NO324282B1 - Self-adhesive foil - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a self-adhesive foil for glueing and completely removing a floor covering, especially wall-to-wall carpeting, on and from a floor, especially a parquet flooring. Said foil consists of a support layer, especially a layer made of plastic foil which is provided with an adhesive coating on a top surface facing the floor covering and on a bottom surface facing the floor, wherein at least the top surface may or may not have a textile structure and wherein the adhesive coating has a different adhesive strength on both surfaces in such a way that the adhesive coating and/or adhesive strength of the bottom surface equals a fraction of the adhesive coating and/or adhesive strength of the top surface and is substantially uniform on the bottom surface.

Description

The invention relates to a self-adhesive foil for gluing a floor covering on a floor.

There are already previously known self-adhesive tapes or foils which present a layer of adhesive adhesive applied to both surfaces of a carrier layer. For this, either the carrier layer of the self-adhesive tapes is designed as carrier fabric or a fabric weave is applied to the carrier layer to preserve dimensional stability.

The adhesive agent layer exhibits different adhesive strengths on the two surfaces of the carrier layer. The adhesive strengths for the adhesive layer are thereby selected so that the upper surface facing the floor covering exhibits a greater adhesive strength than the lower surface facing the floor. The commonly used adhesive application weights for the adhesive layers, especially on the lower surface, are therefore in the range of 100 g/m<2>, the smallest of which are in the range of 70 g/m<2> and hardly any manufacturer uses adhesive application weights below 70 g/m<2>.

With the different adhesion adhesive layers and/or adhesion strength, it must be achieved that the floor covering, for example carpet covering, firstly adheres well to the floor, for example parquet, and secondly, together with the self-adhesive tape adhering to the floor covering, it can be detached without any remaining residue from the floor. In order to guarantee a safe adhesion both on the floor covering as well as on the floor during installation, they present traditional self-adhesive tapes, as these are generally not surface-processed but only present a small difference in the adhesive layer and/or in the adhesion strength of the two surfaces. There is, however, a risk that in the case of too strong adhesion to the floor, a part of the adhesive will remain attached to the floor or that the self-adhesive tape will detach from the floor covering rather than from the floor when loosened. A solution without remaining residues is therefore not guaranteed under all conditions. Admittedly, self-adhesive tapes are also used where their differences in adhesiveness are caused by structural differences on the relevant surfaces consisting of irregularities in the carrier weave, i.e. that the self-adhesive tapes have a "rough" surface with a low adhesiveness and a more "smooth" surface with a greater adhesion. However, due to the point loads on the "rough" surface and the associated adhesion centers between the self-adhesive tape and the floor, this design cannot under all conditions guarantee a removal of the floor covering from the floor without any residual residue.

The task underlying the invention is therefore to provide a self-adhesive film which essentially under all conditions guarantees both a secure adhesion of the floor covering to the floor as well as a release of the floor covering without residual residues from the floor and thus offers a convenient workability .

The present invention comprises self-adhesive foil for gluing a floor covering, in particular a carpet covering, on a floor, in particular parquet, with a carrier layer, which on an upper surface facing the floor covering and on a lower surface facing the floor is provided with an adhesive layer, the adhesive layer on the two surfaces exhibit a different adhesive strength and the adhesive strength on the lower surface is less than the adhesive strength on the upper surface, where a carrier layer consists of a plastic film and that the adhesive layer, at least on the lower surface, is uniformly formed and that the self-adhesive film is formed with a minimum width of 350 mm for covering large areas of the floor to be covered with the floor covering. Furthermore, the present invention is described in the independent claims 2 to 11.

The self-adhesive foil according to the invention is used for gluing a floor covering, in particular a carpet covering, to a floor, in particular parquet.

The self-adhesive foil presents a suitable carrier layer. The carrier layer preferably consists of plastic foil, for example polypropylene or polyethylene foil, but in principle any other suitable material, such as rubber and latex, among others, can also be used.

At least on the upper surface that faces the floor covering, the carrier film exhibits a weave which particularly serves to achieve dimensional stability in the self-adhesive film during application and release. The weaving can also be arranged on the surface facing the floor or on both surfaces. The weave is formed by threads of suitable tear-resistant material.

According to the invention, both surfaces exhibit an adhesive agent layer, the adhesive agent layer and/or the adhesive strength on the lower surface being only a fraction of the corresponding one on the upper surface. For this, on each of the two surfaces, adhesives with different adhesive strengths can be used, or on each of the individual surfaces, the same adhesive can be used.

As a pressure-sensitive adhesive, an acrylate dispersion, enriched with resins and with UV and aging protection has proven advantageous, although any other suitable pressure-sensitive adhesive can also be used.

The adhesive agent layer can be applied surface-wise, but an essentially strip-shaped adhesive agent layer arranged on the surfaces with adhesive-free spaces is also possible. The combination of flat application and strip application on each of the surfaces or the combination thereof on one of the surfaces is also possible.

According to the invention, at least the lower surface with the distinctly smaller adhesive layer is essentially uniformly designed. And so the upper surface can essentially also be uniformly designed.

