Patent Application
20060138695
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for manufacturing decorative articles, more particularly to a method for manufacturing decorative articles by using a silicone mold.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, decorative articles are essentially made from plastic materials that are harmful to the environment and that are not recyclable. Manufacture of the conventional decorative articles begins with preparing a plurality of copper molds, each of which defines a desired pattern, and a molding mixture including the aforesaid plastic materials and a pigment powder or paste. The molding mixture is subsequently fed into each copper mold in small amounts. The copper molds are heated to cure the molding mixture therein, so as to form the decorative articles.
Since the mass-production of the conventional decorative articles involves use of many copper molds, the production cost is relatively high. Moreover, since the molding mixture used for preparing the conventional decorative articles includes the aforesaid plastic materials, the decorative articles thus made tend to have an adverse impact upon the environment.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a decorative article that is clear of the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.
According to this invention, a method for manufacturing a decorative article includes (a) preparing a metal mold defining a cavity and a pattern of separated recesses disposed within the cavity, (b) filling the cavity and the recesses in the metal mold with a silicone rubber so as to form a silicone mold that defines a pattern of protrusions corresponding respectively to the recesses, and a pattern of grooves among the protrusions, (c) filling the silicone mold with a first molding material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane resins, epoxy resins and mixtures thereof, and curing the first molding material so as to form a base that defines a pattern of decorating recesses which correspond respectively to the protrusions of the silicone mold, and (d) filling the decorating recesses in the base with a second molding material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane resins, epoxy resins and mixtures thereof, and curing the second molding material so as to form a pattern of decorative elements in the decorating recesses in the base.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Referring to
Next, the silicone mold 7 is filled with a first molding material that is subsequently cured so as to form a base 8 that defines a pattern of decorating recesses 81 which correspond respectively to the protrusions 73 of the silicone mold 7. Preferably, the first molding material is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane resins, epoxy resins and mixtures thereof. In addition, the curing operation of the first molding material is preferably conducted at a temperature ranging from 110° C. to 130° C. for 10 minutes to 20 minutes.
The decorating recesses 81 in the base 8 removed from the silicone mold 7 are subsequently filled with a second molding material. Preferably, the second molding material is selected from the group consisting of polyurethane resins, epoxy resins and mixtures thereof. Referring to
More preferably, each of the first and second molding materials further includes an additive selected from the group consisting of a pigment powder and a pigment paste in such a manner that the first molding material has a color different from that of the second molding material.
Alternatively, the decorative recesses 81 in the base 8 can be filled with a plurality of second molding materials including different pigment powders or pastes so as to form a color pattern of decorative elements 92.
Referring to
According to the method of this invention, the decorative articles 9, 9′ can be mass-produced by forming a plurality of the silicone molds 7 from a single metal mold 6 so that the production cost can be reduced. In addition, since the first and second molding materials of this invention are recyclable and pollution-free materials, environmental concerns can be avoided.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation and equivalent arrangements.
