Patent Publication Number: US-2013240132-A1

Title: Method for manufacturing a substrate of blind slats

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a substrate of blind slats, and more particularly to a manufacturing method, wherein a cladding material is wrapped on a substrate to form a slat substrate, facilitating a post-processing to form the slats that can be applied to a blind. 
     b) Description of the Prior Art 
     A blind is currently used by every family or indoor space. The existing blind is mostly controlled by cords to expand or collect the blind. 
     The existing blind is assembled primarily by plural slats. Each slat is provided with plural through-holes, allowing cords to pass through these through-holes, so that the blind can be expanded or collected by the cords. 
     However, for most of the blinds on existing markets, the slats are constituted primarily by wood pieces, aluminum pieces and PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pieces. 
     The blind slats that are constituted by the abovementioned three materials are provided with following shortcomings:
         1. The metallic sense is stronger and there is in short of the sense of nature.   2. As the blind slats are formed by chemicals, toxic ingredients can be easily produced once the slats are irradiated by sunlight directly.       

     As a result, under a long time of use, a user can inhale too many toxic substances which will be harmful to the user. 
     Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a substrate of blind slats, in order to improve the abovementioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a substrate of blind slats, in order to improve a natural and soft texture of the slats, decrease a hard cold sense of metals, as well as reduce a danger of chemical substances. 
     To achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention uses primarily a cladding material to wrap on a substrate, forming a slat substrate. A side of the cladding material is coated with an adhesive agent and the cladding material is bended in advance by cold pressing, so as to facilitate wrapping the substrate in the cladding material. Next, the cladding material is adhered with the substrate by hot melting. 
     Accordingly, after the slat substrate of the present invention has been undergone with a post-processing to form the slat, the natural and soft texture of the slat can be improved, the hard cold sense of metals can be decreased, as well as the danger of chemical substances can be reduced. 
     To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a flow diagram of manufacturing of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein a cladding material is coated with an adhesive agent. 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic view of the present invention, after cold press formation. 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein a substrate is wrapped by the cladding material. 
         FIG. 5  shows a schematic view of the present invention, after the cladding material has been adhered with the substrate. 
         FIG. 6  shows a cut-away view of the present invention, after the cladding material has been adhered with the substrate. 
         FIG. 7  shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein the slat substrate is used on a blind. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , it shows a flow diagram of manufacturing of the present invention. The method for manufacturing a substrate of blind slats, according to the present invention, comprises following steps:
         1. Coating a cladding material with an adhesive agent S 1 : a side of a cladding material is coated with an adhesive agent.       

     Referring to  FIG. 2  at a same time, it shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein a cladding material is coated with an adhesive agent. In the present invention, the cladding material  10  is a roll and a side of the cladding material  10  is coated with the adhesive agent  20 . Next, the cladding material  10  is cut into a proper width, or, the width of the cladding material  10  is larger than that of the substrate (not shown in the drawing), such that the cladding material  10  can completely wrap the substrate. Of course, in a practical application, the cladding material  10  can be cut into the proper width before being coated with the adhesive agent  20 .
         2. Cold press formation S 2 : the cladding material that is coated with the adhesive agent is formed by cold pressing, allowing a left and right end of the cladding material to bend respectively with a pre-bending area toward the side that is coated with the adhesive agent, so as to form a       

     U-shaped groove at the side of the cladding material with the adhesive agent. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  at a same time, it shows a schematic view of the present invention after the cold press formation. As shown in the drawing, in the abovementioned cold press formation, the left and right side of the cladding material  10  are pressed and bended in advance toward the side of the cladding material  10  that is coated with the adhesive agent  20 , allowing the two sides of the cladding material  10  to bend and form respectively with a pre-bending area  11 , such that the cladding material  10  can be roughly in a U shape and a U-shaped groove  12  can be formed, with that the adhesive agent  20  is distributed on a surface of the U-shaped groove  12 .
         3. Wrapping a substrate S 3 : a substrate is put into the U-shaped groove of the cladding material, allowing the cladding material to wrap the substrate completely.       

     Referring to  FIG. 4  at a same time, it shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein the substrate is wrapped by the cladding material. As shown in the drawing, the substrate  30  is put into the U-shaped groove  12  of the cladding material  10 , such that the bended pre-bending areas  11  at two sides of the cladding material  10  can be located at a back side of the substrate  30  to facilitate a subsequent post-processing.
         4. Hot melt formation S 4 : the cladding material is adhered with the substrate with the adhesive agent by hot melting.       

     Referring to  FIG. 5  at a same time, it shows a schematic view of the present invention, after the cladding material has been adhered with the substrate. As shown in the drawing, the cladding material  10  and the substrate  30  are rolled and heated at a high temperature, allowing the side of the cladding material  10  that is coated with the adhesive agent (not shown in the drawing) to be completely attached on peripheries of an outer surface of the substrate  30  to truly wrap the substrate  30 .
         5. Coiling S 5 : finally, the substrate that is wrapped by the cladding material is packed by coiling to facilitate transporting.       

     Referring to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , it shows respectively the schematic view and a cut-away view of the present invention, after the cladding material has been adhered with the substrate. As shown in the drawings, when the cladding material  10  wraps the outer peripheries of the substrate  30 , the width of the cladding material  10  is larger than that of the substrate  30 , allowing the cladding material  10  to be truly attached on an exterior side of the substrate  30  with the adhesive agent (not shown in the drawings). 
     It is worth of mentioning that when the cladding material  10  wraps the exterior side of the substrate  30 , the pre-bending areas  11  at two sides of the cladding material  10  are attached on the back side of the substrate  30  and an overlapping area  13  is formed on the back side of the substrate  30 , so that through this overlapping area  13 , the cladding material  10  can be truly attached on the exterior surface of the substrate  30  during the process of wrapping, thereby avoiding air bubbles to occur and enabling the cladding material  10  to be more tightly attached with the substrate  30 . 
     Finally, referring to  FIG. 7 , it shows a schematic view of the present invention, wherein the slat substrate is used on a blind. As shown in the drawing, the slat substrate is formed primarily by adhering a substrate  30  with a cladding material  10  using an adhesive agent (not shown in the drawing), as shown in  FIG. 5 . Therefore, when slats  40  are formed after the slat substrate has been undergone with the post-processing, for each slat  40 , the surface of the substrate  30  is formed with the cladding material  10 . As the cladding material  10  is cloth, an effect of blocking ultraviolet can be achieved, a natural and soft texture of the slat can be improved, a hard cold sense of metals can be decreased, as well as a danger of chemical substances can be reduced. 
     It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.