Toto Ltd.

Hirotaka Ishibashi

Koichi Hayashi

Makoto Hayakawa

Mitsuyoshi Machida

Tomoyasu Ichiki

Masami Ando

Hiroyuki Nagayama

Masaaki Ito

Atsushi Kitamura

Toshihiro Aoshima

Katsuhiro Kawakami

Satoshi Horiuchi

Tetsuaki Bundo

Hiroaki Nagai

Koji Kita

Susumu Narita

Nobuyuki Yamada

A sanitary ware comprises a sanitary ware body and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body. The surface glaze layer has a center line average roughness Ra of less than 0.07 &mgr;m as measured with a stylus type surface roughness tester according to JIS B 0651-1996.

Sanitary ware and process for producing the same

Sanitary wares having a controlled surface are disclosed which are less likely to be stained or soiled and/or possess excellent gloss. The first sanitary ware comprises a sanitary ware body and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, wherein the surface glaze layer has a center line average roughness Ra of less than 0.07 &mgr;m. This sanitary ware is advantageous in that stains or soils are much less likely to be adhered to the surface thereof and, even when adhered to the surface thereof, can be removed by a weak water stream. The second sanitary ware comprises a sanitary ware body and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, wherein the surface glaze layer has a kurtosis Rku of less than 2.70. This sanitary ware advantageously possesses excellent surface gloss. The third sanitary ware comprises a sanitary ware body and a surface glaze layer provided on the sanitary ware body, wherein the surface of the surface glaze layer consists essentially of a vitreous component and is free from silica particles having a particle diameter of not less than 10 &mgr;m. This sanitary ware is advantageous in that stains or soils are less likely to be adhered to the surface thereof.

Disclosed is a sanitary ware which has a self-cleaning function for releasing carboxyl-containing greasy stains or soils, such as fatty acids, fatty esters, metallic soaps (scum of soaps), proteins, amino acids, bacteria, and fungi, and deposited stains or soils, such as water scale and urinary calculi. This sanitary ware comprises at least a sanitary ware body and a glaze layer as an outermost layer of the sanitary ware, a monovalent metal component and/or a metal component having a measure of the electronegativity based on Pouling's rule of not more than 1 being provided so as to be releasable evenly and continuously, over the whole surface of the glaze layer as the outermost layer, in such an amount large enough to impart a self-cleaning function for releasing stains or soils to the surface of the glaze layer as the outermost layer, the metal component being suppliable from the glaze layer as the outermost layer and/or the sanitary ware body to the whole surface of the outermost layer. The sanitary ware is advantageous in that stains or soils on the sanitary ware can be simply removed, for example, by running water without using any surfactant and without strongly scrubbing the surface of the sanitary ware by a scrubbing brush or a cleaning brush.

Sanitary earthen products

In a discharge lamp sealing apparatus , luminescent substances are charged into an arc tube through an opening thereof, and an electrode member is then inserted into the arc tube through the opening 13 . A lower end of the arc tube is supported by a support jig in a state that a glass ring is placed around the circumference of the opening . The arc tube is set in an air-tight condition by a feeding conduit and inserted into a heating unit . The heating unit fuses the glass ring with heat of an infrared lamp and thereby seals the opening . During the sealing process, one end of the arc tube is supported by the support jig . The support jig is mainly made of a material having a greater thermal conductivity than that of the material of the arc tube , for example, a metal material like Al or Cu. This arrangement enables heat to be readily conducted from the arc tube to the support jig and accordingly prevents a temperature rise in the arc tube . This prevents the luminescent substances from being vaporized and released from the arc tube

Discharge lamp, discharge lamp sealing method, discharge lamp sealing device

A disclosed gradient function material seal cap for discharge lamp bulb is produced by molding and thereafter firing a slurry which contains a plurality of groups of particles having different specific gravities. The plurality of groups of particles include at least a first group of particles and a second group of particles. The first group of particles comprises a group of non-metal particles having a specific gravity ranging from about 3 to 7 and a maximum particle diameter equal to or smaller than a deflocculation limit, said nonmetal particles being made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of an oxide, a carbide, a nitride, and an oxynitride. The second group of particles comprises a group of metal particles having a specific gravity which is about 1.5 times the specific gravity of said first group of particles, and particle diameters distributed across the deflocculation limit. The gradient function material seal cap is manufactured by preparing a slurry containing a plurality of groups of particles and/or a plurality of slurries, and supplying the slurry or slurries into a porous mold to form a deposited region in the porous mold initially primarily influenced by way of attraction of the porous mold and subsequently primarily influenced by a deflocculating effect of the particles in the slurry or slurries or under the influence of the gravity.

Gradient function material seal cap for discharge lamp bulb

A disclosed gradient function material is produced by molding and thereafter firing a slurry which contains a plurality of groups of particles having different specific gravities. The plurality of groups of particles include at least a first group of particles and a second group of particles. The first group of particles comprises a group of non-metal particles having a specific gravity ranging from about 3 to 7 and a maximum particle diameter equal to or smaller than a deflocculation limit, said non-metal particles being made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of an oxide, a carbide, a nitride, and an oxynitride. The second group of particles comprises a group of metal particles having a specific gravity which is about 1.5 times the specific gravity of said first group of particles, and particle diameters distributed across the deflocculation limit. The gradient function material is manufactured by preparing a slurry containing a plurality of groups of particles and/or a plurality of slurries, and supplying the slurry or slurries into a porous mold to form a deposited region in the porous mold initially primarily influenced by way of attraction of the porous mold and subsequently primarily influenced by a deflocculating effect of the particles in the slurry or slurries or under the influence of the gravity.

Gradient function material

A disclosed gradient function material is produced by molding and thereafter firing a slurry which contains a plurality of groups of particles having different specific gravities. The plurality of groups of particles include at least a first group of particles and a second group of particles. The first group of particles comprises a group of nonmetal particles having a specific gravity ranging from about 3 to 7 and a maximum particle diameter equal to or smaller than a deflocculation limit, said nonmetal particles being made of one or more materials selected from the group consisting of an oxide, a carbide, a nitride, and an oxynitride. The second group of particles comprises a group of metal particles having a specific gravity which is about 1.5 times the specific gravity of said first group of particles, and particle diameters distributed across the deflocculation limit. The gradient function material is manufactured by preparing a slurry containing a plurality of groups of particles and/or a plurality of slurries, and supplying the slurry or slurries into a porous mold to form a deposited region in the porous mold initially primarily influenced by way of attraction of the porous mold and subsequently primarily influenced by a deflocculating effect of the particles in the slurry or slurries or under the influence of the gravity.

Growing community of inventors

Kitakyushu, Japan

Hirotaka Ishibashi