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EP 0 074 821 B1 |
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EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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Mention of the grant of the patent: |
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27.04.1988 Bulletin 1988/17 |
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Date of filing: 10.09.1982 |
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International Patent Classification (IPC)4: B27M 3/04 |
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Method of making a wooden tile
Verfahren zur Herstellung einer Holzfliese
Procédé pour la fabrication d'un carreau en bois
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Designated Contracting States: |
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AT BE CH DE FR IT LI LU NL SE |
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Priority: |
15.09.1981 GB 8127823
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Date of publication of application: |
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23.03.1983 Bulletin 1983/12 |
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Proprietor: Yontrarak, Bunlue |
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C. Samutprakarn (TH) |
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Inventor: |
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- Yontrarak, Bunlue
C. Samutprakarn (TH)
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Representative: Baillie, Iain Cameron et al |
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Ladas & Parry,
Altheimer Eck 2 80331 München 80331 München (DE) |
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References cited: :
FR-A- 555 023 FR-A- 2 184 626 US-A- 3 377 223 US-A- 4 044 182
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FR-A- 969 320 GB-A- 835 075 US-A- 3 448 530 US-A- 4 234 024
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Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European
patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to
the European patent
granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall
not be deemed to
have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent
Convention).
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[0001] This invention relates to a method of making wooden tiles.
[0002] Wood tiles have long been made and used as a covering material, particularly for
floors. In the past, good quality logs were abundant and wastage of wood was considerable.
The tiles in those early days were made unnecessarily thick, so thick that the wood
in the tiles could have outlasted the floor itself, but unfortunately they delaminated
before the end of their service life. Over the years, the natural wood logs have become
more scarce and expensive, so the thickness of flooring in general has been reduced.
Today, the normal conventional tile is about 6 to 7 mm thick. As a matter of fact,
even this thickness is still too much and certainly more than you need for flooring.
Up to now, a thinner tile has not been available on the market simply because it has
been uneconomical to manufacture by conventional methods. People have tried to use
a veneer of 1 to 2 mm thick to laminate onto an inexpensive backing such as Plywood
or Chipboard. Whilst this achieves a slightly reduced cost, the tile quality is very
substantially decreased and the service life is relatively short. Another tile that
has been tried, is a thin veneer of 1 mm or under which is glued onto a substrate
with a clear plastic lining on top of it. This method has proved to be fairly expensive
and the tile has no natural warmth as is inherent in natural wood.
[0003] One known method of overcoming these problems has been disclosed by Hettich in US-A-3
908 053. That is to make a wooden tile which requires a piece of wood to be sawn from
a piece of lumber. The sheet of wood is then cut into a plurality of individual rectangular
shaped blocks to which glue is applied along their edges so that when butted together
side-by-side in any selected pattern, the blocks bond to each other.
[0004] The disadvantage with such a method is that it is generally not feasible to manufacture
the thickness of the wooden sheet to 6.2 mm. Furthermore, a considerable amount of
wood in the form of sawdust is wasted in the saw cutting operation and a low yield
results from the geometric differences in the round logs and the straight saw cut
line in respect of the sheet thickness.
[0005] Furthermore, the cutting of the wood with a saw results in a closed grain surface
on both the top and bottom major surfaces of the cut sheet resulting in the finished
tile being of a rigid construction having substantially no flexibility and being brittle.
Hettich alleviates this problem to some extent by using a flexible glue and by providing
grooves in the underside of the blocks.
[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a wooden
tile in which these disadvantages are substantially eliminated.
[0007] According to the present invention there is provided a method of making a flexible
wooden tile comprising the steps of forming a plurality of members of wood of a predetermined
thickness from a piece of timber, applying adhesive to edges of the members, forming
a plurality of said members into a tile with an edge of one member abutting an edge
of another member, and allowing the adhesive to set to bond said members together,
characterized in that the members are formed by knife cutting the piece of timber
with a rotary lathe or slicing machine to form a sheet-like piece of wood of said
predetermined thickness which is then cut into said plurality of members and in that
said members are then bonded together to form the flexible wooden tile in which each
constituent member is flexible.
[0008] It is appreciated that cutting with a lathe is known in the field of the manufacture
of veneer. Examples of this are shown in GB-A-835075, and FR-A-969 320. In the case
where knife cutting is effected with a slicing machine the cutting knife may lie parallel
with the longitudinal axis of a bolt of wood and may be moved horizontally, vertically
or in a slanted fashion in the direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the
bolt. In another alternative slicing machine, the cutting knife may be moved lengthwise
through the bolt of wood parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bolt.
