Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~~ ~ETHOD OF TEXTURING A SURFACE AND ARTICLES TEXTURED
¦I BY THE METHOD
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¦~ BACKGRO~JD OF THE INVENTION
¦ Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method
,~ 5 providing a textured finish and to textured articles pro-
1,~ duced by this method. More particularly, the invention
I relates to a method for application of a textured organic
film-forming system as protection and decoration not only
, on flat surfaces, but also on surfaces with compound curv-
j,l0 ature, such as automobile tops.
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Description of the Prior Art
~; Known three-dimensional coatings include those with
"random" patterns such as wrinkle finishes (produced by
,~15 puckering an organic film former into a pattern of hills
il and valleys), "crackle" finishes (achieved by developing
jl stress cracks in coatings) or "spatter" finishes (result-
¦! ing from coarse spraying of secondary coatings onto a dry -
or semi-dry ~base coat).
It is also known to roll-form patterns onto planar
sheets of plastic-coated materials with heat and pressure
` and then affix these sheets to desired surfaces by use of
separate ~dhesives--e.g., the vinyl tops applied to auto-
mobiles. In many instances, such vinyl tops deteri~or~te
faster than the automobile which they ori~inally embell-
ished, yet the rem~ining v~lue and life of the automobiles
do not justify the expense of replacing the vinyl cover-
lngs .
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Further, it is known to apply fiberglass layers to
j, boat hulls, automobile panels, etc., but here the objective
, is to provide a smooth surface -presence of the fiberglass
1, filaments being obliterated by applied resin coatings
¦'~ 5 rather than replicated by them.
Lastly, while not strictly applicable, in "arts and
crafts" circles it is also known to fashion lampshades,
for ex~mple, by affixing textiles to an open fram~ struc~
ture and then applying a clear resin to the textile to
stiffen and protect it. Saturation and penetration of
the textile are avoided, as these result in dripping at
~ the inner surface. The open frame obviously givessupport
¦` only at limited locations. If this is overcome by use of
l~ a temporary internal support (a balloon say), again satur-
'~15 ution and penetration are to be avoided because adhesion
to the temporary support is undesirable and could ruin the
product.
The foregoing methods are thus seen to be either ex-
pensive, or time-consuming, or not readily adapted to
conformable application on non-planar surfaces having var-
iable radius of curvature, or unpredictable as to the re-
sulting patterns. Accordingly, there is need for a tex- ¦
turing method providing predictable patterns with a wide
range of depth and type of texturing at low cost, little
expenditure of time and without the use of separate ad-
hesives.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention resides in a method of producing a
textured finish on a support member, which method comprises
the steps of conforming a porous fabric to the support
member, the fabric varying in contour according to a
desired three-dimensional pattern; applying a coating of
hardenable liquid having adhesive properties relative to
the support member, the liquid being applied ~t a volume
rate per unit of area of suppor~ member ~hich is suffic--
ient for substantial saturation of the porous fabric and
for sealing the pores thereof, but insufficlent to build
up a smooth surface unaffected by the pattern of the
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I fabric; and then allowing the liquid to harden. I
Accordingly, the principal object of my invention
is to provide a method of achieving a three-dimensional
¦I coating with preferably a single application of a paint
¦l 5 or other hardenable organic liquid, which three-dimensioal
¦~ effect is subject to control according to a preselected
I~ pattern and/or design (if a clear finish is applied).
!' Another object of my invention is to provide an in-
j, expensive method of supplying a three-dimensional quality
¦, 10 to a coating, the quality being well controlled and giving
a greater range of creativity to the artisan, who can
simultaneou~ly apply a protective coating and impart a
three-dimensional texture simulating materials such as
leather, parchment, linen, jute or any other material with
a characteristic surface pattern.
O~ particular object is to permit the inexpensive
and rapid restoration of appearance to an automobile
having a vinyl top which has deteriorated. The method
here revealed is simpler, much less expensive, more per-
manent and is superior to the original in that the pat-
' terned exterior surface of the coating is self-bonded
i directly to the steel roof substrate (primed as necess-
ary), preventing the rust so frequently occurring under
the vinyl tops of automobiles.
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, BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~ING
~' The method of the invention and the resulting arti-
j cle will be detailed in reference to the accompanying
!~ drawing, in which:
1 30 FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the surface of
an article madP in accordance with the method of the
invention, showing a diamond-lattice effect as the texture;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the article
of FIG. 1 taken along the line 2-2 in the direction of
the arrows.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
¦~ The novel method of providing a textured finish on a
' substrate or support surface according to the invention
i can best be explained by reference to the drawing. As
shown in Fig. l, a plan view of a portion of a surface 10
having a textured finish 12, that finish 12 consists of a
' series of equally-spaced, linear "ridges" 14 diagonally
!` intersecting a similar series of linear "ridges" 16 and
interconnected with the latter by a diamond~shaped de-
¦ 10 pression 18 formed between ~hem. The texture shown in
¦! Fig. 1 is an example only, other textures such as simu-
¦ lated leather or patterned weaves, etc. being possible
i and described subsequently. As better seen in Fig. 2, a
! cross-sectional view of the composite surface 10 along
`~ 15 section 2-2 of Fig. 1, a sheet or web 20 of porous, non-
woven material (such as paper) having embossed thereon a
l desired pattern -e.g., the diamond lattice of Fig. 1 -or
! an intrinsic surface p~tter~ may be utilized according to
the invention. A porous cloth with a desired weave pat-
tern can also be utilized. The porous sheet or web 20 islaid upon surface 10 and then saturated with a film-forming
! liquid 22 (preferably an air-drying paint or lacquer or
a two-part, catalyst-activated resin system) such that
not only does film-forming liquid 22 permeate the porous
~25 patterning sheet 20, but also e~velops sheet 20 within
an external layer 28 which closely follows the contours
of the pattern. Further, by gravity and/or capillary
1 attraction the spaces 23,24 under ridges 14 and 16, re-
!; spectively, are filled (or substantially filled) and a
thin layer 26 of film-forming liquid 22 spreads under
depression 18.
