MXPA96005647A - Rod to terminally weld, configured, to join residual floors - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a rod for welding, thermoplastic, characterized in that it consists essentially of a first thermoplastic layer, a second transparent thermoplastic layer and a printing layer disposed between the first and second cap

Description

RING FOR THERMALLY WELDING, CONFIGURED, TO JOIN RESILIENT FLOORS Description of the invention This invention relates to a thermoplastic welding rod used to join two pieces of thermoplastic coating, in particular floor covering, together. More specifically, a pear shaped, shaped rod is prepared which, when welded between two similarly shaped, resilient PVC cladding, conceals the bonded area and forms a sealed, water-tight assembly. . The configuration can be of any design or image of multiple colors, which include wood grain, marble or extravagant. The welding rod is preferably directed to use with resilient coatings that cover the floor, which have a transparent wear layer of significant thickness and more particularly with laminate coatings that cover the floor. It has been very desirable to obtain new and unique views on floor covering products and many end users find them desirable for thermal fusion coating joints in an effort to prevent dirt and bacteria from entering the joints. One such method has been to thermally weld the joints with a colored solid welding rod. This has become a popular practice in the health care industry where hygiene requirements are extremely important. REF: 23519 Not only have manufacturers provided flooring welding rods for sealing joints, but also many wall systems are also marketed with joint welding materials or union senators. The end users and specifiers of the work also frequently employ joining welding rods as an option to offer a decorative design element for the specific job. They can add a solid colored solder rod that complements the color of the configured floor or they can use an "accented" color that contrasts sharply with the floor to create a new well-defined image. Only recently, however, has the manufacturer offered a colored, non-solid colored solder rod. The welding rod is a shaped, closely colored welding rod, which matches the color and design of the configuration that covers the floor. This thermal welding rod uses methods which create an intimately colored view which extends completely from the surface through the composite to the composition of the composition in an uninterrupted manner. The configuration is limited to a fragmented, or grainy, image of multiple colors. Prior to the present invention, a welding rod having a different, repeatable configuration has not been produced. The welding rod of the present invention can be produced by laminating a calendered PVC film, printed in 0.15 cm to several superposed layers of 0.51 cm clear calendered films. The printed image which matches the design that covers the floor is printed by any conventional means and could be done in a way that would create an original image. It was found that the techniques of lithographic printing and rotogravure printing were satisfactory. In effect, a printed film was purchased from a vendor for use in a floor covering structure and then the same film was used to fabricate a welding rod to match the floor structure. The thickness of the welding rod is preferably 2.0 to 2.3 cm. The final structure was a sandwich type structure. The lower layer was 0.15 cm of printed film. For this printed image layer, four successive 0.51 cm layers of calendered, clear PVC films were laminated. Lamination could be done either in a type of hot / cold press operation or other methods could be employed. The laminations of multiple films were produced simultaneously on an Auma machine. As well, two films were laminated using a regular rolling mill calender in a consolidation line by roller press. In any case, once the films have been laminated, they are die cut into pieces / sheets that could be placed in a hot / cold press and molded to the semicircular configuration of the welding rod of the final product. Subsequent tests revealed that the product had adequate adhesion resistance. Naturally, test conditions and results would vary if one chooses to use different chemical compositions for the structure of the product / process.

The present invention provides a thermoplastic welding rod comprising a first thermoplastic layer, a second transparent thermoplastic layer and a printing layer disposed between the first and second layers. The present invention also provides a surface covering comprising two thermoplastic coatings welded together with a thermoplastic welding rod, the welding rod comprising a printing layer disposed between a first thermoplastic layer and a second transparent thermoplastic layer, the first and second layer they have been laminated and formed into an elongate element having a semicircular cross-sectional shape. The invention is made by printing a desired image on a film layer and rolling successive layers of clear films to create the single view as the surface cover. The variation in the caliber can be minimized by using calendered films. Then the calendered films are preferably molded into semicircular cross-section welding rods. In the preferred embodiment, the printed image is protected by at least 0.76 cm of clear film, this is PVC or other. Thus, as the surface of the product wears out, the underlying impression does not change. Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a method for forming the welding rod of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the welding rod present after being molded and before being separated into individual welding rods. In an effort to create a new floor covering structure via a rolling process, tauric welding rods were produced that had a similar appearance to the floor coverings. Different sandwich structures were laminated using printed and clear PVC films. Such welding rods are more cost effective and would accelerate the introduction of surface cover configurations for commercial introduction, because the process only depends on photographing the image of the surface cover structure to reproduce the view for the welding rod. . The printed film used to create the new laminate floor covering structure was used to produce the welding rod configured in a separate process. The composition of the laminates is well known in the art. This new process offers a view that could easily be matched with any pattern and / or design with relative ease. By just photographing and printing the design, you could laminate the printed film and create a configured welding rod. With reference to Fig. 1, the preferred method is to laminate several layers of clear film 1 on top of a printed film 2 of 0.15 cm and then press them into a molded semicircular welding rod shape configuration.

