WO2009087588A1

WO2009087588A1 - Flooring product with integrated conducting layers

Info

Publication number: WO2009087588A1
Application number: PCT/IB2009/050020
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pieter J. Snijder; Victor A. J. Teeven; Lucas L. D. Van Der Poel; Wolfgang O. Budde
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; Philips Intellectual Property & Standards Gmbh
Priority date: 2008-01-08
Filing date: 2009-01-06
Publication date: 2009-07-16

Abstract

A flooring product (10; 20) comprising a floor layer (1; 21), adapted to support a user of said flooring product, a first conducting layer (2; 22), a second conducting layer (4; 24), and an insulating layer (3; 23) sandwiched between the conducting layers. Each conducting layer extends across a surface area of the flooring product, and the first conducting layer (2) comprises atleast one hole (6), to provide access to at least one electrical component (7) arranged in electrical contact with said second conducting layer (4), and thereby allow electrical connection between the first conducting layer (2) and said electrical component.

Description

FLOORING PRODUCT WITH INTEGRATED CONDUCTING LAYERS

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a flooring product with integrated conducting layers, allowing electrical component interconnection.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Flooring with integrated power supply is known, and used for example for floor illumination, floor heating or electrical charging of objects placed on such a floor. It is often desired to cover an entire floor with an integrated power supply flooring product, like a vinyl-like flooring, but the floors with integrated power supply known today are typically pre-confϊgured tile systems that are linked together by electrical and mechanical connectors, such as bar elements, only providing for local interconnection, and requiring many steps when producing the floor. The different pieces of flooring must be electrically interconnected in an adequate way, and the floor interconnects as well as the embedded wiring must have a very low electrical resistance in order to carry the large electrical currents that for example floor heating or floor illumination require.

Hence, there is a need for a flooring product, capable of being connected to a power supply, allowing electrical component interconnection, and with possibility to cover an entire floor. The same flooring product should also be electrically interconnectable to another piece of flooring product in an easy manner. It is also desired that the flooring product allows incorporation of an arbitrarily shaped piece of flooring product into an already existing floor. This floor inlay may have a different structure or color, in comparison to the initial flooring, this to for example indicate a certain floor area, in a customized manner. Examples of such areas may be guiding lines, prohibited zones, or simply pictures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above need is at least partly met by a first aspect of the present invention providing a flooring product which comprises a floor layer, adapted to support a user of said flooring product, a first conducting layer, an insulating layer, and a second conducting layer. The insulating layer is sandwiched between the conducting layers. Further, the first conducting layer comprises at least one hole, to provide access to at least one electrical component arranged in electrical contact with said second conducting layer, and thereby allow electrical connection between the first conducting layer and said electrical component. Each conducting layer extends across a surface area of the flooring product. The conducting layers thus provide an entire floor with power when connected to a power supply.

One piece of flooring product may be big enough to cover an entire floor, like a roll of flooring, or consist of smaller pieces, even as small as floor tiles, the structure of layers is still the same.

The holes of the first conducting layer facilitate connection of electrical components, such as LEDs, when assembling layers during production. At the same time these holes form a rigid mechanical contact between the floor layer, and the insulating layer, since these layers will merge via the holes.

The connection of electrical components to the second conductive layer may be achieved by penetrating the insulating layer, or in a recess provided by a preformed hole in the insulating layer. The location and size of such a pre-formed hole may essentially coincide with the hole formed in the first conductive layer.

The connection of electrical components to the first conductive layer may, for example, be achieved by means of wire-bonding or soldering.

Depending on the manufacturing process, the first conducting layer with holes may be located above or below the second conducting layer. However, if the electrical is intended to interact with the environment by means of light, i.e. a light emitting element or a light sensor, and the second conducting layer is non-transparent, the first conducting layer is preferably arranged above the second conducting layer, when the product is in use.

The floor layer and the insulating layer may advantageously consist of the same material, which may further improve the mechanical interconnection between these layers.

Moreover, all layers may advantageously consist of flexible materials to form a flexible flooring. The floor layer and the insulating layer may consist of vinyl- like material, and the conducting layers may be built up of electrically conductive foils or metal wire meshes.

