Abstract:
The present invention discloses a composite board comprising a first panel board; a second panel board aligned with the first panel board; and edge seals mounted along edges of the first and second panel boards. The first and second panel boards are made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Therefore, it is convenient for control the quality of the composite board of the present invention, and the composite board is not subject to damages.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to a composite board, and more particularly to a composite board used in construction and decoration. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Currently, wood boards or plywood are widely used as sheet materials in field of architectural or decorating engineering. However, as sheet materials used in engineering, the wood boards and plywood are of the following disadvantages:
       1. Each plywood is manufactured by adhering several layers of natural wood plates. As wood plates are natural material, their quality could not be controlled. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure the quality of the plywood made of natural wood plates.   2. The wood plates of plywood are adhered by means of adhesive. However, under influence of water, the wood plates would expand resulting in separation of the wood plates. Then, the structure of the whole plywood would be damaged.   3. The mechanical performance of wood boards and plywood is closely related to water content therein. At construction sites, the wood boards and plywood are affected by the weather and circumstance of the sites, and thereby the water content therein could not be controlled. Therefore, it is difficult to ensure the performance of the wood boards and plywood.   4. If the wood boards and plywood are wet, they would deform and could not function normally.   5. If the wood boards and plywood are damaged, they could not be repaired. For example, if their surfaces need puncturing, the punctured holes could not be repaired.   6. Taking into account of the weight, the wood boards and plywood are heavy, and thus not convenient for operation.   7. The manufacture of wood boards and plywood needs a plenty of wood, which would destroy the natural environment.
 
Due to the above-mentioned various shortcomings of the wood boards and plywood, it is desirable to provide a novel sheet material for construction and decoration to replace such wood boards and plywood.
       
 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    To overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings, the present invention aims to provide a composite board which may comprise a first panel board; a second panel board aligned with the first panel board; and edge seals mounted along edges of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0011]    The first and second panel boards could be made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics. 
         [0012]    The edge seals could be edge sealing strips sandwiched between the first and second panel boards, and each edge of the first and second panel board could be provided with one or more edge sealing strips, in which the outermost edge sealing strip extends along the whole length of the edge to close the edge, while the inner edge sealing strips extend along the whole length or part of length of the edge. The edge sealing strips may be made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics, and a cross section of each edge sealing strip is in the shape of solid rectangle, hollow rectangle, I-shape, C-shape. 
         [0013]    Preferably, the composite board may further comprise one or more supports sandwiched between the first and second panel boards. The supports could include longitudinal supporting strips and transverse supporting strips crossing the longitudinal supporting strips. 
         [0014]    One or more longitudinal supporting strips may be sandwiched between the first and second panel boards, while one or more transverse supporting strips may be sandwiched between the first and second panel boards which crossing the longitudinal supporting strips. The cross sections of the longitudinal and transverse supports could be in the shape of C-shape, I-shape, hollow rectangle or solid rectangle. The longitudinal and transverse supports could be made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics. 
         [0015]    Either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips have a cross section in the shape of hollow rectangle or solid rectangle, while each of the other of the longitudinal and transverse supporting strips is provided with spaced notches at a side thereof facing to said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, in which the number of the notches is the same as the number of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, the width of each notch is slightly larger than the thickness of each of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, and the depth of each notch is slightly larger than half height of each of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, each longitudinal supporting strip and each transverse supporting strip are engaged with each other at corresponding notches. 
         [0016]    Alternatively, either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips have a I-shaped or C-shaped cross section, while each of the other of the longitudinal and transverse supporting strips is provided with spaced notches at a side thereof facing to said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, in which the number of the notches is the same as the number of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, the width of a top of each notch is slightly larger than the thickness of a top of each of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, the width of a bottom of each notch is slightly larger than the thickness of each of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, and the depth of each notch is slightly larger than half height of each of said either the longitudinal supporting strips or the transverse supporting strips, each longitudinal supporting strip and each transverse supporting strip are engaged with each other at corresponding notches. 
