Renewable Composite Skirting Board for Cost-Effective Insulation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current baseboards, ceiling moldings, and window/door frame insulating strips are often made from plastic or wood, leading to high production costs and complexity, with perceived low quality and inadequate insulating properties.

Innovation Solution

The use of renewable raw materials, such as rice husks or natural fibers, in combination with thermoplastic elastomers for extruded skirting boards, ceiling moldings, and insulating strips, allowing for cost-effective, high-quality production with improved insulating and sealing capabilities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If traditional plastic or wood materials are used for baseboards and ceiling moldings, then production cost and complexity increase, but product quality and insulating properties deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduction cost and complexityVSAvoidproduct quality and insulating properties
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies composite materials by combining natural fibers (cellulose, wood flour, rice husk) with thermoplastic polymers to create a new material that simultaneously achieves cost-effectiveness, high quality, and improved insulating properties. The composite structure allows the natural fibers to provide insulation and aesthetic qualities while the thermoplastic binder provides structural integrity and processability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #40Composite materials

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the material composition parameters by incorporating 20-80 wt% natural fiber content in the composite material. This parameter adjustment optimizes the balance between insulating properties, mechanical strength, and production cost, resolving the contradiction between traditional materials' high cost/complexity and poor quality/performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Productivity

If renewable raw materials are used in extrusion process, then production becomes cost-effective and environmentally friendly, but manufacturing complexity may increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecost-effective production and environmental friendlinessVSAvoidmanufacturing process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex multi-step manufacturing processes with a simplified extrusion-based production method. The extrusion process continuously forms the profiled material into baseboards and ceiling moldings in one operation, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps, joining operations, and finishing processes that would increase manufacturing complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The extrusion process serves multiple functions simultaneously: it mixes the renewable raw materials with thermoplastic binder, forms the desired profile geometry, creates the insulating structure, and produces the final product in a single continuous operation. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction between cost-effective production and manufacturing complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If profiled material with natural fibers is used, then insulating and sealing properties are enhanced, but material processing difficulty may increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinsulating and sealing propertiesVSAvoidmaterial processing difficulty
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the material parameters by controlling the fiber size, distribution, and concentration within the composite. By optimizing these parameters, the material maintains enhanced insulating and sealing properties while ensuring adequate processability during extrusion and installation, resolving the contradiction between performance and ease of manufacture.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The solution results in high-quality, environmentally friendly products with enhanced insulating and sealing properties, simplified production processes, and easier waste disposal, while reducing the use of petrochemicals and promoting resource conservation.

Implementation Method 1

a component of 10 to 90%, more preferably a component of 50 to 60%, is made from a renewable raw material. The strip is produced by extrusion

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectExtrusion: Extrusion

Implementation Method 2

which has a softer material than the material of the base body, in particular a thermoplastic elastomer

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentEP3015621B1Skirting board, ceiling strip and window or doorway insulating strip and method for manufacturing such strips
Publication Date: 2020.04.01 BRAUN AUGUST
  • EP3015621B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP3015621B1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP3015621B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

A skirting board according to the invention for arrangement at the transition between a lower wall end and an adjacent floor area comprises a base body (4), in particular with a quadrilateral cross-section, e.g., a substantially rectangular or substantially parallelogram-shaped cross-section, with a front (6), a back (10), a top (8), and a bottom (12), or a base body, in particular with a substantially triangular cross-section, with a front, a back, and a bottom. The front and the top (6, 8) or the front of the base body (4) form a visible area which, in the position of the skirting board arranged at the transition between the lower wall end and the adjacent floor area, is intended to point away from the lower wall end and from the floor area.At least part of the visible area of ​​the base body (4) comprises a material of which a component, preferably a component of 10 to 90%, more preferably a component of 50 to 60%, is made from a renewable raw material.