The present invention relates to a method for providing samples of materials with wood effect and to a sample thus obtained.

Faced panels, used extensively to provide furniture and reproducing the aesthetic effect of products veneered with natural essences, are known in the field of interior decoration.

These panels are constituted by a core made of wooden material, such as particleboard, plywood, OSB, MDF or the like, which is covered on its main faces by sheets of paper impregnated with melamine resin and appropriately edged along the perimeter.

The step of adhesion of the sheets to the core occurs by hot pressing with molds that are shaped appropriately to imprint on the obtained panel a surface pattern that reproduces the grain of the desired wood essence.

These panels can be provided with a plurality of aesthetic finishes and colors and usually have a thickness comprised between 18 mm and 22 mm.

Therefore, furniture manufacturers that use these faced panels have to provide samplers that allow operators in the field to show their customers the several types of aesthetic finish with which their articles can be provided.

A first way of manufacturing these samplers consists in creating cases in which samples of reduced size of the several faced panels used are gathered.

These samplers are not devoid of drawbacks, which include the fact that the weight and thickness of the samples thus obtained make them rather bulky and heavy and therefore scarcely practical and handy for users.

This drawback is even more evident if one considers that the samplers are different for the several product lines and for the several manufacturers of furniture; therefore several samplers have to be placed and managed in a showroom. Moreover, this type of sampler entails the use of considerable quantities of faced panels and accordingly is rather expensive to provide.

As an alternative, it is known to provide samplers with samples obtained from photographs and printing of the three-dimensional effect of the faced panel on paper.

The samples thus obtained can be managed easily thanks to their reduced space occupation and weight, but are scarcely faithful to the aesthetic effect of the original panels and are sensitive to light variations.

The aim of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks noted above of the background ait, by devising a method for providing samples of materials with wood effect that allows to obtain samples that are absolutely faithful to the original faced panels in terms of aesthetic finish but at the same time have a small space occupation and a reduced weight.

Within this technical aim, an object of the present invention is to allow to provide samples that are easy to handle, practical to use and easy to manage for showroom operators.

A further object of the present invention is to be providable with the aid of a small number of machines and to not require long and complex manufacturing steps.

Another object of the present invention is to contain the use of materials and therefore have low manufacturing costs.

Another object of the present invention is to have a structure that is simple, relatively easy to provide in practice, safe in use, effective in operation, and relatively low in cost.

This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by the present method for providing samples of materials with wood effect, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

- providing a faced panel that comprises a substantially slab-like core made of wooden material the main faces of which are associated with respective aesthetic covering sheets;

- cutting said faced panel along a plane that is substantially parallel to its main plane of arrangement so as to obtain a lamina that comprises one of said covering sheets;

- making said lamina adhere to a supporting layer, keeping exposed said covering sheet so as to obtain a multilayer blank;

- cutting from said blank at least one sample the exposed surface of which is defined by a portion of said covering sheet.

This aim and these objects are further achieved by the present sample of material with wood effect, characterized in that it comprises an exposed face constituted by a portion of an aesthetic covering sheet that is cut from a faced panel and is associated so as to adhere to a supporting layer by the interposition of adhesive material.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the detailed description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment, of a method for providing samples of materials with wood effect and of a sample thus obtained, illustrated by way of nonlimiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a faced panel provided for the execution of a method for providing samples of materials with wood effect, according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the step of cutting for removing the lamina comprising an aesthetic covering sheet of the method according to the invention;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the step of adhesion of the lamina to the supporting layer so as to obtain a blank in the method according to the invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the step of sectioning a sample from the blank obtained from the method according to the invention;

Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a sampler obtained with samples according to the invention.

With reference to the figures, the numeral 1 generally designates a sample of material with wood effect.

The sample 1 can be obtained starting from a conventional faced panel 2, of the type comprising a substantially slab-like core 3 made of wooden material and the mutually opposite main faces associated with respective aesthetic covering sheets 4, by means of the following provision method.

The core 3 can be constituted by particleboard or the like and the sheets 4 are usually made of paper impregnated with melamine resin.

The panel 2 is then cut along a plane that is substantially parallel to its main plane of arrangement so as to obtain a lamina 5 that comprises one of the sheets 4 and optionally a core portion 3. The lamina 5 preferably has a thickness comprised between 0,9 mm and 1.2 mm.

The lamina 5 is then made to adhere to a supporting layer 6, keeping the sheet 4 exposed so as to obtain a multilayer blank 7.

The supporting layer 6 is preferably constituted by a plastic lamination or other material with suitable flexural stiffness and capable of contrasting the yield tensions that have arisen in the lamina 5 due to the cutting process.

The supporting layer 6 substantially has a thickness comprised between 0.6 mm and 0.8 mm.

This adhesion step substantially consists in interposing between the supporting layer 6 and the lamina 5 an adhesive material 8 and performing at least one compression step. Preferably, a first compression step in a calendering unit and a second compression step in a press are performed.

The adhesive material 8 can be constituted for example by vinyl glue or acrylic double adhesive tape.

Finally, the blank 7 is cut so as to obtain at least one sample 1 the exposed surface of which is constituted by a portion 4' of the sheet 4. In this manner, the exposed surface of the sample 1 has the original surface finish and coloring of the faced panel 2 but has a much smaller space occupation and a much lower weight. Furthermore, a plurality of samples 1 can be obtained from one faced panel 2, recovering both sheets 4 on the faces of such panel, with a considerable saving of material and reduction in cost.

The sample 1 therefore has a thickness preferably comprised between 1.5 mm and 2 mm.

According to the invention, it is possible to provide samplers 10, i.e., collections of samples 1 obtained from different types of faced panel 2, that have a small space occupation and a reduced weight.

For example, Figure 5 shows a sampler 10 constituted by a case 1 1 in which several samples 1 are accommodated.

In practice it has been found that the invention described achieves the intended aim and objects, and in particular the fact is stressed that the method according to the invention allows to obtain samples that have a small space occupation and a reduced weight but have an aesthetic effect that is absolutely faithful to the original panels.

Moreover, the samples according to the invention are practical to use and easy to manage for operators in the field.

Not least, the invention allows to reduce the use of materials and therefore the production costs of samplers.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements without thereby abandoning the protective scope of the appended claims. The disclosures in Italian Patent Application no. MO2015A000072 ( 102015902341530), from which this application claims priority, are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.