Exterior décor panel for home appliance and apparatus of manufacturing the same
09737924 · 2017-08-22
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
Y10T428/12201
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
B21B1/227
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21B27/005
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
B23P9/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21B27/02
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21B27/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B44B5/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B44C5/04
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21H8/00
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B21B1/22
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
Abstract
An exterior décor panel for a home appliance includes a metal sheet having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The metal sheet includes a first patterned portion having successive recesses formed in the first surface, where each of the successive recesses have a prescribed depth, and a second patterned portion having successive protrusions formed at the second surface, where the successive protrusions correspond to the successive recesses. The successive recesses are formed by applying a force to the first surface, thereby transferring the force to the second surface to form the successive protrusions.
Claims
1. An exterior décor panel for a home appliance, the exterior décor panel comprising: a metal sheet having a rear surface and a front surface opposite the rear surface, the metal sheet comprising: a first patterned portion having successive recesses formed at the rear surface, each of the successive recesses having a first depth and a first width; and a second patterned portion having successive protrusions formed at the front surface, each of the successive protrusions corresponding to each of the successive recesses and having a second height and a second width, wherein the successive recesses are formed by applying a force to the rear surface, thereby transferring the force to the front surface to form the successive protrusions, wherein each of the recesses has an angular shaped cross section and each of the protrusions has a convex curve shape, wherein a maximum depth of the recesses at the rear surface is less than the thickness of the metal sheet and greater than a maximum height of the protrusions at the front surface, and wherein the second width of each protrusion is greater than the first width of each recess.
2. The panel according to claim 1, wherein: the first patterned portion defines lines that interconnect maximum depth points of the successive recesses, each of the lines of the first patterned portion having a prescribed depth and width; and the second patterned portion defines lines that interconnect maximum height points of the successive protrusions, each of the lines of the second patterned portion having a prescribed height and width.
3. The panel according to claim 2, wherein the second patterned portion includes curved portions of the protrusions and a flat portion between the curved portions between neighboring lines of the second patterned portion.
4. The panel according to claim 2, wherein the second patterned portion includes at least two lines that cross each other.
5. The panel according to claim 2, wherein the recesses are formed by laser processing.
6. The panel according to claim 5, wherein the second patterned portion has beginning and end points located at a rim of the metal sheet.
7. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the metal sheet is formed of stainless steel or aluminum.
8. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of each of the recesses is rectangular shaped.
9. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of each of the recesses is trapezoidal shaped.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(10)
(11) To form the second patterned portion 5, press force may be applied to the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 to form the recesses. As a result, curved protrusions corresponding to the first patterned portion 3 can be formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1 as the first patterned portion 3 is transferred from the rear surface to the front surface of the metal sheet 1. That is, the curved protrusions are formed as the press force applied to form the recesses is transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet due to the ductility of the metal sheet.
(12) The successive recesses formed in the first surface (rear surface) of the metal sheet 1 can have a prescribed depth and width. As a result, the first patterned portion 3 can be defined by lines interconnecting the maximum depth points of the successive recesses having the prescribed depth and width.
(13) The successive protrusions protrude from the second surface (front surface) of the metal sheet 1 and can have a prescribed height and width. As a result, the second patterned portion 5 can be defined by lines interconnecting the maximum height points of the successive protrusions having the prescribed height and width.
(14) As exemplarily shown in
(15) Although each continuous line of the first patterned portion 3 is shown as having a rectangular recess shaped cross section, each recess of the first patterned portion 3 may have any of various other shapes, such as a rounded rectangular, trapezoidal or semicircular shape, for example.
(16) The second patterned portion 5 corresponding to the first patterned portion 3, formed as the first patterned portion 3 is transferred, includes curved protrusions protruding from the front surface of the metal sheet 1 at positions corresponding to the respective recesses of the first pattern portion 3. As a result, the curved protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 may have finely convex rounded surfaces. In some cases, the rounded surface of each curved protrusion may be symmetrical about the center maximum height point of the curved protrusion. In some cases, a flat portion may be present between the respective neighboring curved protrusions that are spaced apart from each other by a prescribed distance.
(17) One reason why the second patterned portion 5 includes the curved protrusions having the rounded surfaces differently from the first patterned portion 3 is that, when the press force applied to the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 to form the first patterned portion 3, the press force is transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet 1 to thereby form the protrusions corresponding to the first patterned portion 3. This will be described below in more detail.
