GB2237587A

GB2237587A - Decorative surface covering

Info

Publication number: GB2237587A
Application number: GB8924510A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen Andrew Watt; Jacques Abrassart; Dr Karl Deckert
Original assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Current assignee: Armstrong World Industries Inc
Priority date: 1989-10-31
Filing date: 1989-10-31
Publication date: 1991-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 2009-10-31
Also published as: GB8924510D0; FR2653805A1; GB2237587B

Abstract

A surface covering product, especially a ceiling or wall tile, has a primary surface 16, visible when installed, of which a first part is at a first level and has a first color, and a second part is at a level or levels lower than the first and has a second color, that color extending through the thickness of the product. Attractive visual effects result from the difference in colors. <IMAGE>

Description

"Surface Covering" This invention relates to a surface covering product and to a process for the manufacture of a surface covering product. More especially it relates to a material for covering a surface, for example a wall or ceiling, not normally subject to wear on the scale suffered by floor covering materials as a result of foot traffic. The invention relates particularly to ceiling products and is especially applicable, and will be described with reference, to a mineral fiber-based ceiling board or tile.

Many modern ceilings are faced with ceiling boards or tiles, typically made from a composition the solids content of which is primarily mineral fibers, for example rockwool, together with crganic fibers, for example cellulosic fibers, an organic binder, for example starch, an inorganic filler, for example clay, and minor quantities of other additives which may vary depending on the manufacturing method and end-use, for example, speciality resins, bactericides ad, if the board material itself is to be visible in usew pigments.

The components may be formed into an aqueous slurry and wet-laid, for example on a Fourdrinier or, using a higher solids content material, cast and oven or kiln dried to form a board. The surface that is to be visible after installatipn may be treated, e.g., sanded, to remove irregularities and then treated to give a desired pattern or texture to the surface, such treatment often being carried out with the resulting acoustical properties of the product in mind.

In our earlier British Patent Specification No. 2118590, we describe such a ceiling board, which is conveniently made on a Fourdrinier, which has a number of parallel grooves rectangular in section cut in a primary surface. The surface is provided with a paint coat, as by spraying, after the grooves are cut, with the base of each groove, that is, the part parallel to the primary surface, being thereby coated with paint whereas the sides of the grooves, perpendicular to the primary surface, remain substantially uncoated. The depth of the grooves is such that a viewer of the ceiling tile will receive the impression of a painted tile, the grooves providing a pattern on the surface, but the total surface area of the uncoated groove sides is sufficient to assist in producing a desired acoustic effect.

It is also known to provide a fissured ceiling tile with a painted surface. Since, however, the fissures are formed prior to application of paint, the bottoms of the fissures will be the same color as that of the painted primary surface although their sides, like the sides of the grooves mentioned above, remain substantially uncoated. The visual effect is primarily of a single color tile, with shadows represented by the fissured sides.

The present invention provides a surface covering product having a primary surface, visible when the product is installed, a first part of said surface being at a first level and having a first color, and a second part of said surface being at a level or levels lower than the first, and having a second color, different from the first, the second color being a color extending through the material of the covering product.

More especially, the invention provides a ceiling board having a primary surface, a first part of said surface being at a first level and having a coating of a first color thereon, and a second part of said surface being at a level or levels lower than the first, the lower level or levels being of a second, different, color that extends through the thinness of the board. The second color advantageously results from a pigment or pigments, or dyestuff or dyestuffs, incorporated in the composition of the board.

The lower level or levels (by lower being meant a lesser thickness of surface covering product or ceiling board) is advantageously obtained by removal of material from the primary surface, as for example by cutting, grinding, milling, advantageously after the primary surface has had imparted thereto its first color.

Accordingly, in a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a process for the manufacture of a surface covering product, especially a ceiling board, which process comprises forming a surface covering product having a second color extending therethrough from a primary surface thereof having a first level, applying a first color, different from the second, to substantially the whole of the primary surface, and removing material from a portion or portions only of the primary surface to form a region or regions at a lower surface level or levels.

Advantageously, irrespective of manufacturing process, no part of the product surface which is at a level lower than that of the first primary surface level is of the first color.

Advantageously, also, the level of the surface of substantially all of the second, through color, material where it is exposed is lower than that of that material where it underlies the first color material (the primary surface level) and, preferably, the surface level of at least part of the exposed layer is substantially lower than the primary surface level.

It has surprisingly been found that a surface covering product, especially a ceiling board, constructed in accordance with the invention is capable of giving attractive visual effects when installed as a result of the combination of different colors at different levels, especially when viewed in light striking the primary surface at little more than a glancing angle.

The colors of the surfaces at different levels may be contrasting, or may be different shades of a given color.

It is within the scope of the invention to have different through colors in different parts of the product and/or to have different parts of the primary surface of different colors. However, in the preferred embodiment the first level of the primary surface is of a single color and the product is of a single, different, through color, which advantageously extends through substantially the whole thickness of the product. While it is preferred for manufacturing simplicity to have only a single first level, it is within the scope of the invention to have additional coating layers, e.g., of particulate material, on a part of the primary surface. It is, however, preferred to have a plurality of lower levels to give visual interest to the surface, rather than to provide, as in the British Specification No. 2118590 mentioned above, a single lower level joined to the upper level by perpendicular portions.

Preferably, the region or regions forming the lowest of a plurality of lower levels is joined to the other lower levels, or to the primary surface, or to both the primary surface and other lower levels, at least partially by a sloping region or regions, whether concave or convex upward or straight-line in section. For example, the lower levels may have the appearance of one or more straight or curved bands of semicircular cross section, which may, if desired, extend continuously or otherwise from one edge of the product to another, the bands, if there are more than one, lying side-by-side but spaced apart, with their curved surfaces extending forward the level of primary surface but stopping just short of its level.

In a typical pattern of this sort, there are provided three bands of diameter 12 to 18 mm, especially about 15 mm (and hence of height about 7.5 mm), spaced apart 2 to 4, especially about 3 mm, at a depth extending from 1 to 10, especially extending from 2 to 9, mm from the level of the primary surface.

A coating composition suitable for providing the first color is a paint comprising a pigment, for example, china clay or titanium dioxide for a white paint, a vinyl emulsion, e.g., an aqueous vinyl alcohol emulsion, and water together with, if desired, other additives many of which are conventional, for example, other pigments, thickeners, fungicides, dispersing agents and antifoams. For an aqueous vinyl emulsion, a suitable coating weight is 150 to 300 g/m2, preferably 200 to 250 g/m2. Pigments suitable for achieving a desired color through the thickness of the product include, for example, iron, titanium, and chromium oxides.

One form of surface covering product constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a ceiling board or tile, and Fig. 2 is a section along line II-II of Fig. 1.

In Fig. t, there is shown a substantially square ceiling tile indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, two adjacent edges 12, 14 being perpendicular to the primary surface 16, the two other edges 18, 20 being stepped to fit into a supporting framework (not shown). The surface 16 has a coating layer 22, not shown in Fig. 1, and exaggerated in thickness in Fig. 2 for clarity. Material has been removed from the surface 16 at intervals to leave bands 24 of semi-circular section, and bands 26 of quarter-circular section, separated by elongate strips 28 of material at a lower level, corresponding to that of the step in edges 18 and 20.The color of the coating layer 22 is different from that of the material the surface of which forms the lower levels It will be understood that a plurality of such tiles 10, either all with identical patterns and/or textures, or with two or more different patterns and/or textures, may be assembled to give a desired appearance.

The following example illustrates the invention: A composition comprising: % by weight Mineral Wool 69 Modified Starch 10.5 Clay 11.6 Vinyl acetate based terpolymer 0.6 Bactericide 0.4 Titanium dioxide 8.0 is formed into a slurry of 30% solids content, cast on a tray, and fired in a kiln at 1450C for 13 hours. After firing, the panels are planed and then cut to size by sawing.

A coating of white vinyl emulsion was applied to one primary face by automatic spray guns and allowed to dry.

A pattern was cut into the coated face using a rotary cutter, e.g., by routing on a Knoevenagel VIS1: FNCZT-16F or VIS3: FANCZ-32F.

Claims

What we claim is:

1. A ceiling or wall covering product having a primary surface, visible when the product is installed, a first part of said surface being at a first level and having a first color, and a second part of said surface being at a level or levels lower than the first, and having a second color, different from the first, the second color being a color extending through the material of the covering product.

2. A ceiling or wall board having a primary surface, a first part of said surface being at a first level and having a coating of a first color thereon, and a second part of said surface being at a level or levels lower than the first, the lower level or levels being of a second, different, color that extends through the thickness of the board.

3. A board as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second color results from a pigment or pigments incorporated in the composition of the board.

4. A board as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein no part of the surface which is at a level lower than that of the first level is of the first color.

5. A board as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the level of the surface of substantially all of the second, through color, material where it is exposed is lower than that of that material where it underlies the first color material (the primary surface level).

6. A board as claimed in claim 5, wherein the surface level of at least part of the exposed layer is substantially lower than the primary surface level.

7. A process for the manufacture of a ceiling or wall covering product, which comprises forming a surface covering product having a second color extending therethrough from a primary surface thereof at a first level, applying a first color, different from the second, to substantially the whole of the primary surface, and removing material from a portion or portions only of the primary surface to form a region or regions at a lower surface level or levels.

8. Any new feature hereindescribed or any new combination of hereindescribed features.