         [0017]    Otherwise, a cross section of each longitudinal and transverse supporting strip is in the shape of solid rectangle, hollow rectangle, I-shape or C-shape, each longitudinal supporting strip is provided with a plurality of spaced upper notches and spaced lower notches at a upper and lower side thereof respectively and each upper notch is aligned with a corresponding lower notch, each transverse supporting strip is provided with a plurality of spaced openings in the middle part of the height thereof along its length, in which the height of each opening is slightly larger than the height of the longitudinal supporting strip between a pair of aligned upper and lower notches, while the width of the opening is slightly larger than the maximum height of the longitudinal supporting strip, a pair of the upper and lower notches of one of the longitudinal supporting strips are attached to one of the transverse supporting strips within a corresponding opening to enable the longitudinal supporting strip and the transverse supporting strip to be engaged with each other. 
         [0018]    Or, the edge seals may be formed by directly coating either of marble glue, epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin onto the edges of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0019]    Alternatively, the edge seals are exterior edge seals attached to a periphery of the first and second panel boards to close an inner space between the first and second panel boards, and each of which comprises a main body attached to the periphery of the first and second panel boards, and a protrusion extending from a side of the main body facing to the first and second panel boards towards the first and second panel boards for supporting the outer surface of the first or second panel board. 
         [0020]    Or, each of the edge seals comprises a side strip attached to a periphery of the first and second panel boards, a plurality of upper protrudes formed at a upper part of the side strip and spaced from each other, and a plurality of lower protrudes formed at a lower part of the side strip and aligning with the upper protrudes, in which both the upper protrudes and lower protrudes extend from a side of the side strip facing to the first and second panel boards towards an inner space between the first and second panel boards, to supporting inner surfaces of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0021]    Preferably, the composite board may further comprise corner protectors sandwiched between the first and second panel boards at corners of the latter, and each corner protector includes a main body made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics. 
         [0022]    Each corner protector may further include a coating covering exposed sides of the main body, and the coating is made of metals or alloys, and the main body of each corner protector has a triangle-shaped or rectangle-shaped cross section. 
         [0023]    If a cross section of each edge seal is in the shape of hollow rectangle, each corner protector may further comprise one or more projections extending outwards from adjacent sides of the main body facing to the internal of the composite board, the projections are inserted into through holes of the edge seals. 
         [0024]    In addition, the composite board may further comprise stuffing filling an inner space formed between the first and second panel boards, in which the stuffing is made of light foam and the light foam is at least one of expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, polyurethane, polyvinylidene chloride, polyetherimide, acrylonitrile styrene copolymer, polymethacrylimide and thermoplastic polyethylene. The light foam could be coated with protective agent made of a mixture of white adhesive cement and speckstone powder. 
         [0025]    The composite board of the present invention is mainly made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics, and thereby it is easy to control the quality of the composite board, and the composite board is not so easily damaged. Even damaged, it is easy to repair the composite board through a simple procedure. Furthermore, such composite board is not subject to influence of wet environment, thus the durability and lifespan of the present composite board are better than the conventional wood boards and plywood. In addition, the present composite board is light in weight. Similar to the wood boards and plywood, the present composite board is very convenient for operation. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    The present invention will be described in details with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are for illustration purposes only and are not drawn to scale, in which: 
           [0027]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the composite board shown in  FIG. 1 , in which a first panel board is removed; 
           [0029]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an edge seal of the composite board shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0030]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of another form of the edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0031]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an exterior edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a variant of the exterior edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged cross-sectional view of another variant of the exterior edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0034]      FIG. 8  is an enlarged view of a further form of the edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention; 
           [0035]      FIG. 9  is a schematic cross-sectional view of longitudinal and/or transverse supports of the composite board shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0036]      FIG. 10  is a schematic view illustrating an engagement manner between a longitudinal support and a transverse support of the composite board shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0037]      FIG. 11  is a schematic view illustrating another engagement manner between a longitudinal support and a transverse support of the composite board shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0038]      FIG. 12  is a top plan view of a second embodiment of the composite board according to the present invention, in which a first panel board is removed; 
           [0039]      FIG. 13  is an enlarged view of a corner protector of the composite board shown in  FIG. 12 ; and 
           [0040]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged view illustrating the engagement of the corner protector and the edge seals of the composite board shown in  FIG. 12 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0041]    In conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the composite board of the present invention would be described in details. 
