Emulated wood with pores and fibers and fabrication method thereof

Abstract

A method for fabricating emulated wood with pores and fibers, comprising: immersing a plurality of synthetic fibers configured parallel in a plane into a resin so that the resin is coated on the surfaces of the plurality of synthetic fibers and in the gaps between the plurality of synthetic fibers; placing the plurality of synthetic fibers between two sheets, wherein the two sheets are planar sheets made from a uniform composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, a foaming agent, and a crosslinking agent; carrying out a heat-press process on the two sheets so that the foaming agent undergoes microcellular foaming and forms dense closed pores in the two sheets, and so that the composition on inner surfaces of the two sheets expands towards the plurality of synthetic fibers and penetrates through the gaps between the plurality of synthetic fibers; and cooling the two sheets to yield an emulated wood board.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating an emulated wood product with pores and fibers, comprising the steps of: providing a configuration of synthetic fibers, the configuration comprising a plurality of synthetic fibers which are unidirectionally aligned in a plane, wherein the plurality of synthetic fibers of the configuration extend in a longitudinal direction, and wherein adjacent synthetic fibers of the configuration are separated by respective gaps; immersing the configuration of synthetic fibers into a resin so that the resin is coated on surfaces of the plurality of synthetic fibers and penetrates into the gaps between adjacent synthetic fibers to form an inner composite sheet in which adjacent synthetic fibers are provided with resin extending therebetween; placing the inner composite sheet between first and second outer sheets, wherein each of the first and second outer sheets is planar, has an inner surface contacting the inner composite sheet and an exposed outer surface, and is made from a uniform composition, the uniform composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, a foaming agent and a crosslinking agent; applying heat and pressure to the respective outer surfaces of the first and second outer sheets to attach the respective inner surfaces of the first and second outer sheets to the inner composite sheet and to activate the foaming agent in the first and second outer sheets to cause microcellular foaming of the first and second outer sheets, the microcellular foaming forming dense closed pores in the first and second outer sheets, the step of applying heat and pressure further causing uniform composition on the respective inner surfaces of the first and second outer sheets to expand toward the plurality of synthetic fibers of the inner composite sheet and to penetrate between adjacent synthetic fibers of the inner composite sheet; and cooling the first and second outer sheets to yield an emulated wood board, wherein the respective inner surfaces of the first and second outer sheets after microcellular foaming form irregular contact surfaces with the inner composite sheet and are firmly adhered to the resin of the inner composite sheet.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: forming the uniform composition by heating the thermoplastic elastomer to a temperature above 100 C. to melt the thermoplastic elastomer, forming a mixture of the thermoplastic elastomer, the foaming agent and the crosslinking agent, and kneading the mixture at a temperature in the range of 110-130 C. to uniformly mix the mixture, and using a calendar machine to form the first and second outer sheets from the uniform composition.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein a thickness of each of the first and second outer sheets is between 0.5 and 1.0 mm.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer is a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer comprises a first thermoplastic elastomer and a second thermoplastic elastomer, wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer and the second thermoplastic elastomer have different characteristics, and wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer is a matrix for a soft-segment structure of the first and second outer sheets and the second thermoplastic elastomer is a matrix for a hard-segment structure of the first and second outer sheets.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer selected from the group consisting of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer (SIS), and styrenic block copolymer (SBC) and mixtures thereof, the first thermoplastic elastomer having a weight percentage of 10-80% in the uniform composition, and wherein the second thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer selected from the group consisting of polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and mixtures thereof, the second thermoplastic elastomer having a weight percentage of 10-80% in the uniform composition.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the foaming agent is an azo-based chemical foaming agent or a baking soda foaming agent, the foaming agent having a weight percentage of 0.1-15.0% in the uniform composition, and wherein the crosslinking agent is dicumyl peroxide, 2,5-(tert-butylperoxide)-2,5-dimethylhexane, or sulfur, the crosslinking agent having a weight percentage of 0.01-2.0% in the uniform composition.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the plurality of synthetic fibers comprises glass fibers or carbon fibers.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of applying heat and pressure comprises heating to a temperature in a range of 160-180 C. and applying a pressure in a range of 250-300 kilograms per square centimeter (kg/cm.sup.2).

