Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E04—BUILDING
  • E04F—FINISHING WORK ON BUILDINGS, e.g. STAIRS, FLOORS
  • E04F15/00—Flooring
  • E04F15/02—Flooring or floor layers composed of a number of similar elements
  • E04F15/10—Flooring or floor layers composed of a number of similar elements of other materials, e.g. fibrous or chipped materials, organic plastics, magnesite tiles, hardboard, or with a top layer of other materials
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G27/00—Floor fabrics; Fastenings therefor
  • A47G27/02—Carpets; Stair runners; Bedside rugs; Foot mats
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G27/00—Floor fabrics; Fastenings therefor
  • A47G27/02—Carpets; Stair runners; Bedside rugs; Foot mats
  • A47G27/0243—Features of decorative rugs or carpets
  • A47G27/0275—Surface patterning of carpet modules, e.g. of carpet tiles
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G27/00—Floor fabrics; Fastenings therefor
  • A47G27/04—Carpet fasteners; Carpet-expanding devices ; Laying carpeting; Tools therefor
  • A47G27/0475—Laying carpet tiles
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06C—FINISHING, DRESSING, TENTERING OR STRETCHING TEXTILE FABRICS
  • D06C23/00—Making patterns or designs on fabrics
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/49826—Assembling or joining
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/24—Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24802—Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.]
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/24—Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.]
  • Y10T428/24802—Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.]
  • Y10T428/2481—Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.] including layer of mechanically interengaged strands, strand-portions or strand-like strips

