It is also known to finish furniture and door panels with plastic laminate, such as HPL (High Pressure Laminate) also known by the generic name Formica, or CPL. These plastic laminates are highly popular due to their user friendly properties. The laminate finish is smooth, easy to clean, hygienic, attractive, offers a great choice of stable colors and diverse textures and a good resistance to use and wear.

However the plastic laminate does not allow post forming except along the longitudinal axis of the sheet because bending a plastic laminate in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis causes breaking of the fibers that constitute the material.

This drawback of the prior art (the postforming method) means that any panels covered with plastic laminates can only be made with a bevel or rounded decorative section extending along their longitudinal edges. The transverse edges of the prior art panels must remain straight and level with the top plate and as a result, the range of designs and patterns suitable for the panels of the prior art is limited. Most significantly none of the traditional patterns of either raised or lowered central panels may be achieved by the known methods and any grooves or elevations on the inner area of the panel must always extend in a longitudinal direction.

In the prior art it is also known to make a finish that enables covering any depression, elevation, etching or rounded or beveled contours whether these structures are extending along the longitudinal axis, the transverse axis, or at any angle to those axes. However these types of finish make use of moldable plastic materials such as PVC that are much less resistant to wear than the laminates subject of the invention. These coverings are achieved by heating a PVC membrane and pressing it onto preformed panels arranged on a table in a press machine. The pressing means may be an inflatable rubber cushion that will assume the shape of any depression or elevation on the surface of the panel and press the PVC membrane until it is integrated with the panel along all the contours of the panel surface. These products have the drawback of being less pleasing to the eye, with colors that are less durable and thus much less appreciated and requested than the plastic laminate finished product.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks characteristic of the prior art by providing a method for bending a plastic laminate on all four sides of a panel such that it may cover four bevel or rounded longitudinal sections extending along the edges of a basal panel as well as the contours of one or more central elevated or depressed plate or one or more ridges or grooves extending in various directions.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a product that is a decorative panel for a kitchen cabinet, a bathroom closet, a wardrobe, a door or any similar household fixture, wherein the design may include beveled or rounded edges along all four edges and may be further embellished by one or more raised or lowered plates or ridges or grooves disposed inwardly from the edges, and that is finished in post formed plastic laminate such as HPL, CPL, formica etc..

Summary of the Invention The present invention proposes a novel panel for use as a door for a kithen cabinet, bathroom closet, wardrobe, entrance door and any similar fixture in the household and building at large, characterized in that the basic panel is made of wood, wood laminate, MDF or any suitable material, its top face has bevel or rounded edges on all four sides, it may also have one or more raised or lowered plates inwardly disposed from the said edges and the said top face of the panel is fully finished in plastic laminate such as formica, CPL, HPL etc.

The invention also proposes a method for the production of the inventive laminate finished panels wherein on at least one face of a basal panel bevel or rounded longitudinal sections are provided along the edges on all four sides and on which may further be provided raised or lowered surfaces with diverse contours that may extend in various directions other than an axial direction; separate strips of plastic laminate are fitted along the vertical faces of the panel edges, the width of the strip being calculated to allow for working the panel edges to the desired shape, bevel, rounded or other; the panels are laid on a horizontal surface with the top face upwards such that each of the panels is placed within a template made of suitable material such as aluminium, the outer walls of the template following the contours of the panel, the basal panel is covered by a sheet of laminate of a size that allows the laminate to protrude at a distance of several millimeters all around the circumference of the basal panel; suitable bonding material is applied to bond the laminate to the basal panel; rubber sheets cut to fit the size of any depressions are spread above the laminate sheet; the working surface is introduced into a heat press means having a vacuum inflatable rubber cushion that is disposed above the working surface with the laminate and the rubber sheets; the rubber cushion is lowered to heat the laminate whereby bending is facilitated and sufficient pressure is effected on the rubber cushion by vacuum suction such that the laminate is bent to cover the basal panel while following the shapes of any bevel, rounded, raised or elevated surfaces. Due to the support of the template surrounding the panel, breaking of the laminate through bending along edges that are at straight angle or any other angle to the axial direction is prevented while the rubber sheets protect the laminate from breaking when forced along the contours of the raised or lowered sections that are inwardly removed from the panel edges. After the shaping and bonding process the excess laminate protruding along the edges of the panel is removed and a smooth total finishing that enables a great variety of panel designs is achieved.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 shows a panel with a downwardly inclined longitudinal section along all four edges Fig. 2 shows a panel with an elevated central plate Fig. 3 shows a panel with twin elevated central plates Fig. 4 is a drawing of the inventive means Fig. 5 is an enlarged drawing of the inventive means Fig. 6 is a cross section of the drawing of the inventive means Detailed Description of the Invention According to a Preferred Embodiment The present invention concerns a novel panel made of suitable hard material such as wood, MDF, wood laminate or any other material known for use in panels for furniture and doors and finished in plastic laminate such as HPL, formica, CPL etc. The panels of the invention are characterised in that at least one face of the panel is made with bevel or rounded or contoured sections along three or four edges and the said face may be decorated with elevated or depressed plates or ridges or grooves inwardly removed from the edges of the said panel and extending along the longitudinal axis, at a straight angle to the longitudinal axis or at any angle to the longitudinal or the transverse axis of the panel. The invention also concerns a method of finishing a panel with a decorative pattern such as described above in plastic laminate.

