Laminar covering material

Abstract

A covering material, such as a flooring, comprises a layer of resilient material, for example rubber-based material, and a plane metal reticular structure, for example made of aluminium, coupled to the layer of resilient material. The metal reticular structure is at least partially emerging at the surface of the layer of resilient material. Provided on the side of the layer of resilient material opposite to the plane metal structure is a balancing layer, for example in the form of a network of fibres, such as glass fibre. Preferentially, the balancing layer has associated to it an outer layer of geotextile material and / or material in the form of felt.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority from European Patent Application No. 05425587.2, filed on Aug. 9, 2005, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The invention relates to laminar covering materials that can be used, for example, for providing floorings such as floorings for civil applications, and in particular for “industrial” applications. The term “industrial” is here meant, in general, to refer to floorings that are exposed to conditions in which there is a lot of coming-and-going of people or that are subject to extensive wear (for example, airports, railway or bus stations, underground stations, commercial centres, etc.). In particular, the invention relates to a laminar covering material that can be made with a resilient material, such as a material for “resilient floorings”. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The term “resilient flooring” or “resilient floor covering” is intended...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a covering that is able to solve in an ideal way the problems linked both to the use of resilient materials and to the use of the alternative materials considered previously, the aim being to provide a covering material that is able to combine the characteristics of high aesthetic quality and of resistance to the stresses due to tread of some traditional materials with the qualities of performance (in particular, treading “comfort”) and of low weight traditionally recognized to coverings with a base of resilient materials.

[0012] The solution described herein moves, instead, in the exactly opposite direction and is based upon the recognition of the fact that—in an altogether surprising and unexpected way—the, at least partial, exposure of the reinforcement metal structure on the outer surface of the covering bestows upon the covering material excellent characteristics of resistance to wear, low deformation even under heavy loads, dimensional stability (in particular, conservation of characteristics of planarity over time), absence of phenomena of detachment from the laying substrate, together with altogether satisfactory characteristics of tread (good anti-slip performance, low noise).

Problems solved by technology

The impossibility of satisfying all these requirements in an ideal way means that, at least for some applications, the choice of the users is oriented towards covering materials of a different type (in general, of a more traditional type) such as, for example, ceramic, marble and / or stone coverings and floorings, said covering materials in turn not, however, being without some major drawbacks, such as, for example, the weight (which renders far from readily proposable, for example, the use of said materials on board vehicles), the risk of failure and of cracking in the presence of possible deformations or vibrations of the laying substrates (which, once again, renders problematical the use of floorings of this kind on board mobile structures or also within civil structures in areas exposed to the risk of earthquake).

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