Screen assembly and method of attaching a screen cloth therein using a light curable adhesive
A screen frame assembly ( 20 ) for a door or a window includes a frame ( 22 ), a screen cloth ( 24 ), and a light curable adhesive (LCA) ( 26 ). The LCA ( 26 ) cures upon exposure to light energy ( 43 ). The frame ( 22 ) defines an opening ( 30 ) and the screen cloth ( 24 ) covers the opening ( 30 ). The LCA ( 26 ) is disposed between the frame ( 22 ) and the screen cloth ( 24 ) to adhere the screen cloth ( 24 ) to the frame ( 22 ) once the LCA ( 26 ) has been cured.
1 . A screen assembly for a window or a door, said assembly comprising;
a frame defining an opening and including a mounting surface surrounding said opening,
a screen cloth disposed on said mounting surface and covering said opening, and
a light curable adhesive disposed between said mounting surface and said screen cloth and responsive to light energy for adhering said screen cloth to said mounting surface of said frame.
2 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light curable adhesive is responsive to light energy in the range of 0.5 nm to 700 nm.
3 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light curable adhesive comprises a UV curable adhesive.
4 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein said UV curable adhesive is responsive to UV energy in the range of 4 to 400 nm.
5 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 4 wherein said UV curable adhesive is responsive to UV energy in the range of 320 to 400 nm.
6 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light curable adhesive has a viscosity in the range of 5,700 to 14,000 cP, as determined by ASTM D2556, before being cured.
7 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light curable adhesive comprises a resin, an ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and a curing initiator.
8 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 7 wherein said curing initiator is a photo-initiator reactive with said monomer upon exposure to UV energy in the range of 4 to 400 nm.
9 . A screen assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein said resin is present in an amount of from 40 to 55 parts by weight, said monomer is present in an amount of from 20 to 40 parts by weight, and said photo-initiator is present in an amount of from 1 to 9 parts by weight, all based on 100 parts by weight of said light curable adhesive.
10 . A method of attaching a screen cloth to a mounting surface of a frame, said method comprising the steps of;
placing the screen cloth onto the mounting surface of the frame,
disposing a light curable adhesive between the screen cloth and the mounting surface of the frame, and
applying light energy to the light curable adhesive to adhere the screen cloth to the mounting surface of the frame.
11 . A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of applying light energy to the adhesive is further defined as the steps of first applying only sufficient light energy to tack the screen cloth onto the mounting surface of the frame and thereafter applying sufficient light energy to cure the adhesive.
12 . A method as set forth in claim 11 further defined as applying tacking light energy at a first station and applying curing light energy at a second station spaced from the first station.
13 . A method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the step of applying tacking energy occurs simultaneously with the step of disposing the adhesive on the mounting surface.
14 . A method as set forth in claim 12 wherein the step of applying curing energy is further defined as applying curing energy for less than ten seconds.
15 . A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of applying light energy is further defined as applying curing energy for less than ten seconds.
16 . A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of placing the screen on the mounting surface of the frame occurs prior to the step of disposing the adhesive between the screen cloth and the mounting surface of the frame.
17 . A method as set forth in claim 16 wherein the step of disposing the adhesive further includes the step of permeating the adhesive through the screen cloth to dispose the adhesive between the screen cloth and the mounting surface of the frame.
18 . A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of applying the light energy is further defined as applying light energy in a range of 0 . 5 to 700 nm to cure the adhesive.
19 . A method as set forth in claim 18 wherein the step of applying the light energy is further defined as applying light energy in a range of 4 to 400 nm to cure the adhesive.
20 . A method as set forth in claim 19 wherein the step of applying the light energy is further defined as applying light energy in a range of 320 to 400 nm to cure the adhesive.
21 . A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein the step of disposing a light curable adhesive is further defined as disposing a light curable adhesive having a viscosity in a range of 5,700 to 14,000 cP, as determined by ASTM D2556.
22 . A method as set forth in claim 10 further including the step of disposing a cover layer over the adhesive after application of the light energy to the adhesive to protect the adhesive from subsequent exposure to light energy.