WO2016038636A1

WO2016038636A1 - Semi-finished product for realization of at least a finished product, particularly collapsible rigid material boxes

Info

Publication number: WO2016038636A1
Application number: PCT/IT2015/000207
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianluca LUCIANI
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-09-10
Filing date: 2015-09-02
Publication date: 2016-03-17
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-10
Also published as: EP3200989A1; WO2016038636A4

Abstract

The invention relates to a semi-finished product (1 1 ) for realization of at least a finished product or a collapsible box comprising: - a layer of rigid material (1); - a first layer of flexible material (2); the total thickness of the semi-finished product (1 1 ) being less than, or equal to, about 3 mm, and the thickness of the rigid material layer being between 0.2 mm and 1.2 mm, said layer of rigid material and said layer of flexible material being coupled each other, at least in some parts of their extension, in such a way that said layer of rigid material (1 ) is superimposed on said layer of flexible material (2), said semi-finished product being provided with fold lines and/or cutting lines, at least said cutting lines extending in depth through the thickness of said semi-finished product, said fold lines extending through said layer of rigid material, and possibly in the layer of material flexible.

Description

SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCT FOR REALIZATION OF AT LEAST A FINISHED PRODUCT, PARTICULARLY

COLLAPSIBLE RIGID MATERIAL BOXES The present invention relates to a semi-finished product for realization of finished products, particularly collapsible rigid material boxes.

According to the present specification, by "rigid" material it is meant every material, such as, e.g. wood, metal, plastics, carbon, marble, glass, which can be subjected to processes that allow obtaining a final product with the features according to the present invention.

More specifically, the invention concerns a semi-finished product, and the relative method of realization, which provides for the coupling of a layer of rigid material and of a layer of flexible material, and that therefore allows to prepare finished products or boxes that can be made to pass from a collapsed state to an operating state, and vice versa, like the collapsible cardboard boxes currently on the market, and that at the same time are resistant and valuable, such as wood containers currently on the market.

It is known that, presently, the use of collapsible boxes or boxes that can be made to easily pass from the collapsed state to an operating state and vice versa, is widely used in various industrial sectors, because the space required for their storage is significantly lower than that necessary for the storage of non-collapsible boxes of equal size.

It is also known that, for the realization of these collapsible boxes, fibre cardboard and/or corrugated material is employed, that can be folded along the fold lines of the box without failure.

However, it is further known that for packaging some products, wooden containers are preferred, since they provide a greater protection of the product contained therein and are more valuable than the collapsible cardboard boxes.

Finally, it is known that collapsible wood boxes, although they would be very useful, are currently not realized, since wood, being a rigid material, cannot be bent without failure.

In patent document U.S. 6844050 B2, which, at the knowledge of the inventor is the most relevant prior art document, there is described a sheet 1 , previously cut out to define a set of parts of the sheet, said sheet 1 being able to take at least two configurations, a first "flat" configuration, and a second "folded" configuration, obtained after folding parts of sheet 2, 3, 4 each other about hinge means 30, to define a hollow volume. Said sheet 1 is constituted by at least three layers 21 , 22, 23, placed one above the other, the second layer 22, located between the first layer 21 and third layer 23, being a layer of flexible material, and first layer 21 being a relatively rigid layer. The hinge means 30 comprise a groove 33 provided along a fold line 34 only in the first layer 21.

U.S. 6844050 B2 further describes the procedure for obtaining the above sheet 21.

In the light of the above, the Applicant has developed an alternative solution for a semi-finished product for realization of at least a finished product, in particular collapsible rigid material boxes, which provides coupling, by gluing, of only a layer of rigid material and a layer of flexible material.

For the purposes of the present specification, the term "rigid material" means an element, a body, a material (also in sheet, plate, coil, etc. form) that is not able to bend along a perfectly exact fold line, set before and/or promoted (by incision, creasing, etc.) to form an angle ranging between 90° and 180°, and to return to its original state for a number of times equal to or preferably greater than the number of cycles required by its use, at room temperature or at normal use temperature, without giving rise to evident and/or undesirable breakage or deterioration (e.g. deformation or breakage due to metal fatigue, breakage of the fibres of the wood, etc.).

