Method of repairing scratched and/or abraded transparent substrates and the repaired substrates

Abstract

The present invention relates to scratches and/or abraded first substrates such as windows that have been repaired using a bonding material and a second undamaged substrate. Repaired articles and method of repair are provided.

It is claimed:  
     
         1 . An article comprising: 
 a laminate comprising: 
 (a) a first substrate, the first substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the first substrate comprises a material selected from the group consisting of glass, plastic and combinations thereof, wherein the first substrate has at least one scratch on its first major surface and wherein the first major surface of the first substrate has an R max  of greater than about 1 micron;  
 (b) a second substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface wherein the second substrate comprises immediately before, during and after formation of the laminate a material selected from the group consisting of glass, amorphous plastic in its glassy state, amorphous plastic in its rubbery state, crystalline plastic in its glassy state, crystalline plastic in its rubbery state, and combinations thereof;  
 (c) a bonding material layer positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate in a manner to form a laminate, wherein the bonding material layer at least partially rills the scratch(es) and is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate and is in contact with at least a portion of the second major surface of the second substrate;  
   wherein a maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 20 percent.    
     
     
         2 . The article of    claim 1    wherein the article when subjected to a visual acuity test using a 3 meter Snellen eye chart can allow an observer with 6 meter/6 meter vision to read a line on the eye chart which is indicative of about 6 meter/9 meter vision or better.  
     
     
         3 . The article of    claim 1    wherein the bonding material layer completely fills the scratch(es) in the first substrate.  
     
     
         4 . The article of    claim 1    wherein the maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 10 percent.  
     
     
         5 . An article comprising: 
 a laminate comprising: 
 (a) a first substrate, the first substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the first substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, plastic and combinations thereof;  
   wherein the first substrate has an abraded and/or scratched area on its first major surface and wherein the first major surface of the first substrate has a maximum haze value; 
 (b) a second substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the second substrate comprises, immediately before, during, and after formation of the laminate, a material selected from the group consisting of glass, amorphous plastic in its glassy state, amorphous plastic in its rubbery state, crystalline plastic in its glassy state, crystalline plastic in its rubbery state, and combinations thereof;  
 (c) a bonding material layer positioned between the first substrate and the second substrate in a manner to form a laminate, wherein the bonding material is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate and is in contact with at least a portion of the second major surface of the second substrate;  
   wherein a maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 20 percent; and wherein the maximum haze value through the laminate is less than the maximum haze value of the first substrate.    
     
     
         6 . The article of    claim 5    wherein the maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 10 percent.  
     
     
         7 . A method comprising: 
 (a) providing a first substrate, the first substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the first substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, plastic and combinations thereof, wherein the first substrate has at least one scratch on its first major surface and wherein the first major surface of the first substrate has an R max ;    (b) abrading the first major surface of the first substrate over at least one scratch to provide an abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate such that the first major surface of the first substrate has an R max  which is less than that of step (a), wherein if the abrasion itself does not remove any visible contaminants on the first major surface of the first substrate, the first major surface of the first substrate is cleaned to remove any visible contaminants;    (c) forming a laminate comprising (i) the first substrate, (ii) a second substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the second substrate comprises immediately before, during and after the formation of the laminate a material selected from the group consisting of glass, amorphous plastic in its glassy state, amorphous plastic in its rubbery state, crystalline plastic in its glassy state, crystalline plastic in its rubbery state and combinations thereof, and (iii) a bonding material layer, wherein the bonding material layer is positioned between the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer, wherein the bonding material layer is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate and is in contact with at least a portion of the second major surface of the second substrate;    wherein a maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 20 percent.    
     
     
         8 . The method of    claim 7    wherein at least a portion of the bonding material layer which is brought into contact with the abraded area of the first substrate upon forming the laminate has a stress relaxation value of about 15 to about 100 percent when measured at a temperature at which the laminate is formed.  
     
     
         9 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the bonding material is selected from the group consisting of viscous liquids, viscoelastic solids, and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         10 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the bonding material is selected from the group consisting of polyacrylics, silicones, polyolefins, rubber, polymers and mixtures thereof.  
     
     
         11 . The method of    claim 7    wherein step (c) comprises the steps of (i) providing a layer of bonding material over the abraded area of the first substrate wherein the bonding material having a stress relaxation value of at least about 15% at a temperature at which the laminate is formed; and (ii) placing the second substrate over the coating in order to form a laminate.  
     
     
         12 . The method of    claim 7    wherein step (c) comprises the steps of 
 (I) providing a construction comprising 
 (i) the second substrate;  
 (ii) the layer of bonding material having a stress relaxation value of at least about 15% at a temperature at which the laminate is formed coated on said second substrate;  
 
 (II) laminating together the construction and the first substrate in a manner such that the bonding material layer having a stress relaxation value of at least about 15% is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate.  
 
     
     
         13 . The method of    claim 7    wherein step (c) comprises the steps of 
 (I) providing a construction comprising 
 (i) the second substrate; and  
 (ii) the bonding material layer having a stress relaxation value of less than about 15% at a temperature at which the laminate is formed coated on at least a portion of the second major surface of said second substrate;  
 
 (II) causing the bonding material layer of (l) (ii) to change such that its stress relaxation value becomes at least about 15% at a temperature at which the laminate is formed;  
 (III) laminating together the construction and the first substrate in a manner such that the bonding material layer having a stress relaxation value of at least about 15% is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first surface of the first major surface.  
 
     
     
         14 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the R max  of the first major surface of the first substrate in step (a) is at least about 40 microns to about 500 microns.  
     
     
         15 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the R max  of the first major surface of the first substrate in step (b) is about 15 microns or less.  
     
     
         16 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the first substrate is a glass window.  
     
     
         17 . A method comprising: 
 (a) providing a first substrate, the first substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the first substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, plastic and combinations thereof, wherein the first substrate has at least one scratch on its first major surface and wherein the first major surface of the first substrate has an R max  greater than about 1 micron;    (b) removing any visible contaminants on the first major surface of the first substrate by cleaning;    (c) forming a laminate comprising (i) the first substrate, (ii) a second substrate having a first major surface and an opposite second major surface, wherein the second substrate comprises immediately before, during and after formation of the laminate a material selected from the group consisting of glass, amorphous plastic in its glassy state, amorphous plastic in its rubbery state, crystalline plastic in its glassy state, crystalline plastic in its rubbery state and combinations thereof, and (iii) a bonding material layer positioned between the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer, wherein the bonding material layer is in contact with at least the abraded area of the first major surface of the first substrate and is in contact with at least a portion of the second major surface of the second substrate layer;    wherein a maximum haze value through the laminate is less than about 20 percent.    
     
     
         18 . The article of    claim 5    wherein the first substrate in (b) has a maximum haze value of about 20 or greater.  
     
     
         19 . The method of    claim 7    wherein the first substrate has of the abrading a maximum haze value of about 20 or greater.  
     
     
         20 . The article of    claim 1    wherein the first substrate has a Scratch Visibility Test rating of 1-2 and the laminate has a Scratch Visibility Test rating of 0-1.