GB2562484A

GB2562484A - A decking board

Info

Publication number: GB2562484A
Application number: GB1707765.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wason Neil
Original assignee: Roslyn Beswick
Current assignee: Roslyn Beswick
Priority date: 2017-05-15
Filing date: 2017-05-15
Publication date: 2018-11-21
Also published as: GB201707765D0

Abstract

A decking board 1 comprises a plurality of lamellas 2. The lamellas are laminated together in layers to form the decking board such that the dimension W of the board along the laminated edges of the lamellas is greater than the width WL of the surface of an individual lamella. The laminated edges of the lamellas form a top surface of the decking board. The decking board is well suited to marine application, such as the floor of a ship or other water craft and as such is preferably constructed from teak, which has good water resistance. The lamellas may be joined together by an adhesive, appropriate examples of which are aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy and urea-formaldehyde glue. The lamellas may be constructed from the same wood or from a range of woods, or be engineered from wood products such as particulate wood and wood fibres. There is also claimed a deck for a watercraft constructed from such boards and a decking sheet comprising several such boards connected together at their edges, which may be supplied as a prefabricated piece. A method of constructing such a decking board is also disclosed, which comprises laminating together several lamellas.

Description

(71) Applicant(s):

Neil Wason

Woodside, Colwith, Par, Cornwall, PL24 2TU, United Kingdom

Roslyn Beswick

1519 Varsity Estates Drive N.W, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3B 3Y4, Canada (72) Inventor(s):

Neil Wason (74) Agent and/or Address for Service:

N.J. Akers & Co

Lemon Street, TRURO, Cornwall, TR1 2PN, United Kingdom (56) Documents Cited:

WO 2007/149051 A1

DE 019513729 A1

CA 002820121 A1 US 20070193179 A1 (58) Field of Search:

INT CL B63B, E04C, E04F Other: WPI, EPODOC, Internet (54) Title of the Invention: A decking board

Abstract Title: A decking board comprising a plurality of lamellas (57) A decking board 1 comprises a plurality of lamellas 2. The lamellas are laminated together in layers to form the decking board such that the dimension W of the board along the laminated edges of the lamellas is greater than the width WL of the surface of an individual lamella. The laminated edges of the lamellas form a top surface of the decking board. The decking board is well suited to marine application, such as the floor of a ship or other water craft and as such is preferably constructed from teak, which has good water resistance. The lamellas may be joined together by an adhesive, appropriate examples of which are aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy and urea-formaldehyde glue. The lamellas may be constructed from the same wood or from a range of woods, or be engineered from wood products such as particulate wood and wood fibres. There is also claimed a deck for a watercraft constructed from such boards and a decking sheet comprising several such boards connected together at their edges, which may be supplied as a prefabricated piece. A method of constructing such a decking board is also disclosed, which comprises laminating together several lamellas.

A I ^A

A DECKING BOARD

The invention relates to a decking board and in particular, a decking board for decking or a floor covering for a watercraft, such as a boat or marine vessel. However, the decking board can also be used for other applications, such as floor coverings for swimming pools, outdoor spaces or buildings.

Decking is normally installed on boats as a surface on a deck of a boat or as a floor covering of a boat for users of the boat to walk on, as a working surface or as a support surface for equipment on the deck or floor. The decking can be either cosmetic, structural or both cosmetic and structural. If the decking is only cosmetic, it is laid on top of a structural member of the deck or floor, such as a fibreglass or metal sheet. Decking for boats or marine vessels is often referred to as “boat decking” or “marine decking”.

The decking is often formed from a number of decking boards that are joined together, such as by using a teak caulk, to form a decking sheet. These sheets or boards are often prefabricated and then delivered to be installed on site. The prefabricated sheets can be prefabricated in a specific size and shape to suit the installation or can be cut on site to fit.

Traditionally boat decking has been manufactured from naturally sourced teak (as opposed to plantation sourced teak) which has been harvested and then quarter sawn. Quarter sawing the teak lumber results in the growth rings forming a visual part of the decking material that are visible on the top surface of the decking after the decking has been installed. Naturally sourced teak generally comes from primary rainforests, such as in Burma, and is typically slow-growing. This slow growth produces growth rings which are in relatively narrow bands so that the grain of the wood is close together. Naturally sourced Burmese teak has been the traditional source of teak for boat decking.

One of the advantages of teak is that it is extremely resistant to humidity and exposure to water which makes it ideal for use as decking on boats where the decking surface is frequently exposed to water. Teak is one of the few woods that has a natural oil to retard water. This oil also assists in helping to prevent or reduce warping or cracking of the teak and helps prevent the teak becoming brittle. Teak is extremely resistant to rot and has a natural resinous substance called technoquine that helps to repel termites, marine borers and other insects.