[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the invention the members are formed of a predetermined
length and breadth and the length is arranged to be longer than the breadth. Preferably,
the members are arranged together to form a square tile.
[0010] A self-adhesive can be applied to the undersurface of the tile, which self-adhesive
is a double sided self-adhesive tape applied to the undersurface of the tile.
[0011] Preferably, the tile is sanded to a thickness of 2.5 mm and is trimmed to have sides
of 305 mm. The tile may be formed of wood selected from teak, oak and rarewood species,
and is boiled, cooled to ambient temperature, boiled again and knife cut whilst hot.
[0012] Preferably the adhesive applied to the individual members to each other is ureaformaldehyde,
although any other suitable adhesive may be used.
[0013] The curing or setting of the bonding adhesive may be achieved by placing individually
assembled tiles side by side on a platen of a hot press and subsequently pressure
of some 10 metric tons per square foot is applied to the tiles at high temperature
for approximately three minutes.
[0014] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example,
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a wooden tile in accordance with the present invention;
and
Figure 2 is an edge view of the wooden tile in the direction of the arrow A in Figure
1.
[0015] Referring now more particularly to the wooden tile illustrated in Figures 1 and 2,
the tile is shown to be square and is assembled from a plurality of independent solid
wood fingers 1 which are bonded together along abutting edges with a suitable adhesive
such as urea formaldehyde.
[0016] In the present tile, the fingers 1 are formed into blocks of five parallel fingers
laid side-by-side and the blocks are laid so that the longitudinal fingers of each
block lie at right angles to the next adjacent block. In this way sixteen such blocks
can be laid side-by-side and bonded together to form the tile as shown in Figure 1.
[0017] Figure 2 illustrates an edge view of the tile of Figure 1 and further illustrates
the bonded joints 2 between the blocks of fingers 1. Although not shown in Figure
2, the blocks of individual fingers are similarly butted and bonded together.
[0018] The process by which the wooden tile disclosed above is manufactured will now be
described in detail with particular reference to making the tile from teak.
[0019] Initially, a teak log is boiled or steamed and then allowed to cool to ambient temperature
where upon its temperature is quickly raised again for boiling or steaming for a second
time. As the teak log begins to cool, after the second boiling, the log is placed
in a rotary lathe such as is manufactured by Capital Corporation in the United States
of America, and while the log is still hot but cooled sufficiently to allow efficient
cutting of the wood the log is rotated and a sheet of wood of a thickness of a little
more than 2.5 mm is cut by a knife from the surface of the log. The knife blade is
some 4 feet in length and is positioned at an angle which will provide the maximum
release of the stresses and strains within the log as the sheet is removed.
[0020] In the present embodiment, the sheets peeled from the log are cut by means of a saw
into a plurality of elongate rectangular fingers. The fingers are then stacked with
their respective edge surfaces in common planes so that adhesive such as urea formaldehyde
can be applied to the edge surfaces.
[0021] The fingers are then laid in a jig in the pattern shown in Figure 1 with surfaces
of the jig supporting the outer peripheral surface 3 of the tile in Figure 1. The
jig is then removed and the tile placed on a platen of a hot press with other similarly
formed tiles. The hot press is operated to apply a pressure of some 10 metric tons
per square foot to the tile for some three minutes and when released the adhesive
is cured and the fingers of the tile bonded together.
[0022] Applying pressure to the tile in this way substantially prevents warping of the tile
while simultaneously curing the adhesive.
[0023] When the adhesive has cured, the tile is trimmed around its edges to define a square
tile with each of the sides having a length of 305 mm. The main upper and lower surfaces
of the tile are finished in a conventional manner by sanding to provide commercially
acceptable surfaces which can be polished. After this finishing process, the tile
has a thickness of some 2.5 mm and does not have a backing substrate.
[0024] The advantages gained by the method of manufacturing a tile in accordance with the
present invention is that by cutting the wooden sheet from the log with a knife provides
an open grain surface. Accordingly, in the finished tile, the upper and lower surfaces
have this open grained feature which permits the tile to have a flexibility which
is hitherto unknown in wooden floor tiles. Furthermore, the method provides for a
thinner solid wooden tile than that previously manufactured, the thinness also resulting
in a tile which is both light in weight and economical to produce.
