FLAT WALL PANEL AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLY MADE OF CELLULOSE MATERIAL

PANNEAU MURAL PLAT COMPRENANT AU MOINS EN GRANDE PARTIE UN MATERIAU CELLULOSIQUE

English Abstract

A flat wall panel at least substantially made of cellulose
material, a special feature being the fact that the wall panel
is at least substantially made of layers of paper/cardboard,
each layer at least substantially being made up of a
corrugated sublayer and a flat sublayer provided on one side
thereof, which layers of paper/cardboard are interconnected
via an adhesive applied to the corrugations of the corrugated
sublayers, wherein the wall panel is impregnated, in
particular with a resinous material, and wherein at least one
strengthening layer which is stiffer (i.e. less deformable)
than the layers of paper/cardboard is provided, which
strengthening layer is connected to a layer of paper/cardboard
on one side of the wall panel via an adhesive.

Claims

6
CLAIMS
1. A flat wall panel at least substantially made of
cellulose material, characterized in that the wall panel
is at least substantially made of layers of
paper/cardboard, each layer at least substantially being
made up of a corrugated sublayer and a flat sublayer
provided on one side thereof, which layers of
paper/cardboard are interconnected via an adhesive
applied to the corrugations of the corrugated sublayers,
wherein the wall panel is impregnated, in particular with
a resinous material, and wherein at least one
strengthening layer which is stiffer (i.e. less
deformable) than the layers of paper/cardboard is
provided, which strengthening layer is connected to a
layer of paper/cardboard on one side of the wall panel
via an adhesive.
2. A wall panel according to claim 1, wherein two
strengthening layers are provided, which are connected to
a layer of paper/cardboard on either side of the wall
panel via an adhesive.
3. A wall panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the
strengthening layer(s) is (are) made of wood.
4. A wall panel according to claim 3, wherein the
strengthening layer(s) is (are) made of multiply,
preferably three-ply, wood.
5. A wall panel according to any one of the preceding claims
1-4, wherein the wall panel is at least substantially
made of an even number of layers of paper/cardboard.

7
6. A wall panel according to claim 5, wherein the wall panel
is mirror symmetrical with respect to a central
longitudinal plane of the wall panel.
7. A method for manufacturing a wall panel according to any
one of the preceding claims 1-6, characterized in that
the wall panel is at least substantially made of layers
of paper/cardboard, each layer at least substantially
being made up of a corrugated sublayer and a flat
sublayer provided on one side thereof, which layers of
paper/cardboard are interconnected via an adhesive
applied to the corrugations of the corrugated sublayers,
wherein the wall panel is impregnated, in particular with
a resinous material, and wherein at least one
strengthening layer which is stiffer (i.e. less
deformable) than the layers of paper/cardboard is
provided, which strengthening layer is connected to a
layer of paper/cardboard on one side of the wall panel
via an adhesive.

Description

CA 02484393 2004-10-08
FLAT WALL PANEL AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLY MADE OF CELLULOSE
MATERIAL
The invention relates to a flat wall panel at least
substantially made of cellulose material. The invention also
relates to a method for manufacturing said wall panel.
Such a wall panel is known from German patent No. 2 026 768
(Universal Papertech corp.). Said patent describes a building
that is built up of a great many different construction
elements, such as a concrete floor, roof and side wall panels
made of an intermediate layer of corrugated cardboard
sandwiched between two flat outer layers, as well as cramps
and corner elements. In practice, the constructional strength
of the roof and side wall panels appears to be insufficient to
give the building sufficient strength.
The object of the invention is to improve the wall panel that
is known from the aforesaid German patent publication, in the
sense that a wall panel having an optimum constructional
stiffness is provided for use as a construction element of a
building, as a wall panel in, for example, a separation wall,
etc. It is noted that the term wall panel is understood to
include an element for use in a wall, a floor, a ceiling, a
roof, etc.
According to the invention, a wall panel of the kind referred
to in the introduction is characterized in that the wall panel
is at least substantially made of layers of paper/cardboard,
each layer at least substantially being made up of a
corrugated sublayer and a flat sublayer provided on one side
thereof, which layers of paper/cardboard are interconnected
via an adhesive applied to the corrugations of the corrugated
sublayers, wherein the wall panel is impregnated, in

