JP2025014636A - Manufacturing method for tiled bathtub and mold member for tiling - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a manufacturing method of a tiled bathtub allowing even unskilled workers to easily manufacture a tiled bathtub cosmetically in a short time.SOLUTION: A manufacturing method of a tiled bathtub uses, as tiling mold members, a main mold 10 including an outer surface corresponding to an inner surface of a bathtub body and at least one plane on the outer surface, and a separable mold 20 including a rib 25 projecting from a front surface of a planar base part 21. A rear surface of the base part 21 of the separable mold 20 corresponded thereto is brought into contact with a certain plane of the main mold 10: a plurality of tiles is stacked on the separable mold 20 such that the front surface of the tiles is brought into contact with the front surface of the base part 21, and the side surface of the tiles aligns against the rib 25; after the main mold is covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tiles to integrate the tiles and the FRP layer, the tiles and the FRP layer together with the separable mold 20 are separated from the main mold 10; and the separable mold 20 is separated from the tiles integrated with the FRP layer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub and a tiling mold member used in this manufacturing method.

Bathtubs with tiles on the inside surface have existed for some time. For example, bathtubs tiled with tiles made of natural stone such as marble give off a luxurious feel and are popular with customers who prefer that kind of feel. Such tiled bathtubs were previously manufactured by attaching the backside of tiles to the inside surface of the bathtub body, which is made of resin, via an adhesive.

For this reason, in the past, skilled techniques were required to attach tiles with neatly aligned joints for a good appearance. In addition, because tiles are not necessarily of uniform thickness, in order to attach tiles with a good appearance so that the height of the tile front surface is consistent, it was necessary to adjust the thickness of the adhesive layer according to the thickness of the tile, which was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.

In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub that allows even unskilled workers to easily produce a bathtub with good-looking tiles in a short amount of time, and a tiling mold member for use in this manufacturing method.

In order to solve the above problems, the method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub according to the present invention comprises the steps of:
"A method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub using a tile mold component,
The tiling mold member comprises a main mold and a separable mold,
The main mold has an outer surface corresponding to an inner surface of the bathtub body, and the outer surface has at least one flat surface,
The separation type mold has a flat base portion and a rib protruding from the front surface of the base portion,
The separable mold is disposed so that the back surface of the base portion abuts against the flat surface of the main mold;
A plurality of tiles are stacked and arranged on the separable mold so that the front surface of the tile abuts against the front surface of the base portion and the side surface of the tile is along the rib;
The main mold is covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separation mold and the tile, and the tile and the FRP layer are integrated together, and then:
The separated mold, the tile, and the FRP layer in a stacked state are separated from the main mold;
The separate mold is separated from the tile which is integral with the FRP layer.

According to this configuration, a flat separation mold is placed on the plane that constitutes the outer surface of the main mold, and tiles are placed along the ribs protruding from the separation mold. The main mold is then covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separation mold and the tile to integrate the tile and the FRP layer. Therefore, after the separation mold is removed from the tile integrated with the FRP layer, gaps corresponding to the ribs are formed between the tiles, and these become gaps for joints. Therefore, even without skilled techniques, the gaps for joints can be uniformly aligned, and a tiled bathtub with a good appearance and neatly aligned joints can be manufactured.

Here, in order to achieve the effect of arranging the tiles along the ribs to uniformly align the gaps for the joints, it is conceivable to provide the ribs directly on the plane that constitutes the outer surface of the main mold. However, in this case, when the FRP layer integrated with the tiles is separated from the main mold by demolding, if there are ribs extending in a direction different from the demolding direction, this will hinder the demolding. In contrast, in the present invention, the ribs are provided on the separable mold that is arranged on the plane that constitutes the outer surface of the main mold, so that the separable mold and the FRP layer integrated with the tiles are first demolded to separate them from the main mold, and then the separable mold can be removed in a direction in which the extension of the ribs does not cause any problems when demolding.

