Liquid applicator

Abstract

Reduce the amount of liquid required for application. [Solution] The liquid agent applicator 100 comprises a substrate 1 impregnated with the liquid agent and used to apply the liquid agent to a surface to be treated, a sponge 2 formed from a synthetic resin so as to contain a plurality of air bubbles, and a barrier member 3 formed between the substrate 1 and the sponge 2 to prevent the liquid agent from penetrating from the substrate 1 into the sponge 2. The barrier member 3 may have a first surface in contact with the surface of the substrate 1 closer to the sponge 2, and a second surface in contact with the surface of the sponge 2 closer to the substrate 1. The barrier member 3 may have an area equal to or greater than the area of ​​the substrate 1, and at least a portion of the first surface may be in contact with the entire surface of the substrate 1 closer to the sponge 2.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid agent applicator for applying a liquid agent to a surface to be coated. [Background technology]

[0002] Applicators have been proposed for applying liquid agents to painted surfaces of automobile bodies, etc. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a device that is provided with a storage compartment for storing a urethane sponge, allowing the urethane sponge to move naturally relative to the unevenness of the painted surface. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 05-68465 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The applicator described in Patent Document 1 had the problem that the liquid coating agent soaked into the application section formed on the bottom of the applicator seeps into the urethane sponge, resulting in a large amount of liquid coating agent being required for application.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has an object to provide a liquid agent applicator that can reduce the amount of liquid agent required for application. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A liquid agent applicator according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a fabric impregnated with the liquid agent and adapted to apply the liquid agent to a surface to be treated, a sponge formed of a synthetic resin so as to contain a plurality of air bubbles, and a barrier member formed between the fabric and the sponge to prevent the liquid agent from penetrating from the fabric into the sponge. The bending stress of the barrier member may be equal to or less than the bending stress of the fabric.

[0007] The barrier member may have a first surface in contact with the surface of the fabric closer to the sponge and a second surface in contact with the surface of the sponge closer to the fabric. The barrier member may have an area equal to or greater than the area of ​​the fabric, and at least a portion of the first surface may be in contact with the entire surface of the fabric closer to the sponge.

[0008] The barrier member may have a thickness of 0.05 mm or more and less than 0.2 mm. The barrier member may include a synthetic resin polymer. The barrier member may be solvent resistant. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The present invention has the effect of reducing the amount of liquid required for application. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 shows the configuration of a liquid agent applicator according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 shows the configuration of a liquid agent applicator according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 shows the configuration of a liquid agent applicator according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 shows the results of a comparison between a conventional liquid agent applicator and the liquid agent applicator of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] 1 to 3 show the configuration of a liquid agent applicator 100 of the present embodiment. Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the liquid agent applicator 100. The liquid agent applicator 100 is used to apply a liquid agent to a target surface of a vehicle body such as an automobile.

[0012] The liquid agent applicator 100 comprises a substrate 1, a sponge 2, and a barrier member 3. The substrate 1 is a member impregnated with the liquid agent and used to apply the liquid agent to a surface to be applied. The substrate 1 is formed of, for example, synthetic fiber. The liquid agent applicator 100 shown in FIG. 1 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but the shape of the liquid agent applicator 100 is arbitrary.

[0013] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the fabric 1 of the liquid agent applicator 100 as viewed from above. As shown in Fig. 2, the surface of the fabric 1 has irregularities that are capable of holding the liquid agent. The fabric 1 is made of, for example, ultrafine fibers of nylon and polyester, but the fabric 1 may also be made of a material other than ultrafine fibers of nylon and polyester. The sponge 2 is made of a synthetic resin that contains a plurality of air bubbles. This synthetic resin is, for example, polyurethane.

[0014] The barrier member 3 is formed between the fabric 1 and the sponge 2. A first surface of the barrier member 3 contacts the surface of the fabric 1 closer to the sponge 2. A second surface of the barrier member 3 contacts the surface of the sponge 2 closer to the fabric 1. The second surface of the barrier member 3 may have the same area as the sponge 2, or may have an area larger than that of the sponge 2.

