APPLYING TEXTURE TO HARD SUBSTRATE

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/593,330, filed on Oct. 26, 2023, entitled “APPLYING TEXTURE TO HARD SUBSTRATE”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Various aspects of the present invention relate generally to a process for applying a texture to a hard substrate, and specifically to a process for applying a texture to armaments.

Many times, people who purchase items that include a hard substrate (e.g., firearms, knives, model automobiles, etc.) may want to change a color or texture of the item. However, some processes for applying a texture to a hard substrate may result in undesirable effects such as tackiness, chipping, etc.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to aspects of the present invention, a process for applying a texture to a hard substrate comprises cleaning a hard substrate to remove any particles on the hard substrate. Then, a first wet pigment is applied to the hard substrate and allowed to air cure in atmosphere to create a pigmented substrate. The pigmented substrate is subjected to a first bake to further flash cure the pigment. After the bake, the substrate is abraded to create an abraded substrate, and a first liquid ceramic is applied to the abraded substrate. A textured substance is applied to the abraded substrate after applying the first liquid ceramic to the abraded substrate and is allowed to air cure in atmosphere to create a coated substrate. The coated substrate is subjected to a second bake to further cure the first liquid ceramic, and a second liquid ceramic that is different from the first liquid ceramic is applied to the substrate, which is allowed to air cure in atmosphere.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a first portion of a process for applying a texture to a hard substrate, according to various aspects of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a second portion of the process for applying a texture to a hard substrate, according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to aspects of the present disclosure, hard substrates such as metal substrates (e.g., handguns, knives, etc.) are treated with a process to apply a texture, which may also include a color.

Existing processes for applying texture to hard substrates fail, because the applied texture is too thin, which may wear away. When the texture wears away, the substrate is exposed, which will lead to corrosion. Further, the texture may chip or flake, which besides exposing the substrate, could lead to flakes texture getting into internal components of a firearm.

Turning now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a process 100 is shown for applying a texture to a hard substrate (e.g., a metal substrate). As mentioned above, embodiments of the process 100 provide an improvement over other processes and make the texture more durable on the substrate. At 102, the hard substrate is cleaned to remove any particles (e.g., coatings, oil, dirt, residues, etc.) that may be on the substrate. For example, if the substrate is a firearm, the firearm may be disassembled and outer surfaces of portions of the firearm (e.g., frame, slide, etc.) may be sandblasted to remove particles. In some embodiments, cleaning the hard substrate includes degassing the hard substrate.

At 104, a first wet pigment is applied to the hard substrate. The first wet pigment may be any desired pigment (e.g., any color, any manufacturer (e.g., cerakote), etc.).

At 106, the first wet pigment is allowed to air cure to create a pigmented substrate. In some embodiments, the first wet pigment is allowed to air cure by waiting for the first pigment to cure at atmospheric atmosphere (i.e., no special pressure is applied) for about fifteen minutes.

At 108, the pigmented substrate is subjected to a first bake to further cure (i.e., flash cure) the first wet pigment. In several embodiments, the pigmented substrate is subjected to a first bake at atmospheric pressure. In numerous embodiments, the first bake is at around one-hundred-and-twenty-one degrees Celsius (e.g., one-hundred-and-twenty to one-hundred-and-twenty-five degrees Celsius). Moreover, in various embodiments, the first bake lasts for twenty to twenty-five minutes.

At 110, the baked, pigmented substrate is abraded to create an abraded substrate. For example, the baked, pigmented substrate may be scoured with a scouring pad.

At 112, a first liquid ceramic is applied to the abraded substrate after applying the textured substance to the abraded substrate

At 114, a textured substance is applied to the substrate with the wet ceramic. For example, textures particles, glitter, gritty particles, or other small particles may be applied to the abraded substrate. In many embodiments, a clear coating is then applied to the abraded substrate. At 116, the first liquid ceramic air cures in atmosphere (i.e., no special pressure is applied) to create a coated substrate.

At 118, the coated substrate is subjected to a second bake to further cure the first liquid ceramic. In several embodiments, the second bake lasts for one-hundred-and-five to one-hundred-and-thirty-five minutes (e.g., two hours) to further cure the first liquid ceramic. Further, in various embodiments, the second bake is at less than eighty-five degrees Celsius (e.g., eighty-two to eighty-five degrees Celsius).

At 120, a second liquid ceramic—that is different than the first liquid ceramic—is applied to the substrate. In other words, the same liquid ceramic is not applied twice (i.e., once before the second bake and once after the second bake). Instead a first liquid ceramic is applied before the second bake and a second liquid ceramic of a different type is applied after the second bake.

At 122, the second liquid ceramic is allowed to cure at atmospheric pressure (i.e., no outside pressure is applied). In many embodiments, the second liquid ceramic cures over a three to five day period. In some embodiments of the process 100, the substrate is hand finished (e.g., mechanically) to remove overspray and any loose textured substance after the second bake but before the second liquid ceramic is applied.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable storage medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), Flash memory, an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer storage medium does not include propagating signals.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Network using an Network Service Provider).

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the disclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Aspects of the disclosure were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.