This application is a National Stage Application of PCT/EP2010/065324, filed 13 Oct. 2010 and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above disclosed application.
The present invention generally relates to a method of continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material, a machine for continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material, and a computer program for controlling a machine for continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material, the computer program comprises computer executable instructions arranged to cause control of the machine to perform the method.
Composite hollow board materials, which in this disclosure means a material including more than one sheet material with intermediate distance material. Such composite hollow board materials, compared to solid board materials or wood, provides a lightweight and relatively strong material. Examples of such materials are disclosed in DE 4319792 and WO 2010/069994. However, provision of composite hollow board materials traditionally require a complex manufacturing process, many times requiring manual acts by labour and issues regarding material feed and assembly. It is therefore a desire to provide efficient manufacture of composite hollow board materials.
An object of the invention is to at least alleviate the above stated problem. The present invention is based on the understanding that by continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material as disclosed herein, the advantageous features of the material can be combined with lowered cost. As a feature enabled by the approach, the inventors also found that quality control is facilitated by tuning the continuous manufacture process properly.
According to a first aspect, there is provided a method of continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material comprising a first surface and a second surface, and between the first and second surfaces a plurality of distance members. The method comprises providing material for the first surface from a first reel via a first guide roller towards an output lane; providing material for the second surface from a second reel via a second guide roller towards the output lane; and providing material for the distance members from a third reel towards the output lane such that the distance members comprises strips arranged, at any cross section perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and the direction of the output lane, perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and continuous along the output lane. The providing of material for the distance members comprises guiding at least some of the strips in a meandering pattern, and applying an adhesive to contact the strips on opposite edges thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled. The first and second guide rollers press the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite edges of the strips, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces are adhered to the strips.
An advantage of the provided material is that the perpendicularly arranged distance material provides for a lightweight and relatively strong composite hollow board material. The continuous manufacture process enables efficient manufacture.
The method may further comprise providing material for further distance members. The providing of material for further distance members may be performed from a fourth reel towards the output lane. The provision of further distance members may comprise joining a plurality of strips by adhesive to form a lath, and providing the lath towards the output lane; applying an adhesive to the lath on opposite sides thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled; and guiding the lath such that the lath is arranged continuous along the output lane between the first and second surfaces, wherein the first and second guide rollers press the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite sides of the lath, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces are adhered to the lath. The providing of material for the further distance members may further comprise slitting material provided from the fourth reel such that the strips are formed.
An advantage of providing material for further distance members can be to provide a solid part to the board material, e.g. for integrating fastening means or to form a solid edge.
The providing of material for the distance members may further comprise slitting material provided from the third reel such that the strips are formed. An advantage of forming the strips during the continuous manufacturing process is that material feed to the process can be facilitated, and possibly more versatile.
The guiding at least some of the strips in a meandering pattern, for each strip to be formed into the meandering pattern, may comprise running the strip between a pair of lateral guide members; and alternatingly swinging the pair of lateral guide members in a plane parallel to the plane of the first and second surfaces around a direction of the output lane. The alternatingly swinging of the pair of lateral guide members may comprise synchronously driving all the pairs of lateral guide members such that all the meandering strips are in phase considering a direction of the output lane. The alternatingly swinging of the pair of lateral guide members may comprise synchronously driving every other of the pairs of lateral guide members, and synchronously driving the other pairs of lateral guide members, such that the meandering strips are alternatingly in-phase and in counter-phase considering a direction of the output lane. The alternatingly swinging of the pair of lateral guide members may comprise synchronously driving a first set of the pairs of lateral guide members, and synchronously driving a second set of pairs of lateral guide members, such that the meandering strips are alternatingly in-phase and in quadrature-phase considering a direction of the output lane. Versatility of pattern design of distance material, controllability and enablement of process tuning, and enabling of a high speed process are advantages of these features.
The method may further comprise controlling speed of the reels and roller guides based on the longer distance of the meandering strips. An advantage of this is enablement of tuning of the process to achieve the proper pattern of the distance material.
According to a second aspect, there is provided a machine for continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material. The machine comprises a first reel arrangement from which material for the first surface is provided via a first guide roller towards an output lane; a second reel arrangement from which material for the second surface is provided via a second guide roller towards the output lane; a third reel arrangement from which material for the distance members is provided towards the output lane such that the distance members comprises strips arranged, at any cross section perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and the direction of the output lane, perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and continuous along the output lane, a guide mechanism arranged to guide the strips in a pattern between first and second surfaces to control position for insertion of respective strip in a transversal direction to the output lane such that the pattern is achieved as the first and second surface material and the respective strips run in between the guide rolls; and an adhesive application mechanism for applying an adhesive to contact the strips on opposite edges thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled. The first and second guide rollers press the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite sides of the strips, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces are adhered to the strips as the first and second surface material and the respective strips run in between the guide rolls.
The machine may further comprise a lath feeding mechanism for providing material for further distance members in form of one or more laths such that the lath is arranged continuous along the output lane between the first and second surfaces to be adhered between the first and second surfaces by the first and second guide rollers press the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite sides of the lath. The machine may further comprising a lath preparation mechanism comprising a fourth reel arranged to provide material for the further distance members towards the output lane, wherein the material for each lath being formed as a plurality of strips; a guide mechanism for assembling the strips to run in parallel towards the output lane; an adhesive application mechanism arranged to apply adhesive enabling the parallel strips to be adhered; and a press mechanism arranged to press the parallel strips together such that the parallel strips, after application of the adhesive, are adhered to each other such that the lath is achieved. The lath preparation mechanism may further comprise a cutting mechanism for cutting a sheet material provided from the fourth reel into a plurality of strips. The machine may further comprise a pair of adhesive applicators for applying an adhesive to contact the lath on opposite sides thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces, respectively, is enabled.