CA 02484393 2004-10-08
2
particular with a resinous material, and wherein at least one
strengthening layer which is stiffer (i.e. less deformable)
than the layers of paper/cardboard is provided, which
strengthening layer is connected to a layer of paper/cardboard
on one side of the wall panel via an adhesive.
In other words, the whole of various adhered-together layers
of paper/cardboard is connected on at least one flat (outer)
are side thereof to the stiffer (i.e. less deformable)
strengthening layer. Experiments have shown that the present
construction leads to an unexpectedly great constructional
stiffness of the wall panel, so that it is possible to subject
the wall panel to large forces without the dimensional
stability being affected.
In a preferred embodiment of a wall panel according to the
invention, the wall panel comprises two strengthening layers,
which are connected to a layer of paper/cardboard on either
side of the wall panel via an adhesive. Thus a sandwich
construction is obtained, in which the whole of various
adhered-together layers of paper/cardboard is connected to a
stiffer (i.e. less deformable) strengthening layer on both
flat outer sides. The result is an even greater constructional
stiffness having a corresponding dimensional stability.
It is noted that impregnating the wall panel with, for
example, a resinous material not only has the advantage of
providing a greater constructional stiffness, but also of
providing protection against external influences, such as
moisture. As a result of said additional stiffness, fewer
layers of corrugated paper/cardboard are in principle needed
in order to give the flat panel the required stiffness. Said
impregnation preferably takes place by means of vapour

CA 02484393 2004-10-08
3
deposition, spraying or otherwise, said vapour deposition or
spraying taking place in a direction parallel to the direction
of the "cell structure" of the corrugated paper/cardboard that
is used. Said impregnation may also be effected with
mechanical means, wherein toothed and/or flat rollers are used
for pressing the impregnating medium into the paper/cardboard.
In a preferred embodiment of a wall panel according to the
invention, the strengthening layer is made of wood, preferably
multiply wood, in particular three-ply wood.
In another preferred embodiment of a wall panel according to
the invention, the wall panel is at least substantially made
of an even number of layers of paper/cardboard. In combination
with the strengthening layer, this provides a plate-shaped
material which is hardly deformable, if at all. Preferably,
the wall panel is mirror symmetrical with respect to a central
longitudinal plane of the wall panel so as to increase the
dimension all stability thereof, so that "warping" is
prevented at all times.
As already said before, the invention also relates to a method
for manufacturing a wall panel according to the invention,
wherein the wall panel is at least substantially made of
layers of paper/cardboard, each layer at least substantially
being made up of a corrugated sublayer and a flat sublayer
provided on one side thereof, which layers of paper/cardboard
are interconnected via an adhesive applied to the corrugations
of the corrugated sublayers, wherein the wall panel is
impregnated, in particular with a resinous material, and
wherein at least one strengthening layer which is stiffer
(i.e. less deformable) than the layers of paper/cardboard is

CA 02484393 2004-10-08
4
provided, which strengthening layer is connected to a layer of
paper/cardboard on one side of the wall panel via an adhesive.
It is noted that the term paper is usually used for lighter
types of paper; in the case of a heavier quality, the term
cardboard is frequently used. Within the framework of the
invention, the terms paper, cardboard and weight are not
intended to be limitative as regards the type of material to
be used.
The aforesaid resinous material with which the wall panel
according to the invention is impregnated, is preferably an
epoxy resin, a polyurethane resin, a polyester resin or a
phenol resin. Fire-resistant and/or fire-retarding agents may
be added thereto. Preferably, the resinous material with which
the wall panel according to the invention is impregnated also
functions as an adhesive for adhering two layers of
paper/cardboard together, so that a separate adhesive, such as
a glue, is not required. To that end, sets consisting of a
corrugated sublayer and a flat sublayer adhered to one side
thereof, which sublayers are already impregnated with the
resinous material, can be placed on top of each other so as to
be adhered together (after the resinous material has dried).
The invention will now be explained in more detail with
reference to figures illustrated in a drawing of a preferred
variant of the invention, in which Fig. 1 is a schematic,
perspective view of the present wall panel, Fig. 2 is a detail
view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the wall
panel of Fig. 1.
The figure shows a flat wall panel 1 according to the
invention in the form of a "sandwich", in the sense that a

CA 02484393 2004-10-08
core 2 built up of several layers of corrugated cardboard is
connected on either side to a stiffer strengthening layer 3 of
multiply wood, in particular three-ply wood.
5 In this case, four layers of corrugated cardboard are
provided, which are each built up of corrugated sublayer 4 and
a flat sublayer 5 glued to one side thereof, using a glue
applied to the corrugations 6 of the corrugated sublayer 4.
The core 2 is impregnated with a resinous material. As already
said before, the strengthening layers 3 are glued to both
sides of the core 2.
The wall panel 1 is mirror symmetrical with respect to a
central longitudinal plane 7 of the wall panel 1.
It is noted that the invention is not limited to the
embodiment as shown in the figures, but that it also extends
to other variants that fall within the scope of the appended
claims. Thus it will be apparent to those skilled in the art
that the wall panel may exhibit a (slight) curvature, whilst
the wall panel may also comprise a curved longitudinal edge.

Representative Drawing