Method for manufacturing a decorative panel

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing decorative panels made of flat glass for electronic household appliances, in particular household appliances that are fixed in position. The method comprises, in the specified order, at least the steps of providing a flat glass, producing a blank decorative panel by forming the provided flat glass with at least one of the steps of forming the outer contour of the decorative panel, edge treatment, or making at least one indentation on the operational front, the thermal tempering of the produced blank decorative panel, and applying at least one decorative print on the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel by means of a digital printing method.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a decorative panel, which has an operational front and an operational back, which comprises, in the specified order, at least the following steps: providing a flat glass produced by a floatation method, wherein the flat glass comprises an atmospheric side and a tin side; producing a blank decorative panel by performing at least one of the following steps on the flat glass: forming the outer contour of the decorative panel, edge treatment, and making at least one indentation on the operational front; tempering the produced blank decorative panel thermally; applying at least one decorative print on the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel with a digital printing method, wherein the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel is the atmospheric side.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flat glass is soda-lime glass.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flat glass has a thickness of at least 2 mm to 8 mm.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the decorative print is applied less than 3 days after conclusion of the tempering step.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the decorative print is applied less than 1 hour after conclusion of the tempering step.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, prior to the application of the decorative print, no adhesion-promoting layer is applied onto the blank decorative panel.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the digital printing comprises ink-jet printing.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the ink jet printing is expressed as CMYKW five-color printing.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the CMYKW five-color printing is cured by irradiation with light that comprises wavelengths of less than 450 nm.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, after the applying step, thermally post-treating step the blank decorative panel at a temperature of less than 500 C.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying at least one additional decorative print on the operational front or back, prior to the thermal tempering of the blank decorative panel, with ink-jet printing, screen printing, or template printing using glass frit, wherein the at least one additional decorative print is burned onto the surface of the blank decorative panel during the thermal tempering process.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying at least one effect layer elected from the group of pearl luster, mirror, or metal effects to the operational front or back with screen printing, template printing, roller coating, spray coating, or sputtering.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying at least one decorative print is onto the surface of the at least one indentation on the operational front prior to the thermal tempering step, with ink-jet printing or pad printing using glass frit, wherein the decorative print is burned onto the surface of the blank decorative panel during the thermal tempering process.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying at least one additional decorative print or functional layer onto the operational front of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel.

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of applying at least one decorative print in the at least one indentation on the operational front of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel with a digital printing method.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of, after the applying of the print step, applying a protective coating on this print with digital printing, screen printing, roller application, spray coating, or slot die coating.

17. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of, after the applying of the decorative print step, applying an electrically conductive print.

18. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to the applying of the print step, applying an adhesion-promoting layer onto the operational back.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the adhesion-promoting layer is applied with digital printing.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the decorative panel is a control panel or external door glazing for electronic household appliances.

21. A method for manufacturing a decorative panel, which has an operational front and an operational back, which comprises, in the specified order, at least the following steps: providing a flat glass that is a soda-lime glass; producing a blank decorative panel by performing at least one of the following steps on the flat glass: forming the outer contour of the decorative panel, edge treatment, and making at least one indentation on the operational front; tempering the produced blank decorative panel thermally; applying at least one decorative print on the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel with a digital printing method, wherein the at least one decorative print comprises organic dyes; and curing the applied printing by irradiation, with light that comprises wavelengths of less than 450 nm.

22. A method for manufacturing a decorative panel, which has an operational front and an operational back, which comprises, in the specified order, at least the following steps: providing a flat glass; producing a blank decorative panel by performing at least one of the following steps on the flat glass: forming the outer contour of the decorative panel, edge treatment, and making at least one indentation on the operational front; tempering the produced blank decorative panel thermally; applying at least one decorative print on the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel with a digital printing method, wherein the digital printing comprises ink-jet printing.