In addition, in the present invention, the "front surface" of the tile, which will appear in the exterior of the manufactured tiled bathtub, is abutted against the base of the separable mold. Then, the main molding mold is covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separable mold and the tile, so that the back side of the tile is embedded in the FRP layer and integrated. As a result, even if the tile is not of uniform thickness, the height of the front surface of the tile will inevitably be constant in the manufactured tiled bathtub. Therefore, there is no need for the cumbersome and time-consuming task of adjusting the thickness of the adhesive layer depending on the thickness of the tile, as was done in conventional technology, and a tiled bathtub with a good appearance can be manufactured easily in a short time.

The term "tile" can refer to decorative thin plates made of various materials, including tiles made of natural stone such as marble, ceramic tiles, and resin tiles.

In addition to the above configuration, the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub according to the present invention includes the following steps:
"Before covering the main mold with an FRP layer from the outside of the separated mold and the tile,
The gaps between adjacent tiles may be sealed with masking tape.

In this configuration, in the process of covering the main mold with an FRP layer from the outside of the separable mold and tiles, the masking tape can be used to prevent resin from seeping in between the tiles. This allows the subsequent process of filling the gaps between the tiles with joint material to form joints to be carried out without any problems, and allows the formation of joints with a good appearance.

Although the masking tape will remain in the final tiled bathtub product, it will not be visible in the final product because it will be covered with grout during the grout treatment process.

In addition to the above configuration, the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub according to the present invention includes the following steps:
"In a state where the separable mold is arranged with the back surface of the base portion abutted against the flat surface of the main mold,
The area of the base portion may be smaller than the area of the plane.

The base part of the separable mold has the function of supporting the tiles. Therefore, when the entire area of the plane of the main mold is to be tiled, the usual approach would be to make the area of the base part large enough to cover the area of the plane of the main mold so that the entire area of the tile can be supported. In contrast, in this configuration, the area of the base part of the separable mold is made smaller than the area of the plane of the corresponding main mold. This is based on the idea that the tiles can be stably supported even if the entire area of the tile is not supported by the base part. This allows the separable mold to be made smaller and lighter, which reduces the labor burden involved in manufacturing a tiled bathtub and also reduces the raw material required for the separable mold, thereby saving manufacturing costs.

Next, the tiling mold member according to the present invention is
"It is equipped with a main molding die and a separate die,
The main mold has at least one flat surface on its outer surface,
The separable mold has a flat base portion and a rib protruding from the front surface of the base portion, the rib being intended to bring the back surface of the base portion into contact with the flat surface of the main mold.

This is the configuration of the tiling mold member used in the above-mentioned method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub.

As described above, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub that allows even unskilled workers to easily produce a bathtub with good-looking tiles in a short amount of time, and a tiling mold member for use in this manufacturing method.

FIG. 3A is a plan view, FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, and FIG. 3C is a perspective view of a bathtub to be manufactured using a method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a separable mold placed on a main mold in a method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub, which is one embodiment of the present invention. Continuing from FIG. 2, this is a perspective view of the main mold in which a separable mold is disposed. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of tiles arranged in a stacked manner on a separation type mold. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the state in which the main molding die is covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separation die and the tile. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the stacked separation type mold, tiles, and FRP layer separated from the main molding mold. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which a detachable mold has been separated from a tile integrated with an FRP layer. FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating a modified example of the separation type. FIG. 13 is a perspective view illustrating another modified example of the separation type.

A method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub 100, which is one embodiment of the present invention, and a tiling mold member used in this manufacturing method will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the tiled bathtub 100 may be simply referred to as the bathtub 100.

