FR2877861A1 - Transversal and/or longitudinal upper edge e.g. chamfer, coating method for e.g. stratified floor strips of floor covering, involves simultaneously applying impregnating paint on two opposite chamfers of same panel, by capillarity effect - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves bringing two transversal and/or longitudinal chamfers (2) in tight contact with two impregnating paint dispensing tools, by covering stratified floor strips (1) successively. The paint is delivered under light pressure by the tools. The impregnating paint is simultaneously applied on the two opposite transversal and/or longitudinal chamfers of the same stratified floor strip, by capillarity effect. An independent claim is also included for a transversal and/or longitudinal upper edge coating method implementing device.

Description

2877861 1

  The subject of the present invention is a dressing method, by application of an impregnating paint, such as a varnish, a lacquer, a stain or the like, of at least one of the longitudinal upper and / or transverse panel edges. constituting a floor covering, such as laminated parquet boards, said edge being in the form of a chamfer made from the upper face towards the core of said panel. The invention also relates to a device for implementing such a method.

  The invention relates more specifically to the field of laminate flooring, conventionally composed of a plurality of blades, arranged singing against edge and assembled to each other, either by interlocking and gluing, or by simple interlocking and mechanical locking.

  Each of the blades constituting such a floor covering conventionally comprises a wood-based core, or derived from a wood panel derived from particle board or HDF or MDF, that is to say made of particles or fibers of pressed wood in press using a binder, such as a resin.

  It should be noted, however, that this soul of a blade can still be made from recycled materials.

  This core is covered on its upper face with a printed decorative sheet, and an overlay comprising an impregnating resin, while its underside receives a coating, called a "balance", intended to balance the stresses, and for which is conventionally used kraft paper, applied by resin impregnation.

  Until recently, it was customary to manufacture laminate flooring in which the joints, resulting from the assembly of the different blades together, were the most discrete possible. The edges of the blades were for this purpose machined to be completely contiguous, so that once properly juxtaposed, said joints are virtually invisible. Thus, the different coatings proposed by the manufacturers were distinguished from each other only by the appearance, in terms of color and pattern, of the upper face of the blades.

  At present, however, a new style of laminate flooring, in which the joints between the blades appear in the form of well marked grooves, has emerged on the market.

  To obtain such a finish, the upper longitudinal edges of each of the blades, or even their transverse edges, are chamfered, so as to provide, once the flooring is laid, a space, appearing in the form of the desired groove, between the respective chamfers of two consecutive blades.

  This raises, however, at present a manufacturing problem, because the chamfering operation, generally performed on blades whose upper face has already been dressed with the decorative sheet and the upper protective layer called overlay , gives rise to chamfers devoid of such coatings, and at which appears the material, based on wood or other, defining the soul of each blade. Therefore an additional phase of manufacture is required, during which each chamfer receives a covering, in the form of an impregnating resin, such as a varnish, giving it a final appearance, as the case may be, identical or close, in terms of color, to that of the upper face of the blade considered or otherwise perfectly distinctive, so as to highlight the groove between the assembled blades.

  Several processes and devices are already used at the moment to carry out this operation.

  Thus, for example, there is known a first technology which consists in coating each of the chamfers with a decorative film deposited from a transfer paper.

  Many manufacturers, however, remain hesitant about using this technique, not only because of its high cost, but also because of a very low efficiency.

  Indeed the application speeds of such a film are of the order of 20 meters per minute only, which is extremely slow 2877861 3 and not compatible with an industrial process based on the use of machines operating speed well higher.

  Another system is to paint, for example to varnish the chamfers vacuum spray. The blades scroll for this purpose one after the other through a chamber, in which the varnish is sprayed to the area concerned. In order to avoid unwanted projections of varnish outside the chamfered areas, and in particular on the decorative upper face of the blades, it is intended to introduce a vacuum in the spray chamber, further provided with a filtration system suitable for collect the excess varnish particles, which are then still subjected to several treatments for recycling. Note that during these treatments the varnish can heat up and harden. To avoid this, it is necessary not only to cool, but also to moisten the varnish to allow its recycling.

  This system has many disadvantages, both in terms of price and in terms of implementation.

  Thus, in particular, in order to replace one type of varnish with another, for example having a different shade, it is necessary to proceed to a complete emptying of the machine, which implies a careful rinsing, ie a duration of at least two hours during which the installation is stopped.

  In addition, the machine is not only currently marketed at a particularly high price, but also leads to significant product consumption, is difficult to use and requires many interventions, as well as constant monitoring and maintenance.

  The present invention therefore aims to overcome the various disadvantages mentioned above and proposes a new method of dressing the upper longitudinal and / or transverse edges of elements constituting a floor covering, such as laminated parquet boards, the or the songs 2877861 4 concerned being defined by a chamfer. The invention also relates to a device for implementing said method.

  In particular, the object of the invention is to propose a particularly economical, cost-effective and nevertheless effective solution to the problem presented.