The flooring product may comprise a second insulating layer underlying the second conducting layer. This may be advantageous, and depends for example on the surface characteristics of the surface on which the flooring product is laid, since it may be insulating by itself. Advantageously, furthermore, a first and a second piece of the flooring product according to the present invention may be comprised in a floor covering system, wherein a first edge of the first piece of flooring product is positioned along a second edge of the second piece of flooring product. The first and second conducting layers of the first piece are arranged in electrical contact with the first and second conducting layers of the second piece respectively, so that the first conducting layer of the first piece is in electrical contact with the first conducting layer of the second piece, and the second conducting layer of the first piece is in electrical contact with the second conducting layer of the second piece. This results in that an entire floor can be provided with power when connected to a power supply, although it is built up from several pieces of flooring products.

Moreover, connection portions of the conducting layers of the first and the second edge of the flooring products may be exposed by removing the corresponding parts of the insulating layers. This may facilitate the preparation of electrical interconnection. The floor layer may be left unaffected to later cover the seam between the two pieces of flooring product.

In one embodiment of the present invention the exposed portions of the conducting layers are bent in a direction perpendicular to the plane in which they extend to further facilitate electrical interconnection. For example, the conducting layers can be bent downwards. A conducting sealing strip may be inserted between the first and second pieces of flooring product to provide an electrical power interconnect there between. This is an advantageous way to create electrical interconnection when a gap has been left between the two pieces of flooring product.

The sealing strip may advantageously be anisotropically conductive to prevent short-circuiting between the first and second conductive layers and to, furthermore, provide for simple assembly with relatively low demands on mounting accuracy.

Moreover, the sealing strip may preferably be resilient for handling small variations of the gap between the pieces of flooring product.

The conducting sealing strip may comprise alternating conductive and isolating layers, such as a known so called zebra connector, which is flexible and adjusts itself to inclined or uneven surfaces. The resolution of the conducting and isolation layers of the strip should be high enough to ensure proper contacting between the pieces of flooring product and at the same time prevent short circuiting between the first and second conductive layers. The first piece of flooring product can be a floor inlay, and the second piece of flooring product may have a corresponding cut out hole. The shape of the hole is adapted to the shape of the inlay. In this way an electrical power interconnect may be established along the entire circumference of a floor inlay. In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for interconnecting a first and a second flooring product according to the first aspect. The method comprises the steps of removing the insulating layer of a first edge of said first piece of flooring product and a second edge of said second piece of flooring product to expose portions of the conducting layers along these edges; positioning the first piece of flooring product along the second edge of the second piece of flooring product, to secure electrical contact between the first and second conducting layers of the first piece and the first and second conducting layers of the second piece respectively.

Electrical interconnection between the first and second conducting layers of the first piece and the first and second conducting layers of the second piece respectively, may be obtained by the pieces being sufficiently pressed together, to ensure electrical contact between the conducting layers.

The method may moreover include pushing a conducting sealing strip into the gap between the first and the second piece of flooring product to interconnect the first and the second piece electrically. The sealing strip is adapted to electrically interconnect the first and second conducting layers of the first piece arranged in electrical contact with the first and second conducting layers of the second piece respectively.

The method may include removing of the floor layer of the first edge of said first piece of flooring product and the second edge of said second piece of flooring product when exposing the conducting layers along said edges. A conductive sealing strip may be arranged in a gap between the first and second piece. The sealing strip is adapted to electrically interconnect the first and second conducting layers of said first piece arranged in electrical contact with the first and second conducting layers of said second piece respectively. When the edges of the floor layer are removed, the sealing strip may advantageously be adapted to form a floor layer in the gap, to be able to form a seamless transfer.

When the edges of the floor layers are not removed the method may comprise folding away portions of said floor layer so as to expose a gap between the first and second piece, arranging a sealing strip in the gap, said sealing strip adapted to electrically interconnect the first and second conducting layers of the first piece arranged in electrical contact with the first and second conducting layers of the second piece respectively, and folding back said portions, so as to cover said sealing strip. This results in a seamless flooring.

