FR3079441A1 - METHOD OF INTEGRATION OF AT LEAST ONE ELECTRONIC ELEMENT IN A TABLE PLATE OBTAINED BY MOLDING, PLATE OBTAINED - Google Patents

Abstract

The object of the invention is a method of integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, into a table top (10), obtained by molding, characterized in that it comprises the steps following: Preparation of a mold (16) with a bottom wall of at least one movable piston (18) in translation to the profile of a housing (26) formed in said plate, said piston projecting from said bottom wall of said mold (16), depositing a quantity of pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder in the mold (16) thus prepared, cold pressing with a cold press PF of the entire surface of said powder material disposed in the mold (16), said cold press PF comprising at least one counter-punch (22), arranged in line with the movable piston (18), the initial thickness Ep1 being reduced to the thickness Ep2, withdrawal of the press at cold PF, setting up the electronic element in the log (26) and placing a filling material of the housing (26), first pressing hot with a hot press PC, so as to ensure the cohesion of the binder and so as to obtain a table top (10). ) plan at the top, removal of the PC hot press, obtaining a table top (10) with an integrated electronic element.

Description

METHOD FOR INTEGRATING AT LEAST ONE ELECTRONIC ELEMENT IN A TABLE TRAY OBTAINED BY MOLDING, TRAY OBTAINED

The present invention relates to a method of integrating at least one electronic element in a table top obtained by molding. The invention also covers the table top obtained.

In the field of furniture and more particularly the manufacture of laminated-molded table tops, there are only a few manufacturers worldwide. These table tops, widely used in the catering and brewing sector, have very good resistance to handling, weathering, UV and great durability.

The manufacturing process is relatively old and has not undergone any major improvement for several decades.

These table tops are made from wood chips which are mixed together with a binder of the resin type, then molded under a press, under high pressure and under high heat, thus making it possible to hot compress said wood chips then bonded to each other. others by the heated binder. A rigid plate is then obtained having excellent mechanical properties.

The qualities of durability and resistance of these table tops prove to be a disadvantage for the modification of table tops. Indeed, the integration of an electronic element cannot be easily done in this type of very solid table top.

Such an intervention would require machining, drilling, milling to make a recess for the integration of an electronic element in the table top.

Such machining can modify the mechanical properties, generate fracture initiators and, moreover, these are recovery steps, on different machines therefore time consuming, and therefore costly.

The present invention provides a manufacturing method directly allowing the creation of at least one housing capable of receiving at least one electrical / electronic element, in this case a contactless recharging device for a mobile phone. The objective is to keep the same number of operations necessary for the manufacture of the laminated-molded table top while integrating, within the manufacturing process, the creation of a housing and this without additional operation, without risk of weakening of the table top, ultimately achieving perfect flatness.

According to a first characteristic of the method for integrating at least one electronic element according to the invention, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top obtained by molding, this method comprises the following steps:

A mold is prepared provided on the lower wall with at least one piston movable in translation to the profile of a housing formed in said plate, by projecting the piston from said lower wall of said mold.

An amount of pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder is deposited in the mold to constitute the composite material to be produced.

The entire surface of said pulverulent material placed in the mold is cold pressed, a counter-punch, positioned in line with the movable piston, ensures the pressing of the column above said piston which retracts upon pressing, the initial thickness Epi being reduced to the thickness Ep2,

After cold pressing, the electronic element is placed in the housing and a filling material is placed in the rest of the volume of the housing.

It is then hot pressed so as to ensure the cohesion of the binder and so as to obtain a flat table top in the upper part, in perfect continuity, including in line with the electronic element.

The table top can then be removed with the integrated electronic element.

In addition, the present invention covers a table equipped with the electronic element integrated in the thickness of the table top.

The present invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, the figures showing:

Figure IA: a sectional view of the first stage of the production of the table top Figure IB: a sectional view of the second stage of the production of the table top Figure IC: a sectional view of the third stage of the production of the table top Figure ID: a sectional view of the fourth step in the production of the table top

Figure 1E: a sectional view of the table top obtained after the various stages of production.

In the following description, at least one electronic element is understood to mean at least one recharging device R, the contactless recharging antenna of a telephone or other device and the possible supply wires of said antenna to a supply. electric AL.

This electrical supply is for example a battery, hidden under the table top, in a support device receiving said battery as well as the connection wires of said battery, placed under the table top. This support is not detailed here and can take a multitude of forms and arrangements. The support device will advantageously be protected against theft, will allow easy installation and removal so that the said battery can be recharged, or even replaced the empty battery by a full battery.

