WO1990006858A1

WO1990006858A1 - Polyester pieces having a metallic hand and appearance

Info

Publication number: WO1990006858A1
Application number: PCT/US1988/004441
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roger Questel
Original assignee: Roger Questel
Priority date: 1988-12-14
Filing date: 1988-12-14
Publication date: 1990-06-28

Abstract

A technique for forming a utilitarian or decorative object fabricated mainly of polyester plastic material, yet having a significantly greater weight and a metallic outer face, thereby imparting to this object the hand and appearance of an equivalent object made entirely of metal. In this technique, poured into a mold (12) for forming the object is a mixture (11) of a liquid monomer, a curing agent therefor and a dispersion of metal particles. The particles are permitted to settle in the mold or the mold is centrifuged to cause the particles to migrate toward the outer region of the piece and concentrate in this region before the monomer polymerizes and hardens to bind the particles. After removal from the mold (12) the outer face (15) of the piece is abraded to remove the polyester from the surface of the metal particles and to polish the exposed metal surface, whereby the resultant plastic piece, because of its enhanced weight and metallic face, simulates the hand and appearance of a solid metal piece.

Description

PO YESTER PIECES HAVING A METALLIC HAND AND APPEARANCE

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Field of Invention;

This invention relates generally to the production of utilitarian or decorative objects such as floor and wall tiles, architectural moldings, vases and other three-dimensional pieces formed mainly of polyester material, yet having a metallic hand and appearance; and more particularly to such fabricated objects which appear to be made of bronze or other metal and have a weight significantly greater than the same objects when made entirely of polyester material.

Status of Prior Art:

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. It usually contains about 1 to 10% of tin, though special" types such as aluminum bronze include additional ingredients. Because bronze flows into all crevices of a mold, it is ideal for casting, for it reproduces all details of even the most delicately modeled sculpture.

This alloy was used in very early times for forming objects later made of other materials; hence bronze affords a record of ancient life and the arts. The early Egyptians cast and hammered bronze into utensils, armor and statuary, as did the early Greeks and Romans. These pieces were often polished to provide highly reflective surfaces.

It is for this reason that bronze pieces are greatly prized in the modern art market. However, the cost of fabricating a vase or other decorative piece of bronze is relatively high, and such pieces are not available in the mass market to ordinary consumers.

Because of the appeal of bronze, many attempts have heretofore been made to impart a bronze-like appearance to decorative or utilitarian objects. Thus patent 2,454,910 discloses a molding technique in which the surface of the mold is coated with a bronzing liquid wherein bronze particles are dispersed in a resin base to create a bronze-like layer in the mold which is then filled with a moldable plastic material such as a phenolic. The resultant molded piece then has a bronze-like outer layer that is integrated with the plastic body of the piece. The drawback to this prior structure is that the object has the weight and feel of plastic, not of bronze, and the bronze-like facing does not exhibit the appearance of a genuine polished bronze surface.

In the case of ceramic objects such as floor and wall tiles, it is known to glaze the tile surface with a coating of metallized enamel. But here again, the resultant tile does not have the polished appearance of a genuine bronze or other metallic object. It is also possible by vacuum deposition, sputtering or other plating techniques to create a thin metallized surface on the face of a plastic body, but such facings which are usually very shiny do not afford the appearance of a metallic body.

Patent 3,615,963 discloses a technique for producing a reinforced panel by spreading out on a stainless steel base treated with a release agent a mixture of a liquid resinous binder and solid particles of sand or metal powder, these particles settling out to concentrate in the region adjacent the base plate.

In patent 2,773,287, a reinforced plastic pipe is disclosed in which glass fibers, crushed rock or other nonmetallic particles are mixed with a polyester resin to a pipe mold which is then rotated to produce a centrifugal force causing the particles to migrate toward the outer surface of the tube.

The term "hand" as used herein refers to the tactile reaction of an individual handling an object. Thus when an individual has a polished bronze piece in his hand, what he feels is the cold metal as well as the sensation of weight. If instead of a genuine bronze piece the individual is given an identical piece but made of plastic with a bronze-enamel facing, then what he senses is the relatively warm plastic material and a much lighter weight.

