Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a method for producing a composite stone that has a thin, short, and irregular veined texture similar to the view of the Statuario marble.

Background of the Invention

The veined texture, which is applied for aesthetic purposes in ceramic products and plastic products, is carried out by printing and decal technique. The visual offsets and deformations observed in printing and decal technique caused by physical effects during the transfer of the paints to the surface will not occur on the composite stones. Because the vein pattern can be formed in three dimensions on both surfaces of the slab.

According to the design trends developed in recent years, the techniques, developed for the formation of thin veins in composite stone production, are quite basic and not sustainable. Composite stone is a material that contains various minerals, polymeric binders (resin) and various additives (catalyst, accelerator, etc.) in slabs in various size ranges. As a subgroup of composite stones, quartz surfaces contain quartz and its polymorphs by 90%, polymeric binders, and other additives by 10%. Quartz surfaces also have a design due to the special method used during production. Accordingly, the international patent application W0010984A1 is a patent application that is in the known situation of the previous technic.

In quartz surface production, granular quartz grains by 65%, quartz grains with small particle sizes by 25%, polymeric binder by about 9%, and other additives by about 1% are used on average. The production process is carried out by firstly mixing these raw materials homogeneously, then spreading the dough into the mold, removing the air inside by a vibrating-compression under vacuum, and finally curing and polishing. The quartz surfaces, which have a high packing density, have superior mechanical, chemical, and aesthetic advantages compared to their equipollent natural stones. Also, it prevents the growth of bacteria thanks to its non- porous structure.

Veining applications developed to provide a natural stone view on quartz stones have attracted much attention recently. Considering the methods of quartz stone production, it is seen that many patents and studies have already been realized.

In the Spanish patent application document ES2187313, in one of the known applications of the technic, the production of composite stone (or engineered stone) using quartz and polyester resin of different sizes is mentioned.

In the United States patent application document US20080296795, in one of the known applications of the technic, it is mentioned that a veined view was obtained by adding a different mixture formula to the pores formed in the mixture. Since the veining mixture filled into the pores formed consists of a mixture of resin and pigment in both techniques and because the base mixture and veining mixture contain different amounts of resin, there will be a shrinkage in different size and, as a result, a tension at the joint points between the veining and base mixture and; therefore, it is thought that there will be a high risk of cracking in the final product. Also, it is thought that filling the vein channels, which have a size of up to 1 cm in the base mixture with a mixture of resin and pigment homogeneously, is quite difficult. In the current technic, the powder vein mixtures can only be made from a mixture of pigment and quartz and fill the channels formed in the base mixture. The volumetric shrinkage differences that may occur between the base mixture and powder vein mixture are compensated by the liquid resin which is poured onto the powder vein mixture after filling the channels. In the European patent application EP2944443A,1 in one of the known applications of the technic, obtaining a thin and thick three-dimensional vein view by using a conveyor belt is mentioned. Also, in this patent, the presence of a conveyor belt to form the vein and the use of resin in the veining mixture will increase the risk of cracking in the final product.

Another method for vein formation is using an apparatus for forming channels. In the United States patent application US10099236B1, in one of the known applications of the technic, the channels are formed on the surface of the engineered stone utilizing two cylindrical bar apparatus placed under the composite stone slab, and these channels are filled with material utilizing sprayers having multiple nozzles. Thus, a three-dimensional veined texture is formed on the final product. However, since the channels formed by the apparatus used in this technique are of fixed length, it is thought that it will give an unnatural view on the product surface.

In the United States patent application document US20080032050, in one of the known applications of the technic, it is mentioned that both the pattern formation and vein filling can be made by using an apparatus and the nozzles on that apparatus. This application, in which acrylic resin is used, allows us to make various aesthetic patterns. The biggest disadvantage of this technique is the use of acrylic resins, which is more expensive, instead of polyester resins.

In the European patent application document EP1016510B1, in one of the known applications of the technic, it is mentioned that the veins are formed on the mixture by using a comb-like tool. The composite stone consists of liquid resin in the upper layer and marble-like stone parts in the lower part.