Once the patterning web 20 (made of paper -for example)
is ~emporarily held in place on substrate 10 by taping,
liquid 22 is brushed on (other application techniques
such as spraying can be used, if desirable), penetrating
the paper sheet 20 and forming a layer (23,24 and 26)
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between web 20 and substrate 10. Liquid 22 thus saturates
web 20, the material of which is chosen primarily for its
high porosity so that the physical qualities of the
, liquid-filled and coated porous web 20 and those of a
plain film of liquid 22 will be virtually identical when
¦ liquid 22 is hardened. As a secondary criterion for
choice, good adherence of liquid 22 to the material of
, patterning web 20 is preferred. Liquid 22 is applied at
! a rate sufficient also to form alayer 28 over web 20,
¦10 which layer 28 communicates massively through the pores 25
(or other openings) with the layer (23,24,26) on substrate
10 below web 20. As a result, web 20 is totally embedded
, in liquid 22 and does not alter the physical properties
~' of its surface 29 (hardness, toughness, etc.) in any
"15 material way, weather resistance being a particularly im-
portant property, of course, where exterior use is the
goal -e.g., in textured car tops. By its presence then,
web 20 transfers its embossed (or intrinsic) pattern to
` layer 28, the surface 29 of which faithfully reproduces
the pattern.
Suitability of the porosity of a given material,~
whether, a textile or a non-woven material such as paper,
I can be established in simple fashion by application of a
ji sample to glass according to the method disclosed herein,
the extent of contact in the areas 23,24 and 26 -a measure
~ of adhesion to the substrate -being readily determinable
! because the interfacial contact area is visible from under-
¦ neath.
i Before discussing the examples, some additional de-
1, 30 tails may be given as background to the method. ~irst,
the substrate 10 is prepared in the manner recommended by
the manufacturer for application of the paint or o~her coat-
ing liquid 22. This may or may not include one or more
1 known operations such as cleaning, rinsing, sanding and
1 35 application of a primer coat. This last is not shown in
, Fig. 2, but is a conven-tional pre-treatment for metal
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substrates. The preselected porous material 20 embossed
~ with the desired pattern or design (or with selected sur-
l~ face characteristics to impart a desired pattern to the
Il finish) is fitted over the substrate, with cutting where
¦ 5 necessary. A material which yields somewhat in both dir-
ections is preferred for patterning sheet 20 as it is
¦I then more easily conformed to compound curvatures with
1, little cutting and fitting. The paper, or other pattern-
l ing material 20, so fitted may be held in place temporarily
by any of the standard adhesive tapes (not shown) available
1 commercially, even though the solvent in most paints re-
l~ leases the tape. This follows because after saturation
and penetration by liquid 2~, the patterning sheet 20 is
held down automatically, probably owing to capillary at-
traction of the coating material between substrate 10 andsheet 20, although the exact holding mechanism is not known
to me. An alternative way of holding the patterning sheet
, 20 -available when substrate 10 is made of steel -is to
! use a series of magnets at intervals to clamp sheet 20 to
substrate 10. Still another way of holding the patterning
sheet 20 is the "tack coat" approach described subsequently
(see comment on Examples IIa,b) for less pliable fabrics.
As mentioned briefly previously, criteria for selec-
tion of liquid 22 are -that it must adhere well to surface
, 25 10, that it must be compatible with the material of pat-
j! terning sheet 20 -i.e., must be una~fected in physical
¦, properties by the inclusion, and must not seriously affect
¦ the embossed structure of sheet 20. In respect to this last,
! it will be obvious that "wilting" of ridges 14,16 occurs,
for instance, if sheet 20 is an embossed paper and a
l~tex~base paint is selected as the film-forming liquid 22.
Similarly, if an air-drying lacquer with a ketonic solvent
is selected as film-forn1ing liquid 22, then fabrics based
on acrylic synthetic fibers are not suitable because the
solvent may seriously degrade the texture -e.g., a pat-tern
woven into the fabric or one embossed in the fabric.
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On the whole, I have found that non-woven materials
such as thin webs of single-ply tissue paper or partially
fused, random-oriented polypropylens fibers or open-weave
textiles (e.g.,"cheesecloth") are most preferable as the
pa~terning web 20, while two-component poIyurethane or
~ acrylic urethane resins are most preferable as the film-
¦ forming liquid 22, as will be evident from the examples
discussed subsequently. Note that as used herein, the term
¦ "thin" is applied to thicknesses less than about 1/16".
~10 An important fact to be noted from the drawing is that
¦ liquid 22 is applied at a volume rate (inclusive of all
coats) such that when dry (i.e., hard), the residual
layer 28 on the exterior seals the pores 25 of the pat-
- terning web 20 and coats the fibers 30 thereof, but does
¦15 not completely fill the depressions 18 in the embossed pat-
¦ tern (or the openings -equivalent to pores 25 -in a coarse
material if an "open-weave" fabric or netting is selected).
Thus, the surface 29 of layer 28 follows the contours of
patterning sheet 20, contrary to the prior art practice
when applying -for instance -fiberglass cloth to boat hulls,
automobile bodies, or the li~e. When the preferred porous
materials (thin, single-ply tissue or comparable non-woven
materials) are used ~or patterning sheet 20, the volume
; rate of application of liquid 22 necessary to meet this
goal has been found to be about 0.05 pint per square foot
~ (0.25 liter/m ) o~ area of the substrate being treated.
