WO2005066431A2

WO2005066431A2 - Floor panel

Info

Publication number: WO2005066431A2
Application number: PCT/DE2005/000008
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ralf Eisermann
Original assignee: Akzenta Paneele + Profile Gmbh
Priority date: 2004-01-07
Filing date: 2005-01-06
Publication date: 2005-07-21
Also published as: DE102004001131B4; RU2006128595A; CA2557096A1; EP1704045A2; DE102004001131A1; WO2005066431A3; CN1922004A

Abstract

The invention relates to a floor panel (1, 2) comprising a carrier plate (3, 4) to which a useful layer (5, 6) provided with a decorative image divided into various sections is applied, said decorative image being protected from wear by abrasionproof particles. The surface of the useful layer has a relief of recesses and raised parts. The recesses comprising certain image sections of the decorative image are surrounded by the raised parts comprising other image sections of the decorative image, said decorative image being coated with a transparent layer of lacquer. According to the invention, the recesses of the relief are produced by a chemical reacting with the lacquer, and the abrasionproof particles are contained in the layer of lacquer.

Description

floor panel

The invention relates to a floor panel with a support plate on which a wear layer with a decorative image divided into different image areas is attached, the decorative image with wear-resistant particles being protected from wear and tear, and the surface of the wear layer having a relief with depressions and elevations , and wherein the indentations with certain imaging areas and the elevations with other imaging areas of the decorative illustration are in register.

So-called laminated panels are known, from which floor panels are manufactured for the purpose of imitating wooden, ceramic or natural stone surfaces. The laminated boards generally have a wear layer formed from at least two papers arranged one above the other, which is attached to a carrier board made of wood-based material. Medium- or high-density fibreboard, chipboard, etc. are used as the wood material. Usually, large-area panels are pressed and then separated into a large number of individual panels, which are further processed into floor panels. The floor panels are usually rectangular. One of the papers of the wear layer is printed with a graphic illustration of the surface to be imitated. However, the printed paper points in the

Usually has a low abrasion resistance and must therefore be protected against wear with a transparent paper with abrasion-resistant particles, a so-called overlay. For this purpose, powdered particles are used, which for example consist of aluminum oxide, a material from which sanding sand is made, among other things. On this overlay a relief is embossed with a pressing tool. The wear layer therefore consists of a layer for visual imitation and a layer for tactile imitation of a surface. In other words, the surface feel is matched to the graphic that represents the material to be imitated.

The paper provided with the image is impregnated with resins, for example phenolic or melamine resin or mixed forms, after the image has been attached. Additives may be included in the resins, for example for better processability and fillers to reduce material costs. The overlay is also provided with resin. Both papers are later connected to each other and to the carrier plate by melting the resin in a hot pressing process.

The use of resin-impregnated papers is problematic and expensive. This is problematic because the paper printed with the image grows in length and width. Because of the moistening of the paper with molten resin and the associated growth, the size of the paper is variable after impregnation. It depends on influencing factors such as air humidity, paper quality, resin quality, etc. After impregnation, the surface of the resin paper is stamped with a press tool. However, due to the variable paper size, the surface structure usually lacks an exact overlap with the graphic image. Two steps are therefore required to produce an impregnated paper. In a first step, the decor print must be reduced in length and width and with a specific one

Shrink size to be printed on the paper. In a second step, the paper is moistened with resin and grows, whereby the paper in the grown state should match the size of the press tool. The process is inaccurate due to variable paper growth. The use of resin-impregnated papers also requires a so-called backing, namely a paper that has to be attached to the underside of the carrier plate in order to create a balance with the papers that form the wear layer on the top of the carrier plate. If the paper layers were not hot-pressed with the carrier plate, the floor panel would warp strongly if there was no counter-pull.

The complexity of processing resin and paper increases the reject rate in the production of the impregnated decorative print. Papers that fall below or exceed the target size cannot be used for lamination because the image and embossing would not overlap.

Furthermore, the energy and plant costs for pressing resin-containing papers with a carrier plate are high because high temperatures and amounts of heat have to be introduced into the layers to be joined in order to melt the resin and in this way to connect the layers to one another.