(18) While the curved protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 can have gently protruding rounded surfaces, as exemplarily shown in
(19) As illustrated, the maximum height t.sub.2 of the protrusions is less than the maximum depth of the recesses formed in the rear surface of the metal sheet 1. In some cases, the maximum height t.sub.2 of the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 may be within a range of 15 microns to 20 microns.
(20) When a thickness of the metal sheet 1 is 0.6 mm, the depth t.sub.1 and the width w.sub.1 of the recesses of the first patterned portion 3 may respectively be within a range of 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm. In this case, the maximum height t.sub.2 of the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 may be within a range of 15 microns to 20 microns.
(21) Since the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 can have an extremely small height and have convex rounded surfaces, a person who touches the front surface of the metal sheet 1 may not be able to tactilely perceive the presence of the protrusions. However, a stereoscopic pattern of the second patterned portion 5 may be visible to the person.
(22) In addition, the width w.sub.2 of the protrusions between the protrusion start points of each protrusion protruding from the front surface of the metal sheet 1 may be greater than the width w.sub.1 of the recesses. In some cases, the width w.sub.2 of the protrusions may be two to four times greater than the width w.sub.1 of the recesses.
(23) The second patterned portion 5 is formed as the first patterned portion 3 being formed at the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 is transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet 1. Therefore, the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 achieve a form having a small height and a great width relative to the first patterned portion 3.
(24) Although the recesses of the first patterned portion 3 and the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 corresponding thereto are shown in
(25) A contour acquired by connecting the maximum height points of the protrusions may be a linear contour. That is, the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 may be defined by a plurality of lines successively formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1.
(26) The protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 may take the form of a polygon, such as a rectangle, a hexagon or the like, defined by lines crossing each other, may take the form of a closed figure, such as a circle, an oval, a polygon or the like, defined by lines not crossing each other, or may take the form of symbols or characters.
(27) As described above, the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5 can have rounded surfaces differently from the first patterned portion 3.
(28)
(29) Referring to
(30) The second patterned portion 5 defines a pattern of lines interconnecting the maximum height points of the protrusions and, therefore, takes the form of a figure corresponding to the first patterned portion 3. For example, the lines may include parallel continuous lines extending in a given direction and parallel continuous lines extending in a direction angled from the given direction, and these parallel continuous lines extending in different directions may cross each other at a prescribed angle to internally define a closed figure, such as a diamond.
(31) The second patterned portion 5, as exemplarily shown in the picture of
(32) As exemplarily shown in
(33) As exemplarily shown in
(34) The flat portions 54 may not be affected by the press force applied to form the recesses in the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 and thus do not protrude from the front surface of the metal sheet 1. The curved portions 52 are formed as the recesses of the first patterned portion 3 being formed at the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 are transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet 1 and thus protrude from the front surface of the metal sheet 1.
(35) The second patterned portion 5 can be formed by interconnecting maximum height points of the curved portions 52, and half portions of the two curved portions 52 and the flat portion 54 can be arranged between two lines of the second patterned portion 5. The flat portion 54 may be formed between the curved portions 52 and a width of the flat portion 54 may be determined according to a distance between the neighboring curved portions 52. The flat portions 54 may disappear when a distance between the recesses formed in the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 is reduced. However, the flat portions 54 are preferably formed along with the curved portions 52. The metal sheet 1 may be formed of stainless steel, aluminum, or the like.
(36) The exterior décor panel of the present application has a pattern integrally formed at a front surface thereof via rolling of a rear surface thereof and can be used to be attached to a home appliance. The resulting exterior décor panel can have greater durability and ease of manufacture.
(37) Stainless steel has less ductility than aluminum and thus may have lower processing ability, but can have greater strength and durability than aluminum.
(38) A rolling apparatus may typically apply rolling pressure of about 10 tons upon rolling of a front surface of a stainless steel sheet. On the other hand, according to the present application, a fine pattern may be sufficiently formed at a front surface of a stainless steel sheet upon rolling of a rear surface of the stainless steel sheet by applying only rolling pressure of 100 kgf.
(39) In the case of an aluminum sheet having superior ductility, rolling thereof may be possible via application of an even lower rolling pressure than that applied to the stainless steel sheet during rolling. Additionally, since the aluminum sheet may be easily subjected to plastic deformation when a fine pattern is formed at a front surface of the aluminum sheet via rolling of a rear surface of the aluminum sheet, it may be necessary to reduce a width and depth of recesses corresponding to the resulting rear surface pattern as well as rolling pressure applied to the rear surface as compared to those of the stainless steel sheet.