For the purposes of the present description, by the term

"flexible material " it is meant an element, a body, a material (also in sheet, plate, coil, etc. form) able to perfectly bend along a set before and/or promoted (by incision, creasing, etc.) fold line up to form an angle ranging between 90° and 180°, and to return to its original state for a number of times equal to or preferably greater than the number of cycles required by its use, at room temperature or at normal use temperature, without giving rise to evident and/or undesirable breakage or deterioration.

For the purposes of the present description, by the term "fold line" they are means segments or curves within the perimeter of the product to be obtained, which, although being rigid, will have sufficient flexibility to perfectly bend up to an angle ranging at least between 90° 180°, and to return to the original state without giving rise to evident and/or undesirable breakage or deterioration. In some cases, e.g. in order to obtain rounded corners or to allow the rigid material to fold on itself (as opposed to the normal folding where it is the flexible material to fold on itself), the fold lines may be multiple, close each other, parallel, or comprised a series of holes or micro-segments in more series causing a removal of material for the width sufficient for the purpose. Fold lines will be of different width, depth and shape, according to the requirements and depending on the technology with which they are obtained. Some types of products require in some points an opposed fold, so that it will be the rigid material to fold in on itself, in contrast to normal cases when it is the flexible material to fold in on itself. In such a case, the fold lines must have width and shape suitable in proportion to the thickness of the materials used, so that elements of the box can be folded also in the direction opposite to the normal one and up to an angle ranging between 90° and 180°.

It is therefore specific object of the present invention a semifinished product for realization of at least a finished product or a collapsible box comprising:

- a layer of rigid material;

- a first layer of flexible material;

the total thickness of the semi-finished product being less than, or equal to, about 3 mm, and the thickness of the rigid material layer being between 0.2 mm and 1.2 mm,

said layer of rigid material and said layer of flexible material being coupled each other, at least in some parts of their extension, in such a way that said layer of rigid material is superimposed on said layer of flexible material,

said semi-finished product being provided with fold lines and/or cutting lines, at least said cutting lines extending in depth through the thickness of said semi-finished product, said fold lines extending through said layer of rigid material, and possibly in the layer of material flexible.

Preferably, according to the invention, one or more additional layers of flexible material are coupled to said first layer of flexible material, on the face thereof opposite to the coupling of said first flexible layer with said layer of rigid material, the total thickness of the semi-finished product being always less than, or equal to, about 3 mm. In particular, according to the invention, said layer of rigid material is made up of a composite material.

Always according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is applied by applying adhesive material, by casting, by coating, by extrusion, by co-extrusion or by printing.

Further, according to the invention, said layer of rigid material is comprised of a sheet of wood, obtained starting from solid wood (e.g. wood veneer) or reconstituted wood (e.g., sheet of wood obtained from powder, chips, strips, wood laths, etc.) or precomposed wood, or metal, plastics, carbon, carbon fibre, marble, glass, stone, reconstituted or synthetic stone (for example Nanostone^®, Stone Veneer^®, Kevlar^®.

Still, according to the invention, said layer of rigid material is made up of Plexiglas^®, or other rigid transparent material.

In addition, according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is a transparent polyester film.

Further according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is a rubber or plastic sheet.

Still, according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is a sheet of paper or of stiff cardboard.

Always, according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is made up of non-woven fabric, fabric and the like.

Particularly, according to the invention, said first layer of flexible material is made up of polypropylene, polyester, paper, flat or corrugated cardboard, laminated paper, fabric, non-woven fabric, leather, PVC, and known materials such as Alcantara®, Gore-Tex®, Tyvek®, Laminil®, SYNTAPE®, Yupo®, Poliart®, Mater-bi® or other suitable material, even in combination each other.

Preferably, according to the invention, said adhesive material is transparent or not.

