U.S. patent application number 13/714897 was filed with the patent office on 2014-06-19 for distressed flooring.
This patent application is currently assigned to ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Brian W. BEAKLER, Matthew S. MYERS.
Application Number | 20140170376 13/714897 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49911179 |
Filed Date | 2014-06-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140170376 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MYERS; Matthew S. ; et
al. |
June 19, 2014 |
DISTRESSED FLOORING
Abstract
A distressed board. The distressed board may include grooves
randomly positioned on a surface of the distressed board, the
grooves having a radius greater than about 5 inches. The ratio of
the surface scraped area of the distressed board that has been
scraped compared to a surface board area that is available to be
scraped may be greater than 1:1. The grooves may be randomly
positioned with respect to the longitudinal axis of the distressed
board, the grooves being applied at an angle of greater than about
+/-5 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the distressed
board.
Inventors: |
MYERS; Matthew S.; (Lititz,
PA) ; BEAKLER; Brian W.; (York, PA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES, INC. |
Lancaster |
PA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
ARMSTRONG WORLD INDUSTRIES,
INC.
Lancaster
PA
|
Family ID: |
49911179 |
Appl. No.: |
13/714897 |
Filed: |
December 14, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
428/141 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B44C 5/00 20130101; Y10T
428/24355 20150115; E04C 2/30 20130101; E04B 5/00 20130101; B27M
1/003 20130101; E04F 15/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
428/141 |
International
Class: |
E04C 2/30 20060101
E04C002/30; E04B 5/00 20060101 E04B005/00 |
Claims
1. A distressed board comprising: grooves randomly positioned on a
surface of the distressed board, the grooves having a radius
greater than about 5 inches; the ratio of the surface scraped area
of the distressed board that has been scraped compared to a surface
board area that is available to be scraped is greater than 1:1; and
wherein at least two grooves intersect creating a cumulative scrape
depth at the intersection that exceeds the depth of each groove
outside of the intersection.
2. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein the grooves
are randomly positioned with respect to the longitudinal axis of
the distressed board, the grooves being applied at an angle of
greater than about +/-5 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis
of the distressed board.
3. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein the surface
board area that remains unscraped is greater than about 5
percent.
4. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein each groove
is substantially linear and has a scraped length of greater than
about 11 inches.
5. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein each
intersected groove has a scraped length of less than about 16
inches.
6. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein each groove
has a depth of between about 0.005 inches to about 0.025
inches.
7. The distressed board as recited in claim 1, wherein each groove
has a width of between about 0.5 inches to about 1.5 inches.
8. A distressed board comprising: grooves randomly positioned on a
surface of the distressed board, the grooves having a radius
greater than about 5 inches; the grooves are randomly positioned
with respect to the longitudinal axis of the distressed board, the
grooves extend at an angle of greater than about +/-5 degrees
relative to the longitudinal axis of the distressed board; and
wherein at least two grooves intersect creating a cumulative scrape
depth at the intersection that exceeds the depth of each groove
outside of the intersection.
9. The distressed board as recited in claim 8, wherein the surface
board area that remains unscraped is greater than about 5
percent.
10. The distressed board as recited in claim 8, wherein each groove
is substantially linear and has a scraped length of greater than
about 11 inches.
11. The distressed board as recited in claim 8, wherein each
intersected groove has a scraped length of less than about 16
inches.
12. The distressed board as recited in claim 8, wherein each groove
has a depth of between about 0.005 inches to about 0.025
inches.
13. The distressed board as recited in claim 8, wherein each groove
has a width of between about 0.5 inches to about 1.5 inches.
14. A distressed board comprising: grooves randomly positioned on a
surface of the distressed board with respect to the longitudinal
axis of the distressed board, the grooves extend at an angle of
greater than about +/-5 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis
of the distressed board; the ratio of the surface scraped area of
the distressed board that has been scraped compared to a surface
board area that is available to be scraped is greater than 1:1; and
wherein at least two grooves intersect creating a cumulative scrape
depth at the intersection that exceeds the depth of each groove
outside of the intersection.
15. The distressed board as recited in claim 14, wherein the ratio
of the surface scraped area of the distressed board that has been
scraped compared to a surface board area that is available to be
scraped is greater than 1.5:1.
16. The distressed board as recited in claim 15, wherein the ratio
of the surface scraped area of the distressed board that has been
scraped compared to a surface board area that is available to be
scraped is greater than 2:1.
17. The distressed board as recited in claim 14, wherein the
grooves extend at an angle of less than about +/-25 degrees
relative to the longitudinal axis of the distressed board.