Further, the method may include bending the exposed part of said conducting layers in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the conducting layers.

A tool may be used to remove the outer portions of layers of a piece of flooring. The tool comprises a cutting edge adapted to be brought into contact with an edge of said piece of flooring, and adapted to cut into and remove a portion of the edge when pressed against and moved along the edge. The cutting edge has notches adapted to allow the conducting layers of the piece of flooring to pass through the notches, so that the cutting edge leaves the conducting layers intact when the tool is moved along the edge. Such a tool makes the procedure of exposing the conducting layers easier and less time consuming compared to when using conventional tools.

It is noted that the invention relates to all possible combinations of features recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail, with reference to the accompanying, exemplifying drawings on which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a flooring product according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2a illustrates, in perspective view, how the layers of the edge of a flooring product are cut off to expose the conducting layers.

Figure 2b illustrates, in perspective view, how the exposed parts of the conducting layers are bent.

Figure 3 is a cross-section view of two interconnected pieces of flooring product, with a gap in between them, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a cross-section view of two interconnected pieces of flooring product, with a gap in between them, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a cross-section view of two interconnected pieces of flooring product, without gap in between them, according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will be described with reference to the flooring product 10 in figure 1, which flooring product comprises a floor layer 1, a first conducting layer 2, an insulating layer 3, a second conducting layer 4 and an insulating layer 5. The first conducting layer 2 includes holes 6 provided to facilitate an electrical component 7 to be connected between the first and the second conducting layer, 2, 4. In the illustrated example the electrical component is a LED 7. In the preferred embodiment described below the first conducting layer, provided with holes, is located above the second conducting layer. This is advantageous for example when the electrical component is light emitting or light sensitive, and the conducting layers are non-transparent.

As shown in figure 1, the holes 6 may extend through layer 3 so that the electrical component 7 can be mounted directly onto second conducting layer 4. This is also advantageous in view of cooling.

When the electrical component is a LED, the floor layer 1 may be entirely transparent or transparent at the locations of the LEDs only. Alternatively, the floor layer 1 may have a transparent coloring, or have a continuous pattern covering the entire floor, which only partly obstructs the light emission.

Figures 2a and 2b illustrate how a flooring product 20 is prepared for electrical interconnection with another piece of flooring product. In figure 2a the edges of the conducting layers 22, 24 of flooring product 20 are exposed by removing corresponding parts of the floor layer 21, and the insulating layers 23, 25.

The layers may be removed by means of a special tool 11. The tool can be handheld and in that case includes a hand grip (not shown) allowing the tool to be manually moved across a surface, e.g. along an edge 26 of a piece of flooring. The tool further includes cutting edge 13 arranged to be brought in contact with the edge 26 across which the tool is moved, such that an outer layer of the edge is removed when a certain pressure is exerted to the tool towards the surface. In this respect, the tool 11 is similar to a conventional planing tool. The cutting edge 13 further includes notches 14a-b having a width adapted to the thickness of the conducting layers 22, 24. In use, as illustrated in figure 2a, the tool is moved along an edge 26 of the flooring piece 20, while applying a pressure against the edge. During this motion, the cutting edge 13 is brought into contact with, and remove, the outer part of the insulating layers 22, 24 and the floor layer 21, while the conducting layers are allowed to pass through the notches 14a-b. Further, figure 2b shows how the conducting layers 22, 24, which now are exposed and extend out of the flooring piece 20 are bent out of the plane of the layers, e.g. up or down, to prepare for electrical interconnection with another piece of flooring product. The layers may be bent with a second tool 12 of conventional kind being adapted for bending, or optionally with the same tool 11 , which in this case needs to be provided with suitable bending means (not shown).

Figure 3 shows two pieces of flooring product, 30a and 30b, prepared as the flooring product shown in figure 2, positioned so that the exposed and bent conducting layers 32a, 34a of flooring product 30a are positioned along the exposed and bent conducting layers 32b, 34b of flooring product 30b. Due to for example oversized cutting there may be a gap between the two pieces of flooring product 30a and 30b. Hence, in this and other embodiments, it may be preferred to insert a conducting sealing strip 38 into this gap, in order to bridge the distance between the pieces 30a, 30b, while securing electrical contact between the respective conducting layers. The sealing strip preferably comprises alternating conductive and isolating layers such as a so called zebra-connector.