The bathtub 100 to be manufactured in this embodiment is a bathtub with tiles 30 attached to the inner peripheral surface of the bathtub body 110, which is made up of multiple flat surfaces. To be more specific, as shown in FIG. 1, the bathtub 100 has a rectangular outer shape in a plan view, and the overall shape of the bathtub body 110 is concave, but has a step on the side surface 111 that constitutes one side of the rectangular outer shape in a plan view. In this embodiment, there are two steps, and a person can sit on the first step 115, which is closer to the bottom surface 113 of the bathtub body 110, to soak in the hot water. The other second step 116 is used as a step together with the first step 115 when entering and exiting the bathtub 100.

In the bathtub body 110, the side surface 112 opposite the side surface 111 on which the first step 115 and the second step 116 are formed is linearly inclined upward and outward, and is used as a backrest. The remaining two sides of the bathtub body 110 are vertical surfaces.

The inner surface of the bathtub body 110 configured as described above is formed from nine flat surfaces, with multiple tiles 30 attached to each flat surface. Gaps are provided between adjacent tiles 30 on each flat surface, and joint material is filled into these gaps to form a joint layer (not shown).

In this embodiment, one main molding die 10 and multiple separable dies 20 are used as tiling mold components to manufacture the bathtub 100. The main molding die 10 is a die having a convex shape corresponding to the concave shape of the bathtub body 110. Therefore, the outer surface of the main molding die 10 is composed of multiple flat surfaces, which respectively correspond to the multiple flat surfaces that make up the inner peripheral surface of the bathtub body 110. In this embodiment, in order to install the frame material 90 along the upper edge of the bathtub body 110, the bathtub body 110 has a flange portion 119 along the upper edge for placing the frame material 90. Therefore, the main molding die 10 also has a mold flange portion 19 that corresponds to the flange portion 119.

Each of the multiple separable dies 20 has a shape in which linear ribs 25 protrude from a thin, flat base portion 21. The separable dies 20 correspond to the flat surfaces that make up the inner periphery of the bathtub body 110, which are to be tiled. In this embodiment, all nine flat surfaces that make up the inner periphery of the bathtub body 110 are to be tiled, so there are nine separable dies 20 corresponding to these nine flat surfaces. In this embodiment, the area of the base portion 21 of the separable dies 20 is large enough to cover the entire area of each flat surface of the corresponding main molding die 10.

The separable mold 20 may be one in which only the ribs 25 extending in one direction are arranged in parallel, or one in which a lattice is formed by the ribs 25 extending in two perpendicular directions. In this embodiment, each of the ribs 25 has a length that extends from one end of the base portion 21 to the opposing end.

Next, we will explain the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub 100 using the main molding die 10 and multiple separable dies 20. The main molding die 10 is installed so that the surface that corresponds to the bottom surface 113 of the bathtub body 110 is the upper surface. Here, the surface from which the die flange portion 19 extends is placed on the installation surface.

In this state, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the separable dies 20 corresponding to each of the planes constituting the outer surface of the main mold 10 are abutted against each of the planes. Here, of the front and back surfaces of the base part 21 of the separable die 20, the side where the rib 25 protrudes is the front surface, and the other surface is the back surface, and the back surface of the base part 21 is abutted against the main mold 10. Fig. 2 shows the state where the separable die 20 is placed and abutted against a horizontal plane among the planes constituting the outer surface of the main mold 10, and Fig. 3 shows the state where the separable die 20 is abutted against a plane other than the horizontal plane among the planes constituting the outer surface of the main mold 10. At this time, an adhesive that limits the movement of the separable die 20 relative to the main mold 10 with a weak adhesive force that does not prevent the separation of the separable die 20 from the main mold 10 may be applied to the outer surface of the main mold 10, or an adhesive tape may be attached.

In this embodiment, the separable mold 20 is not placed on the mold flange portion 19.

After the separable mold 20 is placed on each flat surface of the main mold 10, the tile 30 is placed on the base part 21 so that the side of the tile 30 is aligned with the rib 25 of the separable mold 20, as shown in FIG. 4. At this time, of the front and back surfaces of the tile 30, the surface that will be visible in the manufactured bathtub 100, i.e., the front surface of the tile 30, is abutted against the front surface of the base part 21 of the separable mold 20.