Definitions

• TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure is related to a method of making and installing floor coverings, for example, carpet tiles. This disclosure also is related to carpet tile systems and carpet tile installations.
• BACKGROUND Textile tiles for example, carpet tiles
• carpet tiles have been used in many floor covering applications due to their ease of installation.
• carpet tiles have been installed in a manner that seeks to mimic the appearance of a broadloom installation. Since carpet tiles are cut from a textile web, the tiles are typically installed monolithically, that is, with all of the tiles oriented in the same direction, usually the machine direction.
• an indicium for example, an arrow, may be printed on the back of each tile to indicate how the tiles should be oriented. The installer simply rotates each tile as needed so the arrows are pointing in the same direction.
• carpet tiles have also been designed with various patterns and designs that allow the tiles to be installed "randomly.”
• random installation generally refers to an installation technique in which each tile is oriented variably and indiscriminately with respect to an adjacent tile. For instance, in one exemplary random tile installation, the installer positions a first tile, and for each subsequent tile, the installer can choose one of four rotational positions (0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees) relative to the previous tile. After the tiles are arranged on the flooring surface, the installer is charged with reviewing the installation and reorienting any tiles that do not appear to have been laid randomly, based on the particular installer's perception.
• the tiles may be provided with an arrow indicating the machine direction to assist the installer with rotating the tiles in a more "random" manner.
• the installer may intentionally or inadvertently use a pattern of rotation, such that the resulting installation may not be random at all.
• This disclosure is directed generally to carpet tiles, a modular textile system including such tiles, and a textile installation that may be created using the modular tile system.
• This disclosure is also directed generally to a method of making and installing modular textiles, for example, carpet tiles, and a textile web from which the tiles may be formed.
• each carpet tile of the modular textile system includes a variously positioned and/or variously oriented indicium.
• the position and/or orientation of the indicium may be random or may be pre- determined in a seemingly random or variable manner.
• Each carpet tile is installed such that each indicium is oriented in a uniform manner (i.e., identically oriented and/or positioned with respect to each other indicium).
• the method of this disclosure facilitates the creation of a random carpet tile installation (or an at least seemingly random carpet tile installation) using an organized or non-random installation technique.
• an ai ⁇ ow or other indicium is printed on the back of each carpet tile to indicate the configuration of the tile to be laid.
• the direction and/or placement of the indicium on a particular tile may be determined using a random number generator or using any other suitable method.
• the installer rotates each tile until all of the indicia are oriented in a like manner (e.g., the arrows are unidirectional such that the arrow heads are pointing in the same direction), in a manner similar to a conventional monolithic installation.
• the indicia are printed with various orientations or locations, the resulting tile installation includes variously oriented tiles.
• the installer need not be concerned with attempting to create a random installation because the unidirectional arrangement of the indicia will inherently result in a random installation.
• FIG. IA schematically illustrates a modular textile system according to the disclosure
• FIG. IB schematically illustrates an exemplary installation using the modular textile system of FIG. IA
• FIG. 1C schematically illustrates another exemplary installation using the modular textile system of FIG. IA;
• FIG. ID schematically illustrates still another exemplary installation using the modular textile system of FIG. IA
• FIG. IE schematically illustrates an exemplary process for forming the modular textile system of FIG. IA
• FIG. 2 schematically illustrates another exemplary process for forming a modular textile system
• FIG. 3A schematically illustrates another modular textile system according to the disclosure.
• FIG. 3B schematically illustrates an exemplary installation using the modular textile system of FIG. 3 A.
• FIG. IA schematically illustrates an exemplary modular textile system
• the modular textile system 100 includes a plurality of textile tiles 102 (only one of which is labeled), for example, carpet tiles, each of which includes a first pair of edges 104a, 104b that extend in a machine direction MD and a second pair of edges 106a, 106b that extend in a cross-machine direction CD, such that the carpet tiles 102 have a generally square shape.
• Each tile 102 includes a first or front side comprising fibers and a second or back side comprising a backing, as will be understood by those of skill in the art.
• each carpet tile 102 includes an indicium 108 that is variously oriented with respect to the machine direction MD and cross-machine direction CD.
• the orientation of the indicium 108 may vary for each application.
• the indicium 108 may be oriented 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees with respect to the machine direction MD, such that the indicium 108 is generally parallel and/or perpendicular to the various edges 104a, 104b, 106a, 106b of the carpet tile 102.
• the indicium 108 may be generally oblique to the various edges 104a, 104b, 106a, 106b of the carpet tile 102 (e.g., pointing towards the corners of the tile). Other possibilities are contemplated.
• each variously oriented indicium 108 may be provided randomly, for example, using a random number generator, as will be discussed further below.
• the orientation may be provided manually or otherwise in a predetermined, non-random, but variable manner (i.e., such that it is seemingly random).
• the indicium 108 may generally comprise a directional indicium, i.e., a word, shape, symbol, mark, or other element that is asymmetrical along at least one line of symmetry, such that the direction and/or orientation of indicium 108 can be used to indicate an installation direction or orientation for the carpet tile 102.
• the indicium comprises an arrow.
• FIGS. 3A and 3B other possibilities are contemplated, as will be discussed further below in connection with FIGS. 3A and 3B.
• each tile 102 may be rotated as needed so that the indicia 108 on the back of the tiles 102 are arranged in a unidirectional manner, for example, with the arrows 108 pointing in the same direction, and placed in an edge-to-edge relationship with one another, as shown, for example, in FIG. IB (in which the arrows 108 on the back of the tiles 102 are hidden from view and shown with dashed lines).
• the arrows 108 are oriented variously on the tiles 102, the resulting tile installation inherently includes an arrangement of variously oriented tiles.
• the tiles may be secured to the flooring surface in the conventional manner.
• the relative positions of the carpet tiles 102 may be generally at the discretion of the installer. If desired, this "positional randomness” or “positional variability” may be minimized by instructing the installer to position the tiles in a sequential manner as the tiles 102 are removed from the packaging without regard to the installer's personal preferences. It will also be appreciated that countless possible installation types or styles are contemplated.
• the carpet tiles 102 are arranged in a unidirectional block configuration with the tile edges aligned with one another.
• the carpet tiles 102 are arranged in a unidirectional ashlar configuration.
• FIG. ID the carpet tiles 102 are arranged in a unidirectional brick configuration. Still other configurations may be used.
• FIG. IE schematically illustrates an exemplary process 110 for forming the modular textile system 100 of FIG. IA.
• a textile web 112 having a printable backing or back side may be divided into a plurality of smaller areas or frames 114 (e.g., cutting frames) (shown schematically with dashed lines), each of which defines a tile 102 to be cut from the web 112.
• the textile web 112 includes three substantially square shaped tile frames 114, each having a tile length and a tile width, across a width of the textile web 112 extending in the cross-machine direction CD.
• other shapes and numbers of frames may be used.
• Each frame 114 may be provided with a variously oriented indicium 108 for facilitating installation of the tiles.
• the orientation of the indicium may be random or may be seemingly random or variable.
• a random (or pseudo-random) number generator 116 may generate a plurality of orientation values, each of which represents a predetermined orientation of an arrow or other indicium 108 to be printed on the back of the textile web 112 within the respective tile frame 114.
• the orientation value may be an integer that corresponds to a 0, 90, 180, or 270 degree rotation of the printed indicium 108 relative to some predetermined point.
• the random number generator may be programmed to select from the values 0, 90, 180, or 270.
• the orientation values may be determined manually or automatically using some other random or non-random technique. Still other possibilities are contemplated.
• the orientation values may be sent to a printing unit or printer 118, which in this example, includes three independently operable print heads 120 generally facing the back side of the textile web 112. Each print head 120 may print the indicium 108 within the respective frame 114 based on the orientation value supplied by the random number generator 116.
• an orientation value of 1 may correspond to a 0 degree position, such that the arrow is printed with the arrow head facing the respective print head 120.
• An orientation value of 2 may correspond to a 90 degree rotation with respect to the 0 degree position, such that the arrow is printed with the arrow head facing a first longitudinal edge 122 of the web 112.
• An orientation value of 3 may correspond to a 180 degree rotation with respect to the 0 degree position, such that the arrow is printed with the arrow head facing away from the respective print head 120, and an orientation value of 4 may correspond to a 270 degree rotation with respect to the 0 degree position, such that the arrow is printed with the arrow head facing a second longitudinal edge 124 of the web 112.
• the arrows may be directed towards the corners of the frames. Countless other variations may be used.
• the indicium may be any word, number, symbol, or other image that is capable of being oriented with other indicia in a like manner, such that the indicium serves to indicate the installation direction.
• the algorithm used to generate the orientation values may be adjusted to ensure that an equal number of orientation values are generated within a given total number of orientation values and/or length of textile web.
• the algorithm may require that after returning a particular value (e.g., "1"), that each other value (e.g., "2,” “3,” and “4") must be generated (in any order) before generating that value (e.g., "1") again.
• a particular value e.g., "1”
• each other value e.g., "2,” “3,” and "4"
• At least one of the print heads 120 may be a digital printer (e.g., an ink jet or dot matrix print head).
• at least one print head 220 may be a transfer-type printer (e.g., flexographic, gravure, etc.).
• each print head 220 may index, pivot, or rotate independently to print the variously oriented indicium 208. Countless other possibilities are contemplated. Further, it will be understood that any number of printers, each containing one or more print heads, may be used as needed or desired.
• the textile web 112 can be cut to form a modular textile system 100 including a plurality of carpet tiles 102.
• the tiles 102 then may be processed in the conventional manner.
• the tiles 102 may be packaged sequentially, such that some tiles cut from adjacent portions of the textile web 112 may be packaged together.
• the tiles 102 may be accumulated for later packaging. In such cases, the tiles 102 may be packaged indiscriminately, that is, without regard to their original position on the textile web 114, thereby introducing a further degree of randomness into the modular textile system and resulting installation.
• FIG. 3A schematically depicts an exemplary variation of the system 100 of FIG. IA.
• the modular textile system 300 includes features that are similar to the system 100 shown in FIG. IA, except for variations noted and variations that will be understood by those of skill in the art. For simplicity, the reference numerals of similar features are preceded in the figures with a "3" instead of a "1.”
• the indicium 308 comprises a word, symbol, mark, or other element that is variously positioned on the back of the carpet tile 302, such that each indicium 308 is proximate to one of the edges 304a, 304b, 306a, 306b and/or comers 326a, 326b, 326c, 326d of the respective carpet tile.
• the indicia 308 may be symmetrical or asymmetrical since the position of the indicium 308 may be used to indicate the orientation of each tile 302.
• each indicium comprises a circle or dot 308 positioned adjacent to one of the corners 326 of each tile 302.
• the indicium may comprise a line or other marking proximate to one of the edges of each tile (e.g., perpendicular, parallel, or oblique to the respective edge).
• the tiles 302 may be oriented in a unidirectional manner such that the indicium 308 are similarly positioned with respect to one another, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B (in which the indicium 308 are hidden from view and shown with dashed lines).
• the system 300 can be made as described in connection with FIGS. IE and 2, or using any other suitable process, equipment, or technique.
• the values generated by a machine or manually may be referred to as position values, such that the indicium 308 is provided in a particular quadrant of the tile and/or adjacent to a particular corner of the respective tile frame 314. Numerous other possibilities are contemplated.
• the present method and system greatly simplify the creation of a random tile installation. Unlike conventional systems, the installer need not adhere to complicated instructions for rotating the tiles with respect to one another to ensure some degree of variation in tile orientation. Further, the installer need not be burdened with the visual discretion and responsibility associated with conventional random tile systems. Instead, the carpet tiles may be positioned quickly and effortlessly as needed to arrange the indicia in a unidirectional configuration. Further, the present method and system ensure a greater degree of randomness in the resulting installation since the installer is not given the discretion to change the orientation of each tile to suit his particular preferences.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Floor Finish (AREA)
• Treatment Of Fiber Materials (AREA)
• Carpets (AREA)
• Ink Jet (AREA)
• Finishing Walls (AREA)

