Abstract
A method for producing a planar resilient composite material which has a carrier layer of a textile material and a cover layer of wood veneer which is connected to the carrier layer. A groove structure is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer via laser engraving. The structure to be engraved is established and imported into a control apparatus of a laser engraving device, the composite material is placed on a worktable, and a laser head connected to the control apparatus is activated so as to engrave the structure in the wood veneer of the cover layer. At least two laser heads of the laser engraving device are activated so as to, via the laser beam of a respective laser head, engrave the structure simultaneously in adjacent regions of the wood veneer of the cover layer of the composite material that are assigned to a respective laser head.
Claims
1. A method for producing a planar resilient composite material that has a carrier layer of a resilient material, in particular in the form of a textile material, and a cover layer of wood veneer which is connected to the carrier layer and is more rigid in comparison to the carrier layer, wherein a structure configured in a form of a plurality of grooves is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer via laser engraving, so as to increase a resilience of the wood veneer of the cover layer, the method comprising: establishing a structure to be engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer; importing the structure into a control apparatus of a laser engraving device specified in programming terms; arranging the composite material on a worktable of the laser engraving device such that the wood veneer of the cover layer of the composite material is located on a side facing away from the worktable; activating at least one laser head of the laser engraving device that is connected to the control apparatus; and engraving the structure in the wood veneer of the cover layer of the composite material via the laser beam generated by the laser head, wherein at least two laser heads of the laser engraving device that are connected to the control apparatus are activated so as to, via the laser beam of a respective laser head, engrave the structure substantially simultaneously in adjacent regions of the wood veneer of the cover layer of the composite material that are assigned to a respective laser head, wherein the laser heads are controlled such that in a first overlapping portion of the adjacent regions of the composite material the structure is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer randomly in part by the laser beam of the one laser head and in part by the laser beam of the other laser head.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the structure is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer in the form of grooves, which at least in part extend between two adjacent regions of the composite material that are assigned to a respective laser head, wherein the initial points and/or final points of the grooves generated by the laser beam of the one laser head and the final points and/or initial points of the grooves generated by the laser beam of the other laser head in the first overlapping portion are randomly established.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the structure engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer in the form of a plurality of grooves is engraved such that the carrier layer remains substantially intact, and wherein the wood veneer of the cover layer is at least in part or substantially completely cut through.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the worktable of the laser engraving device with the composite material is displaced past the laser heads in a substantially continuous or semi-continuous manner so as to engrave the structure successively in adjacent regions of the wood veneer of the cover layer, and wherein the displacement direction of the worktable is chosen so as to be substantially parallel to the direction of extent of the first overlapping portion between the laser heads.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the displacement of the worktable is synchronized with the laser heads in that a drive of the worktable that is connected to the control apparatus of the laser heads displaces the worktable as a function of the processing state of the structure.
6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the worktable comprises: a slide that is adapted to receive the composite material and is driven by a motorized drive and is guided past the laser heads along a guide (201); or a belt conveyor, in particular in the form of a revolving carrier belt, which is adapted to receive the composite material and is driven by a motorized drive and is guided past the laser heads; or a roller track that has a plurality of rolls or rollers disposed in parallel and is adapted to receive the composite material, at least some of the rolls or rollers being rotationally driven by a motorized drive so as to guide the composite material past the laser heads.