Another disadvantage is seen in the arrangement of the abrasion-resistant particles. Two alternatives are known for integrating the particles. Alternative 1: The particles are in the overlay paper. They are mixed with the paper fibers during the production of the overlay paper. The overlay paper is then resin impregnated. Alternative 2: The overlay paper is free of particles. Instead, these are mixed in a resin, but the overlay paper is only coated on one side with the resin / particle mixture and the opposite side of the overlay paper is coated with particle-free resin. To emboss the relief, the particle-free resin-coated side of the overlay paper must face the press tool in order to prevent the surface of the press tool from being abraded by the hard particles.

Both of the alternatives mentioned have the disadvantage that the surface is formed to a certain depth from particle-free material. This particle-free material wears out quickly when using the floor panel. Wear only slows down when the layer in which the abrasion-resistant particles are distributed appears. Then the surface relief is already damaged.

The invention has for its object to provide a floor panel that has an exact coverage of imaging areas of a decor and the associated surface structures, wherein the floor panel offers a wear-resistant relief surface and is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

According to the invention, the object is achieved in that the decorative image is coated with a lacquer layer, in that the depressions in the relief are produced by a chemical which reacts with the lacquer, and in that the abrasion-resistant particles are arranged in the lacquer layer.

The painted decorative image can be attached as a preliminary product, for example on paper or a film, and is connected to it to produce a laminated plate. Lower pressures and temperatures are sufficient for the connection than for the connection of resin-impregnated papers with a wood-based panel. This means that laminate presses or laminate rollers can be simplified if they are used to process floor panels without resin impregnation. A heating device can, depending on the connection method between the carrier plate and the

The preliminary product is completely eliminated. A warping of the floor elements is prevented due to the low heat input. Therefore, a return move can be dispensed with. The graphic illustration can also be printed without considering a shrinkage dimension. This simplifies the imitation of photographed surfaces, because the step of downsizing in manufacturing the printing and the step of a subsequent enlargement by growth of the paper is spared. Since there is no embossing on the paper surface, there are no problems in connection with the alignment of the image and surface structure to one another, and an exact overlap of the surface structure and the imaging areas of the graphic image is achieved. In this way, for example, a branch of an imitation wood can be palpated on the embossed surface and graphically depicted in exactly the same place in a deeper layer. The image is visible through the transparent lacquer. The tactile as well as the visual impression are coordinated locally and overlap exactly. In this way, an improved imitation of wood, ceramic, natural stone surfaces, etc. is achieved.

The relief of the wear layer is formed by the lacquer layer. Abrasion-resistant particles are distributed in the paint layer and reach up to the paint surface. There is therefore no particle-free area between the graphic image and the relief surface that could quickly wear out. The wear protection effect due to the abrasion-resistant particles thus occurs immediately when the floor surface is used. The relief surface is particularly well protected against abrasive stress.

The decorative illustration and the lacquer layer are simply arranged on a prefabricated decorative paper and the decorative paper is connected to the carrier plate in the finished state of the floor panel. Alternatively, a decorative film can also be provided instead of a decorative paper. For example, a decorative film made of plastic has the advantage that it can be stretched. This property makes it easier to encase and can be used, for example, for three-dimensional coating of an edge shape.

The lacquered decorative paper is advantageously attached to the carrier plate with an adhesive. As an adhesive, suitable physically setting or chemically reacting adhesives. Pressure sensitive adhesives can also be used, for example in the form of a double-sided film which is arranged between the decorative paper and the carrier plate. The adhesive can be applied to the paper or film before pressing.

It is helpful if the coated decorative paper forms a partial covering of the edges at least on two opposite edges of the carrier plate. The edges of the carrier plate are usually machined. Wood fibers of the wood material of the carrier plate are exposed. The dry wood material can easily absorb and swell. The penetration of moisture into the wood material is slowed down by completely or partially encasing the processed edge. The top layer of lacquered decorative paper is preferably applied after the broken edge has been milled onto the carrier plate. The decorative paper protrudes from the broken edges to be coated. It is then pressed on and glued to the carrier plate. It can either be cut to the required length or shortened to the required size after gluing.

Because the surface of the floor panel is structured, the butted edges of two panels are never congruent. The height of the edge of a floor panel varies in a range between the highest point and the lowest point of the surface relief. In other words, the edge of a floor panel is irregularly corrugated. The course results during the machining of the edge of the floor panel. The edge course corresponds to the profile that the relief has in the plane in which the edge processing is carried out.

