Fire-resistant architectural resin materials
View Patent ↗A synthetic fire-resistant resin includes one or more of a polycarbonate resin material, and/or a polyester resin material mixed with a flame-retardant, such as a bis-diphenyldiphosphate flame-retardant. Alternatively, a mixture of polycarbonate resin material mixed with polyester resin material can be capped with a fire-resistant film. The resin sheet can be made at a thickness such that the resin sheet is structurally useful as a conventional building material. Furthermore the resin sheet can be made transparent, translucent, or colored, as desired for architectural purposes. The resin sheet further has a Vicat temperature that renders the extruded resin sheet easy to work with using conventional manufacturing techniques, and strong enough to be used in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor environments. In one implementation, fire-resistant resin sheets can be combined with a decorative image layer to form a decorative panel that can be used in Class A building environments.
1. A substantially translucent or transparent fire-resistant extruded resin sheet for use as decorative architectural Class A fire-resistant building material comprising:
a polymeric resin composition comprising a mixture of about 75 to about 85 wt-% of a polyester resin material, and about 15 to about 25 wt-% of a polycarbonate resin material; and
at least one of a PVC, PVF, and PVDF capping film formed about the resin sheet;
wherein the resin sheet is a fire-resistant resin that is translucent or transparent.
2. The fire-resistant extruded resin sheet as recited in claim 1 , wherein the fire-resistant resin sheet has a thickness that is greater than one-sixteenth of an inch.
3. The fire-resistant extruded resin sheet as recited in claim 1 , wherein the extruded resin sheet has a thickness of greater than about one-sixteenth of an inch; and wherein the resin sheet allows light transmittance within about 15% of a normalized standard light transmittance of the polymeric resin composition.
4. A fire resistant, translucent or transparent decorative laminate structure having a decorative image layer thermoformed therein, the decorative laminate structure being suitable for use in a Class A building environment, comprising:
a first and second fire-resistant resin sheet each comprising a resin composition including a copolyester ratio of about 45-55 wt-%, a polycarbonate ratio of about 30-40 wt-%, and a flame-retardant ratio of about 10-20 wt-% of A-bis(diphenylphosphate) or resorcinol bis(diphenylphosphate); and
at least one decorative image layer between the first and second fire-resistant resin sheets;
wherein the ratios of copolyester, polycarbonate, and flame-retardant are each selected to provide each of the first or second fire-resistant resin sheets with a light transmittance value that is within 15% of a normalized standard light transmittance of the polymeric component, and fire-resistance properties.
5. The fire-resistant resin sheet as recited in claim 4 , wherein the fire-resistant resin sheet has a thickness that is greater than one-sixteenth of an inch.
6. A translucent or transparent, fire-resistant polymeric resin sheet that qualifies as a Class A building material, comprising:
a first ratio of about 65 to about 75 wt-% of polycarbonate, wherein the ratio of polycarbonate is selected to provide the polymeric resin sheet with structural stability at a thickness greater than about one-sixteenth of an inch; and
a second ratio of about 25 to about 35 wt-% of A-bis (diphenylphosphate) or resorcinol bis(diphenylphosphate) flame retardant, wherein the ratio of flame retardant is selected to provide the polymeric resin sheet with a flame spread value of less than about 25 feet per minute, and a smoke density value of less than about 450%-light absorption per minute after 10 minutes as measured by ASTM E-84;
wherein the polymeric resin sheet is transparent or translucent, and has a Vicat softening point of between about 50° C. to about 90° C.
7. A translucent or transparent, fire-resistant polymeric resin sheet that qualifies as a Class A building material, comprising:
a first ratio of about 85 to about 97 wt-% of copolyester, wherein the ratio of copolyester is selected to provide the polymeric resin sheet with structural stability at a thickness greater than about one-sixteenth of an inch; and
a second ratio of about 3 to about 15 wt-% of A-bis (diphenylphosphate) or resorcinol bis(diphenylphosphate) flame retardant, wherein the ratio of flame retardant is selected to provide the polymeric resin sheet with a flame spread value of less than about 25 feet per minute, and a smoke density value of less than about 450%-light absorption per minute after 10 minutes as measured by ASTM E-84;
wherein the polymeric resin sheet is transparent or translucent, and has a Vicat softening point of between about 50° C. to about 90° C.
8. The fire-resistant polymeric resin sheet as recited in claim 7 , wherein the polymeric component comprises about 85 to about 93 wt-% of the composition; and wherein the flame-retardant compound comprises about 7 to about 15 wt-% of the composition.