WO1993013160A1

WO1993013160A1 - Color-adjustable automobile polish

Info

Publication number: WO1993013160A1
Application number: PCT/US1991/009789
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael S. Levey; Daniel D. Huffman
Original assignee: Positive Response Marketing, Inc.
Priority date: 1991-12-27
Filing date: 1991-12-27
Publication date: 1993-07-08
Also published as: AU1378792A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a novel kit for preparing a colored polish for application to a surface, such as an automobile finish. The kit comprises a base polish, formulated to be substantially neutral in color when applied to said surface, and a plurality of coloring agents, formulated for addition in preselected quantities to the base polish in order to impart a desired color to the base polish. The present invention further contemplates an optional colour guide, having a plurality of reference color patches and associated mixing directions, such as that shown in the figure, to aid a user in mixing said polish to accurately match the color of the surface to be polished.

Description

COLOR-ADJUSTABLE AUTOMOBILE POLISH

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a polish for use on colored finishes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a polish, for use on automobile finishes or like surfaces, that can be color-adjusted to match the color of the specific surface to be polished.

BACKGROUND ART

For nearly as many years as there have been automobiles, the problem of how to maintain the finish on a new or newly painted car has plagued automobile owners. Automobile finishes are known to be all too susceptible to scratching and abrasion from such causes as pebbles, tree branches, or road debris. In addition, oxidation, fading and other effects of exposure to the elements can damage a car's finish. A number of prior art automotive polishes have been developed to help protect and beautify the finish on cars. These include natural waxes, such as carnauba or bee's wax, synthetic polishes based on silicones or other polymers, and combination products that include natural or synthetic waxes along with additives such as polytetrafluoroethylene (sold under the trademark TEFLON®) or abrasives. Such polish products typically are transparent when applied to a car's finish and do not affect its color. While such transparency permits the application of these polishes to any color car finish, it significantly limits their utility in covering scratches or other abrasions or irregularities in a car's finish. In addition to such transparent polishes, various "touch-up" products have been developed to effectively cover scratches or abrasions in car finishes. These products typically comprise a paint formulation, preselected to match the factory original color of the finish, which is used to paint over small scratches or other abrasions in the car's finish. However, such touch-up products suffer from several limitations. First, they are difficult to apply because they do not blend transparently with the existing finish. Thus, users of touch-up paints must take great care to avoid smearing the touch-up paint ^or allowing it to spot on adjacent areas of the car's finish. Second, in order to impart a shine to the touched-up portion of the finish, it is necessary to undertake a separate polishing step after the touch-up paint has been applied and permitted to dry. In order to avoid the necessity for this two-step process, pre-colored automobile polish products have been developed. One such pre-colored polish product is sold by Sherman Enterprises of La Crescenta, California, U.S.A. under the trademark COLOR SHINE. Such products comprise a natural or synthetic polish that is pre-colored at the time of manufacture to match the color of popular automobile finishes. A user of such products simply selects the polish color most closely matching his or her car finish and applies it in order impart a shine to the finish and to cover minor abrasions or scratches. However, the necessity to pre-color the polish effectively limits the number of different colors available, thus making it likely that a close color match will not be available for certain less popular finishes. In addition, because automotive finishes fade and discolor with time and exposure to the elements, it may often be the case that a polish pre- colored to match the original finish of a car will no longer be a good match for that same finish after several years time. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a polish that can readily be color-adjusted by the user to match the color of the specific surface to be polished.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for allowing the user to easily and accurately make such color adjustments. The present invention provides a polish kit comprising a neutral colored base polish and a plurality of coloring agents that can be added by the user to the base polish in order to achieve the desired polish color. To facilitate accurate and easy mixing of the appropriate polish color, the present invention further contemplates a color guide, having a plurality of reference color patches and mixing directions associated with each reference color patch identifying the combination of coloring agents necessary to obtain that color. In addition, the color guide has a plurality of apertures, adjacent to the reference color patches, in order to allow the user to place the color guide against the target automobile finish and view the finish through such apertures. In this way, the user can select the reference color that most closely matches the target finish and, having selected the appropriate reference color, prepare the polish by mixing into the base polish the quantities of coloring agents specified on the color guide.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a depiction of the color guide of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-section through Fig. 1 taken along the line 2—2. BEST MODE OF C^ARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a neutral color car polish, a plurality of coloring agents and a color guide card that displays an array of different colored reference color patches. The preferred formulation of the car polish comprises a neutral colored base polish made from a high-grade a inofunctional polydimethylsiloxane in a standard clear coat polish with limited abrasive properties. In the preferred embodiment polytetrafluoroethylene (sold under the trademark TEFLON®) is added to the base polish to aid in rubbing resistance. The preferred embodiment also provides four coloring agents, namely shades of red, blue, yellow and black pigments. The colors are chosen to enable the user to match virtually any paint color used on waxable finishes, while minimizing the number of coloring agents necessary to do so. The coloring agents are packaged in bottles which provide pre¬ determined demarcations to aid in measuring.

A separate container of abrasives, which may be added to the base polish to provide stronger abrasive properties when desirable, is packaged with the preferred embodiment. Standard formulations of polishes, coloring agents and abrasives are well known in the art, and it will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to any particular formulation.