However, recent concerns over logging of primary rainforests which provide naturally sourced teak have reduced the supply of naturally sourced teak. In addition, there are proposals to prohibit the importation of naturally sourced Burmese teak into the European Union. If this occurs, this will effectively end the supply of naturally sourced Burmese teak for boat decking into the European Union.

One solution to this problem has been to use plantation grown teak as a substitute for naturally sourced teak. However, plantation grown teak grows much faster than naturally sourced teak and so the growth rings are much wider. This means that the grain of the wood is much wider than for naturally sourced teak. Hence, when the harvested plantation teak is quarter sawn, the decking material produced does not have the narrow bands typical of naturally sourced teak but has much broader bands because the growth rings are much wider apart. Hence, boat decking manufactured from plantation grown teak has a significantly different visual appearance from decking manufactured from naturally sourced teak.

In addition, quarter sawing timber for decking is highly wasteful and may only produce a 10% yield.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a decking sheet comprising a plurality of lamellas, the lamellas being laminated together to form the decking sheet such that the dimension of the sheet along the laminated edges of the lamellas is greater than the width of the sheet surface of an individual lamella and the laminated edges of the lamellas form a top surface of the decking sheet.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a deck of a watercraft comprising at least one decking sheet in accordance with the first aspect of the invention.

In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of forming a decking sheet, the method comprising:

providing a number of lamellas, each lamella being formed from a material; and laminating the lamellas together.

The term “lamella” as used herein means a thin layer of a material where the thickness is much less than the length or width of the lamella.

An advantage of the invention is that it enables plantation grown teak to be used for decking boards and give the appearance of quarter sawn naturally sourced teak. It also enables pieces of wood (either plantation or naturally sourced) that are too small to be used for normal one-piece decking boards, to be used for a decking board in accordance with the invention by converting them into lamellas.

Preferably, each lamella is formed from wood and more preferably the plurality of lamellas are all formed from the same wood. However, it is possible that one lamella could be formed from a different wood from another lamella. Most preferably, the lamellas are all formed from teak, which may be plantation grown teak. However, it is also possible that the lamellas could be formed from any other suitable material, such as teak sawdust or another naturally occurring material or a man-made material or a combination of synthetic and natural materials. The man-made material may be a synthetic material, which could for example be plastic or a composite material. The lamellas may be formed all from the same material or one lamella could be formed from a different materials from another lamella.

Typically, the lamellas are laminated together using an adhesive material, such as a glue. Examples of possible glues are aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy or ureaformaldehyde glues. However, it is possible that the lamellas could be laminated together using another known lamination technique, such as heat, pressure or welding or any combination of these lamination techniques.

The lamellas may have a thickness of at least approximately 0.1 mm and are preferably at least 0.5mm up to 5mm, and most preferably 2mm to 4mm.The lamellas are typically all the same thickness. However, it is possible that they could be of different thicknesses. This may enable different visual effects to be created.

Typically, the decking board has a thickness that is less than or equal to approximately 0.75 of the width, preferably less than or equal to 0.5. However, more preferably the thickness is greater than or equal to 0.1 and less than or equal to 0.3 of the width and most preferably 0.1 to 0.25.

Typically, the thickness (or depth) of the decking board is less than or equal to approximately 3 inches (7.5 cm). Preferably, the decking board has a thickness of less than or equal to approximately 6cm. Even more preferably, the thickness is between approximately 3 mm and approximately 60 mm (2.5 inches). Most preferably, the thickness is at least one of 6 mm, 9.5 mm, 12 mm, 16 mm and 50 mm.

Typically, the width is less than or equal to approximately 12 inches (30 cm) and preferably is less than or equal to approximately 8 inches (20 cm). More preferably, the width is between approximately 2 inches (5 cm) and 8 inches (20 cm). Most preferably the width is one of approximately 4 inches (10cm), 5 inches (12.5 cm), 6 inches (15 cm) and 8 inches (20 cm).

Preferably, the decking board is for use as boat decking for a watercraft, such as a boat or marine vessel. However, it can also be used in other applications such as a flooring for a swimming pool surround or a balcony or other outdoor space or for use in a building. This use could be, for example, where the intent is to replicate the deck of a marine vessel.

The decking sheet may be structural and intended to support weight. Alternatively, the decking sheet may be cosmetic and applied on top of a structural member. The decking sheet can be both structural and cosmetic.