¦ In contrast, an amount of liquid 22 two to five times as
j! great has been found necessary when the material selected
! for patterning sheet 20 is a textile material, the higher
factor being for a coarse textile such as burlap, because
of the necessity ~or several extra coats oi liquid 22 as
will be described subsequently. The extra coats are not
a problem, obviously, if the cost of the particular liquid
22 is relatively low and the added labor and materials
still allow competitiveness with a single application of
a much more expensive liquid 22. Nonetheless, application
of a slngle coat of liquid 22 is preferred, other things
being equal, and is exemplified in Examples I-III. ¦
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EXAMPLE I
~ Substrate 10: Cylindrical steel can of the food-
`~ packaging type, having circumferential rein-
¦ forcing grooves at intervals along its axial
jl 5 dimension.
Patterning Sheet 20: A swatch of embossed absorbent
paper toweling of the type commonly used in
~ household kitchens -"Hi-Dri" (Reg.TM) made by
¦ Kimberley-Clark Corporation, Neenah, WI 54956.
Embossing consists of an array o~ staggered,
roughly squarish pimples about 39 mils (1 mm) high
,; and 118 mils (3 mm) wide.
, Film-forming liquid 22: Oil-base house paînt, self-
i leveling -"Multi-Purpose Enamel" (#3861) manu-
~ 15 factured by Colony Paint Company, a division of
'~ Conchemco, Inc., Kansas City, KS 64127, applied
by brush at a rate such that the paper toweling
appeared saturated.
Comments: The paper towel kept its embossed shape,
but as supplied for kitchen purposes was not
quite porous enough to permit good bonding and
the spaces 23,24 under the pimples (equivalent to
; ridges 14,16) were hard to fill, the paint running
out of the pimples and not being retained as a
layer 28 over the contours of sheet 20 because
of pronounced leveling tendencies of the above-
identified paint. Hence, the exterior surface 29
was only marginally satisfactory as to texture.
Further, that surface was also relatively soft
such that durability was questionable.
' EXAMPLE Ia
Substrate 10 and patterning sheet 20: Same as in Ex-
ample I.
Film-forming liquid 22: Automotive acrylic lacquer -
"Duracry]." (TM) by PPG Industries, Inc., Ditzler
Fleet Finishes, Troy, Michigan 48084, applied by
brushing, the rate again being such that the
paper toweling appeared saturated.
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!` Comments: The lacquer did not penetrate the toweling
as well as the paint of Example I did, though the
i layer 28 of liquid 22 covered the sheet 20 evenly
j` yet revealed the texture well and dried quickly.
Upon subsequent peeling away of the textured
finish for inspection, many areas were revealed
where there was little or no bonding of the
sheet 20 and lacquer 22 to substrate 10. Most
were small but some of these areas were large
enough to result possibly in local separation.
EXA~LE Ib
Substrate 10 and patterning sheet 20: Same as in Ex-
ample I.
Film-forming liquid 22: Two-part polyurethane resin
j 15 system -"Polane" (T~) ASA61 manufactured by
j Sherwin-~illiams Co., Cleveland, OH 44101, ap-
plied by brushing, the rate likewise being such
that the paper toweling appeared saturated.
, Comments: Excellent results -the polyurethane gave
j 20 the hardest coating (i.e., surface 29), the best
adhesion, and best fill of spaces 23,24 and 26
obtained in any of these three examples.
EXAA~PLE II
¦ Substrate 10: Cylindrical steel can as in Example I.
¦` 25 Patterning Sheet 20: Approx. O.OlO"OD single stra~d
nylon netting with hexagon-shaped holes about
i 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) in width.
, Film-forming liquid 22: Polyurethane--Sherwin-Williams'
j "Polane" as in Example Ib applied by brushing,
i 30 with the rate being about the sa~e as in the
i foregoing examples.
Comments: The combination adhered well to the surface,
but while the netting could generally be stretched
and bent to follow the curved surfaces of the can,
3~ there was a definite tendency to "bridge" areas
with small radius of curvature such as the grooves
(about 1/8" I.D. or 3.2mm) on the surface of the
can used as substrate 10.
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EXA;~PLES IIa,b
Substrate 10 a~d patterning sheet 20: Same as Example II
i~ but the oil-base paint and the automotive lacquer
of Examples I and Ia, respectively, were used as
film-forming liquid 22.
Comments: These two liquids were not as satisfactory.
l The oil paint was too "thin'~ to hold the netting
' to the surface so, where not held in place by
i tape (or other clamping devices), it had to be
l10 manually held down until - or pushed down after -
I the paint began to harder.. As an alternative to
the method of the abo~e-described example (the
alternative being termed the "tack-coat" modif-
ication hereinafter described~,an ini-tial coat
of the oil-base paint was applied to the substrate,
allowed to become tacky, and the netting then laid
down onto the tacky coating, the combination
therea~ter being allowed to dry almost completely.
Then, a second (final) coat of the paint was
applied. In both approaches, the ~inished sur-
~ace was again relatively soft and the appearance
not as sharply defined in terms of texture as
compared to the finished surfaces in any o~ the
other above examples. On the other hand, the
hold-down achieved with the lacquer was ~uite
, acceptable, though the lacquer dried too quickly
j to permit adjustment in the netting's position,
¦ i~ necessary during application.
; In similar experiments (not all of which are detailed
¦l 3'~ herein~ various other paper-base materials for patterning
i sheet 20 were also tested, including Kleenex (TM) tissues,
paper towels of the absorbent brown paper shop-type, etc.
