JP2018119398A - Elastic floor panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a floor panel, which highly reliably adheres to a base plate if needed and in which, in particular, a sound insulation property of a foot-step sound and elasticity thereof are further improved.SOLUTION: An elastic floor panel 10 includes: a base material 18 which is made of polyurethane, and constant in size; and a laminated composite structure 24 provided on the base material 18. A back face of the flooring material 10 is covered with a fibrous mat 20. Fibers of the fibrous mat 20 are composed of glass, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyester, or a renewable raw material. The fibrous mat 20 is sealed by a barrier layer 22 on the side faced to the base material 18.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet-like elastic floor panel having a dimensional stability base made of polyurethane and a laminated composite structure provided on the base.

  Floor finishes assembled from floor panels may be made from significantly different materials. Conventionally, floor panels made of wood such as MDF and HOF are known to be provided in the form of several panels joined together. This type of panel usually has a decorative layer and a wear-resistant surface layer on its upper surface, and a tensile-resistant layer on its back surface.

  A floor panel made of a plastic material such as PVC is also known. Polyurethane is a preferred material for this type of floor panel. At least the base material is made of polyurethane, and a floor finish obtained from a renewable raw material polyester polyol and aromatic isocyanate is known, for example, from the applicant's international application WO2013 / 064160. Among them, this is excellent in environmental compatibility. Moreover, in this case, it has the decoration layer provided on the base material and the wear-resistant surface layer. Within the scope of this invention, the layers on the substrate are generally referred to as laminated composite structures, which may be configured differently, for example, having additional or different layers. Also good. Therefore, the concept of the laminated composite structure used here is not limited to the continuous layer disclosed in WO2013 / 064160.

  This type of floor finish can be cut into panels, which are provided with a bonded cross section at the ends. However, it can be laid by attaching an adhesive to the screed to join together, ignoring the cross section of the ends. If the floor panel has a certain degree of flexibility, it is advantageous because it can insulate footsteps, has a good trace behavior when loaded, and exhibits practical use characteristics such as attenuating power related to sports function characteristics. However, the polyurethane substrate is dimensionally (morphologically) stable, that is, even if elastically deformed, the panel shape is maintained unless the external force is excessive, and the floor finish is a sheet that can be rolled up and down. On the other hand, the floor panel as a whole can be handled as an object that is not stable and fluttering.

  When the entire surface of the floor panel is bonded to the substrate with high reliability, the back surface of the floor panel needs to be in a good bonding state with the adhesive. For this purpose, conventionally, it has been common to bond the back surface of the floor panel with an adhesive, or to provide a surface structure such as a honeycomb structure on which the adhesive can penetrate well. . Without taking such additional measures, the adhesive state between the applied adhesive and the back surface of the floor panel is often insufficient.

  Moreover, it is desired to further improve the practical characteristics of the above-described floor panel by appropriately designing the back surface thereof. For example, it is possible to improve the sound insulation performance of footsteps and the performance of introducing force to a floor panel used for a sports floor. Such an improvement is effective when the floor panel is not adhered to the substrate and is roughly laid while exposing the cross-sections joined to each other as described above.

International Publication No. WO2013 / 064160 Pamphlet

  An object of the present invention is to provide a floor panel which is bonded to a substrate with high reliability as required, and in particular, has improved sound insulation and elasticity of footsteps.

  The above object is achieved by an invention according to an elastic floor panel having the configuration according to claim 1.

  The back surface of the elastic floor panel according to the present invention is covered with a fiber mat, and the fibers of the fiber mat are made of glass, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyester, or a renewable raw material. On the side facing the substrate, the fiber body of the mat is sealed by a barrier layer.

  The liquid adhesive applied on the screed can penetrate between the fibers of the mat so that the adhesive and the fiber mat, ie the entire floor panel, can be evenly joined together. This bonding is significantly more reliable than bonding in the case of floor panels that are simply placed on the bottom surface or provided with irregularities on the back surface. It cannot be lifted (stripped) without destroying the floor panel. The barrier layer can be laminated or bonded to the back of the floor finish without manufacturing the floor panel and without filling the gaps between the fibers or bonding the base material depending on the manufacturing process. To be able to be done. Thus, the liquid material can be applied to the fiber mat in the manufacturing process without adversely affecting the good use characteristics of the mat.