It is the advantage of the present invention that it overcomes the problem characteristic of the prior art, namely breaking of the plastic laminate fibers when bended in other than axial orientation. Due to this drawback of the prior art, panels with decorative patterns comprising bevel or rounded or depressed or raised surfaces extending in non axial direction could not be finished in plastic laminate as the plastic laminate would break when forced by pressure to cover any such surfaces.

The present invention enables the production of panels for carpentry such as furniture entrance doors, kitchen cabinet doors and panels, bathroom closet doors and panels, wardrobe doors and panels, decorative paneling, shutters etc. having a finish in plastic laminate and having various designs that in the prior art could only be made in PVC finished wood, MDF, wood laminate etc.

The panels according to the invention have the advantage of having a novel aspect that is attractive for both designers and customers. The inventive method enables a new range of combinations of structural patterns, finishing textures and colors that did not exist in the prior art.

The invention also has the advantage that the quality of the inventive plastic laminate finished panels by far exceeds that of the PVC finished prior art products by being more durable, more colourfast and more resistant to mechanical force.

Some of the patterns for panels that may be made in accordance with the inventive method are shown in Fig. s 1-4. Fig. 1 shows a design for an inventive panel with a central plate and bevel sections extending along the four edges of the panel. As seen best in drawings B and C, the panel comprises a basal panel 8 made of suitable material such as wood or wood laminate or MDF shown in black that is covered with post formed plastic laminate shown in white wherein the said plastic laminate extends continuously all over the surface of the said panel. The top surface of the panel comprises a central plate 1 and a pair of bevel sections 2 and 3 downwardly inclined relative to the plane of the said central plate 1 and extending along the longitudinal edges (of which only the edge 3.1 is visible) of the panel at angles 9.1,9.2 shown in drawing C. A second pair of bevel sections 4 and 5 is extending along the transverse edges of the panel (of which only the upper edge 4.1 is visible) downwardly inclined relative to the said plane of the said central plate 1 at angles 10.1,10.2, shown in drawing B. The novelty of the invention lies in the bevel sections 4 and 5 that according to prior art methods could not be finished in plastic laminate that is continuous with the laminate covering the central plate 1 due to the tendency of the plastic laminate to break along the lines 6 ; 7. Therefore in the prior art the panel of Fig. 1 could only have a single pair of parallel longitudinally extending downwardly inclined bevel sections 2 and 3 whereas the sections 4 and 5 would have to remain in the same plane as the central panel in order to enable a continuous covering by the plastic laminate.

Fig. 2 shows another design for an inventive plastic laminate finished panel with downwardly inclined bevel sections along the four outer edges of the panel and a central elevated rectangular plate. As seen best in drawings B and C, the panel comprises a basal panel 8 made of suitable material such as wood or wood laminate or MDF shown in black and it is covered with post formed plastic laminate shown in white wherein the said plastic laminate extends continuously all over the surface of the said panel. As seen best in drawing A, this panel comprises a basic plane 1, a pair of bevel sections 2 and 3 extending along the longitudinal edges of the panel (of which only the edge 3.1 is visible) and inclined downwardly from the said basic plane section 1 at angles 9.1, 9.2 shown in drawing C, and a second pair of bevel sections extending along the transverse edges of the panel (of which only the upper edge 4.1 is visible) downwardly inclined from the said basic plane section 1 at angles 10.1,10.2, shown in drawing B. On the panel of Fig. 2 an additional decorative element is provided consisting of a rectangular plate 1.1 that is elevated relative to the basic plane section 1. Four longitudinal bevel sections 1.1.1; 1.1.2; 1.1.3; 1.1.4 are extending around the four sides of the elevated plate 1.1, downwardly inclined relative to the plane of the elevated plate 1.1 and upwardly inclined relative to the plane of the basic plate 1.1 as seen best in drawings B and C. It will be understood that bending the plastic laminate along the transverse lines 6,6.1,6.2,7,7.1,7.2 would result in breaking of the said plastic laminate whereas the novel method of the invention enables the covering of the design of Fig. 2 with continuous plastic laminate without any breaks.

It will be understood that many different designs of the panel of the invention may be achieved due to the inventive method that prevents the breaking of the plastic laminate along the transverse bending lines, such as designs with more than one elevated or depressed plates as shown in Fig. 3, designs with rounded instead of straight sections, designs having decorative ridges or grooves that extend in various directions, designs with bevel or rounded sections along three sides of the panel only etc.

