Door skin, a method of etching a plate for forming a wood grain pattern in the door skin, and an etched plate formed therefrom

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a door skin having an exterior surface with an woodgrain pattern formed therein, and an etched plate for use as an embossing plate or with a molded die set, for forming the woodgrain pattern in the door skin. The exterior surface has outer portions lying on a first plane, spaced grooves recessed from the plane of the outer portions, and halftone portions. The halftone portions have spaced protrusions defined by channels, wherein the channels are recessed from the plane of the outer portions.

1 - 36 . (canceled) 
     
     
         37 . A method of making a construction component, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing an etched plate having molded grooves and molded halftone portions, wherein the grooves are configured with variable depths and lengths with respect to one another and variably spaced with respect to one another to collectively simulate an appearance of a naturally appearing wood grain pattern, wherein the halftone portions are configured to receive and retain sufficient stain to simulate an appearance of darkened naturally appearing wood grain background tone, and wherein the etched plate has an inverse configuration to the molded grooves and molded halftone portions; and   pressing an etched plate against a substrate to mold the construction component with a stainable exterior surface comprising the molded grooves and molded halftone portions,   
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising the step of staining the stainable exterior surface of the construction component with a stain. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein a first area of the exterior surface has a first density of the halftone portions retaining a first amount of the stain to provide a first tone, wherein a second area of the exterior surface has a second density of the halftone portions retaining a second amount of the stain to provide a second tone, and wherein the first tone differs from the second tone to simulate multiple naturally appearing wood background tones of different degrees of darkness. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the substrate comprises sheet molding compound, polystyrene, or polypropylene. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the exterior surface of the construction component has outer portions lying on a first plane, wherein the variably spaced grooves are formed in the construction component and open on the exterior surface,
 wherein the variably spaced grooves are recessed from the first plane of the outer portions,   wherein the halftone portions are formed in the construction component and having spaced protrusions extending from the exterior surface,   wherein the spaced protrusions are defined by a plurality of intersecting channels,   wherein the intersecting channels are configured to simulate a wood tone, and   wherein the intersecting channels are recessed from the first plane of the outer portions.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein each of the spaced protrusions comprises a top and side walls extending from a base of the intersecting channels. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein at least some of the tops are coplanar with the first plane. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 42 , wherein at least some of the tops are recessed from the first plane. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein stain on the exterior surface is retained in the variably spaced grooves and the intersecting channels. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein at least two of the halftone portions have differing densities of the spaced protrusions. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein at least some of the spaced protrusions have a square configuration. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein at least some of the spaced protrusions have a cylindrical configuration. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein at least one of the halftone portions includes variably sized spaced protrusions. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the construction component is formed from a material selected from the group consisting of sheet molding compound, medium density fiberboard, hardboard, fiberboard, and thermoplastic materials. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the construction component is a door skin. 
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the construction component is one of a molded construction component and an embossed construction component. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the variably spaced grooves have variable widths. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein said plurality of variably spaced grooves have variable depths. 
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein the variably spaced grooves have variable lengths. 
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein said thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of polystyrene and polypropylene