LT4105B - Web-type flexible planar material made from a synthetic material containing no halogen compounds - Google Patents

Abstract

A web-type flexible planar material consisting of a composite is made from at least one web-type homogeneous polymer melt and a planiform fibrous material. The planar material is provided with a heterogeneous structure and consists of at least one homogeneous PVC-free polymer layer and a foundation layer. The foundation layer, comprising a fibrous planar structure, is provided with a coloured pattern and the polymer layer is a transparent wear-protection layer consisting of a mixture of one or more olefin components and one or more thermoplastic elastomer components. The molecular groups of the material components form a permeation network in which the thermoplastic elastomer components form the discontinuous phase and the olefin components the continuous phase of the lattice composite. The material is suitable for use as a floor covering manufacture.

Description

The invention relates to the field of floor coverings, namely, to a flexible flexible flat material of a halogen-free plastic with an abrasion-resistant surface, in particular to a patterned floor covering, and to a method of manufacturing a heterogeneous flat material. The invention also encompasses the production of a flat material made of a thermoplastic polymer with an abrasion resistant and colored pattern surface and the production of laying synthetic tapes which are intended primarily for flooring with an abrasion resistant surface. The present invention relates to a multilayer structure for floor coverings made of PVC-free plastic, with a painted surface and to a method for the production of this structure.

Known starting material for plastic floor coverings is polyvinyl chloride, abbreviated as PVC, which is recycled into a homogeneous strip of flooring after the addition of ductile and filler materials. The good properties of this material, which is in the form of a powder, a tasteless and colorless product, make it suitable for use as a basic material because it is almost non-flammable, low hygroscopic and has good electrical insulating properties. In addition, PVC has good recycling properties and is relatively inexpensive. Recycled into products, it is resistant to and unaffected by a variety of cleaning products and solvents commonly used in floor cleaning. PVC-based flooring made of plastic strips is physiologically sound and has a wear-resistant surface, while its abrasion resistance depends on the amount of filler. During the manufacturing process, the surface is colored and a drawing is made on it. Further, PVC-based polymeric tapes can be converted into large-area structures by simple welding.

In spite of the fact that PVC as a starting material has a very good precondition to be used for the production of plastic tapes in terms of properties, also for further processing, i.e. has the advantage of laying polymeric strips on the floor, which, due to its high chlorine content, is harmful to the environment. Polymer tapes are made of plasticizer containing PVC. For this purpose, the PVC powder for processing is mixed with a plasticizer, such as a paste or a bulk dry mixture, which then solidifies into a homogeneous mass upon heating. Plasticizers use a variety of materials that cause more or less harmful health effects when the plasticizer components diffuse out of the recycled material.

Known solutions (for example, DE 3 507 665 and EP 0 321 760) which relate to the production of polymeric tapes from a plasticizer-free starting material are known to overcome the above disadvantages. Known manufacturing techniques allow for the production of homogeneous synthetic tapes with properties similar to those based on PVC. The task that can be accomplished can only be accomplished using a plasticizer-free end product.

All products made by these methods have the disadvantage of not having a color finish compared to that of PVC and also have significant limitations in terms of abrasion resistance and high installation costs. The causes of all these shortcomings are related to the nature of the starting materials used. In prior art solutions, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) has been used in large quantities as a binder for flooring. Tapes or panels made from this starting material are not suitable for flooring because the material is too soft. There are already known ways in which the surface of synthetic strips for PVC-free floor coverings is used to imprint or embed the parts forming the pattern in them.

A process for the production of PVC-free floor coverings from an ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer was known from DE patent no. 4,127,107 and EP A 0 528 194. In this way, zinc stearate 1% by weight and sterile-suspended phenol are added to the binder, a very low density ethylene copolymer, and the mixture is then first blended with further heating, followed by thorough mixing. This plasticized blend is stretched into a film by a calendering sheet. This ethylene copolymer film is heated by duplication with a similar film of ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer containing 8% polyethylene. The multilayer film produced in this way is mainly used for the transparent top layer of the floor covering. The multilayer film produced in this way is not entirely suitable as a floor covering, as it cannot compete with the color and pattern design when compared to a PVC floor. Thus, this multilayer film has only one application in place of the top layer for other softer polymeric tapes. As the resistance to abrasion of this multilayer film is not what the floor covering would require, this proposed solution does not solve the problem of insufficient wear resistance of PVC-free flooring.

