GB2428255A

GB2428255A - Reinforced Panel

Info

Publication number: GB2428255A
Application number: GB0514265A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Iain Norman Bridge
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-07-12
Filing date: 2005-07-12
Publication date: 2007-01-24
Also published as: GB0514265D0

Abstract

A panel 10A has a sheet of material 12A and at least one rigid reinforcing member 14A, wherein the sheet is formed to provide a channel 16A in which the reinforcing member is held captive. The reinforcing member may be wholly enclosed or be partly exposed. It may be solid or hollow and may have a cylindrical or polygonal outer surface. The reinforcing member may be metallic, wooden or made from a composite or paper pulp-based material. The sheet material preferably has an unset formable state and a set self-supporting state. It may be a paper pulp-based material such as cardboard, or a thermosettable or thermoformable material such as plastics. The panel may be formed by forming the unset sheet material around the reinforcing member, then setting the sheet material. A plurality of elongate and parallel reinforcing members are preferably provided. The sheet material may be formed to provide webs perpendicular to and extending between adjacent channels to provide additional rigidity. The panel may be formed for attachment to additional structures and may be provided with additional material attached to the outside of the panel.

Description

I

Panel Structure The present invention relates to panel structures.

Panel structures are used for a wide variety of purposes, each having different performance requirements, such as strength, weight, cost and the like.

The present invention provides a panel structure having a sheet of selfsupporting material, and at least one relatively rigid reinforcing member, the sheet being formed to provide a channel in which the reinforcing member is held captive.

The reinforcing member may be wholly enclosed within the sheet material. Alternatively, the channel may have a channel mouth through which the reinforcing member is exposed.

The reinforcing member may be solid or hollow and may have a cylindrical outer surface, which may be circular or polygonal. The reinforcing member may be metal, or of a composite material, or a paper pulp-based material, such as cardboard, or wood or other reinforcing material.

Preferably, the sheet material has an unset state in which the material is formable, and a set state in which the material is self-supporting. The sheet material may be a paper pulp-based material, such as cardboard. The sheet material may be a thermosettable or thermoformable material. The sheet material may be a synthetic plastics material.

The reinforcing member is preferably introduced into the channel by forming the sheet material around the reinforcing member, while the sheet material is in its unset state, the sheet material thereafter setting to provide the channel and capture the reinforcing member. A plurality of reinforcing members are preferably held captive as aforesaid, in respective channels.

The reinforcing members are preferably generally elongate and generally parallel. The sheet material may optionally be formed to provide webs extending between adjacent channels, to provide additional rigidity to the panel.

The panel structure may further comprise at least one sheet of additional material attached to an outer face of the sheet material.

At least one edge of the panel structure may be formed for attachment to an edge of another panel structure.

The invention also provides a method of forming a panel structure, in which at least one relatively rigid reinforcing member is provided, and a sheet of self-supporting material is provided with a channel in which the reinforcing member is held captive.

Preferably, the reinforcing member is wholly enclosed within the sheet material. Alternatively, the channel may have a channel mouth through which the reinforcing member is exposed. The reinforcing member may be solid or hollow and may have a cylindrical outer surface, which may be circular or polygonal. The reinforcing member may be metal or composite material or paper pulp-based material, such as cardboard, or wood or other reinforcing material. The sheet material preferably has an unset state in which the material is formable, and a set state in which the material is self-supporting.

The sheet material may be a paper pulp-based material, such as cardboard.

The sheet material may be a thermosettable or thermoformable material. The sheet material may be a synthetic plastics material.

Preferably a plurality of reinforcing members is provided, to be held captive in respective channels.

The sheet material is preferably formed around the reinforcing member or members, while the sheet material is in its unset state, the sheet material thereafter setting to capture the reinforcing member or members. The reinforcing member or members is or are preferably held in position by a releasable holding device until the sheet material is formed and set, the holding device then being released to release the formed panel structure.

The sheet material is preferably forced to form around the reinforcing member or members, prior to setting. The sheet material may be forced by pressure difference, such as suction or increased pressure.

The reinforcing member or members are preferably held in the holding device at a spacing away from a base surface against which the sheet material forms, the depth of the channel or channels being determined by the spacing between the reinforcing member or members and the base surface.

The holding device is preferably adjustable to set the said spacing.

The reinforcing members are preferably generally elongate and provided in a generally parallel configuration.

The sheet material may optionally be formed to provide webs extending between adjacent channels, to provide additional rigidity to the panel. At least one sheet of additional material may be attached to an outer face of the sheet material. At least one edge of the panel structure is preferably formed for attachment to an edge of another panel structure.

