Methods for manufacturing decorative laminate panels

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a personalized or customized decorative surface (103) having decorative laminate panels (119) including the steps of: segmenting a digital image of the personalized or customized decorative surface (103) into a plurality of decorative laminate panel images (108), wherein each decorative laminate panel image (108) is sized to fit on a decorative laminate panel (119); assigning a positioning code (109) to a decorative laminate panel image (108) for identifying its position in the digital image of the personalized or customized decorative surface (103); creating a non-staggered digital layout (110) of the plurality of decorative laminate panel images (108); inkjet printing the non-staggered digital layout (110) on a substrate (112); heat pressing the inkjet printedsubstrate with a protective layer (115) into a decorative laminate (113); dividing the decorative laminate (113) into decorative laminate panels (119), wherein the front side of a decorative laminatepanel (119) includes one of the plurality of inkjet printed decorative laminate panel images (108) and the back-side of decorative laminate panel (119) includes the positioning code (109) of the decorative laminate panel image (108) inkjet printed on the front side of the decorative laminate panel (119).

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to the manufacture of decorative panels using inkjet technology. Background technique [0002] Inkjet technology is replacing gravure printing for the manufacture of decorative laminate panels, such as floor laminate panels. Gravure printing requires laborious setup before actual printing can begin. Consequently, a large number of production batches are manufactured, which results in a considerable stock of decorative laminate panels. By using inkjet technology, laminate manufacturers can minimize their inventory because inkjet printing can be done in-house and just in time (JIT). with EP 2865527A (AGFA) figure 1 compared to, figure 2 An example of this improvement is shown in . [0003] Inkjet is also used to reduce repetition in decorative laminate panels. In gravure printing, the repetition is defined by the diameter of the gravure roll. Using gravure printing, each floor panel appears four times on average in a...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This means that the cutting of decorative laminate panels must be fitted (see figure 1 B) This leads to cutting errors and a distorted printed image once installed as a floor

[0006] Furthermore, the true capabilities of inkjet printing have not yet been exploited because it is not possible for customers to cost-effectively order personalized floor laminates due to the complexity of the manufacturing process for decorative panels.

The truth is that small individual orders can be easily lost in mass product manufacturing and it is not easy to deliver the order to the customer quickly and error-free

[0007] Once delivered, the assembly of decorative laminate panels to reproduce a personalized or custom image can be a real challenge

Images