Further, according to the invention, said semi-finished product involves the coupling of a portion of semi-finished product as described in the foregoing, and a second portion of flexible material, such as card stock.

In particular, said first portion and said second portion are coupled by placing side by side and edge bonding.

Further according to the invention, said semi-finished product provides the coupling of a first portion of semi-finished product and of a second portion of semi-finished product, as described in the foregoing, said second portion having rigidity lower than said first portion.

Further according to the invention, said semi-finished product provides the coupling of at least a portion of semi-finished product as described in the foregoing, and of one or more portions of a different material with respect to that of said at least a first portion of rigid or collapsible material.

In particular, said portion and said two portions are coupled by placing side by side and edge bonding.

Always according to the invention, one or more inlays are provided on said layer of rigid material, said inlay being made up of different material with respect to that of said layer of rigid material.

The invention concerns a semi-finished product obtained by shearing, milling, punching, die cutting, laser cutting, water cutting, compressed air cutting, etc., said material.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a finished product or collapsible box realised starting from said at least one semi-finished product.

The present invention will be now described for illustrative, but not limitative purposes, with particular reference to the drawings of the enclosed figures, wherein:

figure 1 is a section view of an embodiment of a semi-finished product according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a plan view of an example of a semi-finished product for realization of a collapsible rigid material box obtained starting from the material shown in figure 1 ;

figure 3 shows a plan view of a second embodiment of a semi- finished product for realization of a collapsible rigid material box;

figures 4A and 4b show, respectively, an assembled plan view and an exploded plan view of a third embodiment of a semi-finished product according to the invention;

figures 5A and 5b show, respectively, an assembled plan view and an exploded plan view of a fourth embodiment of a semi-finished product according to the invention; figure 6 shows a plan view of a fifth embodiment of a semifinished product for realization of a collapsible rigid material box;

figure 7 shows a plan view of a sixth embodiment of a semifinished product for realization of a collapsible rigid material box;

figures 8A - 8E show steps of a folding process of the semifinished product according to the invention illustrated in figure 3;

figures 9A - 9E show steps of a process for manufacturing and bending of the semi-finished product according to the invention shown in figure 6;

figures 10A - 10H show steps of a process for manufacturing and bending of the semi-finished product according to the invention shown in figure 7.

Referring to Figure 1 , there is described a first embodiment of a laminated sheet, generally indicated by the reference number 10, for the preparation of a semi-finished product 1 (see figure 2, which will be described below) to provide a collapsible rigid material box according to the present invention.

For the realization of said laminated sheet 0, it is initially taken a sheet of rigid material 1 , which, by itself, when bent, would break along the fold line.

Said sheet of rigid material 1 is preferably a sheet of wood, obtained starting from solid wood (e.g., wood veneer) or reset wood (e.g., wood sheet obtained from wood dust, chips, strips, etc.) or wood veneer, or a layer of metal, plastics, carbon, marble, glass.

Thickness and other dimensions of said rigid material 1 sheet depend on several factors such as, for example, the type of objects in that said collapsible box must contain the cost of said box collapsible and the type of material used.

Particularly, the thickness of said wood sheet 1 is preferably included between 0.2 mm and 1 mm.

Then, a sheet of flexible material 2 is taken, preferably a transparent polyester film, having shape and size equal to those of said rigid material 1 sheet.

The thickness of said sheet of flexible material 2 depends on the type of objects that should be contained within said collapsible box, and thus on the thickness of said rigid material 1 sheet, and the shape of said collapsible box. For example, to obtain a semi-finished product 11 for the realization of a collapsible box which has a very smooth folding a polyester film 2 is preferably used, of a thickness preferably equal to 0.02 to 0.03 mm and a sheet of wood 1 of a thickness preferably equal to 0.6 mm.

Instead, to realize, a semi-finished product 11 for the realization of a box with collapsible closures more elastic than the sheet of flexible material 2, it is preferably used a sheet of rubber or plastic of a thickness e.g. equal to 0.2-0.3 mm, or a sheet of paper or stiff cardboard of a thickness preferably directly proportional to the thickness of said rigid material 1 sheet.

