US3208795A

US3208795A - Article of manufacture including a resinous coating

Info

Publication number: US3208795A
Application number: US312249A
Authority: US
Inventors: Moses R Schultz
Original assignee: Knoll Associates Inc
Current assignee: Knoll Associates Inc
Priority date: 1963-09-24
Filing date: 1963-09-24
Publication date: 1965-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 1982-09-28
Also published as: FR1421793A

Description

Sept. 28, 1965 M. R. SCHULTZ 3,208,795

ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE INCLUDING A RESINOUS COATING Filed Sept. 24, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l 4 INVENTOR I 1- W055 fi/c/Mep Jc/Mrz BY 0 2% 6M p 1965 M. R. SCHULTZ 3,208,795

ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE INCLUDING A RESINOUS COATING Filed Sept. 24, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. M5: flaw/a0 Jam/z fwd W m United States Patent 3,208,795 ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE INCLUDING A RESINOUS COATING Moses R. Schultz, Barto, Pa, assignor to Knoll Associates Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 312,249 11 Claims. (Cl. 297-445) This invention relates to articles of manufacture, such as metal furniture, comprised of members held together 'by a tough resin coat enclosing a portion of or all of the outside of the members; and also to a process of 'making such articles. The use of resins (plastics) in form of a protective surface coating on metals, etc., is well known. The resinous coating is applied not only to unitary objects such as sheets but also to complete rigid structures made up of several members. Presently the members are ;fastened together by welding, rivets, screws, solder, etc., to form a rigid, self-supporting structure; the resinous coating is then applied to the rigid structure for protective or decorative purposes. In the present usage, the resinous coating functions as a paint and does not contribute, or is not intended to contribute, to the rigidity of the final structure.

The fastening operation imposes a cost consideration of magnitude for many structures which require a number of individual members to be fastened together, e.g., a metal chair made up of rods or tubes and panels. Some designs are impractical for manufacture by the presently known techniques. '1 An object of the invention is a rigid article of manufacture made up of a plurality of individual members which members are not permanently fastened to each other even though rigidly bound together. Another object of the invention is a process for binding together a plurality of members to form a substantially rigid article Without first fastening the members into a rigid assembly.

It has been discovered a rigid article of manufacture is obtained when a plurality of substantially rigid members are placed in contiguous relation and said members are then bound into substantially rigid association by enclosing a sufiicient portion of the outside surface of the contiguous portion of said members with a tough, adherent resinous coating this adherent tough coating raffords essentially all of the constraint needed to maintain the article in the desired rigid association.

The article of manufacture of this invention, broadly, consists essentially of a plurality of substantially rigid members in contiguous relation and a tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering to at least a sufficient portion of the outside contiguous surface of said members to afitord essentially all the constraint needed to bind said members into substantially rigid association.

In a preferred embodiment the entire outside surface of the article is enclosed by the tough, adherent binding coat of resinous material. This embodiment is accurately described by the old saying, Nothings holding it together but the paint.

FIGURE 1 show a section of a joint binding two flat plates (or rods) into rigid association.

FIGURE 2 shows a metal base, in perspective, for a table constructed according to the invention.

FIGURE 3 shows a section at 33 of FIG. 2 of the vertical post of the base.

FIGURE 4 shows a section at 4-4 of FIG. 2 of side segments and a metal panel of the foot of the base.

FIGURE 5 shows a back perspective view of a metal chair frame constructed according to the invention.

"ice

FIGURE 6 shows a front view of the chair of FIG. 5.

The invention is described in connection with the embodiments shown in the figures but it is to be understood, these are illustrative only and the invention is not limited thereto.

FIGURE 1 shows a section of a part of an elongated article comprised of elongated member 12, elongated member 14 and reinforcing enlongated

members

16 and 18.

Members

12 and 14 are substantially rigid in form and reinforcing

members

16 and 14 also are substantially rigid; although not necessarily as rigid as

members

12 and 14.

Members

12 and 14 are in contiguous relation at point 20, although because of the presence of

members

16 and 18, a gap might be present and acceptable. Reinforcing member 16 is in contiguous relation with

members

12 and 14 at line 22; reinforcing member 18 is in contiguous relation with

members

12 and 14 at line 24. The presence of the reinforcing

members

16 and 18 strengthens the joint against angular movement of either

elongated member

12 or 14. A bevel or overlapping joint would ordinarily not require such reinforcement. In some cases, even a butt joint will be sufiiciently strong.

