JP4217166B2 - Compressed wood products and exterior packaging for electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a compressed wood product using compressed wood and an electronic device exterior material using the compressed wood product.

  Examples of portable electronic devices that are held and operated by hand include a camera, a portable communication device (mainly a mobile phone), an IC recorder, a PDA, a portable TV, and a portable radio, as well as remote controls for various home appliances. As exterior materials for these portable electronic devices, synthetic resins (ABS, polycarbonate, acrylic, etc.) and light metals (aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, magnesium, etc.) are often used for industrial mass production. Yes. As described above, the synthetic resin or light metal forming the exterior material has an appropriate strength but has no individual differences because it places importance on industrial product properties. Further, in the case of a synthetic resin or light metal that forms an exterior material, scratches and discoloration occur during long-term use, but the scratches and discoloration merely impair the value as an electronic device.

  Therefore, it is conceivable to use natural wood as an exterior material. Since wood has various grain, there are individual differences and individuality. In addition, wood has a flaw and a change in hue when used for a long period of time, and this becomes a texture unique to wood and causes familiarity to the user.

  However, when three-dimensionally processing wood as an exterior material, there is a concern about its strength. Specifically, when a strength equivalent to that of an exterior material made of synthetic resin or light metal is required, the thickness must be increased and the size is increased, making it unsuitable as a portable electronic device. On the other hand, when the size equivalent to that of the exterior material made of synthetic resin or light metal is obtained, the thickness is reduced and the strength is lowered. Therefore, conventionally, there is a technique for obtaining strength by compressing wood as follows.

  Conventionally, as a processing method of wood, a shape obtained by compressing and holding water-absorbed and softened wood is fixed, and the wood is sliced in a compression direction to obtain a plate-like primary fixed product, and the primary fixed product is heated and absorbed while being given water. A method is known in which a molded product having a three-dimensional shape is molded into a secondary fixed product in which the shape of the molded product is fixed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Conventionally, as a three-dimensional processing method of a wooden material, a method is known in which a wooden material compressed in a softened state is temporarily fixed, and the recovery of the wooden material is performed in a mold (for example, patent document). 2).

Japanese Patent No. 3078452 JP-A-11-77619

  However, it is known that the strength of the wood changes depending on the compression direction with respect to the wood. That is, there is a possibility that the wood may be damaged by compression in some cases. In particular, when processing wood three-dimensionally, it is necessary to consider the compression direction for the wood. In the above-described conventional technology, wood is first compressed and then compressed (pressurized) in a direction different from the compression direction in subsequent molding, so that wood may be damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a compressed wood product and an electronic device exterior material capable of improving the strength by shaping and compression-molding wood in consideration of the compression direction with respect to the wood in advance. The purpose is to provide.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a compressed wood product according to claim 1 of the present invention rises from a main plate portion having a width to which a volume reduced by compression is added in advance, and a peripheral edge of the main plate portion. And a side plate portion having a thickness that is provided in advance and has a thickness that is preliminarily added to the volume that is reduced by compression in the width direction of the main plate portion and is thicker than the thickness of the main plate portion, and before compression, the fibers of said main plate portion a timber taken shape by integrally the main plate portion and the side plate portion from the wood preparative shape that extends linearly in the fiber direction of the wood preparative the type The timber shaped along the plate is compressed with the direction perpendicular to the fiber direction along the plate surface of the main plate portion as the compression direction, and receives compressive force in the width direction of the main plate portion and the thickness direction of the side plate portions. to said side plate portion from the main plate portion Te is And characterized by being molded in uniform thickness pot.

Compressed wood product according to claim 2 of the present invention, in the claim 1, the longitudinal direction of the molded shape is characterized by comprising taken form in along Migihitsuji the fiber direction of the wood.

An exterior device for electronic equipment according to claim 3 of the present invention is formed by the compressed wood product according to claim 1 or 2.

The compressed wood product according to the present invention is provided with a main plate portion having a width obtained by adding in advance a volume reduced by compression, and a volume rising from a peripheral edge of the main plate portion, and a volume reduced by compression in the width direction of the main plate portion. and a pre-added with a thickness has a thickness which is thicker than the thickness of the main plate portion side plate portion, and, prior to compression, wood preparative form in which the fiber extends linearly The main plate portion and the side plate portion are integrally formed from wood, and the main plate portion is shaped along the fiber direction of the shaping wood, and the wood is formed along the plate surface of the main plate portion. is compressed in a direction perpendicular to the direction compression direction, the width direction and compressive forces in the thickness direction of the side plate portion of the main plate portion from said main plate portion receiving to said side plate portion is molded in a substantially uniform thickness Become. For this reason, since the fiber density is increased, high strength is imparted to the whole. As a result, the strength as a compressed wood product can be improved by three-dimensional compression.

