Patent ID: 6187255
Filing Date: 2001-02-13
Classification: C03B,C03C,C04B

Abstract:
A process for producing a shaped sintered glass or sintered glass-ceramic body as a high-strength construction and decoration material simulating natural stone and used for cladding facades, walls and floors, both indoors and outdoors, said process comprising the steps of:a) introducing a planar, uniformly thick layer of a mixture comprising from 85 to 98% by weight of broken glass, from 0 to 14.7% by weight of a mineral component and from 0.3 to 5% by weight of finely divided additives into a heat-resistant mold;b) adding from 40 to 600 ppm of a sintering aid to the mixture, wherein said sintering aid is a solution of a metal tetrachloride compound, a metal oxychloride, a metal alkoxide, or a hydrolysis product thereof;c) drying the layer of the mixture in the mold at a temperature of 60 to 100.degree. C.;d) heating the layer of the mixture at a rate of at least 0.5 to 3.0 K/min to a sintering temperature;e) maintaining the layer of the mixture at said sintering temperature for at least 20 minutes; and thenf) cooling the layer of the mixture at a rate of at least 0.5 to 3.0 K/min to room temperature.