The term "appearance" as used herein refers to the visual impression made by a piece. Using the same example, what the individual will see when confronted by a genuine bronze piece is one having a distinctive bronze glow, and when confronted by the piece having a shiny bronze-enamel facing, he will perceive an obvious imitation, not an authentic bronze. These distinctions are not subtle; for few individuals will fail to immediately recognize the difference.

The terms "hand" and "appearance" are interrelated; for if an object, though made of plastic, looks like it were made of metal and has a weight significantly greater than one would expect a plastic object to weigh, then the holder of this object, who is subjected to both impressions concurrently, thinks he is holding a metal object.

Most individuals are normally sensitive only to gross differences in weight; and if a piece in the hands of an individual weighs more than plastic and looks metallic, then the holder receives the impression that the piece is made of metal even if it is not quite as heavy as pure metal.

While the invention will be described in connection with plastic pieces having bronze particles incorporated therein, it is to be understood that it is not limited to this alloy and is applicable to other metals which are inherently decorative when polished, such as aluminum and brass.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, the main object of this invention is to provide decorative or utilitarian pieces such as tiles, architectural molding and vases which are cast or otherwise fabricated mainly of polyester material, yet have a hand and appearance that substantially correspond to those of like pieces when made entirely of metal.

More particularly, an object of this invention is to provide a technique for fabricating pieces of the above type which are a composite of polyester material and bronze particles.

Also an object of the invention is to provide pieces which incorporate in the composite a fire retardant agent, whereby when the pieces take the form of floor or wall tiles, or other pieces used in building construction, the pieces satisfy stringent architectural fire code requirements.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a technique which lends itself to mass production at relatively low cost to fabricate pieces of the above type.

Briefly stated, these objects are attained in a technique for forming a utilitarian or decorative object fabricated mainly of polyester plastic material, yet having a significantly greater weight and a metallic outer face, thereby imparting to this object the hand and appearance of an equivalent object made entirely of metal. In this technique. poured into a mold for forming the object is a mixture of a liquid monomer, a curing agent therefor and a dispersion of metal particles. The particles are permitted to settle in the mold or the mold is centrifuged to cause the particles to migrate toward the outer region of the piece and concentrate in this region before the monomer polymerizes and hardens to bind the particles. After removal from the mold, the outer face of the piece is abraded to remove the polyester from the surface of the metal particles and to polish the exposed metal surface, whereby the resultant plastic piece, because of its enhanced weight and metallic face, simulates the hand and appearance of a solid metal piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention as well as other objects and further features thereof, reference is made to the following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a technique for fabricating a floor tile in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken through the resultant tile; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a tile in accordance with the invention having a checkerboard face pattern;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a tile in accordance with the invention having an abstract face pattern;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an architectural molding in accordance with the invention; and

F.ig. 6 is a section taken through a vase in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

Referring now to Fig. 1, the first step in manufacturing a floor or wall tile in accordance with the invention formed mainly of polyester plastic material yet having the hand and appearance of a tile made entirely of bronze is to produce a moldable mixture in a mixing drum 10 or other mixing device into which is fed the main constituents of the mixture.

The first constituent is a liquid monomer A of a polyester resin, the second is a catalyst or curing agent B to cause the monomer to polymerize and harden at a predetermined rate, and the third is fine bronze particles C. The ratio by weight of the particles to the other constituents is about 50 to 90 parts of metal to about 100 to 235 parts of the other constituents, which in practice may also include a fire retardant and a promoter. In practice, the curing agent is not added until the polyester monomer and the metal particles are thoroughly intermixed and are about to enter the mold; for otherwise, curing will take place prematurely in the mixing drum.

Hence the weight of the resultant composite tile, though not as heavy as a tile made entirely of bronze, is significantly greater than the same tile made entirely of plastic material." The tile will therefore have "hand" of a tile seemingly made of lightweight metal, not that of a tile made of plastic material.

The weight of a load of fine bronze particles is more than three times greater than a load of the same volume of polyester resin. In an object made in accordance with the invention, though in terms of volume the polyester is the main constituent, in terms of weight the object is at least about 50% heavier than the same object made entirely of polyester and may even be twice as heavy. Hence the object will have a "hand" approaching that of a metal object.

