DECORATIVE PANEL HAVING EDGES WHICH ARE NOT PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURE
The present disclosure relates to a decorative panel and to a method for manufacturing a decorative panel. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a decorative panel in which long edges of the panel lying opposite each other are, at least in parts, not parallel to the longitudinal axis. The present disclosure also relates to a method for manufacturing a decorative panel, comprising the step of dividing a large plate comprising a multiple of the area of a decorative panel into individual decorative panels using a cutting means which is freely movable in at least two axes.
This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP2021/053825, filed on Feb. 17, 2021, which claims the benefit of European Patent Application No. 20168638.3, filed on Apr. 8, 2020. The entire disclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELDThe present disclosure relates to a decorative panel and a method of manufacturing a decorative panel. In particular, the disclosure relates to a decorative panel in which opposite long edges of the panel extend at least in part not parallel to the longitudinal axis. Furthermore, the present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a decorative panel comprising the step of dividing a large panel comprising a multiple of the surface area of a decorative panel into individual decorative panels by means of a cutting means which is freely movable in at least 2 axes.
BACKGROUNDThis section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Decorated boards or decorative panels are known per se and are used, for example, in interior design as floor or wall coverings. The term “wall panel” is also understood to mean panels, which are also suitable for ceiling cladding. The panels usually consist of a carrier or core made of a solid material, for example a wood material, plastic or composite material, which is provided on at least one side with a decorative layer and a top layer and optionally with further layers, for example a wear layer arranged between the decorative layer and the top layer. The decorative layer is usually formed from a printed paper or a decoration printed directly onto the carrier or onto a decoration subsurface initially applied thereon. In particular, the so-called direct printing of a decoration onto a carrier or onto a decorative subsurface initially applied onto the carrier by means of direct printing processes such as inkjet printing has become increasingly important in the relevant industry in recent years.
Methods for manufacturing decorative panels based on carriers made of wood-based materials, such as HDF or MDF boards, are sufficiently well known. For example, WO 2009/080772 discloses a method for manufacturing a decorated laminate comprising a plate-shaped core made of wood or wood-based material.
Methods for manufacturing decorative panels based on a plastic material are also known and usually include process steps such as those shown in EP3140129 A1. For example, a “cake” of granulate pellets can be applied onto the lower belt of a press via a spreading machine. In the course of manufacture, this cake is usually fed into a hot belt press with steel and/or Teflon belts, in which the heating and melting of the granulate pellets takes place. Simultaneously with the melting, the material can be pressed and formed into the shape of a carrier. Subsequently, controlled cooling results in a solidification or crystallization of the carrier material, wherein the waste heat remains largely unused because the usable temperature difference due to the controlled cooling is too small for any other use. The heat transfer in this belt press process is effected from above and below by contact with the press. Moreover, for cooling it is disadvantageous that the heat must pass through the glass-fiber-reinforced Teflon belt. Only then the heat transfer takes place via heat conduction into the granulate fill or the carrier material. These physical processes are very slow because the pellet cake initially still contains air from the pellet fill, which, from the point of view of product physics, may only slowly be pressed out of the carrier. In order to achieve acceptable belt speeds in the production, a high temperature gradient must be applied for cooling, which leads to considerable waste heat losses.
Irrespective of the carrier material selected, the plates obtained in this way are printed as large panels with several times the surface area of the final decorative panel and then divided into individual, usually rectangular panels. The panels thus obtained can then be provided with profilings at the panel edges, by means of which the individual decorative panels can be joined together to form a connected surface.
So-called herringbone or ear or spike patterns are known from the field of classical parquet flooring, in which periodically arranged parquet slats usually have a translational symmetry at right angles, 45° or 30° with respect to the right angle.
However, such a laying pattern is costly to manufacture, since individual slats have to be arranged correspondingly with respect to one another.
SUMMARYThis section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
It is therefore the object of the present disclosure to provide a decorative panel by means of which geometrically complex laying patterns, such as herringbone patterns, can be easily provided on large laying surfaces.
The disclosure thus provides a decorative panel respectively comprising a pair of opposing short and long edges, wherein the pairs of respective opposing edges have geometries compatible with each other, characterized in that at least the opposing long edges of the panel are, at least in sections, not parallel to the longitudinal axis.
It has been shown that the decorative panel according to the disclosure enables to provide geometrically complex laying patterns, such as herringbone patterns, even on large laying surfaces in a simple and user-friendly manner.
