Patent Publication Number: US-5896903-A

Title: Method of fabricating bamboo slats for bamboo blinds

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method of fabricating bamboo slats for bamboo blinds. Finished bamboo slats are obtained by: cutting bamboo wood into strips, removing the skin and joints from the bamboo strips and boiling the bamboo strips to prevent decay, bonding the bamboo strips into a bamboo plate, splitting the bamboo strips into bamboo slats and coating the bamboo slats with a base coating and a face coating on the base coating, and then punching punch holes on the bamboo slats. 
     Conventionally, the slats for Venetian blinds are made from wooden material for the advantages of a fine touch and a good outer appearance. However, because forests are over-cultivated in recent years, it is difficult to obtain sufficient supply of wooden material, and the cost of wooden material has become very high. Furthermore, because the fiber structure of wooden material cannot bear high pressure, the wooden slats for a Venetian blind must have a certain thickness. Recently, polyvinyl chloride and aluminum are used for making slats for Venetian blinds. However, the fabrication of plastic or aluminum slats will cause pollution. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is the main object of the present invention to provide a slat fabrication method which uses bamboo wood as material for making slats for Venetian blinds. According to the present invention, the bamboo slat fabrication method comprises the steps of: i) cutting bamboo wood into bamboo strips subject to a predetermined length; ii) removing the skin and joints from both sides of the bamboo strips, then boiling the bamboo strips in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution to prevent decay, and then polishing the bamboo strips after drying; iii) bonding the bamboo strips into a rectangular bamboo plate, then polishing the bamboo plate thus obtained; iv) splitting the polished bamboo plate thus obtained into raw bamboo slats subject to a predetermined thickness, then polishing the bamboo slats, and then coating the bamboo slats with a base coating and then with a face coating; v) punching two punch holes on the bamboo slats thus obtained for the insertion of a pull cord so that the finished bamboo slats thus obtained can be assembled with a pull cord into a bamboo blind. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a bamboo slat fabrication block diagram according to the present invention (Part I). 
     FIG. 2 is a bamboo slat fabrication block diagram according to the present invention (Part II). 
     FIG. 3 is a bamboo slat fabrication block diagram according to the present invention (Part III). 
     FIG. 4 shows a bamboo wood cut into bamboo strips according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 shows the skin and joint removed from both sides of the bamboo strip according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 6 shows the bamboo strip of FIG. 5 processed into a fine bamboo strip. 
     FIG. 7 shows the bamboo plate trimmed according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 8 shows a raw bamboo slat split from a bamboo plate according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 9 shows a finished bamboo slat according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 10 shows a bamboo blind constructed according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a bamboo slat fabrication method in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: 
     1. selecting bamboo wood from a bamboo cane which has a diameter within about 3&#34;˜5&#34; and a thickness within about 10 mm˜26 mmm, and is cut from a bamboo tree of about 3-4 years old at an elevation 10 cm above the root of the bamboo tree, then cutting the selected bamboo wood to the desired length b, and then cutting the bamboo wood into bamboo strips 100 of width a within about 20 mm-30 mm (see FIGS. 4 and 5); 
     2. removing the skin 101 and joints 102 from both sides of the bamboo strips 100, then boiling the bamboo strips 100 in a diluted hydrogen peroxide solution for 8 hours to prevent decay, and then heat-drying the bamboo strips 100 at a heating temperature about within 50°˜60° C. for about 48 hours, and then polishing the dried bamboo strips into fine bamboo strips (see FIG. 6); 
     3. coating the bamboo strips thus obtained with a bonding glue which is obtained by mixing acrylic powder with resin, then using a pneumatic press to bond the glue-coated bamboo strips, enabling the glue-coated bamboo strips to be bonded longitudinally side to side together into a rectangular bamboo plate of thickness D about 17˜25 mm, width C about 28˜110 mm (see FIG. 7), then trimming the peripheral edges of the rectangular bamboo plate, and then polishing the trimmed bamboo plate by a polishing wheel; 
     4. splitting the polished bamboo plate into raw bamboo slats of thickness E about 0.6 mm˜2.7 mm by a splitter (see FIGS. 7 and 8), then compacting the raw bamboo slats by a pneumatic press, and then polishing the bamboo slats by a grinding wheel, and then coating the bamboo slats with a base coating obtained from a digestive fiber, surfacer and resin mixture, and then coating the base coating coated bamboo slats with a face coating obtained from a digestive fiber, resin, surfacer and organic solvent mixture (the hardness of the bamboo slats thus obtained is about within 2 H˜4 H); 
     5. punching two punch holes on the bamboo slats thus obtained for the insertion of a pull cord (the distance F between one end edge of a bamboo slat and the adjacent punch hole is about 140 mm˜150 mm; see FIG. 9). 
     The finished bamboo slats thus obtained are then assembled with a pull cord to form a bamboo blind (see FIG. 10).