Acoustical vinyl flooring with side coupling elements

Abstract

An acoustical vinyl tile having an integral acoustical layer is disclosed. The vinyl tile includes a vinyl portion, an acoustical portion, and an adhesive layer for fixing the vinyl portion to the acoustical portion. The acoustical portion comprises a crumb rubber component and a polyurethane foam component. The acoustical portion can include 10-40% crumb rubber and 60-90% polyurethane foam. The vinyl tile may also include a coupling feature for coupling to an adjacent vinyl tile. The coupling feature may be in the form of interconnecting tongue and groove elements formed along opposite sides of the vinyl tile so that adjacent vinyl tiles can be coupled together. The tongue and groove elements may incorporate integrated mechanical coupling elements such as, for example, interlocking tabs and spaces. In use, the tongue and groove elements may be arranged and configured to be snap-fitted together.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 520,790, filed Jun. 16, 2017, titled “Acoustical Vinyl Flooring with Side Coupling Elements,” the entirety of which application is incorporated by reference herein. This application is also a continuation-in-part application of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 695,204, filed Sep. 5, 2017, entitled “Method of Manufacturing an Acoustical Flooring Tile” and is a continuation-in-part application of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15 / 695,196, filed Sep. 5, 2017, entitled “Acoustical Flooring Tile and Method of Manufacture”, which applications are continuation applications of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 108,754, filed Dec. 17, 2013, entitled “Multi-Layer Acoustical Flooring Tile and Method of Manufacture”, which is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 808,670, filed Apr. 5, 2013, a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The disclosed patent is about a new type of vinyl tile that has better stability, flexibility, and sound-dampening properties. The vinyl and acoustical layers are bonded together to ensure durability and performance over a long period of time. The vinyl tile can also include a compound to prevent the growth of fungus. Additionally, the patent describes how a sound-dampening material can be applied to the vinyl tile slab to reduce noise in multi-family housing developments. The resulting vinyl tiles have improved stability, flexibility, and sound-dampening properties, which can be useful in various applications such as housing developments.

Problems solved by technology

Many conventional commercially available adhesive materials are chemically incompatible with vinyl polymers and will in some instances not provide the necessary long-term adhesion.

In even more extreme cases, certain adhesives will chemically react with the vinyl polymers resulting in discoloration and / or degradation of the vinyl tiles.

Moreover, breakdown of the adhesive bond between the acoustical base layer and the vinyl tile can lead to increased noise, which as previously noted, can be a problem in multi-family dwellings.

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