The structure formed by

members

12 and 14 and reinforcing

members

16 and 18 is bound into substantially rigid association by coating 30. Here coating 30 is adhered to and encloses the outside surface of reinforcing

members

16 and 18 and a portion of the outside surfaces of

elongated members

12 and 14. Coating 30 extends along the lengths of the two elongated members 12 and 14 a distance at least sufiicient to provide essentially all of the constraint needed to bind the structure shown into substantially rigid association.

Coating 30 is formed from a resinous material capable of adhering to the outside surfaces of

members

12, 14, 16 and 18 and is characterized by a toughness suitable for this purpose. The thickness of coating 30 is determinated by the characteristics of the resinous material and by the strength desired in the final article of manufacture.

The structure of FIGURE 1 can be also described as two rods in end-to-end butted relation with a reinforcing tube at the butted position.

The members can be any material of construction which will permit the formation of the resinous coating 30 without detriment to the strength or appearance of said material. The invention is particularly suited for the binding of metal members into substantially rigid association because it simultaneously binds and imparts surface protection thereto. The invention is especially adapted for binding two diverse materials together, such as glass and metal or two metals.

The resinous material which forms the tough, adherent coating 30 may be any resin, natural or synthetic, which can be applied to the particular surface to form a coating having the necessary adhesive power and toughness for structural strength. Taking into consideration the requirements of adhesion and toughness, virtually any of those resins now known for metal coating, either for surface protection or insulation, can be used to construct the article of this invention. The resins fall into the two categories: thermoplastic polymeric resins and thermosetting polymeric resins.

Illustrative classes and species of suitable resins are: acetal resins; acrylic resins; cellulose esters, such as cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate and cellulose propionate; cellulose ethers such as ethyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose; chlorinated polyethers; fluorocarbons such as polytetrafluoroethylene, polychlorotrifluoroethylene, Teflon copolymer; polyamides such as 0 nylon; polyaryl carbonate polymer (polycarbonate); polvinyl chloride, polyvinyl acetate, vinyl chloride-acetate copolymer,vinylidine chloride; linear aromatic copolyesters; allyl resins such as diallyl phthalate; amino resins such as urea-formaldehyde, melamine resins; epoxy resins such as epoxy-phenolic combinations, epoxy-urea combinations, epoxy-polyamine combinations, epoxy-polyamide combinations; furan resins; silicone resins; unsaturated polyester resins; phenol-formaldehyde resins.

These resins may be used in the pure forms such as rigid polyvinyl chloride, polyamide, or cellulosics; or they may be made to be used in the'plasticized states (plastisols). For furniture construction the plastisols are preferred, as especially the cellulose acetate butyrate and vinyl polymers, such as polyvinyl acetate and polyvinyl chloride-acetate copolymer.

The resins may be used as is or they may have inert fillers and/ or pigments incorporated therein. Any of the fillers, such as silica, or pigments, such as carbon and titanium dioxide, known to this art may be present.

The article of the invention is made by a process which comprises assembling a plurality of substantially rigid members in contiguous relation (in FIG. 1,

members

12 and 14, or

members

12, 14 and 16, or

members

12, 14, 16 and 18) and adhering a tough coating (in FIG. 1, coating 30) of resinous materials thereto so as to enclose at least a sufficient portion of the outside con tiguous surfaces of said members to bind the assembly into substantially rigid association; said coating affording essentially all of the needed constraint of said members.

The contiguous portion need not have actual contact of the two members along its entire length. Small deviations from linearity of the surfaces result in gaps in the touching line; these gaps do not interfere with the formation of a substantially rigidly associated article. There need not be an actual touching of the two surfaces as the resin coating bridges small gaps and still forms a rigidly associated article.

A substantially rigid member is one which can support its own weight without significant bending; for example, a length of steel tube or rod; or a metal sheet which may bow a little when theplanar-area is large with respect to its thickness. A substantially rigidly associated article is one which has the strength needed to perform its expected function without significant deformation; for example, a stool, chair, table support, girder, assembly of girders and bar and panel construction.

The members forming the article before coating are held in the desired relationship by some means in itself not suflicient to give the necessary rigidity to the final article. The members may be lightly held together by tack welds, solder, screws, or cements such as the epoxy resin cements, forming an insubstantial structure. These means merely hold the assembly together with suflicient strength to permit handling to and through the coating operations. The real work of binding the member into rigid association for the ultimate use of the article is performed by the tough adherent resinous material coat.- mg.