Previous findings according to Examples I to IIb were con-
sistently confirmed: the oil-base paint was more dif~icult
35 to use, did not penetrate as well and resulted in a softer
finished pattern (e.g., it could be removed with the
thumbnail, whereas the others could not). Regarding the
I lacquer, as before there were instances ~here it did no-t
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penetrate and coalesce beneath patterning sheet 20 to
provide solid anchoring to substrate 10, drying too rapidly
to af~ord the desired total and uniform saturation of pat-
lj terning sheet 20 and the areas beneath it. In contrast,
¦~ 5 the polyurethane and acrylic urethane always penetrated
well, adhered strongly 9 dried at manageable speed and re-
sulted in the best appearing and hardest and most durable
surface.
~ In the course of working with the various paper mater-
¦ 10 ials it came as a surprise to note that (1) the thinner
¦! the paper, the better it served as a patterning sheet,
allowillg rapid, easy penetration and enveloping of sheet
I 20 by the resin and (2) even an almost filamentous layer
¦~ of material would satisfactorily impart its pattern to the
¦, 15 exterior surface 29 o~ the resin, whether the pattern was
il embossed or inherent. In particular, a single layer of
, Kleenex (TM) tissue - the t~o-plies of the standard Kleenex
(TM) tissue being separated -was very adequate to impart
pattern, as will now be discussed.
EXAMPLE III
i Substrate 10: Cylindrical steel can as in ~xample I.
Patterning Sheet 20: Single-ply of Kleenex (TM), a
l two-ply plain (no embossing, but having distinctly
1 25 different texture on each side~ household tissue
j manufactured by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah,
! WI 54956.
I Film-forming liquid 22: Polyurethane, Sherwin-Williams'
j "Polane" applied by brush at a rate such that the
patterning material appeared "saturated".
Comments: Even though the two-ply Kleenex (TM) tissue
(previously tested but not detailed herein, as
mentioned earlier) was separated into its con-
situent layers and only one of these used as the
patterning sheet, the "surface te~ture" pattern
(a fine, ripple-like surface with randomly-spaced
small openings or "pores" 25 and a pronounced
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"grain" when edge-lighted) was not obliterated
upon application of the resin, the single ply
proving to be entirely adequate to impart its
j surface characteristics to the exterior surface
29 of the applied resin.
Use of various textiles (woven fabrics, as the term
is used herein) for incorporation within the polyurethane
as a patterning sheet 20 was also investigated. Because
of the wide variety of textiles available in colors and
`10 patterns, which could in themselves be attractive as sur-
face treatments, a clear polyurethane was used in some of
` these tests. To demonstrate that this resin technique can
be used on complex curvatures and shapes as easily as or
more easily than vinyl top material, an ordinary large size
1 15 Coca Cola bottle with its well-known curvatures was used
as the substrate as follows:
EXAMPL~ IV
Substrate 10: Glass, Coca Cola (TM) bottle.
Patterning sheet ~0: Burlap textile pre-stained a green
color. Purchased from T G & Y STORES, Napa, CA,
this material is the same as that from which bags
~ of feed are made except it has been dyed. The
I yarns for warp and woof are coarse, irregular
, 25 threads of jute or hemp, varying in diameter from
about 1/32" to about 3/32" and defining roughly
- square holes or "pores" 25 about 1/16" on a side.
Film-forming liquid 22: ~wo-part resin, polyurethane
IMRON (TM) Enamel, 500S Clear, a product of Dupont
(see Ex.I~). Several "saturation" coats brush~d o~.
Comments: The burlap gave more two-way stretch than
most other fabrics. It could bè pulled ~s needed
to conform it to the compound curvatures of the
Coca Cola bottle. The burlap was held in position
against the bottle by clothes pins and WclS then
coated with the IMRON (TM) in the manner accord-
ing to the invention. The phenomenon (also
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noted with respect to the heavier weights of non- ¦
woven fabric,as discussed later)was encountered -
namely, the multi-strand yarns of the burlap drew
up the uncured polyurethane from substate 10,
concentrating it in and under the burlap yarns
j with the substrate (visible through the inter-
stices of the burlap weave) getting little and
sometimes no obvious coverage by the clear IMRON
(TM) resin. This necessitated application of mul-
i 10 tiple coats (five in the above example). Even
jl then, the surface was still highly irregular though
decorative and hard (thus apparently durable). Un-
fortunately, some gaps between the burlap yarns
("pores 25") were still so deep and pronounced
tha-t it was obvious that dust would settle in
them and might be extremely difficult to wash
clean - i.e., the surface 20 would soon look dirty.
Further, because the IMRON (TM) was drawn into
and under the yarn fibers, adhesion was less com-
, 20 plete than when using a thinner patterning shee-t
20 that can more readily be "enveloped", as pre-
viously described
EXA~iPLE V
Substrate 10: Glass jar.
Sheet 20: ~ swatch of polyester jersey textile
with a floral design, also obtained at T G 81 Y
I STORES as in Example IV.
! Liquid 22: Clear polyurethane of ~xample IV, but
applied in a single coat, however.
I Comments: Porosity w~s quite acceptable, a single
i application of the clear polyurethane penetrt-
ing well. Not only was the fine pattern of
the weave evident, but the floral print de-
sign was clearly visible through the thin
transparent layer 28 and would provide a cis-
tinctive treatment for an automobile top.
~ecause the two-part polyurethane finishes are rela~
tively expensive and subject to wastage owing to limited
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"pot" li~^e once mixed, other finishes and textiles were
investigated witn the view of finding more economical
~ combinations. Examples of these now follow.
i1 5 EXAMPLE VI
lI Substrate 10: Cylindrical steel cans similar to
¦ those of Example I
ll Sheet 20: ~ swatch of "cheesecloth" (100% cottom),
¦~ Hermitage Inc., Camden, So. Carolina 2~020.
