Patent Application
20140333189
1. Field of the Present Disclosure
The present disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method for producing a high quality simulated granite finish on a surface, such an article of furniture, a countertop, sink, lavatory, bath, wall hanging, urinal, bidet, hot tub, whirlpool bath, or the like.
2. Related Art
Stone has been used as a building material for thousands of years. Because of the natural beauty of materials such as granite and marble, they give a room a grand and luxurious appearance. However, such materials are expensive. Moreover, these materials are also limited to generally flat applications, such as floors, walls, and countertops, as it is generally too expensive, for example, to carve a sink out of a piece of marble.
For this reason, man-made materials like engineered stone and cultured marble are typically used to create non-planar fixtures. Cultured marble and engineered stone can be easily molded to create bathtubs and sinks, but these materials are almost as expensive as their natural counterparts. Furthermore, both natural and man-made stone materials are typically too heavy to be used for common pieces of furniture, such as a coffee table, bathroom vanity, or the like.
Such articles of furniture are typically made from wood, which is generally much lighter and more easily machined than stone. The wood used in such furniture is either natural wood, such as oak or pine, or a man-made composite, such as plywood, particle board, or medium density fiber board. Natural wood often has its own beauty and is stained to enhance its appearance. Composite materials, on the other hand, are not considered attractive in their own right and often have some type of laminate surface finish, either a simulated wood grain or a solid color.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a product that combines a light weight, low cost, and easily machinable substrate with the beauty and elegance of natural stone or other pattern.
The present disclosure meets the foregoing need and allows the creation of a beautiful, durable granite or other pattern on virtually any surface using a unique gelcoat process which results in a unique combination of features and other advantages apparent from the discussion herein.
Accordingly, in one aspect of the present disclosure, a method for applying a gelcoat to a substrate includes supplying paint directly to a spraying device; spraying the paint onto a substrate to create a background color; supplying another paint, in smaller amounts relative to the first paint, to the outflow of the spraying device; and spraying the second paint onto the substrate to form color points on the background color.
The method may include supplying a third paint, in smaller amounts relative to the first paint, to the outflow of the spraying device and spraying the third paint onto the substrate to form color points on the background color. The method may also include supplying a catalyst to the spraying device and spraying the catalyst onto the paint on the substrate. The method may be used to apply a coating to a sink, a lavatory, a bath, an article of furniture, a bidet, a urinal, a hot tub, or a whirlpool.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for applying a gelcoat to a substrate includes a spraying device, an air source for supplying pressurized air to the spraying device, a first tank supplying paint directly to the spraying device, and a second tank providing paint to the outflow of the spraying device. The paint from the second tank is provided in smaller amounts relative to the paint from the first tank.
The apparatus may be outfitted with a catalyst tank that supplies a catalyst directly to the spraying device. A gear pump may be used to pump catalyst from the catalyst tank to the spraying device. Gear pumps may also be used to pump paint from the paint tanks to the spraying device. The air tank may be used to provide pressurized air to the paint tanks The apparatus may include a cleaner tank that provides cleaner to the gear pumps and to the hoses from the air tank to the spraying device.
The apparatus may be equipped with a third tank of paint that supplies paint to the outflow of the spraying device. The third tank may provide paint in smaller amounts relative to the first tank. When the third tank is present, it may be supplied with pressurized air from the air tank, or a gear pump may be used to pump paint from the tank to the spraying device. A cleaner tank may used to supply cleaner to the gear pump.
Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the present disclosure may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the present disclosure and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the present disclosure as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. No attempt is made to show structural details of the present disclosure in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the present disclosure and the various ways in which it may be practiced. In the drawings:
The embodiments of the present disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisan would recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the present disclosure. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the present disclosure may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined solely by the appended claims and applicable law. Moreover, it is noted that like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
According to a preferred aspect of the present disclosure, one or more pigments may be blended with a clear gelcoat base to produce one or more colors. The pigment may be a gelcoat, a paint, or the like. The base may be a clear color base. and more particularly may be a polyester base. The ratio of pigment to base may be adjusted as needed for the application at hand. As shown in
In the example shown in
As the colors are applied to the substrate, they may be mixed with a catalyst. The catalyst, which may be stored in a tank 350, may act as a curing agent, for example, by polymerizing the gelcoat or otherwise increasing the percentage of solids in the coat. The catalyst may be any agent known to one skilled in the art. The catalyst may be applied in the range of 1.5-2.5% by weight of the color used or in any suitable amount according to the application at hand and desires of the user, as will be understood by one skilled in the art. Variations in the pattern may be introduced by any means known to one skilled in the art. For example, the rate at which individual drops of each point color enter the spraying device's airflow may be regular or random. The overall rate of each point color may be changed over time, for example, by adjusting the valves regulating the pressure in each pressure tank or the valve regulating the flow of liquid gelcoat out of the pressure tanks Such adjustment of valves may be accomplished by any means known to one skilled in the art. For example, the valves may be manually set and adjusted, controlled by mechanical means, or computer controlled.
The air tank 420, which may include a compressed air maintenance unit 421, stores compressed air and provides the compressed air to spraying device 480. The spraying device 480 may be any appropriate device known to one skilled in the art, such as, e.g., a fan, a nozzle, a vent, a duct, or the like. The spraying device 480 may also be a type of application system, including air gun spraying systems, HVLP (high volume low pressure) systems. LVLP (low volume low pressure) systems, electrostatic spray painting systems, rotational bell systems, electric fan systems. air assisted airless spray gun systems, airless spray gun systems, automated linear spray systems, and the like.
Each color tank contains a single pigmented gelcoat. In the apparatus 400 shown in
A catalyst may be stored in catalyst tank 430 and provided to the spraying device 480 via gear pump 431. The colors may be mixed with the catalyst in the spraying device or as they are being sprayed onto the substrate. The catalyst may act as a curing agent, for example, by polymerizing the gelcoat or otherwise increasing the percentage of solids in the coat. The catalyst may be any agent known to one skilled in the art. The catalyst may be applied in the range of 1.5-2.5% by weight of the color used or in any suitable amount according to the application at hand and desires of the user, as will be understood by one skilled in the art.
Cleaner tank 470 may hold a cleaning solution or agent that may be used to remove old or excess paint from gear pumps and other equipment when, for example, the color in a color tank is changed. Cleaning may also be part of regular maintenance of apparatus 400. Cleaner is provided from cleaning tank 470 to each of the color tanks' gear pumps by means of valves 442, 452, and 462. The valves may be closed during normal operation, but one or more may be opened at an appropriate time to clean the associated gear pump and line or hose to the spraying device 480. The cleaner tank 470 may also be configured to provider cleaner to the compressed air line for cleaning the line, as well as the spraying device.
Methods and apparatuses according to the present disclosure may produce either a regular, repeating pattern or an irregular, non-repeating pattern, depending on the particular application. A regular pattern may be more reminiscent of engineered stone or culture marble whereas an irregular pattern may be more similar to natural stone.
Suitable substrates may include, for example, natural wood, such as oak or pine; man-made composite wood, such as plywood, particle board, or medium density fiber board; plastic; plaster; ceramic; tile; fiber glass; and the like. According to aspects of the present disclosure, gelcoat paint may be applied to a substrate by painting the entire substrate at one time using one or more spraying devices, by moving the substrate past one or more fixed spraying devices, by moving one or more spraying devices around a fixed substrate, by moving both the substrate and one or more spraying devices, or any combination thereof Examples of furniture and fixtures that may be painted by the present disclosure include, without limitation, a sink, a lavatory, a bath, a bidet, a urinal, a hot tub, a whirlpool bath, a cabinet, and a countertop. The process may also be applied to furniture elements or components that are intended to be assembled by the purchaser or end user.
While the present disclosure has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments and aspects, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure can be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. These examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible aspects, designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of the present disclosure.
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/230,460, filed on Jul. 31, 2009, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61230460 | Jul 2009 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12847487 | Jul 2010 | US |
| Child | 14444356 | US |