  Since the exterior material for electronic devices according to the present invention is formed by the compressed wood product described above, it can have sufficient strength as an exterior material for electronic devices.

  Exemplary embodiments of a compressed wood product and an electronic device exterior material according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following examples.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an electronic apparatus using a compressed wood product according to the present invention as an exterior material. In FIG. 1, a digital camera is shown as an example of an electronic device. The digital camera has a reinforcing frame 11 and an internal mechanism 12 inside an exterior material 10 made of compressed wood products. Further, the digital camera is configured by exposing an imaging lens 13 and a liquid crystal monitor 14 outside the exterior material 10. The internal mechanism 12 includes an image sensor 12a such as a CCD, a drive circuit 12b for the image sensor 12a, a drive circuit 12c for the liquid crystal monitor 14, a recording device 12d for the image recording medium C, and a connection terminal 12e for connecting to an external personal computer.

  The exterior material 10 includes a front cover 10a and a rear cover 10b. A lens hole 10c is provided in the main plate portion of the front cover 10a so as to expose the imaging lens 13 to the outside. The lens hole 10c is drilled corresponding to the outer shape of the holding portion that holds the imaging lens 13. For example, if the holding portion is cylindrical, the holding portion is exposed to the outside of the front cover 10a. The lens hole 10c is formed in a circular shape. An opening hole 10d is provided in the side plate portion of the front cover 10a so that the image recording medium C is inserted and removed. The main plate portion of the rear cover 10b is provided with a rectangular window hole 10e so that the liquid crystal monitor 14 is exposed. Moreover, the opening 10f is provided in the side plate part of the back cover 10b in the aspect which inserts / extracts the connection cable connected to the connection terminal 12e. In addition, although not explicitly shown in the figure, the front cover 10a and the rear cover 10b are provided with button holes in a manner that exposes various operation buttons for operating the digital camera, and the button holes are provided as necessary. A lid is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing shaping of the compressed wood product according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing shaping of the compressed wood product according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the compressed wood product forming the exterior material 10 is formed by compressing the wood 1. Then, the wood 1 before being compressed is formed from the solid material 100. The solid material 100 includes, for example, camellia, camellia leaf, paulownia, teak, mahogany, cedar, pine or cherry. The wood 1 is provided in such a manner that a main plate portion 1a having a predetermined shape (substantially rectangular shape in the present embodiment) that forms a main plate portion of the front cover 10a or the rear cover 10b, and a front plate 10a The rear cover 10b includes a side plate portion 1b that forms a side plate portion. Moreover, the wood 1 is curvedly formed by connecting the main plate portion 1a and the side plate portion 1b with a smooth curved surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the wood 1 has the main plate portion 1 a formed along the fiber direction L of the solid material 100, and in particular, the longitudinal direction of the shape of the main plate portion 1 a can be formed along the fiber direction L. preferable.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the form in which the wood 1 is formed from the solid material 100 includes the wood 1-1, the wood 1-2, and the wood 1-3. The wood 1-1 is shaped such that the grain G is layered within the thickness of the main plate portion 1a and the surface that appears in the thickness direction has a grain surface. The wood 1-2 is formed by shaping the surface of the main plate portion 1a with the grain surface of the wood grain G obliquely and having a memorial surface. The wood 1-3 is formed by taking a grain surface of the wood grain G in the surface direction within the thickness of the main plate portion 1a and having a mesh surface on the surface that appears in the thickness direction.

  FIG. 4 is a compression process diagram of wood in the first embodiment. In FIG. 4, the compression process of the timber 1-3 in which the main board part 1a has a grid surface is shown. The wood 1-3 is shaped in a form in which a volume that is reduced by compression is added in advance. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4A, the side plate portion 1b has a thickness W8 to which a volume that is reduced by compression is added in advance, and is shaped to have a height T4 that is substantially the same as that after compression. The main plate portion 1a has a thickness W7 that is substantially the same as that after compression, and has a width H4 that is preliminarily added with a volume that is reduced by compression as a whole. The thickness W8 of the side plate portion 1b is formed thicker than the thickness W7 of the main plate portion 1a. Further, the main plate portion 1a and the side plate portion 1b are curved in such a manner that they gradually reach from the thickness W8 of the side plate portion 1b to the thickness W7 of the main plate portion 1a. In addition, the wood 1-3 shown in FIG. 4 has shown the form which makes one of the front cover 10a or the back cover 10b as the exterior material 10 which consists of compressed wood products. Since the other form of the front cover 10a or the rear cover 10b is the same as the one form, illustration and description are omitted.

