Patent Application
20140227484
The present invention relates to anti-slip vinyl flooring and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to anti-slip vinyl flooring that is capable of forming a concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value on an uppermost polyvinyl chloride (hereinafter simply referred to as “PVC”) surface layer of the vinyl flooring, thus effectively preventing slipping thereon and further ensuring a high degree of dimension stability.
General vinyl flooring is formed by printing a surface layer on top of a PVC base layer and then forming a PVC transparent layer on the surface layer so as to prevent the printed texture from being damaged while in use. In this case, the PVC transparent layer is exposed directly to the outside environments, thus being easily contaminated and further causing frequent slips thereon, and accordingly, most of flooring is provided with a separate surface-treated layer formed on the PVC transparent layer.
The anti-slip surface-treated layer of the conventional vinyl flooring is formed by adopting embossing or scattering inorganic particles, and in this case, it is found that there is no improvement in the friction coefficient or the surface roughness of the conventional flooring. If the conventional flooring is applied to a slant path, the slip angle of the flooring is not satisfied, so that when water or oil exists thereon, slipping cannot be prevented, which shows definite limitation in the slip prevention.
One conventional anti-slip vinyl flooring is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-open No. 1607˜0080897, which includes a surface-treated layer containing beads and mica therein, for enhancing anti-slip, anti-wear, and anti-scratch, but since the hollow type round beads having substantially low specific gravity are adopted, they cannot be dispersed into a liquid type urethane (meth)acrylate resin. Further, the number of beads applied for providing anti-slip may be restricted, and besides, the dimension stability of the flooring is ignored.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide anti-slip vinyl flooring and a method for manufacturing the same that is capable of forming a concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value on an uppermost PVC surface layer of the flooring constructed for floors of housings and storehouses, thus effectively preventing slipping thereon and further ensuring a high degree of dimension stability even when the environments are changed.
To accomplish the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided anti-slip vinyl flooring formed by sequentially laminating a PVC surface layer, a PVC base layer, and a backing layer, from the top thereof, characterized in that a concavo-convex portion having a thickness in the range of 70 μm to 160 μm is formed on the PVC surface layer.
To accomplish the above object, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided anti-slip vinyl flooring formed by sequentially laminating a PVC surface layer, a dimension reinforcing layer, a PVC base layer, and a backing layer, from the top thereof, characterized in that a concavo-convex portion having a thickness in the range of 70 μm to 160 μm is formed on the PVC surface layer.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, preferably, the dimension reinforcing layer is made by impregnating one or more materials selected from glass paper, woven glass fabric, and non-woven glass fabric into PVC sol.
According to the present invention, the anti-slip vinyl flooring can form the concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value on the uppermost PVC surface layer, thus effectively preventing slipping thereon and further ensuring a high degree of dimension stability.
Hereinafter, an explanation on anti-slip vinyl flooring according to preferred embodiments of the present invention will be in detail given with reference to the attached drawings.
A technological feature of the present invention is to provide anti-slip vinyl flooring that has a PVC surface layer on which a concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value is formed, thus providing excellent anti-slip performance.
First, the vinyl flooring used in the embodiment of the present invention may be long length flooring having a multi-layer structure made by laminating PVC layers. As one example of the vinyl flooring, as shown in
The concavo-convex portion is formed on the PVC surface layer and has a thickness in the range of 70 μm to 160 μm. In case where the thickness of the concavo-convex portion is less than 70 μm, disadvantageously, pollutants (for example, margarine, gear oil, or the like) are not locked onto the concavo-convex portion, and contrarily, in case where the thickness of the concavo-convex portion is more than 160 μm, contact area of the concavo-convex portion become small to cause an anti-slip function to be badly exerted in wet/greasy conditions.
The formation of the concavo-convex portion is not limited to the above-mentioned manner, and it is more efficient to form the concavo-convex portion through three methods as will be discussed below. Firstly, the concavo-convex portion having a thickness in the range of 70 μm to 160 μm is formed through embossing on top of the PVC surface layer, and in this case, the sectional shape of the PVC surface layer corresponds to that of
The inorganic matters are one or more selected from the quartz, SiO2, A2O3, and glass beads, and they are fractured to have particle sizes in the range of 2 mesh to 100 mesh and in the range of 1.50 mm to 0.08 mm and colored through coating with PVC. Alternatively, a PVC compound is subjected to calendaring or casting to make a sheet and then, the sheet is fractured to a form of chips. In this case, the surface shapes of the particles are multiple-porous or coarse, and it is very advantageous to provide anti-slip functions.