  Since the mat fibers are relatively closely adhered, the fiber mat may have a predetermined elasticity when the floor panel is laid roughly, that is, without being bonded, and the floor panel as a whole. A practical effect is imparted to the characteristics. For example, by introducing a force into a floor panel used as a floor of a sports field, the sound insulation performance of footsteps can be improved. Finally, the fiber mat forms a tensile resistant layer for the laminated composite structure on the top surface of the floor panel.

  Generally, the floor panel according to the present invention provides a composite laminate structure. Thereby, compared with the above-mentioned prior art, it has improved characteristics, and at the same time, can be laid more permanently and more permanently.

  In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the fibers of the fiber mat form a nonwoven fabric. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the fibers of the fiber mat are woven to form a woven fabric. In either case, a gap can be maintained between the fibers that allows the liquid adhesive to penetrate and share the desired adhesion to the floor panel.

  In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the fiber mat is bonded to the back side of the substrate. The adhesive used for this purpose does not penetrate the fiber mat. This is because the barrier layer prevents it with high reliability. That is, the gaps between the fibers are retained to pick up the adhesive for bonding the floor panel to the screed.

  In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the barrier layer consists of polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). Further preferably, the substrate is made of a polyurethane obtained from a renewable raw material polyester polyol and an aliphatic isocyanate. Here, this is a problem with biogenic polyols, and biopolyols have good properties for environmental compatibility and can be produced continuously without destroying the environment.

  In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a laminated composite structure of floor panels formed on a substrate includes at least one decorative layer, an abrasion-resistant surface layer, and a glass fiber mat, and the decorative layer is The wear-resistant surface layer includes polyurethane obtained from polyol and aliphatic isocyanate, and is provided on the opposite side of the decorative layer from the base material. Thereby, not only dimensional (form) stability but also trace behavior and restoration behavior can be improved.

  In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the floor panel according to the invention has at least two opposite outer edge profiles. With this configuration, a connection contour for laying two adjacent panels together may be provided.

  The substrate may also include a filler to increase weight. Thus, in this case, the substrate does not consist entirely of polyurethane, but instead an inorganic filler, for example having a weight that is particularly greater than polyurethane, is added to the polyurethane composition to constitute the substrate.

The method of manufacturing a floor panel of the type described above is
a) A fiber mat sheet formed from glass, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyester or renewable raw materials is placed on the transport path with the barrier layer on top,
b) applying a layer of polyurethane composition onto the fiber mat sheet to form the substrate comprising a polyurethane composition, polyurethane and optionally a filler;
c) Applying an adhesive on the upper surface side of the substrate,
d) Adhering a sheet-shaped laminated composite structure provided by an adhesive on the upper surface side of the substrate;
e) cutting the sheet obtained in step d into a floor panel.

  In step a) above, the fiber mat sheet may be placed, for example, on a conveyor belt that passes over a hot plate. The polyurethane layer applied on the fiber mat in step b) for forming the substrate may complete its reaction by the hot action of a hot plate. Due to the barrier layer of the fiber mat, the liquid-coated polyurethane cannot penetrate between the fibers of the underlying fiber mat sheet, so that the gaps between the fibers are maintained. The laminated composite structure to be bonded in step d) may already be produced in advance. Finally, the floor panel is manufactured by cutting in step e. The dimensions (form) of the floor panel are suitable for placement and are dimensionally stable. That is, the panel shape is maintained even when a large external force acts on the panel. For example, like conventional floor panels made of wood or plastic, these floor panels can be stacked and conveyed in a suitable package.

As an alternative embodiment according to the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a floor panel,
a ′) A sheet-shaped laminated composite structure is placed on the conveyance path,
b ′) In order to form the substrate comprising a polyurethane composition, polyurethane and optionally a filler, a layer of polyurethane composition is applied onto the sheet-shaped laminated composite structure;
c ′) applying an adhesive on the upper surface side of the substrate;
d ′) A fiber mat sheet made of glass, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyester or a renewable raw material, one surface of which is sealed by a barrier layer, is bonded onto the upper surface side of the substrate,
e ′) The sheet obtained in step d ′ is cut into a floor panel.

  Because of this alternative method, each layer is manufactured in a continuous sequence in reverse order. First, the laminated composite structure that forms the upper side of the floor panel in the mounted state is placed on the transport path in step a ′) and a further layer of continuous material is glued onto the floor panel in step d ′). Then, it is applied onto the fiber mat sheet which is the final product forming the back surface. Here, the barrier layer of the fiber mat sheet prevents the adhesive applied on the upper side of the substrate in step c ′) from penetrating between the fibers and adhering these fibers together.