18. The distressed board as recited in claim 14, wherein the
grooves have a radius greater than about 5 inches.
19. The distressed board as recited in claim 18, wherein the
grooves have a radius less than about 25 inches.
20. The distressed board as recited in claim 14, wherein each
groove is substantially linear and has a scraped length of about 11
inches to about 16 inches.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a scraped flooring
product. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a scraped
wood or wood base flooring material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] It has become fashionable to subject furniture and other
objects/fixtures or surfaces of walls or flooring of a structure,
such as a residence to a design style or technique sometimes
referred to as distressing or antiquing. These design styles are
intended to "age" the surface of the item or object treated to
achieve a unique and/or rustic look. In one aspect of this design
style, the surface of the item may be subjected to operations such
as sanding, denting, scooping, and/or scraping. Typically these
types of operations would be performed on flooring or other items,
including furniture, that are composed of a cellulose-containing
material, such as wood and composite board to produce a distressed
surface.
[0003] Aspects of a distressed surface can include random
irregularities formed in the surface of a material, such as
variations relating to depth, width and length of the formed
surface irregularity by a tool brought into contact with the
material surface, as well as random locations along the surface of
the material being scraped. In addition, imperfections are
typically desirable, and can occur in response to variations,
especially abrupt changes, in mechanical properties of a material
having a surface to be distressed. Such changes or variations in
mechanical properties could relate to density or hardness of the
material. Examples include knots, burls and changes in grain
direction, such as commonly associated with wood. The desirable
appearance of a material surface variation such as a burl, for
example, would typically exhibit discontinuities, sometimes
referred to as "chattering", such as formed by a scraping tool in
the material surface both prior to and subsequent to a scraping
tool encountering the burl.
[0004] Several methods are predominantly used to give the surfaces
the distressed or scraped appearance. The distressing can be done
by hand. While this method has a very natural look, it is expensive
and dependent upon the skill of the person distressing the floor.
Alternatively, in an effort to reduce labor costs, manufactures
have used apparatuses to create machine-made distressed or scraped
floors. Known constructions of apparatus have been devised in an
attempt to produce materials having the desired aspects associated
with a distressed material surface. Such constructions have
included sanding heads having discontinuities formed therein,
molded heads that are placed in a pressurized contact with a
material surface, as well as embossing drums or plates. However,
all known apparatus have failed to produce the desired features
associated with a distressed material surface.
[0005] It would be desirable to provide a flooring product with a
distressed surface that has improved life and shows minimum wear
and which can be made using hand scraping or machine scraping.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0006] According to an embodiment, a distressed board includes
grooves randomly positioned on a surface of the distressed board,
the grooves having a radius greater than about 5 inches. The ratio
of the surface scraped area of the distressed board that has been
scraped compared to a surface board area that is available to be
scraped is greater than 1:1.
[0007] According to an alternate embodiment, a distressed board
includes grooves randomly positioned on a surface of the distressed
board, the grooves having a radius greater than about 5 inches. The
grooves are randomly positioned with respect to the longitudinal
axis of the distressed board, the grooves extend at an angle of
greater than about +/-5 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis
of the distressed board.
[0008] According to an alternative embodiment, a distressed board
includes grooves randomly positioned on a surface of the distressed
board with respect to the longitudinal axis of the distressed
board, the grooves extend at an angle of greater than about +/-5
degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the distressed board.
The ratio of the surface scraped area of the distressed board that
has been scraped compared to a surface board area that is available
to be scraped is greater than 1:1.
[0009] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
be apparent from the following more detailed description of the
preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment
distressed board.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of the
board of FIG. 1 taken.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus which cooperates with a
board to distress the board.
[0013] Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used
throughout the drawings to represent the same parts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The description of illustrative embodiments according to
principles of the present invention is intended to be read in
connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be
considered part of the entire written description. In the
description of embodiments of the invention disclosed herein, any
reference to direction or orientation is merely intended for
convenience of description and is not intended in any way to limit
the scope of the present invention. Relative terms such as "lower,"
"upper," "horizontal," "vertical," "above," "below," "up," "down,"
"top" and "bottom" as well as derivative thereof (e.g.,
"horizontally," "downwardly," "upwardly," etc.) should be construed
to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the
drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience
of description only and do not require that the apparatus be
constructed or operated in a particular orientation unless
explicitly indicated as such. Terms such as "attached," "affixed,"
"connected," "coupled," "interconnected," and similar refer to a
relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one
another either directly or indirectly through intervening
structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or
relationships, unless expressly described otherwise. Moreover, the
features and benefits of the invention are illustrated by reference
to the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, the invention expressly
should not be limited to such preferred embodiments illustrating
some possible non-limiting combination of features that may exist
alone or in other combinations of features; the scope of the
invention being defined by the claims appended hereto.
