Laminate Floor Panel Edge Structure for Water-Tight Plank Effect
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor panels with melamine surfaces suffer from monotonous appearance, water penetration sensitivity, color differences, and quality loss at edge regions due to extreme pressure, leading to weakened connections and reduced wear resistance.
Innovation Solution
The floor panels feature a lower edge region with a continuous laminate surface extending to a horizontal plane, matching substrate density, and a method involving structured substrate machining and DPL technique to ensure color consistency and water-tightness, while minimizing substrate deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If lower edge regions are formed by compressing substrate material during lamination, then the laminate surface can extend over the edge regions, but the substrate material experiences quality loss including fiber connection breakdown, warping, and reduced wear resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate surface is pre-structured by machining grooves or recesses at the edge regions before lamination. This preliminary action creates the desired lower edge region geometry without requiring extreme compression during the lamination process, thereby preserving substrate material quality and fiber connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate surface is divided into different zones: the main surface area and the edge regions. By machining grooves or recesses specifically at the edge regions, the substrate is segmented into areas with different heights, creating the lower edge regions while maintaining the integrity of the main substrate structure.
2Shape
If separate decorative covering is applied to inclined portions, then plank effect is achieved, but color differences appear between the covering and laminate surface
Solution Approach 1:
The decorative laminate layer is applied continuously across both the main surface and the lower edge regions in a single lamination process. This merging of the decorative covering with the substrate edge regions eliminates color differences while still achieving the plank effect through the geometric configuration of the lower edge regions.
3Shape
If extreme pressure is exerted during press treatment to form lower edge regions, then the laminate surface extends over the edges, but hard particles migrate to higher regions and the remaining laminate at edge regions becomes less effective
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate surface is pre-prepared with grooves or recesses at the edge regions before applying the laminate. This preliminary structuring allows the laminate to extend over the edges without requiring extreme pressure that would cause particle migration and uneven distribution.
4Manufacturing precision
If the laminate surface extends up to the edge of floor panels, then color consistency is improved, but water penetration sensitivity increases at the edges
Solution Approach 1:
The panel edge is segmented into a lower edge region that extends horizontally. This geometric segmentation creates an overlapping configuration when panels are installed adjacent to each other, forming a continuous waterproof barrier that prevents water penetration while maintaining color consistency through continuous laminate coverage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides excellent color consistency, improved water-tightness, and enhanced wear resistance at edge regions, reducing visible substrate and minimizing quality loss, with controlled tearing and precise panel joining.
Implementation Method 1
a top layer of laminate... which comprises one or more paper sheets soaked in melamine resin
Implementation Method 2
a substrate which substantially consists of an HDF board... During the press treatment, possible hard particles, which are provided in the resin, have the tendency to migrate towards higher-situated regions
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing a floor panel with a substrate and a top layer of laminate, which floor panel, at one or more edges, is provided with a lower edge region, where the laminate extends in one piece from the actual upper surface of the substrate over the lower edge region at least up to a point. The laminate surface is situated at a level in a horizontal plane which intersects the substrate and that the substrate material, at the location of the lower edge region, has the same or a lower density than at the actual upper surface of the substrate material.