  The polyurethane composition used in step d or d ′ to form the substrate may be pure polyurethane or polyurethane comprising aggregates or fillers. Generally, a filler having a specific weight over the weight of polyurethane is to increase the weight.

  Preferably, heat is applied to the polyurethane layer to form a substrate during or after step c) or c ′) described above. For example, it may be achieved by the hot plate below the conveyance path described above. Alternatively, however, it is possible to apply an infrared action from above the polyurethane layer.

  In this case, the fiber mat sheet is preferably a nonwoven fabric. The fiber mat sheet is preferably a woven sheet.

  In another preferred embodiment of the method, after a small cut in step e or e ′, the floor panel has at least two opposite outer edge profiles. In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

It is sectional drawing which shows the layer structure of one Embodiment of the elastic floor panel which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing method of the elastic floor panel of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other manufacturing method of the elastic floor panel of this invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a cross section of an elastic floor panel 10 having a layer structure. The floor panel 10 is provided under a transparent abrasion-resistant surface layer 12 formed on the upper side of the floor panel 10 (from the top surface to the bottom surface, that is, from the use surface to the opposite surface), and the abrasion-resistant surface layer. The decoration layer 14 for decorating, the glass fiber mat 16 under the decoration layer 14, the base material 18 which has flexibility, and the fiber mat 20 which partitions off with respect to the board | substrate of the layer structure of the floor panel 10 are provided. Details of this layer structure will be described in more detail below.

  The abrasion resistant surface layer 12 is complete from polyol and polyurethane (PU) derived from aliphatic isocyanate. In this case, the polyol is not a biogenic polyol and therefore does not start from renewable raw materials. In addition, the wear-resistant surface layer 12 has high scratch resistance, is easy to clean, has high UV stability, exhibits good trace behavior and restoration behavior, and emits less toxic gas during a fire. The trace behavior is considered to be the behavior of the material when a mechanical load is applied. The surface of the floor panel 10 is extremely resistant to such effects. For example, if traces are formed by intermittent pressure, these traces disappear completely again when the mechanical load is removed.

  In this example, the wear-resistant surface layer 12 has a thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm.

  The decorative layer 14 under the wear-resistant surface layer 12 is made of decorative paper, that is, a cellulose layer soaked with polyurethane. This polyurethane may be synthesized from biogenic polyols obtained from renewable raw materials. The decoration is printed on the upper side of the decorative paper.

  In order to increase the dimensional stability of the floor panel 10 and further improve the trace and restoration behavior, the layer structure further comprises a glass fiber mat 16 between the decorative layer 14 and the underlying substrate 18. The glass fiber mat is infiltrated with polyurethane produced from biogenic polyol. The thickness of the glass fiber mat is 0.2 to 0.5 mm.

  In this example, the substrate 18 is made of polyurethane obtained from a polyester polyol and aromatic isocyanate, which are renewable raw materials. In general, the properties of aromatic isocyanates are lower than those of aliphatic isocyanates, but since the substrate 18 is not exposed to the upper side of the floor panel 10, the use of low quality materials is permitted here. Nevertheless, the substrate 18 has good properties with respect to environmental compatibility and emits little emissions.

  The substrate 18 is reasonably stiff and thus elastically compressed, but is dimensionally stable in an unloaded condition. This means that the substrate 18 and thus the entire floor panel 10 largely retains its panel shape when handled and slightly distorted under an acceptable weight. Due to this dimensional stability, the elastic floor panel of the present invention can be handled in the same way as other conventional plastic or wood floor panels, that is, it can be laid in the same manner as ordinary floor panels and floor tiles. Therefore, the elastic floor panel 10 of the present invention combines the advantages of the conventional floor panel with regard to handling and laying properties, and the advantages of elastic floor finish materials, particularly the sound insulation of footsteps and the ability to introduce force into the floor finish materials. It is a thing.

  The floor panel 10 shown here can be adhered to the screed by the atomizing adhesive, and the floor panels 10 arranged one after another form a floor finishing material. For this purpose, the back surface of the floor panel 10 has a fiber mat 20, which may be a non-woven mat, for example. However, it is also conceivable to use a woven mat as the fiber mat 20. Liquid spray adhesive that is pre-applied to the screed can penetrate between the fibers. A rigid bond is thus created between the substrate and the floor panel 10. Thus, the floor panel 10 can no longer be removed from the substrate without breaking.