According to a third aspect, there is provided a computer program for controlling a machine for continuous manufacture of a composite hollow board material. The computer program comprises computer executable instructions arranged to cause control of the machine to perform the method according to the first aspect.
Advantages of features of the second and third aspects are similar to those demonstrated for the first aspect.
Other objectives, features and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as from the drawings. Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to “a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc]” are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.
The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings.
Upon providing the material for the distance members, at least some of the strips are guided 106 in a meandering pattern, and an adhesive is applied 108 to contact the strips on opposite edges thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled. The application 108 of the adhesive can be made on the edges of the strip or strips, or be made on the respective surface materials where the strips are to be arranged. The first and second guide rollers press 110 the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite edges of the strips, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces are adhered to the strips.
The method can further comprise providing material 111 for further distance members from a fourth reel towards the output lane, joining 113 a plurality of strips by adhesive to form a lath, and providing the lath towards the output lane, for example as illustrated in
The method can comprise applying an adhesive to contact the lath on opposite sides thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled. The application of the adhesive can be made on the sides of the lath, or be made on the respective surface materials where the lath is to be arranged. Then the method comprises guiding 115 the lath such that the lath is arranged continuous along the output lane between the first and second surfaces, wherein the first and second guide rollers press 110 the material of the first and second surfaces to the opposite sides of the lath, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces are adhered to the lath.
The guiding of the strips in a meandering pattern, for each strip to be formed into the meandering pattern, can be achieved by running the strip between a pair of lateral guide members, and alternatingly swinging the pair of lateral guide members in a plane parallel to the plane of the first and second surfaces around a direction of the output lane. The alternatingly swinging of the pair of lateral guide members can comprise synchronously driving all the pairs of lateral guide members such that all the meandering strips are in phase considering a direction of the output lane, for example as illustrated in
The method can further comprise controlling speed of the reels and roller guides based on the longer distance of the meandering strips compared to the material of the first and second surfaces. The controlling of the speed can be based on the assigned pattern for the distance members.
The material can for example be paper or board material, e.g. the material disclosed in WO 2010/069993 which has excellent properties for being wound on a reel.
The methods according to the present invention is suitable for implementation with aid of processing means, such as computers and/or processors, especially for the case where control of reels, rolls and adhesive applicators is provided by the processing means. Therefore, there is provided computer programs, comprising instructions arranged to cause the processing means, processor, or computer to perform the steps of controlling any of the methods according to any of the embodiments described with reference to
The machine 200 further comprises a third reel arrangement 210 from which material 211 for the distance members is provided towards the output lane 205 such that the distance members comprises strips 212 arranged, at any cross section perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and the direction of the output lane, perpendicular to the first and second surfaces and continuous along the output lane 205.
An adhesive is applied by an adhesive application mechanism 216. The adhesive can be applied to the edges of the strips 212, or to parts of the first and second surfaces where the strips 212 are to be adhered, i.e. to contact the strips 212 on opposite edges thereof such that adhesion to the material of the first and second surfaces is enabled. In
A guide mechanism 214 provides the material for the distance members in a desired pattern by guiding the strip 212 for example in a meandering pattern. The guide mechanism 214 is arranged to, as the first and second surface material 203, 207 and the respective strips run in between the guide rolls 204, 208, to control position for insertion of respective strip in a transversal direction to the output lane 205. The first and second guide rollers 204, 208 press the material of the first and second surfaces 203, 207 to the opposite edges of the strips 212, respectively, such that the material of the first and second surfaces 203, 207 are adhered to the strips 212.
Returning to
A particular advantage of the above demonstrated approach, in all its embodiments, is that the process can be run continuously, which provides for an efficient and thus less costly manufacturing process. Quality control is also facilitated, since when the process is tuned, quality difference between the achieved products will be very low and/or insignificant. Simultaneously, the traditional advantages intended to be achieved from composite hollow board materials, i.e. lightweight and relatively strong, are achieved.
The invention has mainly been described above with reference to a few embodiments. However, as is readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other embodiments than the ones disclosed above are equally possible within the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended patent claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2010/065324 | 10/13/2010 | WO | 00 | 8/15/2013 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2012/048738 | 4/19/2012 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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3264153 | Rodman et al. | Aug 1966 | A |
5116688 | Minamida et al. | May 1992 | A |
20040177590 | Nudo et al. | Sep 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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43 19 792 | Dec 1994 | DE |
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S63166517 | Jul 1988 | JP |
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H6316010 | Nov 1994 | JP |
H07300685 | Nov 1995 | JP |
WO 2010069993 | Jun 2010 | WO |
WO 2010069994 | Jun 2010 | WO |
Entry |
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International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed Jul. 7, 2011 for PCT/EP2010/065324. |
International Preliminary Report on Patentability mailed Jan. 22, 2013 for PCT/EP2010/065324. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130333839 A1 | Dec 2013 | US |