U.S. patent application number 12/078009 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-30 for printed border.
This patent application is currently assigned to Kingspan Holdings (IRL) Ltd.. Invention is credited to Bruce Mead.
Application Number | 20080263975 12/078009 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 31187613 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080263975 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Mead; Bruce |
October 30, 2008 |
Printed border
Abstract
A floor panel for an elevated floor including a printed border
along the edge of the floor panel and a protective wear surface
over the printed surface.
Inventors: |
Mead; Bruce; (Mississauga,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JACOBSON HOLMAN PLLC
400 SEVENTH STREET N.W., SUITE 600
WASHINGTON
DC
20004
US
|
Assignee: |
Kingspan Holdings (IRL)
Ltd.
|
Family ID: |
31187613 |
Appl. No.: |
12/078009 |
Filed: |
April 29, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11436984 |
May 19, 2006 |
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12078009 |
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10211643 |
Aug 5, 2002 |
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11436984 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
52/220.2 ;
428/192 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B44C 5/0446 20130101;
Y10T 156/1062 20150115; B32B 29/06 20130101; Y10T 156/1052
20150115; Y10T 156/1059 20150115; Y10T 156/1077 20150115; E04F
15/02405 20130101; Y10T 428/24777 20150115 |
Class at
Publication: |
52/220.2 ;
428/192 |
International
Class: |
E04F 15/024 20060101
E04F015/024; B32B 5/00 20060101 B32B005/00 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A floor covering panel for an elevated floor, the panel
comprising: a substrate having a surface and edges; a protective
wear overlay over the surface; and a border permanently printed on
the substrate surface with the protective wear overlay over the
surface and border, the printed border having an appearance of a
border around a perimeter of the panel, the border being protected
by the protective wear overlay and being flush with a remainder of
the panel, having no step upward or downward.
22. The panel as claimed in claim 21, further comprising a printed
pattern on said surface encompassed by the border.
23. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the substrate is
paper.
24. The panel as claimed in claim 23, wherein the substrate is a
high pressure lamination of a plurality of layers of paper.
25. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the protective wear
overlay is melamine material.
26. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the protective wear
overlay is mylar material.
27. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the printed border
includes printed lines having a dark color.
28. The panel as claimed in claim 27, wherein the printed lines are
black.
29. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the substrate is
square.
30. The panel as claimed in claim 21, wherein the substrate is
rectangular.
31. An elevated floor comprising: a base adapted to be supported
and having a load bearing surface; and a plurality of panels
including a substrate having a surface and edges; a protective wear
overlay over the surface; and a border permanently printed on the
substrate surface with the protective wear overlay over the surface
and border, the printed border having an appearance of a border
around a perimeter of the panel, the border being protected by the
protective wear overlay and being flush with a remainder of the
panel, having no step upward or downward, said panels being
co-extensive with and adhered to the load bearing surface.
32. The elevated floor as claimed in claim 31, wherein borders of
the panels at edges of the load bearing surface include a floor
border.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
10/211,643 filed Aug. 5, 2002.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to a method of producing a
floor panel for an elevated floor, including printing a border
along the edge thereof, and includes the floor panel with the
printed edge.
BACKGROUND ART
[0003] Elevated floors have been gaining widespread usage and
prominence in view of the wide proliferation of computers installed
and used in buildings. These elevated floors are sometimes called
"computer floors". Generally speaking such elevated floors are
designed to be supported on pedestals at the corners of the
elevated floor so as to present an access space between the
elevated floor and the floor structure that can be used to run
electrical cabling, computer lines, air conditioning or other
heating systems.
[0004] These computer floors comprise floor panels and are often
provided with some form of floor covering laminated to the upper
surface thereof to provide a finished, exposed floor surface. These
floor coverings may be carpeted, include vinyl asbestos tile (VAT)
or high-pressure laminate usually referred to as HPL. When the
floor covering is laminated to the upper surface of the floor panel
an attractive floor appearance is provided with the plurality of
abutting floor panels defining the floor where individual panels
can be removed.
[0005] Existing technology shows floor panels having a black border
or coloured border disposed around the perimeter of the access
floor panel so as to generally: [0006] (a) offer an attractive
appearance [0007] (b) mask any gaps or joints [0008] (c) prevent
chipping or exposure of the chipping of the edges.
[0009] Floor panels have heretofore been designed that include
applying plastic shapes around the perimeter of the trim as
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,998. These trims tend to become
loose and fall off and become a maintenance problem.
[0010] Other prior art devices comprise routing and exposing an
inner core of black paper to construct a trimmed appearance.
Generally the trim is disposed lower than the surface of the
decorative laminate an example of which is shown in U.S. Pat. No.
4,625,491. Disadvantages experienced from such routed edges stem
from the paper core left exposed and unprotected against cleaners
and moisture, and the recessed groove acts as a dirt and moisture
trap.