[0015] The disclosure is directed to wood or wood based flooring
product that has been scraped to provide a distressed surface that
has improved life and shows minimum wear. The surface can be made
using hand scraping tools or machine scraping apparatuses. The
flooring product can be made from any wood or wood based material,
including, but not limited to, engineered wood (including plywood),
solid wood, wood based composites (including medium and high
density fiberboard), wood plastic composites or acrylic infused
wood.
[0016] For purposes of the disclosure, a distressed surface is
intended to exhibit a number of characteristics or aspects. For
example, a distressed surface or material surface having a
distressed appearance or the like is intended to include random
irregularities formed in the surface of a material, such as
variations relating to depth, width and length of the formed
surface irregularity, such as by a blade brought into contact with
the material surface. In addition, a distressed surface is intended
to include imperfections that may occur in response to variations,
especially abrupt changes, in mechanical properties of a material
having a surface to be distressed. Such changes or variations in
mechanical properties could relate to density or hardness of the
material. Examples include knots, burls and changes in grain
direction, such as commonly associated with wood. With a distressed
surface, the desirable appearance of a material surface variation
such as a burl, for example, would typically exhibit
discontinuities, sometimes referred to as "chattering", such as
formed the blade of the apparatus. The discontinuities would be
manifested in the material surface at locations both prior to and
subsequent the blade encountering the burl.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 1, a representative flooring plank or
board 10 made according to the present disclosure is shown. The
board 10 has an upper surface 12, an oppositely facing bottom
surface (not shown), side walls 16 and end walls 18 which extend
between the upper surface 12 and the bottom surface. The upper
surface 12 is distressed or scraped to include grooves or recesses
20 which are provided in an unrepeating and random manner. The
grooves 20 are applied by means of a hand tool or machine, shown as
apparatus 30 (FIG. 3).
[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, in one embodiment, the apparatus 30
includes a cutter head 32 which may be supported by a cutter head
support (not shown). The cutter head 32 further includes a cutter
blade or blade 34. The blade 34 cooperates with the surface 12 to
be distressed. While blades of different radiuses can be used in
the apparatus, in one embodiment, the cutter blade 34 has a radius
of between about 5 inches to about 25 inches. In use, in response
to at least one of cutter head 32 and the surface 12 of board 10
being brought into cutting contact and moved relative to each
other, a resulting portion of surface 12 will be distressed. For
purposes of the present disclosure, the term cutter head is also
intended to include abrading contact devices which scrape surface
12 of board 10.
[0019] When in use, the cutter head 32 is movable in at least three
directions, also sometimes referred to as degrees of freedom. For
example, cutter head 32 is movable in a first direction 40 (FIG. 1)
that is coincident or substantially coincident or substantially
parallel with the longitudinal axis of the board 10. Cutter head 32
may also be movable in a second direction 42 (FIG. 1) that is
transverse or substantially transverse or perpendicular or
substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 41 of the
board 10. In addition, cutter head 32 may also be movable in a
third direction 44 (FIG. 3) that raises or lowers cutter head 32
relative to surface 12 of board 10. Stated another way, moving
cutter head 32 in third direction 44 brings cutter head 32 toward
surface 12 or away from surface 12 of board 10. In one embodiment,
third direction 44 is substantially mutually perpendicular to
respective first and second directions 40 and 42. In one
embodiment, cutter head 32 may be movable in one or more of
directions 40, 42, 44 simultaneously. Such movement may be achieved
by any suitable movement source such as by hand, hydraulic
actuators, pneumatic actuators, mechanical linkages, including
articulating linkages or other movement source. In one embodiment,
movement of cutter head 32 operates in a random manner. In one
embodiment, cutter head 32 movement may be controlled.
[0020] A manually performed scraping movement is generally
understood to correspond to a scraping movement stroke performed by
an individual utilizing a scraping tool to scrape a surface of a
material. In such movement, one arm of an individual holding a
scraping tool would be substantially extended, placing the blade of
a scraping tool in contact with a surface of a material that is to
be distressed. Simultaneously, a hand of the other arm would be
placed substantially over the blade of the scraping tool, with the
arm associated with the hand applying a force directing the blade
of the scraping tool into contact with the surface of the material
to be distressed. While maintaining the contacting force, the
individual would subsequently pull or draw the scraping tool toward
himself/herself until the elbow of the individual's arm holding the
scraping tool is sufficiently near the individual's torso, wherein
the individual would discontinue both of the pulling/drawing
movement of the scraping tool, as well as the contacting force.
