The metal surface treatment and spray technology for furniture accessories, as an advanced process widely applied to various metal materials, aims to construct a protective film by evenly spraying paint onto the metal surface, thereby significantly enhancing the metal's corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and overall aesthetics.

 

In the field of home furnishing hardware accessories, metal surface powder spraying, as a common surface treatment process, is often seen on components such as sofa legs, coffee table legs, and window and door hardware accessories.

 

The metal spraying process for furniture accessories, which has rapidly developed over the past few decades, primarily uses plastic powder as raw material.

 

Although research and experiments began in the 1940s in some countries, progress was relatively slow. It was not until 1954, when German Jamm successfully coated polyethylene using the fluidized bed method, and in 1962, when the French company Sems invented powder electrostatic spraying, that powder coating technology was officially widely applied in production. With increasing emphasis on environmental protection, powder coatings, which do not pollute water and the atmosphere, have experienced rapid development.

 

 

I. Process Flow of Metal Surface Treatment Spraying

The process flow for metal surface treatment spraying of furniture accessories includes the following steps:

 

Preparation Stage: Clean, degrease, and derust the metal surface of sofa legs to ensure surface cleanliness and adhesion.

 

Coating Stage: Mix the paint in a certain ratio and evenly spray it onto the metal surface of the sofa legs through a spray gun or electrostatic spraying, forming a protective film.

 

Curing Stage: Solidify the paint on the metal surface through heating or ultraviolet irradiation, forming a stable protective layer.

 

Inspection Stage: Conduct quality inspection of the sprayed metal surface, including appearance, thickness, adhesion, and other indicators.

 

 

II. Technical Methods of Metal Surface Treatment Spraying

The technical methods for metal surface treatment spraying of sofa legs include air spraying, high-pressure atomization spraying, and electrostatic spraying.

 

Air Spraying: Utilize compressed air to atomize the paint into fine particles and spray them at high speed onto the metal surface. Air spraying equipment is simple and easy to operate, suitable for small areas and manual operations.

 

High-Pressure Atomization Spraying: Use a high-pressure pump to pressurize the paint to a high state, releasing pressure through the nozzle to form atomized paint particles sprayed at high speed onto the metal surface. High-pressure atomization spraying is efficient and provides an even coating, suitable for large-area automated operations.

 

Electrostatic Spraying: Use the principle of electrostatics to attract paint particles to the metal surface, forming a protective film. Electrostatic spraying can improve adhesion, reduce pollution, and is suitable for applications requiring high decoration and durability.

 

 

III. Quality Control in Metal Surface Treatment Spraying

Quality control is crucial in the process of metal surface treatment spraying for sofa legs. It mainly includes the following aspects:

 

Paint Selection: Choose the appropriate paint based on the metal material and application environment to ensure corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and aesthetics.

 

Equipment Maintenance: Regularly inspect and maintain spraying equipment to ensure normal operation and stability.

 

Operation Standards: Establish and implement strict spraying operation standards, including control of spraying pressure, distance, angle, and other parameters.

 

Environmental Control: Keep the spraying environment clean, dry, and dust-free to avoid the impact of impurities and moisture on coating quality.

 

Inspection and Testing: Inspect and evaluate the quality of the sprayed metal surface, including appearance, thickness, adhesion, and other indicators.

 

With the continuous emergence of new materials and processes, the future of metal surface treatment spraying will not be limited to furniture hardware accessories such as sofa legs but will have more choices and application fields. For example, the introduction of nanomaterials and biomaterials will provide new development directions and application prospects for metal surface treatment spraying.

 

 

Outstanding Advantages

1. A single coating can achieve a thicker coating. For instance, applying a 100~300μm coating, which would require 4 to 6 applications with ordinary solvent-based paints, can be achieved in one go with powder coatings. The coating has excellent corrosion resistance.

 

2. Powder coatings do not contain solvents, eliminating pollution and improving working conditions.

 

3. New processes such as powder electrostatic spraying are efficient and suitable for automated production line coating; powder utilization is high, and it can be recycled.

 

4. In addition to thermosetting epoxies, polyesters, and acrylics, there are many thermoplastic materials that can be used as powder coatings, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, fluorinated polyethers, nylon, polycarbonate, and various fluorinated resins.

 

Powder coatings, initially used for protection and electrical insulation, have now been widely applied in the automotive industry, electrical insulation, furniture hardware accessories, corrosion-resistant chemical pumps, valves, cylinders, pipelines, outdoor steel components, steel furniture, castings, coffee table legs, sofa legs, and other metal surfaces.