JPH1053968A - Floor covering and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce a waveform incorporated patterned floor covering, having resistance to a mechanical load and a tobacco light and a method for producing the floor covering. SOLUTION: This method for producing a floor covering continuously comprises (a) a step for pressurizing and bonding three to four colored layers, respectively having 0.3 to 2.5mm individual thickness and made of a vulcanizable elastomer material so as to provide at least two of incorporated layers with mutually different colors and not to afford the respective adjacent layers of the same color and forming a multilayered sheet, (b) a step for crushing the resultant multilayered sheet into fragments having 3 to 12mm edge length, (c) a step for compressing and integrating the fragments under actions of heat and pressure with a calender and (d) a step for vulcanizing the compressed material sheet discharged from the calender and providing the completed floor covering in the method for producing the waveform incorporated patterned floor covering having the pattern composed of two to four colors and extending over the whole surface and the whole cross section of a floor covering sheet.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to floor coverings and, more particularly, to patterned floor coverings and methods of making the same.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Floor coverings made of PVC or linoleum are used, especially in commercial areas, for example in office rooms, which can be free-oriented, moiré-patterned or corrugated. Has a pattern. Such a pattern not only improves the appearance but also hides the wear mark due to the shoe sole. If there is no pattern,
Such wear marks can quickly make the coating unsightly.

[0003] However, the above floor covering materials have drawbacks with respect to the resistance to tobacco fire. That is, PVC
Does not satisfy the relevant German Industrial Standard 51961, and even linoleum only partially satisfies the standard. The linoleum material burns and its tar content is very difficult to remove or can no longer be removed.

A corrugated patterned floor covering that is resistant to tobacco fire is a vulcanized elastomeric material,
That is, manufacturing with rubber has not been successful until now.
Floor coverings of corrugated and patterned three or four colored vulcanized elastomeric materials are not yet known to applicants. Unlike PVC and linoleum materials, vulcanized elastomeric materials have been difficult to make the above color surface designs at great cost in terms of process technology. There was always a faded surface pattern, and / or large parallel areas of varying pattern depth on the top of the covering sheet. Vulcanizable elastomeric materials are not only inexpensive to care for, but also very well withstand the burdens of intense use, so their use is desired.

[0005] DE 41 14 575 discloses a method for producing a free-directional patterned floor covering made of a vulcanizable elastomeric material by the following successive steps. The method is as follows: 1) Two or three different colors of vulcanizable elastomeric material are put into a short screw extruder with a working temperature of 60 to 100 ° C. and a length to diameter ratio of 4: 1 to 10: 1. 2) continuously passing an amount of 400 to 600 kg / h of elastomeric material through an extruder without color mixing, 3) each having a diameter of 2 to 10 mm. 200 to 60
Discharging the elastomeric material through the perforated plate in the form of 0 extruded materials; 4) each extruded material exiting the perforated plate is 1 to 2 m in length.
5) cutting the cut piece into a two-roll calender having a roll diameter to length ratio of 1: 3.5 and a surface temperature of 60 to 100 ° C. Drop it directly into the gap,
Compressing under the action of heat and pressure into a homogeneous material sheet; 6) feeding the compressed material sheet discharged from the calender directly to a continuously operating vulcanization facility, where 160 to 1
Vulcanizing at 80 ° C. to form a finished coated sheet.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a PV
An object of the present invention is to provide a floor covering made of a material that is easier to care for and more durable than C or linoleum, and has an intricate pattern. In that case the pattern must be of at least two colors, defining a preferred direction over the entire cross section and the entire surface of the covering sheet. The floor covering is also compliant with German Industrial Standard 5 against tobacco fire without a protective cover layer.
There must be the tolerance required in 1961. It must also withstand mechanical loads without being destroyed.

[0007]

The object of the present invention is to provide, as described in claim 1, a corrugated pattern having at least two colors, wherein the pattern comprises at least two colors. The problem is solved by a floor covering that has a cross-section, wherein the floor covering is made of a vulcanized elastomeric material, and the pattern is composed of four or less colors. Advantageous embodiments of the floor covering are listed in the dependent claims.

[0008] In addition, as described in claim 5, the above-mentioned problem is that the pattern is composed of two to four colors, and the entire surface and the entire cross section of the floor covering sheet are formed. A) each of three or four colored layers of vulcanizable elastomeric material having an individual thickness of 0.3 to 2.5 mm, each adjacent layer being non-same color Pressure bonding into a multilayer sheet so that at least two of the layers to be incorporated have different colors; b) bonding the multilayer sheet to an edge length of 3 to 12;
crushing the pieces into mm pieces; c) the pieces having a diameter to length ratio of 1: 3.5 and surface temperatures of 60 and 100 ° C.
And d) compressing the pieces under the action of heat and pressure into a homogeneous sheet of material, and d) continuously compressing the compressed sheet of material discharged from the calender. Directly into the operating vulcanization equipment,
Vulcanizing the dough into a finished floor covering, wherein the steps proceed continuously. Advantageous embodiments of the process are listed in the dependent claims.

