GB2326840A - Furniture panel - Google Patents

Description

Furniture Panels This invention relations to furniture panels which replicate the surface of a wooden panel, e.g. of veneered or marquetry or other desired appearance.

The term "furniture panel" is used herein to define panels of rectangular and other shapes used in the construction of furniture. Thus the term embraces door panels, drawer panels, table panels, shelves, etc.

Historically, as fine woods such as mahogany, teak, yew, etc became more expensive, the traditional solid panels were replaced by laminating the fine woods onto substrates made of lower grade wood. Then non-wood substrates such as chipboard and medium density fibreboard (MDF) were used.

A range of non-wood coverings were then developed, examples of which consisted of wood effect vinyl sheet, paper foil and heat transfer foil. The sheet or foil was printed with a family of colours - typically varying shades of brown - to build up the wood effect. In this process, a separate printing roller is required for each colour, making a total of 5 or so for a typical process. Each roller is usually produced by hand engraving and so the cost of producing the rollers is very high. The pattern on the rollers is continuous and the printed material has a repeat pattern equivalent to the circumference of the printer rollers (typically 900mm). Although this type of sheet or foil gives a reasonable effect, it is not possible to produce in a standard process a desirable marquetry effect such as cross-banding because of the continuous nature of the pattern. Furthermore, the range of shades is limited by the particular family of colours chosen.

Previous proposals to produce a decorative effect panel, e.g. cross-banding with a central feature, and/or marquetry effects have included in-laying veneers which is very labour intensive and thus costly; superimposing hot stamping foils on top of an existing foil covering, which does not give a good authentic appearance and is prone to see-through; laying on by hand of precision die-cut sections of foiled paper "jigsaw puzzle" style and then pressing, which is labour intensive and limited by the complexity of the desired result; screen printing a pre-laminated white paper panel using screens from an original panel and running the panel through the machine for each colour applied, which is time consuming. Additionally, a mixture of screen printing and pre-printed foils has been used.

Thus the previous attempts to simulate marquetry or veneered pieces have not met with success, either because they are very time consuming, or because they do not give a good appearance.

A need exists therefore for a panel which is a good replica of a veneered or marquetry panel or other effect and which can be made relatively easily. We have found that, surprisingly, this can be achieved by using a multiple colour process to produce an image on the panel itself or, more preferably, on a paper foil which is subsequently bonded to the panel. The use of a four colour process reproducing the grain characteristics of the original panel allows high fidelity reproduction of the subtleties in colour inherent in fine furniture.

Accordingly, in one aspect of this invention there is provided a furniture panel including a substrate carrying thereon a multiple colour photographically produced image replicating a wood, veneered and/or marquetry surface.

Preferably said image is a four colour image.

Preferably said image is initially formed on a sheet which is bonded to said substrate by any suitable method and/or proven established laminating techniques. The image may be formed by any suitable four-colour process which allows rendition of a wide range of different colours and hues, but the cyan, magenta, yellow, black process is preferred. The image forming process preferably includes a photogravure or lithographic process.

Preferably, said panel is lacquered or otherwise coated with protective material.

The resolution of the printing process is preferably as fine as possible, and in this example about 200 dots per linear cm was employed.

The substrate may be flat, profiled or sculpted. The substrate may be of, e.g. medium density fibreboard, or chipboard.

In another aspect, this invention provides a method of producing a furniture panel which method comprises photographically capturing an image of a wood, veneered or a marquetry surface, and thereafter using a multiple colour printing process to apply said image to a substrate. The printing process may comprise a lithographic or a photogravure process.

Preferably said image is printed using a four colour printing process.

The image may be applied directly, or to a paper or foil element which is later attached to said substrate.

Preferably, said image is formed on an element of sheet material of size selected to be approximately equivalent to that of a substrate to which said sheet material is subsequently attached.

