Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited

Masahiro Yamasaki

Shunji Iwahashi

Masakazu Sagou

Takanori Fujita

The surface of a plastic substrate is effectively vapor plated with a metal by coating said surface with a coating composition comprising the following components dissolved in a solvent prior to the vapor plating: (A) (i) a co-partial hydrolysis product of an organosiloxane compound of the formula: R.sub.n Si(OR').sub.4-n (wherein n is an integer of 1 to 3, R is a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms and R' is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms) and a tetraalkoxysilane, or (ii) a mixture of each partial hydrolysis product of said organosiloxane compound and said tetraalkoxysilane, or (iii) a mixture of said co-partial hydrolysis product (i) and said mixture of each partial hydrolysis product (ii), the amount of the partial hydrolysis product of said tetraalkoxysilane (calculated as SiO.sub.2) being 5 to 100 parts by weight to 100 parts by weight of the partial hydrolysis product of said organosiloxane compound (calculated as R.sub.n SiO.sub.(4-n)/2 wherein n and R are each as defined above); and (B) (i) a copolymer of at least one of alkyl acrylates and alkyl methacrylates with at least one of hydroxyalkyl acrylates and hydroxyalkyl methacrylates, and (ii) an etherified methylolmelamine, the amounts of said copolymer (i) and said etherified methylolmelamine (ii) being 5 to 200 parts by weight and 0 to 150 parts by weight, respectively, based on 100 parts by weight of the partial hydrolysis product of the organosiloxane compound (calculated as R.sub.n SiO.sub.(4-n)/2 wherein n and R are each as defined above).

Vapor plating method for plastics

Synthetic resin articles to be printed, plated or coated are cleaned prior thereto by carrying the articles into a cleaning zone where they are contacted with an aqueous detergent solution which is allowed to flow upward and to which an ultrasonic wave is applied, carrying the articles from the cleaning zone to a rinsing zone where they are contacted with warm water which is allowed to flow upward, carrying the articles from the rinsing zone to a dipping zone to contact them with more fresh warm water which is allowed to flow upward, and then pulling the articles up slowly from the dipping zone to drain off the water attached to the articles.

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Ibaraki, Japan

Masahiro Yamasaki