  In relation to the wood 1-3 having the above configuration, first, the wood 1-3 is placed in a high-temperature and high-pressure steam atmosphere as shown in FIG. Wood 1-3 absorbs moisture excessively and softens when placed in a high-temperature and high-pressure steam atmosphere for a predetermined time. At this time, the wood 1-3 has a form in which the overlapping direction M of the wood grain G is overlapped in the left-right direction in FIG. 4 because the main plate portion 1a has a grid surface, and the fiber direction L is the depth in FIG. It becomes a form along the direction.

  Next, the wood 1-3 is compressed. The compression direction at this time is an arrow P shown in FIG. Thereby, the compression force is applied to the wood 1-3 in the direction in which the main plate portion 1a is in the width H4 direction (the overlapping direction M of the grain G) and intersects (or is orthogonal to) the fiber direction L. Further, the wood 1-3 is subjected to a compressive force in a direction in which the side plate portion 1b is in the thickness W8 direction (the overlapping direction M of the wood grain G) and intersects (or is orthogonal to) the fiber direction L. Then, the wood 1-3 is left for a predetermined time with a compressive force applied.

  Finally, after leaving for a predetermined time, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam atmosphere is released and the wood 1-3 is taken out. The extracted compressed wood 1-3 is compressed to a substantially uniform thickness W7 ′, W8 ′ from the main plate portion 1a to the side plate portion 1b. In the compressed wood 1-3, the side plate portion 1b has a height T4 'that is substantially the same as the height T4 before compression. Then, the compressed wood 1-3 is compressed to a width H4 ′.

  Thus, the compressed wood in Example 1 increases the fiber density because the compressive force is applied in the direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the fiber direction L, so that high strength is imparted to the whole. . Further, since the main plate portion 1a and the side plate portion 1b are applied with a compressive force in the overlapping direction M of the grain G, the fiber density of the hard grain G is increased, so that high strength is imparted. Moreover, by taking the longitudinal direction of the shape of the wood 1-3 along the fiber direction L, the strength in the longitudinal direction in which the strength decreases is imparted. As a result, it is possible to improve the strength of the compressed wood product and the electronic device exterior material by three-dimensional compression.

  Moreover, in Example 1, since the main board part 1a has applied the wood 1-3 formed by taking a grid surface, compared with the wood 1-1 or the wood 1-2, the main plate part 1a Since the grain G (fiber) appears densely, the sweat absorbency when touching a human hand is improved, the ease of holding is improved, and the grain G is non-slip. Moreover, since the grain G appears densely on the main plate portion 1a as compared with the wood 1-1 or the wood 1-2, the beauty is improved.

  In the second embodiment described below, the contents shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 in the first embodiment described above are the same as those described above, and the description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a compression process of wood in the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, the compression process of the wood 1-2 in which the main board part 1a has a memorial surface is shown. The wood 1-2 is shaped in a form in which a volume that is reduced by compression is added in advance. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, the side plate portion 1b is shaped to have a thickness W10 to which a volume reduced by compression is added in advance, and has a height T5 that is substantially the same as that after compression. The main plate portion 1a has a thickness W9 that is substantially the same as that after compression, and has a width H5 that is preliminarily added with a volume that is reduced by compression as a whole. The thickness W10 of the side plate portion 1b is formed to be thicker than the thickness W9 of the main plate portion 1a. Further, the main plate portion 1a and the side plate portion 1b are curved so as to gradually reach from the thickness W10 of the side plate portion 1b to the thickness W9 of the main plate portion 1a. In addition, the wood 1-2 shown in FIG. 5 has shown the form which makes one of the front cover 10a or the back cover 10b as the exterior material 10 which consists of compressed wood products. Since the other form of the front cover 10a or the rear cover 10b is the same as the one form, illustration and description are omitted.

  In relation to the wood 1-2 having the above configuration, first, the wood 1-2 is placed in a steam atmosphere of high temperature and high pressure as shown in FIG. The wood 1-2 softens by excessively absorbing moisture by placing it in a high-temperature and high-pressure steam atmosphere for a predetermined time. At this time, since the main plate 1a has a memorial surface, the wood 1-2 has a form in which the overlapping direction M of the grain G is overlapped in an oblique direction in FIG. 5, and the fiber direction L is the depth in FIG. It becomes a form along the direction.