Although many different methods are known for coating the surface of strips made of PVC-free polymer, the color structure of the product thus produced remains blurred. At the same time, these known surface finishes do not achieve satisfactory results in terms of abrasion and abrasion resistance.

The purpose of the invention is to avoid, on the one hand, the health and environmental hazards arising from the use or operation of a plasticizer-containing raw material based on PVC and, on the other, the use of other starting materials free of chlorine compounds and plasticizers this relates to abrasion resistance, color and pattern development and favorable application conditions, ie good laying ability. The purpose is achieved by the use of chlorine-free polymeric materials, providing a higher usefulness of flooring blanks for their surface properties, as well as the ability to lay flat materials, along with the required abrasion resistance due to increased pressure and tensile load resistance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible, ribbon-patterned flat material made of chlorine-free polymers with a wear-resistant surface. The material is primarily intended for floor coverings, consisting of interlocking layers consisting of at least one strip of homogeneous polymeric melt and a flat fibrous material which allows the surface to be painted and applied. Another task is to create an energy efficient way to produce this ribbon heterogeneous flat material.

This problem was solved by creating a ribbon flexible flat material with an abrasion-resistant surface, in particular a patterned flooring, of a non-halogen-free synthetic material, which has a heterogeneous structure and is composed of at least one homogeneous, PVC-free polymeric layer and the base layer, and the base layer having the best fibrous planar structure, is provided with a flat pattern, usually in the form of colored patterns, and covered with a polymeric layer as a transparent or transparent wearable layer.

In accordance with the invention, a non-halogen-free synthetic material has been developed to form a web of flexible flat abrasion resistant material, in particular to a patterned floor covering, which has a heterogeneous structure and comprises at least two homogeneous, PVC-free polymeric layers and furthermore, the substrate layer having the best fibrous planar structure is provided with a certain pattern of planar material consisting mainly of colored patterns and forming polymeric layers, preferably as transparent or translucent layers, one of which being a transparent but usually colored intermediate layer, a layer of heterogeneous construction intended as a wearable layer. Together, this flat material has a heterogeneous structure and is composed of several, i. at least two homogeneous, PVC-free polymer layers and preferably a fibrous planar backing layer, one of which preferably being a monochrome, monochrome patterned or color structured interlayer, and the other forming a heterogeneous planar blank, formed as a wearable layer .

The layer of flexible flat material worn by the tape has the best surface-rendering structure made by thermoplastic molding.

The backing layer and the middle layer each have a fibrous planar structure of neatly or irregularly arranged textile and / or mineral fibers, in addition, the backing layer serves as a bond between the flat workpiece and the coated surface, while the middle layer joins two polymeric materials which are layers.

The wear-resistant layer consists of a mixture of one or more olefinic components and one or more thermoplastic elastomeric components, furthermore, the molecule groups of the constituent materials create a mesh of penetration structures in which the thermoplastic elastomeric components have a non-uniform phase and the olefinic components form a continuous in the wear layer joint.

The coloring of the flat layer and the drawing on the inner side of the backing layer or on the inner side of the middle layer by printing is done by an intaglio or stencil layer consisting of an organic and / or inorganic ink embedded in a thermoplastic binder.

Because the non-PVC polymeric flat material slides on the surface to be applied and thus adheres to, for example, another characteristic of the invention is that the flexible web has a fibrous structure backing layer which acts as a bonding layer between the flat material and the floor covering. surface.

Further, between the two homogeneous non-bondable PVC-free polymeric layers, there is provided a planar middle layer of fibrous material for bonding.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a flat material according to the invention by providing a method for producing a heterogeneous flat material comprising at least one halogen-free polymeric layer both as a finishing layer and / or as a layer of fibrous material. The polymer according to the invention is molten by a technical means known to the person skilled in the art, forming a polymeric melt forming device into a flat derivative of defined thickness and a state of thermoplastic melt together with a backing layer, preferably nonwoven, turned to a thermoplastic flat structure are passed through a gap of at least two press circuits, whereby a linear flat or in-plane press force is applied to the polymeric flat structure ή the base layer is subsequently geometrically sealed to the surface of the thermoplastic polymeric flat surface, after which the workpiece is cooled.

