8 at the time of molding was observed, and a pattern in which the pattern clearly appeared on the pattern material 2 was regarded as “good”. , And those whose pattern became unclear were regarded as "defective". The item “Large pattern expression” is used for observing the appearance of the large pattern by the large pattern material 3 and determining that the large pattern is clearly seen is “good”.
When the large pattern became unclear, it was regarded as "poor". Table 1 shows the results.

[0021]

[Table 1]

As is clear from Table 1, the quality was good in all the items and the product passed the standard (comprehensive evaluation), but the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 were not in the prescribed mixing amounts. In the case of No. 2, the sink occurs and the surface becomes uneven, resulting in failure. In addition, since the difference between the specific gravity of the resin molding material 6 and the specific gravity of the large pattern material 3 and the small pattern material 4 is 0.5 or more, the large pattern The material 3 and the small pattern material 4 sank and the appearance of the vertical surface pattern decreased, resulting in a failure. In Comparative Example 3 using only the small pattern material 4 as the pattern material 2, the large pattern expression was poor, and in Comparative Example 4 using only the large pattern material 3 as the pattern material 2, the surface was uneven and the surface became uneven, resulting in a defect. became. Therefore, Comparative Examples 1 to 4 were rejected because of low value as a product.

[0023]

As described above, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an artificial stone in which a pattern is expressed by a flat pattern material contained in a resin substrate, and the pattern material has a particle size of Is 2.5
A large pattern material of up to 5 mm and a small pattern material having a particle size of 0.1 to 2.5 mm smaller than the particle size of the large pattern material by 1 mm or more, and with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin in the resin base material Since 1 to 10 parts by weight of the large pattern material and 1 to 20 parts by weight of the small pattern material are included, a small pattern material is interposed between adjacent large pattern materials, and a gap is formed between the large pattern materials. It can be made difficult to form, and small patterns can prevent sink marks between large patterns and prevent the surface from becoming uneven, so that the appearance can be improved, and large patterns can be obtained. Can express large patterns.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a small pattern material having a particle size of 1.5 to 2.5 mm is 0.6 to 8 parts by weight and a small pattern material having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm. 0.3 to 7 parts by weight and 0.1 to 5 parts by weight of a small pattern material having a size of 0.1 to 0.5 mm. Small pattern material can easily be interposed between the materials, so that no gap is formed between the large pattern materials, the small pattern material prevents sink marks between the large pattern materials and the surface does not become uneven And can improve the appearance.

In the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention, the specific gravity difference between the resin molding material and the pattern material to be molded on the resin base material is reduced to 0.
Since the number is set to 5 or less, the pattern material can be substantially uniformly dispersed in the resin molding material, and the appearance can be prevented from being deteriorated due to uneven distribution of the pattern material. Claim 4 of the present invention
In the invention described in (1), since the gel coat layer is provided on the surface of the resin base material, the surface of the resin base material can be protected by the gel coat layer, and the appearance can be prevented from being deteriorated.

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention, since the pattern material having an aspect ratio of 10 to 100 is used, the pattern material becomes substantially parallel to the surface of the resin substrate or the surface of the gel coat layer during molding. Thus, the pattern material can be easily seen and the pattern can be reliably expressed, and the effect of reinforcing the resin base material by the pattern material can be exhibited. The invention according to claim 6 of the present invention uses at least one selected from a thin-walled resin molded article and mica as the pattern material, so that the pattern material can exert a reinforcing effect on the resin base material. is there.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the pattern material according to the first embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views showing a manufacturing method of the above.

FIG. 4A is a partial cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional example;
(B) is a cross-sectional view in which a part of (a) is enlarged.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Resin base material 2 Pattern material 3 Large pattern material 4 Small pattern material 5 Gel coat layer 6 Resin molding material

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazushige Uchida 1048 Odomo Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] An artificial stone whose pattern is represented by a flat pattern material contained in a resin base material, wherein the pattern material has a large pattern material having a particle size of 2.5 to 5 mm and a large pattern material. 1 than the particle size
In addition to using a small pattern material having a particle diameter of 0.1 to 2.5 mm, which is smaller than 0.1 mm, a large pattern material is 1 to 10 parts by weight and a small pattern material is 1 to 100 parts by weight of the resin in the resin base material. An artificial stone, comprising 20 parts by weight of each. 2. A small pattern material having a particle size of 1.5 to 2.5 mm is 0.6 to 8 parts by weight, a small pattern material having a particle size of 0.5 to 1.5 mm is 0.3 to 7 parts by weight, and 0.1 to 0.5 parts by weight. The artificial stone according to claim 1, comprising 0.1 to 5 parts by weight of a small pattern material of 1 to 0.5 mm. 3. The artificial stone according to claim 1, wherein the specific gravity difference between the resin molding material and the pattern material molded into the resin base material is 0.5 or less. 4. The artificial stone according to claim 1, wherein a gel coat layer is provided on a surface of the resin base material. 5. The artificial stone according to claim 1, wherein a pattern material having an aspect ratio of 10 to 100 is used. 6. The artificial stone according to claim 1, wherein at least one selected from a thin resin molded product and mica is used as the pattern material.