[0015] The barrier member 3 is formed from a material that is less permeable to the liquid agent than the fabric 1. Therefore, the barrier member 3 prevents the liquid agent from penetrating from the fabric 1 into the sponge 2. In particular, when the liquid agent contains a solvent, the barrier member 3 is desirably solvent-resistant to prevent the liquid agent from penetrating into the sponge 2. Because the barrier member 3 is solvent-resistant, it can prevent the barrier member 3 from being dissolved by the liquid agent and forming holes. Therefore, the barrier member 3 can prevent the solvent from penetrating into the sponge 2 through the formed holes.

[0016] The solvent-containing liquid is, for example, a coating agent for protecting automobiles. One example of the solvent-containing liquid is silicone alkoxide, IPA (isopropyl alcohol), 1-butanol, and synthetic resin paint. For example, the barrier member 3 includes a synthetic resin polymer as a solvent-resistant material. One example of the synthetic resin polymer is polyurethane.

[0017] The first surface of the barrier member 3 may have the same area as the fabric 1, or may have an area larger than that of the fabric 1. At least a part or all of the first surface of the barrier member 3 is in contact with the entire area of ​​the surface of the fabric 1 that is closer to the sponge 2. By configuring the barrier member 3 in this way, the surface of the fabric 1 that is closer to the sponge 2 does not come into direct contact with the sponge 2, and therefore it is possible to prevent the liquid agent from penetrating into the sponge 2 from the surface of the fabric 1 that is closer to the sponge 2.

[0018] Fig. 3 shows the fabric 1 and barrier member 3 of the liquid agent applicator 100 as viewed from the side. The thickness of the fabric 1 is, for example, not less than 0.15 mm and less than 0.8 mm. In the example of Fig. 3, the thickness of the fabric 1 is 0.35 mm. As shown in Fig. 3, the barrier member 3 is thinner than the fabric 1. The thickness of the barrier member 3 is not less than 0.05 mm and less than 0.2 mm.

[0019] The barrier member 3 is made of a material that is harder than the fabric 1 and the sponge 2. The hardness of the fabric 1 is, for example, 3.0 HA, and the hardness of the barrier member 3 is 4.0 HA. The hardness of the barrier member 3 is greater than that of the fabric 1, but the thickness of the barrier member 3 is smaller than that of the fabric 1. Therefore, the bending stress of the barrier member 3 is equal to or less than the bending stress of the fabric 1, and the barrier member 3 does not impede the flexibility of the liquid agent applicator 100. Therefore, even if the surface to be coated is curved, the liquid agent applicator 100 can be deformed to fit the curved surface, making it easy to apply the liquid agent using the liquid agent applicator 100.

[0020] Conventional applicators (see, for example, Patent Document 1) have had the problem that a large amount of liquid coating agent is required for application because the liquid coating agent soaked into the application section formed on the bottom surface of the applicator permeates into the urethane sponge. Also, with conventional applicators, the liquid agent permeates from the surface into the sponge during application, which can cause the liquid agent to spread unevenly and result in unevenness.

[0021] In contrast, the liquid agent applicator 100 of this embodiment has the same flexibility as a liquid agent applicator 100 that does not have a barrier member 3, while the barrier member 3 can prevent the liquid agent that has soaked into the fabric 1 from penetrating into the sponge 2. Therefore, the liquid agent applicator 100 makes it easy to apply the liquid agent to a coated surface, and can reduce the amount of liquid agent required for application. Furthermore, the liquid agent applicator 100 of this embodiment can spread the liquid agent more uniformly and evenly on a coated surface. [Example]

[0022] [Measurement of the amount of liquid penetration] The amount of liquid agent that can penetrate the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and a conventional liquid agent applicator was measured. Silicone alkoxide, IPA (isopropyl alcohol), 1-butanol, and synthetic resin paint were used as the liquid agent. The conventional liquid agent applicator differs from the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention in that it does not have a barrier member 3. The amount of liquid agent for the fabric and sponge of the conventional liquid agent applicator was the same as that for the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention. The liquid agent was dropped with a needle onto the surface of the fabric 1 of the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and onto the surface of the fabric of the conventional liquid agent applicator, and the amount of liquid agent until the surface of the fabric no longer absorbed the liquid agent and the liquid overflowed was measured.