In the assembled state, a lower part of the edge of a floor panel according to the prior art can be attached to a higher area of the edge of a neighboring panel. Elevated edge areas protrude from a floor surface and are prone to breakage. They are easily damaged by bumps. In order to prevent such breakage, the carrier plate of the proposed floor panel expediently has broken edges on the outer edges on the side of the wear layer. This protects the edges from flaking. The edges are less sensitive because a recess is created in the area of a joint between adjacent floor panels and the lower edges are protected from bumps and wear.

Simply two opposing broken edges of the carrier plate are covered with a self-adhesive decorative film. This has the following advantage: on a carrier plate, which has, for example, a rectangular shape, two opposing broken edges can be completely covered with the wear layer. The sheathing of the other two edges is complex in terms of production technology because there is a little more surface of the wear layer in the area of each corner than is required for the sheathing. A protruding remainder of the wear layer must be cut off either before or after the covering at every corner of a rectangular floor panel.

The proposed edge protection by the covering of the floor panel can alternatively be achieved by coating with a self-adhesive decorative film. This simplifies production. To do this, first edges have to be covered with the wear layer. These are then processed at the ends, for example with a milling tool, in order to protrude parts of the

Remove wear layer. This provides a clean surface for coating with the decorative film.

For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that a decorative film without self-adhesive properties can also be processed, which must be attached with another suitable adhesive. The Decorative film does not have to contain abrasion-resistant particles because the broken edges protrude below the surface of a finished floor and are therefore subject to little abrasion.

The casing can coat the edge of the floor panel beyond the broken edges. This protects an even larger part of the machined edge of the floor panel from the ingress of moisture. Even if the edges of the carrier plate have tongue and groove profiles, a pair of opposite edges can be completely or partially covered with the wear layer. A complete sheathing of the spring profile is associated with great effort. Sheathing a spring profile up to or almost up to the tongue and sheathing the free end of an upper groove wall of the groove profile is technically simple because the wear layer only has to be bent at the broken edge. Additional bends, for example around the top of the tongue profile or into the groove of the groove profile, increase the technical effort.

The edges of the carrier plate can have positive locking profiles with undercuts which, when installed, prevent the floor panels from pulling apart in a direction perpendicular to the locking profiles in the plane of the floor panels. Likewise, the edges of the carrier plate can have conventional tongue and groove profiles, which are below

Addition of glue must be combined.

The cladding is of particular importance for floors that are to have certain laying patterns, such as a herringbone pattern that is assembled from wooden bars.

So far, mainly floor panels are produced, which can have an image of several wooden bars. For example, floor panels with a ship floor look. Installation patterns, such as herringbone patterns, cannot be produced with large floor panels because the course of the joints between the panels would disrupt the appearance of the herringbone pattern. In addition, on The edge of a wooden bar lying on the floor panel is only partially shown. The bar pieces shown on the edge would have to be put together during installation by placing them exactly against the neighboring panels so that two bar pieces shown complement each other to form a whole wooden bar. An exact picture of the joints would have to be taken into account in order to avoid misalignment of the transom pieces that together should represent a wooden transom.

One solution for laying such patterns is to design individual wooden bars as small floor panels instead of displaying several wooden bars on a large floor panel. Each floor panel depicts a single wooden bar. The laying pattern is therefore no longer an illustration. Instead, the laying pattern is produced using the individual imitated wooden bars, which, like the original wooden bars, are arranged in any pattern.

The measure of laying individual imitations of wooden bars increases the proportion of joints in a floor. Joints that were previously shown as printed joints on large-scale floor panels are now real joints. The protection of the machined edges of the floor panels is therefore of greater importance the smaller the floor panels are. Because of the relatively high proportion of joints in small floor panels, for example, more moisture can penetrate into the support panels when cleaning than with a floor made of large-area panels. By covering the edges of small floor panels as described above, however, the joints are adequately protected against moisture absorption.

A layer of paper or film can be attached to the underside of the carrier plate for the purpose of protection against moisture or as a measure for impact sound insulation. This layer can be partially connected to the underside of the carrier plate. A full-surface connection, like the connection of a return train the carrier plate, can be spared.