Finally, said rigid material 1 sheet and said flexible material 2 sheet are coupled by means of gluing of their surfaces, so that said rigid material 1 sheet is substantially superimposed on said of pliable material 2 sheet.

Adhesive materials 3 transparent are preferably used for gluing said of rigid material 1 sheet and said of flexible material 2 sheet.

By the method according to the present invention as described above, it is therefore possible to realize a laminated sheet 10 for the preparation of a semi-finished product 11 for realization of a collapsible rigid material box (see Figure 2).

In order to prepare a semi-finished product 1 for realization of a collapsible rigid material box starting from said laminate sheet 10 made by the method according to the present invention, said laminate sheet 10 is subjected to whole cut and a half cut shearing.

By said techniques, on the basis of the finished product or box to be obtained, they are realized on the laminate sheet 10 suitable folding lines 12a-12i, tabs 13a-13g, seats 14 for tabs and possibly breaking lines or reduced resistance lines 15a-15d (the solution shown in figure 2 is to be considered absolutely an example, since semi-finished product 11 can be realized with any shape, size and configuration of fold lines, tabs, seats and breaking lines, in function of the finished product to be obtained .

Said whole cut shearing is implemented along the boundary line 16 of the semi-finished product 11 in such a way that said rigid material sheet 1 and said flexible material sheet 2 may be cut throughout their thickness, so as to obtain a semi-finished product 11 having a defined shape. Instead, said half cut shearing is implemented along the fold lines 12a-12i of said semi-finished product 11 in such a way that said rigid material sheet 1 is cut throughout its thickness and said flexible material sheet 2 is not notched or only partly notched in its thickness, so as to form a semi-finished product 11 from which a collapsible box is obtained.

Said half cut shearing is performed, if necessary, also along the breaking lines or reduced resistance lines 15a-15d of the semi-finished product 11.

The whole cut and half cut shearing can also be carried out by die-cutting or milling or laser cutting, etc.. Particularly, by die-cutting it is possible to apply a counter-die to the blade making the cut, so that said blade, when cutting said rigid material sheet 1 arrives to lap said flexible material sheet 2, producing a groove (creasing or grooving), further facilitating the exact folding along said fold lines 12a-12i of the said semi- finished product 11.

To realize a transparent semi-finished product 11 , from which it is obtained a collapsible transparent rigid material box, it is possible coupling, by gluing, a film 2 of transparent polyester, of a thickness preferably equal to 0.03 mm, and a layer 1 of Plexiglas®, or similar material, of a thickness preferably equal to 2-3 mm, and then milling only said layer 1 of Plexiglas®, or similar material, all through its thickness, along the fold lines 12a to 12i of the said semi-finished product.

Coming now to observe figure 3 of the enclosed drawings, there is shown a second embodiment according to the present invention.

Particularly, it is shown a semi-finished product 20 for the realization of a wood box for a bottle of liquor, comprising a wooden structure 21 (e.g. of a thickness of 2 mm) supported by a cardboard 22 (e.g. of a thickness of 0.4 mm) (in place of the cardboard 22 leather, Alcantara, fabric, etc. could be used to get a more luxurious packaging). The box, once assembled from the semi-finished product 20 has a good stiffness.

Semi-finished product 11 can be delivered to the customer as shown in the figure.

Obviously, the types of products obtainable are countless to shape, structure, materials, thicknesses and final use. Referring now to figures 4A and 4B, it is described a third embodiment of a semi-finished product for realization of at least a finished product, particularly collapsible rigid material boxes.

In this case, remaining valid all the observations made in the foregoing with reference to the first two embodiments, a first element 41 of rigid material, e.g. wood, is coupled to a second element 42 of flexible material, such as cardstock.

The first element 41 and the second element 42 both lie on the same plane, and are coupled by any suitable means, e.g. by edge gluing.

Referring now to figures 5A and 5B, it is described a fourth embodiment of a semi-finished product for realization of at least a finished product, particularly collapsible rigid material boxes.

A first element 51 of rigid material, such as stone, is coupled to a second element 52 of a material of lower rigidity, for example wood.

The first element 51 and the second element 52 both lay on the same plane.

Also in this case, the first element 51 and the second element 52 are coupled by suitable means, for example by edge gluing.

The embodiment illustrated in figure 6 provides the combination of a rigid element 61 with two main sectors 62, 63 of different material (by nature, colour or arrangement of the fibre), either of rigid or collapsible material, in such a way that the finished product get still presents at least some "rigid collapsible" part.

Observing now figure 7, there is shown an embodiment in which, in the rigid layer 71 , one or more inlays 72 in different material are provided.

Please note that the invention relates not only to boxes, folders, covers of books, brochures etc., but also to simple parts or pieces of them, provided that such pieces have at least one point in which the rigid material is affected by at least one preset/encouraged fold line without giving rise to evident and/or undesirable breakage and/or deterioration.

Said parts of boxes etc. will then realise (by bonding, clamping etc.) the finished product along with other materials (e.g. cardboard) not necessarily "rigid".

In figure 8 there are illustrated the various steps of the method of "folding" the wood 21 , and precisely: - figure 8a: a layer of rigid material 21 and a layer of flexible material/foldable 22 are coupled, by gluing, together.

On rigid material sheet 21 they are observed various types of shearing suitable to the subsequent bending (die-cutting, milling, laser cutting etc.). In this case, the cut is not also interesting the flexible/bendable layer 22.

- figure 8b: in this case, the cutting also interests part of the flexible/bendable layer 22.

By reference number 23 it is shown a counter-die suitable for improving the bending easiness and precision when necessary.

- figures 8 c, d, e: they show the process of cutting/bending (in this case by punching of a wood sheet of a thickness of 0.6/1 mm coupled with a cardboard sheet, of thickness of 0.2 mm, or of a plastic film of a thickness of 0.03 mm). In Figure 4e it is observed the sheet composed of the two coupled materials that are pressed against a die by means of a die cutter. The die (or tool) presents steel blades of different heights: the external ones cut all the material, thus giving the desired shape to the product; the internal ones, lower, do not pass through all the material but only through the desired section. In this case it is also attempted a counter-die in correspondence of the lower blade so as not to cut the bendable support but to produce a groove. The use of the counter-die is in some cases advantageous but not absolutely essential.

From figure 8d it is observed the material once the cycle of die cutting has been completed: cutting through the perimeter will be passing through all the material, cutting in bending points will be partial not affecting or involving only partially flexible/bendable support.

In this case, it is observed that counter-die has allowed the formation of a "channel" in the bendable part, capable of giving a smoother and more precise folding.

Figure 8e shows the material, suitably cleaned from outside scraps, ready to be perfectly folded on itself even at 180°, allowing complete collapsibility of the product without undesirable failure of the rigid part of the material.

Referring now to figure 9, there is illustrated a method to produce the semi-finished product according to the embodiment illustrated in figure 6. By this process, it is possible coupling, to the main element 61 , according to design and predetermined size, one or more sectors 62, 63 of different material (by nature or colour or arrangement of the fibre etc.), either rigid or bendable, provided the product obtained still has at least a "rigid collapsible" part.

In the illustrated example:

- the spreading of the glue on the foldable support is made;

- layout of the various sectors is carried out with accuracy on the basis of the set scheme on the foldable support having the glue on itself;

- a sufficient pressure is made with the use of presses, calendars, stacking etc.;

- the material obtained is cut according to the design thus obtaining boxes, covers, brochures or parts thereof, of which at least one part is made from a "rigid collapsible" material (i.e. having at least one fold line).

Arrangement, shape and number of sectors are variable, as it is the combination with other techniques (e.g. inlay), the type of gluing, pressing etc..

This solution can be of great help in the manufacture of products of great value, of products requiring perfect readability of printing or products requiring containment of costs (e.g. if the rigid element composed of very expensive material, it is possible reducing the incidence reducing its surface with respect to the total size of the package).

