MADE OF WOOD

The present invention refers to a process for producing basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood, in addition to the related basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood produced through such process.

No basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood are currently known in the art, due to practical and objective difficulties encountered when working such material in order to be able to use it in applications where there is water, which can therefore seep and damage this type of product.

Moreover, so far, the necessary forces to guarantee the cohesion of listels composing such types of products were such as to keep a mass production unfeasible, such production being performed through automated wood-working machinery, therefore not limited to typical artisan working, which are completely manual.

Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, by providing a simple, efficient and cheap process for producing basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood, that allows a complete and automated mass production of the end product, guaranteeing its stability and efficiency in time.

A further object of the present invention is providing basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood produced through such process, that are compact, stable and efficient in time, without water seepage problems.

Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood as described above, which can be easily installed in any position and configuration, due to the solutions and the improvements that wood can allow for such operation.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a process for producing basins, shower plates and sanitary elements made of wood as claimed in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

It is evident that all enclosed claims are an integral part of the present description.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the starting semi-finished product for making the products of the invention;

- Figure 2 is a front view of a basin made through the inventive process;

- Figure 3 is a perspective view of a rectangular shower plate made through the inventive process ;

- Figure 4 is a perspective view of a circular shower plate that is being produced through the inventive process, starting from a rectangular shower plate;

- Figure 5 is a partially sectioned view of an installation position of a shower plate according to the invention; - Figure 6 is a front view of a possible embodiment of a curtain-type shower structure on a circular shower plate fastened to the ground; and

- Figure 7 is a side sectional view of a detail of the positioning of the shower plate of Figure 6.

With reference to the Figures, preferred embodiments of the process and the products of the present invention are shown and described. It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) could be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention, as appears from the enclosed claims.

The invention deals first of all with a process for producing basins 1, shower plates 3, 3' and sanitary elements (not shown) made of wood, preferably made of solid wood, whose peculiarity is using an assembling technique that starts from a semi-finished product composed of a plurality of small tables 5 put together and placed in a vertical position with respect to their resting (elongated greater surface 7 shown in Figure

Such process substantially comprises the steps providing a plurality of small tables 5 made of wood substantially shaped as an elongated parallelepiped;

arranging the small tables 5 in a vertical position with respect to their greater surface 7, a small table 5 flanked to another with their respective greater surfaces 7 in contact ;

mutually gluing the small tables 5;

machining through machinery the parallelepiped plenum obtained from gluing the small tables 5, obtaining the final shape of the desired basin 1, the shower plate 3, 3' or the sanitary elements as semi-finished product;

manually or automatically polishing the semifinished product;

manually or automatically treating the polished product with protecting oils. The above described process can further comprise the step of providing the polished product with un fastening system 11, 13, 15, 18, 26. Such fastening system can be composed, for example when manufacturing a basin 1 (Figure 2) , of a small metallic plate 11 equipped with a plurality of holes 15 inside which bushes (for example made of brass) 13 are screwed, adapted to engage objects on which the basin 1 or sanitary element in general has to be installed, in order to guarantee a better operating flexibility thereof.

Alternatively, the fastening system, when manufacturing a shower plate 3, 3' (Figure 5), can be composed of a steel drip-stone carrier flange 18 fastened with small blocks to the wall 20.

The peculiarity of providing the small tables 5 in a vertical position makes it possible to afterwards perform the subsequent gluing, machining (for example through numerically-controlled machinery) , polishing and protectively treating steps, that otherwise would not be possible in other starting positions of the same tables 5.

As regards the further realisation features of the inventive process, they depend on the end product to be made. In particular, for a basin 1 the following (preferred but obviously not limiting) features are obtained:

• Wood humidity range: 10% / 14%

• Small table thickness range: 30mm / 50mm

· Small table number range: 20 / 9

• Type of used glues: vinyl-based, water-resistant, D3

• Gluing pressure: 80 kg/cm2

• Fastening systems for installation: Small table thickness range: 30mm / 50mm

• Working of the wood "block" obtained after gluing: working of the parallelepiped plenum obtained after gluing through numerically controlled machinery

· Installation template: 3-mm plywood template provided with basin for an easy installation.