(40) In some cases, the metal sheet 1 may be subjected to bright annealing after rolling to acquire a brilliant surface.
(41) The second patterned portion 5 formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1 can include the protrusions having the finely convex rounded surfaces almost close to a flat surface because the maximum height of the protrusions is within a range of 15 microns to 20 microns. Accordingly, by bright annealing the front surface of the metal sheet 1 after rolling, the second patterned portion 5 may provide a more conspicuous stereoscopic pattern.
(42) Since the second patterned portion 5 including the protrusions having the finely convex rounded surfaces can reflect light at different angles according to positions of the protrusions, when the front surface of the metal sheet 1 is brilliant, as exemplarily shown in
(43) The exterior décor panel of the present application may be used as an exterior material to be attached to an exterior surface of a home appliance. The present application may be applied to any home appliance so long as the home appliance allows such a patterned exterior material formed of a metal sheet to be attached to an exterior surface thereof.
(44) Examples of home appliances to which the present application may be applied include a refrigerator, a washing machine, a drying machine, a blow dryer, a dishwasher, an air conditioner, a television, a cellular phone and many others.
(45) In particular, in the case of a refrigerator, the exterior décor panel may be attached to a front surface of a door and thus have a large size. Even in the case of such a large size exterior décor panel, a stereoscopic pattern may be economically and precisely formed at a front surface of a metal sheet via rolling of a rear surface of the metal sheet according to the present application.
(46) Next, an apparatus and method of manufacturing an exterior décor panel for a home appliance via rolling according to the present application will be described with reference to
(47)
(48) The apparatus of manufacturing the exterior décor panel for the home appliance according to the present application includes at least one pair of rollers consisting of a first roller 120 having a protruding pattern formed at a circumferential surface thereof to form recesses in a first surface of the metal sheet 1 by pressing the metal sheet 1 and a second roller 130 configured to support the metal sheet 1 at the opposite side of the first roller 120 to form protrusions corresponding to the recesses at a second surface of the metal sheet 1.
(49) The first roller 120 serves to perform rolling on the first surface, i.e. a rear surface of the metal sheet 1 to be rolled. As exemplarily shown in
(50) When the first roller 120 performs rolling on the rear surface of the metal sheet 1, the second roller 130 may be elastically deformed while supporting the front surface of the metal sheet 1. Accordingly, as the pattern of the first roller 120 is transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet 1, the second patterned portion 5 including the rounded protrusions can be formed.
(51) Although the second roller 130 may be wholly formed of an elastically deformable material, an elastic deformable portion 135 formed of a rubber or the like may surround a steel rod to achieve sufficient strength to endure rolling pressure. The elastic deformable portion 135 can absorb deformation of the protrusions that are formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1 while the recesses are formed in the rear surface of the metal sheet 1. That is, the elastic deformable portion 135 can allow the protrusions, which do not have the same shape as the recesses but have a shape corresponding to the recesses, to be formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1.
(52) While the first roller 120 having the protruding pattern performs rolling on the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 to form the recesses, the elastic deformable portion 135 can cause a pattern of the recesses to be transferred to the front surface of the metal sheet 1 so as to form the protrusions of the second patterned portion 5.
(53) As described above, the elastic deformable portion 135 can form the protrusions having a height less than a depth of the recesses and a width greater than a width of the recesses. The elastic deformable portion 135 may be manufactured to achieve an appropriate coefficient of elasticity and an appropriate thickness to provide the protrusions with a desired stereoscopic shape.
(54) The rolling apparatus shown in
(55) And while conventional rolling apparatus may need to apply rolling pressure of about 10 tons and require installation of one or more intermediate rollers and a plurality of backup rollers in order to directly applying rolling pressure to a working roller, the rolling apparatus of the present application as shown in
(56) As exemplarily shown in
(57) Through use of the pattern P, as exemplarily shown in
(58) In the case of the pattern P, since rolling pressure is concentrated at intersections of the first and second continuous lines, the second patterned portion 5 as exemplarily shown in
(59) For this reason, in the case in which the pattern P of the first roller 120 is defined by a plurality of continuous lines crossing each other as exemplarily shown in
(60)
(61) Referring to
(62)
(63) In the case in which the first roller 122 and the first roller 124 have different protruding patterns and are used to form the diamond shaped first patterned portion 3 as illustrated, the rollers 122 and 124 may be provided with a plurality of different parallel protruding lines that extend in different direction to have a prescribed inclination angle.