[0009]

The following embodiments relate to floor covering plates according to the invention of at least 10 cm ² , preferably of equal edge length. This area was chosen taking into account the normal visual distance of the floor covering.

[0010] The cross-section of the floor covering, whether two-color, three-color or four-color, can contain, on average, an equal proportion of the individual color components of the vulcanized elastomeric material in each cross section. This embodiment results in a particularly homogeneous texture. The different colored areas are adjacent to each other with sharp outlines.

However, embodiments are also possible within the scope of the invention in which the individual cross-sectional areas of the floor covering comprise different amounts of vulcanized elastomer components of different amounts depending on the process conditions. By changing this ratio, the surface pattern is formed non-uniformly in the sense that particularly a large amount of colors are emphasized. It has thus been found that the abundant colors surround the abundant colors in a waveform, so that the sharp contours according to the invention result in surface patterns not previously achieved with materials from the prior art point of view. did.

In another variant of the floor covering, which can be realized with different amounts of individual colors, at least one of the color components present in the smallest proportion contains from 10 to 30% by weight of incorporated carbon black. Such floor coverings have a leak resistance of less than 10 ⁶ ohms as measured according to German Industrial Standard 51953 and do not interfere with the pattern harmonization with the color of the carbon black.

In any of the above variations, the light reflectivity can be adjusted as desired, if desired. When viewed more than 2 meters away, the patterns already look homogeneous overall, despite their alignment. The resistance to tobacco fire according to German Industrial Standard 51961 is satisfied. That is, the coating is easy to clean, and the wear scars from the soles are almost invisible even if the surface is loaded for two years in a busy room.

The process according to the invention is described in German Patent No. 411.
Only the following points are common to the prior art method of No. 4575. That is, the multicolored molded piece is dropped directly into the gap of a calender having a roll having a diameter to length ratio of 1: 3.5 and a surface temperature of 60 to 100 ° C. The shaped pieces are then compressed under the action of heat and pressure into a homogeneous sheet of material. Thereafter, the material sheet is directly supplied to a continuously operating vulcanizing facility, where vulcanization is performed to obtain a finished coated sheet. However, this treatment alone is not the subject of the present invention, but rather the production of granules.

In step a) of the invention, three or four color layers of vulcanizable elastomeric material are pressed together. Each layer has an individual thickness of 0.3 to 2.5 mm. In this case, it should be noted that adjacent layers are not the same color, and at least two layers have different colors.

A multilayer sheet is formed, which is crushed in step b) by a granulator into pieces with an edge length of 3 to 12 mm. Here, the “edge length” refers to the length of one side of the fragment.

Steps c) and d) show the feeding of the fragments into the calender as described above and vulcanizing the material sheet discharged from the calender.

These few steps, which are technically simple and inexpensive, enable sharply contoured, color-adjacent, corrugated patterned floor coverings to be made of vulcanizable elastomeric materials. ) And b) were not expected to be one variant of the prior art method. Conventionally, such patterns have been limited in PVC and linoleum materials.

Step a) comprises calendering the individual layers, heating to 60 to 100 ° C., and then 300 to 80
It can be implemented by bonding with a linear pressure of up to 0 N / mm to form a multilayer sheet with a thickness of 1.2 to 10 mm.

[0020] Alternatively, it is possible to combine the elastomeric strips or layers utilizing a piggyback extrusion facility, particularly used in the tire manufacturing industry. The feature of this equipment is that a plurality of extruders jointly supply one die head. Since the individual materials are already pressed and coalesced in the die, it is possible to achieve an air-free and air-free bonding of the layers. The mutual position of the individual components is fixed by the die design. The required area of the piggyback equipment is extremely small. In this way, the individual layers / strips are eventually extruded by the extruder, each arranged in one layer.
Supplied to a single die head.

In two variants of the mutual bonding of the individual colors, a small number of preliminary tests can be used to select the respective quantitative ratios of the vulcanizable elastomeric strips or layers having the individual colors to the respective desired values. The beautiful appearance can be easily achieved, and the light reflectance can be adjusted as needed.

In step a), if the same amount is supplied per unit time from each individual layer, the above-mentioned uniform surface pattern results. In that case, the color layer coming out of the multilayer sheet produced in step a) appears slightly emphasized.

This effect can be enhanced by incorporating this outer layer in a larger amount. In that case,
A small amount of the color present in the inner layer or layers surrounds the color of the outer layer in a wave form.

Alternatively, a thicker inner layer provides a coarser pattern. This can help design as well.

Without changing the appearance of the surface, that is, the essence of the intricate pattern, a 10
Giving the floor covering a leak resistance lower than ⁶ ohms,
It is possible within the scope of the present invention. To do so, it is only necessary to mix the carbon black into a small quantity of the layer, preferably the layer coming inside the multilayer sheet in step a). In that case the carbon black particles are 10% by weight of this layer.
To 30% by weight. The mixing is preferably performed before the layers / strips of different colors are bonded together.

