U.S. patent application number 10/552356 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-07 for patterned square carpet tiles.
Invention is credited to Jacqueline Jones.
Application Number | 20060275578 10/552356 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 9956563 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060275578 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jones; Jacqueline |
December 7, 2006 |
Patterned square carpet tiles
Abstract
A set of square carpet tiles having omnidirectional patterning,
the set comprising at least two tiles with coordinating pattern and
color, with each tile having at least two areas of visual texture
(31, 32, 33, 34) applied thereto, the areas of visual texture
providing the impression of at least two pile directions on each
tile. The patterning and texturing may both be done by printing.
Also disclosed is a method of supplying the
omnidirectionally-patterned tiles.
Inventors: |
Jones; Jacqueline; (2 THE
AVENUE MONUMENT PARK, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MILLIKEN & COMPANY
PO BOX 1926
SPARTANBURG
SC
29303
US
|
Family ID: |
9956563 |
Appl. No.: |
10/552356 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
March 30, 2004 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP04/03355 |
371 Date: |
June 19, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
428/85 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 27/0275 20130101;
A47G 27/0475 20130101; B44F 3/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
428/085 |
International
Class: |
D04H 11/00 20060101
D04H011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 11, 2003 |
GB |
0308307.8 |
Claims
1. A set of patterned square carpet tiles, the set comprising at
least two tiles with coordinating pattern and color characterized
in that each tile has at least two areas of visual texture applied,
the areas of visual texture providing the impression of at least
two pile directions on each tile.
2. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 1 in which the pattern
is applied to the tiles by printing and the visual texture is also
applied by printing.
3. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 2 in which the pattern
and the visual texture are applied in a single stage printing
operation.
4. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 1 having four tiles in
the set.
5. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 4 in which the tiles
are designed by taking the pattern of one tile and rotating it
through about 90, 180 and 270 degrees to create the four tiles and
then applying texture to the patterned areas of each tile.
6. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 5 in which the tiles
are made individual by the application of different texture to each
tile.
7. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 6 in which the tiles
are made individual by applying to each tile at least two
directionally significant visual textures in two orientations.
8. A method of supplying the tiles according to claim 1 in which
the tiles are packed in respective boxes of identical tiles and
then laying them according to a computer generated pattern
code.
9. A method of supplying the tiles according to claim 1 in which
the tiles are randomly packed into boxes after production so they
can be laid in the order they are removed from the box.
10. A method according to claim 9 in which the randomization
includes rotating the tiles so that the pile direction is also
randomized.
11. A method according to claim 9 in which the randomization
includes rotating the tiles so that the pile direction is also
randomized.
12. A method according to claim 11 in which the printing process is
a dye injection printing process.
13. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 2 having four tiles in
the set.
14. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 3 having four tiles in
the set.
15. A set of carpet tiles according to claim 5 in which the tiles
are made individual by applying to each tile at least two
directionally significant visual textures in two orientations.
16. A method of supplying the tiles according to claim 5 in which
the tiles are packed in respective boxes of identical tiles and
then laying them according to a computer generated pattern
code.
17. A method of supplying the tiles according to claim 5 in which
the tiles are randomly packed into boxes after production so they
can be laid in the order they are removed from the box.
18. A method according to claim 17 in which the randomization
includes rotating the tiles so that the pile direction is also
randomized.
19. A method of supplying the tiles according to claim 5 in which
the tiles are manufactured by a tile printing process.
20. A method according to claim 19 in which the printing process is
a dye injection printing process.
Description
[0001] This invention relates to patterned square carpet tiles, in
particular to a set of patterned square carpet tiles which are
interchangeable and omnidirectional and designed to be used
together to create a pattern that is larger than the tile.
[0002] Patterned square carpet tiles have become common and they
are a convenient way to cover floors in domestic, commercial and
public buildings.
[0003] Modern pattern design is often of an abstract or complex
nature. Particularly interesting patterns can now be generated
using computer design techniques. The pattern can be transferred
from the computer design to the carpet tile by any suitable method,
for example dye-injection patterning, tufting or weaving with dyed
yarns.
[0004] To allow the designer to create patterns larger than an
individual tile various design techniques have been used. In one
the tiles represent parts of larger pre-arranged design which is
then executed by creating and then laying the tiles in a
pre-determined way to recreate the original pattern. An example of
this is the use of quarter circles on tiles to be used in groups of
four to create circles.
[0005] An alternative technique to extend the patterning beyond the
individual tile is to use an omnidirectional pattern which when
laid in a random manner creates a larger pattern, which may never
or seldom repeat itself in an installation. Various ways to create
tiles with such omnidirectional patterns have been proposed.