         [0042]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the first embodiment of the composite board of the present invention comprises a first panel board  1 , a second panel board  2  aligned with the first panel board, one or more longitudinal supports  3  sandwiched between the first and second panel boards, one or more transverse supports  4  sandwiched between the first and second panel boards and crossing the longitudinal supports, and edge seals  5  mounted along edges of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0043]    According to different application situations, the first and second panel board  1  and  2  could be made of a variety of materials, such as fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Besides, the thickness of the first panel board  1  or the second panel board  2  could be adapted according to the uses thereof. Preferably, the thickness of the first panel board  1  or the second panel board  2  may be 0.5 mm-10 mm. 
         [0044]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a structure of the edge seal of the composite board according to the present invention. The edge seal  5  is in form of a rectangle-shaped edge sealing strip  51 , and through holes  511  and  512  separated from each other are formed within the central part of the edge sealing strip  51  along the length of the latter. Therefore, the edge sealing strip  51  could ensure good resistance of the composite board to relatively strong impact. 
         [0045]    As shown in  FIG. 4 , the through holes within another edge sealing strip  52  could be combined into a single through hole, to lower the weight of the edge sealing strip, and still ensure the good resistance of the composite board to relatively strong impact at the same time. Alternatively, there may be three or more through holes within the edge sealing strip, to be satisfied with different application situations. Of course, the cross section of the edge sealing strip could be in the shape of solid rectangle, I-shape, or C-shape. 
         [0046]    In addition, according to different requirements, each edge of the composite board could be provided with one or more edge sealing strips. If an edge of the composite board is provided with more than one edge sealing strip, the outermost edge sealing strip extends along the whole length of the edge, to enable to close the inner space formed between the first and second panel boards. The inner edge sealing strips could extend along the whole or part of the edge of the composite board, to provide additional protection to particular parts of the composite board. 
         [0047]    According to different application situations, the edge sealing strips could be made of a variety of materials, such as fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Besides, the thickness of wall, width and height of each edge sealing strip could be adapted according to the uses thereof. Preferably, the thickness of wall of the edge sealing strip may be 0.1 mm-10 mm, the width may be 1 mm-200 mm, while the height may be 5 mm-450 mm. 
         [0048]    Alternatively, the edge seal  5  could be formed by directly coating either of marble glue, epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin onto the edges of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0049]    Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the edge seal  5  could be in form of an exterior edge seal  53  attached to the periphery of the first and second panel boards, to enable to close the inner space between the first and second panel boards. Each exterior edge seal  53  comprises a main body  531  attached to the periphery of the first and second panel boards, and a protrusion  532  extending from a side of the main body  531  facing to the first and second panel boards towards the first and second panel boards for supporting the outer surface of the first or second panel board. 
         [0050]      FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate variants  54  and  55  of the exterior edge seal. Except for the structure of the main body, the other parts of the exterior edge seals  54  and  55  as well as the engagement thereof with the first and second panel boards are the same as those of the exterior edge seal  53  shown in  FIG. 5 . 
         [0051]    Alternatively, the edge seal  5  may further be constructed as an edge sealing strip  56  shown in  FIG. 8 . The edge sealing strip  56  comprises a side strip  561  attached to the periphery of the first and second panel boards  1  and  2 , a plurality of upper protrudes  562  formed at the upper part of the side strip  561  and spaced from each other, and a plurality of lower protrudes  563  formed at the lower part of the side strip  561  and aligning with the upper protrudes  562 , in which both the upper protrudes  562  and lower protrudes  563  extend from a side of the side strip  561  facing to the first and second panel boards towards the inner space between the first and second panel boards, to supporting the inner surface of the first and second panel boards. 
         [0052]    The longitudinal supports  3  and transverse supports  4  are in the shape of a strip. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the cross sections of the longitudinal supports and transverse supports could also be in the shape of hollow rectangle, solid rectangle, C-shape, or I-shape. 
         [0053]      FIG. 10  illustrates an engagement manner between a longitudinal support and a transverse support crossing each other. As shown in  FIG. 10 , where a cross section of a transverse support is in the shape of solid or hollow rectangle, a corresponding longitudinal support  3  is provided with a plurality of spaced notches  31  at a side thereof facing to the transverse support  4 , in which the width of each notch  31  is slightly larger than the thickness of the transverse support  4 , while the depth of each notch  31  is slightly larger than a half of the height of transverse support  4 . Similarly, where a cross section of the longitudinal support is in the shape of solid or hollow rectangle, the transverse support  4  is provided with a plurality of spaced notches  41  at a side thereof facing to the longitudinal support  3 , in which the width of each notch  41  is slightly larger than the thickness of the longitudinal support  3 , while the depth of each notch  41  is slightly larger than a half of the height of longitudinal support  3 . When the longitudinal support  3  and the transverse support  4  are to be engaged with each other, one notch  31  of the longitudinal support  3  should be inserted into a corresponding notch  41  of the transverse support  4 , and thereby the longitudinal support  3  and the transverse support  4  cross each other to form a stable engagement structure. 
