Method for Manufacturing a Design Article

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a design object from a plurality of glass sheets. The method comprises cleaning at least one surface of a glass sheet, mixing a dye in a solvent to form a coloured mixture, mixing a hardener into the coloured mixture and filtering the coloured mixture. The filtered coloured mixture is mixed with an epoxy resin to form a coloured resin and the coloured resin is applied in one direction to the cleaned at least one surface of the glass sheet and allowed to dry.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a design object from a plurality of glass sheets comprising: cleaning at least one surface of a first glass sheet and at least one surface of a second glass sheet; mixing a dye in a solvent to form a coloured mixture; mixing a hardener into the coloured mixture; filtering the coloured mixture; mixing the filtered coloured mixture with an epoxy resin to form a coloured resin; applying the coloured resin to the cleaned at least one surface of the first glass sheet; and applying in a sideways fashion a second glass sheet such that the cleaned at least one surface of the second glass sheet is in contact with the coloured resin to form the design object.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the coloured resin is applied in one direction.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising applying a transparent resin to a first cleaned surface of a further first glass sheet, and applying a second cleaned surface of a further second glass sheet to the transparent resin.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising allowing at least one of the coloured resin or the transparent resin to stand for around 30 minutes before applying the coloured resin to the cleaned at least one surface.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising allowing the at least one of the coloured resin or the transparent resin to dry for at least three days.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first glass sheet and the second glass sheet form a first pair of glass sheets and the further first glass sheet and the further second glass sheet form a second pair of glass sheets, the method further comprising cleaning a first surface of the first pair of glass sheets and a second surface of the second pair of glass sheets applying at least one of the coloured resin or the transparent resin to the cleaned at least one surface of the first pair of glass sheets; and applying in a sideways fashion the second of glass sheets such that the cleaned at least one surface of the second pair of glass sheets comes in contact with the coloured resin or the transparent resin to form the design object.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising polishing the design object.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the following figures. It will be understood that the embodiments and aspects of the invention described in the figures are only examples and do not limit the protective scope of the claims in any way. The invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. It will be understood that features of one aspect or embodiment of the invention can be combined with a feature of a different aspect or aspects of other embodiments of the invention. This invention becomes more obvious when reading the following detailed descriptions of some examples as part of the disclosure under consideration of the enclosed drawings. Referring now to the attached drawings which form a part of this disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows a design object comprising a plurality of glass sheets made using the method of this invention.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows an outline of the method of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] The invention will now be described on the basis of the drawings. It will be understood that the embodiments and aspects of the invention described herein are only examples and do not limit the protective scope of the claims in any way. The invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. It will be understood that features of one aspect or embodiment of the invention can be combined with a feature of a different aspect or aspects and/or embodiments of the invention.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a design object 10 with a plurality of glass sheets 20. The plurality of glass sheets 20 are glued together by an adhesive layer 30. The adhesive layer 30 is made using a coloured epoxy resin made using the method of the disclosure, or a transparent epoxy resin. Alternatively, the adhesive layer 30 can be made from an acrylate-based adhesive, which can be hardened with UV light. One non-limiting example of the acrylate-based is CONLIC UV 665.

[0021] The glass sheets 20 used in one aspect of the invention are made from a glass with low iron content supplied by Pilkington Glass and sold under the trade name Optiwhite. It would be possible to use other glasses for the manufacture of the design object 10 and the invention is not limited to the use of the low iron content glass. The glass sheets 20 with low iron content are preferable because the glass sheets have no greenish tinge. Indeed, it would be possible also to use clear polymers, such as but not limited to polymethylmethacrylate, to create the design object 10.

[0022] The glass sheets 20 can be formed of any thickness, preferably from about 1.5 mm between 10 mm. It will be noted that the glass sheets 20 can also be formed of a thickness larger than 10 mm.

[0023] The example of FIG. 1 shows only two glass sheets and a single adhesive layer 30. A plurality of glass sheets 20 may be incorporated into the final design object 10 and the invention is not limited to the design object 10 made from two glass sheets 20.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a method for the manufacture of the design object. In a first step 200, a large piece of glass is cleaned and in step 210 cut into a number of smaller glass sheets 20. These smaller glass sheets 20 are then cleaned using, for example, a cleaning fluid, such as those supplied by Bohle or 3M, and cloth made from a combination of viscose and polyester, supplied by Bohle.

[0025] The glue colouring is prepared in step 230 by selecting a colorant, such as a soluble dye, and in step 240 by selecting a solvent. The soluble dye is, for example Orasol dye supplied by BASF. The solvent is, for example, an alcohol. In one non-limiting embodiment of the invention 0.1 g of orange G dye is used and a solvent of ethyl alcohol or butyl alcohol. The dye and the solvent are mixed for 3-4 minutes in step 250 until the soluble dye dissolves in the solvent to create a coloured mixture. The hardener is initially added to the coloured mixture in step 260 and mixed for 4-5 minutes in step 270 using a spatula.

[0026] In step 280, the coloured mixture with the hardener is filtered to remove any undissolved particles of the dye and any gas bubbles that may be present in the solution. An epoxy resin is mixed with the hardener/coloured mixture in step 290 for 4-5 minutes with a spatula to form a coloured epoxy with hardener. A ratio of three parts coloured hardener to ten parts of epoxy was used.