The invention is illustrated below by way of example in a drawing and described in detail with reference to individual figures. Show it:

1 shows a detail of two locked floor panels with a broken edge, an upper side of the panels being provided with a lacquered top layer,

2 shows a schematic representation of a wear layer,

3 shows a partial representation of two locked floor panels with a broken edge, an upper side of the panels being provided with a lacquered wear layer, and with partially encased milled locking profiles

Fig. 4 is a partial view of two locked floor panels without a broken edge, an upper surface of the panels being provided with a lacquered wear layer.

In Fig. 1, two floor panels 1 and 2 according to the invention are shown, which are locked together. Each floor panel 1 or 2 has complementary locking profiles on opposite edges, so that the profile of one edge and the profile of the opposite edge of a floor panel match each other in such a way that a similar floor panel can be fastened to the free edge of a laid floor panel. Thus, the floor panel 1 is provided with a groove profile on the edge facing away from the tongue profile 15 (not shown) and the floor panel 2 has a tongue profile opposite its groove profile 14 (not shown). Both floor panels 1 and 2 have a carrier plate 3 or 4, on the top of which a wear layer 5 or 6 is attached.

In order to explain the structure of the wear layer 5 or 6, a section of the wear layer is shown schematically in FIG. 2. Thereafter, the wear layer has a paper 7 which is printed with a decorative graphic illustration 8 and which, provided with the graphic, can be referred to as decorative paper 7. The graphic illustration 8 is divided into different image areas 9 and 10. To protect the figure 8 from abrasion, it is coated with a transparent lacquer 11. The thickness of the lacquer layer 11 and the thickness of the paper 7 are shown in FIG. 2 without proportionality. The lacquer 11 is transparent and mixed with abrasion-resistant particles 12 for the purpose of high wear resistance. The particles 12 reach up to the paint surface. The lacquer surface also has a surface relief 13 that matches the graphic image 8 on the paper 7 exactly. Depressions and elevations of the surface relief 13 each overlap with specific imaging areas 9 and 10 of the graphic illustration 8. The depressions in the surface relief 13 have been produced by a chemical applied before the lacquer coating, which reacts with the lacquer 11 after it has been applied. In FIG. 2, deep points - depressions 13a - of the relief 13 can be seen, which are protected with a thin lacquer layer, and higher areas - elevations 13b - of the surface relief 13, which are protected with a thicker lacquer layer. The deep spots 13a of the surface relief are included

Imaging areas 9 of graphic illustration 8 overlap. In this way, the tactile and visual impression complement each other and there is a particularly good imitation of a floor surface. A depression in the lacquer layer 11 can reach up to the printed paper 7 at most. Such a recess lacks the protective lacquer layer. Such Wells should preferably have a small area so that they are well protected from wear from surrounding raised areas.

A wear layer according to FIG. 2 is prefabricated. To produce a floor panel 1 or 2, the prefabricated wear layer 5 or 6 is attached to a carrier plate 3 or 4.

According to FIGS. 1 and 3, the floor panels 1 and 2 lie with the underside of the carrier plates 3 and 4 made of wood-based material on a laying substrate U, for example a soft underlay that absorbs impact sound.

The carrier plates 3 and 4 of the floor panels 1 and 2 have a refraction at the upper edges. In the present case, the edge breaks are formed by milled radii R1 and R2. The radius Rl of the carrier plate 3 is covered with the wear layer 5. The radius R2 of the support plate 4 of the adjacent floor panel 2 is covered with the wear layer 6. The edges of the floor panels 1 and 2 are slightly deeper at their joint than the surface of the floor panels 1 and 2. They are thus protected against wear and breakage when laid.

The floor panels 1 and 2- have locking profiles.

These are designed as modified tongue and groove profiles 14 and 15. According to FIGS. 1 and 3, the tongue 15a is positively fitted in the groove 14a, an undercut between the tongue profile 15 and the tongue profile 14 preventing the tongue profile 15 from being pulled out of the groove profile 14 when the locked floor panels 1 and 2 are on one Lay underground U. Of course, conventional tongue and groove profiles can also be provided, which have no undercut and need to be glued or any.