         [0054]    Similarly, where a cross section of a transverse support is in I-shape or C-shape, a corresponding longitudinal support  3  is provided with a plurality of spaced notches  31  at a side thereof facing to the transverse support  4 , in which the width of a top of each notch  31  is slightly larger than the thickness of a top of the transverse support  4 , and the width of a bottom of each notch  31  is slightly larger than the thickness of the transverse support  4 , while the depth of each notch  31  is slightly larger than a half of the height of transverse support  4 . Similarly, where the cross section of a longitudinal support is in I-shape or C-shape, a corresponding transverse support  4  is provided with a plurality of spaced notches  41  at a side thereof facing to the longitudinal support  3 , in which the width of a top of each notch  41  is slightly larger than the thickness of a top of the longitudinal support  3 , the width of a bottom of each notch  41  is slightly larger than the thickness of the longitudinal support  3 , while the depth of each notch  41  is slightly larger than a half of the height of longitudinal support  3 . When the longitudinal support  3  and the transverse support  4  are to be engaged with each other, one notch  31  of the longitudinal support  3  should be inserted into a corresponding notch  41  of the transverse support  4 , and thereby the longitudinal support  3  and the transverse support  4  cross each other to form a stable engagement structure. 
         [0055]    Furthermore,  FIG. 11  illustrates another engagement manner between a longitudinal support and a transverse support crossing each other. A cross section of the longitudinal or transverse support could be in the shape of either of hollow rectangle, solid rectangle, C-shape, or I-shape. As shown in  FIG. 11 , the longitudinal support  3 ′ is provided with a plurality of spaced upper notches  31 ′ and spaced lower notches  32 ′ at a upper and lower side thereof respectively, in which each upper notch  31 ′ is aligned with a corresponding lower notch  32 ′. The transverse support  4 ′ is provided with a plurality of spaced openings  41 ′ in the middle part of the height of the transverse support along the length thereof. The height of each opening  41 ′ is slightly larger than the height of the longitudinal support  3 ′ between a pair of aligned upper and lower notches  31 ′ and  32 ′, while the width of the opening  41 ′ is slightly larger than the maximum height of the longitudinal support  3 ′. When the longitudinal support  3 ′ and the transverse support  4 ′ are to be engaged with each other, the longitudinal support  3 ′ should be placed horizontally and then be inserted into an opening  41 ′ of the transverse support  4 ′. After a pair of upper and lower notches  31 ′ and  32 ′ of the longitudinal support  3 ′ are aligned with the opening  41 ′, the longitudinal support  3 ′ is rotated by 90°. Then, the upper and lower notches  31 ′ and  32 ′ would be attached to the transverse support  4 ′, and thereby the longitudinal and transverse supports  3 ′ and  4 ′ cross and are engaged with each other. In this engagement manner, the longitudinal and transverse supports may be exchangeable. That is, the longitudinal support is provided with openings, while the transverse support is provided with upper and lower notches. 
         [0056]    According to different application situations, the longitudinal and transverse supports could be made of a variety of materials, such as fiberglass-reinforced plastics. Besides, the size of the longitudinal or transverse supports could be adapted according to the uses thereof. Preferably, the thickness of wall of the longitudinal or transverse supports may be 0.1 mm-20 mm, the length may be 25 mm-3000 mm, the width may be 1 mm-200 mm, while the height may be 5 mm-450 mm. 
         [0057]    However, if the size of the composite board is small, the composite board of the present invention could only comprise the first and second panel boards and the edge seals mounted along the edges of the first and second panel boards. Between the first and second panel boards, either longitudinal or transverse supporting strips are provided, or even none of the longitudinal and transverse supporting strips are provided. 
