Color Transfer to Laminate Composites Without Fading or Flaking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laminated reinforced materials are typically plain in color and not easily colorable, with existing methods like painting resulting in color fading and flaking, and there is a need for materials that are both high-performance and visually appealing with resistance to fading.
Innovation Solution
Infusing composite materials with color during manufacturing using various methods such as sublimation, heat transfer, and multilayered systems, incorporating coatings to enhance properties like tensile strength and UV resistance, and using fire retardant additives to create durable, visually appealing materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If painting is used to add color to laminated material, then coloration is achieved, but the paint flakes off through use and fades in sunlight over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies colorants to the fiber reinforcement material before lamination, incorporating the color into the material structure during manufacturing. This preliminary coloring action ensures the color becomes an integral part of the composite, preventing subsequent flaking and fading that occur with post-manufacturing painting methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes sublimation processes that involve temperature and pressure parameter changes to transfer color from a donor material to the fiber reinforcement. This phase-change-based color transfer method creates a durable bond between the colorant and the material, resolving the durability issue associated with conventional painting.
2Ease of manufacture
If additional layers of films or woven cloth are combined with laminated reinforced materials to create dyeable fabric, then visual appeal and colorability are improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies colorants selectively to specific regions or patterns on the fiber reinforcement material before lamination. This localized coloring approach achieves visual appeal and design complexity without requiring additional structural layers, as the color patterns are directly applied to the base material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structure where the colorant is integrated with the fiber reinforcement material through sublimation bonding. This composite approach combines the structural properties of the fiber material with the visual properties of the colorant in a single integrated layer, avoiding the need for separate additional layers.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables the production of colorable, patterned, and high-performance composite materials with improved durability and resistance to fading, suitable for diverse applications including military, sports, and industrial textiles.
Implementation Method 1
Infusing composite materials with color during manufacturing using various methods such as sublimation
Implementation Method 2
heat transfer, and multilayered systems, incorporating coatings to enhance properties
Data Source
AI summary
A method of transferring a dye to a composite material comprising applying the dye to a transfer media to create a colored transfer media, placing the colored transfer media into contact with the composite material, and applying, using an autoclave, at least one of heat, external pressure, vacuum pressure to infuse the dye to the composite material to create a colored composite material.