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: heating the emulated wood board to soften and melt the respective outer surfaces of the first and second outer sheets, rolling the emulated wood board in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction to fuse the softened and melted outer surface of the first outer sheet to the softened and melted outer surface of the second outer sheet, and cooling the first and second outer sheets to yield an emulated wood column.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising the steps of: forming the uniform composition by heating the thermoplastic elastomer to a temperature above 100 C. to melt the thermoplastic elastomer, forming a mixture of the thermoplastic elastomer, the foaming agent and the crosslinking agent, and kneading the mixture at a temperature in the range of 110-130 C. to uniformly mix the mixture, and using a calendar machine to form the first and second outer sheets from the uniform composition.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a thickness of each of the first and second outer sheets is between 0.5 and 1.0 mm.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer is a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the thermoplastic elastomer comprises a first thermoplastic elastomer and a second thermoplastic elastomer, wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer and the second thermoplastic elastomer have different characteristics, and wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer is a matrix for a soft-segment structure of the first and second outer sheets and the second thermoplastic elastomer is a matrix for a hard-segment structure of the first and second outer sheets.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer selected from the group consisting of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer (SIS), and styrenic block copolymer (SBC) and mixtures thereof, the first thermoplastic elastomer having a weight percentage of 10-80% in the uniform composition, and wherein the second thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer selected from the group consisting of polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and mixtures thereof, the second thermoplastic elastomer having a weight percentage of 10-80% in the uniform composition.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the foaming agent is an azo-based chemical foaming agent or a baking soda foaming agent, the foaming agent having a weight percentage of 0.1-15.0% in the uniform composition, and wherein the crosslinking agent is dicumyl peroxide, 2,5-(tert-butylperoxide)-2,5-dimethylhexane, or sulfur, the crosslinking agent having a weight percentage of 0.01-2.0% in the uniform composition.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the plurality of synthetic fibers comprises glass fibers or carbon fibers.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of applying heat and pressure comprises heating to a temperature in a range of 160-180 C. and applying a pressure in a range of 250-300 kilograms per square centimeter (kg/cm.sup.2).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the structure of an emulated wood of the invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a fabrication method of the emulated wood of the invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is a detailed cross-section view of an emulated wood board of the invention before completion;

(4) FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-section view of the emulated wood board of the invention after completion;

(5) FIG. 5 is a schematic of a finished emulated wood column of the invention; and

(6) FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a fabrication method of the emulated wood column of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(7) The purposes, processes, structure features, and effects of the invention may be more fully understood by the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings.

(8) Commercial thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are polymers having the characteristics of high elasticity and high strength of rubber, and not only do they have the processability of thermoplastics but they also have the physical properties of vulcanized rubber, and thus is a combination of the advantages of plastic and rubber; in addition, the characteristics of superior ultraviolet-resistance, weather resistance, and high-temperature resistance renders it suitable for long-term outdoor applications. Therefore, the applications of TPE have gradually replaced those originally of vulcanized rubber. Furthermore, since the fabrication process of TPE usually requires no or short times of vulcanization, energy may be effectively saved and the generated waste (such as flash or residue) and final rejected products may all be recycled and reused, and even the used TPE products may be recycled after simple regeneration processes. In short, TPE further has outstanding characteristics of reducing environmental pollution and facilitating resource regeneration.