[0023] Figure 4 shows the results of a comparison between a conventional liquid agent applicator and the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention. The first row from the top of Figure 4 shows the results of measuring the amount of liquid agent that permeates the fabric surface until the surface of the fabric stops absorbing the liquid agent and the liquid agent overflows, when the liquid agent is dropped onto the fabric surface of the liquid agent applicator with a needle.

[0024] As shown on the left side of the first row from the top of Fig. 4, when a liquid agent was dropped with a needle onto the surface of fabric 1 of a conventional liquid agent applicator, the conventional liquid agent applicator was saturated with 20 mL. As shown on the right side of the first row from the top of Fig. 4, when a liquid agent was dropped with a needle onto the surface of fabric 1 of liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention, the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention was saturated with 4 mL. These measurement results show that with liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention, the penetration of the liquid agent into sponge 2 is suppressed by barrier member 3, and therefore even a small amount of liquid agent is more likely to overflow than with conventional liquid agent applicators.

[0025] [Measurement of coatable area] The same amount of liquid was impregnated into the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and a conventional liquid agent applicator, and the areas that could be covered evenly by the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and the conventional liquid agent applicator were measured. First, 2 mL of liquid agent was dispersed and dropped onto both the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and the conventional liquid agent applicator. After the liquid agent was dropped, the liquid agent was applied to the painted surface of an automobile using the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and the conventional liquid agent applicator, respectively.

[0026] The second row from the top of Fig. 4 shows the results of measurements of the area to which the liquid agent can be evenly applied by the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention and a conventional liquid agent applicator. As shown on the left side of the second row from the top of Fig. 4, the conventional liquid agent applicator applied an even area of ​​about 0.5 m2 to the painted surface. 2 As shown on the right side of the second row from the top in Fig. 4, the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention was able to apply the liquid agent evenly to the coating surface by approximately 0.75 m. 2 From these measurement results, it was found that the liquid agent applicator 100 of the present invention can apply the liquid agent to an area approximately 1.5 times larger than that of the conventional liquid agent applicator.

[0027] The present invention has been described above using embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, all or part of the device can be configured by functionally or physically distributing or integrating any unit. Furthermore, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of the new embodiments resulting from the combination also have the effects of the original embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1 dough 2 sponges 3 Barrier elements 100 Liquid applicator

Claims

1. A substrate impregnated with the liquid agent and used to apply the liquid agent to a surface to be coated; a sponge formed of a synthetic resin so as to contain a plurality of air bubbles; a barrier member formed between the fabric and the sponge to prevent the liquid from penetrating from the fabric to the sponge; the barrier member is made of a material having a harder hardness than the fabric and the sponge; The thickness of the fabric is 0.15 mm or more and less than 0.8 mm, The thickness of the barrier member is equal to or greater than 0.05 millimeters and less than 0.2 millimeters; The bending stress of the barrier member is equal to or less than the bending stress of the fabric. Liquid applicator.

2. The barrier member is a first surface in contact with a surface of the fabric closer to the sponge; a second surface in contact with the surface of the sponge closer to the fabric; having The liquid applicator according to claim 1.

3. The barrier member has an area equal to or greater than the area of ​​the fabric, and at least a portion of the first surface is in contact with the entire area of ​​the surface of the fabric that is closer to the sponge. The liquid applicator according to claim 2.

4. the barrier member comprises a synthetic resin polymer; The liquid applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The barrier member is solvent resistant. The liquid applicator according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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