Glass veneer on ceramics
OwnerWalter Henry Huberinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of polishing a fired ceramic article such as brick, tile etc article comprising applying to a surface of fired ceramic article a hardening/densifying compound comprising a member selected from the group consisting of hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, and combinations thereof and allowing the hardening/densifying compound to contact with the surface for a period of time sufficient to allow the compound to harden surface, which can then be ground, polished etc to a high gloss.
Claims43
A method of polishing a surface of a fired ceramic article comprising the steps of:
- a) applying to a surface of fired ceramic article a hardening/densifying compound comprising a member selected from the group consisting of hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, organic curable compounds and combinations thereof;
- b) allowing the hardening/densifying compound to contact the surface for a period of time sufficient to allow the hardening/densifying compound to harden the surface;
- and
- c) polishing the surface.
A method of polishing a kiln fired ceramic surface, comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying to the ceramic surface a diluted polishing compound, at a rate sufficient to adequately penetrate the surface, selected from the group consisting of hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, and combinations thereof in water or alcohol;
- and (b) polishing the ceramic surface to which the compound has been applied.
A method of honing and polishing a rough, irregular, ceramic surface, comprising the steps of:
- (a) honing the surface with a rough grit honing pad, disc or drum with or without a lubricant to produce a substantially smooth, even surface;
- (b) applying to the ceramic surface a hardening/densifying compound selected from the group consisting of hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, and combinations and solutions thereof in solvents comprising a member selected from the group consisting of water and alcohol;
- (c) allowing the hardening/densifying compound to remain in contact with the surface for a period of time sufficient to harden the surface of the ceramic;
- (d) polishing the ceramic surface.
A method of removing and levelling soft, porous, ceramic from a cured ceramic surface and polishing the surface, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) abrading and removing the soft surface with a coarse rotating grinder;
- (b) cleaning the surface and allowing it to dry;
- (c) applying to the ceramic surface a hardening/densifying compound selected from the group consisting of hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, and combinations and solutions thereof in solvents comprising a member selected from the group consisting of water and alcohol;
- (d) allowing the hardening/densifying compound to remain in contact with the surface for a period of time sufficient to harden/density the surface of the ceramic;
- (e) polishing the ceramic surface with a polishing pad, disc or drum having a grit coarseness from about 20 to 10,000;
- (f) cleaning the ceramic surface;
- (g) applying to the ceramic surface a diluted polishing compound selected from the group consisting of water and hydroxides, silicates, siliconates, fluorosilicates, siloxanes, silazanes, silanes, silicon esters, and combinations and solutions thereof in solvents comprising a member selected from the group consisting of water and alcohol;
- (h) polishing the ceramic surface with a polishing pad, disc or drum having a less rough grit than was used in previous polishing step;
- and
- (i) repeating steps (f) through (h) until, upon cleaning, the surface has a desired level of shine.
(canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.