By arranging the tiles 30 so that their sides are aligned with the ribs 25, in a separable mold 20 in which only the ribs 25 extending in one direction are provided in parallel, the tiles 30 are lined up in one direction, whereas in a separable mold 20 in which the ribs 25 extend in two perpendicular directions, the tiles 30 are arranged vertically and horizontally.

After that, the main molding die 10 is covered with an FRP layer 40 from the outside of the separable die 20 and the tiles 30. Prior to covering with the FRP layer 40, masking is performed to seal the gaps between adjacent tiles 30 so that resin does not penetrate into the gaps. This is because ribs 25 exist in the gaps between the tiles 30, and there is a risk of resin penetrating through the small gaps between the tiles 30 and the ribs 25. Therefore, masking tape (not shown) is applied so as to straddle the ribs 25, from slightly inside one side edge of adjacent tiles 30 to slightly inside the side edge of the other tile 30. Furthermore, among the flat surfaces that make up the outer surface of the main mold 10, there is no rib 25 at the boundary between the tiles 30 placed on the separable mold 20 that is in contact with a horizontal surface and the tiles 30 placed on the separable mold 20 that is in contact with a non-horizontal surface. However, since there is a risk of resin penetrating into this boundary, masking tape is also applied here to seal the small gap between the tiles 30.

The covering with the FRP layer 40 can be performed by the hand lay-up method or the spray-up method. In the hand lay-up method, a sheet made of reinforcing fibers such as glass fiber is impregnated with a resin such as unsaturated polyester resin to cover the main mold 10 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tiles 30. Alternatively, the main mold 10 is covered from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tiles 30 with a sheet made of reinforcing fibers, and then the resin is impregnated. The resin-impregnated sheet made of reinforcing fibers is degassed by pressing it with a roller or the like.

In the spray-up method, resin mixed with cut reinforcing fibers is sprayed onto the main mold 10 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and tile 30 using a spray gun.

A hardener is added to the resin, and the resin hardens at room temperature over time. In addition to the hardener, a hardening accelerator may also be added to the resin.

As the resin hardens, an FRP layer 40 is formed that covers the main mold 10 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tile 30, as shown in FIG. 5. The FRP layer 40 becomes integrated with the tile 30 as the resin hardens.

In this embodiment, the separable mold 20 is not placed on the mold flange portion 19, and as a result, the tile 30 is not placed either, but the mold flange portion 19 is also covered with the FRP layer 40. This is to form the flange portion 119 on which the frame material 90 is placed and supported. Since the mold flange portion 19 is directly covered with the FRP layer 40, the surface of the flange portion 119 that is covered with the FRP layer 40, i.e., the surface opposite the surface that abuts against the installation surface, is coated with a release agent prior to covering with the FRP layer 40.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the FRP layer 40 integrated with the tiles 30 is separated from the main molding die 10 together with the separable die 20 with the ribs 25 inserted between adjacent tiles 30 (removal). If the ribs 25 were provided directly on the main molding die 10, removal would not be possible if the ribs 25 extended in a direction different from the removal direction. In contrast, in this embodiment, the ribs 25 are provided on the separable die 20, and the separable die 20 is removed together with the main molding die 10, so removal can be performed without any problems even if the ribs 25 extend in a direction different from the removal direction.

Then, the separable molds 20 are removed from the tiles 30 that are integrated with the FRP layer 40. Since the separable molds 20 are flat and arranged on each plane that constitutes the outer surface of the main mold 10, each separable mold 20 can be removed individually in the direction in which the ribs 25 exit the gaps between the tiles 30, and the direction in which the ribs 25 extend does not pose a problem when removing the separable molds 20.

In addition, because the separable mold 20 is present between the FRP layer 40 and the main molding mold 10, the FRP layer 40 does not adhere to the main molding mold 10, and the FRP layer 40 and the main molding mold 10 can be separated without any problems even if the outer surface of the main molding mold 10 is not coated with a mold release agent.

