IT202300007482A1 - HONEYCOMB PANEL AND RELATED METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

attached to the patent application for industrial invention entitled:

?HONEYCOMB PANEL AND RELATED METHOD OF

REALIZATION?

DESCRIPTION TEXT

The invention concerns a honeycomb wooden panel and the relative manufacturing method.

The furniture industry is certainly one of the most advanced sectors in the search for new materials suitable for reconciling aesthetic needs and eco-sustainability.

Although various plastic materials also lend themselves to innovative design solutions, the use of wood is still extremely widespread in the production of furniture, particularly for interiors.

Talking about the use of wood remains a very vague statement: in fact, from an aesthetic point of view the solutions are practically infinite, by virtue of the range of possible essences to be used, from an operational point of view the dimensions and shapes of the panels or strips to be made, as well as the type of wood or the compositions that can be obtained, allow us to find solutions for the most disparate needs. Among the various types of wood, solid wood is particularly valuable and resistant and provides excellent performance in every type of use.

It is obtained from the center of the trunks, that is, from the oldest part of the tree, called "heartwood" due to its high density; the solid wood has the characteristic of not undergoing treatments or processes based on chemical products: the only treatment it requires, before being transformed into planks or beams, is seasoning, which allows for the elimination of humidity and increases resistance to mold attack.

In addition to being available in numerous essences, in the form of boards and strips of various sizes and thicknesses, solid wood has the specific aesthetic characteristic of darkening over time, always creating new chromatic effects also thanks to the grain of the tree from which it was obtained.

It is therefore used in many fields: ideal for doors, chairs, tables and furniture for any living environment, it is also suitable for covering gates and armoured doors, walls and floors, and can even be used to create load-bearing beams.

Although less valuable than solid wood, other materials made exclusively of natural products are laminated wood, obtained by gluing together small solid wood planks, and veneered wood, consisting of a central part in less noble wood and a surface covering made of thin layers of fine wood.

Since the 1960s, the use of wood-based materials, such as chipboard, MDF and honeycomb core, has become widespread in the construction of furniture.

Chipboard is made up of wood shavings from processing waste mixed with binding materials, pressed and possibly refined with surface layers of different wood species.

MDF (medium density fibreboard) is obtained from shredded wood fibres agglomerated with glues and finished with surface coverings.

The honeycomb structure is made up of a wooden perimeter frame that surrounds a honeycomb structure, onto which two thin panels of plywood, chipboard or MDF are glued: the honeycomb structure, generally made of cardboard, gives this type of panel a particular lightness and the name "honeycomb".

Given its low specific weight, honeycomb core finds many uses: for doors and wardrobe doors, for shelves and dividing walls, for surface shelves of furniture that require design processes similar to those traditionally performed on entirely wooden panels.

To date, attempts to create the honeycomb structure by gluing two thin solid wood panels to the perimeter frame have yielded disappointing results, since a thin solid wood panel, when worked superficially, tends to bend or, as the jargon goes, to "warp", in this case causing superficial fractures.

Evidently, the parts removed by processing the external surface induce a non-homogeneous reaction of the wood which determines an irregular behaviour with respect to the humidity of the environment.

The purpose of this invention is therefore to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

The invention, as it is characterised by the claims, achieves the aim thanks to the removal of material in almost identical volumes from the external faces of the solid wood coverings.

The main advantage obtained by means of this invention consists essentially in the fact that the aesthetic impact of a honeycomb panel with external surfaces in solid wood is much more pleasing to the sight and touch than that used up to now, in which the visible surfaces are not in natural wood.

Furthermore, the presence of the solid wood on both sides of the panel allows for the execution of dedicated processes, whether identical or different, even when the panel is visible from both sides, as happens, for example, in the case of doors and partition walls.

Further advantages and features of the invention will be more evident in the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the attached drawings, which represent a non-limiting example of execution, in which:

- figure 1 illustrates the invention according to a perspective view in a basic version, with some parts removed to better highlight others; - figure 2 illustrates the invention according to a sectional view in a modified version;

- figure 3 illustrates a detail of the invention according to a plan view; - figure 4 illustrates another detail of the invention.

The invention concerns a honeycomb panel and the relative manufacturing method.

The panel (10) comprises a perimeter wooden frame (1) surrounding a honeycomb structure (2), and two solid wood sheets (3), glued to the frame (1), with a thickness of no less than six millimetres.

The solid wood sheets (3), shown in figure 4, preferably include frames (31) of a width between 5 and 10 centimetres glued together "end-to-end", i.e. in correspondence with a lateral face (31a), so as to form sheets (3) of arbitrary size: in fact, the joining of elements of small dimensions allows for a much more effective limitation of the inevitable deformations that occur in natural woods with the passing of time.

In a basic solution, shown in figure 1, the surface of the solid wood sheets (3) glued to the perimeter frame (1) corresponds exactly to the surface of the frame (1) itself: in some operating circumstances, solutions are adopted that allow the gluing surface of the sheets (3) to be increased. For example, in the solution shown in figure 2, it can be observed that between the solid wood sheets (3) and the frame (1) there is at least one layer (4) of wood material, for example MDF, with a thickness between 1 and 4 millimetres. Alternatively, or in addition, as can be seen in figure 3, the frame (1) can comprise a plurality of small frames (1a), so that the gluing surface corresponds to the sum of the surfaces of all the small frames (1a). And? it is preferable that each frame (1a) surrounds a corresponding honeycomb structure (2a), even if, if the frames (1a) were of significantly different dimensions from each other, it could be sufficient for only some of them to surround a honeycomb structure (2a). The honeycomb structure (2; 2a) preferably comprises corrugated cardboard or expanded polystyrene.

