DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns a worktop that is particularly suited to be used on pieces of furniture, especially for kitchens, bathrooms and the like.

The present invention concerns also a method for joining slabs in such a way as to obtain said worktop.

As is known, some pieces of furniture for kitchens, bathrooms or the like are provided with a worktop that comprises slabs made of stone like, for example, granite, marble, resin-based agglomerate and similar materials.

Said slabs are generally available on the market in standard sizes.

To make a worktop for pieces of furniture these slabs are therefore cut to size and processed according to the need.

However, in some cases, the pieces of furniture are larger than the standard size of the slabs.

In this case, two or more slabs are joined by placing them adjacent to each other with the sides where thickness is measured, after interposing a layer of a bonding substance.

In particular, said bonding substance is spread mainly inside a slit obtained by bevelling the external corners of the two slabs and placing the two bevelled edges obtained in this way so that they face each other.

The known art described above poses the drawback that, once the joining operation has been completed, the bonding substance appears on the outside as a line of discontinuity between the two slabs, which affects the overall aesthetic aspect of the worktop.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a worktop made of stone whose size is larger than the standard size of the slabs available on the market, in which the joining lines between two adjacent slabs are not visible from the outside.

It is also the object of the present invention to provide a method for making said joint.

Said objects are achieved by a worktop made according to claim 1 .

Said objects are also achieved by a method for joining two slabs made of stone according to claim 8.

Further characteristics and details of the invention are described in the corresponding dependent claims.

Advantageously, the invention makes it possible to produce a worktop having any size and a surface without discontinuities.

Said objects and advantages, together with others that are mentioned below, are highlighted in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that is provided by way of example without limitation, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein:

- Figure 1 shows an axonometric view of the worktop that is the subject of the invention;

- Figure 2 shows an exploded axonometric view of the worktop shown in Figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 shows the worktop of Figure 1 in a section view carried out according to the broken section surface Ill-Ill;

- Figure 4 shows a detail of Figure 3;

- Figure 5 shows the worktop of Figure 1 in a section view carried out according to the section plane V-V.

The worktop that is the subject of the invention, particularly suited to be used on pieces of furniture for kitchens, bathrooms and the like, is indicated as a whole by the reference number 1 in Figure 1 .

Said worktop is constituted by two slabs 3, 4 made of stone, arranged side by side at the level of corresponding head surfaces 5, 6 that extend according to the thickness of the slabs 3, 4 and have mutually matching shapes.

It is evident that the invention can be extended to worktops constituted by any number of slabs, even more than two.

Preferably, the slabs 3, 4 are made of an agglomerate material, meaning any mixture of resin and a stone material like, for example, quartz, cement, marble, ceramic and similar materials.

Compared to natural stone materials, said agglomerate materials offer several advantages such as, for example, mechanical and thermal resistance, chemical resistance, ease of processing and a low cost.

A further advantage offered by said agglomerate materials derives from the fact that they are without veins and have a homogeneous surface texture that allows the two slabs 3, 4 to be placed side by side in any mutual position without considerable surface discontinuities.

It is evident, on the other hand, that in variant embodiments of the invention said slabs 3, 4 can be made of any stone material, even natural, such as granite, marble and the like.

Said slabs 3, 4 are stably connected at the level of said head surfaces 5, 6 through joining means 7, in such a way as to define a work surface 2 intended to be visible in the finished product.

In particular, said joining means 7 comprise a first bonding substance 8 interposed between the head surfaces 5, 6 of the slabs 3, 4.

The joining means 7 comprise a plurality of recesses 9 obtained in the head surface 5, 6 of each slab 3, 4, visible in detail in the exploded view of Figure 2. The number of recesses 9 is selected by the manufacturer based on the size of the slabs 3, 4 to be connected and there can be any number of recesses. In any case, the positions and shapes of the recesses 9 are such that when the two slabs 3, 4 are positioned so that they are adjacent to each other the recesses 9 of a slab 3 are in communication with the recesses 9 of the other slab 4 so as to form corresponding housings that are completely delimited according to the direction of the thickness of the slabs 3, 4, as can be observed in the section views shown in Figures from 3 to 5.

It should be noted since now that the section views shown in Figures 3 and 4 are carried out according to a broken surface Ill-Ill, shown in Figure 1 , in such a way that the upper portion and the lower portion of the slabs 3, 4 are sectioned according to respective planes that are offset with respect to each other.

The first bonding substance 8 can be confined to said housings and, therefore, within the thickness of the slabs 3, 4.

This makes it possible to avoid bevelling the external corners of the head surfaces 5, 6, as it happens in the known art previously described, thus allowing the corners to be arranged so that they are perfectly adjacent to each other.

This prevents the creation of a visible separation line constituted by the first bonding substance 8, thus achieving the object to maintain the surface continuity of the work surface 2.

Preferably, the first bonding substance 8 is an acrylic glue of a type known in the field of stone processing.

Still preferably, the colour of the first bonding substance 8 is equal to one of the colours of the work surface 2. In this way, advantageously, it is possible to reduce the visual impact of possible bubbles of first bonding substance 8 that should fill microporosities and/or small surface imperfections on the head surfaces 5, 6.

As regards the recesses 9, preferably and as can be observed in Figure 2, each one of them has an elongated shape according to a direction of development X that is perpendicular to the direction of the thickness of the slabs 3, 4.

Said configuration can be easily obtained by creating the recesses 9 by means of an abrasive disc whose rotation axis is parallel to the respective head surface 5, 6.