The design of the self-adhesive film according to the invention with a fraction of the adhesive layer on the lower surface provides, due to the relatively smaller adhesive layer and/or adhesion strength, a particularly safe solution without remaining residues of the floor covering or the self-adhesive film adhering thereto. As the self-adhesive foil according to the invention adheres securely to the floor covering by means of the substantially stronger adhesion strength on the upper surface in comparison to the lower undersurface, a simple solution of the floor covering with the self-adhesive foil adhering thereto is possible. In addition, with the help of the essentially even lower surface of the self-adhesive foil according to the invention, despite the relatively small adhesive layer and/or adhesive strength, a secure adhesion of the floor covering to a floor, especially on smooth parquet, is achieved, as the adhesion does not only occur in spots as in the case of self-adhesive tapes with structured lower surfaces. Since, due to the essentially even lower surface according to the invention, no adhesion centers can arise which, due to their small surfaces, do not produce any secure adhesion but stick stronger at points to the floor, in this way, in addition to secure adhesion, also the secure solution.

It is particularly advantageous if the self-adhesive foil is formed so that its length and width are dimensioned so that, in contrast to traditional self-adhesive tapes, it essentially covers the entire floor over the entire surface to be covered with the floor covering. The length is therefore chosen as required by the spatial conditions and pre-workability. As a width, a range of 350 to 2000 mm is preferred for reasons of processability and practical implementation reasons. Even more preferred is a width range from 500 to 1500 mm and particularly preferred is a range from 600 to 1000 mm. Of course, with corresponding spatial conditions, it may be preferred that the lengths are also chosen in these areas.

The design of the self-adhesive foil in the form of large surfaces presents in the same way as the essentially even design of the lower surface, despite the fact that the adhesive layer and/or the adhesive strength of this surface only constitute a fraction of the corresponding ones for the upper surface, a particularly secure adhesion of the floor covering to the floor, as in this way, in contrast to conventional self-adhesive tapes, a large adhesion surface is achieved.

As in some cases adhesives with different adhesive strengths can be applied to the surfaces, not only the adhesive application weight is responsible for the different adhesive strengths according to the invention, but also the different required thicknesses of the adhesives used.

Measurement of the adhesive force according to DIN 1939 serves as a generally valid measurement method for the adhesive strength of an adhesive layer. This measures the force required to pull off the self-adhesive foil that is provided with the adhesive layer with a specific adhesive strength and a specific application weight and which is to be examined. Thereby, according to the test standard, the width of the self-adhesive foil is 25 mm and a standing surface serves as the adhesive partner for the self-adhesive foil.

According to the invention, an adhesive strength measured according to DIN 1939 for the adhesive layer on the lower surface is preferably in a range from 0.8 to 5 N. More preferred is a range from 1.5 to 3 N and most preferred is an adhesive strength range of 2.0 to 2.6N.

For the adhesion strength of the adhesive layer on the upper surface measured according to DIN 1939, a range from 30 to 60 N is preferred.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the different adhesive adhesive layer and/or the different adhesive strengths respectively the adhesive force of the two surfaces are effected by different adhesive application weights, the upper surface with the greater adhesive strength showing a higher adhesive application weight than the lower surface.

Particularly preferred is an embodiment where the adhesive application weight on the upper surface lies in the range from 100 to 250 g/m<2> and on the lower surface in the range from 5 to 40 g/m<2>. For the lower surface, a range from 8 to 20 g/m<2> is most preferred.

As previously stated, on each of the two surfaces there can be a use for different pressure-sensitive adhesives with different adhesive strengths or on each of the surfaces there can be a use for the same pressure-sensitive adhesive. The above statements relate to the case that the same adhesive is applied to the upper and lower surfaces.

The adhesive agent layer can be applied plate-wise, but an essentially strip-shaped adhesive agent layer arranged on the surfaces with adhesive-free spaces is also possible. The combination of flat application and strip application on one of each of the surfaces or the combination thereof on one of the surfaces is also possible. In this case, the stated adhesive application weights relate only to the areas of the surfaces provided with a layer of adhesive.

In the further preferred embodiment of the invention, the textile structure on at least the upper surface of the carrier layer of the self-adhesive foil consists of threads of suitable tear-resistant material, such as especially cotton, plastic among others, which are arranged in a coarse mesh. The device can thereby adopt an essentially coarse-meshed design, and in particular threads arranged at right angles to each other and lying parallel in the relevant direction are preferred. In the relevant directions, the threads can be aligned parallel to the side edges of the self-adhesive foil or form an arbitrary angle with them.

Particularly preferred is an embodiment where the textile structure exhibits parallel running threads and also threads arranged at an obtuse angle to it in a rhombus shape.

Particularly preferably, the thread distance in each individual case in the textile structure is between 3 and 30 mm.

The textile structure can refer to a layer of threads but also to a net-like spun structure where the threads consist of fine individual threads that are interwoven with each other. Thereby, the threads in the textile structure are located on at least the upper surface of the carrier layer and are embedded in the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer and essentially surrounded by these, so that the corresponding surface of the self-adhesive foil is also essentially uniformly formed.

