GB2299501A - Structural panel with decorative side edge - Google Patents

Abstract

A structural panel 10 comprises a main panel body 20 defining a planar substrate having opposed upper 21 and lower 22 faces, a cover sheet of a rigid material 25 bonded to and covering the upper face of the panel, the cover sheet having at least one marginal edge portion 35 which extends beyond a side edge 36 of the substrate, the side edge being covered by a laminated edge covering assembly 40, the edge covering assembly having an upper face 41 laminated with a lower face of marginal edge portion 35a and having a lower face 41 laminated contiguous with a lower face 10a of the panel. The panel may be used as a worktop.

Description

STRUCTURAL PANEL The present invention relates to a structural panel which may for example be used as a worktop.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a structural panel comprising a main panel body which defines a planar substrate having opposed upper and lower faces, a cover sheet of a rigid material bonded to and covering the upper face to define an upper face of the panel, the cover sheet having at least one marginal edge portion which extends beyond a side edge of the substrate, said side edge being covered by a laminated edge covering assembly, the edge covering assembly having an upper face laminated with a lower face of said marginal edge portion and having a lower face substantially contiguous with a lower face of the panel.

Preferably the laminated edge covering assembly includes at least one layer formed from said rigid material. Preferably all layers of the edge covering assembly are formed from said rigid material.

Preferably the rigid material is a resin based composite material.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of constructing a structural panel as defined above, the method including laminating the cover sheet to the substrate and subsequently laminating the edge covering assembly to said marginal edge portion.

Preferably the edge covering assembly is formed from a plurality of strips of said rigid material which are laminated together. Preferably the strips are laminated together in situ on the substrate.

Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a structural panel, in the form of a worktop, according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is an enlarged part cross-sectional view along line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a similar view to Figure 2 showing a second embodiment according to the present invention; Referring initially to Figure 1, there is shown a structural panel 10 in the form of a worktop. Accordingly the panel 10 is shown having one decorative side edge 12, the panel being typically 60 to 90 cm in width, having an overall thickness of about 4 cm and may be of varying lengths of say between 1 to 4 meters.

The panel 10 is of a laminated construction having a main panel body 20 which defines a substrate having an upper face 21 and a lower face 22.

The upper face 21 is entirely covered by a cover sheet 25 which is bonded in face to face contact with face 21 by a suitable adhesive.

The cover sheet 25 which is formed from a rigid material, such as a resin bonded composite material known in the art as a solid surfacing material.

Such materials are densely filled resins which have a homogeneous structure such that the colour and visual texture of the material extends continuously throughout a sheet formed of such material. The resin may be an acrylic or polyester resin or a cross-linked acrylic-polyester resin.

The composite material may be reinforced with glass fibres or other similar reinforcing fibres. A suitable solid surfacing material is sold under the brand name "SWANSTONE". Preferably the cover sheet 25 is about 6 mm in thickness but may be more or less than 6 mm if desired.

The body 20 is preferably solid and is preferably formed from a suitable structurally supportive material, preferably a wood based material, which possesses the same or substantially the same thermal and/or moisture expansion characteristics as the rigid material from which the main panel body is formed. Preferably the substrate is formed from a suitable plywood.

The decorative side edge 12 is formed from a marginal edge portion 35 which extends beyond the side edge 36 of the main panel body 20 and a laminated edge covering assembly 40. The laminated edge covering assembly 40 includes an upper face 41 which is laminated with a lower face 35a of the marginal edge portion 35 and includes a lower face 42 which is preferably co-planar with or is substantially contiguous with the lower face 10a of the panel 10. The lower face 10a of the panel 10 is preferably defined by a covering sheet 11, preferably a paper backing sheet bonded in face to face contact with face 22. If the sheet 11 is omitted, then the lower face of the panel 10 will be defined by lower face 22 of the body 20.

The edge covering assembly 40 may be fonned in different ways and a first embodiment is illustrated in Figure 2.

In Figure 2 the side edge 36 of the body 20 is provided with an centrally located groove 50 and a shouldered rebate 51 which is located adjacent to lower face 22.

A strip 44 of the rigid material is located in groove 50 and is preferably bonded in face to face contact with the sides of the groove 50 by a suitable adhesive.

A strip 47 of the rigid material is located in rebate 51 and is preferably bonded in face to face contact with the sides of the rebate by a suitable adhesive.

Strips 45, 46 of the rigid material placed inbetween marginal portion 35 and strips 44, 47 and are bonded in face to face contact with opposed faces of sheet 25, strip 44 and strips 44, 47 respectively and are also preferably bonded in face to face contact with the edge 36.