  The fibers of the fiber mat 20 can be made of, for example, glass fibers or PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), polyester, or renewable raw materials, that is, natural fibers. On the upper side of FIG. 1 facing the substrate 18, the fiber mat 20 is sealed by a polyolefin barrier layer 22. However, the barrier layer 22 may be composed of other materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA), or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). In particular, the function of the barrier layer 22 is to prevent liquid from penetrating into the fiber mat 20 from the upper side of the floor panel 10 and filling the gaps between the fibers. This is important in manufacturing the elastic floor panel 10. In particular, the fiber mat 20 is bonded, for example, by applying a liquid adhesive to the back surface of the substrate 18. Thus, the barrier layer 22 prevents the adhesive between the substrate 18 and the fiber mat 20 from penetrating between the fibers.

  Apart from the function of lifting the adhesive to bond the floor panel 10, the fiber mat 20 may have other functions that affect the quality of the floor panel 10. For example, the fiber mat 20 may form a tensile-resistant layer on the lower side of the floor panel 10 and contribute to the latter dimensional stability. In addition, because of the relatively rough joint between the fibers, the fiber mat 20 may have a certain elasticity with respect to pressure loads. If the adhesive does not penetrate completely from the substrate into the fiber mat 20 and an intermediate layer without adhesive remains in the fiber mat 20, the hollow space enhances the elastic properties, so this elasticity Sex may be maintained. These methods may also improve the footstep behavior and force introduction to the substrate. Such an improvement is effective even when the floor panel 10 is roughly laid on the substrate, that is, when it is laid without an adhesive.

  As described above, several floor panels 10 may be laid on the substrate one after another. In addition, the individual floor panels 10 are contoured by their outer edges, so that adjacent floor panels may include connecting contours by being able to connect to each other. Then, the floor panels 10 do not accidentally shift with respect to each other.

  The abrasion resistant surface layer 12, the decorative layer 14, and the glass fiber mat 16 may form a laminated composite structure together. The laminated composite structure 24 may be pre-assembled in the manufacturing process of the floor panel 10 described above, and the remaining layers, that is, the base material 18 and the fiber mat 20 in particular are simply continuous with the laminated composite structure 24. Are joined. This will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a method for manufacturing the elastic floor panel 10 of the type described above. This figure shows a part of a manufacturing apparatus for carrying out the method of this example. This manufacturing apparatus includes a conveyance path 52, and the conveyance path 52 flows on the hot plate 54 in the arrow A direction from left to right shown in FIG. 2. The conveyance path 52 is disposed flat on the upper side of the hot plate 54. The conveying path 52 may be an endless belt, and the tensioned side or conveying path 52 passing over the hot plate 54 is unwound from the roll 56 and wound up again at the end of the manufacturing process (not shown). The fiber mat sheet 58 is unwound from the roll 60 and placed flat on the portion of the conveyance path 52 where the hot plate 54 is present. In this figure, the fiber mat sheet 58 corresponds to the fiber mat 20 described with reference to FIG. 1, that is, the fiber mat sheet 58 is glass fiber or PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), polyester or recyclable. One side is sealed with a barrier layer 22 made of a raw material and made of polyolefin, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA) or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). In FIG. 2, the barrier layer 22 is deflected from the conveyance path 52 and exists on the upper surface side of the fiber mat sheet 58 formed of a nonwoven fabric or configured as a woven fabric.

  In a subsequent step, the polyurethane composition layer 62 constituting the substrate 18 is applied onto the placed fiber mat sheet 58. This composition is discharged or sprayed in a liquid state on the fiber mat sheet 58. The thickness of the layer 62 verified by a suitable measuring instrument (not shown) is determined by the doctor blade 64. The polyurethane composition may consist of purely pure polyurethane, but has a certain weight over the weight of the polyurethane, and in order to increase the weight of the floor panel 10 to be manufactured, fillers or other aggregates such as It may be a polyurethane containing an inorganic filler.

  The liquid polyurethane composition completes the reaction under the action of heat and the layer 62 cures. Heat is supplied by the hot plate 54 below the conveyance path 52 and acts on the layer 62 via the conveyance path 52 and the fiber mat sheet 58. The manufacture of the substrate 18 is completed after the layer 62 has reacted. Subsequently, in a further step of the method, an adhesive is applied to the top surface of the substrate 18. The adhesive need not be applied continuously to the entire surface, but can be sprayed in the form of microdroplets. For this purpose, for example, a turntable (rotary sprayer) 66 arranged on the substrate 18 and spraying the liquid adhesive in the radial direction may be used. This achieves a substantially uniform application of the adhesive droplets onto the substrate 18.

