3D Flexural Wood Surface Elements with Irregular Grain-Aligned Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing three-dimensionally flexurally deformable surface elements from wood or wood composite materials result in visible joints that detract from the natural appearance and increase the risk of damage due to crosswise cutting of wood fibers, particularly in materials with varying grain patterns like burl veneers.
Innovation Solution
The method involves introducing grooves into a workpiece with a thickness greater than the desired element, ensuring the grooves have irregular undulations and non-parallel orientations to mimic natural wood grain, using tools that adapt to wood fiber direction and hardness, and applying a transverse bond to stabilize the strips.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If narrow grooves spaced apart are introduced into the workpiece to create three-dimensionally flexurally deformable surface elements, then the productivity and manufacturing capability are improved, but the surface appearance quality deteriorates due to visible parallel joints that detract from the natural wood appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by varying the groove spacing, depth, and orientation to create irregular joint patterns that mimic natural wood grain variations. The grooves are no longer uniformly spaced or parallel, but instead follow asymmetric patterns that blend with the natural wood texture, making the joints less conspicuous while maintaining the deformability function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces curvature by forming the grooves in curved or wavy patterns rather than straight lines. This allows the joints to follow the natural grain flow of the wood, creating a more organic appearance that reduces the visual impact of the segmented structure while preserving the flexural deformability.
2Ease of manufacture
If grooves are introduced straight and parallel to one another, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability deteriorates due to increased risk of wood fiber splitting and splintering, particularly in materials with varying grain patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by adapting the groove characteristics (orientation, depth, spacing) to the local wood grain structure. The groove formation process responds to variations in wood density and grain direction, adjusting parameters locally to minimize fiber disruption and splitting risk while maintaining manufacturability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamics by making the groove formation process adaptive rather than static. The groove parameters vary dynamically along the length and width of the workpiece based on local wood properties, allowing the manufacturing process to respond to material variations and reduce damage risk in different regions.
3Ease of manufacture
If the grooves are introduced to create visible joints between wooden strips, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the aesthetic quality deteriorates due to the conspicuous appearance of parallel joints in the finished product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by replicating the natural wood grain patterns and joint variations found in solid wood pieces. The groove patterns are designed to copy the irregularities and flow of natural wood structures, making the segmented appearance blend with the expected natural variation in wood grain rather than standing out as artificial joints.
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for producing a three-dimensionally flexurally deformable surface element (3D surface element) from wood or wood composite material, a workpiece made of wood, layered wood or a composite of wood and one or more further surface materials is used, its thickness being greater, in particular at least 5% greater, than the thickness of the 3D surface element to be produced. Narrow grooves spaced apart from one another are introduced into the workpiece, wherein the groove depth is in each case greater than or equal to the thickness of the 3D surface element and less than the thickness of the workpiece. The portion of the workpiece which exceeds the thickness of the 3D surface element to be produced is then separated from the remaining 3D surface element or otherwise processed such that there is at least temporarily no solid cohesion of the areas separated by grooves and the areas of the workpiece separated by grooves are fixed to each other and/or to a support by a transverse bond prior to, during or after separation from the workpiece, wherein at least two adjacent grooves, in particular all of the grooves, are introduced into the workpiece in such a way that at least sections exhibit an irregular undulation and/or contiguous rectilinear sections extending in different directions in a plan view of the workpiece.