METHOD FOR COATING A SURFACE USING A PROFILED COATING MATERIAL AND A COATING MATERIAL

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a coating material (10) for coating a surface, particularly a narrow side of a plate-shaped workpiece (W), which preferably consists, at least in part, of wood, wood materials, wood substitute materials, plastic or the like, said method comprising the following steps: supplying a coating material (10), wherein the coating material (10) has a recess (10a) extending in a longitudinal direction of the coating material (10), and; applying the coating material (10) to at least one surface (W1) of a workpiece (W) to be coated, wherein the workpiece (W) has, on the at least one surface (W1) to be coated, a profile (P), which is complementary at least in part to the recess (10a).

Claims

1. A method for coating a surface, in particular a narrow side of a plate-shaped workpiece which consists, at least in part, of wood, wood-based materials, wood substitute materials, plastics material or the like, comprising the steps of: supplying a coating material, wherein the coating material has a recess extending in the longitudinal direction of the coating material, and applying the coating material to at least one surface of a workpiece to be coated, wherein the workpiece has, on the surface thereof, a profile which is complementary at least in part to the recess in the coating material.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a machining process, by means of which the profile of the workpiece is formed, wherein the machining process is carried out using a milling tool, a scraping tool and/or an abrasive belt.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the profile is formed on the at least one surface to be coated of the workpiece while the workpiece is supplied and while the coating material is applied to the workpiece and it has already been formed thereon in a previous work step.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein scanning is performed on the workpiece to be coated, in particular thickness scanning and/or contour scanning, while the profile is formed on the at least one surface to be coated of the workpiece.

5. The method according to one of claim 1, wherein the recess extending in the longitudinal direction of the coating material is formed while the coating material is produced.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recess in the coating material is formed by way of machining during the extrusion of the coating material, in particular the co-extrusion of the supporting layer and the adhesive layer, and/or after the extrusion of the coating material.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a trapezoidal protrusion that is complementary at least in part in particular to the recess in the coating material is milled on the at least one surface to be coated using at least one profile milling tool, while the workpiece to be coated is supplied.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive/functional layer is applied at least in sections to the surface to be coated of the workpiece and/or to the surface of the coating material provided with the recess, wherein the adhesive/functional layer is applied to the coating material by means of aftercoating while the coating material is produced and it is subsequently applied to the profiled coating material and the profiled workpiece.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the activation of an adhesive layer of the coating material is carried out during a relative movement between the coating material and the workpiece, wherein the activation is carried out by way of an energy source selected in particular from a laser, a hot air source, a gassing source, an infrared source, an ultrasound source, a magnetic field source, a microwave source, a plasma source or a LED source.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein a connecting corner of the workpiece is coated using two coating materials, in particular using a longitudinal coating and a transverse coating, wherein the connecting corner has as its surfaces a longitudinal side and a transverse side, which are disposed at right angles to one another, the two coating materials have a complementary chamfer in the connecting corner of the workpiece such that they abut against one another without raising the profile, and the depth of the recesses in the two coating materials is selected such that the coating materials completely surround the workpiece at the connecting corner thereof.

11. A coating material, in particular a narrow surface coating material, for coating a surface of a workpiece which consists, at least in sections, of wood, wood-based materials, wood substitute materials, plastics material or the like, comprising: a supporting layer having a first surface, which is designed to be applied to at least one surface of a workpiece to be coated, and a recess extending in the longitudinal direction of the coating material, wherein the recess is provided in the first surface.

12. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein when the coating material [[(10)]] is viewed in cross section, the recess is formed in a trapezoidal shape, a U shape, a V shape or a W shape or from a combination of chamfers, straight lines and arcs, wherein the recess has an equal-sided trapezoidal form with a longer base side (G) on the outer side of the coating material.

13. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein the recess is positioned and formed such that the longest dimension of the recess touches the two longitudinal side walls of the coating material or such that the longest dimension of the recess is a specified distance (A) from the two longitudinal side walls.

14. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein a depth (T) of the recess is selected such that the depth (T) is smaller than a miter radius (R.sub.G) or a miter angle at at least one end of the coating material.

15. The coating material according to claim 11, further comprising an activatable or reactivatable adhesive layer.

16. The coating material according to claim 11, which is a co-extruded coating material, wherein in particular the supporting layer and the adhesive layer are co-extruded, or the supporting layer of the coating material is provided with an adhesive layer following the production thereof, wherein the adhesive layer is applied using nozzles or profiled paste rollers.

17. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein the supporting layer of the coating material is formed at least in sections of PVC, polystyrene, in particular of ABS, of PP, PE, polycarbonate and/or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), as HPL, CPL, melamine paper and/or as a veneer.

18. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein the coating material has a thickness (D) of between 0.5 mm and 4 mm, wherein the adhesive layer in particular has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm and the recess has a depth (T) of 0.1 mm to 3 mm.

19. The coating material according to claim 11, wherein the adhesive layer of the coating material has color pigments.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0047] FIG. 1 schematically shows a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with a coating method as according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

[0048] FIG. 2 schematically shows a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with a coating method as according to a second embodiment of the present invention,

[0049] FIG. 3 schematically shows a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with the coating method as shown in FIG. 2, wherein the coating material has rounded edges,

[0050] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the coated workpiece of FIG. 2,

[0051] FIG. 5 shows a coating material for the coating method shown in FIG. 2,

[0052] FIG. 6 schematically shows a connecting corner of a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with the coating method shown in FIG. 2, and

[0053] FIG. 7 schematically shows a spatial representation of a connecting corner of a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with the coating method shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0054] In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail on the basis of the enclosed drawings. Further modifications cited in this context of certain features can each individually be combined in order to form further embodiments.

[0055] FIG. 1 schematically shows a workpiece W which has been coated in accordance with a coating method as according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view which intersects the workpiece W and a coating material 10 orthogonally with respect to the longitudinal extension of the coating material 10. As can be derived from FIG. 1, the coating material 10 has a recess 10a on the side facing the workpiece W. This will be addressed in detail later on with respect to FIG. 4. As can also be derived from FIG. 1, the workpiece W that has been coated with the coating material 10 has a profile P which corresponds to the contour of the recess 10a in the coating material, i.e. the profile P of the workpiece W is complementary at least in part to the recess 10a in the coating material 10. As is also revealed by FIG. 1, the recess 10a in the coating material extends as far as the two cover sides (upper side and underside) W2 and W3 of the workpiece W. As a consequence of the fact that the coating material (edging material) is always higher than the workpiece W, for the time being the recess 10a in the coating material protrudes beyond the upper side and underside W2, W3 of the workpiece W. The overhang can be used to compensate for any variations in the thickness of the workpiece. The remaining overhang is preferably removed in a form-fitting manner with respect to the workpiece W by way of a finishing process. FIG. 1 therefore shows the coated workpiece W after finishing. Since the recess 10a in the coating material extends as far as the two cover sides W2, W3 of the workpiece, when forming the profile P of the workpiece W it is only necessary to provide the workpiece W with two chamfers. As can be derived from FIG. 1, the applied coating material 10 gives the impression of a considerably wider edge than the actual width of most of the coating material 10. Thus, the coating material 10 provided can convey the usual impression of high quality, and yet the amount of material used can be drastically reduced.

[0056] FIG. 2 schematically shows a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with a coating method as according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein, in contrast to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the recess 10a in the coating material 10 does not extend as far as the two cover sides W2, W3 of the workpiece W. This means that the recess 10a does not extend to the outer longitudinal sides of the coating material 10. Accordingly, the design of the profile P of the workpiece W is more complicated. However, such a configuration of the recess 10a in the coating material 10 offers the advantage that the longitudinal edges of the coating material, which are arranged outwardly following the application of the coating material, are thicker, i.e. they comprise more material, and therefore they are more robust in the face of an external influence or damage.

[0057] This configuration is particularly advantageous if, as shown in FIG. 3, the longitudinal edges of the coating material 10, which are arranged outwardly once applied to the workpiece W, are provided with a radius R or with a chamfer. The reason for this is that the edge region of the coating material 10 has to have a sufficient thickness in order for a radius R or a chamfer to be provided, so as not to run the risk of the coating material 10 being too unstable.

[0058] In this regard the coating material 10 may already have a radius R or chamfer on the decorative side, i.e. on the side opposite the coating side, before the coating material 10 is applied to the workpiece, which has the advantage that the only finishing required can be carried out using a scraper.

[0059] The radius R may taper off tangentially to the workpiece thickness, as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, the transition of the workpiece W leads tangentially to the radius R of the coating material 10. If the coating material 10 on the upper side is 3 mm wide, for example, it is advantageous if it also has a radius R of 3 mm which is milled, for example. This realizes the advantage that a coating material 10 that is thinner per se gives the impression of a thicker edge and therefore also a larger radius R in the edge region.

[0060] As can also be derived from FIG. 3, the profile P of the workpiece W extends perpendicularly to the cover sides W2, W3 of the workpiece W at the edges thereof, which results in the advantage that in the case of a varying thickness of the workpiece W the width of the resulting coating remains constant. However, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the width of the coating varies when the thickness of the workpiece varies, since the coating material 10 has to be removed to a greater or lesser extent in accordance with the thickness of the workpiece W and as a result the width of the coating material 10 changes owing to the recess 10a extending at an incline.