In the sense of the present disclosure, the term “decorative panel” is understood to mean in particular wall, ceiling, door or floor panels which comprise a decoration applied onto a carrier plate. Decorative panels are used in a variety of ways, both in the field of interior design of rooms and as decorative cladding of buildings, for example in exhibition stand construction. One of the most common fields of application of decorative panels is their use as a floor covering. The decorative panels often have a decoration that is intended to imitate a decoration template, mostly a natural material.
Examples of such imitated natural materials include wood species such as maple, oak, birch, cherry, ash, walnut, chestnut, wenge or even exotic woods such as panga-panga, mahogany, bamboo and bubinga. In addition, in many cases natural materials such as stone surfaces or ceramic surfaces are replicated.
The carrier or core of a decorative panel according to the disclosure can, for example, be a carrier based on a natural material, a plastic or a wood-plastic composite (WPC) material. Layered structures made of several of the aforementioned materials can also be used, for example plasterboard or wood-plastic layered plates.
For example, the carrier plate may be formed from a thermoplastic, elastomeric or thermosetting plastic. Also plates made of minerals such as natural and artificial stone boards, concrete boards, gypsum fiber boards, so-called WPC boards (made of a mixture of plastic and wood), as well as boards made of natural raw materials such as cork and wood can be used as carriers according to the disclosure. Also boards made from biomass as a natural material such as straw, maize straw, bamboo, leaves, algae extracts, hemp, oil palm fibers, can be used according to the disclosure. Furthermore, recycled materials made from said materials can be used in the method according to the disclosure. Furthermore, the plates can be designed on the basis of the natural material cellulose, such as paper or cardboard.
Wood-based materials in the sense of the disclosure in addition to solid wood materials are materials such as cross-laminated timber, glue-laminated timber, blockboard, veneered plywood, laminated veneer lumber, parallel strand lumber and bending plywood. In addition, wood-based materials in the sense of the disclosure are also to be understood as chipboards such as pressboards, extruded boards, oriented structural boards (OSB) and laminated strand lumber as well as wood fiber materials such as wood fiber insulation boards (HFD), medium hard and hard fiberboards (MB, HFH) and in particular medium density fiberboards (MDF) and high density fiberboards (HDF). Even modern wood-based materials such as wood polymer materials (wood plastic composite, WPC), sandwich boards made of a lightweight core material such as foam, rigid foam or honeycomb paper and a layer of wood applied thereto, and minerally hardened, for example with cement, chipboards are wood-based materials in the sense of the disclosure. Moreover, cork represents a wood-based material in the sense of the disclosure.
In the sense of the disclosure the term fiber materials means materials such as paper and nonwoven fabrics on the basis of plant, animal, mineral or even synthetic fibers as well as cardboards. Examples of fiber materials made of plant fibers in addition to papers and nonwoven fabrics made of cellulose fibers are boards made of biomass such as straw, maize straw, bamboo, leaves, algae extracts, hemp, cotton or oil palm fibers. Examples of animal fiber materials are keratin-based materials such as wool or horsehair. Examples of mineral fiber materials are mineral wool or glass wool.
Furthermore, the carrier can be a plastic-based carrier, i.e. it can comprise or consist of a plastic material. Examples of thermoplastics include polyvinyl chloride, polyolefins (for example, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP)), polyamides (PA), polyurethanes (PU), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyether ether ketone (PEEK), or blends or co-polymers thereof. The plastic materials may contain common fillers, for example talc, calcium carbonate (chalk), alumina, silica gel, quartz flour, wood flour, gypsum. They may also be colored in a known manner. In particular, it may be provided that the carrier material comprises a flame retardant.
In particular, thermoplastics moreover offer the advantage that products made therefrom can be very easily recycled. Recycled materials from other sources can also be used. This provides a further opportunity to reduce manufacturing costs.
The carrier material, or the material from which the carrier is formed, can be, for example, a matrix material and a solid material, wherein the matrix material is present in an amount, based on the carrier material, from ≥25 wt.-% to ≤55 wt.-%, in particular from ≥35 wt.-% to ≤45 wt.-%, and wherein the solid material is present in an amount, based on the carrier material, from ≥45 wt.-% to ≤75 wt.-%, in particular from ≥55 wt.-% to ≤65 wt.-%, and wherein the matrix material and the solid material are present together, based on the carrier material, in an amount of ≥95 wt.-%, in particular ≥99 wt.-%, and wherein the solid material is formed to at least 50 wt.-%, in particular at least 80 wt.-%, in particular at least 95 wt.-%, based on the solid material, of a solid material composition consisting of at least a first layered silicate powder and a second layered silicate powder, and the matrix material is formed to at least 50 wt.-%, in particular to at least 80 wt.-%, in particular at least 95 wt.-%, based on the matrix material, by a plastic composition consisting of a homopolymer and at least a first copolymer and a second copolymer.
