Metallic Paint Color Chip Fabrication via Spray Deposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for creating color display devices with metallic paint are inefficient and costly, as they require special coating compositions and multiple paint coats, leading to labor and material expenses, and fail to accurately emulate the appearance of metallic paint on substrates like automobiles.
Innovation Solution
Spraying metallic or special effect pigmented paint onto a thin polymeric web using a knife over roll coater or roller coater, followed by cutting into chips and adhering them to a mount base, which allows for precise color emulation and reduced material usage by utilizing the customer's paint directly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If special coating compositions are used for color cards, then color matching accuracy is improved, but formulation costs and color matching expenses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the customer's paint formulation by analyzing the spectral properties of the original paint and reproducing it on color cards using the same paint material. This eliminates the need for separate special coating compositions while maintaining color matching accuracy, as the customer's actual paint is used directly for both the reference and the color card displays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the customer's paint serve multiple functions: it is used both as the reference standard for color matching and as the coating material for color cards. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate special formulations, reducing formulation costs while maintaining color accuracy across different applications.
2Measurement precision
If metallic paint is sprayed onto substrate, then appearance accuracy is improved, but paint loss to atomization increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a polymeric web as an intermediary carrier between the spray application and the final substrate. The web captures the sprayed metallic paint with controlled atomization, allowing the paint to be transferred efficiently to color cards without the excessive loss that would occur if sprayed directly onto small substrates. This intermediary system enables accurate appearance reproduction while reducing paint waste.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows the sprayed paint to self-organize and self-adhere to the polymeric web through controlled atomization and surface properties, reducing the need for excessive paint application. The web's surface characteristics facilitate efficient paint capture and transfer, minimizing loss while maintaining appearance accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If multiple paint coats and clear coat are applied, then color card accuracy is improved, but labor and material expenses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of paint application by using spray deposition onto a moving polymeric web at controlled rates, rather than applying multiple manual coats. This parameter change allows single-coat or reduced-coat application while achieving equivalent or superior color accuracy, significantly reducing labor time and material consumption while maintaining color card accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements continuous spray application onto a continuously moving polymeric web, eliminating the discrete, step-by-step manual coating process. This continuous action reduces labor intervention, minimizes drying time between coats, and allows for more efficient production while maintaining consistent paint application quality and color accuracy across all color cards.
4Manufacturing precision
If knife over roll coater is used, then coating uniformity is improved, but metallic paint appearance emulation is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from the static, mechanical knife-over-roll application to a dynamic spray deposition process onto a moving web. The spray system creates controlled atomization that naturally distributes metallic particles more realistically, emulating the appearance of spray-applied metallic paint on substrates while maintaining sufficient coating uniformity through controlled spray parameters and web motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical knife-spreading system with a spray-based application method. This substitution changes the fundamental mechanism of paint application from mechanical spreading to aerosol deposition, which better emulates the appearance of metallic paint as it would naturally settle on substrates, while the controlled spray process maintains adequate coating uniformity.
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
This method provides a cost-effective and precise emulation of metallic paint, reducing the need for special coating compositions and minimizing paint loss, while accurately representing the appearance of metallic paint as used by end-users.
Implementation Method 1
large amounts of paint have been lost to atomization of the paint into the atmosphere
Implementation Method 2
spraying the paint onto a polymeric web traveling over a roller and under a knife
Implementation Method 3
the liquid pigmented coating is spread on a roller, which then applies the liquid pigmented coating onto the surface of a second roller, or series of rollers, the last of which applies the liquid pigmented coating to a web
Implementation Method 4
The painted web then is cut into swatches or paint chips which chips then are adhesively affixed to a mount base
Data Source
AI summary
A method of making a color display device and color display device are provided for the display of metallic or special effect pigmented paint using commercially available or the manufacturer's paint. In the method provided herein, the metallic or special effect pigmented paint is sprayed onto a web behind a knife or onto a first roller which is a part of a roller roller coater.