Floor Panel Texture Zones Imitate V Grooves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for creating V grooves in floor panels are time-consuming, risky, and require high molding pressures, making it difficult to easily imitate deep structural elements like V grooves.
Innovation Solution
A floor panel with a plastic top surface featuring at least two elongate zones with mutually different textures, which deviate from the adjoining areas, allowing for the imitation of deep structural elements such as V grooves by creating a visual effect of depth without the need for deep deformations or high pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If deep deformations are achieved in DPL manufacturing method, then V grooves can be created, but high molding pressures of 60 bar or more are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the copying principle by creating pressing plates that replicate the V groove geometry through etching or molding, rather than attempting to create deep deformations directly through high pressure. The pressing plate serves as a template that copies the desired groove shape and transfers it to the floor panel surface during lamination, achieving the visual effect without requiring 60 bar or more pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of high-pressure deformation with a lamination-based approach. Instead of using rotating milling tools or high-pressure pressing to physically deform the substrate, the invention uses a decorative layer with pre-formed texture that is laminated onto the substrate, substituting mechanical deformation with a surface application process that occurs at much lower pressures.
2Shape
If rotating milling tools are used to create pressing bodies, then V grooves can be formed, but the manufacturing process becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-forming the V groove texture on the decorative layer before lamination. The pressing plate or decorative sheet is manufactured separately with the desired groove pattern already embedded, allowing the actual floor panel production to proceed without time-consuming milling operations. This separates the texture creation step from the panel manufacturing step, enabling parallel production and significantly increasing overall productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating master pressing plates or decorative layers that contain the V groove pattern, which are then replicated across multiple floor panels through the lamination process. This eliminates the need to manufacture each pressing body individually through time-consuming milling operations, as the same master template can be used to imprint the groove pattern on numerous panels efficiently.
3Shape
If high molding pressures are applied, then deep deformations can be achieved, but the process becomes risky and requires thorough know-how
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the high-pressure mechanical deformation system with a low-pressure lamination system. The decorative layer with pre-formed texture is bonded to the substrate using adhesive under controlled, much lower pressures, eliminating the risks associated with high-pressure deformation and the need for specialized know-how to achieve consistent results.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying to transfer the V groove pattern from a pre-manufactured decorative layer or pressing plate to the floor panel. This approach eliminates the variability and risk inherent in high-pressure deformation processes, as the groove pattern is already precisely defined in the decorative layer before application, ensuring consistent and reliable results across all panels.
Data Source
AI summary
A floor panel includes several side edges extending in the peripheral direction of the floor panel behind one another and separated from one another by a corner, and a plastic top surface delimited by the side edges. A portion of the top surface is provided with at least two elongate zones with a mutually different texture which also deviates from the texture of an area of the top surface which adjoins the zones. The zones form edge zones, each of which extends along one of the side edges or the long sides of the zones adjoin each other.