Patent Application
20130082160
1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the molding of countertop. More particularly, the invention relates to a composite moldboard unit, which may be used for the molding of a countertop, and makes the transportation and storage of it easier and reduces the non-conforming rate in manufacturing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A countertop in the kitchen is used for food preparation. To make it more aesthetically appealing and easier to clean, an additional flat surface, which is made of wood, stainless steel, marble, foam board, natural slab/stone, melamine plywood, melamine or artificial slab/stone, is often installed. Such additional surface is water-resistant and protects the countertop. In addition, different type of material may be selected for different applications and there are various types of patterns to choose. However, the one-piece moldboard in the prior art is integrally formed and hence is oversized. Therefore, the non-conforming rate in its production is higher. In addition, because of its larger size or volume, the costs in the packaging, transportation and storage of it are higher. A bigger space is needed for its storage and bigger vehicles or more trips are needed to transport them. Therefore, the overall production cost is higher and hence its selling price would be higher. As a result, this does not benefit the manufacturers and consuming public and does not help the upgrading of the industry.
The object of the present invention is to provide a composite moldboard unit, which may be used for the molding of a countertop.
To reach these objects, the composite moldboard unit of the present invention is disclosed. The composite moldboard unit of the present invention comprises a main portion and a buckle structure. The main portion has a horizontal side and a vertical side. An engagement rabbet, which has a specific shape, and an edge are formed at the lower end of the vertical side. The buckle structure is a substantially arc-shaped barricade portion. A button block is formed at the lower end of the barricade portion and may engage with the engagement rabbet. A space may be formed by and between the barricade portion and the main portion and may hold cementing material.
Therefore, the composite moldboard unit of the present invention has a smaller size or volume and hence the packaging, transportation and storage of it would be easier. As a result, the overall production cost is reduced.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a female positioning portion is provided on the bearing surface portion and may engage with a male positioning portion provided on the buckle structure.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a male positioning portion is provided on the main portion and may engage with a female positioning portion provided on the connective portion. Therefore, through such engagement, the connection between the main portion and the buckle structure may be more secure.
Also, the buckle structure consists of the following three segments, namely, the upper half has a semi-circular segment, a straight segment and the lower half is a semi-circular segment. Therefore, the aforesaid space includes two semi-circular segments.
In an embodiment, the barricade portion has a semi-circular shape and the space also has a semi-circular shape.
In another embodiment, the buckle structure consists of two segments, namely, the upper one-third of the buckle structure being a straight segment and the lower two-thirds being an arc-shaped segment. Therefore, the aforesaid space includes a straight segment and an arc-shaped segment.
In yet another embodiment, the buckle structure consists of two segments, namely, the upper half of the buckle structure being a step-shaped segment (tapering in the upward direction) and the lower half being an arc-shaped segment. Therefore, the aforesaid space includes a step-shaped segment and an arc-shaped segment.
The drawings disclose three illustrative embodiments of the present invention which serve to exemplify the various advantages and objects hereof, and are as follows:
Please refer to
The main portion 1 has a horizontal side 11 and a vertical side 12. An engagement rabbet 13, which has a specific shape, and an edge 14 are formed at the lower end of the vertical side 12. The main portion 1 has an L-shape and may also be used as a wall mold 1′ so as to reduce the cost.
The buckle structure 2 is a substantially arc-shaped barricade portion 21 or includes at least an arc-shaped barricade portion 21. A button block 22 is formed at the lower end of the barricade portion 21 and may engage with the engagement rabbet 13. A space 23 may be formed by and between the barricade portion 21 and the main portion 1, as illustrated by
In use, first, the main portion 1 is affixed by bolts. Then, the buckle structure 2 is connected with the main portion 1 through the engagement of the button block 22 and the engagement rabbet 13. The edge 14 would provide secure connection and support to support the weight of the cementing material 33 placed in the space 23. In this way, the composite moldboard unit of the present invention would have the same amount of rigidity as the integrally formed mold of the prior art. After the cementing material 33 solidifies, the buckle structure 2 and the lower portion of the main portion 1 are removed, as illustrated in
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A connective portion 24 extends from the barricade portion 21. The connective portion 24 is horizontal and may press against the bearing surface portion 16 of the main portion 1 in use. A button block 22, which extends upwards, is formed at the lower end of the connective portion 24 and may engage with the engagement rabbet 13. A barricade portion 21 extends from the connective portion 24 and may have various types of arc shape. A space 23 may be formed by and between the barricade portion 21, the connective portion 24 and the main portion 1. The space 23 may hold the aforesaid cementing material 33. Therefore, after the cementing material 33 solidifies, a countertop 34 with various types of rounded edge or arc-shaped edge may be formed so as to make the countertop 34 more aesthetically appealing and so that such countertop with rounded edge will be safer.
In the composite moldboard unit of the present invention, in comparison to the prior art one-piece moldboard, which is integrally formed and hence is oversized, the moldboard unit of the present invention has two pieces (a main portion 1 and a buckle structure 2) and hence the main portion 1 and the buckle structure 2 may be manufactured and then packaged separately. Therefore, in comparison to the prior art one-piece moldboard, thanks to the reduced size or volume of the composite moldboard unit of the present invention, the higher non-conforming rate in manufacturing may be lowered and the difficulty in packaging may be eliminated. In addition, the transport of the composite moldboard unit of the present invention becomes easier and the shipping cost may be reduced. Also, the moldboard unit takes up less space in warehouse. Therefore, the overall production cost is lowered and hence the selling price may be lowered. As a result, both the manufacturers and consuming public can benefit from the composite moldboard unit of the present invention. This is the ultimate goal of the composite moldboard unit of the present invention.
Please refer to
In light of the aforesaid three embodiments of the present invention, the composite moldboard unit of the present invention has the following advantages. First, the main portion may be regarded as a standard component, which may be used with a buckle structure with a barricade portion in various types of arc shape. Therefore, a manufacturer only has to pay for the costs for the development and manufacturing of the buckle structure. In addition, in the prior art one-piece moldboard, each type of the one-piece moldboard requires a separate, oversized mold and a manufacturer usually has to have a bigger warehouse to store these molds. In the composite moldboard unit of the present invention, thanks to the reduced size or volume, less space is needed for the storage of the molds and these moldboard units; in addition, the cost in transport is lowered. Therefore, the overall production cost is lowered. Moreover, because the buckle structure of the present invention has a barricade portion in various types of arc shape, consuming public can have more choices and thus the manufacturers may become more competitive in terms of such choices.
Many changes and modifications in the above described three embodiments of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