In this context, layered silicate powder is understood to mean, in a manner known per se, a powder of a layered silicate. A layered silicate is a known term for minerals from the group of silicates, the silicate anions of which are usually arranged in layers. For example, layered silicates are understood to mean minerals from the mica group, the chlorite group, the kaolinite group and the serpentine group.
Thus, the solid material can advantageously be formed at least by a major part from the mineral substance layered silicate, wherein this substance can be used, for example, in powder form or can be present in the carrier material in the form of particles. In principle, the solid material can consist of a solid in powder form.
Layered silicates offer the advantage that they enable the production of a carrier with good mechanical properties and, at the same time, can be easily processed into corresponding powders due to their layered structure.
In the sense of the present disclosure the term “decorative template” can be understood to mean in particular that such an original natural material or at least one surface thereof is to be imitated or simulated by the decoration. The application of the decoration can take place, for example, by applying a printed paper or an unprinted or partially printed paper which is subsequently printed. Alternatively, the decoration may be printed directly onto the substrate or onto a suitable printing subsurface, as described below.
In order to apply a decoration, a decoration subsurface can first be applied onto at least a partial area of the substrate. For example, a primer, particularly for printing processes, can first be applied as a decoration subsurface, for example in a thickness of ≥10 μm to ≤60 μm. In this case, a liquid radiation-curing mixture based on a urethane or a urethane acrylate, optionally with one or more of a photoinitiator, a reactive diluent, a UV stabilizer, a rheology agent such as a thickener, a radical scavenger, a flow control agent, a defoamer or a preservative, a pigment and/or a dye can be used as a primer.
In addition to the use of a primer it is possible to apply the decoration onto a decorative paper printable with a corresponding decoration, which may be provided for example by means of a resin layer as a bonding agent previously applied to the carrier. Moreover, a resin can be applied as a printing subsurface onto the paper, which as a resin component may comprise at least one compound selected from the group consisting of melamine resin, formaldehyde resin, urea resin, phenol resin, epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin, diallyl phthalate or mixtures thereof. In the process according to the disclosure, the primer can preferably be applied onto the carrier plate by means of rubber rollers, a pouring machine or by spraying. Preferably, the primer is applied in an amount between ≥1 g/m2 and ≤100 g/m2, preferably between ≥10 g/m2 and ≤50 g/m2 in particular between ≥20 g/m2 and ≤40 g/m2. Subsequently to the application of the primer onto the substrate surface, an irradiation with a radiation source of a suitable wavelength is performed.
Alternatively or in addition to the primer, for example on top of the primer, it is further possible to apply an adhesive undercoat directly onto the carrier or onto the primer. For an optically particularly high-quality decorative image, for example, a white-colored adhesive undercoat can be applied, which can comprise white color pigments. For example, the adhesive undercoat can be applied in two layers. It may be particularly preferred that the adhesive undercoat is radiation-curable, for example UV-curable. Then a first layer of adhesive undercoat can preferably be cured before applying a further layer of adhesive undercoat and/or before printing the decoration. For example, the adhesive undercoat may comprise polyurethane, for example be designed as a polyurethane varnish, and for example be provided with white pigments.
According to a further embodiment, the decoration or the decorative layer can be applied by direct printing. In the sense of the disclosure, the term “direct printing” can be understood to mean the application of a decoration directly onto the carrier of a panel or onto a non-printed fiber material layer applied onto the carrier. Contrary to conventional processes, in which a previously printed decorative layer is applied onto a carrier, in direct printing the decoration is printed directly in the course of panel manufacture. Here, various printing techniques can be used, such as flexographic printing, offset printing or screen printing. Here, in particular, digital printing techniques such as inkjet processes or inkjet printing processes or laser printing processes can be used. The above-mentioned printing processes are particularly technically mature and advantageously suited in particular for panel production, in order to be able to apply a detailed decoration identical to the original. In the sense of the disclosure, direct printing also means the application of the decoration by means of printing techniques onto a printable layer previously applied onto the substrate. Such a printable layer can be formed, for example, by a liquid-applied and subsequently cured primer layer or also a previously applied printable film, paper or nonwoven layer.