When all the separable molds 20 are removed, the inner surface of the FRP layer 40 is tiled, as shown in FIG. 7, to obtain a pre-jointed bathtub 50 with gaps between the tiles 30. The FRP layer 40 constitutes the bathtub body 110. In this state, the masking tape can be seen through the gaps between the tiles 30.

Before joint treatment, the bathtub 50 is inverted and joint treatment is performed by filling the gaps between the tiles 30 with joint material and letting it harden. This means that the masking tape is not visible from the outside. The frame material 90 is placed on the flange portion 119 of the bathtub body 110 and fixed, and the tiled bathtub 100 with the configuration described above with reference to Figure 1 is obtained.

As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub 100 of this embodiment, the flat-shaped separable molds 20 are arranged on each plane constituting the outer surface of the main mold 10, the tiles 30 are arranged along the ribs 25 protruding linearly from the separable mold 20, and then the main mold 10 is covered with the FRP layer 40 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tiles 30. Therefore, after the FRP layer 40 integrated with the tiles 30 is separated from the main mold 10 together with the separable mold 20, and the separable mold 20 is removed from the tiles 30 integrated with the FRP layer 40, a gap corresponding to the rib 25 is formed between the tiles 30, which becomes the gap for the joints. Therefore, even without skilled techniques, the gap for the joints can be uniformed, and a tiled bathtub 100 with a good appearance and neatly aligned joints can be manufactured.

In addition, according to the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub 100 of this embodiment, the "front surface" of the tile 30 that appears in the exterior of the manufactured tiled bathtub 100 is abutted against the base part 21 of the separable mold 20. Then, the main mold 10 is covered with an FRP layer 40 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tile 30, so that the back side of the tile 30 is embedded in the FRP layer 40. As a result, even if the thickness of the tile 30 is not constant, the height of the front surface of the tile 30 is necessarily constant in the manufactured tiled bathtub 100. Therefore, there is no need for the complicated and time-consuming task of adjusting the thickness of the adhesive layer according to the thickness of the tile 30, as was done in the conventional technology, and a tiled bathtub 100 with a good appearance can be easily manufactured in a short time.

Furthermore, according to the manufacturing method of the tiled bathtub 100 of this embodiment, before covering the main molding die 10 with the FRP layer 40 from the outside of the separable die 20 and the tiles 30, the gaps between the tiles 30 are sealed with masking tape. This makes it possible to prevent resin from penetrating between the tiles 30 and causing them to bend during the process of covering with the FRP layer 40, and allows the subsequent process of filling the gaps between the tiles 30 with a joint material to form joints to be carried out without any problems, and allows the formation of joints with a good appearance.

In the above, an example was given of a case where the area of the base portion 21 of the separable molds 20 arranged on each plane constituting the outer surface of the main molding mold 10 is large enough to cover the entire area of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10. This is not limited to the above, and as shown in FIG. 8, in a modified separable mold 20a, the area of the base portion 21 can be smaller than the area of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10. The base portion 21 has the function of supporting the tile 30, but this is based on the idea that the tile 30 can be stably supported even if it does not support the entire area of the tile 30.

In this way, by making the area of the base portion 21 smaller, the separable mold 20a can be made lighter, which reduces the labor required to manufacture the tiled bathtub 100 and also reduces the amount of raw material required to make the separable mold 20a, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

Note that FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the entire outer periphery of the base portion 21 of the separable mold 20a is located inside the entire outer periphery of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10, and there is a portion along the entire outer periphery of the plane without the base portion 21. This is not limiting, and the separable mold can be positioned so that at least one side of the entire outer periphery of the base portion 21 coincides with one side of the entire outer periphery of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10. This makes it easier to position the separable mold relative to the main molding mold 10.

