Patents

What is a patent?

A patent is a invention granted by a government to the inventor. It gifts the inventor a limited time period which prevents others from making, using or selling the invention without the permission of the inventor. When a patent is granted, the invention becomes the property of the inventor, which - like any other form of property or business asset - can be bought, sold, rented or hired. Patents are territorial rights; UK Patent will only give the holder rights within the United Kingdom and rights to stop others from importing the patented products into the United Kingdom. If the inventor wishes to prevent anyone in the world from making, using or selling the invention then the inventor must get a international patent (These are more expensive and harder to obtain)

How do you obtain a patent?

To meet the requirements of a patent the invention must not be that off another inventors (unless sold the rights). It must also not use any patented invention ideas. The invention must also be new and not have been made public at any time.  Patents must also contain a inventive step; a inventive step is where the product must be able to be produced or be able to be used to produce products. 

What do patents cover?

Patents generally are used to cover products or processes that are labeled to have new functional or technical aspects. Therefore, patents usually contain how things work, what they do, how they do it and how they are made (in terms of material or process used). Nowadays the  majority of patents submitted are for improvements to known technology.

Calendering Manufacture Process

What is the Calendering Manufacture Process?

Calendering is a process of smoothing and compressing materials (notably paper) during production by passing a single continuous sheet through a number of pairs of heated rollers (called calenders).

Calendering can also used in the textiles industry by using calendering to obtain certain finishes. Calendering in terms of fabric is a finishing process where fabric is folded in half and passed through rollers which operate at high temperatures and pressures.

The picture below shows the calendering manufacture process.

The 6 R's In The Design Process

Material Properties (Static and Dynamic)

Static - These include strength and hardness

Strength the ability to resist force without breaking - there are three fundamental kinds of static loading:

• Tensile - a strected wire will need tensile strength
• Compressive - A mine roof-prop will need compressive strength
• Shear - a train coupling bolt will need to resist the equal and opposite forces pulling each other across the component

• Elasticity - a materials ability to return to it's orginal shape after being deformed
• Plasticity - a mateerials readiness to deform to a stretched state when a load is applied. The plastic deformation is permanent even after the load is removed. Plastic exhibits plastic deformation.
• Ductility - a materials ability to be drawn longitudinally to a reduced cross section. A ductile material must have high plasticity.
• Hardness- a materials ability to resist wear or indentation of a material.
• Malleabilty - The ability of a material to be stretched in all directions withot fracture. A malleable material can be hammered into shape. 

Wood Veneers

Veneers

Veneer is the term given to a thin layer of wood that has been taken from the trunk of a tree. Hardwoods are usually the materials that make up veneers because they are more durable and decorative.

The use of veneers makes the manufacture cheaper because low-costing materials can be used as the main inner material coated with a veneer for decorative features.

Paper Backed Veneers

These are very thin, typically about 1mm on a paper backing. The paper backing supports the veneer and stops the veneer splitting.

Flexible Veneers

Flexible veneer is manufactured by slicing very thin sheets of veneer and then treating the veneer to make it more pliable. Once the cutting and treating is done, the sheets of veneer are then jointed together. Finally, a paper backing is permanently mounted to the back to bond it and give more flexibility

Standard Veneers

The sheets are cut from a log, stacked in consecutive order, then sent to a drier and once again stacked consecutively.

Standard veneer should not only be purchased in consecutively sliced sheets, but it also should be of good quality: relatively flat, with little or no knots or sapwood, generally uniform in color, with very few or no checks or splits.

Certain highly figured veneers like burls and crotches are almost impossible to find in perfectly flat sheets, free of splits or some knotholes. This is because highly figured woods are not as stable as flat or quartered cut veneers and tend to warp and buckle much more.

The price varies depending upon species.

Flat Pack Chair

Materials Knowledge