[0011] Other prior art methods comprise burning the top clear
melamine surface and applying a ultra violet cured paint to
simulate a black border or trim. However, it is generally difficult
to control the burning process accurately and accordingly such
process sometimes burn through the decorative layer and sometimes
does not totally remove the clear protective layer resulting in the
applied paint wearing off. Other prior art methods include
laminating the patterned wear surface to a substrate of black or
coloured plastic to make a layered system where the substrate
becomes the border or trim.
[0012] Furthermore patterned tiles have also heretofore been known
as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,670,288 and 6,413,618.
[0013] It is an object of this invention to provide an improved
floor tile having a patterned edge and an improved method of
producing same.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
[0014] It is an aspect of this invention to provide a method of
producing a floor panel for an elevated floor comprising the steps
of printing a border along the edge of said floor panel then
applying a protective wear surface over said printed surface.
[0015] It is a further aspect of this invention to provide a method
of producing a floor panel for an elevated floor comprising the
steps of printing a plurality of grid lines on a substrate, cutting
said substrate along said grid lines so as to present a floor
covering having an edge defined by said cut grid lines, applying
said cut substrate to a load surface of said floor panel.
[0016] It is yet another aspect of this invention to provide a
method of producing a floor covering for an elevated floor
comprising the steps of printing a decorative pattern including a
plurality of rectangular grid lines on one surface of a paper
substrate, combining said paper substrate with a plurality of
sheets to produce a floor covering, applying a wear surface on said
decorative surface, cutting said floor covering along said grid
lines so as to present a plurality of floor covering panels having
an edge defined by said cut grid lines, applying an adhesive to a
load surface of said elevated floor so as to bond one of said floor
cover panels to said load surface.
[0017] It is a further aspect of this invention to provide a floor
panel for an elevated floor comprising a base adapted to be
supported and providing a load bearing surface, a floor covering
co-extensive with and adhering to said load surface of said base, a
printed edge presented by said floor covering, a protective coat
over said floor cover and printed edge.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a representative perspective view of the printing
process.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the printed decorative
surface.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a side elevational magnified view of the floor
covering.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a side view of the floor covering adhered to the
load surface of the base.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0022] In the description that follows, like parts are marked
throughout the specification and the drawings with the same
respective reference numerals. The drawings are not necessarily to
scale and in some instances proportions may have been exaggerated
in order to more clearly depict certain features of the
invention.
[0023] FIG. 1 is a perspective representative view of the invention
to be described herein. In particular a roll 2 of substrate 4 is
unwound and subjected to a printing process to be described herein.
The substrate may be any variety of materials to be used as a floor
covering such as paper, plastic or the like. In particular a floor
covering 10 is produced by printing a decorative pattern 12, which
includes a plurality of grid lines 14. More specifically the
pattern of grid lines comprises a rectangular or square pattern
including longitudinal lines 16, 18 and 20 and transverse lines 22,
24, 26 and 28. Such decorative patterns 12 and grid lines 14 can be
applied by a variety of printing means including computer laser
printing or silk screening. Other methods can include roto gravure
or other printing means well known to those persons skilled in the
art.
[0024] For example the grid lines 16 can be produced by the spray
head 30 while the grid lines 18 and 20 produced by the spray head
32 and 34 respectively. The spray head 30, 32 and 34 may be
stationary. On the other hand the transverse grid lines 26 and 28
may be produced by moving spray means 36 which move in a direction
transverse to the direction L which is the direction of unravelling
of the substrate 4. Other printing methods and arrangements can be
utilized all in a manner well known to those persons skilled in the
art. As the printed decorative substrate 4 leaves the printing
station 40, a plurality of cutting means 42 may be utilized to cut
along said grid lines as shall be described herein.
[0025] It will be noticed that the grid lines 16 and 20 presented
along the edges of the substrate 4 are approximately half of the
size of the grid line 18 which is disposed within the interior of
the printed web of substrate 4 so that once the floor covering 10
is cut by cutting means 42 the relative dimension of the perimetral
border will be approximately the same throughout.
[0026] The substrate 4 is cut by cutting means 42 along the grid
lines so as present a floor covering 10 having an edge 50 defined
by the grid lines. For example, by looking at FIG. 2 the floor
covering 10 has an edge 50 defined by grid line 25 cut grid line
18, cut grid line 26 and grid line 16. The relative width W of grid
line 18 is approximately twice the width of grid line 25 X so that
once the substrate 4 is cut by cutting means 42 the border 50 along
the perimetral edge will be approximately the same thickness. Any
variety of cutting means 42 can be utilized. In particular the
cutting means 42 can comprise knives or cutting wheels 43 and 45.
In one arrangement the cutting wheel 43 can be stationary while the
cutting wheel 45 may move by a variety of means well known to those
persons skilled in the art in a direction transverse to the
unwinding of the roll 2.
[0027] Accordingly the method described herein generally comprises
a method of producing a floor panel for an elevate floor which
comprises the steps of printing a border along the edge of the
floor panel.