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein a respective laser head is controlled in such a manner that, in a second overlapping portion, extending substantially perpendicularly to the displacement direction of the worktable of adjacent regions of the composite material that are in each case assigned to the same laser head, the structure is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer by the laser beam of the respective laser head randomly in part before a displacement step of the worktable and in part after a displacement step of the worktable.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the structure is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer in the form of grooves which at least in part extend between two adjacent regions of the composite material that are in each case assigned to the same laser head, wherein initial points and/or final points of the grooves generated by the laser beam of the respective laser head before a displacement step of the worktable, and the final points and/or initial points of the grooves generated by the laser beam of the respective laser head after a displacement step of the worktable in the second overlapping portion are randomly established.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the composite material, at least while the structure is being engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer, is suctioned to the worktable.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laser engraving machine has at least two stationary galvanometric laser heads that have at least one mirror and/or lens connected to the control apparatus, wherein the laser heads via the control apparatus are controlled such that the mirrors and/or lenses are displaced in a manner corresponding to the structure to be engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laser heads are disposed at a spacing of between 10 cm and 150 cm, between 30 cm and 130 cm, or between 50 cm and 110 cm from the surface of the wood veneer of the cover layer of the composite material.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wood veneer of the cover layer after laser engraving is provided with a lacquer layer.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:
[0030] FIG. 1a shows a schematic perspective view of a carrier layer and cover layer during prefabrication of a blank of the composite material, the carrier layer and cover layer forming the constituent parts of a composite material according to the invention;
[0031] FIG. 1b shows a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a galvanometric laser head of a laser engraving device according to FIGS. 2 to 6 during engraving of a structure formed by a plurality of grooves in the cover layer of the composite material according to FIG. 1a;
[0032] FIG. 1c shows a schematic perspective view of an example of the resilient composite material after laser engraving according to FIG. 1b;
[0033] FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of an example of a laser engraving device suitable for carrying out a method according to the invention;
[0034] FIG. 3 shows a schematic frontal view of the laser engraving device according to FIG. 2;
[0035] FIG. 4 shows a schematic lateral view of the laser engraving device according to FIGS. 2 and 3;
[0036] FIG. 5 shows a schematic view from above of the laser engraving device according to FIGS. 2 to 4;
[0037] FIG. 6 shows a schematic perspective detailed view of two galvanometric laser heads of the laser engraving device according to FIGS. 2 to 5 during simultaneous engraving of a structure formed from a plurality of grooves in the cover layer of the composite material;
[0038] FIG. 7 shows a schematic view from above of the wood veneer of the cover layer of a composite material, which wood veneer has been provided with a structure formed from a plurality of grooves by means of laser engraving, however without overlapping portions having been provided between the different regions processed by the respective laser heads; and
[0039] FIG. 8 shows a schematic view from above of four exemplary grooves of the structure engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer by means of laser engraving using the laser engraving device according to FIGS. 2 to 6, which grooves extend beyond a first overlapping portion between two regions of the composite material generated by different laser heads of the laser engraving device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0040] A situation during the prefabrication of a blank of a planar composite material which in its entirety is provided with the reference sign 10 is reproduced in FIG. 1a. The composite material 10 comprises a carrier layer 12 of a resilient material, such as a textile material, and a cover layer 11 of a decorative wood veneer, which is more rigid in comparison to the latter. In order to prefabricate the blank of the composite material 10, the carrier layer 12 is connected to the cover layer 11, which can take place, for example, by means of an adhesive layer 13 disposed between the carrier layer 12 and the cover layer 11.
[0041] Schematically reproduced in FIG. 1b is an embodiment of one of the galvanometric laser heads 18 of a laser engraving device which is explained in more detail further below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6, which laser head 18 serves for engraving a structure 26 formed from a plurality of grooves in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 of the blank of the composite material 10 according to FIG. 1a, so as to increase the resilience of the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 and to impart the latter an aesthetically high-quality overall appeal. The laser head 18 in the present case is a galvanometric laser head 18 which is held so as to be stationary and which has a mirror 19 which is largely freely displaceable in the three-dimensional space so as to deflect the generated laser beam in the desired direction. The laser head 18, including a drive of its mirror 19, is operatively connected to a control apparatus of the laser engraving device (cf. FIGS. 2 to 6), so as to, by means of the control apparatus, be able to control the laser head 18 equipped with the displaceable mirror 19 in programming terms in such a manner that the mirror 19 is displaced in a manner corresponding to the structure 26 to be engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11. Prior thereto, the respective desired structure 26 herein has been established by means of a suitable CAD program and imported into the control apparatus, for example.
[0042] FIG. 1c shows the finished planar composite material 10 which is henceforth very resilient, similar to known leather or textile materials, once the structure 26, which in the present case extends substantially uniformly across practically the entire area of the cover layer 11, has been engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10 by means of laser engraving.
