Resilient flooring product and methods of making same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11725397-B2
Application number	US-202217873874-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2022
Priority date	Sep 23, 2016
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

Described herein are resilient floor coverings produced by using digitally printed UV-cured inks and exhibiting high adhesion properties between an ink layer and a wear layer. Also described herein are methods for manufacturing same. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A resilient floor covering comprising:
a backing portion having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the second surface of the backing portion is opposed to the first surface of the backing portion;
a decorative portion having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the second surface of the decorative portion is opposed to the first surface of the decorative portion, wherein the decorative portion overlies the backing portion such that at least a portion of the second surface of the decorative portion contacts at least a portion of the first surface of the backing portion, wherein the decorative portion comprises an UV cured ink layer, and wherein at least a portion of the ink layer defines at least a portion of the first surface of the decorative portion;
a tie layer comprising an adhesive composition, wherein the tie layer substantially overlies the decorative portion such that at least a portion of the tie layer contacts and adheres to the ink layer; wherein the adhesive composition comprises a hot melt polyurethane after and
a wear layer substantially overlying the tie layer such that at least a portion of the wear layer contacts and adheres to at least a portion of the tie layer.

2. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive composition comprises a thermoplastic polymer adhesive.

3. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the tie layer has a thickness of about 0.5 mil to about 4 mil.

4. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear layer comprises at least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG), polyurethane, polypropylene, polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Nylon 6, or Nylon 6,6.

5. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear layer comprises polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

6. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear layer has a thickness of from about 4 mil to about 30 mil.

7. The resilient floor covering of claim 2 , wherein the UV cured ink layer comprises digitally printed ink.

8. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the decorative portion further comprises a substrate, and wherein the ink layer is applied to the substrate layer.

9. The resilient floor covering of claim 8 , wherein the substrate layer is a film.

10. The resilient floor covering of claim 8 , wherein the substrate layer is a layer of coloring agent.

11. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear layer is a substantially transparent layer.

12. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the backing portion comprises a polyester, a polyamide, a polyvinyl chloride, a polyolefin, a polyurethane, or any combination thereof.

13. The resilient floor covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear layer exhibits pull values greater than about 7 pounds as determined by a standardized delamination test.

14. The resilient floor covering of claim 13 , wherein the standardized delamination test comprises a delamination test associated with American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).

15. The resilient floor covering of claim 13 , wherein the standardized delamination test comprises ASTM 3936.

Assignees

• Columbia Insurance Co

Inventors

• Odum Tom
• Vecsey Jay
• Wright Jeff

Classifications

• G01B11/24

  for measuring contours or curvatures · CPC title

• E04F15/00

  Flooring (stair treads E04F11/104; coverings not specially adapted for floors E04F13/00; borders, skirtings E04F19/02; {implements for laying flooring E04F21/20;} gratings for cleaning soles of footwear A47L23/24; {built-in gratings E04F19/10; removing floor coverings E04G23/00; carpets A47G27/00;} of similar materials to roads E01C; basic or rough floors {, structural floors} E04B5/00) · CPC title

• B32B27/00

  Layered products comprising {a layer of} synthetic resin {(fibrous or filamentary layer made of a synthetic resin B32B5/02; particulate layer made of a synthetic resin B32B5/16; foamed layer made of a synthetic resin B32B5/18)} · CPC title

• G06T2200/08

  involving all processing steps from image acquisition to 3D model generation · CPC title

• G06T17/00

  Three-dimensional [3D] modelling for computer graphics · CPC title