Abrasive article and method of use

Abstract

A coated abrasive article (10) having a backing (12) and an abrasive coat (20) attached to the backing (12), the abrasive coat (20) comprising a cured abrasive slurry containing a plurality of abrasives particles, wherein the abrasive slurry is soluble such that it retains the abrasive particles on the backing (12) when in its solid state, and releases the abrasive particles from the backing (12) during the process of dissolution to a dissolved state.

1 . A coated abrasive article having
 a backing and an abrasive coat attached to the backing,   the abrasive coat comprising a cured abrasive slurry containing a plurality of abrasives particles,   wherein the abrasive slurry is soluble such that it retains the abrasive particles on the backing when in its solid state, and releases the abrasive particles from the backing during the process of dissolution to a dissolved state.   
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the cured slurry is attached to the backing by a liquid-softenable tie coat. 
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 2  wherein the tie coat is a hydrogel. 
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the backing is flexible when wet. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 4  wherein the backing is a non-woven web or foam. 
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 5  wherein the backing is a thermoplastic web. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the abrasive slurry is a UV light cured abrasive slurry. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the abrasive slurry contains an acrylol morpholine oxide UV-curable monomer. 
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the slurry dissolves into a polishing compound upon activation by fluid. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 9  wherein the fluid is water. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the cured undissolved slurry has a surface texture comprising geometric forms. 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 11  wherein the geometric forms are polygons. 
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 1  wherein the abrasive particles are formed of vermiculite. 
     
     
         14 . A method of abrading a work piece, the method including the steps of:
 providing a coated abrasive article having   a backing and an abrasive coat attached to the backing,   the abrasive coat comprising a cured abrasive slurry containing a plurality of abrasives particles,   wherein the abrasive slurry is soluble such that it retains the abrasive particles on the backing when in its solid state, and releases the abrasive particles from the backing during the process of dissolution to a dissolved state.   the method including the further steps of:   applying a liquid to the article to dissolve abrasive slurry in order to release the abrasives particles from the backing to form a polishing compound,   polishing the work piece with the backing and polishing compound.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the method includes the step of:
 abrading the work piece with the article in a dry state prior to adding the liquid.