[0006] In U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,632 the omnidirectional pattern is
created by generating a coordinate address which specifies the
position in a square tile area where pattern data is to be written
for each pixel. A check is then made to determine if the coordinate
address is adjacent any one of sides of the tile area. If so, the
position of a pixel is calculated which is adjacent the written
pixel on another tile area adjacent the original tile area along
that side, and the position of the adjacent pixel when the adjacent
tile area is laid on the original tile area is calculated as a
shifted position of the adjacent pixel. The positions of the
written pixel and the shifted position are rotated by a
predetermined angle about the center of a polygon at least once to
obtain rotational positions. Pixel values are additionally written
at these shift and rotational positions.
[0007] In a development of this single tile with a border area
concept, which concept allows the tile to be aligned in any of the
possible four directions adjacent another identical tile, a set of
two or more tiles with different and complementary patterns may be
used together using an identical and symmetrical border area as a
means to allow the two types of tile to be combined randomly and in
any orientation to create a large random patterned floor
installation. Such tiles are commercially available from Milliken
Industrials Limited.
[0008] In copending application GB 0128663.2 there are described
omnidirectional carpet tiles, which may be laid and re-laid without
regard to their orientation due to their being formed on a pile
which is not directional.
[0009] WO 02,064,879 describes carpet tiles having patterns and
color schemes that obviate the need to orient the tiles relative to
each other. The tiles exhibit orthogonal ambiguity, meaning that
they may be laid in any side-by-side orientation with respect to
adjacent tiles without looking out of place to the ordinary viewer
and thereby still achieving an appearance of continuity like
broadloom carpet. Each tile has patterns of shapes having some
straight sides and that appear to be randomly positioned but
oriented with some straight sides parallel to carpet tile sides.
The shapes are formed from a color or combination of colors so that
adjacent shapes on each tile have at least one color in common.
Furthermore, each tile has at least one color in common with every
other tile, so that when the tiles are laid, the colors on adjacent
tiles coordinate. All of the colors have similar intensities so
that no one color will significantly stand out from the other
colors. Moreover, because the pattern on each tile appears to be
random, placement of the tiles on the floor in any side-by-side
orientation simply creates a larger, apparently random pattern,
rendering it impossible for any tile to look out of place.
[0010] It is an object of the present invention to create
omnidirectional carpet tile patterns that are not restricted by the
need for border areas, special pile orientation or color
restrictions as required by the prior art. Furthermore it is also
an object to create a set of carpet tiles with different patterns
that when laid together randomly further increase the effect of
having a non-repeating pattern in the carpet tile layout.
[0011] According to the present invention there is a set of
patterned square carpet tiles, characterized in that the set
comprises a least two tiles with coordinating patterns and colors
and having at least two areas of visual texture applied to each
tile, the areas of visual texture providing the impression of at
least two pile directions on each tile. Preferably the pattern is
applied to the tiles by printing and the visual texture is also
applied by printing. Most preferably the pattern and the visual
texture are applied in a single stage printing operation. The term
visual texture encompasses all printed patterns and colour/shade
combinations which simulate a three dimensional appearance to the
tile surface, or add apparent depth to an otherwise flat tile
surface, or give enhanced light and shade effects, or add detail to
the surface such as would be present if the surface had a
conventionally textured surface, or a combination of these effects.
One particularly preferred application of the use of visual texture
is to simulate the appearance of natural or woven textures by
printing onto the surface of the carpet tile. Advantages of the use
of visual texture over conventional surface textures are that the
visual texture has better appearance retention during use, as it
cannot flatten further. Also the application of texture by printing
allows more flexibility in the way that textures may be combined
with one another in closely adjacent and relatively small areas of
the tile surface. In particular visual texture can be used to
create pile effects that are oriented differently from the actual
pile of the carpet tile. In one embodiment there may be four tiles
in a set and the tiles are designed by taking the pattern of one
tile and rotating it through about 90, 180 and 270 degrees to
create the four tiles and then applying the visual textures to the
patterned areas of each tile. The tiles are made individual and
loss directionally significant by the application of the textures.
This can be achieved by applying different textures to each tile
and by applying at least two directionally significant textures in
two orientations so that the four tiles become different from each
other and can be turned without this being obvious.
[0012] In another embodiment of the invention the set of tiles may
include two or more different tile designs and comprises tiles
which are designed by creating a set of related tile designs each
having a pattern of blocks of at least two colours or shades, which
preferably interlock. At least two directionally significant visual
textures are then combined with the colours or shades, keeping the
original pattern boundaries. A design in which there are two
colours, which are then combined with two visual textures, is one
variant of this design method. By this incorporation of visual
texture having at least two directions in each tile a set of tiles
having complex designs are created. When laid these tiles do not
require the original pile direction of the tile to be taken into
consideration. This allows maximum patterning flexibility and also
allows the tile to be re-laid in a different orientation without
this adversely affecting the overall appearance of the
installation.