This aspect provides an important advantage, particularly for small/medium size operators because it makes it possible to laminate quite intricate panels using a small size press. Conventionally, large presses are used to laminate standard sized panels of typically 2440mm x 1220mm which are then cut to size.

The invention will be further understood by reference to the following example.

Example The desired final size of the panel is determined. An original model of the panel is then made, but about 10mum longer and wider than the desired final size, using traditional veneering and marquetry skills. Any staining or colouring required is applied to the model. The model is then photographically reproduced to produce an internegative which is then wrapped around a drum and computer-scanned and processed to produce four colour lithographic printing plates (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), here of about 200 dots per linear cm. In some applications it may be possible to scan the original directly, obviating the need for an internegative. Alternatively, the model may be reproduced by digital photography or any other suitable high fidelity image capturing process.The lithographic plates are then used in a conventional press to mass print on suitable laminating paper or foil faithful reproductions of the surface of the original model. In this particular example, a 90 gsm low gloss printing paper was used, and the printing process was a standard four colour lithographic process, using standard colours of oil-based air-drying inks, and taking appropriate care to observe the optimum conditions as laid down by the manufacturers to achieve a faithful reproduction of the original.

The sheets are then applied by press-lamination to a suitable substrate (e.g. chipboard or MDF) coated with a heat activated adhesive (in this particular example a urea formaldehyde resin cured by the addition of hardener) using conventional techniques. Between the printed surface of the foil and the stainless steel press plate was placed a nonadhering surface. In this particular example a pre-coated foil was used with its coated surface facing away from the press plate. The temperature used to activate the adhesive was 750C and press time about 90 seconds. The excess width and length overhangs of both printed foil and substrate as previously described are trimmed off and the panel is then lacquered in the conventional way, to give a panel virtually indistinguishable from a hand-crafted veneered original.

The lacquering may be a solvent-free acid catalysed lacquer or a U.V. cured lacquer, applied by spray or roller.

It will be appreciated that the image may be manipulated using conventional techniques in the printing field to enlarge or reduce it or to enhance colour rendition etc.

Reference is directed to our co-pending British Published Patent Application GB-A-2 301 312, which includes Claims directed to a furniture panel including a substrate carrying a four colour image, representing a wood, veneered or marquetry surface, and to associated methods.

Claims (17)

Claims

1. A furniture panel including a substrate carrying thereon a multiple colour, photographically produced image representing a wood, veneered or marquetry surface.

2. A furniture panel according to Claim 1, wherein said image is initially formed on a sheet which is subsequently applied or bonded to the substrate.

3. A furniture panel according to Claim 2, wherein said sheet comprises a paper or foil element.

4. A furniture panel according to any preceding Claim, wherein said image comprises the constituent colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black.

5. A furniture panel according to any preceding Claim, wherein the resolution of the printing process is about 200 dots per linear cm, or finer.

6. A furniture panel according to any preceding Claim, wherein said panel is lacquered or otherwise coated with protective material.

7. A furniture panel according to any preceding Claim, wherein said substrate is generally flat.

8. A furniture panel according to any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein said substrate is profiled or sculpted.

9. A furniture panel according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said substrate comprises a medium density fibreboard or chipboard.

10. A method of producing a furniture panel which method comprises photographically capturing an image of a wood, veneered or marquetry surface, and thereafter using a multiple colour printing process to apply said image to a substrate.

11. A method according to Claim 11, wherein said image is printed directly onto said substrate.

12. A method according to Claim 10, wherein said image is applied to a paper or foil element which is later attached to said substrate.

13. A method according to any of Claims 10 to 12, wherein said image is formed on an element of sheet material of approximately equivalent size to that of said substrate.

14. A method according to any of Claims 10 to 13, wherein said multiple colour printing process comprises a lithographic technique.

15. A method according to any of Claims 10 to 13, wherein said multiple colour printing process comprises a photogravure technique.

16. A furniture panel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the example.

17. A method of producing a furniture panel, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the example.