Decoration panel for home appliances, home appliance including the same, and method for manufacturing the decoration panel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12398482-B2
Application number	US-202217880083-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2022
Priority date	Oct 12, 2021
Publication date	Aug 26, 2025
Grant date	Aug 26, 2025

Abstract

A decoration panel for home appliances having excellent reflectivity and durability, the decoration panel being applicable to outer sides of various home appliances, a home appliance including the decoration panel, and a method for manufacturing the decoration panel. More specifically, the decoration panel for home appliances includes: an aluminum substrate with one surface in which an engraved pattern having a preset width and a preset depth is formed, the engraved pattern having micro unevenness formed in a surface of the engraved pattern; a porous aluminum oxide layer formed on the engraved pattern; and a sealing layer formed to close a plurality of pores of the porous aluminum oxide layer, wherein an edge of the aluminum substrate is in a Chamfering (C) shape or a Rounding (R) shape.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A decoration panel for home appliances, comprising:
an aluminum substrate having one surface with an engraved pattern, the engraved pattern having:
a preset width from a first end of one of the engraved patterns to a second end of the one of the engraved patterns,
a preset depth from the one surface to a deepest part of the engraved pattern, the engraved pattern having the preset width from the first end to the second end having repeated curved adjacent preset widths of first ends and second ends connected to each other without having a flat portion between the first end and the second ends, wherein the preset width of the engraved pattern ranges from 3.0 mm to 10.0 mm, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 3 mm to 6 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 25 or more, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 7 mm to 10 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 59 or more; and
micro unevenness formed in a surface of the engraved pattern;

a porous aluminum oxide layer having a plurality of pores, and formed on the engraved pattern; and
a sealing layer formed to close the plurality of pores of the porous aluminum oxide layer,
wherein an edge of the aluminum substrate is in a Chamfering (C) shape or a Rounding (R) shape.

2. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein the preset depth of the engraved pattern ranges from 75 μm to 860 μm.

3. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein a gradient of the engraved pattern which is a degree of inclination based on the preset width of the engraved pattern and the preset depth of the engraved pattern, ranges from 120° to 170°.

4. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein the edge of the aluminum substrate is formed in the C shape ranging from 0.5 C to 2.0 C which defines a 45° chamfer with a side length of 0.5 mm to 2 mm and the first end is adjacent to the Chamfering shaped edge or in a Rounding (R) shape ranging from 0.5 R to 2.0 R which defines a radius of curvature with a radius of 0.5 mm to 2 mm, and the first end is adjacent to the Rounding shaped edge for the edge of the aluminum substrate formed in R shape.

5. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the porous aluminum oxide layer ranges from 5.0 μm to 30.0 μm.

6. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein each pore of the porous aluminum oxide layer is formed with a size ranging from 10 nm to 100 nm.

7. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein the porous aluminum oxide layer further comprises a dye filled in the plurality of pores.

8. The decoration panel of claim 1 , wherein the sealing layer is formed of a plurality of aluminum oxide particles.

9. A method for manufacturing a decoration panel, comprising:
preparing an aluminum substrate;
forming an engraved pattern in one surface of the aluminum substrate, the engraved pattern having:
a preset width from a first end of one of the engraved patterns to a second end of the one of the engraved patterns;
a preset depth from the one surface to a deepest part of the engraved pattern, the engraved pattern having the preset width from the first end to the second end having repeated curved adjacent preset widths of first ends and second ends connected to each other without having a flat portion between the first ends and the second ends, wherein the preset width of the engraved pattern ranges from 3.0 mm to 10.0 mm, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 3 mm to 6 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 25 or more, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 7 mm to 10 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 59 or more;

forming micro unevenness in a surface of the engraved pattern;
performing anodizing on the surface of the aluminum substrate in which the micro unevenness is formed to form a porous aluminum oxide layer having a plurality of pores;
performing sealing to close the plurality of pores of the porous aluminum oxide layer; and
machining an edge of the aluminum substrate to a Chamfering (C) shape or a Rounding (R) shape after the forming of the engraved pattern.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the forming of the engraved pattern is performed through extrusion molding or Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the forming of the micro unevenness is performed by at least one process selected from chemical etching and sand blasting, wherein the chemical etching is performed by using an etching solution selected from group including NaNO 3 , H 2 O 2 , NaOH, and combinations thereof, and
the sand blasting is performed by using an abrasive selected from among stainless steel, ceramic, glass, and emery.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising coloring with a dye for color implementation, before the performing of the sealing.

13. A home appliance comprising:
a main body; and
a door to open or close the main body;
at least one of the main body or the door comprises an aluminum decoration panel,
wherein the aluminum decoration panel comprises:
an aluminum substrate having one surface with an engraved pattern, the engraved pattern having:
a preset width from a first end of one of the engraved patterns to a second end of the one of the engraved patterns;
a preset depth from the one surface to a deepest part of the engraved pattern, the engraved pattern having the preset width from the first end to the second end having repeated curved adjacent preset widths of first ends and second ends connected to each other without having a flat portion between the first ends and the second ends, wherein the preset width of the engraved pattern ranges from 3.0 mm to 10.0 mm, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 3 mm to 6 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 25 or more, and when the preset width of the engraved pattern is 7 mm to 10 mm, a ratio of the preset depth (μm) to the preset width (mm) is 59 or more; and
micro unevenness formed in a surface of the engraved pattern;

a porous aluminum oxide layer having a plurality of pores, and formed on the engraved pattern; and
a sealing layer formed to close the plurality of pores of the porous aluminum oxide layer, wherein an edge of the aluminum substrate is in a Chamfering (C) shape or a Rounding (R) shape.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Kyunghwan
• Koh Youngdeog
• Kim Kwangjoo
• Kim Jinju
• Chun Jihwan

Classifications

• C23F1/36

  for etching aluminium or alloys thereof · CPC title

• B44C1/227

  by etching · CPC title

• B44C1/221

  using streams of abrasive particles · CPC title

• C23F1/02

  Local etching · CPC title

• B44F1/08

  characterised by colour effects · CPC title