EP1952852B1 - Snowboard with decoration element of fibrous material - Google Patents

Abstract

The board (1) has a core (4) covered with a top assembly (10), where the assembly includes a textile layer (13) forming a decoration additional element e.g. woven fabric, arranged inside an opening (2). The element is made up of a fibrous material layer, and includes a polymeric material waterproofing layer (14) forming a seal barrier between the element and polymerized epoxy resin of a reinforcement layer (12) of the assembly. The layer (14) extends under the element to be in contact with a lower face (16) of an upper protective layer (11).

Description

Technical area

The invention relates to the field of snow sliding sports, and more particularly it relates to an improvement in the structure of boards, intended to allow the use of fibrous materials and in particular textiles to achieve decorative elements of the layer higher.

Previous techniques

In general, boards for gliding on snow, whether skis or surfing, have an upper face that has a decor that can be achieved in different ways, but mainly by making drawings, patterns or other inscriptions under the upper layer which forms the outer layer of the ski.

To further increase the quality and aesthetic appearance of the boards, it has been proposed to incorporate on the upper face, additional decorative elements, generally made of a material different from that which constitutes the upper layer of protection. To avoid being exposed to the risk of mechanical tearing, and in particular by the edges, these additional elements are generally arranged so that they are flush with the upper face of the upper protective layer, and without overflowing of excessively.

To do this, an opening is generally made in the upper protective layer, so as to form a window through which the additional decorative element is apparent.

We have described in the document FR 2 823 126 a method of manufacturing a gliding board in which the additional decorative elements are inserted in the upper protective layer so as to form zones of a particular polymeric material, different from the polymeric layer constituting the remainder of the protective layer .

These inserts may for example be made of a material having a soft touch facilitating the gripping of the board. More specifically, these additional elements are cut to the exact shape of the window made in the upper protective layer. It is also known that generally gliding boards incorporate mechanical reinforcing layers, which are made from a fibrous material impregnated with a thermosetting resin, which thus increases the stiffness of the board. To prevent resin leakage in the interstices formed between the additional decorative element and the periphery of the window formed in the upper layer, the aforementioned document proposes to insert under the window, a waterproof film preventing any rise of resin.

One of the objectives of the invention is to allow the use of additional decorative elements that are made of fibrous material, and in particular textile. Another object of the invention is to allow the production of very varied decorative patterns, in shapes and dimensions, with this type of fibrous material.

However, the method described in the aforementioned document is not applicable to the use of inserts of textile materials.

Indeed, due to the texture and extensibility of a textile, it would be impossible to achieve the inserts of textile materials that have exactly the same dimensions as the window made in the upper protective layer. The risk of fraying a fabric would be important, especially since the patterns to be made are small.

Other methods have also been proposed to allow the integration of additional decorative elements of the upper protective layer. So, the Applicant described in the document EP 0 615 773 , a method which consists in producing an upper assembly which comprises superimposed the upper protective layer and an underlying lower layer of polymeric material, of the ABS type.

The upper protective layer has one or more openings forming windows. During the molding operation, the pressures exerted cause the deformation of the underlying layer of the upper assembly, which fills the window of the upper protective layer, being blocked at the upper level by the cover of the mold. This method is not applicable to the use of additional decorative elements based on fibrous materials and in particular textile. Indeed, these materials have a porosity and a capillarity that makes them permeable to the resin that impregnates the layers of reinforcements located under the upper assembly.

A derivative process has been described in the document EP 0 774 280 , which describes the production of an upper assembly, for subsequent placement in a mold for the operation of manufacturing the board. This upper assembly comprises an upper layer having windows inside which are inserted additional decorative elements based on transparent or translucent polymeric material. This additional element is secured to the upper protective layer by a hot plating step, bonding or welding. It is obvious that such a method is not applicable or transferable to the use of additional elements of fiber material and textile in particular. Indeed, the capillarity of such a material would inevitably cause at least partial penetration of the fluid materials present in the vicinity during molding, and in particular the resin of the mechanical reinforcing layers, and to a lesser extent the material of the upper layer of protection when carrying out the upper assembly.

The object of the invention is therefore to allow the use of materials having a certain capillarity with a view to integrating them as an additional decorative element in a part of the upper assembly, despite the proximity of layers of reinforcement impregnated with resin having a natural tendency to migrate during the molding operation.

Presentation of the invention

The invention therefore relates to a snow board on snow which has a core covered with an upper assembly. In a conventional manner, this upper assembly comprises at least one reinforcing layer impregnated with a polymerized resin, and an upper protective layer forming the upper face, and which has a through opening. The upper assembly also includes an additional decorative element, which is present inside the opening made in the upper layer. This additional element extends under the upper protective layer at the periphery of this opening.