[0013] The invention also includes a method of supplying the tiles
in boxes of identical tiles and then laying them according to a
computer generated pattern code.
[0014] Alternatively, the tiles may be randomly packed into boxes
after production so they can be laid in the order they are removed
from the box. This randomization may also include rotating the
tiles so that the pile direction is also randomized.
[0015] By use of a tile printing process, such as the
Millitron.RTM. process it is, in a still further embodiment of the
invention, possible to print the four tiles in such a way that they
are randomly produced and there is no need to rearrange them as
they are packed or used.
[0016] The invention will now be described by way of example only
and with reference to the drawings of which:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a tile pattern created using the pinwheel
technique,
[0018] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a graphic pattern suitable for use
in the invention,
[0019] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same pattern as FIG. 2 after
the texture has been applied,
[0020] FIG. 4 is a plan view of a set of four tiles after
application of texture and in the pinwheel orientation, and
[0021] FIG. 5 is a plan view of a possible carpet tile installation
with random alignment of the four tiles.
[0022] The Pinwheel repeat design method, also known as the quarter
turn repeat design method, is normally used to create
non-directional tile designs by repeating a design in rotated form
in the four quadrants of a square tile. If the four quadrants were
to be separated from one another then the resulting four half sized
tiles would be identical.
[0023] FIG. 1 shoes how a two by two matrix of repeats is used to
create the pinwheel repeat design method. The orientation of the
top left quarter 1 is unchanged, the top right quarter 2 is rotated
90 degrees to the right, the bottom right quarter 3 is rotated 180
degrees and the bottom left quarter 4 is rotated 270 degrees to the
right. Since the Pinwheel repeat design method rotates the working
design, this repeat design method requires that the working design
be square, with dimensions half those of the carpet tile.
[0024] The invention takes the pinwheel repeat design method and
enhances it to create a set of four distinct carpet tiles that,
when used in combination, provide a modular carpet installation
which has a textural, subtly patterned, appearance. In addition,
with this invention, the appearance of the installation is enhanced
when the four carpet tiles comprising the set are laid at random
within the overall pattern, and when the tile direction is also
made random. This is contrary to the norm where the installation
appearance is marred if the tile patterns and pile directions are
not kept properly aligned.
[0025] The starting point for the design process is to create a
random, graphic design which will fill a first tile, this graphic
is then repeated, but rotated through 90 degrees on the other three
quarters, using the pinwheel technique.
[0026] FIG. 2 shows an example of a suitable random graphic design.
In this instance the design contains a large number of lines 21,
22, 23 and 24, which are orthogonal to one another and either
parallel to the sides of the carpet tile or at about 45 degrees to
them. The design also contains adjacent areas that contrast with
one another 25, 26 and lines 27, 28 that curve to soften the
predominant orthogonal lines.
[0027] Textural designs, which simulate the appearance of high and
low loops, are then overlaid on top of the four graphic designs
that have been created by the pinwheel technique. The textural
designs have light and dark patterning which suggests a three
dimensional texture created by a loop pile. At least two
orientations of visual texture are applied to each tile. This means
that even if the rotated patterns are put back to the original
orientation by a "reverse pinwheel" they no longer match one
another.
[0028] FIG. 3 shows the graphic pattern of FIG. 2 to which the
texture has been applied. Areas of different textures 31, 32, 33,
34 can be seen to be oriented in different directions. When these
designs are printed onto carpet tiles the result is a series of
four tiles on which the edges do not match from tile to tile. FIG.
4 shows the set of four tiles after application of texture and in
the pinwheel orientation. Even in this format it is difficult to
see where the tiles join. In effect whilst the original design of
FIG. 2 is comprised of geometrical shapes and lines with various
shades and colors, the texture adds to that a subsidiary pattern
which is orientated with regard to the tile and not the pattern.
Because of plural directionality of the visual texture and because
the visual texture may be applied individually to the four tiles
the four tiles create a monolithic appearance when laid at random,
as described below.
[0029] To ensure that the tiles are laid at random one or more of
the following techniques may be used. The tiles may be supplied in
boxes of identical tiles and then laid according to a computer
generated pattern code.
[0030] The tiles may be randomly packed into boxes after production
so they can be laid in the order they are removed from the box.
This randomization may also include rotating the tiles so that the
pile direction is also randomized.
[0031] By use of a tile printing process, such as the
Millitron.RTM. process, it is possible to print the four tiles in
such a way that they are randomly produced and there is no need to
rearrange them as they are packed or used.
[0032] FIG. 5 shows a plan view of a hypothetical carpet tile
installation with random alignment of the four tiles, which were
depicted in FIG. 4.
* * * * *