[0028] The printed substrate 4 is mounted on a stack of sheets 51,
which in one embodiment comprises a stack of Kraft paper and then
consolidated under heat and pressure. In one embodiment the
consolidation comprises stacking the black or coloured border 50 on
substrate 4 on top of a stack of Kraft paper 51 with a clear
protective surface sheet 60 and pressed to make a standard
high-pressure laminate (HPL) sheet of a thickness required or
specified for a floor covering 10 application.
[0029] The floor tiles 10 may be printed and pressed in a 24 inch
by 24 inch, 241/8 by 241/8 or 49.times.97 inch sheets then cut to
base panel 70 and then cut to panel size prior to lamination to the
floor panel itself. The HPL floor surface 10 may be cut oversize to
approximately 24, and a black border applied by silk screening
process with the clear protective layer 60 applied with heat and
pressure. The oversized floor surface 10 with the black border 50
could then be sized prior to adhesion to the load surface 80 of a
base 70 by means of an appropriate adhesive 82.
[0030] The printing or marking means may be applied at the time of
printing a decorative surface 12 to the web 4 or may be applied at
a later stage. Furthermore it is possible that no decorative
surface 12 is applied but rather the grid pattern 14 applied
thereon.
[0031] The colour chosen for the grid pattern 14 is generally a
dark colour such as black, brown or the like, but could be any
colour.
[0032] The invention described herein provides a black or coloured
border or trim that is permanently printed to the laminate itself.
The trim or border 50 will generally not wear off, dislodge or
become loose. The border 50 requires no removal of material and is
protected by the same high wear finish 60 as the rest of the floor
covering 10. The trim or border 50 is flush with and has generally
no upward or downward step in the surface of the floor
covering.
[0033] The invention described herein utilizes high-pressure
plastic laminate having a black or coloured border 50 printed into
the pattern decorative laminate to produce the appearance of a
border or trim 50 around the perimeter of the floor covering 10.
The method described herein eliminates the need to route and expose
an inner core. Furthermore the method eliminates the need to laser
etch the surface and apply a printed trim which may wear off.
Furthermore the invention described herein eliminates the need to
have an extra lamination and a joint between the trim and the
laminate.
[0034] The invention as described herein may in one embodiment
comprise a layer of melamine or other clear protective product
applied over the decorative layer of the printed paper. The
decorative layer of printed paper has a black border printed
approximately 24 inches by 24 inches by 1/8 inch wide grid to
produce a black border around the tile. The black border may be
applied to the decorative paper.
[0035] In another embodiment the black grid lines may be printed or
marked in a 24 inch by 24 inch by 3/16 inch wide pattern.
Furthermore such grid lines may be printed on a portion of a
surface of a substrate 4 as shown for example by the region marked
13 in FIG. 1 which may be used for standard metric 600 mm by 600 mm
laminate. Furthermore the border 50 may be any colour.
[0036] The thickness of the high-pressure laminate sheet may vary
and in some embodiments can range from 1/16 inch to 1/4 inch
depending on the intended use. However, the invention is not
limited to such thickness and may be outside of the range described
above. Furthermore the wear resistant overlay 60 may comprise Mylar
or other material. In one embodiment the printed substrate 4 may be
cut to approximately 49 inches by 97 inches and then pressed as
described and thereafter rough cut to approximately 241/8 inch
panels.
[0037] The rough cut floor cover panels may then be disposed into a
sizing machine such as a router or the like that adjusts to provide
a 24 inch by 24 inch or 600 mm by 600 mm panel with a black grid
line of approximately 0.100 inch located equally as a border 50
around the panel.
[0038] Thereafter the HPL panel is then laminated to the access
floor panel 70. The edges of the panel may be marked with black ink
90 as shown in FIG. 4 with black ink, paint, marker or the
like.
[0039] The sizing machine (not shown) may consist of two cutters on
tracks (not shown) spaced to the size of the tile. The tile must
generally be located dead center using a laser beam or mechanical
device to find the center of the grid or panel 10. The panel 10 is
then clamped down by a variety of means including a vacuum table.
The cutters may then travel past the tile cutting to size. The
table then may rotate 90.degree. and the cutters travel past
cutting the other two sides. The part may then be taken off and
finished to size.
[0040] According the invention described herein comprises a method
of producing a floor covering for an elevated floor comprising the
steps of: [0041] (a) printing a decorative pattern including a
plurality of rectangular grid lines 14 on one surface of a paper
substrate 4; [0042] (b) laminating or combining the paper substrate
4 with a plurality of Kraft sheets 51; [0043] (c) applying a wear
surface 60 on the decorative surface; [0044] (d) cutting the floor
panel along the grid lines 14 to present a plurality of floor
covering panels having an edge 50 defined by the grid lines 14;
[0045] (e) applying an adhesive 82 to the load surface 80 of the
elevated floor base 70 so as bond one of the floor cover panels 10
the load surface 80.
[0046] Various embodiments of the invention have now been described
in detail. Since changes in and/or additions to the above-described
best mode may be made without departing from the nature, spirit or
scope of the invention, the invention is not to be limited to said
details.
* * * * *