That is, the chips/inorganic matters are arranged on the PVC surface layer, or the chips are gelled to set the inorganic matters thereon or to form embossing on the PVC surface layer, thus manufacturing the PVC surface layer on which the concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value is formed.
Further, the backing layer is adapted to prevent slipping and is preferably selected from PVC, textile, and so on.
A PVC compound is laid on top of the backing layer to make the PVC base layer through calendaring or casting, and the PVC base layer is laminated with the PVC surface layer. Next, sheet or tile vinyl flooring is appropriately manufactured.
Specifically, the thickness of the PVC surface layer is varied in accordance with the use purposes of the flooring, preferably, 3 mm or less, and more preferably, in the range of 0.3 mm to 2 mm. Further, the thickness of the PVC base layer is preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm and the thickness of the backing layer is preferably in the range of 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm, so that the whole thickness of the flooring is preferably in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm.
Hereinafter, an explanation on a method for manufacturing the anti-slip vinyl flooring according to the present invention will be in detail given.
First, a PVC compound including 100 PHR PVC straight resin, 20˜60 PHR dioctyl phthalate (DOP) as a plasticizer, 1˜6 PHR benzodiazepine (BZ)-based stabilizer, 0.3˜5.0 PHR stearic acid/wax as a lubricant, and 50˜300 PHR coal as a filler is subjected to calendaring process to make the PVC base layer having a thickness in the range of 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm. At this time, a polyester non-woven fabric/woven fabric is impregnated/coated with PVC-sol and gelled on a heated drum having a temperature in the range of 120° C. to 180° C. Next, the gelled layer is laminated with the PVC base layer by means of a lamination roll at a pressure in the range of 2 kg/cm2 to 5 kg/cm2.
On the other hand, the PVC surface layer is formed by preparing a PVC sol including 100 PHR PVC paste resin, 20˜60 PHR dioctyl phthalate as a plasticizer, 1˜6 PHR benzodiazepine-based stabilizer, 3˜15 PHR processing aid including viscosity reduction agent, and 0˜100 PHR coal as a filler.
The prepared PVC sol is applied to the PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer is laminated to a thickness in the range of 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm, and on top of the PVC surface layer, one or more selected from quartz, SiO2, A2O3, glass beads, SiC, ZeO2, and SUS balls are fractured to have particle sizes in the range of 2 mesh to 100 mesh and in the range of 1.50 mm to 0.07 mm and colored through coating with PVC. On top of the PVC surface layer, alternatively, a PVC compound is subjected to calendering or casting to make a sheet and then, the sheet is fractured to a form of chips in the range of 2 mesh to 100 mesh and in the range of 1.50 mm to 0.07 mm. Next, one or more chips or particles are arranged on the PVC surface layer and gelled in an oven having a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 160° C. for 1 to 5 minutes. After that, the concavo-convex portion is formed on the gelled chips or particles through an embossed roll at a pressure in the range of 3 kg/cm2 to 10 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring (See first and second embodiments).
It is found that the anti-slip vinyl flooring made in the above-mentioned process satisfies a maximum frictional coefficient of 35, a minimum surface roughness in the range of 70 to 160, and a slip angle in the range of 10° to 35°, which will be described below.
Further, as shown in
On the other hand, the dimension reinforcing layer is adapted to ensure dimension stability even when the environments like temperature and humidity are changed, and it is formed of one or more of glass paper, woven glass fabric, and non-woven glass fabric, thus sufficiently serving as a reinforcing material.
In more detail, one or more are selected from glass paper, woven glass fabric, and non-woven glass fabric and impregnated into PVC sol to make the dimension reinforcing layer. Next, the concavo-convex portion having a thickness of more than a given value is formed on top of the dimension reinforcing layer, thus making the PVC surface layer. Further, a lamination process, a cutting process, and so on are the same as those as mentioned above.
At this time, as mentioned above, the thickness of the PVC surface layer is preferably 3 mm or less and more preferably in the range of 0.3 mm to 2 mm. Further, the thickness of the dimension reinforcing layer is preferably in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm, the thickness of the PVC base layer is preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm, and the thickness of the backing layer is preferably in the range of 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm. Specifically, the dimension reinforcing layer is made by impregnating glass paper, woven glass fabric, or non-woven glass fabric having a basis weight in the range of 25 g/m2 to 100 g/m2 into PVC sol, thereby having the whole thickness in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.6 mm.