[0025] The invention has been described with reference to one particular embodiment. However,
a number of modifications may be made to the method without departing from the scope
of the invention.
[0026] While the sheet of wood has been described as being cut from a teak log on a rotary
lathe, it is to be understood that such sheets may be removed from a bolt of wood
by means of horizontal, vertical, slanted or lengthways slicers which are well known
in the art, but in which the sheets are essentially removed by cutting with a knife.
A typical such slicing machine is produced by the Italian firm of Cremona Angelo.
Furthermore, while the knife has been described as being some 4 feet in length, it
may be of any convenient length which is smaller or longer, and may, for example,
be up to some 16 feet in length. In the lengthways slicer the blade may be only 10
inches long.
[0027] Other woods may be used in making such tiles but it is not necessary to subject all
of them to the boiling or steaming process described. However, it is essential the
sheet of wood taken from the log or bolt is cut with a knife to obtain open grain
surfaces on the tiles.
[0028] Wooden tiles made by the process of the present invention may be as thin as 0.5 mm
when used as a wall covering. However, for practical purposes the tiles are manufactured
with thickness in the range 1.5 mm to 10 mm. Thicker tiles may be produced but become
more uneconomical as the thickness increases.
[0029] In one modified form of the tile made according to the process of the present invention,
the finished tile is coated on its backing or undersurface with a self adhesive covered
by a removable non adhesive material.
[0030] The shape of the tile is not restricted to a square tile but may be of any shape
such as an elongate rectangular form or a six sided form for example. Furthermore,
the pattern on the tile formed by the positioning of the fingers can be varied as
desired and the fingers can be of different lengths to accommodate alternative patterns.
1. A method of making a flexible wooden tile comprising the steps of forming a plurality
of members (1) of wood of a predetermined thickness from a piece of timber, applying
adhesive to edges of the members (1), forming a plurality of said members (1) into
a tile with an edge of one member abutting an edge of another member, and allowing
the adhesive to set to bond said members (1) together, characterized in that the members
(1) are formed by knife cutting the piece of timber with a rotary lathe or slicing
machine to form a sheet-like piece of wood of said predetermined thickness which is
then cut into said plurality of members (1) and in that said members are then bonded
together to form the flexible wooden tile in which each constituent member is flexible.
2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the rotary lathe is operated with a full
round rotary cut.
3. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the slicing machine has a cutting knife
that lies parallel with the longitudinal axis of the bolt of wood and is movable horizontally,
vertically or in a slanted fashion in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis
of the bolt.
4. A method as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said members are sawn from
the sheet of wood into a rectangular form and wherein the length of each member is
longer than the breadth thereof.
5. A method as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the members are combined to define square
tile.
6. A method as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the cutting knife is moved lengthwise through
the bolt of wood parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bolt.
7. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including applying a self-adhesive
to the undersurface of the tile.
8. A method as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the self-adhesive is a double sided self-adhesive
tape applied to the undersurface of the tile.
9. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tile is sanded
to a thickness of 2.5 mm and is trimmed to have sides of 305 mm.
10. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wooden tile
is formed of wood selected from teak, oak and rarewood species, and is boiled, cooled
to an ambient temperature, boiled again and knife cut whilst hot.
11. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adhesive applied
to the tiles is ureaformaldehyde.
1. Verfahren zum Herstellen einer flexiblen Platte aus Holz mit folgenden Schritten:
aus einem Holzstück wird eine Mehrzahl von Elementen (1) aus Holz einer vorherbestimmten
Stärke hergestellt; auf Ränder der Elemente (1) wird Klebstoff aufgetragen, eine Mehrzahl
der Elemente (1) wird derart zu einer Platte vereinigt, daß ein Rand eines Elements
mit einem Rand eines anderen Elements stumpf gestoßen ist, und zum Verbinden der Elemente
(1) wird der Klebstoff abbinden gelassen, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß zum Herstellen
der Elemente das Holzstück auf einer rotierenden Drehbank oder Abstechmaschine mit
einem Messer geschnitten wird, so daß ein blattartiges Holzstück der vorherbestimmten
Stärke erhalten wird, das dann in die Mehrzahl der Elemente (1) zerschnitten wird,
und daß dann zur Bildung der flexiblen Platte aus Holz, in der jedes der sie bildenden
Elemente flexibel ist, die Elemente miteinander verbunden werden.