When the panel (10) is worked for aesthetic or design reasons, as for example in figure 2, it follows that at least one sheet (3; 3?) of solid wood includes a non-uniform external surface (3a; 3a?), from which a volume (V;V?) of between 50% and 70% of the total volume of the sheet (3; 3?) has been removed; from the other sheet (3?; 3) a volume (V?; V) of almost identical material is also uniformly removed. If the panel (10) then has to be worked on both sides, as could happen, for example, for doors or partition walls, both sheets (3, 3?) will include non-uniform external surfaces (3a, 3a?), from which volumes (V, V?) of material have been removed that differ by no more than 10% of the greater volume (V; V?) removed.

This measure, according to which approximately equal volumes of material (V, V?) are removed from the two sheets (3, 3?), allows the wood to be prevented from warping.

The process for manufacturing a honeycomb panel (10) of the type described above therefore comprises a first phase consisting of the preparation of a perimeter wooden frame (1), surrounding a honeycomb structure (2), preferably in corrugated cardboard or expanded polystyrene; instead of a single perimeter frame (1), a plurality of small frames (1a) could be assembled, at least one of which surrounding a corresponding honeycomb structure (2a), in order to increase the surface area of the wood that can be used for subsequent gluing.

Two solid wood sheets (3) are then prepared with a thickness of no less than 6 millimetres, preferably between 7 and 9 millimetres: it is preferable that the solid wood sheets (3) are obtained by gluing together frames (31) with a width of between 5 and 10 centimetres in correspondence with a lateral face (31a), so as to form sheets (3) of arbitrary size. The solid wood sheets (3) thus obtained are then glued on opposite sides to the perimeter frame (1).

Another trick to increase the gluing surface of the solid wood sheets (3, 3?) consists in applying to the frame (1) at least one layer (4) of wood material, preferably MDF, with a thickness between 1 and 4 millimetres before gluing the solid wood sheets (3).

Finally, whenever it is necessary to carry out machining operations on the panel (10), the process includes a final phase of removal from at least one external surface (3a; 3a?) of the sheets (3; 3?) of a volume (V; V?) of material between 50% and 70% of the total volume of the sheets (3; 3?), in which the difference between the volumes (V; V?) removed does not exceed 10% of the greatest volume (V; V?) removed.

Claims (13)

1. Honeycomb panel, comprising a perimeter wooden frame (1) surrounding a honeycomb structure (2), characterised by the fact that it comprises two solid wood sheets (3) glued to the frame (1) with a thickness of no less than six millimetres. 2. Panel according to claim 1, characterised in that between the solid wood sheets (3) and the frame (1) there is at least one layer (4) of wood material with a thickness between 1 and 4 millimetres. 3. Panel according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the solid sheets (3) comprise frames (31) of a width between 5 and 10 centimetres glued together at a lateral face (31a) so as to form sheets (3) of arbitrary size. 4. Panel according to claim 1, 2 or 3 characterised in that the frame (1) comprises a plurality of small frames (1a), so as to increase the gluing surface. 5. Panel according to claim 4, characterised in that at least one frame (1a) surrounds a corresponding honeycomb structure (2a). 6. Panel according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the honeycomb structure (2; 2a) comprises corrugated cardboard or expanded polystyrene. 7. Panel according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that at least one solid sheet (3; 3?) comprises a non-uniform external surface (3a; 3a?), from which a volume (V;V?) of between 50% and 70% of the overall volume of the sheet (3; 3?) has been removed. 8. Panel according to claim 7, characterised in that both sheets (3, 3?) comprise non-uniform external surfaces (3a, 3a?), from which volumes (V, V?) of material have been removed which differ by no more than 10% of the largest volume (V; V?) removed. 9. Process for manufacturing a honeycomb panel according to any of the preceding claims, characterised by comprising at least the steps of: - prepare a wooden perimeter frame (1); - fill the frame (1) with a honeycomb structure (2); - compose (3) solid sheets of no less than 6 millimetres thick; - glue two solid wood sheets (3) to the perimeter frame (1) on opposite sides. 10. Process according to claim 9, characterised by comprising a step of applying to the frame (1) at least one layer (4) of wood material with a thickness between 1 and 4 millimetres before gluing the solid wood sheets (3). 11. Process according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that the stage of composing solid sheets (3) involves gluing together frames (31) of a width between 5 and 10 centimetres in correspondence with a lateral face (31a) so as to form sheets (3) of arbitrary size. 12. Method according to claim 9, 10 or 11, characterised by the fact that it comprises an initial phase of composing the perimeter frame (1) by joining a plurality of small frames (1a), at least one of which surrounds a corresponding honeycomb structure (2a). 13. Process according to one of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that it comprises a final phase of removal from at least one external surface (3a; 3a?) of the sheets (3; 3?) of a volume (V; V?) of material between 50% and 70% of the total volume of the sheets (3; 3?), wherein the difference between the volumes (V, V?) removed does not exceed 10% of the greatest volume (V; V?) removed.