SANITARY WARE AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME

Abstract

A method of making a sanitary basin. The method has the steps of providing a steel basin body, coating a face of the body with a layer of enamel, and burning macroscopic structures into the enamel coating with a laser beam. The structures are interconnected, for example forming a channel network.

Claims

1. A method of making a sanitary basin, the method comprising the steps of: providing a steel basin body; coating a face of the body with a layer of enamel; and forming macroscopic structures in the enamel coating with a laser beam.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the structures are interconnected.

3. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the macroscopic structures have a depth of from 10 m to 150 m.

4. A preform for a sanitary basin made according to claim 1, the preform comprising: the body; an enamel coating on the body; and an unfired frit layer modifiable by a laser beam on the enamel coating.

5. The preform defined in claim 4, wherein the enamel coating includes: a base layer; a cover layer between the base layer and the frit layer.

6. The preform defined in claim 4, wherein the laser beam forms notches in the unfired frit layer.

7. The preform defined in claim 5, wherein the laser beam fuses and fixed the unfired frit layer to the cover layer only in some areas, the method further comprising the steps of: hardening the fused areas to bond them integrally to the cover layer and form the macroscopic structures; and removing the unfired frit layer between the areas.

8. The preform defined in claim 4 wherein the macroscopic structures have a thickness in the range from 100 m to 200 m.

9. The sanitary basin formed according to the method of claim 1.

10. The method defined in claim 1, the enamel coating comprises a cover layer either on a base layer or on the body, with the cover layer first being applied and then the unfired frit layer being applied to the cover layer.

11. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the macroscopic structures are burned into the frit layer by the steps of: burning off a part of the frit layer with the laser beam; and thereafter firing the body with the layers to solidify the portion of the frit layer that was not burnt off.

12. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the macroscopic structures are burnt into the frit layer.

13. The method defined in claim 12, the steps of: fusing areas of the frit layer with the laser beam.

13. The method defined in claim 12, further comprising the step of; removing the unfused portions of the frit layer.

14. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the unfused portions of the frit layer are removed by being blown off.

15. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the frit layer is applied to the cover layer only in some areas.

16. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising, prior to burning with the laser beam, the step of: heating the frit layer to a temperature between a glass transition temperature and a softening point of the enamel.

17. The method defined in claim 1, further comprising, after burning with the laser beam, the step of: final firing of the body, cover, and structured frit layer.

18. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the unfired frit layer is modified with the laser beam such that macroscopic structures are produced in the unfired frit layer.

19. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the frit layer also forms the cover layer in a single firing process.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0049] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

[0050] FIG. 1 is a top view of a shower pan with macroscopic structures formed according to the invention;

[0051] FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show in section the method steps for forming a grooved structure or frit;

[0052] FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of a sanitary basin according to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C;

[0053] FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C show the method steps for forming a structure layer that is fixed in some areas on a cover layer; and

[0054] FIG. 5 is a perspective sectional view through an alternative embodiment.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0055] FIG. 1 shows an example of a shower pan with a square base surface and a central drain 11. The shower pan has a slope from a peripheral basin rim 12 to the central drain 11.

[0056] This is a shower pan made of steel enamel with an enamel coating on its upper face. Macroscopic structures produced in this enamel coating with a laser beam are also introduced and/or applied, it being possible for these macroscopic structures to have different configurations. Grooves or linear structures are especially preferred. According to the sanitary basin at the top in FIG. 1, this can be realized in the form of linear structures formed for example as channels. If these are aligned with the slope and extend toward the drain opening 11, water can be transported in a targeted manner toward the drain opening 11. Furthermore, wave-shaped channels are also conceivable, or also channels having a zigzag-shape. More important than the orientation on a slope, however, is the formation of an edge that can locally disrupt a film of water. In this context, the effective edge length in particular is decisive, with a not completely straight but a slightly wavy or jagged edge of the macroscopic structures being advantageous.

[0057] FIG. 1 also shows interconnected macroscopic structures. According to the upper part of the figure, the sanitary basin has depicted linear macroscopic structures that are formed both toward the drain opening 11 and also parallel thereto, these structures being able to merge into one another or intersect.

[0058] The lower part of FIG. 1 shows macroscopic structures that are closed, so that rectangles or circles are created, for example. It is also shown that the macroscopic structures can also be disposed only in some areas on the surface of the sanitary basin.

[0059] In this context, FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C show how these macroscopic structures can be formed.