         [0058]      FIG. 12  illustrates a second embodiment of the composite board of the present invention. Similar to the first embodiment, the second embodiment comprises a first panel board (not shown in  FIG. 12 ), a second panel board  22  aligned with the first panel board, one or more longitudinal supports  23  sandwiched between the first and second panel boards, one or more transverse supports  25  sandwiched between the first and second panel boards and crossing the longitudinal supports, and edge seals  25  mounted along the edges of the first and second panel boards. Different from the first embodiment, the second embodiment may further comprise one or more corner protector  26  sandwiched between the first and second panel boards at the corners of the latters. 
         [0059]    As shown in  FIG. 13 , the corner protector  26  includes a main body  261 , one or more projections  262  extending outwards from adjacent sides of the main body facing to the internal of the composite board, a coating  263  covering exposed sides of the main body. The main body and the projections could be made of a variety of materials, such as fiberglass-reinforced plastics, while the coating could be made of hard materials, such as metals, alloys, etc. 
         [0060]    As shown in  FIG. 14 , when the corner protectors  26  are mounted at the corners of the composite board, the projections  262  thereof is inserted into the through holes of the edge seals  25 . If each relevant side of the corner protector  26  is provided more than one projection, those projections could be inserted into more than one through hole of an edge seal respectively, or be inserted into respective through holes of more than one edge seal. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the length of the more than one edge seal could be different from each other, in which the outermost edge seal could be extended along the whole length of the composite board, while the inner edge seals could be relatively shorter. 
         [0061]    The corners of the composite board are the weakest parts thereof, and thereby are subject to damage. After the corner protectors are set at the corners of the composite board, better protection could be provided to the composite board. Therefore, the composite board could be protected from damage even if being dropped from height or impacted forcefully. 
         [0062]    Of course, according to different requirements, the corner protector could only comprise a main body and a coating without projections; or could only include a main body without projections and coating. If the corner protector does not include projections, the edge seals used in the composite board could be solid. Although the cross section of the main body of the corner protector shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is in the shape of rectangle, the cross section thereof could also be in the shape of triangle. 
         [0063]    The size of the main body of the corner protector could be adapted according to different uses. Preferably, the length thereof could be 5 mm-200 mm, the width could be 5 mm-200 mm, while the height could be 5 mm-450 mm. At the same time, the length of the projections could also be various. Preferably, the length thereof could be 5 mm-200 mm, while the width and height thereof could be adapted according to the size of the through holes of the relevant edge seals. 
         [0064]    The fiberglass-reinforced plastic of the present invention are made of resin matrix reinforced with fibers. The matrix could be made of pure resin or resin with additive. The resin for the matrix could be epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin, phenolic resin or furan resin. The additive could be powder of calcium carbonate, speckstone, quartz or insulating glass. The fibers could enhance the strength and rigidity of the composite board. 
         [0065]    The composite board of the present invention could further comprise stuffing (not shown in the figures). The stuffing fills the inner space formed by the first panel board, the second panel board and the edge seals, which could further enhance the stability of the composite board. The stuffing could be made of light materials. 
         [0066]    The stuffing could be light foam, honeycomb material or softwood. 
         [0067]    Light foam could be at least one of expanded polystyrene (EPS), extruded polystyrene (XPS), polyurethane (PU), polyvinylidene chloride (PVC), polyetherimide (PEI), acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (SAN/AS), polymethacrylimide (PMI), thermoplastic polyethylene (PET). If the first and second panel boards are made of fiberglass-reinforced plastics, the light foam could be coated with protective agent made of the mixture of white adhesive cement and speckstone powder. The weight ratio of white adhesive cement and speckstone powder in the mixture could be 1:0.5. 
         [0068]    The honeycomb material could be at least one of glass-cloth honeycomb, NOMEX honeycomb, cotton honeycomb, aluminum honeycomb and PVC honeycomb. 
         [0069]    The mechanical performance and operation of the present composite board are similar to the wood boards or plywood. Therefore, the composite board of the present invention could widely replace various boards used in construction and decoration, such as solid wood boards, plywood, middle-density fiber boards and particle boards etc., and could also replace wood, brackets, doors, or could even be used as beams, pillars, floors or walls. 
         [0070]    Although some embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art should understand that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments without departing the principles and spirits of the present invention and they still fall into the scope of claims and the equivalent thereof.