The above example shows that all of the ribs 25 formed on the separable mold 20 have a length that reaches from one end of the base 21 to the opposing end. However, the present invention is not limited to this example, and a modified separable mold 20b may have a length of the ribs 25 such that at least one of the ends of the rib 25 does not reach the end of the base 21. The ribs 25 are used to position the tiles 30 so that the gaps between the tiles 30 are constant, but the idea is that the tiles 30 can be positioned even if the tiles 30 are not aligned along the ribs 25 over their entire length.

Note that Fig. 9 illustrates an example in which the area of the base portion 21 of the separable mold 20b is smaller than the area of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10, and the length of the ribs 25 is such that the ends of the ribs 25 do not reach the edge of the base portion 21. This is not limiting, and the separable mold may have an area of the base portion 21 large enough to cover the entire area of the plane of the corresponding main molding mold 10, and the length of the ribs 25 is such that at least one of the ends of the ribs 25 does not reach the edge of the base portion 21.

In this way, by shortening the length of the ribs 25, the separable mold 20 can be made lighter, which reduces the labor required to manufacture the tiled bathtub 100 and also reduces the raw materials required for the separable mold 20, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

The present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various improvements and design changes are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, in order to tile all of the flat surfaces that make up the inner surface of the tiled bathtub 100, the separable mold 20 is abutted against all of the flat surfaces that make up the outer surface of the main molding mold 10, and tiles 30 are placed on top of the separable mold 20. This is not limited to the above, and if a portion of the inner surface of the bathtub 100 is not to be tiled, the separable mold 20 is not abutted against the outer surface of the main molding mold 10 corresponding to that portion, and tiles 30 are not placed thereon. In this case, the outer surface of the main molding mold 10 in that portion will be directly covered with the FRP layer 40, so the outer surface of the main molding mold 10 in that portion is coated with a release agent.

The above example shows a case where the separable mold 20 is not placed on the mold flange portion 19 of the main molding mold 10, and therefore the tiles 30 are not placed. However, if the flange portion 119 of the bathtub body 110 is also tiled, a corresponding separable mold 20 is placed on the mold flange portion 19 of the main molding mold 10, and the tiles 30 are placed on top of the separable mold 20. The main molding mold 10 is then covered with an FRP layer 40 from the outside of the separable mold 20 and the tiles 30.

10 Main mold 20, 20a, 20b Separate mold 21 Base portion 25 Rib 30 Tile 40 FRP layer 100 Bathtub (tiled bathtub)
110 Bathtub body

Claims (4)

A method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub using a tiled mold member, comprising:
The tiling mold member comprises a main mold and a separable mold,
The main mold has an outer surface corresponding to an inner surface of the bathtub body, and the outer surface has at least one flat surface,
The separation type mold has a flat base portion and a rib protruding from the front surface of the base portion,
The separable mold is disposed so that the back surface of the base portion abuts against the flat surface of the main mold;
A plurality of tiles are stacked and arranged on the separable mold so that the front surface of the tile abuts against the front surface of the base portion and the side surface of the tile is along the rib;
The main mold is covered with an FRP layer from the outside of the separation mold and the tile, and the tile and the FRP layer are integrated together, and then:
The separated mold, the tile, and the FRP layer in a stacked state are separated from the main mold;
A method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub, comprising the steps of separating the detachable mold from the tile integrated with the FRP layer. Before covering the main mold with an FRP layer from the outside of the separated mold and the tile,
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sealing any gaps between adjacent tiles with masking tape. In a state where the separable mold is arranged with the back surface of the base portion abutted against the flat surface of the main mold,
A method for manufacturing a tiled bathtub as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the area of the base portion is smaller than the area of the plane. The mold has a main mold and a separate mold.
The main mold has at least one flat surface on its outer surface,
The separable mold is a tiling mold component having a flat base portion and a rib protruding from the front surface of the base portion, the rib being intended to abut the back surface of the base portion against the flat surface of the main molding mold.

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