US2316746A

US2316746A - Floor and wall covering

Info

Publication number: US2316746A
Application number: US403833A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stallings James William
Original assignee: Rohm and Haas Co
Current assignee: Rohm and Haas Co
Priority date: 1941-07-24
Filing date: 1941-07-24
Publication date: 1943-04-13
Anticipated expiration: 1960-04-13

Description

PY 13, 1943 .1. w. sTALLlNc-:s 2,315,746

FLOOR AND WALL COVERING Filed July 24. 1941 Patented Apr. 13, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLOOR- AND WALL COVERING James William Stallings, Haddon Heights, N. J.,

assignor to Rohm & Haas Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application July 24, 1941, serial No. 403,813.2

6 Claims.

- replace burlap, but this substitution has not provided a satisfactory product. This replacement is particularly important at the present time because of difiiculties'encountered in obtaining burlap and of the desire to use domestic supplies of cotton.

The linoleum heretofore prepared with a. cotton backing has not Ibeen fully satisfactory, because under the influence of water or moisture curling and buckling have occurred. Floor or wall coverings of this type, even though held with a waterproof cement, frequently open at the seams.

It is an object of this invention to prepare linoleum floor or wall covering which is not distorted by moisture or water and which remains smooth and plane when applied to a surface.

It has now been found that non-buckling, distortion-free linoleum may be prepared by impregnating a cotton cloth with a solution of a water soluble carbamide-formaldehyde condensate to impart thereto about 10% to about of resin, referred to the weight of the cloth/drying the cloth, applying to one face thereof a linoleum coating composition, and

curing the coating on the cloth. If desired, pre-` liminary to the application of the coating composition there may be applied to the dry cloth a sealing coat of a thick pigmented lacquer or dope This improves the. adhesion of the linoleum materials to the base.

Figure l of the drawing is a cross sectional view of the floor and wall covering of this invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view of same.

As a suitable water-soluble carbamide-form- -aldehyde condensate there may be used the solbamide formaldehyde condensate. Aqueous solutions containing 8% to 30% of such a condensate ymay be used for impregnating' the cotton cloth. Excess solution is removed by squeezing, slot-extracting, or other suitable procedure. The amount of condensate retained by the fabric depends upon the concentration of the solution used and upon the extent of re-, moval of solution.

To the impregnating solution there is preferably added an acid-type catalyst for hardening the condensate. There may be used as a catalyst a weak acid, such as acetic, formic,` or lactic acid, an acid salt, such as monoor dimethylamine hydrochloridaor an ammonium salt, such as ammonium Aphosphate or ammonium thiocyanate. These catalysts are used at concentrations which do not cause coagulation or gelation of the treating solution. The addition of ammonia to this solution helps to prevent premature coagulation during application of the solution to the fabric.

There may also be used in the impregnating solution a wetting and penetrating agent, suchas sodium octylphenoxyethyl sulfate or sodium octylphenoxyethoxyethoxyethyl sulfonate. The

use of a wetting agent is of particular value when grey goods or sized cotton fabrics are used forbacking.

After the cotton cloth has been impregnated with a solution containing a urea-formaldehyde or other carbamide-formaldehyde condensate, it is dried on cans or .in an enclosed drier at normal or elevated temperature. At this point it is usually desirable, if the cloth has not already been sized, to increase the body and weight of the cloth by sizing with a starchy composition. The desirability of this operation will depend on the construction and weight of the cloth,` upon the amount of size already present, land upon the nature of the ,coating materials to be applied thereto. -When the con struction is open and of light weight, sizing be-4 comes particularly desirable.

vAs the coating or overlay there may be used the usual linoleum mix based on lin'oxyn. This may be calendered or pressed onto the prepared -base which is substantially dry and hard. If desired, the composite sheet may be embossed.

After the fabricated sheet has been cured by stoving in the usual manner, there results a covering material which rolls well and yet may be spread evenly and easily on floor or wall. Since it is not sensitive to moisture, it remains flat and smooth without curling or buckling.

As typical of the preparation oi.' covering material, the following examples are cited.