In addition, a method for producing a heterogeneous planar material consisting of at least two homogeneous halogen-free polymeric layers and a fibrous material backing layer to be formed and / or bonded to the coating surface has been proposed. According to the invention, the polymeric material is molten, the melt-forming equipment is made into a flat derivative of a defined thickness, and thereafter it is allowed to pass through at least two joints in a thermoplastic melt state together with a nonwoven backing layer preferably made of nonwoven fibers. a bonding gap of a press having a linear or in-plane pressing force applied to the polymeric flat structure and the backing layer by geometrically sealing to the surface of the thermoplastic polymer flat structure. Further similarly bonded to another polymeric flat derivative, the second polymeric flat derivative is placed in a thermoplastic melt state on the first as well as a thermoplastic melt state, after which the workpiece is cooled. Further development of previous methods of producing heterogeneous planar material according to

The present invention is directed to the manufacture of a first homogeneous PVC-free film-like polymeric blank in a known manner from a polymeric melt. The workpiece is then geometrically sealed in a thermoplastic molten state under the contact force of the coupling device on one side with a non-marking substrate which serves as adhesion to the coated surface and on the other with a middle layer which acts as a joint between two non-bonded polymeric flat and is a fibrous coating layer, further comprising applying to said middle layer, which is made of fiber for bonding, a homogeneous wearable layer made of a polymer containing PVC, which is known to be formed from the polymeric melt ii 'of said thermoplastic melt by acting on the connecting device. is applied geometrically in a closed manner to the layer provided for this compound.

To further develop the proposed method of producing a heterogeneous planar material, a geometrically closed connection was made between a homogeneous, PVC-free film-like polymeric flat derivative previously obtained from a polymeric melt and a bonding-printed polymeric bond under the influence of a thermoplastic melt state. . This two-layer structure is now composed of a wear layer and a printed middle layer serving as a bonding layer between the two non-bondable polymeric layers, together with a backing layer for the purpose of providing adhesion to the coated surface through at least two bonding presses. In a known process, a thermoplastic melt polymeric blank in the form of a film is formed between the bilayer combination and the fibrous backing layer in a known manner, which is geometrically sealed on one side with the backing layer and on the other with the middle layer.

As part of the manufacturing process, printing of the backing layer or the middle layer prior to passage through the gap between the two bonding units of the coupling device by means of intaglio printing or screen printing using an organic and / or inorganic compound as a bonding thermoplastic polymer. The printing methods used are rotogravure, rotary screen printing, or thermal printing. In the manufacture of a flat material, heating through the bonding gap, i.e. the thermoplastic molten state polymeric film warms the printed backing or middle layers, thereby sealing the thermoplastic polymer used as a binder for printing inks, and at the same time geometrically sealing it into a laminate between the backing layer or the middle layer and the polymer film.

The flexible structure of the inventive flexible sheet material made from chlorine-free polymers intended primarily for floor coverings provides the flat material itself, which on the one hand can be produced in the manner described in the invention with lower energy consumption and on the other hand. using cheaper raw materials and cheaper prices. At the same time, its quality performance exceeds that of known coatings with respect to its ability to be laid, its surface resistance to abrasion, resistance to pressure and tensile load and solvent cleaning, and its PVC-based floor coverings. The high tensile and compressive strength properties of the coating flat material are a consequence of the flat fibrous layer (s) that replace the reinforcement in the laminate structure. Finally, there is great potential for coloring and color rendering. Finally, the structure of the invention gives rise to the possibility of a plastic effect effect. The attached drawings show:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a planar material of the present invention consisting of a fibrous carrier layer and a PVC-free polymeric carrier layer.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a planar material comprising a fibrous backing layer, a polymeric intermediate layer and a polymeric wearing layer, in each case a PVC-free polymer.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a planar material comprising a fibrous backing layer, a polymeric intermediate layer, a fibrous middle layer and a polymeric wearing layer.

Tape is a flexible flat material that is primarily used for mono or multi-colored, patterned or non-patterned floor coverings, with a multi-layer structure. Regardless of the purpose-dependent structure of the layers, a fibrous backing layer 1 is provided in place of the lower layer, consisting of neat or irregularly arranged textile fiber and / or mineral fibers. On the one hand, it serves as a means of bonding to the surface to be coated 2, and on the other, it is geometrically sealed to a homogeneous layer of PVC-free thermoplastic polymer. In the two-layer structure shown in Fig. 1, the fibrous backing layer 1 is a carrier for drawing / shaping a flat workpiece divided into monochrome or multicolored patterns, and the patterns in the layer 3 are made by printing. The surface 4 of the inner backing layer 1 is provided with an intaglio or stencil layer 3 of mineral and / or organic pigment paints contained in a thermoplastic binder. A transparent or transparent wearable layer 5 is applied thereto, consisting of a homogeneous, PVC-free layer. This wearable layer 5 is made up of a mixture of one or more olefin component (s) and one or more elastomer component (s) to enhance abrasion resistance. The groups of molecules that make up this mixture form a permeation structural mesh in which the thermoplastic elastomeric components have a discontinuous phase and an olefinic component in a continuous mesh.

Fig. 2 shows a three-layered planar material structure, which mainly chooses a monochrome finish, with a PVC-free thermoplastic polymer layer between the wear layer 5 and the fibrous backing layer 1 as an intermediate layer 6. It can be monochrome or patterned. Since the wearable layer 5 and the intermediate layer 6 are made of materials which due to their chemical composition cannot be bonded / joined by known means, a fibrous middle layer 7 is provided between the polymeric wearing layer 5 and the polymeric intermediate layer 6, which corresponds to the backing layer 1. In the same way as the fibrous backing layer 1, the fibrous middle layer 7 is used in a multilayer joint as a carrier of a monochrome or multicolored pattern / pattern.

If necessary, the surface of the wear layer 8 is provided with a relief structure (not shown), which is mainly done by thermoplastic molding. The fabrication of a web of flexible flat material is mainly accomplished in conventional sheeting calendars, whereby, if desired, a double-layered flat material compound feeds a fibrous base layer 1 or middle layer 7 material on one side and a polymeric casing on the other. in the form of a layer 5 or intermediate layer 6, which is in the form of a thermoplastic melt, which is produced directly from the extruder by molding a molten polymer. The compression force exerted through the rollers from one side to the backing layer 1 or middle layer 7 ii 'on the other side to the polymeric flat blank results in a geometrically closed connection of the fibrous layer and the polymeric flat derivative. The production of multilayer flat material proceeds in an analogous manner.

Claims (16)

DEFINITION OF INVENTION 1. A flexible flexible flat material of halogen-free plastic with a wear-resistant surface, primarily for a patterned floor covering, characterized in that the flat material (1; 5) has a heterogeneous structure and is composed of several, at least one homogeneous PVC-free polymeric material. layer and backing layer (1), furthermore, the planar material (1; 5) preferably has a pattern consisting mainly of colored patterns and the polymeric layer (5) is superimposed on the flat material (1; 5). as a translucent or transparent wearable coat. 2. A flexible flexible flat material made of a halogen-free plastic with a wear-resistant surface, characterized in particular by a patterned floor covering, characterized in that the flat material (1; 5; 6) has a heterogeneous structure and is composed of several at least two homogeneous PVC-free polymers. layers and backing layer (1), furthermore, on the flat material (1; 5; 6), the base layer (1), preferably made of a fibrous planar blank, has a pattern consisting mainly of colored patterns and the polymeric layers are overlaid as transparent or transparent layers, one of which is a transparent but usually tinted intermediate layer (6) and the other is intended as a wearable layer (5) to complete the heterogeneous structure. 3. A flexible flexible flat material of a halogen-free plastic with an abrasion-resistant surface, primarily for colored or colored structured flooring, characterized in that the flat material (1; 5; 6) has a heterogeneous structure and is composed of at least two a homogeneous PVC-free polymeric layer and preferably a backing layer made of a fibrous flat billet (1), in which one of the polymeric layers is generally applied as a monochrome, monochrome patterned or color structured interlayer (6) and the other is a flat material to complete a heterogeneous structure , wearing layer (5) · 4. Material according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that a planar middle layer (7), preferably made of fibrous material, is provided between the two homogeneous non-bondable, PVC-free polymer layers. 5. A material according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the fibrous flat product is made of neat and irregularly arranged textile and / or mineral fibers. 6. Material according to claims 1-5, characterized in that the wearable layer (5) consists of a mixture of one or more components of one or more thermoplastic elastomeric components of the olefins, and in addition the molecule groups of these materials form a penetrating mesh in which the elastomeric components are in phase. discontinuous, while the olefinic components in the mesh are in continuous phase. 7. Material according to claims 1, 2, 4 to 6, characterized in that an intaglio or stencil layer (3) is printed on the inner surface (4) or on the middle layer (7) of the planar base layer (1). consisting of organic or / and inorganic paints embedded in a thermoplastic binder. 8. Material according to claims 1-7, characterized in that the base layer (1) made of a fibrous flat workpiece separates the flat material (1; 5) or (1; 5; 6) and the coating to ensure the adhesion of the surface to be applied. 9. Material according to claims 2, 3 to 8, characterized in that the planar middle layer (7) made of monochrome or multicolored patterns provided for bonding two heterogeneous, non-bondable PVC-free polymeric layers (5; 6) drawing carrier. 10. A method for producing a heterogeneous planar material, wherein the heterogeneous planar material comprises at least one homogeneous halogen-free polymeric layer and a fibrous backing layer which is a finishing layer and / or a bonding layer, characterized in that: melting the polymer, forming a polymer blank of a certain thickness from the polymer melt using a molding machine, which, together with a nonwoven backing layer (1), is turned onto a non-patterned or half-patterned surface of the thermoplastic polymer blank at least two welding press spacers, wherein a web or sheet forming press force applied to the base layer (1) and the polymer flat billet (5 or 6) presses the fibrous backing layer into a thermoplastic and the polymer flat workpiece, yields a geometrically closed laminate, and then cools the article. 11. A method of producing a heterogeneous planar material, wherein the heterogeneous planar material comprises at least two homogeneous, hologene-free polymeric layers and a backing layer of fibrous material which is a finishing layer and / or a bonding layer, wherein: This polymer melt is formed from this polymer melt using a molding device to form a flat blank of a polymer melt film, which, together with the best nonwoven backing layer (1), is rotated on a non-patterned or patterned inner surface (4) to a thermoplastic polymer blank. presses the fibrous material through at least two press gap between the welding presses, whereby a band or sheet is pressed into the base layer (1) and the polymer flat workpiece (6) floor layer (1) to the surface of a thermoplastic polymeric flat workpiece to form a geometrically sealed laminate, which is similarly bonded to another polymeric layer (5), the second polymeric layer being overlaid on the former also in the thermoplastic state, cools the layered structure. 12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the first homogeneous PVC-free sheet polymer layer (6) is made from a polymeric melt in a known manner by applying a non-marking base layer (1) on one side in a thermoplastic state to provide adhesion to the coating surface. 2), on the other hand, the fibrous finishing middle layer (7), which is intended to be joined together by non-interlocking polymeric layers (5; 6), is geometrically closed by applying a pressing force, further covering the fibrous middle layer (7) for connection. a homogeneous, thermoplastic melt state and a wearable layer (5) derived from a polymer melt made of PA ^Z C-free polymer, which is geometrically sealed to this bonding layer by means of a welding device which produces a compression force. 13. A method according to claim 11, characterized in that it performs, in a separate process, a thermoplastic state between the first homogeneous PVC-free film-like polymeric layer (5) made from a polymeric melt and the printing interlayer (7). the polymeric layer being subjected to a clamping force exerted on the coupling device, followed by a newly fabricated bilayer derivative consisting of a wear layer and a bonded, printed intermediate layer between the two non-bondable polymeric layers (5; 6), together with a base layer (1) securing the adhesion to the coated surface (2), allowing at least two welding press spacing, and thereby simultaneously inserting in a known manner a film-melted thermoplastic melt state in a known manner in the form of a film-like layer and a fibrous backing layer (1) , which is geometrically closed on one side to form a laminate with a backing layer (1) and on the other with a middle layer (7). 14. A method according to claims 10 to 11, characterized in that the base layer (1) or the middle layer (7) is printed on the welding device between the two intended welding lines by a printing process with a silk-screen or a stencil pattern, by incorporation of organic and / or inorganic dyes into the thermoplastic polymer as a binder. 15. A method according to claims 11 to 12, characterized in that the backing layer (1) or the middle layer (7) is printed with a monochrome or multicolor pattern by rotogravure printing, rotogravure printing or thermal printing. 16. A method according to claims 10 to 13, characterized in that it allows a heated, e.g. a thermoplastic polymer film 3 which warms the printed pattern having a backing layer (1) or a middle layer (7), i.e. thermoplastic polymer used as a binder for printing inks and at the same time geometrically seals into a laminate between the backing layer (1) or middle layer (7) and the polymer film.