A zebra connector is a rubber strip in which bridges consisting of conductive rubber that stretch from one side to the other are embedded at intervals. The bridges consisting of conductive rubber thus form small leads, which are isolated from each other by the rubber parts, from the one surface to the opposite surface of the connector. An advantage of a zebra connector of this type consists in that it is flexible and automatically adjusts itself to uneven and inclined surfaces of the contact surface.

In the embodiment in figure 3, the sealing strip 38 is adapted to also function as a floor layer 39. For this purpose, the upper surface of the sealing strip may be of a similar material as the floor layer of the flooring product. Figure 4 shows similar pieces as in the embodiment of figure 3, but in figure 4, the floor layers 31a and 31b are left unaffected when exposing the conducting layers 32a, 34a, 32b, 34b. To still be able to insert the conducting sealing strip 38, the floor layers 31a and 31b are first kept in a position to expose the gap between the pieces of flooring product, allowing the conducting sealing strip 38 to be inserted. After the insertion of the conducting sealing strip 38 the floor layers 31a and 31b are folded back to form a seamless transfer.

Figure 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention where the pieces of flooring product are cut to measure so that there is no gap between them. The bent conducting layers 32a and 32b, as well as 34a and 34b respectively are instead pressed firmly together to obtain electrical interconnection. Depending on the material characteristics of the insulating layers 33a, 35a, 33b, 35b, the two pieces of flooring product may be electrically interconnected, just by pressing the two pieces of flooring product 30a and 30b firmly together in a durable way. This results in a seamless transfer between the two pieces of flooring product, and is especially applicable when the insulating layers are composed of elastic rubber-like materials.

The same procedure of preparing and electrically interconnecting two pieces of flooring product is also valid when the first flooring product is a floor inlay of desired format to be positioned into a cut out hole of a second flooring product in an already existing floor. In addition, it requires that a floor inlay is cut out from a flooring product, if it is not already existing in the desired format. This floor inlay may then serve as a mask when marking the desired location where to incorporate the floor inlay into the existing floor. When the flooring of the existing floor is marked, this part of the flooring is cut out and removed. In the following, the edges of the floor inlay and the edges of the existing floor inside the cut out hole are prepared as in some of the embodiments described above to create electrical interconnection between the floor inlay and the already existing floor.

The person skilled in the art realizes that the present invention by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments. Various improvements, equivalents and modifications will be apparent for a person skilled in the art. For example, the sealing strip may, instead of being a so-called zebra strip, be formed by a resilient material filled with conductive particles. In such a sealing strip, anisotropic conduction is achieved by compressing the strip such that the conductive particles contact each other in the direction of compression.

Claims

1. A flooring product (10; 20) comprising: a floor layer (1; 21), adapted to support a user of said flooring product, a first conducting layer (2; 22), a second conducting layer (4; 24), and an insulating layer (3; 23) sandwiched between said conducting layers, wherein each conducting layer extends across a surface area of said flooring product, and the first conducting layer (2) comprises at least one hole (6), to provide access to at least one electrical component (7) arranged in electrical contact with said second conducting layer (4), and thereby allow electrical connection between the first conducting layer (2) and said electrical component.

2. The flooring product according to claim 1, wherein said hole (6) extends through said insulating layer (3; 23).

3. The flooring product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said first conducting layer (2; 22) is located above said second conducting layer (4; 24) when said flooring product is in use.

4. The flooring product according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said floor layer (1; 21), and the insulating layer (3; 23) are made of the same material.

5. The flooring product according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of said floor layer (1; 21), said first conducting layer (2; 22), said second conducting layer (4; 24), a said insulating layer (3; 23) is a flexible layer.

6. The flooring product according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a second insulating layer (5; 25) underlying said second conducting layer.

