DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a method for producing decorated furniture, in particular furniture with decorated doors or a decorated bedside-table top.

Most furniture, be it of the household or other type, derives its appeal not only from a pleasing form, but also often from interesting decorative effects. Inlays and lacquering, chasing, ornaments or pompons are some solutions generally used to embellish furniture.

Recently in the market, in particular in bedroom or bathroom furniture, the solution of decorating the entire surface of a door with images has appeared. This is achieved either by riveting onto the door a decorated sheet of plexiglass or using a previously decorated sheet of ennobled material which is then fitted onto the door. By means of rotary presses the designs of the wood (cherry, beech, etc.) or other are transferred onto white paper or laminate, which are thus impressed with the design and are then impregnated in order to fix the inks. Finally, the paper or laminate is applied onto the door. Also used are doors having thereon images different from the wood and/ or portions of a larger image which, as a result of closing of the doors, form the larger image with a mosaic effect.

At present, however, the purchaser is only able to choose from among furniture with standardised images (normally printed on laminate supports) which, despite being numerous, are unable to satisfy fully customers, especially in the case where, as often happens, they require a more personalised product. Moreover, the dimensions of an image, which are the same as those of a door, are bound by the dimensions of the latter.

The object of the present invention is to obtain an improved method for the production of decorated furniture.

This object is achieved with a method for producing decorated furniture comprising the steps of:

- isolating at least one flat surface of the furniture;

- arranging said at least one flat surface in a plotter;

- printing a desired image on the at least one flat surface by means of the plotter. These and further advantages will emerge more clearly from the following description of the method according to the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a door produced according to the known art;

Figure 2 shows a first door produced according to the method of the invention;

Figure 3 shows a second door produced according to the method of the invention. With reference to Figure 1, it shows a known door 10 on which an image 20 is superimposed. It is apparent that said image 20 covers entirely the surface of the door 10.

Figure 2 shows a door 30 produced according to the method of the invention where an image 40 covers it only partially. Figures 3 shows doors 50, 51 produced according to the method of the invention. The doors 50, 51 are arranged closed and an image 60 covers a central band thereof. As can be seen, the image 60 is divided into two smaller images 64, 66 which are situated respectively on the door 50, 51. The two images 64, 66 form the image 60.

The method according to the invention is composed of the following steps: i) a flat member of furniture is taken, said member consisting for example of a door of a piece of furniture; it) said memberis arranged in a plotter; iii) the desired image is printed on the flat member by means of the plotter; iv) the flat member is painted with transparent paint; v) the paint is dried so as to fix it.

In step i) conveniently it is possible to use, for example, chipboard lined with ennobled paper or an MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) panel or PVC-covered chipboard or a sheet of laminate. It is possible to use a commercial panel available already lined. During step it) conveniently it is possible to use an industrial ink jet plotter (for example a Durst Rho plotter).

During step iii) it is possible to decide, at any moment and with maximum flexibility, what type of image to form on the flat surface of the flat member. In particular there are no constraints, either as regards the dimensions of the image (cf Fig. 2), which may be of any size within the area of the flat member, or as regards the type of image. For example, it is possible to split up an image into several parts and form each part on a different flat member (cf. Fig. 3). Moreover it is possible to produce furniture in which the images applied are even proposed by the client who, for example, is able to provide them in a convenient digital format or any other means

which can be read by the plotter. It is therefore obvious how it is possible to obtain flat members as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3. Moreover it is clear that printing may be performed on any type of support and with the invention there is no longer the need to use the white paper of the known art, it being possible to form images on backgrounds of any colour.

Step iv) (and consequently step v)) is not necessary, but has the advantage of protecting the image from scratches and dust. It is possible to use spray painting or also roller painting. In order to optimize the process it is possible to paint the flat member only where the image is situated. Moreover, an advantageous variant is to use water-paint which has a better resistance and is not harmful. It is also possible to use powder-paint, for example for flat members of metal furniture.

Step v) is preferably performed at a temperature of 30-40° and for a duration of 3-4 days. It is possible to reduce the temperature by increasing the number of material rest days or vice versa, making sure that a high temperature does not damage the paint or the image.

The method according to the invention may also be used to obtain decorated flat members as shown in Fig. 1. In this case the method is composed of the following steps: i-a) at least one flat member of furniture is taken, said member forming for example a door of the furniture; ii-a) the at least one flat member is sanded; iii-a) the at least one flat member is arranged in a plotter; iv-a) a desired image with dimensions equal to those of the door is printed on the at least one flat surface of the flat member by means of the plotter; v-a) the at least one flat member is painted with transparent paint; vi-a) the paint is dried so as to fix it.

In this case also the same comments made for steps i), ii), iii), iv) and v) are applicable to steps i-a), iii-a), iv-a), v-a) and vi-a), respectively.

In step i-a) conveniently it is possible to use a chipboard or MDF panel lined with a sheet of PVC.

In fact by increasing the area of the image formed on the flat surface of the flat member, the danger of damaging the image is much greater. Consequently this solution ensures a greater protection against scratching and increases the pencil hardness, avoiding the need to immerse the flat surface in special resins as instead

occurs in the case where the flat surface is a laminate.

Step ii-a), which is not necessary, may advantageously be performed using a sanding machine with at least two belts with a longitudinal or transverse grain. This allows greater adhesion of the colours during the printing step.

The method thus described and its obvious variants for a person skilled in the art are included within the scope of protection of the following claims, as well as also the furniture directly decorated with the said method.

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