[0061] Moreover, on account of the vertical joining surface between the coating material 10 and the workpiece W the embodiments shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 offer the advantage that the glued joint or invisible joint is narrower than in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The reason for this is that the width of the glued joint or invisible joint increases as a result of the inclined plane, depending on the angle thereof. In the case of a 45 variant, a 0.2 mm joint increases by a factor of 1/sin 45=square root of 2=1.414.

[0062] FIG. 4 shows an exploded view of the coated workpiece of FIG. 2. The coating material 10 is shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 4. As is clear to see from FIG. 4, the recess 10a in the coating material 10 of the second embodiment is formed such that it does not extend as far as the longitudinal sides of the coating material 10. This means that a predefined distance A is maintained between the two longitudinal sides of the coating material 10 and the recess 10a. Moreover, the recess 10a has an equal-sided trapezoidal form which tapers inward, i.e. into the coating material 10. Accordingly, the recess has a long base side G arranged on the surface 01 of the coating material 10 which later comes into contact with the workpiece W, in particular with the surface or workpiece side W1. The depth T of the coating material 10 is selected such that it is smaller than a thickness D of the coating material. As already stated above, the shape of the recess 10a and that of the profile P that is complementary thereto can be freely selected, with combinations of straight lines, chamfers and arcs being conceivable. In the case of both shapes it should just be ensured that when coating the workpiece W the profile P of the workpiece W can be inserted into the recess 10a in the coating material 10 and preferably that the contact surface between the recess 10a and the profile P is maximized.

[0063] As can also be derived from FIG. 4, the workpiece W has on the surface or workpiece side W1 a profile P which is complementary at least in part to the recess 10a in the coating material 10. Complementary at least in part is to be understood here to mean that the profile P is formed such that it can definitely be inserted into the recess 10a, i.e. its dimensions are smaller than those of the recess 10a. On the other hand, however, the profile P should not be so small that large spaces are formed between the profile P and the recess 10a. In the second embodiment shown, the profile P has the form of a trapezoidal protrusion 13. As can also be derived from FIG. 4, owing to the trapezoidal form of the recess 10a/protrusion 13 the connecting area (contact surface) between the coating material 10 and the workpiece W is larger, which increases the strength of the connection and reduces the risk of the coating material 10 (on the edge) peeling away from the workpiece W.

[0064] FIG. 5 merely shows a coating material 10, wherein the coating material 10 consists of a supporting layer 11 and an adhesive layer 10. As is also revealed by FIG. 5, the adhesive layer 10 is provided on the side of the coating material 10 on which the recess 10a is formed in the coating material 10. FIG. 5 also illustrates the fact that a width B1 of the recess 10a, which corresponds to a maximum width of the recess 10a, is smaller than a width B2 of the coating material 10.

[0065] FIG. 6 schematically shows a connecting corner of a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with the coating method shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen from FIG. 6, two coating materials 10 meet in the connecting corner shown, wherein the two coating materials 10 are a longitudinal coating 102 and a transverse coating 101. The connecting corner comprises a longitudinal side (surface) W1 and a transverse side W1 of the workpiece W, which are disposed at right angles to one another.

[0066] The corner can be machined using methods that are nowadays customary. Only the additional profiling of the narrow side(s) is necessary. First, the longitudinal side of the workpiece is provided with chamfers; then the longitudinal coating 102 is applied to the longitudinal side W1 and after that the overhang of the longitudinal coating 102 is cut back. In the next step, a finishing process is carried out on the longitudinal side (profile+surface). Subsequently, the transverse side W1 (including the longitudinal side that has already been glued on) is provided with chamfers and the transverse coating 101 is applied to the transverse side W1. After that, the overhang of the transverse coating 101 is cut back and form milling is performed on the radius R.sub.G. Finally, a finishing process is carried out on the transverse side (profile+surface).

[0067] In this regard the two recesses 10a in the two coating materials 101, 102 have the same depth T, which is selected such that the coating materials 101, 102 completely surround the workpiece W, in particular the connecting corner of the workpiece W. In other words, the depth T of the two recesses 10a is selected such that the depth T is smaller than a miter radius R.sub.G of the two coating materials 101, 102.

[0068] FIG. 7 schematically shows a spatial representation of a connecting corner of a workpiece which has been coated in accordance with the coating method shown in FIG. 3, wherein, as is described above, only the longitudinal side W1 of the workpiece W has so far been provided with the longitudinal coating 102, the longitudinal coating 102 has been cut back and on the transverse side W1 the profile P has been milled. As can be seen from FIG. 7, after the transverse side W1 has been profiled a bearing surface A or contact surface is formed on the longitudinal coating 102, and since on account of the profiling this is smaller than in the case of conventional coatings, the strength of the coating in the corner region is improved.