[0026]

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment made from a four-layer composite having four different colors. This coating calenders the individual layers, heats them to 80 ° C., combines them into a 6 mm thick sheet of material, subsequently breaks the sheet into 4 mm edge pieces and then breaks the pieces into pieces. Manufactured by compression in the gap of a two-roll calender. The calender rolls have a diameter to length ratio of 1: 3.
In 5, the surface temperature was 88 ° C. Subsequently, it was vulcanized at 180 ° C.

For this embodiment, 25% by weight of rubber,
55% by weight kaolin, 2% by weight styrene resin, chalk 8
Using a layer consisting of a styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber compound containing 2.5% by weight, vulcanizing chemicals and auxiliaries 2.5% by weight, wax 0.5% by weight, and pigment 7.0% by weight, respectively.
The layers combined during step a) are each 2 mm
And two inner layers, each 1 mm thick.

The two inner layers can be distinguished as the lightest component and the darkest component in FIG. 1, and the outer color components (2 in FIG. 1) before granulation during the production of the multilayer sheet.
Color (identified as two darker gray planes).

When this floor covering was exposed to extremely frequent traffic in an office room for one year, conventional wet cleaning was performed on the rubber floor only once a week, but wear marks due to shoe soles were observed after this period. It turned out to be a state that could not be done. The resistance to tobacco fire according to German Industrial Standard 51961 was realized, and burns were hardly discernable. To achieve all of these features, it was not necessary to provide a protective covering to the floor covering prior to use to seal the surface.

[0030]

Since the invention has been constructed as described above, it uses a technically simple and inexpensive manufacturing process to provide a floor covering with sharp contours, adjacent colors and intricate corrugations. It can be manufactured from vulcanizable elastomeric materials.

Also, the individual color components of the vulcanized elastomeric material can be included in each cross-section on average in equal proportions or in different cross-sections in different proportions. By changing this ratio, the surface pattern is formed non-uniformly in the sense that particularly a large amount of colors are emphasized. Thus, the abundant colors surround the abundant colors in a waveform, so that with the sharp contours according to the invention,
It is possible to achieve a surface pattern with a beautiful appearance that has not heretofore been achieved with prior art materials.

Furthermore, by incorporating 10 to 30% by weight of carbon black into the color component present in the smallest proportion, the color of the carbon black does not hinder the harmony of the pattern and can be adjusted to 10 according to the German Industrial Standard 51953. ⁶
It is possible to impart a lower leakage resistance to the floor covering than ohms.

In addition, for floor coverings, the prior art PVC
By using a vulcanizable elastomeric material instead of a linoleum material, even with severe use in office rooms, there is no wear scar due to soles, and without a protective cover, tobacco according to German Industrial Standard 51961 This has the effect of realizing resistance to fire and hardly causing scorching.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a floor covering made from a four-layer composite having four different colors.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A floor covering comprising a corrugated pattern having at least two colors, the pattern comprising at least two colors and covering the entire surface and the entire cross section of the covering sheet, wherein the floor covering comprises a vulcanized elastomeric material, and the pattern comprises A floor covering comprising four or less colors. 2. The floor covering according to claim 1, wherein the individual color components are present in equal amounts in each cross section for each area of at least 10 cm ² of the floor covering sheet. 3. The floor covering according to claim 1, wherein the individual color components are present in different amounts in different cross-sections of the floor covering for each area of at least 10 cm ² of the floor covering sheet. . 4. The color component present in the smallest amount is 1
4. The floor covering according to claim 3, comprising 0 to 30% by weight of the incorporated carbon black. 5. A method of manufacturing a floor covering covering the entire surface and the entire cross section of the floor covering sheet, wherein the pattern is composed of two to four colors and has a complex pattern of corrugations. The three or four colored layers of vulcanizable elastomeric material having a thickness of 0.3 to 2.5 mm are applied so that each adjacent layer is not the same color and at least two of the incorporated layers have different colors. Pressure bonding into a multilayer sheet; b) crushing the multilayer sheet into pieces with an edge length of 3 to 12 mm; c) splitting the pieces into a diameter to length ratio of 1: 3. 5) placing in a gap of a calender with a roll having a surface temperature between 60 and 100 ° C. and compressing said pieces under the action of heat and pressure into a homogeneous sheet of material; Compressed material discharged from Method characterized by putting directly over preparative vulcanization equipment continuous operation, the steps of the finished floor covering by vulcanizing the dough, hints they step proceeds continuously. 6. In order to carry out step a), the individual layers are calendered, heated at 60 to 100 ° C. and then bonded at a linear pressure of 300 to 800 N / mm to a thickness of 1.2 Method according to claim 5, characterized in that it is a multi-layer sheet of from 10 to 10 mm. 7. To carry out said step a), each layer is fed together to a single die head by means of a plurality of extruders each arranged in a layer in a piggyback extrusion facility. The method of claim 5. 8. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein in step a) an equal amount is supplied per unit time from each individual layer. 9. In the step a), one or two
8. The method according to claim 5, wherein different quantities are supplied per unit time from two individual layers. 10. The layer in which the least amount is used during calendering is provided in an amount of 10 to 30% by weight of this layer.
The method according to claim 9, characterized in that carbon black particles are incorporated by weight.