[0043] An embodiment of a laser engraving device, which in its entirety is provided with the reference sign 200 and in terms of programming is specified to automatically carry out the method according to the invention for producing the planar resilient composite material 10 according to FIG. 1c, is schematically reproduced in FIGS. 2 to 6. The laser engraving device 200 comprises a worktable 202 which in the present case is designed substantially in the manner of a slide and which is displaceable, in particularly approximately horizontally, in a controlled manner in the direction of the arrow V along a guide 201, in particular in the form of a linear guide, which worktable 202 serves for receiving an in particular relatively large-format, and for example substantially web-shaped, composite material to be processed, according to FIG. 1a, and is able to successively feed the composite material 10 to a laser processing region 203, on the one hand, and after the retrieval of a completely processed composite material according to FIG. 1c, is able to be displaced back in the opposite direction, on the other hand, so as to engrave a multiplicity of composite materials in a largely continuous or semi-continuous manner, and to enable an efficient large-scale production in the process. The surface of the worktable 202, which serves for receiving the composite material 10, can preferably be connected to a negative pressure generator so as to press the composite material 10 against the worktable during laser engraving and to ensure in this way an exact, consistent and reproducible alignment of the composite material in the laser processing region 203. A drive of the worktable 202 is connected to a control apparatus of the laser engraving device 200 and comprises a central data processing unit which in the present case is equipped with an input apparatus 204 so as enter and/or select a desired structure to be engraved in the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10, a desired processing program, etc. Moreover, the laser engraving device comprises a plurality ofhere twogalvanometric laser heads 183a, 183b which are likewise connected to the control apparatus and are disposed so as to be stationary above the laser processing region 203 but are optionally height adjustable, and which are disposed at a mutual spacing disposed perpendicularly to the displacement direction V of the worktable 202, and in terms of construction correspond to that according to FIG. 1. For the sake of completeness it is however to be pointed out that the laser heads 183a, 183b do not necessarily have to be disposed perpendicularly to the displacement direction V of the worktable 202, but may also be disposed offset in relation to the latter, for example.
[0044] As can be derived in particular from FIG. 6, the laser heads 183a, 183b are disposed, for example, at a spacing of approximately 75 cm from the worktable 202, or the composite material 10 positioned thereon, respectively, and have the purpose of engraving the structure 26 (cf. FIG. 1c) simultaneously in adjacent regions B1, B2 of the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10 that are assigned to the respective working region 182a, 182b of a respective laser head 183a, 183b by means of a respective laser beam 181a, 181b, which is deflectable by the displacement of the mirrors 19 of the laser heads 183a, 183b in a controlled manner in programming terms, wherein the laser heads 183a, 183b in programming terms are controllable according to the invention in such a manner that in a first overlapping portion U1 of the adjacent regions B1, B2 of the composite material 10 the structure 26 is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 randomly in part by the laser beam 181a, 181b of the one laser head 183a, 183b and in part by the laser beam 181b, 181a of the other laser head 183b, 183a. According to the invention, the working regions 182a, 182b of the laser heads 183a, 183b, or the regions B1, B2 in which the structure 26 is engraved in the cover layer 11, are thus not stationary but overlap in the first overlapping region U1, in which parts of the structure 26 are engraved in the cover layer randomly by the laser beam 181a, 181b of the one or the other laser head 183a, 183b, so as to ensure, in particular in the case of a groove of the structure 26 that extends from the working region 182a of the one laser head 183a, or from the one region B1 of the cover layer 11, into the working region 182b of the other laser head 183b, or into the other region B2 of the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10, respectively, that a smooth, invisible transition which does not locally impair the material characteristics of the finished laser-engraved composite body 10, in particular not the resilience thereof, is generated.