Preferably but not necessarily, the height of the recesses 9 according to the direction of the thickness of the slabs 3, 4 is included between one fifth and one third of the thickness of the slabs themselves.

Still preferably, the average depth of the recesses 9 is included between 0.5 and 2 times said height.

Although the proportions just indicated above are not limiting, it has been observed that they constitute a good compromise between the need for a stable joint and the need to limit the quantity of bonding substance used and the processing costs for the creation of the recesses 9.

As can be observed in Figure 5, the recesses 9 belonging to either one of the two slabs 3, 4 are arranged in such a way that they are offset with respect to the recesses 9 belonging to the other slab along the direction of development X and their lengths according to the direction of development X are such that each one of them communicates, at its two ends, with two corresponding recesses 9 of the other slab.

With the configuration described above, the coupling of the recesses 9 of the two slabs 3, 4 defines a continuous housing, in such a way that the first bonding substance 8 assumes the shape of a single seam, possibly extending over the entire width of the worktop 1 , with the advantage of increasing the resistance of the joint.

Preferably, the joining means 7 also comprise one or more elongated reference elements 11 , each one of which is arranged in said slabs 3, 4 in such a way as to cross the respective head surfaces 5, 6.

More precisely, each reference element 11 is housed in a seat that is defined by two blind holes 10, visible in Figure 2, respectively made in the two head surfaces 5, 6 of the slabs 3, 4 and arranged so that they face each other.

The reference elements 11 are stably connected to each slab 3, 4 through a second bonding substance 12 spread in said blind holes 10 that is preferably but not necessarily equal to the first bonding substance 8.

Advantageously, said reference elements 11 make it possible to reinforce the joint and, in particular, they prevent any relative movement between the two slabs 3, 4 both during the making of the joint and afterwards.

Still advantageously, said reference elements 11 increase the bending strength of the joint.

Preferably, each reference element 11 has a rough surface, which offers the advantage of enhancing the grip of the bonding substance.

Even more preferably, each reference element 11 is a threaded bar that offers the advantage of being easily available on the market and of having a rough surface suitable for the gripping function mentioned above.

Preferably, the joining means 7 comprise also one or more grooves 13, each one of which is obtained on the surface opposite the work surface 2 of the worktop 1 and extends over both of the slabs 3, 4 through the corresponding head surfaces 5, 6.

Each groove 13 is filled with a third bonding substance 15, preferably but not necessarily equal to the first two bonding substances 8, 12, in which a corresponding elongated reinforcing element 14 is buried.

Advantageously, said reinforcing element 14 further increases the mechanical resistance of the joint.

Preferably, the reference elements 11 and the reinforcing elements 14 are made of a metallic material or another material having equivalent resistance. Regarding the head surfaces 5 and 6, each one of them preferably forms a right angle with the work surface 2.

Advantageously, the creation of said right angle is possible using the machine tools that are generally used for processing stone slabs.

Furthermore, the right angle makes it possible to press the two slabs 3, 4 more effectively against each other while making the joint, in order to guarantee the best possible contact between the slabs and, finally, limit the formation of interfaces of first bonding substance 8 that may give origin to surface discontinuity lines.

It is also evident that in variant embodiments of the invention, for example in the case where the two slabs 3, 4 must be connected so as to form a corner, one or both of the head surfaces 5, 6 can form an angle different from a right angle with the work surface 2.

In this case, special shaped dies that allow the two slabs 3, 4 to be effectively pressed against each other can however be made.

In practice, the joint between the two slabs 3, 4 described above is obtained by first making the recesses 9 and, where planned, the blind holes 10 in the head surfaces 5, 6 of the slabs 3, 4.

Preferably, each head surface 5, 6 is polished, with the advantage of increasing coupling precision between the two slabs 3, 4, so that they match each other perfectly.

Furthermore, preferably, each head surface 5, 6 is processed in such a way as to create a sharp edge 5a, 6a at the level of the work surface 2.

Advantageously, said sharp edge 5a, 6a further enhances coupling precision between the two slabs 3, 4 at the level of the work surface 2, thus improving the aesthetic result that can be obtained.

Following said processing of the head surfaces 5, 6, the first bonding substance 8 is deposited in the recesses 9 in a quantity sufficient to fill them when the slabs have been placed side by side.

If necessary, if there are reference elements 11 , these are inserted in the blind holes 10 together with the second bonding substance 12.

Successively, the slabs 3, 4 are arranged with the corresponding head surfaces 5, 6 mutually in contact with each other and the solidification of the first bonding substance 8 is awaited.

Said positioning operation is preferably carried out by pressing the slabs 3, 4 against each other, in such a way that the respective head surfaces 5, 6 match each other perfectly and that any excess of bonding substance 8, 12 is squeezed outwards, beyond the surface of the slabs 3, 4, from where it can successively be removed.

Preferably, once the first bonding substance 8 has solidified, the work surface

2 obtained in this way is subjected to a polishing operation, especially at the level of the joint.

Advantageously, said polishing operation eliminates any roughness at the level of the joint, to further advantage of the final aesthetic aspect of the joint.

According to the explanation provided above, it can be understood that the worktop described above, as well as the corresponding method suited to obtain it, achieve the object of the invention.

In particular, the presence of the recesses obtained on the head surfaces of the two slabs avoids the need to spread the bonding substance so that it can be seen, giving the worktop a continuous aspect also at the level of the joint. Further embodiments of the invention, although neither described herein nor illustrated in the drawings, must all be considered protected by the present patent, provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims.