GB2260292A

GB2260292A - Flooring material with adhered protective covering layer

Info

Publication number: GB2260292A
Application number: GB9121265A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Douglas Edwin Garner
Original assignee: MARLING IND FELTS Ltd
Current assignee: MARLING IND FELTS Ltd
Priority date: 1991-10-07
Filing date: 1991-10-07
Publication date: 1993-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2011-10-07
Also published as: GB9121265D0; GB2260292B

Abstract

A flooring material, in particular a carpet tile, having a protective covering layer affixed to its upper surface by means of an adhesive. The adhesive is capable of retaining the protective covering material in place whiist the flooring material is laid, but is such that the protective covering material can subsequently be peeled from the flooring material, without substantial damage to the flooring material, and without leaving a substantial adhesive residue.

Description

FLOORING MATERIAL This invention relates to flooring materials, in particular to flooring materials of the kind used in the production of flooring panels such as are employed in so called "access flooring".

Access flooring systems are commonly employed in modern building construction, particularly for buildings intended to house computer systems and the like, which are fed by a large number of wiring and other systems. Such flooring systems generally consist of a number of struts or props, adapted to support the corners of large flooring panels.

The flooring panels may be made from various materials, such as extruded metal sections, resin-bonded laminates, steel-finished high density chipboard, and the like. Typically the flooring panels are supplied covered with a material intended to provide the final floor finish such as a carpet, vinyl material, decorative laminate, or the like. By the term "carpet" as used herein is meant any flooring material produced from a textile base, and includes, for example, woven, tufted, and needlepunched carpet material.

When a new building is constructed, it is commonplace for such an access floor to be installed, before many of the services are connected. As a result of this, the flooring material covering such flooring panels is potentially subject to substantial abuse, in particular by tradespeople such as builders, electricians, plumbers and the like, before the building is ever occupied.

In order to protect the flooring finish, the usual practice is to cover the installed floor with large sheets of protective material such as paper, cardboard, polyethylene film, or hardboard, with adjacent edges taped to provide a dustproof seal, until the building is ready for occupation. Although providing some protection, this practice is far from satisfactory, since the installation of underfloor services requires the removal of individual floor panels. Thus the protective material is removed and, even if replaced, will rarely be replaced properly. As a consequence of this, substantial damage can still result to the assembled floor, before the building is ready for occupation.

In accordance the present invention, there is provided a flooring material, particularly a flooring material suitable for bonding to an access flooring panel, having upper and lower surfaces, and having a protective covering layer affixed to the upper surface thereof by means of an adhesive, wherein the adhesive is capable of retaining the protective covering material in place after the flooring material has been laid, but is such that the protective covering material can subsequently be peeled from the flooring material, without substantial damage to the flooring material, and without leaving a substantial adhesive residue.

The terms "without substantial damage" and "without leaving a substantial adhesive residue" as used herein are intended to mean that, when the protective covering material is peeled away from the flooring material, either no adhesive residue is left at all, and no perceptible damage is done to the flooring material, or else that if any residue is left by the covering material, such residue is so slight as to be of no practical significance to a customer on whose premises the flooring material is laid.

Similarly, the removal of minor amounts of fibre from the floor covering with the protective covering material is considered not to amount to substantive damage to the flooring material, even though strictly speaking the flooring material might be said to be "damaged" by such removal.

The adhesive is preferably a hot-melt adhesive, for example a polyolefin such as polyethylene, and the protective material may be a non-woven material, such as paper. The use of a hot-melt adhesive such as polyethylene is particularly convenient, since it enables the protected material to be applied to the flooring material as a last stage of manufacture, using a hot-pressing technique, typically prior to cutting of the flooring material into rectangular panels or tiles. Polyethylene adhesives can nevertheless be peeled readily from the flooring material (particularly carpet), without substantial damage to the flooring material, and without leaving a substantial adhesive residue.

Flooring materials in accordance with the invention may be produced in a number of forms, and used in a number of ways. In a particularly preferred embodiment, flooring materials in accordance with the invention are supplied in the form of pre-shaped rectangular pieces, suitable for bonding to a raised flooring panel, in order to produce a composite flooring panel having the flooring material bonded to a face of the raised flooring panel.

Preferably, such rectangular (usually square) pieces are supplied by the manufacturer somewhat oversize, in comparison with the flooring panel to which they are to be applied. The pieces may be supplied simply with a plain underside, and the protective covering material bonded to the upper surface. The pieces are bonded permanently to the structural panel member, with the edges of the piece projecting over the edges of the panel member, and the projecting edges are then subsequently trimmed to size, flush with the edge of the panel member.

In an alternative embodiment, flooring materials in accordance with the invention may be supplied in roll form, such that they may be cut to size by the manufacturer of raised flooring panels, as described above with regard to the rectangular pieces. It is particularly convenient to manufacture the flooring material in roll form, since the protective material may be applied by feeding a roll of protective material, having a backing of a hot melt adhesive such a polyethylene, through the nip of a pair of heated rollers, together with the flooring material, as the last step of a manufacturing process.

Although the flooring material in accordance with the invention is particularly suitable for producing raised flooring panels, both rectangular panels and rolls of flooring material in accordance with the invention may, in an alternative embodiment, be laid directly on an otherwise finished subfloor. Such finished subfloor may be itself constructed of raised flooring panels, but may alternatively be made of any other desired subfloor material.

In use, the flooring material is laid, or the access flooring panels are installed, with the protective material in place, and the protective material remains in place until all services are laid, and the building is ready for occupation. In the case of access flooring, this ensures that, since the protective material is an integral part of the access flooring panel, it provides continuous protection for the flooring finish and thereby eliminates the risk that the floor protection is not replaced as access panels are removed and reinstated.

Once the building is ready for occupation, the protective covering layer may then simply be removed, by peeling away the protective covering layer, leaving the undamaged carpet exposed.

Clearly, other variations of the invention, in addition to those specifically mentioned above, are possible within the scope of the intended claims.

Claims

1. A flooring material, having upper and lower surfaces, and having a protective covering layer affixed to the upper surface thereof by means of an adhesive, wherein the adhesive is capable of retaining the protective covering material in place whilst the flooring material is laid, but is such that the protective covering material can subsequently be peeled from the flooring material, without substantial damage to the flooring material, and without leaving a substantial adhesive residue.

2. A flooring material as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the adhesive is a hot-melt adhesive.

3. A flooring material as claimed in claim 2, wherein the adhesive is a polyolefin.

4. A flooring material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the protective material is a nonwoven material.

5. A flooring material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the floor covering is a carpet.

6. A flooring material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in the form of a rectangular panel adapted to be affixed to a structural panel member.

7. A composite flooring panel, comprising a structural panel member having bonded to a face thereof a flooring material as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.