Light Reflecting Body Resin Base Metal Deposition

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing light reflecting bodies face challenges with high luminance and uniform reflectance due to the complexity and cost of undercoating processes, and issues with irregular release during resin molding, which affects yield and design freedom, while there is a demand for improved dispersibility of inorganic fillers and surface glossiness.

Innovation Solution

A light reflecting body is developed using a base with a resin material and calcium carbonate as an inorganic filler, where the calcium carbonate has specific properties such as a BET specific surface area of 1 to 15 m2/g, a pore distribution curve with a peak in the 0.1 to 1.0 μm interparticle void size range, and a particle size distribution with less than 10% of particles under 0.1 μm, ensuring high dispersibility and surface glossiness, and a metal layer is formed directly on the base to simplify the process.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Illumination intensity

If undercoating is applied before metal deposited film formation, then luminance of metal layer is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveluminanceVSAvoidprocess complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Illumination intensityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts and eliminates the undercoating step from the manufacturing process. By directly forming the metal deposited film on the resin base without undercoating, the process complexity is reduced while maintaining high luminance through optimized resin composition with specific inorganic fillers and controlled moisture content

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The resin base itself is designed to provide the necessary surface properties for direct metal deposition. By controlling the resin composition (including inorganic filler content of 40-80 parts by mass per 100 parts resin and moisture content of 0.01-5.0 mass%), the base serves its own function of providing an appropriate substrate for the metal layer without requiring additional undercoating treatment

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Illumination intensity

If undercoating is applied before metal deposited film formation, then luminance of metal layer is improved, but manufacturing cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveluminanceVSAvoidmanufacturing cost
Core Design Contradiction:
Illumination intensityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The undercoating step is completely removed from the manufacturing process, eliminating the associated material costs (undercoating materials), processing costs (application and drying), and time costs. The invention achieves this by formulating the resin base with specific properties that enable direct metal deposition while maintaining high luminance

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Shape

If polished mold is used for resin molding, then surface glossiness is improved, but irregular release occurs and productivity decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesurface glossinessVSAvoidyield
Core Design Contradiction:
ShapeVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention changes the surface energy parameters of the resin base by controlling the composition and content of inorganic fillers (40-80 parts by mass per 100 parts resin) and moisture content (0.01-5.0 mass%). This parameter adjustment creates optimal surface properties for metal deposition without requiring mechanical polishing, thereby avoiding release issues and maintaining high productivity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

4Temperature

If conventional inorganic fillers are used in resin, then heat resistance is improved, but dispersibility in resin is insufficient

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveheat resistanceVSAvoiddispersibility
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The invention uses composite inorganic fillers consisting of calcium carbonate particles with specific characteristics (average particle size of 0.1-10 μm, BET specific surface area of 0.5-5.0 m²/g) combined with the resin matrix. This composite structure provides both heat resistance and improved dispersibility, eliminating filler aggregation and ensuring uniform distribution throughout the resin base

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Data Source

PatentUS11939448B2Light reflecting body
Publication Date: 2024.03.26 SHIRAISHI KOGYO KAISHA LTD

AI summary

A light reflecting body includes a base containing a resin material and a calcium carbonate and includes a metal layer on the surface of the base. The resin material is selected from a polyester resin composition, a polyarylate resin composition, and a mixed resin composition thereof. The calcium carbonate has a BET specific surface area of 1 to 15 m2/g, a pore distribution curve determined by mercury porosimetry that the top of a peak representing interparticle void size is in a pore size range of 0.1 to 1.0 μm, a particle size distribution determined by using an electron microscope that the proportion of particles having a particle size of 0.1 μm or less is 10% or less of the calcium carbonate, and the residue on a sieve having a mesh size of 45 μm after wet sieving of the calcium carbonate is 0.1% or less.