  In a further step of the method of this example, the sheet-like laminated composite structure 24 is applied on the substrate 18, and the laminated composite 4 adheres to the substrate 18. The laminated composite structure 24 may include the wear-resistant surface layer 12, the decorative layer 14, and the glass fiber mat 16 shown in FIG. 1 as described above. The laminated composite structure 24 is delivered in a pre-assembled state, is unwound from the roll 68, and is placed on the upper surface side of the substrate 18 to which the adhesive is applied.

  After the sheet manufactured by the above-described process is completely reacted, a continuous panel is formed and cut into individual floor panels 10 by a further process. That is, it is dimensionally stable and, as a result, is a region divided in the lateral direction and the longitudinal direction. In addition, it is possible to contour the outer edge of the floor panel to form a connection contour to connect adjacent floor panels. Contouring may be accomplished by cutting and may include several individual contouring steps using different cutting tools.

  As an alternative to the method shown in FIG. 2, the floor panel 10 can be assembled in reverse order. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  The manufacturing apparatus 150 shown in FIG. 3 also includes a conveyance path 52 and is fed from the roll 60 and passes over the hot plate 54. In this regard, the manufacturing apparatus 150 shown in FIG. 3 is the same as the manufacturing apparatus 50 shown in FIG. The sheet-like laminated composite structure 24 supplied from the roll 68 is placed flat on the upper surface side of the conveyance path 52 of the conveyance path 52 and is conveyed so as to pass on the hot plate 54 in the direction of arrow A together with this. It is placed on the upper surface side of the path 52. Once again, the sheet-like laminated composite structure 24 includes the wear-resistant surface layer 12, the decorative layer 14, and the glass fiber mat 16, and is placed on the conveyance path 52, whereby the wear-resistant surface layer 12 is placed on the bottom surface. In addition, the glass fiber mat 16 is located on the top surface.

  Subsequently, a layer 62 of liquid polyurethane composition is applied over the laminated composite structure 24 to form the substrate 18. In this case, the polyurethane composition may consist of pure polyurethane or a filler added as described above. This layer 62 is limited to a desired thickness by a doctor blade 64. The layer 62 can be cured by a thermal action from a hot plate 54 acting via the transport path 52 and the laminated composite structure 24. A different heat source such as an infrared radiation source from above the layer 62 can also be used in place of the hot plate 54.

  The polyurethane of layer 62 reacts completely under the action of heat to form the substrate 18 on which the adhesive is applied. In this example, the adhesive is atomized by the turntable 66 and sprayed in the radial direction from the upper side of the layer 62.

  Subsequently, the fiber mat sheet 58 is placed on the upper surface side of the substrate 18 to be bonded thereto. The fiber mat sheet 58 is unwound from the roll 60 and placed on the substrate 18 so that the barrier layer 22 faces the bottom, that is, the substrate 18. The barrier layer 22 prevents the adhesive that creates a bond between the substrate 18 and the fiber mat sheet 58 from penetrating between the fibers of the fiber mat sheet 58. The fiber mat sheet 58 may be, for example, a nonwoven fabric or a woven sheet.

  The sheet manufactured by the above-described process is cut into the floor panel 10 by being divided in the transverse direction, and then the floor panel 10 is contoured at two opposite outer ends by cutting.

  In this example of the manufacturing method of the floor panel 10, the wear-resistant surface layer is located on the bottom and the back surface of the floor panel 10 facing upward.

  The polyurethane for forming the layer 62 of the substrate 18 may be obtained from renewable raw materials and aromatic isocyanates. The decorative layer 14 of the laminated composite structure 24 may be made of fiber paper soaked with polyurethane. The abrasion resistant surface layer 12 may be made of polyurethane obtained from polyol and aliphatic isocyanate.

Claims (1)

In a floor panel (10) having a dimensionally stable base material (18) made of polyurethane and a laminated composite structure (24) provided on the base material (18),
The back of the floor panel (10) is covered with a fiber mat (20),
The fibers of the fiber mat (20) are made of glass, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polyester or renewable raw materials,
The fiber mat (20) is a floor panel sealed with a barrier layer (22) on the side facing the substrate (18).

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