Embodiments of the present invention, and examples of methods for forming them, will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figs. IA, B, C, and D are, respectively, views of the reverse, edge, obverse and inverted edge of an example panel structure; Figs. 2 to 4 show views of channel and reinforcement arrangements of a panel; Figs. 5A, 5B and 5C are plan and side views of apparatus for forming a panel; Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of part of the obverse face of a panel; Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of one form of use of the panel; and Figs. 8 to 11 show the obverse face of other example panels.

Fig. I illustrates a first example of a panel structure IOA. The panel IOA has two principal faces, described here as the reverse face (Fig. IA) and the obverse face (Fig. IC), solely for ease of description.

The structure IOA has a sheet 12A of self-supporting material, and a series of relatively rigid reinforcing members I 4A. The sheet 1 2A is formed at 16A to provide channels in which respective reinforcing members 14A are held captive.

Fig. 2 illustrates the captivation of the members 14A, in more detail.

The member 14A, shown in Fig. 2, is an elongate member with a cylindrical outer surface of circular section. In this example, the member 14A is hollow, thus being a tube, but could be solid, thus being a bar.

In the arrangement of Fig. 2A, the channel 16A projects out of the plane of the sheet I 2A to a sufficient extent for the member I 4A to be wholly encapsulated within the material of the sheet I 2A. That is, the material of the sheet 12A extends entirely around the member 14A to form a channel with a closed mouth generally at 18, where the material of the sheet 12, to either side of the member 14A, meets to form a continuous sheet extending past the member 14A. This creates a continuous obverse panel face.

An alternative arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 2B. In this example, the channel 16A is less deep, so that the reinforcing member 14A is exposed through an open mouth 20. The material of the sheet I 2A, to either side of the member 14A, does not meet at the mouth 20, leaving a strip of the member 14A exposed along the whole length of the member 14A. Thus, when viewed from the obverse face of the panel I OA, a strip of each member 14A is visible through the corresponding open mouth 20.

Fig. 2C shows an intermediate arrangement in which the channel 16A is deeper than shown in Fig. 2B, but less deep than shown in Fig. 2A, so that another open channel mouth 22 is formed, but less wide than the open mouth 20. Accordingly, a thinner strip of the reinforcing member 14A remains visible through the open mouth 22, than through the mouth 20, when viewed from the obverse face of the panel I OA.

The reinforcing member 14A is preferably introduced into the channel 16A by forming the sheet material around the member 14A, in a manner which will be described. Briefly, the sheet material 12A is formed around the reinforcing member 14A while the sheet material 12A is in an unset state, the sheet material 12A thereafter setting to provide the channel 16A and to captivate the reinforcing member 14A.

Returning to Fig. 1, it can be seen that a plurality of reinforcing members 14A are held captive in the manner described, each being captive in a respective channel 16A. The members 14A are all generally elongate and are arranged to be generally parallel across the panel IOA. Thus, the members I 4A provide reinforcement to the panel structure I OA, particularly against any bending along a bending line which is transverse to the members 14A.

The location of the members 14A in the finished panel IOA is clearly visible from the reverse face of the panel, from which the channels I 6A are proud. On the obverse face (Fig. IC), the members 14A may be invisible if the arrangement of Fig. 2A is used, or may be partly visible as strips exposed through the open mouths 20, 22, if the arrangements of Figs. 2B and 2C are used.

Figs. 3 and 4 show alternative forms of reinforcing member. In Fig. 3A, the reinforcing member is a hollow cylinder having a generally square outer surface, but other polygonal shapes could be used and the member could be solid. In this example, the member 14B is rounded at its edges 24. In the arrangement of Fig. 3A, the channel 16B is relatively shallow, so that the mouth 26 formed in the sheet 12B exposes the member 14B across substantially the whole of one face 28 of the member 14B. The rounded form of the edges 24, along each edge of the face 28, ensures that material of the sheet 12B is able to encapsulate the member 14B in the channel 16B. That is, the width of the mouth 26 is less than the maximum width of the member 14B, by virtue of the rounded edges 24, so that substantially the whole of the flat region of the face 28 is exposed through the mouth 26, but the member 14B is captive in the channel 16B.

Fig. 3B shows another example with a generally square section reinforcing member 14C, which is solid. It is to be understood that in the examples of Figs. 3A, 3B and 3C, hollow or solid reinforcing members could be used as required.