In more detail, the PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer is laminated is made, and next, the dimension reinforcing layer is made by impregnating glass paper having a basis weight in the range of 25 g/m2 to 100 g/m2 into PVC sol including 100 PHR PVC paste resin, 60˜120 PHR dioctyl phthalate as a plasticizer, 1˜6 PHR benzodiazepine-based stabilizer, 3˜15 PHR processing aid including viscosity reduction agent, and 70˜150 PHR coal as a filler and touching a heated drum having a temperature in the range of 140° C. to 160° C., thereby having a thickness in the range of 0.2 mm to 0.8 mm.
Next, the dimension reinforcing layer is coated with the PVC surface sol suggested in the first embodiment having a thickness in the range of 0.3 mm and 2.0 mm, and the coated sol is gelled in an oven having a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 160° C., thus making the PVC surface layer with which the dimension reinforcing layer is laminated.
After that, the PVC base layer and the PVC surface layer with which the dimension reinforcing layer is laminated are laminated with each other through a heated drum having a temperature of 140° C., and a concavo-convex portion is formed on the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure in the range of 3 kg/cm2 to 10 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring (See a third embodiment).
On the other hand, the PVC base layer, the PVC base layer with which the backing layer is laminated, and the dimension reinforcing layer are made, and after that, the PVC base layer and the dimension reinforcing layer are laminated with each other through a heated drum and a lamination roll. Next, the dimension reinforcing layer is coated with the PVC surface sol suggested in the first embodiment having a thickness in the range of 0.3 mm and 2.0 mm, and the coated sol is gelled in an oven having a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 160° C. for 1 to 5 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel is drawn from the oven, one or more kinds of chips or particles having particle sizes in the range of 5 mesh to 50 mesh scatter thereon, and the chips or particles are embedded into the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure in the range of 0.5 kg/cm2 to 2 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring having the concavo-convex portion formed thereon (See a fourth embodiment).
Further, the PVC base layer, the PVC base layer with which the backing layer is laminated, and the dimension reinforcing layer are made, and after that, the PVC base layer and the dimension reinforcing layer are laminated with each other through a heated drum and a lamination roll. Next, the dimension reinforcing layer is coated with the PVC surface sol suggested in the first embodiment having a thickness in the range of 0.3 mm and 2.0 mm, and the coated sol is gelled in an oven having a temperature in the range of 150° C. to 160° C. for 1 to 5 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel is drawn from the oven, one or more kinds of chips or particles having particle sizes in the range of 2 mesh to 50 mesh scatter thereon, and the chips or particles are deeply embedded into the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure in the range of 3 kg/cm2 to 5 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring having the concavo-convex portion formed thereon (See a fifth embodiment).
Accordingly, the anti-slip vinyl flooring is formed by sequentially laminating the PVC surface layer, the dimension reinforcing layer, the PVC base layer, and the backing layer, from the top thereof, and next, sheet or tile anti-slip vinyl flooring is appropriately manufactured. It is found that the anti-slip vinyl flooring made in the above-mentioned process satisfies a maximum friction coefficient of 35, a minimum surface roughness in the range of 70 to 160, and a slip angle in the range of 10° to 35° and further satisfies the dimension stability having an error in the range of ±0.10.
Hereinafter, tests on an appropriate thickness of a concavo-convex portion of anti-slip vinyl flooring according to the present invention will be explained with reference to first and second embodiments of the present invention and first and second comparative examples.
A PVC compound including 100 PHR PVC straight resin, 35 PHR dioctyl phthalate as a plasticizer, 5 PHR benzodiazepine-based stabilizer, 3.0 PHR stearic acid as a lubricant, and 100 PHR coal as a filler was subjected to calendaring to make a PVC base layer having a thickness of 2.0 mm. At this time, a polyester non-woven fabric was impregnated with PVC-sol and gelled on a heated drum having a temperature of 150° C. Next, the gelled backing layer was laminated with the PVC base layer by means of a lamination roll at a pressure of 4 kg/cm2.