(64) The first roller 122 may form a pair with one second roller 130 to perform rolling, and the first roller 124 may form a pair with another second roller 130 to perform rolling. The second roller 130, as exemplarily shown in
(65) The first roller 122 and the first roller 124 may be spaced apart from each other to sequentially perform rolling on the metal sheet 1. Accordingly, protrusions in the form of a plurality of parallel lines, which may be part of the second patterned portion 5, may be formed in a given direction while the metal sheet 1 passes through a gap between the first roller 122 and the second roller 130 and, subsequently, protrusions in the form of a plurality of parallel lines crossing the previously formed parallel lines may be formed in an opposite direction while the metal sheet 1 passes through a gap between the first roller 124 and the second roller 130.
(66) The first roller 122 and the first roller 124 can allow the metal sheet 1 to be sequentially subjected to rolling while passing the two first rollers 122 and 124 in a single rolling apparatus, thereby enabling formation of a precise pattern defined by continuous lines crossing each other.
(67) In the case of
(68) In some cases, as a method of forming the second patterned portion 5 protruding from the front surface of the metal sheet 1 by forming the first patterned portion 3 at the rear surface of the metal sheet 1, laser processing may be used. Laser processing refers to a method of directly drawing a figure with continuous lines by scanning the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 with a laser beam.
(69) When the rear surface of the metal sheet 1 is scanned with the laser beam to form the recesses in the form of lines, the curved protrusions may be formed at the front surface of the metal sheet 1. In this case, scan beginning and end points of the laser beam, as exemplarily shown in
(70) In
(71) Consequently, through laser processing as described above, the resulting first patterned portion may have difficulty in having an accurate pattern in the form of a figure defined by lines, beginning and end points of which are present at the surface of the metal sheet 1. That is, laser processing can have difficulty in accurately forming a pattern in which beginning and end points of a movement path 8 of laser beam are located inside the rim of the metal sheet as exemplarily shown in
(72) On the other hand, in the case in which a pattern is formed the an exterior décor panel by rear surface rolling as described above, beginning and end points of lines forming the first patterned portion may be located inside or outside of the surface of the metal sheet 1 and, therefore, both the patterns shown in
(73) In addition, laser processing needs to draw the lines of the first patterned portion one by one, thus causing deteriorated productivity and high manufacturing costs.
(74) On the other hand, the case of rear surface rolling as described above, the lines of the first patterned portion may be simultaneously formed using the roller having a pattern corresponding to the first patterned portion and, therefore, rear surface rolling may achieve relatively high mass production yield and low manufacturing costs.
(75) In addition, laser processing can have difficulty forming a precise pattern on a relatively soft metal, such as aluminum.
(76) On the other hand, rear surface rolling may form a precise pattern on a relatively soft metal, such as aluminum, as well as a relatively strong metal, such as stainless steel via control of rolling pressure.
(77) As is apparent from the above description, with an exterior décor panel for a home appliance and an apparatus of manufacturing the same according to the present application, the present application can have the effect of simplifying the manufacturing an exterior décor panel having a stereoscopic pattern formed at a front surface thereof, as a result of forming a recessed pattern in a rear surface of a metal sheet such that a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the rear surface is transferred to a front surface of the metal sheet.
(78) In addition, the present application can have the effect of economically and precisely manufacturing an exterior décor panel having a fine protruding pattern formed at a front surface of the panel via processing of a rear surface of the panel.
(79) In addition, the present application can have the effect of allowing a front surface pattern to appear to have different colors according to positions, as a result of providing a metal sheet with a brilliant surface via bright annealing after rolling of the metal sheet.
(80) In addition, in the case of a front surface pattern being formed by lines via rear surface rolling, beginning and end points of the lines may be located at the rear surface or may define a closed figure at the rear surface, which enables formation of various shapes of patterns without limitation.
(81) Although the exemplary implementations have been illustrated and described as above, of course, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the above described particular implementations, and various modifications and variations can be made in the present application without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application, and the modifications and variations should not be understood individually from the viewpoint or scope of the present application.