GB2068830A

GB2068830A - Laminate

Info

Publication number: GB2068830A
Application number: GB8004122A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1980-02-07
Filing date: 1980-02-07
Publication date: 1981-08-19

Abstract

A laminate suitable for cladding the walls of cold rooms, abattoirs, etc., and which can be bent e.g. after scoring to accommodate angles and corners without the application of heat, comprises a substantially rigid backing board 2 of foamed plastics material, a facing layer 12 comprising a flexible sheet of substantially impermeable plastics material, and a flexible and resiliently compressible interlayer 6 of foamed plastics or rubber located between and bonded to each of the board and the facing layer. The board 2 may have an aluminised paper bonded to each face and the interlayer 6 may have a layer 8 of nylon filament netting on one face and an aluminium foil 10 on the other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Laminate This invention relates to a laminate suitable for cladding the internal surfaces, especially the walls, of rooms such as cold rooms, abattoirs and industrial food processing plants.

For many industrial purposes, especially where food processing is involved, it is important for the internal surfaces of rooms where the processing is carried out to be readily cleanable and to be such as to inhibit the harbouring or generation of bacteria, etc.

For this purpose, it is known to clad the surfaces of the rooms with rigid plastics sheets, e.g. pvc sheets which are generally attached to wooden battens fastened on the walls of the room. However, there is a problem in accommodating angles and corners.

This involves marking up the sheets and then heat-softening them and bending them to the required shape. Moreover, joining the sheets involves welding them together which also requires the application of heat.

The present invention provides a cladding which can be readily and simply bent to accommodate angles and corners, even of quite small radius, without the application of heat.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cladding laminate comprising a substantially rigid backing board of foamed plastics material, a facing layer comprising a flexible sheet of substantially impermeable plastics material, and a flexible interlayer of foamed plastics or rubber located between and bonded to each of the board and the facing layer, the interlayer also being resiliently compressible.

The backing board of foamed plastics material provides the rigidity required to aid fixing the cladding without warping to a surface such as of brick or plaster which may be uneven. Generally, it will be about 10 to 30 mm thick although greater or smaller thicknesses may be used if desired. While other foamed plastics materials may be used, e.g.

foamed phenolic resin, a preferred foamed plastics material is polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foam which may, if desired, be faced on one or both its two main faces with metallic foil, e.g. aluminium foil or aluminised paper or board, although this is not essential for the invention.

The facing layer provides the exposed surface of the cladding when the cladding is attached to the wall and may be of any suitable plastics material provided it is substantially impermeable so that it does not absorb moisture. The preferred material is a polymer or copolymer formed mainly from vinyl chloride, e.g. pvc or vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer. The layer must be sufficiently thin so as to be flexible without breaking, and preferably must be capable of being bent round a radius as small as 20 mm or even less without cracking or splitting, but must be sufficiently thick to resist accidental impacts. The appropriate thickness will depend upon the choice of the material but will generally be in the range 1 5 to 25 gauge. Its exposed surface is preferably polished to assist cleansing.

When a decorative or mirror-like effect is required, the facing layer may be transparent or translucent and a metallic foil may be included between the facing layer and the flexible interlayer. Where such a metallic foil is employed, thinner facing layers may be acceptable because of the additional strength imparted by the foil.

A primary purpose of the interlayer is to permit relative movement between the backing board and the facing layer, e.g. to accommodate differences in their coefficients of thermal expansion. Preferably, the interlayer is of foamed elastomer, e.g. foamed natural or foamed synthetic rubber. It will generally be thinner than the backing board and thicker than the facing layer, suitable thicknesses generally being in the range 2 to 5 mm.

To reduce difficulties associated with stretching of the interlayer during manufacture of the laminate, it has been found advantageous to bond a layer of netting, e.g. polyamide filament netting, of fine mesh size to one or both faces of the interlayer. The mesh size of the netting is suitably 1 mm or less.

The laminate may be formed in any suitable manner but in one preferred method the backing board, interlayer (optionally with a layer of netting bonded to one or both surfaces thereof), and facing layer are preformed separately by well-known techniques and bonded to each other using suitable adhesives. Where a metallic foil is provided between the facing layer and the interlayer, the foil and facing layer are preferably provided as a preformed plastics-coated foil.

The laminate can be bent around an internal corner simply by scoring through the backing board, and optionally also the interlayer, along the axis of the desired bend and then bending the laminate about the said axis.

For an external corner, one or more notches, preferably having a truncated V-shape, are cut. Although heat may be applied to the facing layer, if desired, to temporarily soften it to assist bending where small radii of curvature are required, this will not normally be necessary and is generally not desirable.

Bending is assisted by the compressibility of the interlayer.

Apart from having the capability of being bent around corners, the laminate also has the advantages of being relatively light and therefore easy to transport and handle in even quite large sheets, and of providing a degree of thermal insulation. It is also readily cut by saw or knife. It is preferably attached to a surface such as of a wall, floor or ceiling, by a suitable adhesive. Adjacent sheets of the laminate may be joined together by bonding a strip of plastics, preferably the same plastics as that forming the surface layer, over the joint.

The invention is now illustrated with reference to one embodiment of a laminate according to the invention and with the aid of the accompanying drawings, not to scale, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a part of the laminate, scored and notched ready for bending about internal and external corners, Figure 2 is a plan view of the laminate of Fig. 1 bent to accommodate such corners, and Figure 3 shows the joining of adjacent sheet of the laminate.

Referring to Fig. 1, the laminate comprises an aluminium-faced backing board comprising a block 2 of foamed polyisocyanurate having a foil 4 of aluminised thick paper bonded to each face thereof, an interlayer 6 of latex foam provided with a layer of nylon filament netting 8 on one face thereof, an aluminium foil 10 and a surface layer 1 2 comprising a layer of clear pvc bonded to the aluminium foil. The thickness of the board, latex foam and pvc layer are, respectively, approximately 21 mm, approximately 3 mm and approximately 20 gauge. The aluminium-faced board, the interlayer with associated layer of nylon net and the aluminium foil/pvc combination are each formed separately in known manner and then adhesively bonded to each other to form the laminate.

For accommodating a 90 internal corner, the laminate is scored as shown at 14 to cut through the board 2, foils 4 and interlayer 6, and then bent along the axis of the score-line as illustrated in Fig. 2. To accommodate a corresponding external corner, a truncated Vshaped notch is cut in the laminate as shown at 16,,the notch cutting through the board 2 and foils 4, and the laminate is then bent as illustrated in Fig. 2.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, two adjacent sheets 20 of the laminate are joined together by a strip 22 of pvc adhesively bonded over the joint line.

Claims

1. A cladding-laminate comprising a substantially rigid backing board of foamed plastics material and a facing layer comprising a flexible sheet of substantially impermeable plastics material, and a flexible and resiliently compressible interlayer of foamed plastics or rubber located between and bonded to each of the board and the facing layer.

2. A laminate as claimed in claim 1 in which the facing layer is transparent or translucent and a metallic foil is included between the interlayer and the facing layer.

3. A laminate as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 including a layer of netting bonded to at least one face of the flexible interlayer.

4. A laminate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 in which one or both surfaces of the board is faced with metallic foil.

5. A laminate as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.