The table top is produced according to a process comprising several distinct stages.

A first step consists in depositing chips of a pulverulent and / or fibrous material, in this case wood chips associated with a binder, in a mold, said mold having an imprint with the external dimensions of the future table top, at close coats of finish. A second step consists of a first cold pressing of the chips associated with the binder, which makes it possible to obtain a rough, compact table top whose mechanical strength is sufficient to allow its manipulation.

The raw table top obtained is then placed in another press where it then undergoes a first hot pressing allowing the development of the sticky characteristics of the binders present with the shavings. The maximum strength and mechanical properties are then obtained after this first hot pressing.

An optional additional step consists in providing the integrated finishing sheets on the product taken out of the first hot pressing, introduced with a second hot pressing.

The present invention proposes the integration of an electronic element, in this case, a recharging device R, in the table top and the steps which allow this integration, while obtaining a tray having a perfectly flat upper surface.

Figures IA, IB, IC, 1D, 1E represent the different stages of integration of the recharging device.

For the remainder of the description, it is considered that the lower surface is the surface which will be below, provided with means for securing to a foot for example, when the table top is used and that the upper surface is the surface which will be above, which must be flat and which will receive the objects and other elements when using the table top.

FIG. 1A represents the first step in the production of the table top 10.

Wood chips 12 associated with a binder 14 are deposited in a mold 16.

The mold 16 of the drawings has an imprint, in this case, an imprint of square shape, but any shape of tray, rectangular, round, oval, can be produced with the method according to the present invention. Edges down can be generated on the tray but in this case for the simplification of the drawings and explanations, the tray is described without edges.

The method provides for the use of a mold 16 in the lower part, intended to contain the table top 10 to be produced according to the method of the invention, surmounted by a press intended to come to exert pressure in the mold on said tray like this. will be explained further. According to the method, the mold 16 must receive wood chips associated with a binder 14, in particular a resin, ultimately forming a matrix in which the wood chips are embedded, forming the frame of the composite material thus obtained.

Prior to the removal of these wood chips 12 associated with a binder 14, there is a piston 18 below the wood chips 12. In this representation, the piston 18 is integrated into the bottom of the mold 16. This piston 18 is mounted movable in vertical translation in a housing provided in the mold to allow its retraction.

When removing the wood chips, as shown in FIG. 1A, this piston 18 projects partially above the upper plane of the mold over a given height, which reduces the height of chips in line with said piston.

A rod 20, also movable in vertical translation, is placed vertically, adjacent to the location of the piston 18. This rod 20 is movable in translation relative to the mold in which it can retract like the piston 18. This rod 20 at a given height, at least equal to the height of wood chips deposited, in addition to the guide height in the mold.

With the piston and rod projecting, the method provides for the introduction of a thickness Epi of wood chips 12 into the mold 16. In the mold 16, the thickness Epi is then identical over the entire surface of the plate table 10, except in line with piston 18, the chip surface is leveled to form a flat surface.

Indeed, in line with the piston 18, the thickness is reduced over an area equal to the horizontal upper surface of the piston. This reduced thickness is of height ep. The piston 18 is placed in line with the subsequent positioning of the loading device, as defined in the design.

Once the wood chips 12 have been deposited in the mold, the wood chips are then cold pressed by a cold press PF.

FIGS. 1B and 1C show the table top 10 still consisting solely of wood chips 12 compressed during and after the cold compression operation. The mold 16 is placed under the cold press PF. The wood chips 12 mixed with the binder 14 therefore undergo cold compression which therefore presses on the wood chips 12, the piston 18 and the rod 20 passing through the thickness Epi of wood chips 12 being both in place. In line with the piston 18, the cold press PF is provided, on its lower surface which comes into contact with the wood chips constituting the table top 10, with a counter-punch 22. The counter-punch 22 has in this case a form of puck, that is to say a cylinder of diameter equal to the diameter of the piston 18 and of height equal to the height of the housing to be produced. The initial projection of the piston 18 is greater than the final height of the housing to be produced so as to obtain a homogeneous compression throughout the table top 10, including under said housing.

The lower surface of the cold press PF which comes into contact with the table top 10, is also provided, in addition to the counter-punch 22, with a flush axis 24. This flush axis 24 is axially aligned with the rod 20 placed in the wood chips, of a length at least equal to the initial thickness of the chips and of the same diameter, apart from play.