  For this purpose, the invention relates to a dressing process, by application of an impregnating paint, such as a varnish, a lacquer a stain or the like, of at least one of the upper longitudinal and / or transverse edges panels constituting a floor covering, such as laminated parquet boards, said edge being in the form of a chamfer made from the upper face towards the core of said panel, characterized in that one brings, by scrolling the panels one after the other, said chamfer in close contact with at least one impregnating paint dispensing tool and which is applied, by capillary action, said impregnating paint on said chamfer.

  The present process is further characterized in that said impregnating paint is delivered under slight pressure by the dispensing tool.

  According to another particularly advantageous characteristic, the invention also provides, during the scrolling of said panels one after the other, a detection of the beginning and end of each of them, with respect to their sense of scrolling, so as to suspend the flow of said impregnating paint at the time of detection of the end end of a panel until the detection of the beginning end of the next panel.

  The invention also relates to a device for implementing such a method, characterized in that it comprises at least one dispensing tool equipped with at least one paint distribution nozzle, means capable of bringing each panels, by scrolling one after the other, in front of the dispensing tool and means adapted to ensure a close contact between said dispensing tool and the chamfer of the panel.

  According to an advantageous embodiment of this device, the dispenser tool comprises a chamber under low impregnation paint supply pressure.

  The invention and its advantages will now be better understood on reading the description which follows, referring to exemplary embodiments given by way of indication and not limitation.

  The understanding of this description will be facilitated in view of the appended figures in which: FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a cross-section of a laminated parquet board, whose longitudinal upper edges are chamfered and are likely to be concerned with the method and the device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 represents a diagrammatic view of a transverse section of two laminated parquet strips, of the same type as that shown schematically in FIG. 1, associated with each other; FIG. a sectional view of a laminate parquet board having chamfered edges, subjected to the action of a dispensing tool of a device according to the invention, Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the application surface of a dispensing tool of the device according to the invention; - FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the applicatio surface. n of a dispensing tool of the device according to the invention.

  The present invention relates to a method for application to floor covering panels, such as laminated parquet boards 1, whose longitudinal and / or transverse upper edges are defined by chamfers 2.

  According to FIG. 1, such blades 1 are conventionally made of a core 3 made of recycled or wood-based materials, originating from a particleboard or of the HDF or MDF type. This core 3 of a blade 1 is coated, at the upper face 10, with a printed decorative sheet 4 covered with an overlay 5 comprising an impregnating resin, and at the bottom face 11, a "balance", generally defined by a sheet of kraft paper 6 applied by resin impregnation.

  The blades 1 still conventionally have interlocking elements of complementary shapes, for example a tongue 12 and a groove 13, at which they are associated with each other by gluing or mechanical locking.

  As can be seen in FIG. 2, the presence of the chamfers 2 makes it possible to lead to a type of laminate parquet, in which the joint between two consecutive blades 1 appears, at the level of the upper face 10 of the blade 1, in the form of a groove 7.

  Since the chamfering operation is currently performed on blades 1 already coated with the decorative sheet 4 and the overlay 5 and the resulting groove is apparent, these Chamfers require a finishing operation.

  Thus there is therefore a complementary step, devoted to the dressing of the chamfers 2, that is to say the application, on these areas, of a layer of an impregnating paint, for example a varnish, a lacquer, a stain or the like, so that their final shade is, depending on the case, matching that of the upper face 10 or, on the contrary, to highlight the grooves between the blades.

  According to the method according to the invention, and thanks to the device allowing its implementation, this dressing is carried out by bringing, by appropriate means of scrolling, the blades 1 one after the other, at the level of a dispensing tool 8 provided at least one dispensing nozzle 81 of impregnating paint, and applying the latter to each chamfer 2, by capillary action, by means 2877861 7 able to ensure a close contact between each chamfer 2 and said dispensing tool 8.

  In fact, as can be seen in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the tool 8 has an application surface 80 provided with the dispensing nozzle 81 and in contact with which each chamfer 2 is brought along with the movement of the blades 1.

  This application surface 80 is characterized by a width preferably at least equal to that of the chamfers 2, so as to promote the distribution of the paint by capillary effect over the entire width of the chamfer.

  On the other hand, according to FIGS. 4 and 5, the application surface 80 may have different shapes, for example a planar shape, but also a convex shape, at the top of which is located the dispensing nozzle 81 of the paint. 'impregnation.

  It will be readily understood that the convex shape makes it possible to guarantee an even closer contact between the dispensing nozzle 81 and each chamfer 2, which proves particularly suitable in the case of the application of an impregnating resin presenting a low degree of viscosity.

  In this regard, the present method also provides for light pressure delivery of said impregnating paint by the dispensing tool 8. This pressure is selected according to the degree of viscosity of the impregnating paint used.

  More particularly, the dispensing tool 8 comprises a chamber 82 for supplying impregnating paint through which it is brought to the dispensing nozzle 81. Advantageously, it is established in this supply chamber 82 pressure promoting the flow of paint.