A preferred embodiment of the method of finishing the panels with a continuous plastic laminate will now be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows a schematic drawing of a machine such as a vacuum press machine with a membrane generally designated 1. Such machines are used in the prior art for making PVC finished structures such as doors, panels or any other structures with three dimensional patterns and therefore will not be described in detail. The machine comprises a heating means, a vacuum generating means and an inflatable membrane that are not shown. In accordance with the preferred embodiment the inflatable membrane is disposed above a working table 2 with a top surface 3 that may be reeled into the machine 1 through an aperture 4. Fig. 4 also shows a blown up drawing of the assembly that is used in finishing the inventive panels with plastic laminate according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

The method comprises the following steps, not necessarily in that order: One or more templates 5 of suitable material that is resistant to the pressing and heating involved in the procedure, for example aluminium, are disposed on the working surface 3. The templates may be composite such as the template 5 that is suitable for accommodating three panel units or they may be simple and suited to accommodate a single panel. It will be understood that a long template may be divided by separate transverse sections into a number of templates suitable for several panels of smaller length as necessary.

The basal panels 6,7 that are similar in shape to the panel of Fig. 2 and are made of wood or wood laminate or MDF or any suitable material are then placed inside the templates with the faces on which the bevel, elevated and depressed sections are disposed facing upwards. Plastic laminate sheets 8 and 9 are spread with bonding material on their lower surface and placed on the top of each of the basal panels 6 and 7 respectively such that the plastic laminate sheet 8 covers the basal panel 6 and protrudes from the edges of the basal panel 6 to a distance of several millimeters while the plastic laminate sheet 9 covers the basal panel 7 and protrudes to a distance of several millimeters from the edges of the basal panel 7.

A rubber sheet 10 is then placed on top of the plastic laminate sheet 8 and a rubber sheet 11 cut to a size that fits the hollow space created by the depression of the central plate of basal panel 7 is placed on top of the plastic laminate sheet 9.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged drawing of the assembly of Fig. 4 showing template 5, panels 6,7, plastic laminate sheets 8 and 9 and rubber sheets 10,11.

Fig. 6 is a blown up cross section of the assembly of template 5, basal panel 6 with depressed central plate creating a hollow space 6.2, plastic laminate sheet 8 and rubber sheet 10. Vertical dotted lines a and b ; c and d indicate the difference in size between the basal panel 6 and the larger plastic laminate sheet 8. Dotted lines b and d also indicate that the inner cavity of the template 5 is of suitable size to accommodate the basal plane 6. The drawing also indicates that the height hl of the walls of the template 5 is equal to the height h of the perpendicular edge of the basal panel 6. It is one of the main advantages of the inventive process that the protruding edges of the plastic laminate sheet 8 are supported by the walls of the template 5 during the pressure- indicated by vertical arrows 12-that is exerted on the said plastic laminate while it is being bent to accommodate the bevel contours along the edge of the basal panel 6, whereby breaking of the laminate is prevented.

As indicated by dotted lines e and f, the rubber sheet 10 is cut to a size that fits the hollow space 6.2 created by the depression of the central plate 6.1 of the basal panel 6. The thickness g of the rubber sheet 10 must also be suited to the depth of the said hollow space 6.2 and two or more rubber sheets on top of one another may be used if necessary, such that the said rubber sheet 10 will fill out the hollow space 6.2 while the said pressure 12 is applied to force the plastic laminate 8 into the hollow space 6.2 whereby due to the elastic properties of the rubber sheet 10, breaking of the plastic laminate 8 that is bent under pressure to follow the contours of the depression in the basal panel is prevented. It will be understood that the assembly of template 5, basal panel 7, plastic laminate 9 and rubber sheet 11 will also be employed in the above described manner.

When the assembly of template, basal panel, plastic laminate sheet and rubber sheet is ready, the machine membrane is lowered towards the assembly until it contacts the assembly from above, without exerting pressure at this stage. The heating means is then operated whereby the plastic laminate is heated to a temperature that enhances the pliability of the laminate as known in the art wherein the suitable temperature variates with the type and dimensions of the laminate. When the pliability of the plastic laminate is suitable for post forming, the membrane is further inflated and pressure under heat is exerted on the plastic laminate causing it to bend along the longitudinal as well as the transverse bending lines created by the three dimensional design of the basal panel surface. Breaking of the laminate along circumferential bending lines is prevented by the template walls and breaking along the lines inwardly removed from the panel edges is avoided due to the resilient rubber sheets.

When the forming of the plastic laminate is finished and the laminate has cooled down, the edges protruding from the basal plane are cut off and worked to a smooth finish. The vertical edges of the basal panel may be finished with a separate strip of laminate before or after the post forming process of the invention.

It will be understood that in the case of basal panels with a pattern that does not include any hollow spaces due to ridges, depressions or grooves on the surface of the basal panel the use of a rubber sheet may be eliminated and only the templates will be used to avoid breaking of the plastic laminate along the post formed edges of the panel.

While the drawings only show designs in which the bevel, raised and depressed sections of the basal panel are quadrangular or disposed at straight angles to each other, it will be understood that other designs such as trapezoid or rounded ssections with rounded ross sections or any other contours may be finished in plastic laminate in accordance with the method of the invention.