(9) Among the various commercial TPE materials, styrenic thermoplastic elastomer has properties most close to those of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), which is a styrene block copolymer (TPS) of butadiene or isoprene and styrene. The present annual yield of TPS takes up about half of that of all TPE, and owing to their advantages of material characteristics stability, non-toxicity, 100% recyclability, and low cost, TPS has been widely used in shoe making to replace most rubbers and has increasing applications in industrial rubber products such as rubber fabric and rubber plates. It is now further used as water-proof membranes for water proofing and moisture proofing in building roofs, subways, tunnels, trenches, etc. Therefore, the outstanding characteristics of styrenic thermoplastic elastomer in above are utilized to produce an emulated wood with pores and fibers of the invention after long-term studies so as to fabricate the emulated wood under prerequisites of high availability and low cost, so that the emulated wood not only has advantages of high elasticity and strength, non-toxicity, recyclability, good dyeability, weather resistance, etc. but also emulates the wood characteristics and wood grain of genuine wood and has plasticity and fiber strength superior to those of genuine wood.

(10) The invention provides an emulated wood with pores and fibers, the fabrication method of which mainly uses a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer for foaming to emulate the wood characteristics and wood grain of genuine wood and uses synthetic fibers to emulate plasticity and fiber strength superior to those of genuine wood. As shown in FIG. 1, an emulated wood board 10 of the invention comprises at least two sheets 11 and 12 and a plurality of synthetic fibers 13 (such as glass fibers or carbon fibers), wherein the sheets 11 and 12 are made from a composition comprising a thermoplastic elastomer, a foaming agent, and a crosslinking agent, wherein the sheets 11 and 12 are fabricated by heating the composition at a temperature above 100 C. to be softened and melted and mixed into a molten, wherein the molten is subsequently kneaded at a temperature range of 110-130 C. to uniformly mix the composition, wherein the molten is subsequently sheeted by a calendar machine to yield the sheets 11 and 12, and wherein the thickness of the sheets 11 and 12 is between 0.5 and 1.0 millimeters (mm).

(11) In a preferred embodiment of the invention, to emulate the different soft and hard wood characteristics of various genuine woods according to actual requirements, the thermoplastic elastomer at least comprises two thermoplastic elastomers with different characteristics (i.e., a first thermoplastic elastomer and a second thermoplastic elastomer), wherein the first thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer group of one or any mixture of styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer (SIS), and styrenic block copolymer (SBC) with a weight percentage of 10-80% as a matrix for a soft-segment structure of the two sheets, and wherein the second thermoplastic elastomer is a polymer group of one or any mixture of polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (AS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) with a weight percentage of 10-80% as a matrix for a hard-segment structure of the two sheets. Therefore, the weight percentage of the first thermoplastic elastomer or the second thermoplastic elastomer may be adjusted according to actual needs to adjust the material characteristics of the soft-segment structure and the hard-segment structure of the sheets 11 and 12 so as to emulate the different soft and hard wood characteristics of various genuine woods.

(12) The foaming agent in the invention may be selected from an azo-based chemical foaming agent or a baking soda physical foaming agent with a weight percentage of 0.1-15.0%, and the crosslinking agent may be selected from dicumyl peroxide, 2,5-(tert-butylperoxide)-2,5-dimethylhexane, or sulfur with a weight percentage of 0.01-2.0%. As shown in FIG. 2 the fabrication method of the emulated wood board 10 comprises the following steps:

(13) Step 201: immersing a plurality of synthetic fibers 13 (such as glass fibers or carbon fibers) configured parallel in a plane into a resin 14 so that the resin 14 is coated on the surfaces of the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 and in the gaps 131 between the plurality of synthetic fibers 13;

(14) Step 202: as shown in FIG. 3, placing the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 between the sheets 11 and 12 so that the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 and the sheets 11 and 12 are attached to each other;

(15) Step 203: carrying out a heat-press process by a heat-press machine on the sheets 11 and 12 and their outer surfaces, wherein the temperature and the pressure of the heat-press process may be set according to the material and thickness of the sheets 11 and 12, wherein the temperature of the heat-press process may be adjusted to be in the range of 160-180 C. and the pressure of the heat-press process may be adjusted to be in the range of 250-300 kilograms per square centimeter (kg/cm.sup.2), so that the foaming agent in the sheets 11 and 12 undergoes microcellular foaming after being heated and forms dense closed pores B in the sheets 11 and 12, and so that the composition on inner surfaces of the sheets 11 and 12 expands towards the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 and penetrates through the gaps 131 between the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 to be intertwined by pressure from microcellular foaming of itself and surroundings as shown in FIG. 4; and

(16) Step 204: cooling the sheets 11 and 12.