Panel floors are often laid floating. That means, you have a gap to the walls of an installation room. Furthermore, a soft underlay is often used for impact sound insulation, which serves as a subfloor U for the floor panels 1 and 2. In order to promote sinking of the floor into such a soft surface at the junction of the floor panels 1 and 2, the positive locking profiles 14 and 15 form a common joint G in the locked state, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 described below. The articulated resilience built into the connection protects the locking profiles from breakage.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show alternative designs of floor panels 1 and 2 with locking profiles 14 and 15. The design of the geometry and the function of the locking profiles 14 and 15 each correspond to the embodiment described above in accordance with FIG. 1. For this reason, the same features are used same reference numerals used.

In FIG. 3, the only difference from the embodiment according to FIG. 1 is at the edges of the floor panels 1 and 2. There, the wear layer 5 or 6 is guided further into the joint of the butted edges beyond the broken edges of the carrier plates 3 and 4 , At the edge of the floor panel 1, the covering of the wear layer 5 extends almost up to the top of the spring 15a of a spring profile. On the edge of the

Floor panel 2, the free end of an upper groove wall of a groove profile 14 is almost completely covered with the wear layer 6. The entire joint of the locked tongue and groove profiles 14 and 15 has a labyrinthine course. The joint has a part facing the top of the floor panels 1 and 2 and a part facing the bottom of the floor panels 1 and 2. The tongue 15a and groove 14a are located approximately in the middle of the carrier plates between the mentioned joint parts. The part of the joint facing the top of the floor panels 1 and 2 is heavily burdened by penetrating moisture and dirt in daily use. Penetrates the remaining parts of the joint less moisture and dirt. For normal applications of floor panels 1 and 2 in the domestic area, therefore, a sheathing in the area of the joint part facing the top of the floor panels 1 and 2 is sufficient.

Fig. 4 shows a particularly simple embodiment of floor panels 1 and 2, which are shown lying on a laying surface U. These floor panels have no broken edges of the support plates 3 and 4. The surfaces of the carrier plates 3 and 4 are flat. The wear layers 5 and 6 are attached to the flat surface of the carrier plates 3 and 4. The ends of the wear layers 5 and β abut each other. A tongue profile 15 and a groove profile 14 engage behind and connect the adjacent panels. Spring profile 15 and groove profile 14 form a common joint G. Of course, the carrier plates 3 and 4 could alternatively also be provided with another positive locking profile or have a conventional undercut-free profile that has to be connected with glue.

floor panel

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 floor panel

2 floor panels

3 carrier plate

4 carrier plate

5 wear layer

6 wear layer

7 paper

8 graphic illustration

9 imaging area

10 imaging area

11 lacquer

12 abrasion resistant particles

13 surface relief

13a deepening

13b increase

14 groove profile

14a groove

15 spring profile

15a spring

G joint

Rl radius

R2 radius

U installation base

Claims

FußbodenpaneelPatentansprüche

1. Floor panel (1, 2) with a carrier plate (3, 4) on which a wear layer (5, β) with a decorative image (8) divided into different image areas (9, 10) is attached, the decorative image ( 8) is protected against wear with abrasion-resistant particles (12), and the surface of the wear layer (5, 6) has a relief (13) with depressions (13a) and elevations (13b), and the depressions (13a) with certain image areas (9) and the elevations (13b) overlap with other image areas (10) of the decorative image (8), characterized in that the decorative image (8) is covered with a transparent lacquer layer (11) in that the depressions ( 13a) of the relief (13) are produced by a chemical that reacts with the lacquer, and that the abrasion-resistant particles (12) are arranged in the lacquer layer (11).

2. Floor panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the decorative image (8) and the lacquer layer (11) are arranged on a prefabricated decorative paper (7), and that the decorative paper (7) in the finished state with the carrier plate (3, 4) connected is.

3. Floor panel according to claim 2, dadurchge - indicates that the painted decorative paper (7) is attached to the carrier plate (3, 4) with an adhesive.

4. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 3, d a - du r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the lacquered decorative paper (7) forms a partial covering of the edges at least on two opposite edges of the carrier plate (3, 4).

5. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 4, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that the carrier plate (3, 4) on the side of the wear layer (5, 6) has broken edges on its outer edges.

6. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 5, d a d u r c h g e k e n n z e i c h n e t that two opposite broken edges of the support plate (3, 4) are coated with a self-adhesive decorative film.