The resinous material is applied to the desired portion L of the outside surface of the assembled members by a technique which results in the formation of a tough, adherent coating. In the simplest procedure, a solution of the resin may be brushed, sprayed or flowed onto the surface. If needed, the surface may be given a pretreatment toimport to or to increase adhesion of the resin. The solution may be heated or the surface may be heated to obtain the desired coating.

The flame spraying techniques wherein a solid or plastisol is melted and sprayed onto a surface is particularly suitable when only a designated portion(s) of the surface of the assembly is to be resin coated. Also this technique is suitable for use on assemblies of large area or volume where a thick coating can be laid down in a single pass and large areas, uch as in b il ing 9011- struction, covered in a short time. One variant of this technique is described in US. Patent No. 2,920,001 granted January 5, 1960.

The presently widely used fluidized bed resin coating process is especially suitable for. ,smaller assemblies and assemblies where the entire outside surface is to be enclosed by the resin coating. Variants of this process are described in US. Patents No. 2,974,060, granted March 7, 1961; 2,981,631, April 25, 1961; 2,987,413, June 6, 1961; 3,004,861, October 17, 1961; 3,032,816, May 8, 1962; and 3,085,034, April 9, 1963. A small size unit for this process is described in Electrical Engineer p. 117 et. seq., February 1963.

Because of their high melting points the fluorocarbon resins present special difiiculties. Techniques for coating metals with these resins are described in US. Patents No. 2,789,926, granted April 23, 1957 and 2,893,900, July 7, 1959. US. Patent No. 2,967,786 granted January 10, 1961 described a technique for coating metal surfaces with linear aromatic polyesters such as Dacron polyester and like esters. US. Patent No. 2,550,232, granted April 24, 1951 described a method of increasing the adhesion of vinyl resin dispersions to metal surfaces.

It is to be understood the above listed coating techniques are illustrative only and the process of the invention is not limited thereto.

FIGURES 2, 3, and 4 illustrates a table support assembled from elongated members and plate panel members. The table support shown is made up of four

quadrants

50, 52, 54 and 56. Each quadrant is made up of a fanshaped foot and a vertical elongated portion. For example, in quadrant 50, the foot is made up of arcuate segment 60, two side segments, 62 and 64 and fan shaped panel 68; the vertical portion 66 consists of two linear

contiguous segments segments

60, 62, 64 and portion 66 are formed from a single cylindrical rod. Similarly quadrant 52 is made up of arcuate segment 70,

side segments

72 and 74, panel 78 and a vertical portion 76 (FIG. 3). Similarly quadrant 56 is made up of arcuate segment 80, side segments 82 and 84, panel 88 and a vertical portion 86 (FIG. 3). To avoid overcrowding the figure quadrant 54 is not numbered but is similar to the other three. 7

The adjacent side members of the assembled table support are in a lateral and contiguous relation (FIG. 4) for substantially their radial length. The four vertical portions are laterally contiguous (FIG. 3) for substantially their vertical height. The side segments might be of a configuration other than linear, for decorative reasons, but would still have a contiguous relation for a substantial part of their lengths, i.e., contiguous lengths sufficient to attain the final desired rigidity of the table support. Also vertical portions might be curvilinear for decorative reasons and contiguous only for a substantial portion of their vertical height.

In FIGURES 2 and 4,

plate panels

68, 78 and 88 are inset below the top of the side and arcuate segments and fill the entire fan of each quadrant. For some tables no panels need be present or only two panels might be present. Herein panels 68 etc. are cut to fit so as to have an edge-contiguous relation with the full length of arcuate segment 60 and

side segments

62 and 64. For decorative purposes there may be cut-outs in the edges; however the remaining partial edge-contiguous relation must be at least long enough to attain the desired rigidity between the panel and the quadrant foot.

It is not necessary that the entire fan of each quadrant be filled, one or more bridging plates may be placed in the fan in spaced relation for economy of metal or for decorative reasons.

The panel 68 neednot be inset as shown, it may be placed on top of the arcuate and

side segments

60, 62 and 64 to provide edge-contiguous relation with the arcuate segment 60 and the side edges; of the adjacent panels; in another the panel may be positioned on the bottom of the quadrant foot.

The

quadrants

50, 52, 54 and 56 are assembled into a lateral arrangement having a contiguous relation of fans (side segments) and vertical portions. This assembly is lightly held together by dabs of epoxy resin cement or a tack weld. Panels 68, etc., are inset into the quadrant feet and held lightly in place by dabs of epoxy resin cement.

