WO2004043214A1

WO2004043214A1 - Wooden bathroom fittings and methods for manufacturing thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2004043214A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/012550
Authority: WO
Inventors: Claudio Cavalieri; Aurelio Armanasco
Original assignee: Classwood S.R.L.
Priority date: 2002-11-11
Filing date: 2003-11-11
Publication date: 2004-05-27
Also published as: ITMI20022384A1; AU2003296570A1

Abstract

Wooden bathroom fittings like washbasins, baths, bidets, W.C. and shower bases are proposed which are obtained from wooden starting blocks (3) formed by a plurality of panels (1; 4) made by glueing together a number of strips (2; 6) the axis of which extends parallel to the large panel faces or orthogonally to the latter. Said starting blocks (3) are so dimensioned and profiled that they include the shape of the bathroom fitting to be manufactured by chip-forming machining. According to the manufacturing method the designed fitting shape is 'written' in a program adapted to control a N/C machine tool. Large or complicated fittings like baths (10; 30) or coverings for W.C. are divided in several components (11-15; 31, 38, 39) which are then assembled by glueing, doweling or the like. In said starting blocks among wooden panels or layers may be interposed layers or panels of different materials, like crystal, plastics, aluminium, brass, copper, and so on.

Description

"Wooden bathroom fittings and methods for manufacturing thereof

Background of the invention

The present invention relates to wooden bathroom fittings and methods for manufacturing thereof.

The invention also relates to the starting bodies to be machined for obtaining said bathroom fittings, to panels used for forming said starting bodies as well as to the use of said panels for making parquets, coverings and working tops on kitchen base units. The known bathroom fittings like washbasins, baths, W.C, bidets and shower bases are generally made of ceramic or enameled metal bodys. Even functionally unexceptionable, the known bathroom fittings have several drawbacks and limits, under which are mentioned the "cool" aspect, the possible ceramic yellowing due to the time and environment action, the possible chipping or breaking due to impacts, as well as practically standardized shapes due to the high costs for the necessary matrixes and dies. In fact, a new shape of a bathroom fitting requires the manufacturing of new specific matrixes and dies the cost of which involves an amortization requiring, in turn, the production of a considerable number of said new bathroom fitting. Indirectly, the attempt to personalize said bathroom fittings, that is to manufacture a small number thereof would be extremely expensive. Wooden washbasis are known which have a rather small depth and are made of wood laminates which are bent under a damp-warm-pressure action. With a similar manufacturing way it is not obviously possible to produce for example washbasins having particular shapes, for example a heart-shape, a remarkable depth, or a two-bowl washbasin or bathroom fittings like W.C, bidets or baths.

To emphasize is further that the aspect of the known wooden washbasins is like the aspect of a traditional veneered wooden panel.

Considering the indeformability and tightness features which the bathroom fittings must have and the cavity to be obtained in the latter it would obviously not be possible to use a starting one-piece wood block.

On the other hand it is well known how the request of wooden items to be used in bathrooms is constantely growing, and this due to the marked furnishing features of wood, particularly heartwood and composite wood not only for floors or parquets but also for pieces of furniture in general, for the covering of baths, for W.C. lids and for bathtroom accessories in general.

Besides floors, pieces of furniture, accessories and coverings in general made of wood, the request of wooden bathroom fittings is at present unsatisfied.

Panels made of glued wooden strips are also known in the form of plates and boards for making parquets, whereby said strips are made with the same wood sort.

Summary of the invention

The aim of the present invention is to provide wooden bathroom fittings having any desirable shape and/or size as well as methods for manufacturing thereof.

Within the scope of the above mentioned aim, a main object of the present invention is to utilize the teachings concerning the manufacturing of wooden bathroom fittings for manufacturing composite bathroom fittings made either of wood with other materials or of other materials than wood only, or of plastics only. With respect to the wooden bathroom fittings the above mentioned aims and objects are achieved with bathroom fittings having the feature stated in claim 1.