Finally, observing figure 10, there is shown a method for the realization of a semi-finished product as shown in figure 7.

Particularly, in the coupling/supporting method of the rigid element 71 with the flexible element, it is possible creating the "inlay" 72 effect, or it is possible having one or more parts 72, consisting of a different material (nature and/or colour and/or essence, etc ..), either rigid or flexible, and also of a thickness different from that of the main rigid element 71 , within the rigid surface 71.

To get the inlay:

- an element of rigid material (sheet, coil etc., wood, metal etc.) is taken and drilled according to a set pattern in one or more set before points. The drilling is obtained by cutting with die, laser, plotter blade, mill, or other system known to a person skilled in the art; - a secondary element is chosen, made up of a different material (e.g. cardboard, printed or not, polished metal, stone etc.), perfectly matching with the seat formed in the main rigid element 71 ;

- glue is spread on the flexible support and the latter is coupled with the main rigid element;

- secondary element is placed within the seat obtained previously;

- pressure is exerted on the entire surface of the coupled elements (press, calendar, stacking etc.), in order to have a good adhesion;

- material is precisely cut according to the set pattern originally in register with the inlay and with eventual prints etc., thus obtaining boxes, covers, brochures or parts of them bearing the inlays of different material.

By this technique, it is possible not only to obtain the products of great value (e.g. foldable wood box with mother of pearl inlaid), but also to have the areas where the quality and the print sharpness is maximum (e.g. in the case of stone box with card inlay, because in many Countries the ingredients of foods, barcodes etc. must be printed on a perfectly white and readable surface, something hard running on surfaces not perfectly smooth and white, typical characteristics of card).

The use of multiple layers of flexible material (even of different nature between them), as well as to achieve the desired consistency, may sometimes be preferred even in case, with the use of modern technologies, it is not possible perfectly cutting through all the thickness of the rigid material without affecting the flexible material, so jeopardizing the reliability for the same features of that material.

The choice of rigid/flexible components should not be seen merely by virtue of their mechanical properties but, being able to get proper functionality by different materials, it is possible taking advantage of their other prerogatives, associating said mechanical functionality to other features such as:

- breathability, such as in the case of natural or synthetic fabrics or non-woven, Gore-Tex®,

- suitability for contact with food and/or barrier effect, such as in the case of polypropylene films, polyester, aluminium film, etc., - functionality and printability, such as in the case of paper, laminated paper, cardboard etc.,

- ecology and disposability, as for example in the case of some films not derived from petroleum, with reduced or zero environmental impact,

- aesthetics and value, such as for example in the case of leather, velvet, Alcantara® etc..

This variety of properties, associated with the variety of rigid materials (so far considered unusable) such as wood, cork, stone, synthetic stone, Kevlar^®, carbon fibre, glass fibre, metal etc., give a new meaning to the concept of foldable boxes, to the features and advantages that may assume, although with storage dimensions and costs similar to the current commercially foldable boxes, but with overall storage and transport dimensions and costs considerably lower than the present commercially rigid boxes.

Summarising, advantages that are obtained with the solution proposed according to the present invention are:

- possibility of manufacturing collapsible/foldable/flexible boxes, cartons, containers in general through the use of materials derived from nature or from industry up to now considered impossible to use because they are subject to breakage and/or deterioration during cycles of bending to angles between 90° and 180° (opening/closing of the box).

- costs for storage and transport similar to those of the flexible packaging currently in use but with the costs of storage and transport considerably lower compared to rigid packaging currently in use.

- ability to provide the product contained in the box with superior image, quality and robustness of rigid materials used and so far considered unusable in the manufacture of foldable boxes.

- possibility to combine to the physical, thermal, mechanical, chemical etc. features of rigid materials, the physical, thermal, mechanical, chemical etc. features of flexible materials in the production of flexible packaging.

