Wood Armrest Veneer Structure Without Heat Bending Damage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional armrests either have a low-quality appearance due to damage from heating veneer layers or consume excessive higher-quality wood, leading to high production costs and environmental concerns.
Innovation Solution
An armrest design featuring a lower-quality wood core with a contoured top surface and lateral veneer layers made from higher-quality wood, where the top veneer layer is bent without heating, using longitudinal grooves to conform to the core, reducing material usage and maintaining wood quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the veneer layer is heated to bend it to follow the contour of the armrest body, then the veneer layer can be shaped to match the armrest body contour, but the grain, gloss and pores of the veneer layer are destroyed, affecting the outer appearance
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces grooves into the veneer layer before bending to pre-prepare the structure for shaping. These grooves allow the veneer to be bent and contoured without requiring heating, thus achieving the desired shape while preserving the surface quality. The grooves are created in advance to facilitate the bending process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical structure of the veneer by introducing grooves, which modifies its flexibility and bending characteristics. This structural parameter change allows the veneer to conform to the armrest contour without thermal treatment, avoiding damage to the grain, gloss and pores.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a thick top veneer layer is used to cover the contoured armrest body, then a high quality wood appearance is achieved, but a large amount of higher-quality wood material is consumed, increasing production cost and environmental impact
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies veneer only where necessary to achieve the desired appearance. By contouring the armrest body itself and using grooves to facilitate bending, the veneer can be applied as a thin layer that follows the contours, rather than requiring thick coverage. This localized application maintains appearance quality while minimizing material consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates the three-dimensional contour through the armrest body structure itself, and then applies a thin veneer layer that copies or follows this contour. The grooves enable the veneer to conform to the shape without requiring thick material, achieving the appearance of high-quality wood while using minimal material.
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 allows for a cost-effective, environmentally friendly armrest with a high-quality wood appearance by minimizing the use of expensive materials and avoiding damage to the veneer layers, thus reducing production costs and environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
The top veneer layer (4) is made of a single piece of veneer that is bent without heating to follow the contour of the top surface (32) of the core body (3)
Implementation Method 2
The lower-quality wood material is selected from the group consisting of rubber wood, pinewood, cedar wood, defective high quality wood, and high density fiber material
Data Source
AI summary
An armrest includes a longitudinal core body having a substantially planar bottom surface, a non-planar top surface, and two opposite lateral surfaces. The non-planar top surface rises upwardly from the lateral surfaces to a middle of the top surface of the core body. A top veneer layer has a top surface, and a bottom connecting surface adhered to the top surface of the core body. Each of the top and bottom connecting surfaces of the top veneer layer has substantially the same outline as that of the top surface of the core body. Two lateral veneer layers have top end faces connected to the bottom connecting surface of the top veneer layer, and inner lateral surfaces adhered respectively to the lateral surfaces of the core body.