With respect to the manufacturing methods the above mentioned aims and objects are achieved with manufacturing methods having the features set forth in claim 15.

Further improvements of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Advanatgeous uses of the proposed panels are set forth in claims 24, 25 and 25.

The bathroom fittings and the manufacturing methods thereof as well as the panels according to the invention provide several important advantages.

First of all, the proposed bathroom fittings are not produced by presswork but they are singularly produced by chip-forming machining in automatic N/C machine tools. _j

In order to produce a new shape for a bathroom fitting it is no more necessary to previously produce specific matrixes and dies, but the new shape is now "written" in a specific program for controlling a numerically controlled machine tool which will produce a bathroom fitting by machining a specific starting body. According to the present invention said machining is not carried out on a wood one-piece block as cut from a tree but on a solid block which is previously obtained by means of measures adapted for imparting to the bathroom fittings the indispensable indeformability, stability, strength, and waterproof features as well as a free handling with the usual cleaning and sanitary products as used for the common known bathroom fittings,

According to the present invention the bathroom fittings may have a one-piece body or a body formed by several pieces or components which can be assembled to make the desired bathroom fitting or a covering for a bathroom fitting, for example for a W.C. which latter could also be manufactured as a one-piece bathroom fitting like a washbasin, a shower base and so on. This production alternative provided according to the present invention especially for W.C. and bidets is due to the fact that some people think that a ceramic W.C. is more hygienik than a wooden W.C

The use of wood for making the bathroom fittings in accordance with the invention has further advantages concerning the features of the material itself as well as the great creation freedom in designing the bathroom fitting both by the designer himself/herself or according to client or architect designs, whereby in the last case the designer after having developed a new bathroom fitting shape will "write" the same in a specific program for controlling a N/C machine tool.

Relating the wood material features the following advantages are mentioned:

- by using together glued wooden strips it is possible to compose together different wood sorts having different grains and colors so as to create new chromatic and grain combinations which may be freely chosen by the designers.

- During tests it has been found that such chromatic and composition varations may also be enlarged by assembling wood with other materials, for example crystal, metral, plastics and so on, that is materials which may be unexceptionally glued by using the known well tested glues and adhesives.

- A feature of composite or assembled wood strips is the insulation K costant thereof. As known, wood is in fact a goog insulating material so that water poured into a bath will keep its temperature much longer than in traditional enameled baths, and in any case the water temperature decreasing is much more slow. This advantage is particularly important for people loving staying longer in the bath, and in particular for the small baths or bowl for babys. In the latter case the known warm water "additions" for compensating the water temperature decreases can be avoided. It is further known that the contact with wood imparts a pleasant warm feeling which is not achievable with "cold" materials as for example with the known ceramic baths.

- Wood also has a good friction coefficient, that is on wooden surfaces people do not slide, thereby said antislip feature is particularly important for baths and shower bases or plates.

- Due to the fact that wood sorts may be chosen the cheaper wood sorts may be used so that also threes may be used which are normally onluy used as burning wood.

- The small sizes of the wood strips used for the production of composite panels also allows the utilization of scraps of expensive wood sorts which are typically used in a lot of laboratories for manufacturing furniture in general.

As to the single bathroom fittins the following advantages are set forth:

- In the case of washbasins it is possible to obtain as a single piece both the bowl for containing water as well as a bearing plate which latter is at present provided as a distinct plate of wood, marble or other materials.

- Starting from a body having a proper size it is possible to obtain two or more bowls having any desirable shape.

- The suggested manufacturing in single components for baths or other bathroom fittings having bigger sizes allows to produce bathroom fittings practically having any desirable shape and/or dimensions. A further advantage is to be seen in the great designing freedom for the designer who after having created a new fitting form can easily transfer the latter in a program for C/N machine tools. This new method for creating new shapes and transferring the latter in programs for C/N machines ensures the further advantages for the designer to also possibly send the file of a new shape by internet to the manufacturer for the manufacturing of the bathroom fittings practically in real time.