During cold compression, carried out by the cold press PF, the counter-punch 22, during displacement in translation, comes into contact with the wood chips. In line with the piston 18, the counter-punch 22 exerts pressure on the chip column in line with the piston, which retracts said piston then the whole of the cold PF, including the counter-punch 22 exerts an equal pressure on all of the wood chips 12 which are pressed uniformly over the entire surface of the plate but also to the right of the piston which has retracted, so the pressure is the same on the whole of the plate as at the bottom of the housing 26 thus arranged, better visible in Figure IC.

Cold compression simultaneously generates the hunting of the rod 20 by the hunting axis 24 which, movable in vertical translation, is retracted in the mold 16 and on the other hand, the piston 18 fades vertically downwards at the time of cold compression. The volume initially generated in the wood chips 12 by the rod 20 is retained by the hunting axis 24 during cold compression. This flush is exerted simultaneously with the compression of the plate by the cold press PF.

Cold compression compresses the table top 10, the initial thickness Epi of which is then reduced to the thickness Ep2. The hunting axis 24 replaces the rod 20 as the compression progresses.

Thus, once the cold compression has been carried out, the table top 10 of wood chips 12 is compressed in an evenly distributed manner and therefore thinner, the rod 20 initially present in the wood chips 12 and driven out by the axis of flush 24 as the compression forms a vertical passage 28. To give an idea, the thickness of the table top 10 of wood chips 12 is reduced by about 25% of its initial value and reached , after cold compression, the thickness Ep2.

It will be noted that, to ensure the proper completion of the vertical passage 28, the flush axis 24 had a length equal to the thickness Ep2 so as not to constrain the cold compression while ensuring the formation of the vertical through passage 28.

After this step, the table top 10 of thickness Ep2 has a housing 26 on its upper surface as well as a vertical passage 28 passing through. It is noted that the density at the right of the housing 26 is identical to the density on the whole of the table top. In addition, the underside of the table top is perfectly flat and does not suffer from any disparity in compression which can generate differential shrinkage and therefore appearance defects.

FIG. 1D represents the table top 10 obtained in the previous step, fitted with the loading device R placed in the housing 26, after removal from the cold press PF, before the hot compression which will now be carried out known manner by a PC heat press.

This installation of the loading device R is carried out before the hot compression of the table top 10 then allowing the final shaping of the table top 10.

FIG. 1D shows more precisely the table top 10 having received a recharging device R, in this case a recharging antenna 30 and its supply wires 32. The recharging antenna 30 is placed in the housing 26 and the supply wires 32 are positioned in the vertical through passage 28. The housing 26 receiving the recharging antenna 30, once in place, receives, according to the embodiment adopted, a filling material, in the present case a wafer 34, consisting of wood chips and binder, of the same kind as those used for the production of the table top 10 for uniformity of the plan.

To avoid, during hot pressing, that the supply wires 32 are degraded, embedded in the wood shavings 12, and to prevent them from becoming inaccessible, at least part of the length of the supply wires 32 is previously placed in a capsule 36. Said capsule 36 is a semi-cylindrical element, placed at the lower end of the vertical passage 28 passing through and open downwards, that is to say that the circular part formed by the largest opening is facing down. Once the recharging antenna 30 placed in the housing 26 and surmounted by wood chips and the associated binder, once the supply wires 32 placed in the capsule in the vertical passage 28, the table top 10 undergoes at least a first hot pressing.

Figure 1E shows the table top 10 obtained after the first hot pressing. The first hot compression, generated by a PC hot press, in turn causes a reduction in the thickness of the table top 10, which then has a final thickness Ep3. This PC heat press causes the binder to cohesion with the wood chips in this case.

In a known manner, the first hot compression makes it possible to give the mechanical properties to the table top 10 which, undergoing the heating, sees its binder 14 cross-link when hot and constitute a matrix in which the wood chips are embedded, forming the frame.

The finalized table top 10, made of composite material thus produced, has the mechanical properties sought and necessary for the intended use.

In order to ensure a finish of the table top 10, a laminate sheet 38, formed of a decorative print 40 and of resin 42 is placed on the upper surface of the table top 10. During a second hot pressing, this laminate sheet 38 can then bond and integrate into the matrix of the table top 10. Indeed, the resin constituting the laminate sheet 38 is of the same nature as the same binder 14 as that associated with the wood chips 12 , or at the very least compatible. The matrix resin from the first hot pressing is perfectly compatible with that of the laminate sheet 38 and there is perfect integration into the table top 10, decorative printing, during the second hot pressing.

The table top 10 has thus received on the upper face, the decorative print 40 in a completely integrated and inseparable manner and visible through the resin in a thin layer obtained after the second hot pressing.

The capsule 36 offers significant resistance to at least one undergoing hot compression and to heat and fulfills its role of protecting the supply wires 32.