Instead, should it be necessary to make a quadrangular shower plate 3;

• Wood humidity range: 10% / 14%

· Small table thickness range: 30mm / 50mm

• Small table number range: 35 / 25

• Type of used glues: vinyl-based, water-resistant, D3 • Gluing pressure: 80 kg/cm2

• Designing of the fastening systems for installation: by means of steel drip-stone carrier flange fastened with small blocks to a wall

· Designing for installation of crystals lifted from the ground: by milling flanks where crystal supports are housed

• Working of the wood "block" obtained after gluing: working of the parallelepiped plenum obtained after gluing through numerically controlled machinery

• Installation template: 3-mm plywood template provided with shower plate for an easy installation .

As further example, when manufacturing a round shower plate 3' (Figure 6):

• Wood humidity range: 10% / 14%

• Small table thickness range: 30mm / 50mm

• Small table number range: 35 / 25

· Type of used glues: vinyl-based, water-resistant, D3

• Gluing pressure: 80 kg/cm2 • Designing the fastening systems for installation: by means of a steell plate 26, ancohored to the floor with seats for engaging the feet 28, 30 of the shower plate 3'

· Designing the carrier structure with steel tubes: by means of connected steel tubes whose function is taking water to the tap, supporting the curtain, being a guide for the curtain base, operating as safety handle.

· Working of the wood "block" obtained after gluing: working of the parallelepiped plenum obtained after gluing through numerically controlled machinery.

Various types of sanitary products are thereby obtained, those shown here as a non-limiting way being actually the basins 1 (Figure 2) , the quadrangular shower plates 3 (Figures 3 and 5) and the circular shower plates 3' (Figures 4 and 6).

With reference to Figure 1, a basin 1 is shown, already machined with the space of a vase, with slanted walls 9 and lower discharge opening 10; to the basin 1 a plate 11 has been applied, equipped with holes 15 for inserting brass threaded bushes 13. With reference to Figures 3 and 4, instead, a rectangular shower plate 3 and a circular shower plate 3' are respectively shown, being made starting from a rectangular shower plate.

As particular installation examples of the shower plates 3, 3', Figure 5 shows the one in which they are installed in a fixed shower box built, for example, in a house. Figure 5 well shows the three mouldings 9, 11, 14 of the internal side of the shower plate 3, 3' in a preferred, but not limiting, configuration, that allows applying on the shower plate 3, 3' itself, on one side, a dripstone 18 (preferably made of stainless steel) for fastening the shower plate 3, 3' to the tiles of the wall 20 of the shower box. On the other side, the mouldings 9, 11, 14 allow prearranging therein elements 22 (for example even only mill cuttings) suitable to insert the shower glass 24 to complete the installation. The shower plate 3, 3' is preferably installed in a lifted position with respect to the floor, providing for example a plurality of abutment feet 16.

Finally, with reference to Figures 6 and 7, a circular shower plate 3' is shown, adapted to be coupled with a structure 34 (preferably made of stainless steel) for a curtain-type shower with fastening to the ground.

The plate 3' is connected to a disk 26 made of stainless steel equipped with feet 28 for the ground assembling, and equipped with slits (preferably three) for inserting suitable lower 30 and upper 32 feet connected to the shower plate 3'. In its upper part, the shower plate 3', through the upper feet 32, is connected to the structure 34 which is preferably equipped with a guide 36 for the curtain (not shown) , at least one safety handle 38 and a ring 40 for supporting the curtain to be hanged thereon, in addition to a tube 42 for taking water to the shower tap.

Through the inventive process, it is obviously possible to make other types of sanitary elements, not shown, wholly equivalent as operation and application, to the above-described basins 1 and shower plates 3, 3'.