- A further advantage of the new suggeste manufacturing method is to be seen in the fact of easily create personalized bathroom fittings for people having handicaps, and this at low costs due to the use of the proposed manufacturing technology instead of the known pressing technology.

- Another advantage is that by using the actually known resining and painting techniques according to the more advanced specifications it is possible on the one hand to ensure the maximum hygiene of said fittings and on the other hand to ensure a very long life thereof. Also in relation with the disposing of said fittings it is stressed that the suggested wooden bathroom fittings according to the present invention represent a combustible bio-solid.

It is further stressed that in the wooden bathroom fitting according to an embodiment of the invention no metal component is used so that said fittings are also proper for people who are sensitive against contact or closeness with metals.

Still another advantage is that the manufacturing methods for manufacturing the proposed wooden bathroom fittings are also proper for manufacturing bathroom fittings including panels, layers or sheets made with other materials, for example made of copper, aluminium, plastics, marble or other stone and so on, whereby chromatically and aesthetically new combinations are achieved which further enlarge the creativity freedom grade for the designers.

Another advantage is that the proposed wooden panels may also be used for making parquets, wall coverings as well as working plates or tops for kitchen base units. Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics, advantages and details of the bathroom fittings and the manufacturing methods thereof according to the present invention will become more apparent hereinafter from the following disclosure of said bathroom fitting and the manufacturing methods thereof which are shown, by way of examples only, in the accompanying drawings in which :

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a composite panel with strips the longitudinal axis of which is parallel to the panel large surfaces,

Figure 2 shows another embodiment of a composite panel having irregular head cut strips, whereby the panel strips have a rather short longitudinal axis which is orthogonal to the panel large surfaces,

Figures 3, 4 and 5 show differently shaped washbasins,

Figure 6 is a prespective view on the bottom of the wash basin of

Figure 5,

Figure 7 is a perpective view of a starting block according to the invention for manufacturing the washbasin of Figures 5 and 6,

Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11 show further embodiments of washbasins,

Figure 12 is a top view of a shower base or plate,

Figure 13 is a perspective view of a corner bath,

Figure 14 is a perspective view of another bath,

Figure 15 is a perspective view of a W.C with the lid in the closed position,

Figure 16 is a topo view on a W.C. having a wooden covering and a lid in the open position,

Figure 17 is an exploded view of a W.C. having a wooden covering and a ceramic body,

Figure 18 is a perspective view of an assembled bath,

Figure 19 is an exploded view of the bath of Figure 18 showing the components thereof, Figure 20 is a perspective view of of another embodiment of an assembled bath, and

Figure 21 is a front view of a starting body the panels of which have an outline following the extension of the middle component of an assemblable bath

Best modes for carrying out the the invention

Reference now will be made to the composite panel shown in Figure 1 which is formed by a plurality of strips 2 consisting of heart-wood or duramen strips the longitudinal extension thereof is parallel to the large panel surfaces.

According to the teaching of the present invention said strips 2 have been dryed not beyond 10° of relative humidity and previously selected, without nodes and various defects, cut and trimmed for obtaining the necessary yielding and vein stability in order to obtain a tensionfree strip. Said strips 2 are then composed or assembled and glued together by using, for example, certified D4 repellent glues. After the assembling said strips 2 are compressed in the three plane with a pressure in the order of 7 kg/cm2 in oder to obtain the necessary total shape stiffness and stability. A panel is obtained which is waterproof and stabile to torsional stresses. The panel is then sized and smoothed for obtaining the necessary thickness and planarity uniformity. Pannels of this type are known and made using strips of the same wood sort. According to the present invention for the manufacturing of the illustrated wooden bathroom fittings panels 1 of the above illustrated type are used, whereby for each panel strips of different wood sorts are preferably used.