After thorough mixing in the drum to cause the bronzes particles to become uniformly dispersed in the mixture, mixture 11 is poured into a mold 12 having a form appropriate to the tile. The hardening time of the mixture is such as to permit the relatively heavy bronze particles C to gravitationally settle and concentrate in the lower region of the mold. As a consequence, when the mixture hardens, a tile 13 is produced which, as shown separately in Fig. 2, has a rectangular body 14 formed of polyester material and a face region 15 defined by a dense mass of bronze particles embedded in polyester which act to bind the particles together. In the case of a tile or other planar object, the molding procedure must be such as to ensure a substantially planar form.

The tile, after hardening is completed, is removed from mold 12 and at a finishing station 16, face 15 of the tile is abraded by steel wool 17 or by other suitable polishing means such as a rotating wheel having an emory cloth covering thereon to remove the polyester binder skin and expose the particles at the face to a polishing action. Hence -li¬ the resultant face of the tile is that of polished bronze. To provide a finer finish, the face may then be polished by a rouge such as a high-grade iron oxide powder of the type used to polish jewelry.

Or the bronze face may be acid-etched to impart a patina thereto as with solid bronze. To protect the finish, a thin, transparent, adherent plastic coating may be applied thereto such as a "Mylar," urethane or other compatible coating. Alternatively, the exposed bronze face may be permitted to age in an oxidizing atmosphere so as to acquire the tarnish or natural patina of real bronze.

Preferred Formulation:

A preferred formulation for the mixture is as follows:

Envirez 5310 resin - 100 parts

(a polyester resin - Ashland Chemicals)

ATH - fire retardant aσent - 75 parts (aluminum trihydrate - Alcoa)

Envirez Promoter - 3 parts (Ashland Chemicals - promoter 9016)

Lupersol Catalyst - 2 parts (Pennwalt Corp.) Bronze particles - 50 parts (75 microns and less)

The promoter helps promote curing at room temperature. The curing time, which may be extended to as much as 30 minutes, can be adjusted by adding to the mixture an appropriate small amount of Aropol Q 6919 inhibit. The curing time depends on the ratio of promoter, catalyst and inhibitor added to the mixture.

The fire retardant agent is optional and in the case of vases or other objects in which fire retardation is not a necessary property, ATH may be omitted and replaced by additional resin. In this case, the resin used need not be ENVIREZ but may be any good grade, commercially available resin appropriate to the nature of the object. Thus if the object is intended for outdoor use, the resin must be suitable for this purpose.

In all cases, the amount of bronze particles included in the mixture must be such as to enhance the weight of the final piece to impart thereto a metal-like "hand." Also, the appearance of the final piece is affected not only by the amount of bronze particles, but also by the average size of these particles. Hence coarser particles impart to the piece an appearance that differs from that attained with very fine particles.

Products:

In practice, the inner surface of the bottom wall of the mold may be embossed, etched or otherwise modified to create a decorative pattern on the face of the resultant tile. Thus as shown by floor tile 18 in Fig. 3, the face 19 thereof has an embossed checkerboard pattern whose raised squares are smooth and whose depressed squares are rough. This surface is not only decorative, but also provides a tread to prevent slipping when walking thereon. Or, as shown by floor tile 20 in Fig. 4, the face 21 thereof has an abstractly crinkled or fibrous tread surface which is also highly ι decorative. One could also emboss a logo on the mold to produce tiles having the logo on its face.

The advantage of a bronze-like tile in accordance with the invention over conventional ceramic tiles is that ceramic tiles are necessarily thicker in order to render them less fragile and therefore heavier than the relatively thin bronze-like tile, making it more expensive to ship and store ceramic tiles. Also, the bronze-like tiles can be cut without difficulty to conform to space requirements, whereas ceramic tiles are very difficult to cut.

Fig. 5 illustrates a cast architectural molding 22 having a polyester body and a contoured face region 23 formed by bronze or other metal powders such as brass which are held together by a polyester binder, the face being polished so that the molding appears to be made of bronze or whatever other metal is used. But since the molding is mainly of plastic, it may be nailed or otherwise attached to a wall in the manner of a wood molding. Such moldings can also be used to create picture frames.