Preferably assembly of the panel 10 is performed in three main stages, viz the cover sheet 25 is first applied to the body 20 and after bonding has taken place, secondly the side edge 36 is machined and thirdly then the covering assembly 40 is applied, preferably in one operation ie. all strips 44 to 47 are placed in position and bonded together in the same operation.

In order to ensure that strips 44 to 47 may be laminated together in face to face contact, the groove 50 and rebate 51 are accurately machined into the edge 36 of the body 20 after the body 20 has been accurately machined to a desired thickness which is determined by the predetermined combined thickness of strips 44 to 47.

The glue used to bond strips 44 to 47 to form a laminated construction is preferably chosen to produce an invisible glue line inbetween the adjacent layers.

After securance of the edge covering assembly 40, the outer edge face 60 is preferably machined and/or sanded to provide a smooth finish. The upper and lower corners are also preferably machined to define radiused corners 61, 62 respectively.

It is envisaged that strips 44 to 47 may all be of the same constitution and colour as the sheet 25 to thereby give the impression that the panel 10 is formed entirely from the material of sheet 25. Alternatively some or all of the strips 44 to 47 may be of different colour or constitution to sheet 25 so as to define a striped effect along the decorative edge 12.

It is envisaged that an alternative method of assembly of the panel may comprise laminating the covering assembly 40 to the marginal edge portion 35 prior to bonding of the sheet 25 and edge covering assembly 40 to the main body panel 20.

It is envisaged that the laminated edge covering assembly 40 may be formed by casting one or more of the strips 44 to 46 in situ.

For example, strips 44 and 47 may be bonded into groove 50 and rebate 51 respectively as indicated above. The groove defined between sheet 25 and strip 44 and the groove between strip 44 and strip 47 may then be completely filled with a suitable curable resin.

The curable resin may contain suitable fillers such that after curing, it is of a similar appearance to the rigid material forming sheet 25 and strips 44, 47. After curing of the resin the face 60 and corners 61,62 may be formed as indicated previously.

In the alternative embodiment 100 illustrated in Figure 3, parts similar to those used in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals.

In Figure 3, strips 45 and 46 are located in and preferably bonded in face to face contact within upper and lower rebates 70, 71 respectively.

A land 72 is defined between rebates 70, 71 and strip 44 is preferably bonded in face to face contact therewith as well as with opposed faces of strips 45, 46.

The embodiment of Figure 3 enables a wide faced band 80 to be formed in the laminated edge assembly 40 whilst using the same thickness of material for forming strips 44 to 47.

As shown in embodiments 10 and 100, the edge covering assembly 40 preferably includes strips which project inwardly of the side edge 36 of the panel body 20 to be received within grooves and/or rebates formed therein. This arrangement is preferred as it physically keys the edge covering assembly 40 to the panel body 40 and provides glue lines between opposed surfaces of the assembly 40 and panel body 20 which are parallel to the upper and lower surfaces of the panel body 20. Both these features help to maintain the integrity of the structural panel.

It will be appreciated however, that strips 44 to 47 may have the same width and thereby define a planar inner face opposed to a planar side edge 36; the opposed inner face and side edge 36 being bonded to one another.

Claims (12)

1. A structural panel comprising a main panel body which defines a planar substrate having opposed upper and lower faces, a cover sheet of a rigid material bonded to and covering the upper face to define an upper face of the panel, the cover sheet having at least one marginal edge portion which extends beyond a side edge of the substrate, said side edge being covered by a laminated edge covering assembly, the edge covering assembly having an upper face laminated with a lower face of said marginal edge portion and having a lower face substantially contiguous with a lower face of the panel.

2. A panel according to claim 1 wherein the laminated edge covering assembly includes at least one layer formed from said rigid material.

3. A panel according to claim 2 wherein all layers of the edge covering assembly are formed from said rigid material.

4. A panel according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said rigid material is a resin based composite material.

5. A panel according to any preceding claim wherein said side edge of the substrate includes at least one groove which receives at least one layer of the laminated edge covering assembly.

6. A panel according to any preceding claim, the main panel body is solid and possesses the same or substantially the same thermal and/or moisture expansion characteristics as said rigid material.

7. A structural panel substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

8. A method of constructing a structural panel according to claim 1, the method including laminating the cover sheet to the substrate and subsequently laminating the edge covering assembly to said marginal edge portion.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the edge covering assembly is formed by laminating together a plurality of strips of said rigid material.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the strips are laminated together in situ on the substrate.

11. A method according to claim 8 wherein the edge covering assembly is formed in situ on the substrate by locating individual strips onto the substrate to define one or more gaps therebetween and subsequently casting curable material in said gaps to define layers of said edge covering assembly.

12. A method of constructing a structural panel substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.