[0060] According to FIG. 2A, a base layer 2 is formed on the body 1, with the base layer 2 being applied in a first method step to the body 1 and then fired in a furnace. The base layer 2 solidifies and is fixed to the body 1. In a subsequent step, a cover layer 3 is then applied to the base layer 2 and fired again. Subsequently, a structure or frit 4 of ground enamel frit is applied to the cover layer 3 by spraying onto the cover layer 3.

[0061] Then, according to FIG. 2B, the modification of the structure layer 4 is performed by a laser 5 that acts on the structure frit layer 4 with a laser beam 6 such that notches 7 are formed in the frit layer 4. The material of the structure layer 4 is partially removed by the laser beam 6, the laser beam 6 being pulsed in order for high energy density.

[0062] Depending on the power of the laser 5 or the strength of the laser beam 6, and depending on the duration of the exposure time of the laser beam 6 in the structure layer 4, notches 7 of different depths can be produced, the depth of the notches 7 being limited by the layer thickness of the structure layer 4. The depth of the notches 7 can only be so large that sufficient residual thickness remains in the region of the notches 7 in the structure layer 4. If the structure layer 4 is intended to cover the underlying layer in terms of color, then a residual thickness of greater than 80 m is preferably provided. If color coverage is not necessary, the residual thickness can certainly also be smaller.

[0063] Once all the notches 7 have been produced with the laser 5 within the frit layer 4, in a next method step according to FIG. 2C, the sanitary basin preform is fired with the body 1, the base layer 2, the cover layer 3, and the frit layer 4 so that the frit layer 4 is solidified with the notches 7 and fixed unitarily to the cover layer 3, which is in turn unitarily fixed to the base layer 2, which is itself fixed to the body 1. As a result, the firing process yields a ready-to-use sanitary basin that, by virtue of the notches 7, has an anti-slip structure on the surface. In order for the anti-slip structure to be as effective as possible, the notches 7 have an average width in the range between 70 m and 130 m with a preferably (slightly) wavy edge, the individual notches 7 being arranged with an spacing of 2 mm to 7 mm.

[0064] For best visibility, FIGS. 2B to 3 are not to scale.

[0065] According to FIG. 3, in such a variant of the method in which the structure layer 4 is modified through the introduction of notches 7, a merely two-layer structure of the coating is sufficient, so that a base layer 2 can be dispensed with in principle. In such a case, the steel body 1 is nickel-plated on the surface, and the material used for the cover layer 3 is so-called direct white enamel.

[0066] The method steps for forming such a sanitary basin with an enamel coating without a base layer 2 correspond substantially to the steps already described for a three-layer coating according to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, although the application of a base layer 2 first and the subsequent firing of the base layer 2 are omitted.

[0067] Instead of notches 7, the structure layer 4 can also be modified in another way by a laser beam 6, with anti-slip structures also being formed in the coating in this case. According to FIG. 4A, a base layer 2 is first applied to the body 1 and then fired analogously to FIG. 2A. A cover layer 3 is then applied to the fired base layer 2, fired, and a structure or frit layer 4 is finally applied, with the structure layer 4 being composed of enamel frit here as well. As a result, a three-layer enamel coating of fired base layer 2, a fired cover layer 3, and an unfired frit layer 4 is thus formed.

[0068] In a next method step according to FIG. 4B, a laser beam 6 is then generated by the laser 5 and aimed at the surface of the structure layer 4. The type of laser and also the choice of the power of the laser radiation are such that no appreciable removal of material takes place but the frit layer 4 is heated by the action of the laser radiation 6 and thereby hardened. Starting from the point of incidence of the laser beam 6, regions are thus formed in which material 8 solidified by the laser radiation 6 is present and regions that are not subjected to the action of the laser beam 6 and thus have non-solidified frit material 9.

[0069] Subsequently, in a method step according to FIG. 4C, the non-solidified material 9 of the structure layer 4 is removed. The removal is performed by blowing with air or another gaseous medium, by rinsing with water, or by brushing, for example. The structure layer 4 is then present only in the form of the material 8 that has been solidified by the laser 5 or laser beam 6, with complete removal of the non-solidified material 9 not being absolutely necessary. In principle, it is also possible for the structure layer 4 to be freed only partially from the non-solidified material 9, so that the non-solidified material 9 is then fixed in a final firing process. In the present case, however, the non-solidified material 9 has been completely removed and the structure layer 4 forms a structure that is present in some areas on the cover layer 3.

[0070] Finally, FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the sanitary basin in which the coating is formed by only one layer. For this purpose, the enamel referred to as direct white is applied as a slip in sufficient thickness and dried, with the structuring being performed directly in the biscuit layer that is formed in this way. The cover layer 3 thus simultaneously forms the structure layer 4 with the notch 7.