In the example of Fig. 3B, the channel 16B is deeper than in the example of Fig. 3A, so that the mouth 26A closes more completely around the member 14C than around the member 14B, resulting in a narrower exposed strip of the face 28A. If the channel I 6B is made deeper, the mouth will close further, resulting in the arrangement of Fig. 3C, in which the mouth 26B is almost fully closed, leaving only a narrow strip of the face 28A exposed.

Fig. 4 illustrates three alternative arrangements based around a reinforcing member 140 of rectangular section, which may be solid bar (as illustrated) or hollow. Again, the depth of the channel 16C may be chosen to leave one face of the member 14D flush with the obverse face of the sheet 12C, so that substantially the whole of one face of the member 14D is exposed. Alternatively (Figs. 4B and 4C) deeper channels can be used, resulting in less exposure of the member I 4D, or no exposure if the channel is sufficiently deep.

In the examples just described, and other examples described herein, the reinforcing members may be made of a wide variety of materials, including metals, composite materials or paper pulp-based material, such as cardboard.

The sheet material is preferably one which has an unset state in which the material is formable, and a set state in which the material is selfsupporting.

For example, a paper pulp-based material may be used, such as cardboard, so that the material is formable while wet, and sets on drying. Alternatively, a thermoseftable or thermoformable material could be used, such as a synthetic plastics material.

An example of an apparatus and method for forming panel structures of the type described above can now be described, with particular reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 illustrates tooling 30 which includes a base plate 32 and a frame 34 around the edges of the plate 32. Two support bars 35 each have a line of mounting points 36, corresponding with the desired position and spacing of reinforcing members in the panel structure being formed. The form of the mounting points 36 will depend on the form of the reinforcing members being used. For example, the mounting points 36 may be pegs to be received within hollow reinforcing members 14, or sockets in which solid reinforcing members are received. Other mounting point arrangements may be used, preferably ones which allow the reinforcing members to be engaged and disengaged by movement of the support bars 35 toward or away from each other. As they do so, the mounting points 36 pass through the frame 34, so that they can support reinforcing members within the frame 34.

An adjustment arrangement (not shown) is preferably provided to allow the spacing of the base plate 32 from the mounting points 36 (and thus from the reinforcing members supported by the mounting points 36) to be changed.

This adjustability is indicated in Fig. 5b by a double-headed arrow 39.

The base plate 32 is perforated at 40, the perforations 40 being coupled with a vacuum supply 42.

A panel structure can be formed by means of the apparatus of Fig. 5, in the following manner. First, a set of reinforcing members 14 is supported on the mounting points 36, within the frame 34. The base plate 32 is then adjusted, if required, to set the spacing from the reinforcing members 14. A sheet 12 of sheet material is then laid over the reinforcing members 14. At this stage, the sheet material is in its unset state, or is brought to it by heat, wetting, chemical means or otherwise. With the sheet material 12 in a formable state, the vacuum supply 42 is activated to apply suction through the perforations 40. This suction pulls the sheet material 12 over the reinforcing members 14, which act as a former or tooling to create channels 16 which closely conform with the outer surface of the members 14. The sheet material 12 will continue to be drawn around the members 14 until encountering the base plate 32 and thus it can be seen that the depth of the channel formed is controlled by the set spacing of the base plate 32, so that the various arrangements illustrated in Fig. 2 to 4 can be chosen by appropriate setting of the spacing. The base plate 32 may be heated, if desired, to encourage the formation of thermoplastic materials, or to encourage setting of thermosettable materials.

Once the sheet material 12 has been formed to the required shape around the members 14, the material is set, for example by cooling, drying or chemical means. The completed panel structure can then be removed from the tooling by withdrawing the support bars 35 to release the reinforcing members from the mounting points 36, and removing the panel from the frame 34.

The forming process may alternatively be continuous, with the sheet material 12 driven between the frame 34 and over an arrangement of reinforcing members supported on mounting points 36 whose position can be indexed to move the sheet material on, after one or more channels has been formed, allowing the operation to be repeated.

In this example, suction has been used to form the sheet material. In alternative arrangements, the sheet material could be pushed by overpressure or, if sufficiently readily formable, could be allowed to sag over the reinforcing members by gravitational pull.

The panel formed in the manner described above can be further enhanced as shown in Fig. 6, in which the exposed region of the reinforcing member 14 is provided with slots, sockets or other fixings 44 to which other fasteners or connection arrangements can be mated. This allows the panel structure to be attached to other structures at various positions across the obverse face of the panel. The formations 44 are shown in Fig. 6 as simple oval shapes, but it is envisaged that any required shape of socket or slot could be provided at these positions.