[0027] The coloured epoxy and hardener solution is left to stand for 30 minutes in step 300 to allow any gas bubbles within the coloured epoxy and hardener to disappear. The epoxy used is, for example, a transparent epoxy with article number SKresin72 made by S and K Hock GmbH, Regen, Germany, and available from www.harzspezialisten.de.

[0028] In step 310 the coloured epoxy and hardener solution is placed on a cleaned surface of one or more of the glass sheets 20 (which term also includes other forms of glass objects, such as blocks). This is done very slowly, preferably applying the solution in one direction, e.g. left to right, and care is taken that no bubbles form in the layer of the solution on the surface of the glass sheet 20. The surface of the glass sheet 20 is covered with the solution.

[0029] The coloured epoxy and hardener solution has a viscosity of about 0.5 Pa.Math.s with a mixing ratio epoxy:hardener of 10:3, wherein the coloured epoxy has an amount of colour pigments of about 0.06 g to 0.10 g per 4.5 g of hardener, i.e. in the range of about 1.2 wt.-% to 2.2 wt.-%. The epoxy resin can, for example, be formed of the epoxy resin SKresin 72, which is a high quality resin and which is based on two components. Having a light stabilizing factor, i.e. stable to ultra-violet light, a yellowing of the cured epoxy resin is prevented. The curing of the epoxy resin is accomplished by adding the hardener Epohard-hardener 5072 to the epoxy resin in step 290. Therefore, on large surfaces or complex 3D impressions, crystal clear, transparent and bubble-free casting results can be accomplished. The hardener is solvent-free, long-term UV-stable, dries tack-free and has a high water resistance. The epoxy resin SKresin 72 and the Epohard-hardener 5072 have the following technical data as set out in the following table:

TABLE-US-00001 Epohard-hardener Technical Data epoxy SKresin 72 5072 mixture Viscosity 1500 mPa .Math. s 100 mPa .Math. s 2/6r 500 mPa .Math. s 2/6r 2/6r Brookfield Brookfield Brookfield Density 1.1 g/cm.sup.3 / / Mixing ratio 1.00 wt.-% 0.30 wt.-% 1.30 wt.-% Processing 18-25 C. temperature Processing time 120-240 minutes Curing time Tack-free after 72 hrs. at 20 C. Final strength after 7 days at 20 C.

[0030] A cleaned surface of another one of the glass sheets 20 is then placed on the solution very carefully in one direction e.g. from left to right or one end of the another one of the glass sheets 20 to the other end of the glass sheet 20, during which time there is a constant checking for bubbles. This cleaned surface has no coloured layer or transparent resin layer. If there are any bubbles formed and visible after close inspection the placed glass sheets needs to be slightly lifted and placed back again until all bubbles are gone. The glass sheets 20 are left to dry for around three days in step 320. This forms a pair of the glass sheets. It would be possible to place the glued glass sheets in an oven at around 45-50 to speed up this process.

[0031] The thickness of the epoxy resin layer after drying is substantially uniform with a dimension of less than a millimetre, preferably to a substantially uniform thickness of about 0.02 mm (+/0.01 mm), but this is not limiting of the invention. This very thin epoxy resin layer is substantially invisible to the naked eye, when viewed inline from the side. As the pair of glass sheets is rotated, the coloured epoxy resin becomes more noticeable and the intensity of the colour will appear to increase.

[0032] In a further embodiment of the method one or more of the pairs of glass sheets or the glass blocks formed from the plurality of glass sheets are glued together using a further resin layer, made for example from a transparent epoxy resin, another coloured epoxy resin or indeed the same coloured epoxy resin. The transparent epoxy resin is made in the same way as indicated above, except that no colorant is added to the epoxy resin. The further resin layer is added to the cleaned surface of a further pair of the glass sheets and then the cleaned surface from another pair of the glass sheets is placed in contact to stick the two pairs of the glass sheets together. The glass blocks can have different coloured resins so that the final design object created from the glass blocks has a multiple coloured design.

[0033] It is also possible to use pairs of glass sheets 20 which have already been stuck together with a transparent adhesive layer and then to clean their outside surfaces before the coloured epoxy is coated on one or both of the outside surfaces and another glass sheet 20 or pair of glass sheets 20 are carefully placed on the coloured epoxy layer, in a manner similar to that discussed above.

[0034] This method of sticking pairs of glass sheets 20 together can be continued to form the design object. In practice the design objects have one or more pairs of individual glass sheets 20 with the corresponding number of epoxy layers (both transparent epoxy layers and coloured epoxy layer) between the pairs of glass sheets 20. A viewer of the design object 10 will see, as the design object 10 is rotated, that the effect of the plurality of coloured epoxy layers is to change the intensity of the coloration of the design object 10. This is because after a certain angle, the viewer will effectively see two or more overlapping coloured epoxy layers.

[0035] In step 330, a polishing process is carried out on the design object 10 made from the one or more pairs of individual glass sheets 20 using a rotary sander or, preferably, a ProVetro profi disc grinder such as supplied by TKG GmbH. This polishing process is carried out when the pairs of glass sheets 20 are stuck together and the design object 10 is completed.

[0036] The design objects of the current description can be used to form decorative art pieces and applied to facades of buildings and can be used in different combinations. The design objects can also be used in jewelry.

[0037] From the above description of the present invention, those skilled in the art will perceive improvements, changes, and modifications on the present invention. Such improvements, changes, and modifications within the skill in the art are intended to be covered by the appended claims.