Abstract:
The present invention is a wood-based product utilized in forming various structures and other items. The product includes a piece of wood disposed on the exposed surface of the product that has been embossed with a desired pattern to give the product a desired appearance, such as a distressed or weathered appearance. The wood piece used in the product is embossed at a sufficient temperature and pressure to create the desired appearance in the wood piece. Additionally the product can be formed completely or only partially from the wood piece.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to wood boards and more specifically to boards formed of wood or at least partially of wood having a desired appearance that is manufactured into the wood portion of the board during its construction that is used for flooring, wall or ceiling panels. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    When utilizing wood-based products to provide the desired aesthetic properties to a structure or item, there are many different choices to be made with regard the form, type and style of the wood-based products. 
         [0003]    One choice that can greatly affect the structure or the item or structure is the appearance of the wood-based product. Specifically, many wood products are selected for particular uses based solely on the look or feel the wood can provide to the structure or item. 
         [0004]    On many occasions, certain desired looks or appearances for these structures or items are provided by wood-based products that have a natural appearance, such as a weathered or distressed appearance for the wood. This look has historically been achieved by natural forces acting on the wood to provide the desired appearance, or by manually scraping or gouging the exposed surface of the wood. Due to the lengthy amount of time required for the wood to achieve the preferred appearance according to either of these methods, it is desirable to develop a method for providing product having this desired appearance. 
         [0005]    To this end, certain types of products have been developed that are able to be formed with this desired appearance in a mechanical manner, greatly reducing the time required to produce these materials. However, these materials are formed of non-wood materials, such as paper, that is shaped into the desired appearance through a suitable molding process. These molded paper materials can be printed to illustrate the particular wood product they are designed to imitate, and then are molded in a manner that conforms to the images of the wood printed on the paper. Thus, in this manner it is possible to form a product that has the appearance of weathered or distressed wood, but that is not a wood product. 
         [0006]    However, in certain situations it is desirable to have a wood-based product that is able to provide the particular desired appearance and other attributes of natural wood, without the need for expending the amount of time and/or effort necessary to create the desired appearance for the wood-based product. 
         [0007]    Therefore, it is desirable to develop a process for creating a wood-based product and a product formed by the process that can be provided with an appearance simulating a naturally induced appearance, e.g., a distressed or weathered appearance, for the product. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    According to one aspect of the present invention, a wood-based product is provided that is formed at least partially of natural wood to give the product the desired wood-like appearance with or with out chisel marks. To give the product a natural looking appearance in addition to the appearance of the wood itself, and in particular a weathered or distressed appearance, the product is embossed to give the natural wood component of the product the desired appearance. To emboss the wood component, the wood component is compressed at a sufficient temperature and pressure to enable the wood component to be deformed and/or shaped in the desired manner. 
         [0009]    According to another aspect of the present invention, the wood component can form the entire wood-based product, or can take the form of a veneer layer disposed over other wood-based or non-wood-based layers, such as in an engineered wood board product. 
         [0010]    Numerous other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention. 
           [0012]    In the drawings: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a wood-based product formed according to the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a wood-based product formed according to the present invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a wood-based product formed according to the present invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 ; and 
           [0019]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an embossing machine utilized in the manufacture of the product of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a first embodiment of a wood product constructed according to the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 1  generally at  10 . The wood product  10  is formed of a unitary piece or board  12  of North American hardwoods, such as red oak, white oak, hard maple, red maple, birch, beech, walnut, ash, cherry, alder, elm, hickory, pecan, hackberry, Brazilian cherry, Brazilian walnut, Bolivian cherry, Brazilian teak, Santos mahogany, African rosewood, Merbau, African padeuk, kempas, zebra wood, tiger wood, wenge, Australian cypress, teak, and eucalyptus, among others. The board  12  can have virtually any desired thickness depending upon the particular use to which the board is to be put, but preferably has a thickness of between about 0.6 mm to about 20 mm. Preferably, the board  12  has a thickness in the range of about 1 mm to about 25.4 mm, with a particularly preferred thickness of around 10 mm in its final product form. 
         [0021]    Once the board  12  is selected based on the type of wood forming the board  12  and the thickness of the board  12 , the board  12  is positioned within an embossing device  14  shown in  FIG. 7  that includes a support member  16  to hold the board  12 , and an embossing member  18  located opposite the support member  16 . One or both of the support member  16  and the embossing member  18  are movable with regard to one another, such that the support member  16  and the embossing member  18  can be brought towards one another. Also, the embossing member  18  can be formed to have the desired surface for the board  12  disposed directly on the surface  19  of the member  18  that engages the board  12 , or the surface  19  can be used to secure a separate embossing structure (not shown) to the embossing member  18  on which the desired surface is disposed that is to be used to engage and deform the board  12 . 