When the entire metal table support assembly is to be resin coated, preferably, it is heated in a furnace to a suitable temperature and then immersed into a fluidized mass of pulverulent resin particles for a time necessary to adhere to the metal a coating of the desired thickness. The coated assembly is than removed from the fluidized bed and the resin particles adhered to the surfaces permitted to fuse into a tough adherent coating 89 which binds the assembly into a substantially rigid structure. It may be necessary to provide a post-bake or cure heating to form the desired tough, adherent coating.

A coating of cellulose acetate butyrate plastisol on the table support of the figures only inch thick bound the assembly into a structure rigid enough for use as a table support in domestic household service.

For some table constructions, it may not be necessary to enclose all the outside surfaces of the table support to obtain a substantially rigid association of members. Flame spraying permits encircling the contiguous vertical portions with a number of encircling bands spaced along the height of the vertical post. Strips of resin coating can be adhered along the tops and bottoms of the contiguous portions at the side segments and the arcuate segments.

These strips extend into the panels a distance at least suflicient to afford essentially all the constraint needed to bind the quadrants and the panels into substantially rigid association.

This procedure permits a decorative effect to be obtained by selection of the resin coloring and the metal surface color; or to have two or more differently colored resin coatings present.

A table top may be formed from a quadrant of tubes and panels such as used in the table support foot; a female coupling may be adhered to the bottom center of the topthe whole bound together by a resin coating applied for instance, by the fluidized resin technique.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate a metal chair frame assembled from six elongated members and two plate panel members. The elongated members were fashioned from metal tubes. Tube 90 is roughly U-shaped to form part of the rear chair legs structure,

segments

92 and 94, and

back support segments

96, 98 and 100. Tube 102 is shaped to form part of the back support,

segments

104, 105 and 106, part ofthe

seat support segments

108 and 110, and part of the front leg structure,

segments

112 and 114. A front elongated member 120 is roughly U- shaped and forms part of the seat support, segment 122, and parts of the front leg structures,

segments

124 and 126. A rear roughly U-shaped elongated member 130 forms part of the seat support, segment 132, and parts of the rear leg structures, segments .134 and 136. A side roughly U-shaped elongated member 140 forms part of the seat support, segment 142, and part of the front and rear leg supports,

segments

144 and 146 respectively. Similarly another side roughly U-shaped elongated member 150 forms part of the seat support, segment 152, and part of the front and rear leg structures,

segment

154 and 156 respectively. Two

plate panel members

160 and 162 are inset at the sides of the frame between

segments

108 and 142 and

segments

110 and 152 respectively.

The elongated members are assembled to form seat support, leg structures and back support.

Elongated members

90 and 102 are so placed that corresponding segments 96104, 98-106, and 100-105 in the back support are contiguous for almost their entire lengths. Preferably the three segments which form each leg structure are contiguous in a compact triangle for almost their entire vertical height. The edges of panels and 162 are inset and contiguous with the corresponding segments and portions of segments of the elongated members, as shown in the figures. The assembly is lightly held together by dabs of epoxy resin cements and then the entire out-side surfaces enclosed with a resin coating by the fluidized bed process as described in connection with FIGS. 2-4. A inch coating of cellulose actate butyrate plastisol bound the chair assembly into a rigid structure suitably for normal use as a chair.

While the chair frame assembly of FIGS. 5 and 6 shows a contiguous relation over substantially the entire lengths of the legs, the back and the periphery of the panels, this is not necessary to attain the desired rigidity. As was stated in connection with FIGS. 2-4, the contiguous relation here need be only for a sufiicient distance to afford the constraint needed to bind the assembly into substantially rigid association.

A unitary chair can be made by the process of the invention. A metal seat and a metal back can be placed in contiguous relation with the seat support and back support respectively. The seat and back can then be bound to the frame by a resin coating at the same time the frame assembly is brought into rigid association by the resin coating.

It is to be understood the invention is not limited to the structures of the figures. The invention is particularly suitable for the building construction industry where beam and panel curtain walls are now widely used. Sections of wall may be pre-fabricated in a shop and then formed into the final rigid resin coating bound structure by, for example, flame spraying on the construction site. Thus a quiet construction process is obtained. Box girders can be built up of long plates and short cross-bars in the shop and field assembled and bound to form framework which need not be concealed by wall coverings, giving simultaneously structural strength and surface protection by means of the resin coating thereon. Other uses of the invention can be readily devised by workers in this art.

