The present invention relates to a method for obtaining a metallic hollow sandwich panel and to the product obtained with the method.
See for example,
Currently, a method for obtaining metallic hollow sandwich panels that can be used for example to provide partitions or walls or surfaces of tables and shelves is known.
This known type of method usually provides for bending all the sides of a first flat metal plate that is generally rectangular or square so as to obtain raised perimetric edges that have a preset height and protrude approximately at right angles to the plane of the metal plate.
The mutually adjacent ends of each raised edge are for example welded so as to form for the first metal plate a perimetric border that makes it assume a substantially box-like configuration that is suitable to be filled with materials such as polystyrene and particlewood.
A second flat metal plate is associated in an upper region, preferably by way of a second welding operation, with the border of the first metal plate thus shaped and has a shape and dimensions that allow it to be superimposed on said border so as to mate perimetrically with the outer edges of the border, to obtain a metallic hollow sandwich panel having a preset thickness.
The main drawback that can be observed in this conventional method is that the welding operations entailed by the method, in addition to increasing the length of the production cycle, are very expensive, since they require the use of specialized personnel and it is also necessary to achieve perfect superimposing of the second metal plate.
Another drawback arises from the fact that the aesthetic value of the resulting metallic hollow sandwich panels is in any case compromised by the sight of the welding beads at the various joining regions.
A further drawback is that before welding the second metal plate perimetrically to the perimetric border of the first metal plate, said first metal plate is usually filled with materials such as for example polystyrene or particlewood, and this makes the finished product excessively heavy.
Another drawback is that the machines usually used to bend the metal plate allow to provide raised edges that have a preset height only if the metal plate is flat, and this entails that in order to provide raised edges that have a constant thickness on metal plates that have a curved profile it is necessary to associate with the sides of the metal plates respective bands of material that are shaped appropriately and obtained separately, with consequent additional costs due both to the production or purchase of said bands of material and to the need to weld the bands perimetrically to a preset metal plate.
The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited known art, by providing a method that allows to obtain preset metallic hollow sandwich panels with a limited number of operations and/or steps, which generally can be performed rapidly and easily, so as to achieve a reduction in production costs.
Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to provide a method that allows to obtain metallic hollow sandwich panels that have an excellent aesthetic value, preventing their finish from being compromised by the sight of any welding beads at the edges or at other different joining regions.
Another object is to provide a method that can be used in a versatile way, so as to allow to produce metallic hollow sandwich panels that have a flat or curved shape and have any thickness.
Another object is to provide a method that in addition to allowing to provide metallic hollow sandwich panels that have a pleasant aesthetic impact also allows to make them structurally simple and lighter.
A further object is to provide a method that provides for the automation of several steps or that in any case can be performed easily even by personnel that is not particularly trained.
A still further object is to provide a method that allows to obtain metallic hollow sandwich panels of excellent quality that are therefore resistant to specific mechanical stresses and are scarcely susceptible to deterioration phenomena.
This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a method for obtaining metallic hollow sandwich panels, providing the steps of:
Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a particular but not exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of nonlimiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In the embodiments that follow, individual characteristics, given in relation to specific examples, may actually be interchanged with other different characteristics that exist in other embodiments.
The figures cited above relate to a method for obtaining metallic hollow sandwich panels having a straight profile and a curved profile.
With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 designates one of a plurality of profiled elements that have a substantially straight axial extension and are preferably obtained during the extrusion of a preset metallic material, such as for example aluminum or steel.
Each of said one or more profiled elements has for example an approximately C-shaped transverse cross-section and is therefore constituted by a first wing 2 and by an opposite second wing 3, which are mutually parallel and are connected at one end by a third wing 4 that is arranged approximately at right angles to them.
With reference to
The first and second wings 2 and 3 further have, again on the opposite side with respect to the first and second internal surfaces 5 and 6, respective second seats, designated by the reference numerals 10a and 10b, for positioning means for fixing the first and second metal plates 8 and 9 to the one or more profiled elements 1; such fixing means are preferably constituted by one or more layers of material 11, for example of the double-adhesive type, to be applied to the second seats 10a and 10b.
The first seats 7a and 7b are mutually adjacent and lie on a plane of arrangement located above the second seats 10a and 10b, so as to form an approximately S-shaped configuration together with them in a transverse cross-section.