The preferred formulations for the base polish, the coloring agents, and the abrasives are set out as follows in Tables 1, 2 and 3 respectively. In each instance, the listed ingredients are combined in a conventional fashion using the indicated proportions. Table 1 Base Polish Formulation

Ingredient % bv Weight

Water 63.75

Calcined Kaolin Clay 4.00

Low Odor Paraffin Solvent 11.50

Rule 66 Mineral Spirits 11.50

Aminofunctional Siloxane Polymer (50% Active) 4.00

Aminofunctional siloxane Polymer (100% Active) 1.00

Emulsifier (Witcamide® 511 - WITCO Chemical) 1.00

Bentonite 0.50

Isopropyl Alcohol 0.50

Octyl Dimethyl PABA-U.S.P. 1.00

Isostearic Acid 0.75

Fluorocarbon micropowder (Teflon® - 0.50

E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. )

100.003

Table 2 Coloring Agent Formulation

Ingredient

Red Coloring Agent:

Graphtol® Red Pigment Base

(Mfg. by Sandoz Chemicals) Water

Blue Coloring Agent:

Graphtol® Blue Pigment Base

(Mfg. by Sandoz Chemicals) Water

Yellow Coloring Agent:

Graphtol® Yellow Pigment Base

(Mfg. by Sandoz Chemicals) Water

Black Coloring Agent:

Graphtol® Black Pigment Base

(Mfg. by Sandoz Chemicals) Water

Table 3 Abrasive Formulation

Ingredient % bv Weight

Calcined Kaolin Clay 40.00

Bentonite 5.00

Water 55.00

100.00%

Referring to Fig. 1, the preferred embodiment also provides a color guide 20 made of a sheet of cardboard, stiff paper, plastic or a similar material. A plurality of reference color areas 22 are printed on color guide 20. Each reference color area 22 depicts a color shade that can be imparted to the neutral color base polish by adding to the base polish an appropriate quantity of coloring agents. In the preferred embodiment, the color guide 20 also has a folded flap 28 on which can be printed additional instructions, logos, trademarks, or other material, and which can be folded over to serve as a cover for color guide 20.

Reference color areas 22 having similar color shades are grouped together in order to allow the user to view several similar color shades at one time, thus easing the task of selecting a close match. The color guide also has a plurality of apertures 24, adjacent the reference color areas 22, to enable a user to view the color of the finish to be matched in close proximity to the reference color areas 22 on the color guide 20.

Each reference color area 22 on the color guide is associated with a set of mixing directions 26, through use of a reference character or numeral or other appropriate indicator, which may be printed within or adjacent to each reference color area 22. The formulation directions associated with a particular reference color area 22 specify the quantities of the coloring agents that, when mixed with the base polish, will impart to the base polish the color of that reference color area.

The preferred embodiment is packaged as a kit, with the base polish having a volume of approximately 350 ml (12 U.S. fluid ounces) but packaged in a container having a volume of approximately 475 ml (16 U.S. fluid ounces) in order to accommodate the addition of the coloring agents. The kit includes four containers of coloring agents, namely shades of red, blue, yellow and black. Each of the containers has a series of demarcations which assist the user in measuring the quantity of coloring agent to be added to the polish. The kit includes a color guide 20 such as is described above and in

Fig. 1. Finally, the kit can include a container of abrasive compound which may be added in the event a more abrasive polish is desired, such as for use on badly oxidized finishes. The user will overlay the color guide 20 on the surface to be polished, viewing the surface through the apertures 24. The user will compare the color of the surface to be polished with the reference color areas 22 on the color guide 20, selecting the reference color area 22 that most closely matches the surface. The user will then choose the specific mixing instructions 26 that correspond to the matching reference color area 22, and will add to the base polish the appropriate amounts of coloring agents as directed. The user will then thoroughly mix the polish before applying it to the surface in a conventional fashion.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concept herein described. The accompanying claims are intended to cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A color-adjustable polish comprising: a base polish formulated to be substantially neutral in color; and a plurality of coloring agents, formulated for addition in preselected quantities to said base polish, in order to impart a desired color to said base polish.

2. A kit for preparing a colored polish, said kit comprising: a base polish formulated to be substantially neutral in color; a plurality of coloring agents, formulated for addition in preselected quantities to said base polish; and a color guide having a plurality of colored areas, characterized in that each such colored area is of a preselected color and is associated with a set of values specifying the quantities of coloring agents to be added to said base polish in order to impart said preselected color to said base polish.

3. A method for preparing a colored polish for application to a colored surface, said colored polish comprising a base polish formulated to be substantially neutral in color and a plurality of coloring agents formulated for addition in preselected quantities to said base polish, said method comprising the steps of: comparing the color of said surface with a color guide having a plurality of colored areas, characterized in that each such colored area is of a preselected color and is associated with a set of values specifying preselected quantities of said ^~ιo - coloring agents which, when combined with said base polish, will impart to said base polish said preselected color; selecting the colored area of said color guide most closely matching the color of said surface; and combining said preselected quantities of coloring agents with said base polish.