An example of a decking sheet in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a decking board formed from a plurality of lamellas.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a decking board 1. The decking board 1 is formed from a plurality of lamellas (or veneer sheets) 2 with individual lamellas having a width Wl and a thickness Tl. Each of the lamellas 2 is attached to an adjacent lamella by attaching a main face 3 of a lamella 2 to a main face 3 of another lamella

2. Each lamella 2 is typically manufactured from wood and preferably, each lamella 2 is manufactured from the same type of wood. However, it is possible that individual lamellas could be manufactured from different types of wood or that some lamellas may be formed from one type of wood and other lamellas are formed from a different type of wood or woods.

The lamellas may be manufactured from solid wood, particulate wood or wood fibres.

In the example shown in Fig. 1, the lamellas 2 are each manufactured from teak which is typically plantation grown teak.

The advantage of using teak to form the decking board 1 is that it is particularly resistant to humidity and water which makes it advantageous for use as boat decking for constructing or surfacing the decks of boats or marine vessels.

Each lamella 2 is attached to the adjacent lamellas 2 by adhesive means, such as the use of a glue. Possible glues that could be used to join the lamellas 2 together are aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy or urea-formaldehyde glues. Preferably, any glue that is used is resistant to water and/or not soluble in water after the glue has cured.

Although the decking board 1 is shown as having a rectangular shaped top surface 4, different shapes of top surface 4 could be formed by using lamellas of different lengths. However, typically, the decking board 1 would be supplied in rectangular sheets which would then be cut to size when installed on a boat or marine vessel. The decking board 1 could have any desired length L but typically, the length is less than or equal to approximately 16 feet (approximately 5 m) and more typically between 1 foot (0.3 m) and 12 feet (3.7 m). The width W is typically less than or equal to approximately 12 inches (30 cm) and the thickness T typically less than or equal to approximately 3 inches (7.5 cm).

The use of lamellas (or veneer sheets) of wood joined together produces the appearance of quarter sawn teak on the top surface 4.

The decking boards 1 can be used as cosmetic surfacing on the decks of marine vessels or as structural surface of the deck of a marine vessel.

Typically, the thickness Tl of each individual lamella or veneer sheet is greater than or equal to 0.1 millimetres. The thickness T of the decking board 1 is equal to the width Wl of the lamellas 2.

Each lamella 2 is formed from a single sheet material and so is unjoined in length or width.

Hence, edges of each lamella 2 form the top surface 4 and give the appearance of quarter sawn timber, such as quarter sawn naturally sourced teak timber.

The invention has the advantage that by forming a decking board from a plurality of lamellas (or veneers) of wood, such as plantation grown teak, it is possible to manufacture a decking board 1 that has a top surface 4 that has the appearance of naturally sourced, close grain teak, such as that used traditionally in teak decking for boats or marine vessels.

Claims

1. A decking board comprising a plurality of lamellas, the lamellas being laminated together to form the decking board such that the dimension of the board along the laminated edges of the lamellas is greater than the width of the surface of an individual lamella and the laminated edges of the lamellas form a top surface of the decking board.

2. A decking board according to claim 1, wherein each lamella is formed from wood.

3. A decking board according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of lamellas are all formed from the same wood.

4. A decking board according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein at least some of the lamellas are formed from teak, preferably plantation grown teak.

5. A decking board according to any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the lamellas are formed from at least one of: solid wood, particulate wood and wood fibres.

6. A decking board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the lamellas are laminated together using an adhesive material.

7. A decking board according to claim 6, wherein the adhesive material comprises a glue.

8. A decking board according to claim 7, wherein the glue comprises at least one of: aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy and urea-formaldehyde glue.

9. A decking board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the lamellas have a thickness of at least 0.1 mm.

10. A decking board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness (or depth) of the decking board is less than or equal to 3 inches (7.5 cm).

11. A decking board according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the decking board is for use as boat decking for a watercraft.

12. A deck of a watercraft comprising at least one decking board in accordance with any of the preceding claims.

13. A decking sheet comprising a number of decking boards joined together at their edges, each decking board being in accordance with any of claims 1 to 10.

14. A decking sheet according to claim 12, wherein the decking sheet is prefabricated.

15. A method of forming a decking board, the method comprising:

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein each lamella is formed from wood.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of lamellas are all formed from the same wood.

18. A method according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein at least one of the lamellas are formed from teak, preferably plantation grown teak.

19. A method according to any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the lamellas are formed from at least one of: solid wood, particulate wood and wood fibres.

20. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the lamellas are laminated together using an adhesive material.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the adhesive material comprises a glue.

22. A method according to claim 21, wherein the glue comprises at least one of: aerolite, polyurethane, epoxy and urea-formaldehyde glue.

Intellectual

Property Office

Application No: GB1707765.2