I 10 Liquid 22: Vinyl-Acrylic Paint -"Vinyl Fabric
¦~ Coating" UK725, manufactured by Universal
Protec-tive Coatings, San Rafael, CA 94901,
Applied by brushing at a rate such that sheet 20
; appeared saturated.Multiple coats brushed on.
Comments: Substrate 10 was first primed with "Corro-
less Rust Stabilizer", an undercoating made by
the same manufacturer, one coat being applied
(after suitably thinning the thick, gel-like
material supplied) and allowed to dry for 48
hours (drylng time longer than necessary, but
somewhat critical because the "hot solvents"
of the paint -as termed by the manufacturer -
! tend to "lift" the primer with resultant
wrinkling of layer 28 if dried longer than
about two hours and less than 48 hours). Be-
i cause of the "open" weave of the cheesecloth
Il [the pores 25 comprising approximately 0.050"x
! 0 070 (1.3 mm x 1.8 mm) roughly rectangular
openings between interwoven threads about
0.010" (0.25 mm) in diameter~, there was a
¦ probability that the threads would draw the
liquid 22 out of the region of the pores 25
as previously noted in Example IV. To minimi2e
this probability, the alternative approach men-
tioned earlier was adopted -namely, a light
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¦ coating of liquid 22 was first applied to sub-
strate 10, dried to a tacky condition (10-30
minutes) and then sheet or web 20 was laid
li over it and found to be readily manipulatable
¦l 5 (lift for lateral positioning, cut, etc.). This
Il was followed by three more lightcoats of the
"Vinyl Fabric Coating". The result was excell-
I ent, the ridges 16,18 being well-defined, the
¦, valleys or depressions 18 uniformly coated, and
the contours of substrate 10 followed very
closely.
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; EX~PLE VIa
Substrate 10: Same as in Ex. VI.
!; 15 Sheet 20: Cheesecloth as in Ex. VI.
i Liquid 22:(proprietary composition,aromatic solvent),
Traffic Li~e Paint 5300P manufactured by
D. J. Simpson Paint Co., So. San Francisco,
CA 94080. "Saturation-type"coating brushed on.
Comments: Substrate 10 was primed as in Ex. VI, then
sheet 20 laid down over same and one coat of
liquid 22 applied as in the originally described
method, the alternative -i.e., "tack coat" -
method not being used. The result was the same
, 25 as in Ex. VI except for a slight tendency of
j sheet 20 for bridging (though much less so than
in Example II) and the "heavy-bodied" nature of
this paint posing greater difficulty in manip-
ulating the combination.
EXAMPLE VIb
Same conditions and method of application as in VIa
except for a different liquid 22.
Liquid 22: Water-base vinyl pain-t, SEM "Topper" (TM)
manufactured by SEM Products, Inc., Belmont, CA
94002. Applied by brushing on several c~ats héav- ¦
ier thar~ bhose previously described.
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Comments: The results were substantially as excell-
ent as Ex. VI and Ex. YIa, but the vinyl paint
had very little "body" so three heavy or "flood-
ing" coats had to be applied as compared to the
single "saturation" coating generally used in
~ the previous examples. Workability of the com-
¦ bination was better than that in Ex. VIa, but
less than in Fx. VI.
EXA~PLE VII
` Same substrate 10 and patterning sheet 20 as in Ex.VI.
Liquid 22: Acrylic lacquer - Automotive Acrylic Lac-
quer lOOlC 521~/3 manufactured by A.H. Thompson
Co., Berkeley, CA 94710. Two coats applied by
i~15 brushing, a-t a rate such that sheet 20 appeared
saturated.
Comments: Texturing less satisfactory than in Ex.VI. i
As before in Ex. IIb, lacquer did not penetrate
well through sheet 20, capillary attraction
caused poor coverage of substrate 10 under
pores 25, particularly in the areas of the
grooves in substrate 10. Bridging at these
same areas was generally evident. Use of the
alternative or "tack coat" method is indicated.
For comparison purposes, the foregoing tests were
repeated using the preferred polyurethanes as liquid 22:
i' i
! EXA~PLE VIIa
130 Substrate 10: 3quares of heavy aluminum foil (house-
I hold type)
i Sheet 20: Same as in Ex. VI.
,, I
lZ3564(~ 1
1 -17-
,
' Liquid 22: Two-p~rt resin, polyurethane -Imron (TM)
enamel (White 1030) of E. I. Dupont de Nemours
~ Co., Inc., Wilmington, DE 09898. Two coats
Z of the "saturation" type previously described
were applied by "brush".
I Comments: Several samples were prepared, the results
¦i being excellent except that the initial ones
had the surface marred by presence of pits
1 where air bubbles forced out of the cotton strands
! lo of the cheesecloth burst and did not level out.
1 Air bubble ~ormation seemed to be accentuated
¦ by use of a bristle brush with normal stroking,
as against use ofa plastic-foam type brush with
; a "dabbing" technique, such that the latter was
preferred (except for the problem of solvent
attack discussed subsequently). The "bubble"
difficulty was remedied by pre-wetting the pat-
terning sheet with a light coat of thinner (e.g.,
, the Dit~ler reducer more fully described in Ex.
1 20 IX) in a small area- one or two inches (2.5-5 cm) -
in advance of the portion of the patterning sheet
Z abou~ to be coated with polyurethane. Direct
incorporation of the thinner in the polyurethane
also solved the "bubble" difficulty.