Thus having described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An article suitable for use in furniture manufacture, which article consists essentially of:

a plurality of substantially rigid elongated members, assembled to form the frame of said article, said assembly providing a contiguous relation of a sub stantial length of at least two of said members and a suflicient number of said contiguous relations to obtain the desired rigidity of said article; and a tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering to at least a sufiicient portion of the outside surfaces of said contiguous relations to afford essentially all the constraint needed to bind said assembly into substantially rigid association.

2. The article of claim 1 Where said assembly includes plate members;

each of said plate members having at least partial edgecontiguous relation with at least one of said elongated members; and

said tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering to the outside surfaces of at least a sufficient length of said edge-contiguous relations and said contiguous relations to afford essentially all the constraint needed to bind said assembly into substantially rigid association.

3. A metal chair frame consisting essentially of:

an assembly of elongated metal members forming chair leg structure and a seat support;

each leg structure including at least two elongated members having a contiguous relation for a substantial part of the leg; and

a tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering to at least a suflicient length of said contiguous relation of each leg structure to afford essentially all the constraint needed to bind said assembly into substantially rigid association. 4. The frame of claim 3 where said resinous coating encloses and adheres to all the outside surfaces of said assembly. I 5. The frame of claim 3 wherein said assembly includes an elongated member back support, said back support having a contiguous relation with a substantial length of at least one leg member of two of said legs; and being constrained by said coating which encloses and adheres to said leg structures.

6. The frame of claim 5 wherein said coating encloses and adheres to all the outside surfaces of said assembly.

7. The frame of claim 3 wherein said seat support includes, at each side portion of said seat support, a pair of substantially horizontal elongated members in vertical spaced relation;

metal panel members pairs of horizontal elongated members, having edgecontiguous relation with said horizontalelongated members; and 1 said coating enclosing and adhering to at least a sufficient length of said edge-contiguous relation to bind said panel-members into said frame.

8. The frame of claim 7 wherein said coating encloses and adheres to all the outside surfaces of said assembly.

9. A table support consisting essentially of:

a plurality of elongated members, each formed, into a vertical portion and a foot portion extending at an angle to the vertical portion;

said elongated members being arranged in a lateral contiguous relation of foot portions and vertical portions; and

a tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering the outside surfaces of at least a sufficient length of said vertical portions to afford essentially positioned between each of said.

all the constraint needed to bind said members into substantially rigid association.

10. A table support consisting essentially of:

a plurality of elongated members, each formed into a fan-shaped foot and a vertical portion;

said elongated members being arranged in a lateral contiguous relation of fans and vertical portions;

a plurality of plate-members each adapted to be supported by one of said fan shaped feet, positioned to bridgeand having edge-contiguous relation with the corresponding fan-shaped opening;

and a tough coating of resinous material enclosing and adhering the outside surfaces of at least a sufficient length of said edge-contiguous relation and of said contiguous relations to afford essentially all the constraint needed to bind said support into substantially rigid association.

11. The support for claim 10 wherein said coating encloses and adhere-s to all of the outside surfaces of said support.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 596,217 12/97 Rapp 108-150 1,208,628 12/ 16 Nutrizio 108-150 2,311,613 2/43 Slayter 2 117-126 2,467,664 4/49 Glenn 297-445 2,757,111 7/56 Henderson 156-180 2,805,522 8/57 Collet 160-84 2,926,729 3 Zanini -231 2,948,649 8/60 Pan-cherz 156-180 2,975,827 3/61 Mauser 297-445 2,977,630 4/61 ,Bazler 156-180 3,083,056 3/63 Ward.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. AN ARTICLE SUITABLE FOR USE IN FURNITURE MANUFACTURE, WHICH ARTICLE CONSISTS ESSENTIALLY OF: A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID ELONGATED MEMBERS, ASSEMBLED TO FORM THE FRAME OF SAID ARTICLE, SAID ASSEMBLY PROVIDING A CONTIGUOUS RELATION OF A SUBSTANTIAL LENGTH OF AT LEAST TWO OF SAID MEMBERS AND A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF SAID CONTIGUOUS RELATIONS TO OBTAIN THE DESIRED RIGIDLY OF SAID ARTICLE; AND A TOUGH COATING OF RESINOUS MATERIAL ENCLOSING AND ADHERING TO AT LEAST A SUFFICIENT PORTION OF THE OUTSIDE SURFACES OF SAID CONTIGUOUS RELATIONS TO AFFORD ESSENTIALLY ALL THE CONSTRAINT NEEDED TO BIND SAID ASSEMBLY INTO SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID ASSOCIATION.