The coarse-mesh textile structure ensures the dimensional stability of the self-adhesive foil, as the essentially even formation of the corresponding surface is also essentially preserved. This facilitates the safe removal of the floor covering from the floor, as the self-adhesive foil adheres securely and dimensionally stable to the floor covering upon removal.

With the particularly preferred parallel as well as diamond-shaped arrangement of the threads, an additional dimensional stability is achieved in an oblique direction, i.e. in the direction of the diamond-shaped arranged threads. This extra stability is particularly advantageous when pulling the floor covering at an angle (in relation to the threads arranged parallel to the edges) and offers additional security for solution without remaining residues from the floor.

For particularly easy handling of the self-adhesive foil before and during the laying and sticking of a floor covering on a floor, the self-adhesive foil in a further preferred embodiment presents at least on the upper surface a removable covering film for uncovering the adhesive layer.

A removable covering film can also be present in addition or only on the lower surface. However, due to the substantially lower adhesion strength on the lower surface, this is not absolutely necessary.

The release film preferably consists of a silicone-treated release paper known per se, which practically continuously lies in releasable adhesive contact with the corresponding surface.

For transport, the self-adhesive film can be available in roll form.

Application of a self-adhesive foil according to the invention preferably takes place in the following way: The entire floor is covered with the self-adhesive foil. Thereby, the lower surface with the lower adhesive strength is directed towards the floor. In this case, the upper surface is preferably covered with the covering film. The floor covering is then applied provisionally and trimmed if necessary. Then part of the floor covering is turned back again and the covering film on this part of the self-adhesive foil is removed. The folded back part of the floor covering is again laid down on the upper surface of the self-adhesive foil with the greater adhesion strength and possibly pressed down on this. With the other part of the floor covering, proceed in the same way until the entire floor covering is glued as a large surface to the floor.

To remove the floor covering without residual residue, it must only be pulled from above away from the floor. This separates the self-adhesive foil from the floor and remains attached to the floor covering. If you want to re-use the floor covering with the self-adhesive foil now attached to it, you can protect the lower surface provided with the adhesive layer by rolling up the floor covering with a suitable covering foil.

As an alternative to the above-described self-adhesive foil according to the invention with a textile structure arranged at least on the upper surface for dimensional stabilization, it is also possible with a self-adhesive foil according to the invention without a textile structure.

In order to obtain dimensional stability, however, a particularly suitable tear- and tensile-resistant carrier layer is necessary for this. This can consist of the materials already mentioned above for a carrier layer, as the thicknesses used must, however, for the most part be chosen larger than in the case of a self-adhesive foil with additional textile structure.

With the exception of the points that specifically apply to the textile structure, all the above-mentioned specifications, described embodiments, material, number and area specifications and methods shall also apply to the self-adhesive film according to the invention without a textile structure.

Claims (11)

1. Self-adhesive foil for gluing a floor covering, in particular a carpet covering, on a floor, in particular parquet, with a carrier layer, which on an upper surface facing the floor covering and on a lower surface facing the floor is provided with an adhesive layer, the adhesive layer on the two surfaces exhibit a different adhesion strength and the adhesion strength on the lower surface is less than the adhesion strength on the upper surface, characterized in that the carrier layer consists of a plastic film and that the adhesive layer, at least on the lower surface, is evenly formed and that the self-adhesive film is formed with a minimum width of 350 mm for covering large areas of the floor to be covered with the floor covering. 2. Self-adhesive film according to claim 1, characterized by the self-adhesive film at least on the upper surface presenting a textile structure. 3. Self-adhesive film according to claim 2, characterized by the fact that the textile structure shows threads in a coarse mesh arrangement. 4. Self-adhesive film according to claim 3, characterized in that the textile structure exhibits parallel running threads in a coarse mesh arrangement as well as diamond-shaped arranged threads at an obtuse angle thereto. 5. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the textile structure exhibits threads with a thread spacing of 3 to 30 mm. 6. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by the adhesion strength of the lower surface exhibits an adhesion force (measured according to DIN 1939) in the order of magnitude from 0.8 to 5 N, in particular from 1.5 to 3 N and in particular from 2.0 to 2.6 N. 7. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by the different adhesive strength in the two surfaces is caused by different adhesive application weights, the surface with the greater adhesive strength showing a higher adhesive application weight. 8. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer consists of mutually different pressure-sensitive adhesives on the upper and lower surfaces. 9. Self-adhesive foil according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the adhesive application weight on the upper surface is in the range from 100 to 250 g/m<2> and on the lower surface in the range from 5 to 40 g/m<2>, in particular 8 to 20 g/m<2>. 10. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that at least on the upper surface there is a removable covering film. 11. Self-adhesive foil according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the width of the self-adhesive foil lies in a range from 350 mm to 2000 mm, preferably in a range from 500 mm to 1500 mm, and particularly preferred in a range from 600 mm to 1000 mm.