As evident from the above examples, some textiles pre---
sent a variety of problems, though still usable. The thicker
the textile, the greater the number of coats required to
cover the substrate 10 adequately and then to fill the inter- !
stices or pores 25 in the fabric enough so they will not
soon fill with dust or mud which might be almost irremovable
because of depth and roughness of pores 25. On the other
hand, tightly-woven f~brics (such as a "blue jean" or a
sail cloth) are equally difficult to handle because escape
of air between substrate 10 and the fabric 20 is impeded,
trapped air potentially resulting in an area of non-adhesion
to substrate 10. Upon application of resin or other liquid 22,
~23S~i~O
01 - 18 -
02
03 such tightly woven textiles have had to be rolled carefully to
04 overcome this problem - i.e. to force out trapped air. In
05 some cases where plural coats of liquid 22 were applied, this
06 rolling had to be repeated after the second coat and even the
07 third coat. No attempt was made to solve this problem by
08 adjustment of the viscosity of the commercially available
09 mixes through addition of reducers, even though obvious,
because identification of other combinations compatible as
11 commercially supplied was believed desirable.
12 The above-mentioned textiles have been applied both
13 on glass and also on metal substrates. The exterior layers 28
14 retain their textile appearance though covered with the
polyurethane coatings. In general, the textiles were easily
16 cut, conformed well to the compound curvatures, but the
17 thicker ones rquired more coats and, unless thin and of a
18 medium tightness of weave, either left pits ("pores" 25) which
lg would collect dirt and be difficult to wash clean, or else
~0 trapped air at the interface 23, 24, 26. Nonetheless, they
21 gave a novel and attractive finish and even the thick or
~ tightly-woven ones may have a market despite the cost of added
23 operations.
~4
~5 AUTOMOTIVE TOP RENOVATION
26 One of the specific objects of the invention being
~7 to provide a low-cost, simple method of replacing worn vinyl
28 tops of automobiles, several examples of such will next be
29 given.
31 EXAMPLE VIII
3~ Substrate 10: Top area of an automobile (2-door
33 "fast-back" coupe), approximately 20 square
34 feet.
Sheet 20: Paper napkin embossed with a "coarse
36 pig-skin" leather-like texture, designated as
1 ,7
..
i~
t ~2356~L~
"Northern" (TM) and manufactured by American Con- ;
sumer Products Div., American Can Co., Greenwich,
CN 06830.
Liquid 22: Two-part Polyurethane -"Polane" ASA 61,
! 5 Sherwin-Wllliams. Applied by brushing, in sunshine
on a ~5 day of 60% rel. humidity. Vol. rate =-
0.05 pt/ft2 (based on the catalyzed mixture) -i.e.,
! one ~saturation~ coat brushed on.
¦ Comments: The deteriorated vinyl was stripped from the
! lo car top and all adhesive material then scraped off
with a putty knife. The original prime coat on the
top was intact except for a few spots of rust. These
~` last were sanded down to bare metal and the primed
remainder of the top also sanded lightly to increase
adhesion of the resin. ~fter dusting off the top,
one of the above-identified "pigskin" embossed nap-
kins was placed on the middle of the top and tempor-
arily held in place by use of a number of small
magnets along the borders. Then the selected
liquid 22 (polyurethane~ was applied to the upper sur
face of the napkin with a plastic-foam type "brush"
in normal painting fashion. The resin was observed
to pass through the napkin and flow onto the top
of the car, the permeated resin holding the napkin
down. Then a second and further napkins were suc-
cessively placed alongside the first and treated
in like fashion with one exceptionO Because of
, the ease with which the freshly resin-saturated
napkins could be moved about the surface of sub-
strate 10, the resin had to be applied by brushing
lightly toward the seam because otherwise the
~rictional force -though slight was sufficient to
slide the second napkin away, thus opening the
seams~ ~y such proper attention to brush stroke
orienta-tion, the seams were rendered nearly invisible.
It may be noted that while the foam-type brush gave
superior coating, it was rather rapidly attacked by
the solvents in the Polane. Use o~ a natural sponge
would avoid these problems.
- l,
i !
~235~40
. I
.
-20-
Regarding persistence of the deformations of
the paper in the presence of the resin, it may be
noted that these napkins had been folded into quar-
; ters for more comp~ct packaging. The crease at
1, 5 the folds could readily be flattened completely
li by the brushing, but the restorative force of the
I' crease- tending to cause resumption of the folded
! shape -resulted in subsequent lifting of some por-
tions of the crease, the napkin edges parallel to
the crease drawing inward. Because the seams were so
` well lost in the pattern, only the rising of some
!! creases revealed the patch-work approach to reno-
il vation of the top. Such creases would not normally
be present in the wider, roll-form web materials
selected for commercial operations, of course.
After one month, sections of the renovated
finish were removed and examined. The finish had
weathered well in sun and rain. ~dhesion was ex-
cellent, but while there was no evidence of any
deterioration of the polyurethane due to the in-
corporated paper, some small rust spots had persisted
because the sanding was insufficient or because
moisture had penetrated in the portion of the roof
supposedly sanded to "bare" metal. Obviously, the
~i 25 polyurethane should not be applied to a bare metal
! substrat~e. For non-experimental use of the method,
¦ the metal surface should first be prepared in accord-
i ~nce with the recommendations of the polyurethane
manufacturer with respect to proper sealing and
prior application of anti-rust/corrosion coatings,
as mentioned earlier.
One problem encountered in the course of providing the
textured surface of the foregoing example lay in the sus-
ceptibility to tearing of the relatively thin paper and
in difficulty in obtaining neat, sharp-edged straight
cuts in the seam area once the paper is saturated with
polyurethane.