Priority Applications (9)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (1)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=43298412

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

Families Citing this family (12)

Family Cites Families (29)

• 2010
  • 2010-05-27 DK DK14200083.5T patent/DK2886022T3/en active
  • 2010-05-27 ES ES10783837.7T patent/ES2543169T3/es active Active
  • 2010-05-27 CN CN201410275912.XA patent/CN104013292B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2010-05-27 EP EP10783837.7A patent/EP2437640B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2010-05-27 WO PCT/US2010/036382 patent/WO2010141314A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2010-05-27 EP EP14200083.5A patent/EP2886022B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2010-05-27 PT PT107838377T patent/PT2437640E/pt unknown
  • 2010-05-27 CN CN201080024116.9A patent/CN102448352B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2010-05-27 ES ES14200083.5T patent/ES2661641T3/es active Active
  • 2010-05-27 CA CA2763661A patent/CA2763661C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2010-05-27 PT PT142000835T patent/PT2886022T/pt unknown
  • 2010-05-27 JP JP2012513992A patent/JP5662426B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2010-05-27 MX MX2011012784A patent/MX2011012784A/es active IP Right Grant
  • 2010-05-27 DK DK10783837.7T patent/DK2437640T3/en active
• 2011
  • 2011-11-16 US US13/297,724 patent/US8898879B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2014
  • 2014-10-22 US US14/520,827 patent/US20150037547A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2014-12-03 JP JP2014245092A patent/JP5947362B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events