Fig. 7 illustrates in a simple schematic manner a possible application of any of these examples in which the reinforcing members are hollow. In Fig. 7, the hollow cores of the reinforcing members are connected to form a single meandering conduit (indicated by a chain dotted line) along which heating or refrigerant fluid may flow, thus allowing the panel structure to be used as a radiator or cooling device. The hollow core of the reinforcing members could also be used for other purposes, such as service ducts for wiring, pipework or the like.

The remaining drawings illustrate further examples of panel structures.

In each case, many features correspond with features previously described with reference to Fig. I and thus, where appropriate, reference numerals from the description of Fig. I are used again, with the suffix E (Fig. 8), F (Fig. 9), G (Fig. 10) and H (Fig. 11).

The example panel structure IOE of Fig. 8 differs from the example of Fig. I primarily in that the sheet material 12E is formed out of the plane, to create strengthening webs 46E which extend between adjacent channels I 6E to form a corrugated effect which provides additional reinforcement to the panel. In particular, the webs 46E provide strength to the panel I OE, against bending about bending lines parallel with the reinforcing members 14E. The webs 46E and members I 4E form together a grid of reinforcement across the whole panel bE. The webs 46E could extend above or below the outer face of the panel bE.

The example of Fig. 9 is similar to the example of Fig. 8. However, in the panel structure 1OF of Fig. 9, webs 46F are wider than in the example of Fig. 8, so that the reverse face of the panel IOF is corrugated in a square grid, the width of each web 46 being approximately equal to the separation of adjacent webs 46.

The examples of Figs. 8 and 9 can be formed by the apparatus of Fig. 5, by providing a profiled base plate 32 on which the non-planar form of the sheets 12E, 12F will form.

In the example of Fig. 10, a further alternative form of web 46G is incorporated in the panel 10G. In this example, the webs 46G are relatively short, each extending between two adjacent channels 14G but not beyond, and the webs 46G are arrayed across the panel I OG as required to achieve the desired performance and strength.

The webs 46G may be present primarily to provide additional reinforcement to the panel lOG, or could be provided primarily for other reasons, such as for allowing attachment of external structures. In one example, it is envisaged that a panel lOG, of the example of Fig. 10, could be used in roofing applications, with the webs 46G providing locations for attachment of conventional roof tiles or other roofing materials.

Fig. 11 illustrates a further example of panel IOH, again envisaged primarily for use as a roofing product. In this example, the sheet material 12H is formed with a profile which resembles conventional roof tiles. This allows the panel IOH to be used as a roof panel, providing strength by means of the panel structures described, and a reasonable aesthetic appearance by virtue of the profile provided in the sheet material 12H.

A wide range of materials and material combinations can be used for forming the examples described above, as has been noted. Thus, panels can be designed to meet a wide range of performance requirements, such as strength, weight and cost. It is envisaged that panels can be sufficiently strong and/or light for use as cargo containers, cargo pallets, light building panels or roofing panels, packaging etc. It is envisaged that sheets without reinforcing webs may be sufficiently flexible (parallel with the reinforcing members) to allow the panel to be rolled up when not in use, and thus readily transported or stored for temporary use, e.g. as packing, blast screens, security shutters or the like.

It is envisaged that in any of the examples described above, sheets of additional material may be attached to one or both outer faces of the panel structures, for additional structural strength, aesthetics or other reasons. It is also envisaged that one or more edges of the panel structures could be formed for interconnection with other structures, including other panel structures.

Many variations can be made to the apparatus described above, particularly in relation to the materials, combinations of materials, shapes, sizes and relative shapes and sizes described.

Whilst endeavounng in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

1. A panel structure having a sheet of self-supporting material, and at least one relatively rigid reinforcing member, the sheet being formed to provide a channel in which the reinforcing member is held captive.

2. A structure according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcing member is wholly enclosed within the sheet material.

3. A structure according to claim 1, wherein the channel has a channel mouth through which the reinforcing member is exposed.

4. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcing member is solid.

5. A structure according to any of claims I to 3, wherein the reinforcing member is hollow.

6. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcing member has a cylindrical outer surface.

7. A structure according to claim 6, wherein the outer surface is circular.

8. A structure according to claim 6, wherein the outer surface is polygonal.

9. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the reinforcing member is metal.