         [0022]    To assist in embossing the board  12 , the board  12  is heated to a desired temperature below a combustion point for the board  12 , but above a temperature at which the structure of the board  12  is affected such that the board  12  becomes more easily deformed. In one embodiment, the heating of the board  12  can be done by preheating the board  12  in any suitable manner prior to introducing the board  12  into the device  14 . Additionally or as an alternative to the preheating of the board  12 , at least one or both of the embossing member  18  and support member  16  can be heated to consequently heat the board  12  to a desired temperature where the board  12  becomes more easily deformed. Preferably both the support member  16  and the embossing member  18  are heated to increase the speed of heating of the board  12  and the overall speed of the embossing process. 
         [0023]    Regardless of how the board  12  is heated, the temperature that the board  12  is heated to is preferably ≧100° C., and more preferably ≧150° C. At these temperatures, the material forming the board  12  softens to the point that it can be more easily deformed in the device  14  as desired. 
         [0024]    Once the board  12  has been heated to the desired temperature, the support member  16  and the embossing member  18  are moved towards each other, such that the board  12  is brought into contact with the embossing member  18 . The embossing member  18  is formed with a pattern on it that represents the desired appearance for the exposed surface of the board  12 . The pattern can have any desired configuration, such that the pattern can be selected to provide any desired appearance for the exposed surface of the board  12 . This pattern is pressed into the heated board  12  to deform the exposed surface of the board  12  such that the exposed surface is impressed with the pattern on the embossing member  18 . To ensure that the pattern from the embossing member  18  is effectively and permanently impressed into the board  12 , the embossing member  18  is pressed into the board  12  at a sufficient pressure to permanently deform the exposed surface of the board  12  into the desired pattern, as best shown in  FIG. 2 . Preferably, the pressure at which the embossing member  18  is pressed into the board  12  is between 300 psi and 800 psi. At these pressures, the pattern on the embossing member  18  is permanently formed in the board  12  without damaging the board  12 , thereby providing a board  12  having the desired appearance that is also structurally sound such that it is able to be used in the intended manner. 
         [0025]    Looking now at  FIGS. 3 and 4 , another embodiment of the product  10  is illustrated in which the board  12 ′ is an engineered board formed of a veneer layer  20  formed from a selected wood having the desired appearance, and a number of core layers  22  over which the veneer layer  20  is placed. The board  12 ′ can have the same overall thickness as the board  12 , such that it can be utilized in the same manner for the same purposes, with the veneer layer  20  having a thickness of between about 0.60 mm to about 6.00 mm, with the remainder of the thickness of the board  12 ′ being made up by the core layers  22 . This thickness for the veneer layer  20  is fairly important as it provides sufficient rigidity to the board  12  while also being thin enough for the layer  20  to readily accept the pattern from the embossing member  18 . 
         [0026]    The core layers  22  can be formed of any suitable material, such as a resin material or wood-based composite material, such as HDF, and are attached to the veneer layer  20  in any suitable manner. In one embodiment, the core  22  is formed of multiple layers of these materials, which can be secured to one another in any suitable manner, such as by using mechanical fasteners or a suitable adhesive, among others, and can be formed of the same material or mixed material layers. The core  22  formed of these layers is preferably formed to have a thickness of about 4 mm to about 20 mm. 
         [0027]    Alternatively, the core  22  can be formed as a single piece of a desired material, such as HDF, with a thickness of between about 4 mm to about 20 mm. 
         [0028]    In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the board  12 ′ is positioned within the device  14  and embossed in a manner similar to that utilized for the board  12 . However, due to the thickness of the veneer  20 , the temperature and pressure at which the board  12 ′ is embossed can optionally be altered from that used on the board  12  if the veneer layer  20  is more receptive to having the pattern on the embossing member  18  impressed on it due to its reduced thickness. 
         [0029]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , in a third embodiment, the veneer  20  can inserted into the device  14  and embossed with the pattern on the embossing member  18  by itself, such that the veneer layer  20  can later be secured to one or more suitable core layers  22  to form an engineered board  12 ′. 
         [0030]    Various alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.