That is, the initial scraping stroke is completed, and subsequently
repeated until the desired "scraped" appearance is achieved.
[0021] Referring again to FIG. 1, boards 10 made using the method
and apparatus described have a scraped upper surface 12 with
grooves 20 that is unrepeating and random. In one embodiment, the
surface scraped area (SSA) of the board 10 that has been scraped by
the apparatus 10 is larger than the available board surface area
for scraping, referred to as the surface board area (SBA). In one
embodiment, the SSA to SBA ratio is about 3:1, about 2.5:1, about
2:1, about 1.5:1, about 1:1, from about 1:1 to about 3:1, from
about 1.5: to about 2.5:1, greater than about 1:1, less than about
3:1, or any combination or sub combination thereof. The ratios
greater than 1:1 indicate that there is a portion of the board that
has been over scraped, or scraped in the same location multiple
times. This over scraping can increase scrape groove depth, adding
to the variability in the product. A ratio of 1:1 or less indicates
that there is relatively little over scraping generally resulting
from scrape grooves that are long, linear and substantially
parallel to the long edge of the board.
[0022] Although the ratio of SSA to SBA is greater than 1:1, in one
embodiment a portion of the surface board area remains unscraped.
In one embodiment, the surface board area that remains unscraped is
from about 0 percent to about 20 percent, from about 0 percent to
about 15 percent, from about 0 percent to about 10 percent, greater
than about 0 percent, greater than about 5 percent or any
combination or sub combination thereof.
[0023] In one embodiment, the grooves 20 or scrape length L made by
a single scrape, as described above, is from about 11 inches to
about 16 inches, from about 11 inches to about 15 inches, from
about 11 inches to about 14 inches, from about 11 inches to about
13 inches, from about 11 inches to about 12 inches, from about 12
inches to about 14 inches, about 11 inches, about 12 inches, about
13 inches, about 14 inches, about 15 inches, about 16 inches,
greater than about 11 inches, greater than about 12 inches, or any
combination or sub combination thereof. As will be more fully
described below, as the grooves 20 are not all parallel to the
edges of the board 10, respective grooves 20 may intersect other
grooves as the surface 12 is distressed. In so doing, single
scraped grooves are intersected, causing the length of the
respective intersected grooves to be from about 0 inches to about
16 inches, from about 1 inch to about 15 inches, from about 2
inches to about 14 inches, from about 3 inches to about 13 inches,
from about 4 inches to about 12 inches, greater than about 0
inches, less than about 16 inches, or any combination or sub
combination thereof.
[0024] As the board is scraped with the cutter blade 34, in one
embodiment, the grooves 20 will have a radius R of from about 5
inches to about 25 inches, from about 5 inches to about 20 inches,
from about 5 inches to about 15 inches, from about 5 inches to
about 10 inches, from about 10 inches to about 25 inches, from
about 10 inches to about 20 inches, from about 10 inches to about
15 inches, from about 15 inches to about 25 inches, from about 15
inches to about 20 inches, about 15 inches, greater than about 5
inches, less than about 25 inches, or any combination or sub
combination thereof. As the grooves are scraped into the surface,
the radius of the grooves will not be uniformly consistent over the
entire length of the grooves, as irregularities and non-uniformity
of the board (i.e. density of board) will cause the radius of the
grooves to vary over the length.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the grooves 20 have
a depth D from about 0.005 inches to about 0.025 inches, from about
0.005 inches to about 0.015 inches, from about 0.005 inches to
about 0.010 inches, from about 0.010 inches to about 0.025 inches,
from about 0.010 inches to about 0.015 inches, from about 0.015
inches to about 0.025 inches, about 0.005 inches, about 0.010
inches, about 0.015 inches, about 0.025 inches, greater than about
0.005 inches, less than about 0.025 inches, or any combination or
sub combination thereof. As will be more fully described below, as
the grooves 20 are not all parallel to the edges of the board 10,
respective grooves 20 may intersect other grooves as the surface 12
is distressed. In so doing, single scraped grooves are intersected
or over scraped. This over scraping can cause the cumulative scrape
depth at any point on the board 10 to exceed the depth of the
individual grooves, adding to the variability in the product.