(17) Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner surfaces of the sheets 11 and 12 after microcellular foaming form irregular contact surfaces with the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 and are densely and firmly combined in one by adherence force of the resin 14 to yield the emulated wood board 10, which not only emulates the wood characteristics and wood grain of genuine wood but also has plasticity and fiber strength superior to those of genuine wood.

(18) In another preferred embodiment of the invention, steps of a rolling process may be carried out on the emulated wood board 10 after yielding the emulated wood board 10 to yield an emulated wood column 20 in FIG. 5, wherein the steps of the rolling process are shown in FIG. 6 and comprise:

(19) Step 601: heating the emulated wood board 10;

(20) Step 602: rolling, with the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 as axes, the emulated wood board 10 densely to attach the outer surface of an inner sheet 11 to the outer surface of an outer sheet 12 so that the outer surface of the inner sheet 11 and the outer surface of the outer sheet 12 are fused in one after the sheets 11 and 12 are heated to soften and the outer surfaces of the sheets 11 and 12 are almost melted; and

(21) Step 603: cooling the inner sheet 11 and the outer sheet 12 to yield the emulated wood column 20.

(22) Therefore, after completing the rolling process and cooling, since the plurality of synthetic fibers 13 are along the axis of the emulated wood column 20 and is equidistantly or helically distributed radially and the outer surface of the inner sheet 11 and the outer surface of the outer sheet 12 are fused in one, the emulated wood column 20 has fiber strength far more superior to those of genuine wood columns and may be easily molded into columns with different cross-section shapes.

(23) In other embodiments of the invention, foaming promoters, dyes, or fire retardants may be added during the fabrication process of the sheets 11 and 12 according to actual needs to enhance and promote the properties and performances of the emulated woods 10 and 20 comprising the sheets 11 and 12; the foaming promoter may have a weight percentage of 0.1-10.0%, the dye may be used to adjust the wood color and wood grain of the emulated woods 10 and 20, and the fire retardant may be used to enhance the fire-retarding ability of the emulated woods 10 and 20.

(24) In summary, the emulated woods 10 and 20 fabricated according to the invention may have not only wood colors adjusted to be very close to those of genuine wood but also cross sections with wood grains with patterns like annual rings; in addition, it has been discovered by various physical-property tests of the invention that the hardness and substance of the emulated woods 10 and 20 are very close to those of teak wood, yet their weight is lighter than that of teak wood and they may undertake heavier weights. Furthermore, it has also been discovered by various physical-property tests and comparisons of the emulated woods 10 and 20 and genuine wood or other WPC materials that the emulated woods 10 and 20 of the invention have superior nonabsorbent properties and are suitable for manufacturing general outdoor products such as benches or fences, furniture or decorations, toys or blocks, landscapes or woodworking, stationary, models, etc., and have far more longer lifespans and superior strengths than common genuine wood or other WPC materials when used under high-temperature or humid outdoor environments for long terms. Moreover, since the emulated woods 10 and 20 of the invention use the aforementioned polymer materials as matrices and no other toxic solvent or chemical is added during the entire fabrication process, the emulated woods 10 and 20 may be completely recycled and reused after simple processing as like general polymer materials after being discarded when no longer usable; therefore, not only the troublesome processing of disposals and unnecessary wasting of storage spaces may be effectively avoided, the ultimate purpose of energy conservation and carbon reduction and environment resource protection may also be easily achieved.

(25) While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.