Example 1 A 67 x 40, 2 yd. grey cotton sheeting was padded lthrough a solution containing 15% of water-soluble methylol urea, 0.3% of ammonium thiocyanate, and 0.4% o! sodium lsooctylphenoxyethoxyethyl suli'onate. The cloth was then dried on cans and passed through a size bath prepared from 100 lbs. of converted com starch lbs. oi talc. 20 lbs. of glue, and 1000 lbs. of water, and again dried on a stack of cans heated with steam at 10 lbs. pressure. The sized fabric was then coated with a pigmented lacquer paste prepared from 27 parts ci' nicrocellulose, 53 parts of castor oil, 20 parts of titanium oxide, and 200 parts of solvent consisting of 35% of ethano1,v25% of ethyl acetate,

5% of butyl acetate, and 25% of toluol. The lacquer coat was dried. by passing the cloth through a steam-heated oven. There was then calendered onto the coated fabric a linoxyn mix made'from 10 parts of 'linoxyn and 17 parts of llers and pigments. 'Ihe sheet was stoved forfour days at 19o-200 F. The product resisted Ibuckling and curling when moistened or Steamed.

Eample 2 Another lot of cotton sheeting in the grey with the warp' heavily sized was padded through a solution containing 10% of a water-semble condensate of urea, formaldehyde, and a small amount of thiourea, 0.1% of ammonium phosphate. 0.1% of sodium sulfate, and 0.5% of sodium isooctylphenoxyethyl sulfate. The cloth was then passed over cans heated to 300 F. The dry cloth was then sized as in the previous example, coated with a lacquer dope, calendered with a linoleum mix, and stoved. The

v during stoving.

above examples. The wall covering thus obtained remained 'iiat 'when wet and was entirely satisfactory in all respects;

In the processing of cotton cloth with a carbamide-formaldehyde condensate results comparable to those obtained in the above examples areobtained by impregnating cloth coated with a linoleum mix and then stoving or heating'the -iloor or wall covering. This method, however.

about 10% to -about 20% oi condensate to the finished product was entirely satisfactory as a wall covering, having a'smooth, plane surface and remaining ilat when wet.

Example 3 A piece of 62 x 48, 1.9 yd. cotton sheeting'was padded through a solution containing 9% of methylol urea, 0.75% ofthe water-soluble wetting agent prepared by reaction of octylphenol and ethylene oxide, and 10% ot an emulsioncontaining 32% of a non-drying oil-modined alkyd resin, 8% of an organic solvent-soluble v condensate of. urea, formaldehyde, and butanol,

and 3% of cetyldimenthylamine acetate as an emulsner. The cloth was dried and heated for l2 minutes in a tenter at 300 F. The cloth was then sized, dried, coated' with a lacquer dope, dried again, calendered with a thin cloth, drying the cloth, applying a linoleum coating composition to-one face of the cloth, and y heating the coated cloth.

. 2. The process of claim 1 in which the carv bamide-formaldehyde condensate is one obtained from urea and formaldehyde.

3. The process of preparing non-buckling, distortion-free linoleum and wall covering having a cotton back which comprises'impreg'nating cotton cloth with a water-soluble carbamide-formaldehyde vcondensate to impart about 10% to about 20% of condensate to the cloth, drying the cloth, sizing. the cloth, applying to one face thereof 4a layer of. a linoleum coztlilng composition, and heating the' coated 4. The process of preparingA non-buckling, distortion-,free lonoleum and wall covering having a cotton back which comprises impregnat-` ing cotton cloth with about 10% to about 20% of a urea-formaldehyde Acondensate based on the `weight of the cloth, drying the impregnated cloth, l'coating the dried cloth with a lacquer,-

applying tothe lacquered tace thereof a layer oi a lonoleum coating composition, and heating the coated cloth. l

5. A distortion-free, non-buckling wall and :door covering comprising a cotton backing containing about l0% to about 20% of acarbamide-formaldehyde resin and 'a linoleum mix overlay.

6. A distortion-free non-buckling wall and floor covering comprising a cotton bachng conl taining about 10% to about y30% of a urealayer of linoleum mix', and stoved. as in the i formaldehyde resin and a -linoleum mix overlay.

STALLINGS.