ASSEMBLY CONSTRUCTION OF MIRROR Description Technical Field The present invention relates to a mirror-fixing frame for fixing a mirror to an opening door or a sliding door of a-cabinet, or a dressing or ornamental table, and a method of attaching a mirror to the frame. More specifically, the invention relates to a rapid and stable mirror assembly structure, in which a protection tape of polyethylene (PE). or polypropylene (PP) is coated on the back side of a mirror attached to the frame to protect the silver film of a mirror, to reduce the danger of mirror breakage, and to prevent scattering of the pieces of a broken mirror, thereby improving safety. A mirror is primarily adhered to a frame using silicon resin adhesive, then hot melted to the frame and assembled so that the hardening time and the strength of the adhesive is improved, thereby enabling prompt loading and transportation of the mirror.

Background Art Generally, mirrors are installed in kitchens or bathrooms for users such as housewives, and attached to opening doors or sliding doors for toilet and decorative purposes, since it is ornamental, easy to install, and inexpensive. A mirror is fixed to a frame surrounding the mirror and attached to a door or a wall, but the places where a mirror is set are damp and easy to change in temperature. Therefore, even though a mirror is attached in

an airtight manner, moisture, especially acid material such as a detergent, which is used for washing, flows in through the fine gap and thus spoils the silver film forming a reflecting surface of a mirror.

Typically, a mirror is made by coating mercury on one side of a plate glass and applying red lead on the mercury coat in order to prevent moisture, or generally, as a recent method, by coating tin-amalgam on the surface or the rear surface of a glass. In other word, a mirror is made by coating silver nitrate melted by brass-ammonia and alcohol mixture on a glass to form the silver film and then applying trioxide lead (Pb304) blended with glucose or sugar solution, or applying sulfurous paint, thereby providing preliminary means against moisture. However, since most of detergents used at a kitchen or a bathroom are acid, there is a problem in that the silver film is damaged by the exposure to acid and moisture for a long time period, and black spots can be seen at a mirror, thereby deteriorating reflection quality of a mirror, making it impossible to use, and spoiling the appearance.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem A conventional door made using mirrors typically attaches a mirror to a frame, which fixes the mirror. In the assembly, a frame for holding a mirror of predetermined size is constructed; typically silicon resin is applied to the panel inside the frame as an adhesive; and a mirror is attached to the frame. It takes much time to dry the silicon resin, and has a problem of significantly decreasing

the productivity in a mass production system. That is, after adhered by the silicon resin, the mirror must be maintained in place without moving until the silicon resin is dried and adhesive strength is formed. The time needed to harden the silicon leads to a decreased productivity.

Another hot melt adhesive is 100% solid thermoplastic. The hot melt adhesive is applied in a melted state to a material to be fixed, becomes adhesive while-being solidified, and has advantage of obtaining an bonding force by rapid solidification, but has a problem of lack of rigidity or firmness.

Conventionally, many mirrors are used for interior decoration in a kitchen or a bathroom, which is frequently used by women, children, and seniors, and is considered as a very comfortable area in the sense of residential environment, so that the users become insensitive to any possible danger. There is a problem in that, when a mirror is broken by a mischief of a child or an unexpected accident, the sharp pieces of the broken mirror are scattered to hurt seriously a person to a critical condition.

In addition, a construction company has to maintain and repair mirrors which are defective in reflecting quality or broken for a certain period of time from the start of the construction until even after the tenants move into an apartment or a building, therefore it needs to solve the above various problems.

Technical Solution The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems in the art, and it is an object of the invention to provide a mirror-fixing frame for fixing a

mirror to an opening door or a sliding door of a cabinet, or a dressing or ornamental table, and a method of attaching a mirror to the frame. More specifically, the object of the invention is to a rapid and stable mirror assembly structure, in which a protection tape of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) is coated on the back side of a mirror to protect the silver film of a mirror, to reduce the danger of mirror breakage, and to prevent scattering of the pieces of a broken mirror, thereby improving safety, and in which a mirror is primarily adhered to a frame using silicon resin adhesive, then hot melted to the frame and assembled so that the hardening time and the adhesive strength of the adhesive is improved, thereby enabling prompt loading and transportation of the mirror.

