Decorative Panel with Ceramic Carrier and Interconnecting Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing decorative panels struggle to combine high decorative quality with interconnecting profiles at the side edges, making it difficult and expensive to produce panels that resemble authentic glazed tiles while maintaining structural integrity and wear resistance, especially on a large scale using mass-production techniques.
Innovation Solution
A decorative panel design featuring a carrier layer of ceramic, stone, or mineral material with a printed layer of inorganic pigments, combined with a sub-carrier layer of a different material for structural support, allowing for interconnecting profiles that are resilient and cost-effective, and produced using digital printing for high-definition images.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If decorative panels are designed with interconnecting profiles at side edges to create floating coverings, then the panels can be assembled into wall, floor or ceiling coverings, but the production becomes difficult and expensive while compromising decorative quality
Solution Approach 1:
The panel is divided into distinct functional zones: a decorative top surface made of ceramic or stone material for aesthetic purposes, and a separate bottom portion with interconnecting profiles for structural assembly. This segmentation allows each part to be optimized independently - the top surface for decorative quality and the bottom for manufacturing ease and interconnection functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The decorative top surface replicates the appearance of authentic glazed tiles through printing techniques, creating a visual copy of the desired aesthetic without requiring the entire panel to be made from expensive ceramic or stone material. This copying approach maintains visual authenticity while reducing production costs.
2Reliability
If the entire panel is made from ceramic or stone material to ensure durability and aesthetic quality, then decorative quality and wear resistance are improved, but production cost and manufacturing complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Different material properties are applied to different regions of the panel: the top surface uses durable ceramic or stone material with high wear resistance for areas requiring durability, while the bottom portion uses more economical materials optimized for structural support and interconnection. This local differentiation of material quality achieves necessary durability without uniform high-cost material usage throughout the entire panel.
Solution Approach 2:
The panel employs a composite structure combining ceramic or stone material for the decorative top surface with other materials for the bottom portion and interconnecting profiles. This composite approach integrates the advantages of different materials - the aesthetic and durable top surface with the manufacturable and structurally adequate bottom section - thereby achieving overall reliability without the prohibitive cost of using premium materials throughout.
3Manufacturing precision
If high-definition printing with inorganic pigments is applied to the entire panel surface, then decorative image quality and scratch resistance are improved, but material consumption and production cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
High-definition printing with inorganic pigments is applied selectively only to the top decorative surface of the panel where aesthetic quality is required, rather than covering the entire panel surface. This localized application of high-quality printing maintains visual precision and scratch resistance in the visible area while reducing pigment consumption and production costs compared to full-panel coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a decorative panel, in particular a wall, floor or ceiling panel, of a planar design having a top side, a bottom side and side edges. The side edges include at least one pair of opposite side edges, and preferably two pairs of opposite side edges. Each pair of opposite side edges is provided with mutually interconnecting profiles that are configured to allow for an interconnection of two adjacent panels. The panel includes a carrier layer which is made from a single layer of a ceramic, stone, and/or mineral material. The carrier layer has an upper side that is provided with a printed layer having a decorative image which includes inorganic pigments, in particular metal-based pigments. The printed layer preferably is a glaze layer.