GB2349362A - Decorative glass tile with slumped edges and painted rear face - Google Patents

Abstract

A clear glass tile T is heated in a kiln to slump and round off the front edges R. The tile is supported on a flat shelf and subjected to temperatures of at least 700 degrees centigrade so that sharp cut edges of the glass are rounded off and smoothed. The tile is removed from the kiln and the back face (the face that was resting on the shelf) is painted with a coloured epoxide paint. Once painted the tile can then be stoved at 130 degrees centigrade. When grouted in place on a wall or floor the coloured rear face can be seen through the tile and gives the impression that the glass itself is coloured.

Description

DECORATIVE TILES The present invention relates to decorative tiles.

Conventionally, decorative tiles for walls and floors have been of ceramic materials. It is known for them to have dimensional relief and/or to be painted.

Recently, slumped glass has been used to produce tiles with relief Slumped glass is ordinary glass cut to shape and heated in a kiln. The heating rounds the cut edges of the glass. Relief can be introduced by placing contoured patterns on the kiln shelf beneath the glass, whereby on softening of the glass in the kiln, it slumps over the pattern, reproducing it when cooled and removed from the kiln.

Glass is commercially available in very few colours. It is not easy to incorporate colour into glass during slumping.

The object of the present invention is to provide coloured slumped glass decorative tiles.

Decorative tiles according to the invention comprises tile-sized pieces of glass which have been heated in a kiln to slump their front edges at least, the tiles being painted on their back face.

To help understanding of the invention, a specific embodiment thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of one tile of the invention set on a wall with further such tiles around it, these being shown broken away; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the one tile before setting.

The tiles T shown in Figure 1 are formed from squares cut conventionally from 1 Omm thick ordinary, commercially available glass. The squares are cut to a nominal dimension of 95mm square or slightly larger. They are heated to at least 700 in a kiln, supported on a flat shelf of the kiln. The heating causes the sharp cut edges to become rounded and smooth. The extent of the rounding is random, though largely regular. Nevertheless, irregularities in shape may be introduced as a result of the cut edges not having been exactly square and/or some tiles being in a hotter portion of the kiln than others.

After removal from the kiln, the back face of the tiles, that is the face which was in contact with the kiln shelf, is painted with epoxide paint of the desired colour and stoved at a temperature of approximately 130 Centigrade.

The tiles are cemented (not visible in Figurel) and grouted G in the conventional manner. Figure 1 shows that the tiles have a slightly irregular edge contour, which enhances their aesthetic appeal. The paint gives them the appearance of being bodily coloured. However, the rounding of their edges causes obliquely incident light to be refracted and focused F on the painted back adjacent the edges on the side from which the light is incident. This also enhances aesthetic appeal.

Figure 2 shows the rounded edges R and the painted back surface P.

The invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above described embodiment. For instance dimensional relief can be incorporated in the tiles during slumping. The painting may include more than one colour or shade of colour. Graphic patterns may be painted. Although the back face is likely to reproduce imperfections from the kiln shelf, it will nevertheless be smooth. It can have a graphic pattern applied to it, as by shot blasting.

Claims (6)

CLAIMS.

1. A decorative tile comprising a tile-sized piece of glass which has been heated in a kiln to slump its front edges at least, the tile being painted on its back face.

2. A decorative tile as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tile-sized pieces of glass are heated to a temperature of at least 700 C.

3. A decorative tile as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein irregularities are introduced by the edges of the pieces of glass not being exactly square.

4. A decorative tile as claimed in claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the back faces are painted with epoxide paint.

5. A decorative tile as claimed in claim 4, wherein the painted tiles are stoved at a temperature of substantially 130 C.

6. A decorative tile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.