In particular, a digital printing process may be suitable for the method described above, since the three-dimensional decoration data are preferably provided in electronic or digital form. This can apply, for example, both to data stored in a database and to data determined in situ by a three-dimensional scanner. In this way, the decoration data provided can be used directly, in particular by digital printing processes, without any further intermediate steps, which makes the process in particular in this embodiment applicable with particularly little effort and at low cost. In addition, the use of digital printing processes makes it possible to carry out each printing process individually, so that a particularly wide range of applications and thus a dynamic adaptation to the desired product are possible.
The decorative layer or the decoration can be formed from a in particular radiation-curable paint and/or ink. For example, a UV-curable paint or ink can be used.
Above the decorative layer, a cover and/or wear protection layer can be provided in order to increase the resistance. In order to form a corresponding top layer, it may be provided in one embodiment that a composition containing a hard material and curable by radiation is applied in a concentration between 10 g/m2 and 250 g/m2 preferably between 25 g/m2 and 100 g/m2. In this context, the application can take place, for example, by means of rollers, such as rubber rollers, or by means of pouring devices.
In this context, it may be provided that the hard material is not present in the composition at the time of application of the top coat composition, but is scattered as particles onto the applied top coat composition and this is subsequently cured radiation-induced.
In particular, a structuring, in particular a surface structuring matching with the decoration, can be introduced into the top layer by introducing pores, which is also referred to as a synchronous pore. This can be realized, for example, by so-called negative structuring, in that the top layer is provided with a structure by means of an embossing means, such as an embossing die or an embossing roller, by pressing it into the top layer. For this purpose, the top layer can first be partially cured, then provided with a structure and further subsequently final cured.
When forming the top layer with lacquers, the structure can further be introduced by so-called positive structuring, in which the structures are built up by applying a lacquer layer and, in particular, by selectively applying the raised areas of the structure. This is often realized by negatively structured embossing means, which can apply the lacquer layer accordingly.
In the sense of the disclosure a mutually compatible geometry of the edges is understood to mean that the geometry of a first edge is designed in such a way that a second edge can be form-fittingly abutted to the first edge.
According to one embodiment of the disclosure, it may be provided that at least 50% of the total edge length of the long edges of the panel, preferably at least 60%, in particular at least 75%, are not parallel to the longitudinal axis.
By such a design of the edges it is possible to replicate geometrically complex laying patterns not only within a single decorative panel, but also across different panels, so that the realistic reproduction of such laying patterns is no longer restricted to the size of a single decorative panel, but can also be reproduced over large laying areas in a simple and user-friendly manner.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, it may be provided that the opposing short edges of the panel do not extend parallel to the transverse axis of the decorative panel, at least in sections. Here, in particular, it may be provided that at least 50% of the total edge length of the short edges of the panel, preferably at least 60%, in particular at least 75%, do not extend parallel to the transverse axis of the decorative panel. Such an embodiment makes it possible to reproduce geometrically complex laying patterns even in the longitudinal extension over a plurality of panels.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, it can be provided that the long edges have edge sections which enclose an angle to each other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°. This makes it possible in particular to represent complex geometries such as herringbone or ear or spike patterns across decorative panels.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, it can be provided that a short edge has edge sections which enclose an angle to each[U1] other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°. In particular, in an embodiment in which a first short edge of a decorative panel has edge portions which enclose an angle to each other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120° and a second short edge has edge portions which are at an angle to one another in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°, decorative panels can advantageously be placed against one another in the longitudinal direction.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, it may be provided that the pairs of respective opposing edges have mutually compatible geometries, wherein the opposing long edges of the panel are configured curved or corrugated. Also in such an embodiment, the edges do not extend parallel to the longitudinal axis, at least in sections. This allows further complex laying patterns to be represented. Here, the long edges can have different radii.
It can also be provided that the radius changes along the longitudinal extension of the long edge, in particular that a repeating amplitude or radius pattern is obtained along the longitudinal extension of a long edge. Preferably, it can be provided that the amplitude or radius pattern is formed symmetrically. This advantageously allows adjacent panels to be arranged offset to each other along their longitudinal direction, wherein compatible radii of a first panel can be placed against compatible radii of a second panel.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, it may be provided that the pairs of the respective opposite edges have mutually compatible locking means for forming a locking interlock at least in the vertical direction. Examples of corresponding locking means are tongue-and-groove profiles or hook profiles. In this case, the locking means can be formed in one piece, in which case a locking element effecting an interlock is formed integrally with the carrier, such as a tongue profile machined onto the carrier in the relevant edge region.