[0045] In a similar manner, the laser heads 183a, 183b in programming terms are preferably controllable in such a manner that in a second overlapping portion U2 (cf. FIG. 7), extending substantially perpendicularly to the displacement direction V of the worktable 202 when the latter is incrementally displaced in the direction of the arrow V for the successive processing of the composite material 10, of adjacent regions of the composite material 10 that are in each case assigned to the same laser head 183a, 183b, the structure 26 is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 by the laser beam 181a, 181b of the respective laser head 183a, 183b randomly in part before a displacement step of the worktable 202, and in part after a displacement step of the worktable 202. The working regions 182a, 182b of a respective laser head which are mutually contiguous in the displacement direction V of the worktable 202, or the regions B1, B2 which are mutually contiguous in the displacement direction V of the worktable 202, in which the structure 26 is engraved in the cover layer 11 are thus likewise preferably not stationary but overlap in the second overlapping portion U2 in which parts of the structure 26 are engraved in the cover layer by the laser beam 181a, 181b of the respective laser head 183a, 183b randomly before or after a respective displacement step of the worktable 202, so as to ensure that a smooth, invisible transition which does not impair the material characteristics of the finished laser-engraved composite body 10, such as in particular the resilience thereof, is generated in particular also in a groove of the structure 26 that extends beyond at least two displacement steps of the worktable 202.
[0046] Illustrated in FIG. 7 is a schematic view from above of a structure 250 of the wood veneer of a cover layer 11 of the composite material 10, which structure 250 has been generated by means of laser engraving while using two laser heads while incrementally displacing V a worktable, but without overlapping portions U1, U2 having been provided between the different regions 251a, 251b, 251c, 251d processed by the respective laser heads. As can be seen from FIG. 7, in the case of such discrete working regions of a respective laser head, visible transitions, or irregularities 252a, 252b, 252c, 252d of the engraved structure 250 can be created between the adjacent regions 251a, 251c and 251b, 251d which have been processed by different laser heads, as well as between the adjacent regions 251a, 251b and 251c, 251d which have in each case been processed by the same laser head but at different displacement positions of the worktable, these transitions or irregularities to be prevented according to the invention.
[0047] Illustrated in FIG. 8 is a view from above of four exemplary grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d of the structure 260 engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10, which exemplary grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d extend, for example, beyond a first overlapping portion U1 between two regions B1, B2 of the composite material 10 generated by different laser heads 183a, 183b of the laser engraving device 200 according to FIGS. 2 to 6. At least parts of the structure 260 herein have thus been engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 in the form of grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d that extend at least in part between two adjacent regions B1, B2 of the composite material 10 that are assigned to a respective laser head 183a, 183b, wherein the initial points and/or final points 261, 262, 263, 264 of the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d generated by means of the laser beam 181a, 181b of the one laser head 183a, 183b, and the final points and/or initial points 261, 262, 263, 264 of the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d generated by means of the laser beam 181b, 181a of the other laser head 183b, 183a in the first overlapping portion U1 have been randomly established, i.e. the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d do not begin or end at the border of a respective discrete working region of a respective laser head 183a, 183b, as is the case in FIG. 7, but the initial points and/or final points 261, 262, 263, 264 of the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d within the first overlapping region U1 have been established randomly and consequently in a mutually offset manner so as to blur the transition between the working regions 182a, 182b of the laser heads 183a, 183b (cf. also FIG. 6).
[0048] In an analogous manner, it can be expediently be provided that the structure 260 is engraved in the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 in the form of grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d that extend at least in part between two adjacent regions B1, B2 of the composite material 10 that are in each case assigned to the same laser head 183a, 183b, wherein the initial points and/or final points 261, 262, 263, 264 of the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d generated by means of the laser beam 181a, 181b of the respective laser head 183a, 183b before a displacement step of the worktable 202, and the final points and/or initial points 261, 262, 263, 264 of the grooves 265a, 265b, 265c, 265d generated by means of the laser beam 181a, 181b of the respective laser head 183a, 183b after a displacement step of the worktable 202 in the second overlapping portion U2 are randomly established.
[0049] If desired, it can finally also be provided that the wood veneer of the cover layer 11 of the composite material 10 after the above-described operative step of laser engraving is provided with a lacquer layer, which can be performed either manually or in particular likewise in an automated manner in that the completely engraved composite bodies 10, e.g. by means of the worktable 202, are fed piece-by-piece or portion-by-portion to a painting apparatus disposed downstream of the laser processing region 203 of the laser engraving device 200.
[0050] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