Consequently, in one embodiment, the cumulative depth of the
grooves to be greater than about 0.025 inches, greater than about
0.030 inches, greater than about 0.040 inches, greater than about
0.050 inches, or any combination or sub combination thereof. During
the scraping process, the scraped grooves that originate on one
board can extend onto contiguous boards, either in length or width,
which emulates a floor that was installed first and then manually
hand scraped at a later time.
[0026] In one embodiment, the grooves 20 have a width W from about
0.5 inches to about 1.5 inches, from about 0.5 inches to about 1
inch, from about 0.5 inches to about 0.75 inches, from about 0.75
inches to about 1 inch, from about 0.75 inches to about 1.5 inches,
from about 1 inch to about 1.5 inches, about 0.5 inches, about 0.75
inches, about 1 inch, about 1.5 inches, greater than about 0.5
inches, less than about 1.5 inches, or any combination or sub
combination thereof. As will be more fully described below, as the
grooves 20 are not all parallel to the edges of the board 10,
respective grooves 20 may intersect other grooves as the surface 12
is distressed. In so doing, single scraped grooves may intersect
other single scraped grooves. This can cause the cumulative scrape
width at any point on the board 10 to exceed the width of the
individual grooves, adding to the variability in the product.
Consequently, in one embodiment, the cumulative width of the
grooves to be greater than about 1.5 inches, greater than about 2
inches, greater than about 2.25 inches, greater than about 2.5
inches, or any combination or sub combination thereof.
[0027] The grooves 20 are generated such that all grooves 20 are
not aligned to be parallel to the longitudinal axis or the edges of
the board 10. The grooves are applied at random angles A with
respect to the longitudinal axis of the board 10. In one
embodiment, the grooves are applied at random angles with respect
to the longitudinal axis of the board from about of about a +/-25
degrees to about a +/-5 degrees, about a +/-25 degrees to about a
+/-15 degrees, about a +/- 15 degrees to about a +/-5 degrees,
about a +/-25 degrees, about a +/-15 degrees, about a +/- 5
degrees, greater than about a +/-5 degrees, less than about a +/-25
degrees, or any combination or sub combination thereof.
[0028] Because of the apparatus used and the parameters recited
above, when the blade 34 of the cutter head 32 encounters an
irregularity in the wood grain in encountered, chatter is exhibited
on the board. Chatter is a term used in the art to describe the
result of the cutting or scraping tool jumping through the cutting
stroke when an irregularity in wood grain is present. Natural tool
chatter is found within the scraped groove, never bridging more
than one scrape groove. Most mechanized scraping techniques
currently used in the art do not recreate natural tool chatter
because they employ methods such as sanding or rotational cutters,
such as molding. To generate chatter on these products, an
embossing roll or scraper is typically used. Hand planers are often
used and they create chatter by varying the tool speed through the
stroke, however, the chatter does not look natural as it rarely
aligns with wood irregularities such as knots and grain
deviations.
[0029] The board 10 may contain scraped long and short board edges.
The board may also contain beveled edges 50 and ends 52, pillowed
(or rounded) edges and ends, and/or square edges and ends. In one
embodiment, the edges are scraped. In one embodiment, the scraped
edges contain chatter where there are wood irregularities. Multiple
different edge angles (as referenced from the face 12 of the board
10) can be employed (whether scraped or beveled). In one embodiment
the angle of the edge is from about 10 degrees to about 45 degrees,
from about 20 degrees to about 40 degrees, from about 30 degrees to
about 35 degrees, about 10 degrees, about 20 degrees about 30
degrees about 35 degrees, about 40 degrees, about 45 degrees,
greater than about 10 degree, less than about 45 degrees, or an
combination or sub combination thereof
[0030] The board contains random and unrepeating distress marks
that replicate a time worn board. In use, a floor board, over time,
will encounter items that are dropped onto the floor board. These
drops cause indentations on the surface. As these boards 10 are
made with the random and unrepeating grooves and marks, the
indentations left by the dropped item enhances the appearance of
the floor rather than diminish the appearance as is the case with
the prior art floor boards which have a repeating pattern.
[0031] While the invention has been described with reference to a
preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the
art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be
substituted for elements thereof without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention of the invention as defined in the
accompanying claims. In particular, it will be clear to those
skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in
other specific forms, structures, arrangements, proportions, sizes,
and with other elements, materials, and components, without
departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. One
skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be used
with many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions,
sizes, materials, and components and otherwise, used in the
practice of the invention, which are particularly adapted to
specific environments and operative requirements without departing
from the principles of the present invention. The presently
disclosed embodiments are therefore to be considered in all
respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the
invention being defined by the appended claims, and not limited to
the foregoing description or embodiments.
* * * * *