.'
lZ356qO
-21-
To resolve the foregoing problem, lt was desirable
l to find a light, strong embossed material (or fabric with
a desired weave pattern or other surface texture) which
could be cut easily even after being saturated with the
polyurethane resin. I turned to polypropylene non-woven
fabric, a material which apparently met the previously-
¦ listed requirements, is also much more porous than the
l! paper napkins of Ex. IV and so thin that even overlapped
seams are barely noticeable. One commercial source for a
i 10 material of this type_one with the diamond lattice pat-
tern of Fig. 1 embossed in it -is Crown Zellerbach
¦ Paper Co., San Francisco, CA 94104, which sells it under
the name C~LESTRA (T~) with a vari~ty o~ w~i~hts, th~
lightest being designated as "C43W" (primary use as a
covering material for feminine sanitary napkins), whereas
the heaviest is designated "C150" (used in furniture and
" bedding or "C150~i" disposable-medical fabric ~hoe covers).
Intermediate ~eights ~re used as diaper covers and as
other disposable-medical fabrics.
~20 ~he lightest weight~embossed material of this type
(the C43W) is entirely adequate to transfer the diamond
pattern to the exterior surface 29 of the coating 28
formed by the resin selected as the film-forming liquid 22
in accordance with the invention. This transfer occurs
despite the fact that the C43W is so thin as to be dia- ¦
` phonous -printed characters being readily legible through
' a layer of C43W when laid on a printed page. Intermediate
weights are also satisfactory in terms of appearance, but
have the disadvantage that they require more resin, being
slightly heavier and thicker. Inasmuch as they impart no
better appearance, the requisite extra amounts of resin
render them less preferred except perhaps for applications
where a slightly thicker layer of resin is wanted for
added corrosion protection or greater durability. The
heaviest materials are of such weight that it is dif-
ficult to saturate them by a single application of liq-
uid 22 unless this last is viscous, but in that case cap-
illary attraction lS slowed and by the time liquid 22
1~3~640
. .
.
-22-
dries or hardens, it may not be as uniformly distributed
between the patterning sheet 20 and substrate 10 as desir-
able for optimum adhesion.
When treated in accordance with the method of the
invention, the texture of the heavier non-woven fabrics of
~, the Celestra type produces a pronounced wa~fle-like appear-
ance, the ridge areas 14,16 (Fig. 1 or Fig. 2) -exerting
more capillary attraction for the resin which, if of
j the usual low viscosity ~ound in the commercial preparations
identified, is drawn into and under the ridges 14,16 at the
expense of the depressions 18 of the lattice- or waffle-like
pattern, to the extent that coverage of the substrate in
that area may be thin - almost to the point of transparency
in some cases. A second or even a third application of
resin may thus be necessary after the initial coating
` applied over patterning sheet 20 has partially or completely
! hardened (i.e., "dried" in the common terminology).
In view of the above, a li~ht Celestra material was
used in further~examples of appIying the method of the
20 invention to replacement of a deteriorated vinyl car top, I
~s follows:
,
EXAi~PLE IX
Substrate: Half-top area o~ an automobile, a "notch-
back" 2-door oupe,comprising approximately 10.9
square feet. I
Sheet 20: Polypropylene non-woven fabric -CELESTRA (TM) ~,
C43W (54" wide roll) made by Crown-Zellerbach (above
identified).
Liquid 22: Polyurethane enamel- IMRON (TM) (Black, 99U)
E. I. Dupont de Nemours & Co., Inc. , Wilmington,
DE 09898. Two coats applied by brush (volume rate
of about 0.09 pt/ft or 0.45 liter/m2) on a cold
day (40F-45F) in misty ~eather.
^ 35
Comments: Texturing was excellent. The covered area
was a half-roof with a lateral chrome s-trip over
~35~
!
, I
-23-
the center of the roof defining the forward limit
of coverage. A window in each side panel was held
in a triangular-shaped plastic frame inset in the
stamped-steel, and surrounded by a l/atl (~.63 cm)gap
i, 5 relative to a shoulder of the side panel. A depres- I
sion in the metal about 1" wide, 101' long and 1/2"
I~ deep (2.5 x 25 x 1.3 cm) occurred at the juncture
¦! where the roof portion met each side panel.
Treatment of the top area subsequent to the
removal of the vinyl and some side padding was much
the same as in Ex. ~III, except that after scraping,
the car top was cleaned with lacquer thinner. The
'~ top retained its undercoating and top-coating from
the factory.the surface bein~ in fair shape though
roughened by the puttyknife scraping. For filling
low spots or cracks (depression at panel juncture
and gap around window frame), I tried body putty
("Bondo" available from Dynatron/Bondo Corp.,
Atlanta, GA 30318) and found this best.
; 20 Covering gaps by bridging with a single layer
: of Celestra and then treating it with resin was not
acceptable because of deflection inwardly but did
demonstrate that if material is subsequently
punctured or sheet 20 otherwise damaged, such damage
can be easily repaired by just cutting a patch
of Celestra to cover the area, preparing the inter-
~acial contact area so the new coat of resin can
adhere well by either lightly abrading the old sur-
face or by lightly wiping it with a solvent to
prepare for the patch. For this purpose, I have
found Ditzler DAU Color Reducer DTU-504 (PPG Indus-
tries, Inc., Ditzler Automotive Finishes, Troy, MI
48404) to be satisfactory (similar products of
other manufacturers would be e~ually satisfactory).
Disappdnting~ t~iscombination did not weather as well¦
for reasons not known -though a sample prepared in
the same fashion but not exposed to the weather,
did not deteriorate in the same half-year period.
Weather-resistant grades of polypropylene are known,
ao however. Validity of the texturing method itself was
again confirmed,nonetheless.
1~356~ l
-24-
.
EXAi~iPLE X
Substrate 10: Top area of the same automobile as
in Ex. IV.
Sheet 20: Polypropylene non-woven fabric of Ex.IX
(Celestra C43W).
i~ Liquid 22: Polyurethane enamel of Ex.VIII (IMRON-TM)
I except for color (white) difference. Applied by
¦ brush at a volume rate (two coats) of about
! 0.14 pt/sq.ft. (0.71/sq.meter) in sunshine on a
` lO 65F day.
