GB2324547A

GB2324547A - Barge or fascia board

Info

Publication number: GB2324547A
Application number: GB9708188A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Simpson
Original assignee: Swish Products Ltd; Breville Europe Ltd
Current assignee: Swish Products Ltd; Breville Europe Ltd
Priority date: 1997-04-23
Filing date: 1997-04-23
Publication date: 1998-10-28
Also published as: GB9708188D0

Abstract

A barge or facia board (1), having a back face (3) and a skin (5), with a cellular core (4) between, is capped by: i) Cutting away the back face (3) and cellular core material (4) as far as the skin (5), ii) Folding the remaining portion of skin (5) to cover the cut surface of the exposed core material (4), iii) Securing the folded portion of skin (5) in position. A decorative pattern may be routed onto the board (1) (eg to form a profiled edge) whilst simultaneously cutting the back face (3) and core material (4). The exposed portion of skin (5) may be of a similar dimension (6) to the thickness of the core material (4), or it may be larger and be cut to fit once folded and secured. The folded skin (5) may be secured to the board (1) by means of an adhesive.

Description

METHOD OF PRODUCING A DECORATIVE CO-EXTRUDED BARGE BOARD The present invention relates to a method of producing a decorative pattern on a co-extruded fascia board.

Roofs are usually provided with a soffit which is secured below the rafters such that it extends horizontally from the wall of the building beneath the roof to close the gap between the roof eaves and the building wall. A fascia board is secured to the ends of the rafters and extends from the edge of the soffit to the underside of the tiles and lies parallel to the building wall. A barge board is secured to the gable end of the building and runs parallel to the building wall at the angle of the roof.

Barge and fascia boards are generally manufactured from wood or co-extruded PVC and can include decorative patterns on the bottom edge.

Wooden fascia boards are usually cut to give the desired pattern.

Barge boards made out of PVC can also be patterned. To produce a pattern along the lower edge of a co-extruded PVC fascia board known methods usually require the pattern to be cut into the board. PVC barge boards are generally co-extruded to provide a cellular core and integral "solid" front face, cutting the board exposes the cellular material, cut boards should therefore be capped along their lower edges. This process of cutting and capping requires three separate operations (extrusion, cutting and capping) and two types of materials (the co-extruded board and the capping material) and is time consuming. In some cases the capping may be visible. Over a period of time the capping may become detached from the fascia board causing the finish to be unsightly and susceptible to bad weather damage.

It is also known to provide decorative portions which can be secured to existing PVC or wooden barge boards and depend therefrom to give a decorative lower edge. However the barge board and decorative portion may be of different materials (e.g.two types of PVC) which discolour at different speeds when exposed to weather making colour matching difficult.

With the above problems in mind the object of the present invention is to provide a simplified method of producing a decorative coextruded fascia board with an attractive and durable finish.

In the context of the present invention the expression 'barge board' is to be construed as including fascia board.

Accordingly in a first aspect the present invention provides a method of producing a decorative pattern on a co-extruded barge board having a back face and a skin with a cellular core therebetween comprising the steps of: cutting away the back face and the core material as far as the skin to reveal a portion of the skin; folding the revealed portion of skin to cover the exposed core material; and securing the folded portion of skin in position.

Preferably the pattern is routed onto the co-extruded board while simultaneously cutting away the back face and the core material.

Preferably the back face and core material are cut away to reveal a portion of skin having substantially the same dimension as the thickness of the core material and back face, this ensures that when the skin is folded back it covers all of the core material. Alternatively the portion of the skin exposed when the back face and core material are cut away may be of greater dimension than the thickness of the core material and it may be trimmed to correspond with the depth of the core material when it has been folded and secured in position.

Preferably the skin is secured when folded by means -of a suitable adhesive such as a PVC solvent based adhesive or a hot melt adhesive. By folding the skin to cover the exposed core material additional capping is not required thereby removing the possibility that the capping may become loose and dangerous and improving the weatherability and appearance of the fascia board.

The barge board of the present invention is preferably manufactured from PVC.

Accordingly in a second aspect the present invention provides a decorative barge board having a back face, a skin and a core material therebetween manufactured in accordance with the present invention.

Preferably the decorative barge board is a one piece barge board which avoids the difficulties of trying to match colour and weatherability associated with add on decorative portions for existing barge boards.

The present invention will be further described by means of example only with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a front view of a co-extruded PVC barge board with a decorative shape routed thereon; Figure 2a shows a front view of the barge board of figure 1 with the back face and cellular core cut away as far as the skin; Figure 2b shows a cross sectional view of the barge board of figure 2a along line A-A; Figure 3 shows the barge board of figure 2a with the skin partially folded; and Figure 4 shows an end view of the barge board of 2a when the skin has been folded to cover the core and has been secured thereto.

The barge board 1 comprises a front face having a skin 5, a rear face having a second skin 3 and a cellular core portion 4 integral with skins 5 and 3.

In the illustrations the barge board is formed from co-extruded cellular PVC.

Figures 1-4 illustrate the method of the present invention for producing a decorative fascia board.

The first step of the process is illustrated in figure 1, the extruded barge board 1 is routed to give the desired decorative shape, in this case the shape is a series of curves 2. Simultaneously with the routing of the decorative shape the back face 3 and the cellular core 4 are cut away along the lower edge of the barge board 1 in which the decorative pattern has been routed the cut extending from the rear of the barge board 1 as far as the solid skin 5. The board is routed using automatic routing machinery normally used for wood.

The dimension of the portion 6 of the skin 5 exposed by cutting away the back face 3 and the cellular core 4 of the barge board is substantially the same as the thickness of the cellular core 4.

The skin 5 is folded towards the exposed cellular core 4 and the back face 3 as shown in figure 3.

The skin 5 is secured to the cellular core 4 and back face 3 by a PVC compatible adhesive to cover the exposed area of the core 4.

The resulting decorative barge board has an attractive appearance and good weatherability.

Claims

1. A method of producing a decorative pattern on a co-extruded barge board having a back face and a skin with a cellular core therebetween comprising the steps of: cutting away the back face and the core material as far as the skin to reveal a portion of the skin; folding the revealed portion of skin to cover the exposed core material; and securing the folded portion of skin in position.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the pattern is routed onto the co-extruded board while simultaneously cutting away the back face and the core material.

3. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the back face and core material are cut away to reveal a portion of skin having substantially the same dimension as the thickness of the core material and back face.

4. The method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the back face and the core material are cut away to reveal a portion of the skin of greater dimension that the thickness of the core material.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the portion of skin is trimmed to correspond with the depth of the core material when it has been folded and secured in position.

6. The method according to any preceding claim wherein the skin is secured when folded by means of a suitable adhesive.

7. The method according to claim 6 where in the adhesive is a PVC solvent based adhesive.

8. The method according to claim 6 wherein the adhesive is a hot melt adhesive.

9. The method according to any preceding claim wherein the barge board is manufactured from PVC.

10. A decorative barge board having a back face, a skin and a core material therebetween manufactured in accordance with the present invention.

11. The barge board according to claim 10 wherein the decorative barge board is a one piece barge board.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-9 substantially as described herein and with reference to figures 1-4.

13. The decorative barge board according to any one of claims 10 and 11 substantially as described herein.