More specifically, the present invention protects the silver film coated on the back side of a mirror, protects the silver film from moisture and acid detergent by coating with a protection tape of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP) material on the back side of the mirror to prevent scattering the pieces of a broken mirror when a mirror is broken, improves safety by preventing scattering of broken pieces, adheres the mirror to the mirror attaching side of the frame using silicon resin first, then attaches the first adhered mirror to the frame inner edges using hot melt, thereby enables fixing the mirror to a desired structure and moving to a desired place as soon as being attached by the rapid hardening of the hot melt and the hardness of the silicon resin. In addition, the invention fills waterproof liquid in the gap, which is formed by attaching the back of a mirror to the front of a frame, and prevents external

moisture, water, and detergent from flowing into the structure attached to the mirror.

Advantageous Effects The present invention is useful and applicable to the industrial purposes by providing features of: attaching a protection tape to the back side of a mirror which is attached to a frame; assembling promptly by a secondary hot melt adhesion along with a primary silicon resin adhesion, which enables the mass production ; protecting the silver film from the inflow of water, moisture, and acid detergent ; preventing broken mirror pieces from being scattered when a mirror is broken thereby improving safety; improving especially the productivity due to the rapid assembly; and improving the rigidity and firmness by using two types of adhesives. Therefore, the industrial competitiveness is highly enhanced.

Brief Description of Drawings Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the use of a mirror according to the invention; and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the major portion of an attached mirror.

Best Mode The preferred embodiments of the present invention

will be hereafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the use of a mirror according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the major portion of an attached mirror. As depicted in the drawings, a frame 10 is provided with a protruded guide 11 formed therein, which supports the mirror 20 inside a frame for an ornamental door or a mirror-fixing frame. A frame 10 includes the adhesive side 12 integrally formed with the protruded guide 11, which is extended inwardly. An adhesive is applied to the adhesive side 12, in which the mirror 20 is attached. The above-constructed frame 10 is cut into the predetermined size and assembled in order to fabricate a cabinet doorframe or a mirror-fixing frame. Silicon resin 30 is applied to the adhesive side 12, which is formed inside the above fixing frame, and to which the mirror 20 is attached.

A mirror assembly structure according to the invention is constructed by coating the silver film 21 of the back side of a mirror 20 and the side portion, which is attached to the mirror-fixing frame by means of the protection tape 40 of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), in order to protect the silver film 21, and stabilize the mirror ; then applying silicon resin 30 to the adhesive side 12 of the fixing frame 10 as the primary adhesive and attaching mirror 20 ; and fixing the mirror applying the secondary hot melt adhesive to the above attached mirror 20 and the inner edges of the adhesive side 12 of the frame 10. While the secondary hot melt adhesive 31 has the disadvantage of weak adhesive strength, it is hardened rapidly and fixes the

mirror in a short time. Silicon resin has a strong adhesive strength, but needs much time to be hardened. A rapid and strong adhesion is possible by attaching the mirror to the frame sequentially, making use of the characteristics of the two adhesives and assembling the mirror to the desired structure. In addition, the structure of the invention is designed to improve the waterproof effect by applying waterproof liquid to the gap between the inside of the guide 11, which is formed outside the fixing frame 10 and the mirror 20.

The mirror assembly structure of the invention will be described in greater detail. FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the use of a mirror according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the major portion of an attached mirror. As shown in the figures, the protruded guide 11 supports the mirror 20, which is fixed inside the frame. The adhesive side 12 is integrally formed with the protruded guide 11, which is extended towards the internal side. An adhesive for attaching the mirror 20 is applied to. the adhesive side 12. The frame is cut into a predetermined size and assembled into a cabinet doorframe or a mirror-fixing frame.

