Textured Surface Web Curing for Thick Opaque Substrates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for imparting textured surfaces to sheet or web materials are limited by the need for thin substrates that can withstand radiation curing, and often result in issues like air entrapment, streaking, and damage to substrates, especially with opaque materials.
Innovation Solution
The use of a flexible web as a texturing medium allows for curing radiation to pass through it rather than the substrate, enabling thicker substrates and reducing damage, while also simplifying process control and maintaining texture fidelity by using a web-form texturing medium instead of an engraved roll.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If radiation curing is performed through the substrate, then the coating can be cured effectively, but the substrate must be thin and capable of withstanding radiation exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional curing approach by placing the texturing medium between the radiation source and the coating, allowing radiation to cure the coating through the texturing medium rather than through the substrate. This enables use of thicker substrates that would otherwise block radiation or suffer damage.
2Manufacturing precision
If an engraved metal roll is used as the replicative surface, then fine patterns can be replicated with high fidelity, but release problems and coating quality issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible texturing medium that is itself a copied version of the desired pattern, created by coating and curing a coating against a master pattern. This copied texturing medium then replicates the pattern onto subsequent coatings, eliminating the need for direct contact with the original engraved roll and preventing release issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible web-based texturing medium instead of a rigid metal roll. This flexible medium conforms better to the coating surface, eliminates air entrapment, and prevents the release and streaking problems associated with rigid engraved surfaces.
3Reliability
If electron beam radiation is used for opaque substrates, then the coating can be cured, but the substrate may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a texturing medium as an intermediary layer between the electron beam radiation source and the substrate. This medium absorbs or scatters the radiation, allowing the coating to be cured while preventing the substrate from receiving damaging radiation exposure.
4Reliability
If the substrate is made thinner to allow radiation penetration, then curing can be achieved, but substrate strength and mechanical properties are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The texturing medium serves as an intermediary that enables radiation to reach the coating without requiring the substrate to be thin. The radiation passes through the texturing medium to cure the coating, while the substrate remains thick and maintains its mechanical strength.
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 approach allows for the production of a wider variety of finished products with consistent quality, including thicker substrates like foils and boards, and minimizes substrate damage, while ensuring high fidelity of texture replication and ease of process operation.
Implementation Method 1
the coating is cured while in contact with the roll by passing radiation through the web
Implementation Method 2
If the web is transparent, the coating may be cured using ultraviolet (UV) radiation, while if it is opaque electron beam radiation is generally used
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure features processes and equipment for forming a variety of textured materials, including both release webs, and finished products such as flooring materials, wall coverings, textured laminates and the like. The processes described herein allow curing radiation to be passed through a texturing medium, rather than through the substrate to which the curable material is applied.