2. Verfahren nach Anspruch.1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die rotierende Drehbank
zur Durchführung eines vollständig umlaufenden Drehschnitts betrieben wird.
3. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Abstechmaschine ein
Schneidmesser besitzt, das zu der Längsachse des länglichen Holzstückes parallel angeordnet
ist und das quer zu der Längsachse des länglichen Holzstückes horizontal, vertikal
oder schräg bewegbar ist.
4. Verfahren nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß
die genannten Elemente von dem Blatt aus Holz rechteckförmig abgesägt werden und die
Länge jedes Elements größer ist als seine Breite.
5. Verfahren nach Anspruch 4, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die Elemente zu einer quadratischen
Platte vereinigt werden.
6. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das Schneidmesser parallel
zu der Längsachse des länglichen Holzstückes durch diesen bewegt wird.
7. Verfahren n'ach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß
auf die Unterseite der Platte ein selbstklebendes Klebmittel aufgetragen wird.
8. Verfahren nach Anspruch 7, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß das selbstklebende Mittel
ein doppelseitig selbstklebendes Klebeband ist, das auf die Unterseite der Platte
aufgetragen wird.
9. Verfahren nach einem der vohergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß die
Platte mit Sandpapier auf eine Stärke von 2,5 mm geschliffen und daß sie auf eine
Seitenlänge von 305 mm zugeschnitten wird.
10. Verfahren nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß
die Platte aus Holz aus einem Holz hergestellt wird, das ausgewählt ist aus Teak,
Eiche und Edelholzarten, und das gekocht, dann auf Umgebungstemperatur abgekühlt und
erneut gekocht und im heißen Zustand mit dem Messer geschnitten wird.
11. Verfahren nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, daß
der auf die Platten aufgetragene Klebstoff Harnstofformaldehyd ist.
1. Procédé de fabrication d'un carreau en bois flexible, comprenant les opérations
de préparation d'une pluralité d'éléments (1) en bois d'une épaisseur prédéterminée,
à partir d'une bille de bois, d'application d'un adhésif aux bords des éléments (1),
d'assemblage d'une pluralité desdits éléments (1) en un carreau de sorte qu'un bord
d'un élement est en butée contre un bord d'un autre élément, et de prise de l'adhésif
de manière à lier lesdits éléments (1) les uns aux autres, caractérisé en ce que les
éléments (1) sont obtenus par coupe à la lame tranchante de la bille de bois au moyen
d'un tour rotatif ou d'une machine à trancher, de manière à former une pièce de bois
en feuille ayant ladite épaisseur prédéterminée qui est en suite découpée en ladite
pluralité d'éléments (1) et en ce que lesdits éléments sont ensuite liés les uns aux
autres pour constituer le carreau en bois flexible dans lequel chaque élément constituant
est flexible.
2. Procédé suivant la revendication 1, dans lequel le tour rotatif travaille avec
une coupe rotative sur une circonférence complète.
3. Procédé suivant la revendication 1, dans lequel la machine à trancher comporte
un couteau de coupe qui est parallèle à l'axe longitudinale de la bille de bois et
qui est déplaçable horizontalement, verticalement ou obliquement dans une direction
transversale à l'axe longitudinal de la bille.
4. Procédé suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel lesdits
éléments sont sciés dans le feuille de bois, suivant une forme rectangulaire, et dans
lequel la longueur de chaque élément est plus grande que sa largeur.
5. Procédé suivant la revendication 4, dans lequel les éléments sont combinés de manière
à définir un carreau carré.
6. Procédé suivant la revendication 1, dans lequel la lame de coupe est déplacée longitudinalement
à travers la bille de bois, parallèlement à l'axe longitudinale de la bille.
7. Procédé suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, comprenant l'application
d'un auto-adhésif à la surface inférieure du carreau.
8. Procédé suivant la revendication 7, dans lequel l'auto-adhésif est un ruban auto-adhésif
à double face appliqué à la surface inférieure du carreau.
9. Procédé suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le
carreau est sablé à une épaisseur de 2,5 mm et il est rectifié de manière à avoir
des côtés de 305 mm.
10. Procédé suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le
carreau en bois est constitué d'une bois choisi parmi le teck, le chêne et les espèces
nobles, et il est bouilli, refroidi à température ambiante, bouilli à nouveau et coupé
à la lame tranchante pendant qu'il est chaud.
11. Procédé suivant l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'adhésif
appliqué aux carreaux est l'urée-formaldéhyde.