Comments: The previous texturing of the top of the
automobile of ~x.VIII was so satisfactory that
` the remainder of the automobile was repainted.
¦~ This, however, caused the patchwork appearance of
paper napXin texturing to be more noticeable, so
the top was stripped and re-textured using the
patterning sheet 20 of Ex. VIII and two coats of
the polyurethane liquid 22 to ensure uniform
coverage and durability. The results were again
; 20 excellent, the lattice-like pattern of the Cel-
estra C43W (T~) being clearly evident evan with a
second coat and the thinness of that material as
patterning sheet 20 being such that seams (over-
lapped areas, where necessary) were even less
noticeable than previously, being visible only with
strong sidelighting. Weather resistance again low.
`:
j Because of the desirable characteristics of thinness,
! strength and porosity provided by the polypropylene, some
further combinations were tried, as follows:
EXAMPLE XI
Substrate lO: Cylindrical can similar to that of
Ex. I.
Sheet 20: Same as that of Ex. X (Celestra C43W)
Liquid 22: Water-base Vinyl Paint -SEM "Topper" of
Ex. VIb, manufactured by SEM Products, Inc.
Applied in three "flooding" coats as in Ex. VIb.
: ~3s6~ 1
.
-25-
Comments: Texturing not as satisfactory as in Ex. X,
the diamond-lattice e~fect being less pronounced
(pores 25 filled more than desired, fewer or
lighter coats would have been better). I
EXAMPLE XIa
Substrate 10: Same as that of Ex. XI.
Sheet 20: Same as that of Exs. X and XI.
Liquid 22: Vinyl-acrylic paint of Ex. VI (UK725 man-
1 10 ufactured by Universal Protective Coatings).
¦ Three coats applied at a rate to give apparent
saturation.
¦I Comments: Texturing not as satisfactory as in Ex. X.
Diamond-lattice effect was inferior to those of
Exs. X and XI. Here, one less coat seems indicated.
Tendency to wrinkle noted, possibly due to "hot
I solvent" action mentioned in comments re Ex. VI.
., I
EXAMPLE XII
Substrate 10: Cylindrical steel can similar to
that of Ex. I.
Sheet 20: Polypropylene non-woven fabric, a diaphon-
ously thin [density 0.1 oz/sq.ft. (30 g/sq.meter)],
non-embossed webbing having a fine leather-like
texture. Material, designated as "Polyweb"~TM),
not quite as diaphonous as Celestra (T~) ~4~ . Man-
ufactured by James ~iver Paper Co., Riegel Division, I
Nilford, NJ 08848.
Liquid 22: Acrylic lacquer, "Duracryl", manufactured
by Ditzler Fleet Finishes~ PPG Industries, Inc.,
Troy, MI 48084. Applied by brush at a rate to
l give apparent saturation (two coats).
!~ Comments: The texturing results obtained with this
combination were excellent, the lacquer flowing
readily through the material onto substrate 10
just as in Ex. VIII. The lacquer dried very
quic~ly, thus having an added advantage beyond
its lower cost relative -to the two-part resins.
~3S~4~
-26-
EXA~PLE XIIa
Same substrate 10 and sheet 2Z as in Ex. XII.
Liquid 22: Acrylic lacquer of Ex. VII,manufactured
by the A. H. Thompson Co. and applied at a rate
to give apparent saturation (two coats).
Il Comments: Texturing results similar to those in
!I Ex. XII - i.e., quality excellent, quick-drying.
~`
jl EXA~PLE XIIb
Same substrate 10 and sheet 20 as in Exs. XII, XIIa.
¦~ Liquid 22- Vinyl-acrylic paint of Ex. VI (UK 725
manufactured by Universal Protective Coatings).
Three coatings applied at a rate to give appar-
ent saturation.
,1 15 Comments: Texturing of about the same quality as in
Exs. XII, XIIa except for a tendency to wrinkle.
I EXA~PLE XIIc
Same substrate 10 and sheet 20 as in Exs. XII-XIIb.
Liquid 22: Water-base vinyl paint of Ex. VIb -i.e., I
SE~ "Topper" (T~). j
Comments: Texturing quality better than XIIb (no
' wrinkling), being quite similar to that of Exs. XII
and XIIa.
~5
i; The above description of a method of texturing a sur-
face and articles textured by the method comprises conform-
ing a porous fabric sheet or web (20) to a support member
¦ (10), the web (20) having a desired three-dimensional pat-
tern (14,16,13) on it; then applying a coating of a harden- !
i able liquid (22) which adheres well to the support member,
the liquid being applied at a volume rate per unit area of
I the support member sufficient for saturating the web, seal-
ing its pores (25), and penetrating through the web into
contact w~th the support member (10); but insufficient to
provide a smooth, level surface obliterating the pattern;
1~ .
lZ35~
-27~
and~ finally, allowing the liquid to harden such that on
the finished article, the contours o~ the pattern (1~,16,18)
are replicated as a hard coating 28 adhering well to the
support member (10).
, 5 While specific embodiments of the inventive method
have been disclosed, those skilled in the art will readily
envision further modification and impro~ement based on
¦ this description. In particular, other two-part resin
ji systems (e.g., polyesters) could be employed in some
¦'10 applications. Further, while the examples are based on
the use of f~m-forming materials as supplied by the manu-
facturer, it is clear, for example, that use of reducers
1, to lower the film-forming material's viscosity
j so as to improve penetration of a fabric having a desired
jl5 pattern, but being of marginal porosity, would be a modif-
1, ication intended to be within the range of the claims.
Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the
description, but is to be defined solely by the claims and
any improvements and modifications falling within the
~0 scope of the claims are intended to be included within the
invention.
.