- possibility of printing, decorating, customizing by using all known techniques (screen printing, hot printing, digital printing, flexo printing, offset printing, laser marking etc.), as well as protection and ennobling or embellishment with all the known techniques (lamination, coating, lamination etc.), typical of the sheet, plate or coil materials.

The present invention has been described for illustrative but not limitative purposes, according to its preferred embodiments, but it is to be understood that variations and/or modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the relative scope of protection, as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. Semi-finished product (1 1) for realization of at least a finished product or a collapsible box comprising:

- a layer of rigid material (1);

- a first layer of flexible material (2);

the total thickness of the semi-finished product (1 1) being less than, or equal to, about 3 mm, and the thickness of the rigid material layer being between 0.2 mm and 1 ,2 mm,

said layer of rigid material and said layer of flexible material being coupled each other, at least in some parts of their extension, in such a way that said layer of rigid material (1) is superimposed on said layer of flexible material (2),

2. Semi-finished product (11) according to claim 1 , characterised in that one or more additional layers of flexible material are coupled to said first layer of flexible material (2), on the face thereof opposite to the coupling of said first flexible layer (2) with said layer of rigid material (1), the total thickness of the semi-finished product being always less than, or equal to, about 3 mm.

3. Semi-finished product (1 1 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said layer of rigid material (1) is made up of a composite material.

4. Semi-finished product (1 1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is applied by applying adhesive material (3), by casting, by coating, by extrusion, by co-extrusion or by printing.

5. Semi-finished product (1 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said layer of rigid material (1) is comprised of a sheet of wood, obtained starting from solid wood (e.g. wood veneer) or reconstituted wood (e.g., sheet of wood obtained from powder, chips, strips, wood laths, etc.) or reconstituted wood, or metal, plastics, carbon, carbon fibre, marble, glass, stone, reconstituted or synthetic stone (for example Nanostone^®, Stone Veneer^®, Kevlar^®.

6. Semi-finished product (1 1) according to one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterised in that said layer of rigid material (1) is made up of Plexiglas^®, or other rigid transparent material.

7. Semi-finished product (1 1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is a transparent polyester film.

8. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims 1- 6, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is a rubber or plastic sheet.

9. Semi-finished product (1 1) according to one of the preceding claims 1 - 7, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is a sheet of paper or of stiff cardboard.

10. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims 1 -7, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is made up of non-woven fabric, fabric and the like.

11. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims 1 - 7, characterised in that said first layer of flexible material (2) is made up of polypropylene, polyester, paper, flat or corrugated cardboard, laminated paper, fabric, non-woven fabric, leather, PVC, and known materials such as Alcantara®, Gore-Tex®, Tyvek®, Laminil®, SYNTAPE®, Yupo®, Poliart®, ater-bi® or other suitable material, even in combination each other.

12. Semi-finished product (11 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said adhesive material (3) is transparent or not.

13. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it provides the coupling of a portion (41) of semi-finished product according to one of the preceding claims, and a second portion of flexible material (42), such as card stock.

14. Semi-finished product (11) according to claim 13, characterised in that said first portion (41) and said second portion (42) are coupled by placing side by side and edge bonding,

15. Semi-finished product (11 ) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it provides the coupling of a first portion (51) of semi-finished product and of a second portion (52) of semifinished product, according to one of the preceding claims, said second portion (52) having a rigidity lower than said first portion (51).

16. Semi-finished product (11) according to claim 15, characterised in that said first portion (51) and said second portion (52) are coupled by placing side by side and edge bonding.

17. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it provides the coupling of at least a portion (61) of semi-finished product according to one of the previous claims, and of one or more portions (62, 62) of a different material with respect to that of said at least a first portion (61 ) of rigid or collapsible material.

18. Semi-finished product (1 1) according to claim 17, characterised in that said portion (61) and said two portions (62, 62) are coupled by placing side by side and edge bonding.

19. Semi-finished product (11) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that one or more inlays (72) are provided on said layer of rigid material, said inlays (72) being made up of different material with respect to that of said layer of rigid material.

20. Finished product or collapsible box realised starting from said at least one semi-finished product according to claim 18.