A plurality of panels 1 are cut and superimposed, preferably reciprocally rotated of 90° for obtaining an optimized strength and for simultaneously obtain a pleasant mosaic vein effect, whereby said panels 1 are glued together by means of proper known adhesive means, for example specific glues or films consisting of bonding material.

According to the invention it is also possible to connect said panels 1 along the same vein. The superimposed panels 1 form in this way a wooden starting body 3 as shown in Figure 7 which may be used for obtaining a washbasin as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Said panels 1 may have any desirable thickness between 1 mm and 100 mm, preferably between 10 and 40 mm.

By machining with a N/C machine tool using a program containing the instructions for obtaining the respectively desired tridimensional shape, for example the shape of the washbasin illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 for the starting body 3 of Figure 7, the machine tool will automatically carry out subsequently the various chip-forming machining steps for creating at last the finished washbasin as depicted in Figures 5 and 6.

In the case of washbasins having an upper plate, as illustrated for example in figures 3, 4; 8; 9, 10 and 11 the starting body 3 will obviously include a corresponding number of superimposed upper panels which will correspondingly project from the bottom part of said starting body 3.

The washbasin of Figure 9 is provided with lateral openings 20 for holding towels.

Figure 10 shows a washbasin provided with an upper vertically projecting frame 21, whereby the starting block thereof will be correspondingly profiled and have a lower parallelepipedical body part, a middle plate-like body part and a top parallelepipedical body part.

Even if not illustrated it is easily imaginable to provide laterally to the washbasin bowl a console, box or the like hanging from the washbasin late and obtained from the starting block

The panel 4 illustrated in Figure 2 is a so called "head tessera panel" and is different from the panel 1 by the fact that the single strips or tesseras

6 forming said panel 4 have the same and rather short length and a longitudinal axis which extends orthogonally with respect to the large panel surfaces. According to the present invention said tesseras 6 have a quadrangular cross section, whereby said tessera cross sections have preferably different areas and the tessera wood sorts are also preferably different in each panel 4 so that the random assembling of said tesseras

6 configures panels 4 with an irregular disposition of said tesseras 6 which results in panels 4 having different geometrical and chromatic aspects.

The manufacturing of said panels 4 corresponds in principle to the above illustrated manufacturing of the panels 1.

To stress is further the fact that the panels 4 have very strong hardness and strength features, and the geometrical random effect of the disposition of said tesseras 6 impair to said panels 4 marked mechanical- aesthatical features which are able to particularly make the best of the mechanical and easthetical features of the bathroom fitting manufactured from starting bodies formed with panels 4.

The aesthetical effect may obviously be varied and stressed in accordance with the wood sorts of the single tesseras 6. The latter, due to the small sizes thereof, may be produced using waste and remaining pieces from traditional machining for manufacturing furniture.

Besides the production of starting blocks for manufacturing bathroom fittings as illustrated above and in the figures the "head tessera panels" 4 may advantageously also be used for manufacturing wooden element at will, particularly modular plates and lists or boards for parquets and coverings, for example for paneling for walls, columns, fireplaces and so on.

The above mentioned remarkable hardness and strength features of the tesseras 6 of panel 4, especially if hard wood sorts are used, allow the advantageous use as working plates or tops placed on kitchen base units. In the case of bathroom fittings which are large or have a rather complicate shape as for example the bath illustrated in Figure 18 or in the case of coverings of bidets or W.C. as illustrated in Figure 17 according to the present invention said fittings or coverings are designed in several parts, as illustrated in Figure 19for a bath and 17 for a W.C. covering, and the shapes thereof are then "written" in corresponding program for N/C machine tools for the manufacturing of said fitting parts, as stated above.

After the manufacturing of the signle fitting partr or components the latter are then assembled by using any known assembling method, for example by doweling, preferably by using wooden dowel pins, and glueing.

For example for the bath of Figure 18 the following components are provided: a bottom 11, two sidewalls 12 and 13, as well as a front and a rear wall 14 and 15, respectively. The bath subdivision could obviously be made in any other way, for example partially as shown in Figure 17.

Reference is now made to Figure 20 showing a bath 30 requiring a shorter machining time than the bath illustrated in Figures 18, 19 and permitting an assembling in the client's bathroom as well as to facilitate the transport of said bath.

The bath 30 has a middle body 31 which includes the bottom 32, the front wall 33 and the rear wall 34. Said body 31 is obtained from a profiled starting body with vertically disposed panels 35 formed by strips 36 as shown in Figure 20, 21. In the shown example the sidewalls 38, 39 are made of transparent material, for example crystal, polycarbonate or the like. Said saidewalls 38, 39 are fixed to the middle body 31 by means of silicone, glues or adhesives as mentioned above. Ornamental elements 40 like upholsterer nails or the like may me provided for aesthetical reasons. A drain is indicated by 37 and a possible headrest is denoted by 38. The lower surface of the middle body 31 may be painted.

The shape of the middle body 31 obtained from a starting block according to the invention may obviously vary at will at least one or both the sidewalls 38, 39 may be made of non-transparent material, like opaque crystal, marble, granite, synthetic material, metal, wood and so on.

Reference is now made to the Figures 17 and 19 the clearness of which makes a detailed description of the single bath components and W.C. components superfluous.

In Fig. 17 the ceramic W.C body is designated 8 and the cleaning water discharging ring is designated 9. The assembling of the components may take place by glueing and doweling as stated above.

According another aspect of the present invention the proposed manufacturing methods advantageously allow to also machining starting bodies which may be made of other materials than wood, preferably stratified starting bodies including a combination of wooden and other layers, sheets or panels made, for example, of crystal, aluminium, brass, copper, plastic and so on, whereby the different possible combinations offer new and pleasant aesthetical effects.

These combinations have not been illustrated as they may be easily imagined and are inferable, for example, from the bathroom fittings illustrated in the drawings.

The above described manufacturing methods and the illustrated bathroom fitting embodiments show that by adopting the teachings of the present invention practically any bathroom fitting shape may be manufactured without involving a preliminary manufacturing of expensive matrixes and dies. It will be understood that all the features set forth in above description, in the following claims and illustrated in the drawings may practically be used in any combinations at will without departing from the scope of the present invention.

From the above structural and functional description is inferable that with the teachings of the present invention the stated aims and objects are achieved and the mentioned advantages are obtained.

In practicing the invention those skilled in the art could vary the sizes, materials and shapes of the bathroom fittings and other elements according to the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A bathroom fitting having a wooden body, characterized by the fact that the fitting body is formed by a glued stratified structure consisting of a plurality of superimposed panels, each panel is formed by a plurality of assembled glued stripes, whereby said fitting body is manufactured from a starting body by chip-forming machining by an N/C machine tool controlled by a program in which is written the shape of the manufactured fitting shape.

2. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the superimposed panels are formed by a plurality of assembled strips having a longitudinal axis which extends parallel to the panel large surfaces.

3. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the superimposed panels are formed by a plurality of assembled short strips or tesseras having a longitudinal axis which extends orthogonally to the panel large surfaces.

4. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that the superimposed panels forming said starting stratified body are disposed crosswise.

5. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 1, characterized in that in case of bathroom fittings having a large size and/or a great depth or a complicate shape, for example baths or in case of coverings for bidet or W.C. bodies made of plastic and/or ceramic said fitting body is formed by several body components which are assemblable together for forming the considered bathroom fitting or covering therefore.

6. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claims 1 and 5, characterized in that the bathroom fitting is a bowl for bathing babies.

7. A wooden bathroom fitting according to claims 1 to 6, characterized in that in the starting body among the wooden layers not-wooden layers are placed like crystal, plastic, marble, aluminium, brass, copper and so on.

8. A wooden bath according to one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the panels or layers thereof extend vertically.