According to the invention, the board is characterized in that the additional decorative element is formed of a layer of fibrous material. By fibrous is meant mainly textile materials, and in particular woven or knitted fabrics but also textile fabrics based on nonwoven materials.

By extension, we also mean materials that have a certain capillarity, and in particular leather, paperboard or similar synthetic materials.

According to the invention, the upper assembly also comprises a layer of a polymeric material forming a sealing barrier between the additional decorative element and the resin of the mechanical reinforcing layer. This waterproof layer extends under the additional decorative element protruding from the latter to come into contact with the lower face of the upper protective layer.

In other words, the invention consists in using, as an additional decoration element, layers of material having a certain capillarity, and in preventing any migration of the fluid materials, and in particular of the reinforcing resin during the operation of injection protecting this additional fibrous element by the interposition of a waterproof layer which isolates it from any infiltration of the fluid material.

The fibrous decoration material thus retains its appearance and touch. A textile touch can indeed be particularly appreciable not only for its aesthetic qualities, but also by the fact that it reduces the sensation of cold contact, due to the imprisonment of a layer of air between the fibers of the textile. In addition, a textile-based decor is naturally less subject to scratching than a conventional polymeric layer.

In practice, the principle of the invention can be implemented in different ways, and in particular by using an additional decorative element by opening made in the upper protective layer, or even by using an additional element of decoration which is common to several through openings. And in practice, these through openings can realize patterns with complete freedom of shape, and in particular to achieve alphabetic type markings or patterns of very small dimensions. It is also possible that the through opening extends to the edge of the board, so that the additional textile element is present to the edges of the board.

In practice, it may be advantageous that the additional decorative element has a fraction of its periphery which follows the contour of the through opening. In other words, the additional element protrudes under the upper protective layer by a band which has a substantially constant width. This width can be determined to avoid any risk of tearing of textile materials.

Thus, relative to the size of the pattern, the overflow of the additional element is proportionally greater when the openings are small.

In practice, it is preferable that the additional decorative element protrude from the perimeter of the through opening by a distance greater than 5 mm, this distance being a function of the size of the pattern and the type of textile material used in particular its deformability .

Likewise, it is preferable for the sealing layer to protrude beyond the periphery of the additional element by a distance greater than 5 mm, in order to ensure the most complete seal possible and to prevent any penetration or migration of resin which would pollute. the additional textile element.

Brief description of the figures

• La figure 1 est une vue en coupe transversale d'une planche, conformément à l'invention.
• La figure 2 est une vue en perspective sommaire montrant la mise en place des différents éléments permettant la réalisation d'une planche conforme à l'invention.

The manner of carrying out the invention, as well as the advantages which result therefrom, will emerge from the description of the embodiment which follows, in support of the appended figures in which:

• The figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a board, according to the invention.
• The figure 2 is a perspective perspective view showing the establishment of the various elements for the realization of a board according to the invention.

Way of realizing the invention

As illustrated in figure 1 , a gliding board (1) conventionally includes a lower assembly comprising a sole (2) bordered with edges (3). On this upper assembly rests a core (4) which can be obtained in different ways, either from a core made in a prior operation, or by a core made during an injection operation.

In certain types of planks, this core (4) may be bordered by longitudinal reinforcing elements (5) constituting all or part of the edges of the board. However, the invention is in no way limited to this type of structure, but also covers conventional structures of "sandwich" or "shell" type.

The core (4) is covered with an upper assembly (10) which is composed in the form illustrated in FIG. figure 1 an upper protective layer (11), a reinforcing layer (12), and according to the invention a layer (13) forming the additional decorative element, associated with a sealing layer ( 14).

Of course, the upper assembly may also include other reinforcing elements or others, which have not been shown since they have no direct influence on the invention.

The upper protective layer (11) is conventionally made of a thermoplastic polymeric material, and can receive on its underside (16) different layers of ink or varnish, not directly related to the present invention. In certain embodiments, the upper protective layer may be made from sheets of various materials, such as wood-based sheets, in particular bamboo or the like, and generally any other plant material. It may also be textiles different from those forming the additional element, in terms of materials, color, or more generally appearance.

This upper protective layer (11) has through openings. These openings may be located and have a closed contour when located, such as the opening (20) in the central portion of the upper protective layer (11). These openings (21) may also extend to the edge of the upper protective layer, so that they define a window that extends to the edge (5) of the board. These openings are made in a conventional manner by any punching, stamping or cutting operation.

The upper assembly (10) also comprises a fibrous reinforcing layer (12) which can be made in different ways, and in particular based on one or more plies of yarn, woven or not. This sheet (12) is impregnated with a resin thermosetting, which when fully crosslinked gives a high rigidity to the sheet which contributes to the stiffness of the board.

