Covered Panel Wear Layer Using Thermal Curing for Deep Relief
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor panels with melamine or PVC surfaces suffer from issues such as transparency, scratch resistance, plastic-like appearance, limited relief, clicking sounds, and complex production methods, particularly with UV or electron beam curing processes.
Innovation Solution
The use of a thermally cured acrylate resin and/or unsaturated polyester resin as a wear layer, combined with a thermoinitiator, allows for improved transparency, reduced residual tensile stresses, and controlled curing, enabling deeper structures and better scratch resistance without chemical moisture formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a melamine resin top layer is used, then scratch resistance and wear resistance are improved, but transparency and relief quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite top layer consisting of melamine resin combined with acrylic resin or polyurethane. This composite material combines the scratch resistance of melamine with the transparency and relief quality of acrylic/polyurethane, resolving the contradiction between durability and optical quality.
2Manufacturing precision
If UV-cured acrylate resin is used, then transparency and curing uniformity are improved, but device complexity and health risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces UV curing (which requires complex UV lighting equipment and inert atmosphere) with thermal curing using conventional heating methods. This substitution maintains curing uniformity while dramatically simplifying the manufacturing process and eliminating health risks associated with UV radiation and photoinitiators.
3Strength
If PVC top layer is used, then scratch resistance is improved, but appearance quality and relief sharpness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines melamine resin with acrylic resin or polyurethane in a composite top layer. This composite provides both the scratch resistance needed for durability and the optical clarity required for sharp, realistic relief structures, avoiding the plastic-like appearance of pure PVC.
4Duration of action of stationary object
If melamine resin is used, then wear resistance is improved, but clicking sounds are generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite top layer of melamine resin combined with acrylic resin or polyurethane. The acrylic/polyurethane component acts as a damping layer that reduces the clicking sounds generated by the melamine, while the composite structure maintains the wear resistance properties.
5Shape
If deeper relief structures are formed in melamine surface, then structural detail is improved, but white mountains and inclusions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters by using acrylic resin or polyurethane instead of pure melamine resin. These materials have different viscosity and curing characteristics that allow deeper relief structures to be formed without trapping inclusions or creating white mountains, maintaining surface quality even at greater depths.
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 panels with enhanced transparency, reduced noise, improved scratch resistance, and more realistic relief structures, while allowing for efficient integration into existing production processes with lower health risks and costs.
Implementation Method 1
the above-mentioned wear layer comprises a thermally cured acrylate resin and/or a thermally cured unsaturated polyester resin
Implementation Method 2
copying the structure of pressing elements
Data Source
AI summary
A coated panel has at least a substrate and a top layer applied thereto, The top layer includes at least a decor layer and a translucent or transparent wear layer. The above-mentioned wear layer has a thermally cured acrylate resin or a thermally cured unsaturated polyester resin. Thermal curing partially or completely cures the resin. The acrylate resin or unsaturated polyester resin is at least partially cured by a thermally initiated radical crosslinking reaction. A method for the production of such coated panels, in particular floor panels, is provided according the aforementioned coated panel.