Alternatively, a locking element can also be present separately and only be activated or inserted at the moment of joining two decorative panels placed against each other. An example of this is the formation of groove profiles on the opposing pairs of edges and the introduction of a separate spring as a locking element between the grooves, which causes the panels to be locked to one another in at least the vertical direction. Another example of a possible separate locking element is a spring element inserted into a groove of an edge of a first decorative panel, such as a spring-loaded latching tab, which, when two decorative panels are joined along compatible edges is first loaded and then relaxes at the moment a locking position is reached, thereby partially engaging in a locking groove of a second decorative panel and thus effecting an interlocking in at least the vertical direction.
It is also possible, for example, that edges of a decorative panel according to the disclosure comprise profilings and/or locking means which effect both a locking in the vertical direction and in the horizontal direction.
Furthermore, the disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a decorative panel according to the disclosure. Such a method comprises the step of dividing a large plate of a multiple of the surface area of a decorative panel by means of a cutting means which is freely movable in at least 2 axes.
A corresponding suitable cutting means can be, for example, an electromagnetic radiation source such as a laser, a compressed air jet or a water jet. Here, in particular, a laser is preferred.
In the case of an electromagnetic radiation source as the cutting means, it may be provided that the profiling tool comprises a deflection device, such as a mirror, a prism or a magnet. Such devices also allow the cutting means to move freely in at least 2 axes.
According to a further embodiment of the disclosure, the method comprises the step of profiling at least one pair of opposing edges, wherein the profiling is performed by means of a profiling tool freely movable in at least 3 axes. Here, the profiling tool may be, for example, an electromagnetic radiation source such as a laser, compressed air jet or water jet. Here, a laser is particularly preferred.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the disclosure, it can be provided that a large plate which is printed with a decoration and provided with a top layer and has a multiple of the surface are of a decorative panel, is initially cut in a first process step by means of a cutting means guided in 2 axes, in particular by means of a laser guided in 2 axes, into individual decorative panels which, after separation each comprise a pair of opposing short and long edges, wherein the pairs of the respective opposing edges have geometries which are compatible with one another, characterized in that at least the opposing long edges of the panel extend at least in sections not parallel to the longitudinal axis and are subsequently profiled along at least the long edges by means of a cutting means guided in 2 axes, in particular by means of a laser, wherein locking means are formed.
Here it can in particular be provided that in the course of profiling for forming locking means also structural means are formed. Structural means in the sense of the disclosure are understood to mean, for example, chamfers at the decor-side rims of the edges in order to form V-joints.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the pre-sent disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure are explained in detail with reference to the following figures.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are inter-changeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
Claims
1. A decorative panel respectively comprising a pair of opposing short and long edges, wherein the pairs of respective opposing edges have mutually compatible geometries, wherein at least the opposing long edges of the panel do not extend parallel to the longitudinal axis, at least in sections.
2. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein at least 50% of the total edge length of the long edges of the panel, preferably at least 60%, in particular at least 75%, do not extend parallel to the longitudinal axis.
3. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein the opposing short edges of the panel do not extend parallel to the transverse axis, at least in sections.
4. The decorative panel according to claim 3, wherein at least 50% of the total edge length of the short edges of the panel, preferably at least 60%,
- in particular at least 75%, do not extend parallel to the transverse axis.
5. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein the long edges have edge portions which enclose an angle to each other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°.
6. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein a short edge (140) comprises edge portions which enclose an angle to each other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°.
7. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein a short edge comprises edge portions which enclose an angle to each other in a range between ≥30° and ≤120°.
8. The decorative panel according to claim 1, wherein the pairs of respective opposing edges have mutually compatible locking means for forming a locking means locking at least in the vertical direction.
9. The decorative panel according to claim 8, wherein the locking means are formed in one piece.
10. The decorative panel according to claim 8, wherein the locking means comprise a locking element which is separable from the decorative panel.
11. The decorative panel according to claim 8, wherein the locking element is formed of a resilient latching tab.
12. A method of manufacturing a decorative panel according to claim 1, comprising the step of dividing a large plate comprising a multiple of the surface area of a decorative panel by means of a cutting means which is freely movable in at least 2 axes.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the cutting means cuts by means of electromagnetic radiation, preferably by means of a laser.
14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the method comprises the step of profiling at least one pair of opposite edges, wherein the profiling is performed by means of a profiling tool which is freely movable in at least 3 axes.
15. The method according to claim 14, wherein said profiling tool is a laser.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 17, 2021
Publication Date: Nov 2, 2023
Inventor: Hans-Jürgen HANNIG (Bergisch Gladbach)
Application Number: 17/794,012