Typically, the resins employed may be based on epoxy or polyurethane compounds.

According to the invention, the upper layer (11) also comprises a layer (13) forming the additional decorative element. This layer can be made as already mentioned, by various types of material depending on the effect that it is desired to obtain. By way of example, mention may be made of woven fabrics of the Denim-style canvas, which may have undergone aging operations, and which has a good resistance to scratches and edge impacts, or even fabrics having a greater thickness, of the wool knit type in particular. This textile may also include various additional decorative elements, such as printed patterns or elements such as embroidery, seams or the like. It may also be perforated fabrics, such as lace or the like, insofar as the additional element is separated from the rest of the structure of the board by a waterproof layer (14).

Thus, according to the invention, this layer (13) is covered on its underside with a sealing layer (14), which can typically be made based on a multilayer type film to ensure good sealing and bonding. adjacent layers. In order to prevent any resin migration from the reinforcing layer (12) to the textile layer (13), this layer (14) projects beyond the periphery of the textile layer (13) by a distance which is set according to the viscosity of the resin employed, at molding temperatures, the porosity of the textile layer and the operating conditions.

In practice, this distance e ₂ may be of the order of a few millimeters.

Similarly, the textile layer (13) protrudes under the upper protective layer (11) by a distance e ₁ beyond the borders (25) of the openings (20), to ensure a good maintenance of the textile layer and avoid its displacement during use.

In practice, the realization of the patterns can be obtained according to various methods. Thus, it can be as illustrated in figure 2 method in which the core has previously been made by assembly, machining or molding operations.

Thus, the core (4) is placed in a mold with the different components of the lower set. This core is covered with the reinforcing layer (12) pre-impregnated with a thermosetting resin. The part (14) intended to form the sealing layer is then placed on the reinforcing layer (12). The dimensions of this piece (14), which are greater than those of the textile piece (13) and openings (27) allow its implementation with a certain tolerance.

The additional decorative element (13) is then arranged on the sealing layer (14), leaving a peripheral band (28), which is intended to come into contact with the lower face of the upper protective layer (11). This upper protective layer is then placed on the elements previously arranged so that the pattern (27) is centered relative to the textile layer (13).

The lid of the mold is then closed again and the application of a pressure causes, on the one hand, the crosslinking of the resin contained in the reinforcing layer (12) and the deformation of the various layers so that the volume formed by the openings (20, 21) is filled by the textile layer (13). This textile therefore retains on its apparent face its original appearance.

Other methods can be implemented in which the textile layer is secured to the upper protective layer, by prior assembly operations, to facilitate handling of the upper assembly. This assembly can be obtained for example via the layer sealing, or by specific gluing, sewing or the like. In the case of sewing, the sewing thread that assembles can be used to create a decoration such as embroidery, by continuously passing visible areas of the textile layer of the additional element to the upper layer protection.

It is also possible to previously make the upper assembly incorporating the textile layer for assembly with a previously manufactured core.

It follows from the above that the invention allows the realization of gliding boards which have localized patterns, made from a textile material thus having an attractive appearance and touch.

The invention allows in particular the use of this type of material despite the presence in its direct vicinity of fluid materials that could come pollute.

Claims (9)

1. A snowboard (1), comprising a core (4) covered with an upper assembly (10), which comprises:

   ■ a reinforcing layer (12) impregnated with a polymerized resin,

   ■ an upper protective layer (11) having a penetrating opening (20, 21),

   ■ and an additional decorative element (13) present inside said opening (2) extending under the upper protective layer (11) at the periphery of said opening,

   characterized in that the additional decorative element (13) is formed of a layer of fibrous material, and in that it comprises a layer (14) of a polymer material forming a seal barrier between said additional element (13) and the resin of the reinforcing layer (12), said sealed layer (14) extending under the additional element and projecting beyond said element (13) to contact the underside (16) of the upper protective layer (11).
2. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the additional decorative element (13) is made from textile material.
3. The snowboard as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the additional decorative element (13) is a woven cloth.
4. The snowboard as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the additional decorative element (13) is an openwork textile cloth.
5. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the upper protective layer (11) has a plurality of penetrating openings (20, 21) under which an additional common decorative element (13) extends.
6. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the penetrating opening (21) extends up to the edge of the board.
7. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the additional decorative element (13) projects beyond the perimeter of the penetrating opening (20) by a distance e₁ larger than 5 mm.
8. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the additional element (13) has a fraction of its perimeter which matches the contour of the penetrating opening.
9. The snowboard as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the seal layer (14) projects beyond the perimeter of the additional element (13) by a distance e₂ larger than 5 mm.

Images