9. A wooden bath according to claim 8, characterized in that the starting body is designed for obtaining the middle part of the bath, that is the bath part including the bottom and the front and rear walls, whereby both sidewalls are provided of non-wood material.

10. A wooden bath according to claim 9, characterized in that at least one sidewall but preferably both sidewalls are transparent and consist of crystal, polycarbonate or the like.

11. A wooden bath according to claim 9, characterized in that at least one sidewall or both sidewalls consist of non-transparent material like opaque crystal, marble, granite, synthetic material, metal and the like.

12. A wooden bath according to claim 9, characterized in that the lower body surface is painted.

13. Starting body for manufacturing a bathroom fitting according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it is formed by a plurality of superimposed glued panels which are preferably crosswise rotated and consist of a plurality of assembled glued strips. (Fig. 7)

14. Starting body for manufacturing a bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that it is formed by a plurality of panels glued together in a vertical side-by-side relation and has an outline including, with a moderate removable finish, the outline or shape provided for the considered fitting.

14. Wooden panel for manufacturing bathroomclaims 5 and 8 to 12, characterized in that it is formed by a plurality of glued short strips or tesseras having the longitudinal axis orthogonal to the panal great surfaces and quadrangular cross sections, preferably with different areas and a random assembling thereof. (Fig. 2)

15. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the preceeding claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a) assembling in superposed disposition panels formed by a plurality of assembled strips the axis of which may be parallel or orthogonal to the panel large surfaces so that a starting body having proper dimensions and shape containing the shape of the respective considered bathroom fitting is obtained, and b) chip forming machining of said starting fitting body for obtaining the respective considered recess and the tridimensional shape of the fitting by means of a machining on a C/N machine tool controlled by a program in which the desired fitting shape is written.

16. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 15, characterized in that in case of bathroom fittings having a great size and/or depth and/or a complicate shape like for example a bath or in case of wooden coverings for ceramic bodies of bidets or W.C. it comprises the following steps: A) preliminary dividing the fitting body in several components, for example for a bath

- in a bottom,

- in two sidewalls,

- in a front wall, and

- in a rear wall,

B) "writing" the respective component shape in a respective working program for controlling a N/C machine tool,

C) separately manufacturing said fitting components according to the steps a) and b) of claim 15, and

D) assembling the produced fitting components to form the finished bath, or the like.

17. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to claim 16, characterized in that the assembling step D) takes place in order to obtain a stable and water-proof bathroom fitting, for example by doweling, preferably by using wooden dowel pins, and glueing.

18. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 15 to 18, characterized in that as glue or adhesive means for forming the panels forming the respective starting fitting body an hydro-repellent adhesive means is used.

19. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 1 to , characterized in that it further includes a surface sealing step by using natural products like oils, waxes or by applying synthetic materials like resins, transparent paints and the like.

20. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 15 to 19, characterized in that during assembling of said starting bodies between wooden panels are placed sheets or layer made of aluminium, copper, brass, plastic, marble and so on.

21. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 15 to 19, characterized in that during assembling all the provided panels or layer are made of materials different from wood or said panels or layer are made of plastic materials.

22. A method for manufacturing wooden bathroom fitting according to one or more of the claims 15 to 19, characterized in that as starting body is used a one-piece block made of plastic.

23. A panel made of glued tesseras, characterized in that the single teseras have substantially quadrangular cross sections presenting equal or different area sizes and/or are made of different wood sorts, whereby said panel has tesseras assembled with a random distribution thereof, and said panel is manufacture in the form of a plate or a board.

24. Use of panels according to one or more of claims 2, 3, 4, 14, 23 for producing parquets.

25. Use of panels according to one or more of claims 2, 3, 4, 14, 23 for producing coverings, like wall coverings, fireplaces coverings, columns coverings and so on.

26. Use of panels according to one or more of claims 2, 3, 4, 14, 23 for producing working plates or tops for kitchen base units and/or kitchen sinks.