Alternatively, the lamination was done on a flatbed or flatbed press. All films were "punctured" (or punched) to allow trapped air to be released. A base film of printed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) of 0.15 cm was placed on the lower press plate with the surface printed upwards and with a cork bearing and three pieces of tubular fabric disposed between the press plate and the base film . Four 0.51 cm clear films were placed on the printed base film, followed by a paper or felt release top paper. The layers were pressed for half a minute at 0.56 Kg / cm2 and then for half a minute at 5.6 Kg / cm2. The temperature of the upper and lower press plates was 148.9 ° C (300 ° F). Then the laminate was cooled for 3 minutes under the pressure of 5.6 Kg / cm2. The laminated coating was pressed on welding rods by placing a semicircular embossing mold 3 on the lower press plate 4, separation of the release paper / felt from the laminate and placing it on the mold. Then the lower press plate was preheated for 2 minutes at 162.8 ° C (325 ° F). The lower press platen 5 was then lowered onto the laminate with an upper release paper, release felt or ferrochrome plate 6 disposed between the upper press platen and the laminate. The laminate was pressed for one and a half minutes at 0.28 Kg / cm2 and cooled for 3 minutes under the pressure of Kg / cm2. The laminates were placed on the mold with the back side of the printed film against the cutting edges of the mold. Thus, after pressing, the printed image was placed facing upwards as shown in Figure 2. The printed layer 10 is disposed between the film 11 on which the printed layer adheres and the clear calendered film 12. Then the individual welding rods are separated. The structure of the welding rods 13 does not resemble round, homogeneous welding rods or semi-round welding rods, of uniformly distributed fragments of the prior art. The product could also be manufactured by multiple film laminations, by using a continuous process to laminate the various layers. As such, either the films could be preheated and laminated to a heated / tempered substrate or a substrate could be preheated and then wrapped around a cold rolling roller to consolidate the two layers. The technique depends on the thickness of the films that are used, as well as their chemical composition. To minimize the migration of the plasticizer, the formulation of the welding rod, especially the plasticizer system, must be balanced with the formulation covering the surface. The content and type of plasticizer should be similar between the welding rod and the surface coverage. The floor covering is usually installed at temperatures between 12.8 ° C (55 ° F) to 29.4 ° C (85 ° F). Therefore, flexibility and ease of cutting should be maintained even near the lower end of the range. This is done by the addition of a low temperature plasticizer such as dioctyl adipate. Preferably the vitreous transition temperature, Tg, of the plasticized fragments is not greater than -1.1 ° C (30 ° F), more preferably not greater than -3.9 ° C (25 ° F) and more preferably not greater than -5.6X (22 ° F). The thermoplastic materials which can be used to make the thermoplastic welding rods include polyvinyl chloride, acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene, polypropylene, polyethylene and thermoplastic polyurethane. Other thermoplastic resins that can be plasticized and used include polyvinyl acetate, cellulose acetate, polystyrene, ethyl cellulose, polyvinylidene chloride, polyurethane, nylon, acrylic and polyphenylene oxide. The following thermoplastic resins have been used to make the welding rods of the present invention: polyvinyl chloride homopolymers and copolymers with acetate functionality and mixtures thereof. Polyvinyl chloride homopolymers are preferred. Plasticizers which may be used include butyl cyclohexyl phthalate, tri (butoxyethyl) phosphate, trioctyl phosphate, 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate, dibutyl phthalate, diisobutyl adipate, di (2-ethylhexyl) epoxy tetrahydroftalate, phthalate of di (2-ethylhexyl), diisooctyl phthalate, dioctyl adipate, diisononyl phthalate, di (2-ethylhexyl) hexahydrophthalate, n-octyl, n-decyl phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, butyl benzyl phthalate, phthalate dicaprilo, di (3,5,5-trimeti) hexyl phthalate, diisodecyl phthalate, di (2-ethylhexyl) adipate, butyl epoxy stearate, epoxy soybean oil, talate * a ± Uo <; _ sdd = c_D, phthalate gives d? ne io, epoxy hexyl stearate, cresyl diphenyl phosphate, di (2-ethylhexyl) isophthalate, n-octyl, n-decyl adipate, di (2-ethylhexyl) azelate , I enclose OB acted as a dialysate, di (2-ethylhexyl) sebacate, tetraethylene glycol / di (2-ethylhexoate), dihydroxy acyclopentane and triethylene glycol / di (2-ethylhexoate). The total concentration of the plasticizer should be between 35 and 60 parts per cent (phr) of resin preferably between 40 and 55 phr and more preferably between 45 and 50 phr. Plasticizer combinations are preferred.

It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects to which it refers.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following

Claims (9)

1. Claims 1. A thermoplastic welding rod j comprising a first thermoplastic layer, a second transparent thermoplastic layer and a printing layer disposed between the first and second layers.
2. 2. The welding rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the welding rod is in the form of an elongated element having a semicircular cross-sectional shape.
3. 3. The welding rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the second transparent layer is substantially colorless.
4. 4. The welding rod according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of transparent thermoplastic layers overlap the first printed layer.
5. 5. The welding rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the rod is formed by cutting or slicing a plurality of rods together, end to end.
6. 6. The welding rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the first and second layers comprise a polymer selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride or polyester.
7. 7. A surface cover, characterized in that it comprises two elastomeric coatings welded together with the thermoplastic welding rod of claim 1.
8. 8. A surface cover comprising two thermoplastic linings welded together with a thermoplastic welding rod, the welding rod comprises a printed layer disposed between a first thermoplastic layer and a second transparent thermoplastic layer, the first and second layers have been laminated and formed to a elongated element having a semi-round cross-sectional shape.
9. 9. The surface cover according to claim 8, characterized in that the surface cover is a floor covering.