10. A structure according to any of claims I to 8, wherein the reinforcing member is of a composite material.

II. A structure according to any of claims I to 8, wherein the reinforcing member is of a paper pulp-based material.

12. A structure according to claim 11, wherein the reinforcing member is of

13. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the sheet material has an unset state in which the material is formable, and a set state in which the material is self-supporting.

14. A structure according to claim 13, wherein the sheet material is a paper pulp-based material.

15. A structure according to claim 14, wherein the sheet material is cardboard.

16. A structure according to claim 13, wherein the sheet material is a thermosettable or thermoformable material.

17. A structure according to claim 13 or 16, wherein the sheet material is a synthetic plastics material.

18. A structure according to any of claims 13 to 17, wherein the reinforcing member is introduced into the channel by forming the sheet material around the reinforcing member, while the sheet material is in its unset state, the sheet material thereafter setting to provide the channel and capture the reinforcing member.

19. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein a plurality of reinforcing members are held captive as aforesaid, in respective channels.

20. A structure according to claim 19, wherein the reinforcing members are generally elongate and generally parallel.

21. A structure according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the sheet material is formed to provide webs extending between adjacent channels, to provide additional rigidity to the panel.

22. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the panel structure further comprises at least one sheet of additional material attached to an outer face of the sheet material.

23. A structure according to any preceding claim, wherein at least one edge of the panel structure is formed for attachment to an edge of another panel structure.

24. A panel structure substantially as described above, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

25. A method of forming a panel structure, in which at least one relatively rigid reinforcing member is provided, and a sheet of selfsupporting material is provided with a channel in which the reinforcing member is held captive.

26. A method according to claim 25, wherein the reinforcing member is wholly enclosed within the sheet material.

27. A method according to claim 25, wherein the channel has a channel mouth through which the reinforcing member is exposed.

28. A method according to claim 25, 26 or 27, wherein the reinforcing member is solid.

29. A method according to claim 25, 26 or 27, wherein the reinforcing member is hollow.

30. A method according to any of claims 25 to 29, wherein the reinforcing member has a cylindrical outer surface.

31. A method according to claim 30, wherein the outer surface is circular.

32. A method according to claim 30, wherein the outer surface is polygonal.

33. A method according to any of claims 25 to 32, wherein the reinforcing member is metal.

34. A method according to any of claims 25 to 32, wherein the reinforcing member is a composite material.

35. A method according to any of claims 25 to 32, wherein the reinforcing member is a paper pulp-based material.

36. A method according to claim 35, wherein the paper pulp-based material is cardboard.

37. A method according to any of claims 25 to 36, wherein the sheet material has an unset state in which the material is formable, and a set state in which the material is self-supporting.

38. A method according to claim 37, wherein the sheet material is a paper pulp-based material.

39. A method according to claim 38, wherein the paper pulp-based material is cardboard.

40. A method according to claim 37, wherein the sheet material is a thermosettable or thermoformable material.

41. A method according to claim 37 or 40, wherein the sheet material is a synthetic plastics material.

42. A method according to any of claims 37 to 41, wherein the sheet material is formed around the reinforcing member, while the sheet material is in its unset state, the sheet material thereafter setting to capture the reinforcing member.

43. A method according to any of claims 37 to 42, wherein the sheet material is forced to form around the reinforcing member, prior to setting.

44. A method according to claim 43, wherein the sheet material is forced by pressure difference.

45. A method according to claim 44, wherein the sheet material is forced by suction or increased pressure.

46. A method according to any of claims 37 to 45, wherein the reinforcing member is held in position by a releasable holding device until the sheet material is formed and set, the holding device then being released to release the formed panel structure.

47. A method according to claim 46, wherein the reinforcing member is held in the holding device at a spacing away from a base surface against which the sheet material forms, the depth of the channel or channels being determined by the spacing between the reinforcing member and the base surface.

48. A method according to claim 47, wherein the holding device is adjustable to set the said spacing.

49. A method according to any of claims 25 to 48, wherein a plurality of reinforcing members is provided, to be held captive in respective channels.

50. A method according to claim 49, wherein the reinforcing members are generally elongate and provided in a generally parallel configuration.

51. A method according to claim 49 or 50, wherein the sheet material is formed to provide webs extending between adjacent channels, to provide additional rigidity to the panel.

52. A method according to any of claims 25 to 51, wherein at least one sheet of additional material is attached to an outer face of the sheet material.

53. A method according to any of claims 25 to 52, wherein at least one edge of the panel structure is formed for attachment to an edge of another panel structure.

54. A method of forming a panel structure, substantially as described above, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

55. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed herein, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.