The above mirror 20 to be attached to the mirror- fixing frame 10 is cut into the size to fit in the guide 11 of the frame 10. The mirror 20 is configured so as to protect the silver film 21. That is, the silver film 21 on the backside of the mirror 20 and the side portion of the mirror thereof is coated with a protection tape 40 of polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP).

Silicon resin 30, the primary adhesive, is applied to

the adhesive side 12 of the mirror-fixing frame 10, and the mirror is attached thereto and assembled by applying the hot melt 31, the secondary adhesive, to the inner edges of the mirror 20 and the adhesive side 12 of the frame 10. Using the silicon resin 30 having a strong adhesive force but requiring much hardening time and the secondary hot melt adhesive 31 having a rapid hardening time, a rapid adhesive- bonding strength is exhibited, thereby enabling transportation of the assembled frame 10 with a the mirror 20 attached thereto to a desired place right after it is assembled. The rapid hardening characteristic of the hot melt prevents the separation of the fixed mirror 20 and the frame 10, so that the mass productivity can be achieved.

Owing to the rapid hardening, the mirrors attached to the doors of kitchens and bathrooms according to the invention can be moved to the other places and be stacked at the moment it is assembled. During the transportation, the silicon resin 30 is hardened and thus a strong bonding strength is obtained, thereby enabling the mass production due to the reduction of the production time. Even though water, moisture or acid detergent flows into the gap of the guide 11 of the mirror 20 and the frame 10 in a kitchen or a bathroom, by means of the protection tape 40 coated at the back side of the mirror 20, the silver film 21 for inducing the reflection of the mirror is protected and the destruction of the silver film caused by the inflow of water, moisture or acid detergent can be avoided. When a mirror 20 is broken by an unexpected accident or impact, the protection tape 40 attached at the back side of the mirror 20 partly prevents the mirror from being cracked, also

prevents scattering, so that the users is protected from being hurt, thereby improving safety considerably.

Waterproof effect can be improved by coating a liquid waterproof on the gap between the inside of the guide 11 formed outside the fixing frame 10 and the mirror 20. As described above, by the secondary adhesion using the rapid hardening hot melt, the mirror frame can be loaded and transported at the same time when it is assembled, thereby enabling the mass production according to the rapid assembly process. Also, the present invention includes the means for coating a gap between the back side of the mirror and the silver film to waterproof a cut-portion of the silver layer in the case where the protection tape coating the back side of the mirror does not coat up to the side portion of the mirror. Furthermore, by protecting the silver film layer of the mirror by means of the protection tape, the silver film is protected from the introduction of the foreign material and thus safety is greatly improved.

Mode for Invention To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a mirror assembly structure having a protruded guide for supporting a mirror to be fixed to the inside thereof and an adhesive side integrally formed with the protruded guide so as to be assembled into a mirror-fixing frame, the adhesive side being inwardly extended and having an adhesive applied thereon for attaching the mirror. The mirror assembly structure includes: a) a protection tape for coating a portion which includes a silver film of a backside of the mirror and a

side portion of the mirror; b) means for primarily adhering the protection tape-coated mirror to the adhesive side of the mirror-fixing frame using a silicon resin; and c) means for assembling by adhering the mirror attached by the silicon resin to the inner edges of the mirror-fixing frame using a secondary hot melt adhesive.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention is useful and applicable to the industrial purposes by providing features of: attaching a protection tape to the back side of a mirror which is attached to a frame; assembling promptly by a secondary hot melt adhesion along with a primary silicon resin adhesion, which enables the mass production; protecting the silver film from the inflow of water, moisture, and acid detergent; preventing broken mirror pieces from being scattered when a mirror is broken thereby improving safety; improving especially the productivity due to the rapid assembly; and improving the rigidity and firmness by using two types of adhesives. Therefore, the industrial competitiveness is highly enhanced.

While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.