  Next, the wood 1-2 is compressed. The compression direction at this time is an arrow P shown in FIG. Thereby, the compression force is applied to the wood 1-2 in the direction in which the main plate portion 1a is in the width H5 direction (substantially the overlapping direction M of the grain G) and intersects (or is orthogonal to) the fiber direction L. Further, the wood 1-2 is subjected to a compressive force in a direction in which the side plate portion 1b is in the thickness W10 direction (substantially the overlapping direction M of the grain G) and intersects (or is orthogonal to) the fiber direction L. Then, the wood 1-2 is left for a predetermined time with a compressive force applied.

  Finally, after leaving for a predetermined time, the high-temperature and high-pressure steam atmosphere is released and the wood 1-2 is taken out. The compressed wood 1-2 taken out is compressed to a substantially uniform thickness W9 ′, W10 ′ from the main plate portion 1a to the side plate portion 1b. In the compressed wood 1-2, the side plate portion 1b has a height T5 'that is substantially the same as the height T5 before compression. Then, the compressed wood 1-2 is compressed to a width H5 ′.

  In this way, the compressed wood 1-2 in Example 2 is given a compressive force in the direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the fiber direction L, so that the fiber density is increased, so that high strength is imparted to the whole. . Further, since the main plate portion 1a and the side plate portion 1b are applied with a compressive force in the overlapping direction M of the grain G, the fiber density of the hard grain G is increased, so that high strength is imparted. Moreover, by taking the longitudinal direction of the shape of the wood 1-2 along the fiber direction L, the strength in the longitudinal direction in which the strength decreases is imparted. As a result, it is possible to improve the strength of the compressed wood product and the electronic device exterior material by three-dimensional compression.

  Moreover, in Example 2, since the main board part 1a has applied the timber 1-2 formed by having a memorial surface, compared with the timber 1-1, the grain G (fiber) ) Appear densely, the sweat absorbency when touching a human hand is improved, the ease of holding is improved, and the grain G is non-slip. Moreover, since the grain G appears densely on the main plate part 1a as compared with the wood 1-1, the beauty is improved.

  By the way, in Example 1 and Example 2 mentioned above, you may bake the surface of the timber 1 (compressed wood product) obtained by compressing. As the surface is baked, irregularities are generated in the grain G portion, so that the effect of sweat absorption and anti-slip from the beginning of use can be obtained. Furthermore, since the carbonized layer obtained by firing becomes a conductor and becomes an electromagnetic shield material that is much lighter than metals, it can be used effectively as an exterior material for electronic equipment.

  In addition, although Example 1 and Example 2 mentioned above demonstrated the example of the compression wooden product of the shape which raised the side plate part 1b from the main board part 1a, it is not this limitation. As described above, any shape such as tableware may be used as long as a compressive force is applied in a direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the fiber direction L of the wood 1 to obtain strength. Further, the exterior material for electronic devices is not limited to the above digital camera, and as portable electronic devices, for example, cameras, mobile communication devices (mainly mobile phones), IC recorders, PDAs, mobile TVs or mobile radios, various home appliances It is possible to adopt it for remote control.

It is sectional drawing which shows the electronic device using the compressed wood product which concerns on this invention as an exterior material. It is a perspective view which shows the shaping of the compression wooden product which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the shaping of the compression wooden product which concerns on this invention. It is a compression process figure of the timber in Example 1 of this invention. It is a compression process figure of the timber in Example 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 (1-2, 1-3) Wood 1a Main plate part 1b Side plate part 10 Exterior material 10a Front cover 10b Rear cover W7, W9 Main plate part thickness W8, W10 Side plate part thickness T4, T5 Side plate part height H4, H5 Overall width G Wood grain L Fiber direction M Wood grain overlap direction P Compression direction

Claims (3)

A main plate portion having a width that is preliminarily added with a volume that is reduced by compression, and a thickness rising from a peripheral edge of the main plate portion, and a thickness that is preliminarily added with a volume that is reduced by compression in the width direction of the main plate portion and a the main plate side plate portion having a thickness which is thicker than the thickness of Te, and, prior to compression, the main plate portion and the side plate portion from the wood preparative form in which the fiber extends linearly And the main plate portion is shaped along the fiber direction of the shaping wood,
Is compressed in a direction perpendicular to the fiber direction while along the plate surface of the main plate portion as a compression direction, the main from said width direction and the thickness direction of the side plate portion of the plate portion receiving compressive force said main plate portion side plate portion Compressed wood product characterized by being formed with an almost uniform thickness. Compressed wood product according to claim 1 in the longitudinal direction of the molded shape is characterized by comprising taken form in along Migihitsuji the fiber direction of the wood. It is formed with the compressed wood product of Claim 1 or 2, The exterior material for electronic devices characterized by the above-mentioned.

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