In greater detail, the first seats 7a and 7b partially affect the thickness of the third wing 4 up to the vicinity of the outer surface 12 thereof, so as to form first step-like surfaces 13a and 13b that lie approximately parallel to the outer surface 12 so as to affect part of the thickness of the first and second wings 2 and 3 over a vertical extension that is approximately equal to the height of the first and second metal plates 8 and 9.
The first step-like surfaces 13a and 13b are connected, at their lower ends, to respective first flat regions 14a and 14b that are arranged at right angles to the first step-like surfaces 13a and 13b so as to allow the contact of at least part of the respective first and second metal plates 8 and 9.
In turn, the first flat regions 14a and 14b are connected, on the opposite side with respect to the first step-like surfaces 13a and 13b, to respective second step-like surfaces 15a and 15b that are parallel to the preceding step-like surfaces and affect part of the thickness of the first and second wings 2 and 3 over a vertical extension that is approximately equal to the height of the one or more layers of double-adhesive material 11.
The second step-like surfaces 15a and 15b are therefore connected, on the opposite side with respect to the respective first flat regions 14a and 14b, to second flat regions, designated by the reference numerals 16a and 16b, for the contact of the one or more layers of double-adhesive material 11, which starting from the second step-like surfaces 14a and 14b lie at right angles to them until they reach the ends of the first and second wings 2 and 3 that are directed in the opposite direction with respect to the third wing 4.
With reference to
The annular ridge 17 in fact has, in plan view, a polygonal border-like configuration, for example a preferably rectangular or square one, that forms at the first seats 7a and 7b, which are mutually connected in this manner, respective recesses, designated by the reference numeral 18, that are approximately shaped complementarily to the perimeter of the first and second metal plates 8 and 9 and are therefore suitable to contain them in a flush configuration.
The ends of the one or more profiled elements 1 are preferably cut along oblique planes that are inclined at 45° and are mutually perpendicular, so that each one of the one or more profiled elements 1 has, in plan view, a substantially trapezoidal configuration that is particularly suitable to provide a connecting contact between the adjacent ends of the one or more profiled elements 1.
The one or more layers of double-adhesive material 11 are then applied at the respective second seats 10a and 10b, so that once they are rested on the second flat regions 16a and 16b they form, on the opposite side with respect to them, surfaces that lie at the same height as the first flat regions 14a and 14b.
The method then provides for the coupling of the first and second metal plates 8 and 9 to the double-adhesive layers 11, so as to obtain, as shown in
Optionally, depending on the various aesthetic requirements, as shown in
This is allowed by performing, before the step for cutting or mating the adjacent ends of the one or more profiled elements 1, at least one treatment, such as an operation for oxidizing the outer surface 12 of said profiled elements.
This oxidizing operation is followed by one or more selective removals of material from the surface 12 thus oxidized and finally by at least one polishing thereof, so as to allow to distinguish a plurality of grooved bands, designated by the reference numeral 20, that are mutually parallel and have a different color effect.
In addition to being used to obtain flat metallic hollow sandwich panels, the method thus described can also be performed to provide metallic hollow sandwich panels that have a curved profile, such as the one designated by the reference numeral 119 in
This is allowed by using one or more profiled elements 100, which are also obtained preferably during extrusion and are different from the one or more profiled elements 1 only in that they have a curved or arc-like profile instead of a straight profile, so as to allow the connection of a first metal plate 108 and of a second metal plate 109 that have a corresponding curved or arc-like profile.
It has thus been found that the invention has achieved the intended aim and objects, a method having been provided that allows to obtain preset metallic hollow sandwich panels with a limited number of operations and without having to resort to coupling methods, such as for example welding, that require qualified personnel and therefore make it expensive to perform said process.
It has also been found that the method allows to obtain metallic hollow sandwich panels that have an excellent aesthetic value, since in fact it prevents their finish from being compromised by the sight of any welding beads at the edges or at other different connecting regions.
The method can also be used in a versatile way, so as to allow to provide metallic hollow sandwich panels that have a flat or curved extension and have the chosen optical and/or color effects at their perimetric thickness.
The invention is of course susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, the scope of the invention being defined by the appended claims.
The materials used, as well as the dimensions that constitute the individual components of the invention, may of course be more pertinent according to specific requirements.
The various means for performing certain different functions need not certainly coexist only in the illustrated embodiment but can be present per se in many embodiments, including ones that are not illustrated.
The characteristics that are indicated as advantageous, convenient or the like may also be omitted or be replaced by equivalents.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader's convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard.