Method for manufacturing a floor covering

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a floor covering involves leading a glass fiber matt 1 from a supply reel 2 onto a conveyor belt 3. At a first scattering station 4, a saturation material is scattered onto the matt 1 to form a scattered layer. The matt 1 is then led between upper and lower heated belts 10, 11 to gel the scattered layer. The belts are then passed between a pair of smoothing / nipping rollers to form a layer of uniform thickness. The belts are then cooled and the matt 1 with saturation layer applied is wound for further processing. In an alternative arrangement a saturation material is scattered directly onto a substrate belt at the first scattering station 4, a glass fiber matt 26, is applied over the scattered material and, at a second scattering station 28, an amount of the saturation material or a different material is scattered onto the matt 26.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a floor covering and in particular to a method for manufacturing a polymeric, for example, a vinyl floor covering.[0002] In conventional manufacturing processes for cushion vinyl floor covering, a glassmat tissue or mineral felt is used as the base carrier material. In a first step in the process, the glassmat tissue is saturated with a PVC plastisol material which is applied to the mat using a knife and / or application roller. The plastisol is then gelled on a hot chrome plated drum to provide a smooth solid surface.[0003] A basecoat in the form of a foamable plastisol is applied using a knife or roller to a coating thickness of typically 300 g / m.sup.2. This basecoat is also gelled on a hot gel drum to produce a smooth surface which is suitable for printing. A design is then printed on the gelled basecoat, typically using a rotogravure method in which a design / coloration is printed using a sequence of printing cylinders. To ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the substrate is a fibre matt material, especially a glass fibre matt material. Preferably, the fibre matt has less than 100 g, ideally less than 65 g and most preferably from 30 to 50 g of glass fibre per m.sup.2 of material. This material is easily handled in roll form and provides the required reinforcing strength.

[0016] Ideally, for ease of use the nipping means comprises a pair of nip rollers defining a gap therebetween. Preferably the method includes the step of adjusting the gap between the nip rollers. In this way the process is readily tailored to a desired final product.

[0076] The material that is scattered on the substrate may be in any suitable form such as powder, granules or pellets. A blended powder may be extruded to produce a fully fused compound which is then pelletised and in some cases pulverised. Such pellets have the advantage that they are more easy to control and are less adherent to the belts generally than powders. Thus, a more controlled scattering, higher processing speed and a more uniform product may be achieved. Typically the pellets are from 0.5 to 2 mm diameter, preferably about 1 mm, and from 1 to 2 mm long, preferably about 1.5 mm. The pulverised particles are generally in the 100 to 500 micron range.

[0082] At a first scattering station, an amount of typically 200 g / m.sup.2 of the saturation dry blend is applied on a substrate belt. The glass fibre matt is then applied over the scattered material as described above and at a second scattering station an amount of typically 200 g / m.sup.2 of the saturation dry blend is scattered on top of the fibre matt. We have found that by splitting the saturation material and applying it top and bottom as described, a matt with a high level of saturation and a smooth surface finish is achieved. Alternatively, an amount of 350 g / m.sup.2 of the saturation dry blend may be applied to the top of the fibre matt at only one scattering station.

Problems solved by technology

There are a number of problems with such manufacturing techniques.

Images