It is difficult to obtain the same vein view in the band system used to form the vein texture of the composite stone. Therefore, the method is not sustainable. On the other hand, there are many disadvantages in the veined views obtained by opening a channel due to the use of extra apparatus and the need for vein-base compatibility. in one of the known applications of the technic, the compatibility and cost problems are encountered when resins (acrylic resin) other than the most widely used resin type (polyester resin). In the methods in which cylindrical apparatuses are used, only straight and plain channel vein views can be created. Finally, the resin used to achieve vein-base compatibility in the vein views created by using the mixture veins formed by adding pigment increases the cost. In the scope of the invention, unlike the known applications of the technic, a powder vein mixture containing pigment by 3-8% in weight and 100-300 pm quartz by 91-97% in weight, and a base mixture containing resin by 8-15% are developed. The vein mixture is filled in the powder form into the channels opened on the base mixture by the robotic arms, and it is wetted with liquid resin to prevent dryness and to compensate for the volumetric shrinkage of the base mixture during curing. Summary of the Invention

The object of the invention is to create a thin vein design views that are very similar to the real, natural Statuario marble. Detailed Description of the Invention

The "Production Method of a Composite Stone that has a Thin Short and Irregular Veined Texture Similar to the View of Statuario Marble" carried out to achieve the object of the present invention is shown in the annexed figures; among these figures: Figure 1 - It is the front and side views of the composite stone that was formed within the scope of the present invention with a thin short and irregular veined texture similar to the view of Statuario marble. During the development stage of the invention, it has been tried to create the most suitable formulation by changing the parameters such as pigment ratio, pigment types, amount of the powder vein mixture, amount of the resin to obtain the desired natural marble view.

The subject matter of the present invention of a production method of a composite stone that has thin and distinct veins similar to the view of real and natural Statuario marble consists of the steps of;

Preparing the base formulation mixture forming the base of the composite stone and the vein formulation mixture filling the channels on the base, Preparing the composite stone base structure by molding the base formulation,

Opening the channels on the formed stone base plates using the robotic arm and filling these channels opened with the vein formulation mixture using the robotic arm again; particularly,

Preparing the vein formulation containing quartz with a granular size of 10- 300 pm by 91-97% in weight, and pigment by 3-8% in weight, and Regulating the feed rate of the powder vein formulation to 10-20 g. m/sec and the flow rate of the resin to 8 - 15% by weight in the vein channel opening and filling by the robotic arm.

Within the scope of the invention, vein formulations containing quartz with a granular size of 10-300 pm by 91-97% in weight and pigment content by 3-8% in weight were developed to obtain thin and distinct veins in Statuario marble. At least one pigment selected from the group consisting of titanium dioxide, iron oxide and mixtures thereof is used to form the vein formulations. It is paid attention that black pigments used with titanium dioxide are NIR Reflection (Near Infrared Reflection) cool pigments that do not absorb infrared wavelength rays to achieve gray tone vein view in marble. The maximum pigment content that can flow through the robotic chamber is determined to be 10-25% by experimental studies within the scope of the invention. It was observed that natural views could not be obtained with coarser quartz granules that were bigger than 100-300 mhi, and scattering was observed in finer sizes in the practice made within the scope of experimental studies.

The quartz and pigment are mixed in 316 steel drums to obtain a powder vein mixture. When different metal drums were used, it was determined that the metal dyed the mixture due to the abrasive effect of quartz, thus the desired color could not be obtained.

The best results are observed in cases when the feed rate of powder vein formulation is 10-20 g. m/sec and the amount of resin, which provides fluidity, is by 8-15% in weight. Thus, dryness and staining did not occur in the channels opened for the veining application.

Thin vein patterns developed within the scope of the invention are designed closest to the real Statuario marble views. In the context of forming a composite stone with a Statuario marble view, the monochromatic thin vein texture was developed on a monochrome transparent white base. The formation of the vein channels, using the robotic arm, and the filling of the pigment powder mixture, using the robotic arm, allow the sustainability of the veined pattern formed in the composite stone.