This capsule 36 is removed after the manufacture of the tray and the supply wires 32 can be accessible for any connection, projecting from the lower part of said tray. Depending on the nature and the cost of such a capsule, said capsule 36 can also be left in situ, it is a lost capsule, which will continue mechanical protection.

Figure 1E shows the reloading elements 44 reported on the underside of the table top 10 obtained. These recharging elements 44 include electronic control means, a battery support, intended to removably receive said battery and any other element that may be necessary for recharging mobile devices.

These rechargeable mobile devices can therefore be charged directly, simply by being placed on the table, by induction.

For this purpose, the decorative printing 40 may include an indicator logo allowing the easy location of the recharging antenna 30 integrated into the table top 10 and therefore invisible. Such integration of the recharging antenna 30 provides total protection against external damage, rain, spilled liquids, even hot, and vandalism, the antenna being in fact completely inviolable. The user can therefore easily position their mobile phone on the table, at the level of the logo to benefit from contactless recharging.

If the table top is intended to receive a leg and become a restaurant table, for example a bar, the removable battery of the table can be recharged outside the opening hours of the establishment which uses the tables.

Once charged, the batteries placed under the table, in their support, allow, on demand, the recharging of the mobile phones of consumers using the table.

The table tops obtained according to the method of the present invention are very resistant mechanically, are of identical shapes to existing table tops, but offer additional possibilities to consumers. These tables avoid a mains connection, which even if it is at low voltage, remains difficult to achieve, especially outdoors because it is necessary to integrate the cables. In addition, the tables can change places.

As for the power supply, it is placed in its support, under the lower surface of the table top and the battery supply wires are connected to the supply wires 5 32 of the antenna 30.

The freedom of movement through an autonomous power supply is a considerable advantage because it is completely safe, easy to use and as indicated above, weatherproof of all kinds, cold, rain, snow, sun and preventing any vandalism.

Claims (9)

1. Method for integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10), obtained by molding, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: Preparation of a mold (16) provided on the bottom wall with at least one movable piston (18) in translation with the profile of a housing (26) formed in said plate, said piston projecting from said bottom wall of said mold (16 ) Depositing a quantity of pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder in the mold (16) thus prepared, Cold pressing with a cold press PF of the entire surface of said pulverulent material placed in the mold (16), said cold press PF comprising at least one counter-punch (22), placed in line with the movable piston ( 18), the initial thickness Epi being reduced to the thickness Ep2, Removal of the PF cold press, Installation of the electronic element in the housing (26) and installation of a filling material for the housing (26), First hot pressing with a PC hot press, so as to ensure the cohesion of the binder and so as to obtain a flat table top (10) in the upper part, Removal of the PC hot press, Obtaining a table top (10) with an integrated electronic element. 2. Method for integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the following additional steps: Before depositing the pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder in the mold (16), placing a rod (20), movable in vertical translation, adjacent to the location of the piston (18), this rod (20) having a height at least equal to the height of pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder thus deposited, Cold pressing with a cold press PF of the entire surface of said pulverulent material placed in the mold (16), said cold press PF comprising in addition to at least one counter-punch (22), arranged in line with the movable piston (18), a flush axis (24), this flush axis (24) being axially aligned with said rod (20) and of a length at least equal to that of said rod (20), so as to provide a vertical passage opening (28). 3. Method of integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that one places, as a material of filling the housing (26), on the electronic element, a wafer (34) made of a pulverulent and / or fibrous material associated with a binder of the same kind as that used for the production of the table top (10). 4. Method for integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10) according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the electronic element comprises wires feed (32) and in that said feed wires are positioned through the vertical through passage (28). 5. Method for integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10) according to claim 4, characterized in that, prior to the first stage of hot pressing, one places the supply wires (32), at least over part of their length, in a capsule (36) and the supply wires (32) and the capsule (36) are placed in the vertical through passage (28) . 6. Method for integrating at least one electronic element, in particular a recharging device R, in a table top (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, after the first hot pressing, a laminate sheet (38), consisting of a decorative print (40) and resin (42) is placed on the upper surface of the table top (10) obtained after the first hot pressing and a second pressing is carried out. hot. 7. Table top (10) comprising an electronic element integrated by the method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a device for supporting a removable electrical supply, hidden under said table top. 8. Table top (10) according to claim 7, characterized in that the electronic element comprises a recharging antenna (30) and supply wires (32) connected to the electrical supply. 9. Table top (10) obtained by the method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, on its lower surface, means for securing with a foot.