7. A floor covering system comprising a first (30a) and a second (30b) piece of flooring product according to claim 1 , arranged so that a first edge of said first piece of flooring product is positioned along a second edge of said second piece of flooring product, the first and second conducting layers (32a; 34a) of said first piece arranged in electrical contact with the first and second (32b; 34b) conducting layers of said second piece respectively.

8. The floor covering system according to claim 7, wherein each of said conducting layers (32a, 34a, 32b, 34b), along said first edge of said first piece of flooring product and said second edge of said second piece of flooring product, extends outside the insulating layer (33a, 33b) sandwiched between the respective conducting layers.

9. The floor covering system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein each of said flooring products further comprises a second insulating layer (35a, 35b), underlying said second conducting layer, and each of said conducting layers (32a, 34a, 32b, 34b), along said first edge of said first piece of flooring product and said second edge of said second piece of flooring product, further extends outside its respective second insulating layer.

10. The floor covering system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the exposed parts of said conducting layers (32a, 34a, 32b, 34b) are bent in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the conducting layers.

11. The floor covering system according to any one of claims 7 to 10, further comprising a conducting sealing strip (38) inserted between said first and said second piece of flooring product (30a, 30b), to provide an electrical power interconnect between the pieces of flooring product.

12. The floor covering system according to claim 11, wherein said sealing strip is anisotropically conductive in a plane parallel to the floor covering system.

13. The floor covering system according to claim 12, wherein said conducting sealing strip (38) comprises alternating conductive and isolating layers.

14. The floor covering system according to any one of claims 7 to 13, wherein the first piece of flooring product (30a) is a floor inlay, and the second piece of flooring product (30b) has a cut out hole, wherein the shape of said inlay is adapted to the shape of said hole.

15. A method for interconnecting a first and a second flooring product, each of said flooring products comprising a floor layer (1; 21; 31a, 31b), an first conducting layer (2; 22; 32a, 32b), a second conducting layer (4; 24; 34a, 34b), an insulating layer (3; 23; 33a, 33b) sandwiched between said conducting layers, each conducting layer extending across a surface area of said flooring product, the first conducting layer (2) comprising holes (6), to provide access to at least one electrical component (7) arranged in electrical contact with said second conducting layer (4), and to allow electrical connection between the first conducting layer (2) and said electrical component, which method comprises the steps of: removing the insulating layer along a first edge (26) of said first piece of flooring product and along a second edge of said second piece of flooring product to expose portions of the conducting layers along said edges; positioning the first piece of flooring product along the second edge of the second piece of flooring product, and electrically interconnecting the first and second conducting layers of said first piece and the first and second conducting layers of said second piece, respectively.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the step of removing the floor layer (31a, 31b) along the first and second edge.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein said step of electrically interconnecting comprises the step of: pressing the first and second pieces together to achieve direct electrical contact between the first and second conducting layers (32a, 34a, 32b, 34b) of said first piece with the first and second conducting layers of said second piece, respectively.

18. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein said step of electrically interconnecting comprises the step of: arranging a conductive sealing strip (38) in a gap (37) between the first and second piece, said sealing strip being adapted to electrically interconnect the first and second conducting layers (32a, 34a, 32b, 34b) of said first piece with the first and second conducting layers of said second piece, respectively.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said conductive sealing strip (38) is arranged so as to form a floor layer (39) in said gap.

20. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of: folding away portions of said floor layer so as to expose a gap (37) between said first and second piece, arranging a sealing strip (38) in said gap, said sealing strip being adapted to electrically interconnect the first and second conducting layers of said first piece with the first and second conducting layers of said second piece, respectively, and folding back said portions, so as to cover said sealing strip.

21. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 20, further comprising the step of: bending the exposed portion of each of said conducting layers (22; 24) in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the conducting layers.

22. A tool adapted to remove outer portions of layers of a piece of flooring according to claim 1, said tool comprising: a cutting edge (13) adapted to be brought into contact with an edge of said piece of flooring, and adapted to cut into and remove a portion of said piece of flooring when pressed against and moved along said edge, said cutting edge having notches (14a-b) adapted to allow the conducting layers of said piece of flooring to pass through said notches, so that said cutting edge (13) leaves said conducting layers intact when said tool is moved along said edge.