In the vase 24 shown in Fig. 6, the metallic face region 25 is formed by rotating the mold containing the mixture of liquid monomer and metal particles to produce a centrifugal force causing the particles to migrate toward the face region before the monomer polymerizes and hardens.

The above pieces are by no means the only ones which can be produced by the technique, for it is also possible to form sculptured ornaments, head boards, boxes and other pieces having a hand and appearance simulating all-metal pieces. The relative amount of metal particles included in the mixture for forming the piece depends on the desired final weight of the piece, and in some cases one can use almost equal amounts of metal particles and polyester by weight to produce relatively heavy pieces. Again it must be stressed that it is not enough to have the produced pieces appear to be made of bronze or other metal; for if the pieces weigh little more than those made entirely of plastic, this will shatter the illusion that the pieces are fabricated of metal. Moreover, in the case of vases and other three-dimensional objects, the enhanced weight gives stability to the pieces; for an all-plastic vase, particularly one having a small diameter base, is easily overturned.

Another aspect of the "appearance" factor which comes into play is the impression made by an object according to the invention as contrasted to a similar object having a metallic glaze. The glazed object has a shiny appearance which militates against its visual acceptance as being truly metallic in nature, whereas an object according to the invention has a soft metallic glow and in time acquires a natural patina which is lacking in a glazed object. The invention is by no means limited to making objects in the forms previously disclosed, for it can be used to make furniture components such as desk tops, coffee table tops, as well as roof tiles, building panels, and bronze-like fences and gates. For those objects intended for outdoor use, the polyester employed for this purpose is preferably one that makes use of a formulation that renders the material resistant to ultraviolet light so that the object can withstand solar radiation.

While there has been shown and described a preferred embodiment of polyester pieces having a metallic hand and appearance in accordance with the invention, it will be appreciated that many changes and modifications may be made therein without, however, departing from the essential spirit thereof.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A utilitarian or decorative object fabricated primarily of polyester resin and having a region underlying the outer face of the object formed by a concentrated mass of metal particles bound together by the resin, the resin at the face of the region being removed to expose the surface of the particles which is polished to impart a metallic appearance to the object, the ratio by weight of the metal particles to the resin being such as to impart to the object a hand simulating that of an object made of solid metal.

2. An object as set forth in claim 1 in the form of a tile whose face has a metallic appearance.

3. An object as set forth in claim 2, wherein said face is embossed to impart a decorative pattern thereto.

4. An object as set forth in claim 1, wherein said object is an architectural molding whose contoured face has a metallic appearance.

5. An object as set forth in claim 1, wherein said object is a vase whose face presents a metallic appearance and whose hand simulates that of a vase made of solid metal.

6. An object as set forth in claim 1, wherein said particles are bronze.

7. An object as set forth in claim 1, wherein said particles are brass.

8. A technique for creating a utilitarian or decorative object comprising the steps of:

A producing a mixture of a liquid monomer of a polyester resin, a curing agent therefor and metallic particles dispersed in the liquid monomer, the ratio by weight of the particles to the resin being such as to impart to the object a hand simulating that of the same object made of solid metal;

B pouring said mixture in a mold adapted to create the form of the object;

C causing the particles in the mixture in the mold before the resin is cured to migrate toward the outer face of the object to create a region underlying the face in which the particles are concentrated, which particles when the resin is cured are held together by the resin; and D removing the cured object from the mold and abrading the outer face thereof to remove the resin therefrom and to expose and polish the surface of the particles to impart a metallic appearance to the object.

9. A technique as set forth in claim 8, wherein said particles are bronze.

10. A technique as set forth in claim 8, wherein the mixture includes a fire-retarding agent.

11. A technique as set forth in claim 8, wherein the particles are permitted to settle in the mold to effect migration thereof.

12. A technique as set forth in claim 8, wherein said mold is centrifuged to effect migration of the particles.

13. A technique as set forth in claim 8 wherein the ratio of the particles to the resin is such as to produce an object whose weight is at least 50 percent heavier than the same object made entirely of the resin.

14. A technique as set forth in claim 8, wherein said mixture includes an ultraviolet-light resistant agent.