  This way of proceeding has several notable advantages. In particular, the fact of using the capillary phenomenon to apply the impregnating paint, and not a spraying, leads to a very high precision, which makes it possible in particular to avoid product projections in the areas concerned. that is, the chamfers 2. Therefore, it is thus not only possible to reduce the amounts of impregnating paint required, but also to avoid filtration operations, recovery and recycling, encountered conventionally.

  On the other hand, the present invention has other features, both from the point of view of the method as that of the device, advantageous over prior art.

  Thus, according to a feature promoting the rapidity of the process, it is further provided, by means of the implementation of two dispensing tools 8, working together, to simultaneously coat the two longitudinal or transverse chamfers 2 of the same blade 1 of impregnating resin.

  Furthermore, according to another characteristic, it is intended to proceed, during the scroll blades 1, a detection of their respective beginning ends and end, with respect to their direction of travel. This is achieved by means of suitable detection means, such as, for example, optical means, and advantageously makes it possible to suspend the flow of the impregnating paint, for example by acting on the pressure in the feed chamber, at the time of detection of the end end of a blade 1 until the detection of the beginning end of the next blade 1. Thus, this also helps to prevent any undesirable flow of paint outside the application areas.

  Furthermore, by means of the present method, it is also planned to operate by series of blades 1 having the same finish, ie to treat during the same operation all the chamfers 2 requiring the application of a same impregnation paint, chosen according to the desired final appearance, and to purge the dispensing tool 8 when replacing one type of paint with another.

  In addition, according to another possibility, making it possible to avoid any interruption of operation of the device according to the invention, it is provided, thanks to interchangeable dispensing tools 8, each dedicated to a given type of impregnating paint, to use alternatively one or the other of them. Thus, this feature avoids purging and provides more flexibility in the implementation of the method.

  As it is clear from the foregoing, the present invention has many advantages over prior art, including those mentioned above.

  In particular, because of the precision of the application of the impregnating paint by capillarity effect and the absence of projections outside the areas concerned, it allows not only to reduce the quantities of paint used, but also to eliminate paint recovery and recycling operations imposed by certain conventional methods.

  On the other hand, the device used for the implementation of the method is based on simpler means, less expensive, requiring little intervention and therefore a reduced workforce, and can operate almost without interruption.

  Although the invention has been described with respect to a particular embodiment, it is understood that it is in no way limited and that various modifications of shape, materials and combinations thereof can be made. various elements without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims (14)

  1. Method of covering by application of an impregnating paint, such as a varnish, lacquer, stain or the like, of at least one of the longitudinal and / or transverse upper edges of panels (1) constituting a floor covering, such as strips (1) of laminate flooring, said edge being in the form of a chamfer (2) made from the upper face (10) to the core (3) of said panel (1) , characterized in that the said chamfer (2) is brought, by scrolling the panels (1) one after the other, in close contact with at least one impregnating paint dispensing tool (8) and that the said impregnation paint is applied by capillary action to said chamfer (2).   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it delivers said impregnating paint under slight pressure by the dispensing tool (8).   3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one applies said impregnation paint simultaneously on the two longitudinal and / or transverse chamfers (2) opposite of the same panel (1). 4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one proceeds, during the scrolling of said panels (1) one after the other, to a detection of the beginning and end ends of each of between them, with respect to their direction of travel, so as to suspend the flow of said impregnating paint at the time of the detection of the end end of a panel (1) until the detection of the beginning end of the next panel (1).   5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the flow of the impregnating paint is suspended by acting on the flow pressure of the impregnating paint.   2877861 11 6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one purge ditributeur tool (8) during a possible replacement of a type of impregnating paint by another type, chosen according to the desired final appearance of the chamfer (2).   7. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that one uses alternately different dispensing tools (8), each dedicated to a given type of impregnating paint, selected according to the final appearance desired chamfer (2) of the panel (1) considered.   8. Device for implementing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises at least one dispensing tool (8) equipped with at least one paint dispensing nozzle (81), means adapted to bring each of the panels (1), by scrolling one after the other, in front of the dispensing tool (8) and means adapted to ensure a close contact between said dispensing tool (8) and the chamfer (2). ) of the panel.   9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the dispensing tool (8) comprises a chamber (82) under low impregnation paint supply pressure.   10.Dispositif according to any one of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that said dispensing tool (8) has an application surface (80) intended to come into close contact with the chamfer (2) to dress and whose width corresponds at least to that of said chamfer (2).   11. Device according to claim 10, characterized in that said application surface (80) has a convex shape.   12. Device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that said ditributeur tool (8) is of interchangeable type.   13. Device according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that it is equipped with means for detecting the beginning and end ends of each of the panels (1) relative to their direction of travel.   2877861 12 14. Device according to claim 13, characterized in that said means for detecting the beginning and end ends of each of the blades (1), are defined by optical means.