23. A method for manufacturing a decorative panel, which has an operational front and an operational back, which comprises, in the specified order, at least the following steps: providing a flat glass; producing a blank decorative panel by performing at least one of the following steps on the flat glass: forming the outer contour of the decorative panel, forming the edge treatment, and making at least one indentation on the operational front; tempering the produced blank decorative panel thermally; applying an adhesion-promoting layer onto the operational back; applying at least one decorative print on the operational back of the thermally tempered blank decorative panel with a digital printing method.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the adhesion-promoting layer is applied with digital printing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 shows, in a schematic illustration, a cross section of a decorative control panel.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a plan view onto the operational front of a decorative control panel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

(3) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a decorative panel 1, which has an operational front 11 and an operational back 12 and is manufactured from a blank decorative panel 2. On the back 12, the illustrated decorative panel 1 has an adhesion-promoting layer 3, a decorative print 4 produced by means of a digital printing method, and a protective coating 5.

(4) On the front 11, the decorative panel 1 comprises an indentation 8, a decorative print 7 printed into the indentation, and another decorative print or functional layer 6, which has a recess.

(5) Furthermore, the decorative panel 1 in FIG. 2 has drilled holes 9 passing through the entire thickness of the glass in the form of through-openings.

(6) The disclosure will be explained in detail below on the basis of further exemplary embodiments.

EXAMPLE 1

(7) A glass pane or panel that is 4 mm thick and is made of floated soda-lime glass with a low iron content is provided. This glass panel is cut to size mechanically by means of scoring and breaking. For formation of the desired outer contour of the blank decorative panel as well as of a C cut of the edges, the cut glass panel is processed by grinding. In the next step, a spherical indentation with a diameter of 14 at the surface of 14 mm and a depth of 1 mm is made on the operational front of the blank decorative panel by means of grinding and polishing. In the process, the tin side of the glass is chosen as front. Subsequently, a cylindrical passage with a diameter of 50 mm is drilled in the blank with a diamond drill. After this method step of forming, the blank is cleaned in order to remove residues from the surfaces of the blank.

(8) The blank thereby formed and cleaned is printed on its front with a two-color logo by means of screen printing using inorganic pigments and glass frit. This print is initially pre-dried in an oven. After drying of the print, the blank is thermally tempered in a tempering oven, wherein the two-color logo is burned onto the front. Prior to further processing of the blank decorative panel tempered in this way, it is cooled to a temperature of less than 100 C.

(9) Directly afterwards, the tempered blank decorative panel is printed with a photo-realistic graphic on the operational back on an ink-jet printer. The printing color is hardened during the printing process on the blank decorative panel by means of UV LEDs integrated in the printing head. Optionally, the print is coated over the entire surface with a transparent protective coating using the same printer in order to protect it against mechanical damage. The protective coating is likewise hardened by means of UV LEDs.

(10) Subsequently, the substrate is turned over and a single-color pictogram is printed into the spherical indentation on the operational front and this print is likewise hardened by means of UV LEDs.

EXAMPLE 2

(11) The blank decorative panel is fabricated from soda-lime glass with a thickness of 3 mm by means of mechanical cutting, grinding, cleaning, and thermal tempering in analogy to Example 1.

(12) Immediately after cooling to a temperature of less than 100 C., the tempered and cooled blank decorative panel is printed on the operational back, which corresponds to the atmospheric side of the soda-lime glass, by means of an ink-jet printer, with a single-color black print, which has a rectangular recess for a display device as well as additional recesses in the form of pictograms, which, in the installed state, for example as a control panel in a stove, can be backlit from the operational back with a lighting means. Optionally, electrically conductive structures made of silver with use of nanoparticle ink are applied around the recesses or at least on one side of the recesses by means of ink-jet printing. These silver structures are thermally dried in an oven and thereby attain a specific electrical resistance of less than 250 Ohm cm. They can be used, for example, as sensors for capacitive touch sensors.

EXAMPLE 3

(13) The method of fabrication of Example 3 corresponds to that mentioned in Example 2, with a transparent adhesion-promoting print being applied prior to the application of the single-color black print by means of the same ink-jet printer.

(14) The person skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure is not limited to the solely exemplary embodiments described above on the basis of the figures, but can be varied in diverse ways within the scope of the subject matter of the patent claims. In particular, the features of individual exemplary embodiments can be combined with one another. In addition, it is possible in an advantageous way to allow individual process steps of the method according to the disclosure to proceed several times in succession or to add additional process steps prior to, in between, or after the steps required in accordance with the disclosure.