On the other hand, the PVC surface layer and the finished product were made in the following orders. First, a PVC sol including 100 PHR PVC paste resin, 40 PHR dioctyl phthalate as a plasticizer, 3 PHR benzodiazepine-based stabilizer, 10 PHR processing aid including viscosity reduction agent, and 30 PHR coal as a filler was prepared.
The prepared PVC sol was applied on the PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated to a thickness of 1.0 mm, and on top of the PVC surface layer, glass beads and SUS balls were fractured to have particle sizes of 10 mesh and 1.07 mm and colored through coating with PVC. On top of the PVC surface layer, alternatively, a PVC compound was subjected to calendering or casting to make a sheet and then, the sheet was fractured to a form of chips having particle sizes of 10 mesh and 1.0 mm. Next, one or more chips or particles were arranged on the PVC surface layer and gelled in an oven having a temperature of 180° C. for 3 minutes. After that, the concavo-convex portion was formed on the gelled chips or particles through an embossed roll at a pressure of 5 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring. The finished product was shown in
The minimum roughness of the concavo-convex portion in the first embodiment of the present invention was 70 μm, that in the second embodiment of the present invention was 160 μm, that in the first comparative example was 65 μm, and that in the second comparative example was 165 μm. The friction coefficient, roughness, slip angle, and dimension stability were measured for the first and second embodiments of the present invention and the first and second comparative examples, which were listed below in Table 1.
As appreciated from Table 1, the concavo-convex portion in the first and second embodiments of the present invention was formed in the range of 70 μm to 160 μm, but it was found that the contact area on the concavo-convex portion is appropriately ensured even in a greasy state, which is very adequate for the slant path of more than 10° in the DIN 51130 standard.
The PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated was made in the same manner as that in the first embodiment of the present invention. Next, the dimension reinforcing layer was made by impregnating glass paper having a basis weight of 50 g/m2 into PVC sol including 100 PHR PVC paste resin, 80 PHR dioctyl phthalate as a plasticizer, 4 PHR benzodiazepine-based stabilizer, 10 PHR viscosity reduction agent, and 70 PHR coal as a filler and touching a heated drum having a temperature of 160° C., thereby having a thickness of 0.5 mm.
After that, the dimension reinforcing layer was coated with the PVC surface sol suggested in the first embodiment having a thickness of 0.5 mm, and the coated sol was gelled in an oven having a temperature of 150° C., thus making the PVC surface layer with which the dimension reinforcing layer was laminated.
Sequentially, the PVC base layer and the PVC surface layer with which the dimension reinforcing layer was laminated were laminated with each other through a heated drum having a temperature of 140° C., and a concavo-convex portion was formed on the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure in the range of 3 kg/cm2 to 10 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring having the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm. The finished product was shown in
As mentioned in the third embodiment of the present invention, the PVC base layer, the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated, and the dimension reinforcing layer were made, and after that, the PVC base layer and the dimension reinforcing layer were laminated with each other through a heated drum and a lamination roll.
Next, the semi-finished product was coated with the PVC surface sol as suggested in the first embodiment to a thickness of 1.0 mm, and the coated sol was gelled in an oven having a temperature of 150° C. for 5 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel was drawn from the oven, one or more kinds of chips or particles having particle sizes in the range of 5 mesh to 50 mesh scattered thereon, and the chips or particles were embedded into the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure of 1 kg/cm2.
As a result, the anti-slip vinyl flooring was formed having the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm. The finished product was shown in
As mentioned in the third embodiment of the present invention, the PVC base layer, the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated, and the dimension reinforcing layer were made, and after that, the PVC base layer and the dimension reinforcing layer were laminated with each other through a heated drum and a lamination roll.
Next, the semi-finished product was coated with the PVC surface sol as suggested in the first embodiment to a thickness of 1.5 mm, and the coated sol was gelled in an oven having a temperature of 150° C. for 5 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel was drawn from the oven, one or more kinds of chips or particles having particle sizes in the range of 2 mesh to 50 mesh scattered thereon, and the chips or particles were deeply embedded into the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure of 4 kg/cm2.
As a result, the anti-slip vinyl flooring was formed having the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm. The finished product was shown in
The PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated was made in the same manner as that in the first embodiment of the present invention. Next, the semi-finished product was coated with the PVC surface sol as suggested in the first embodiment to a thickness of 1.0 mm, and the coated sol was gelled in an oven having a temperature of 200° C. for 3 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel was drawn from the oven, the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm was formed on the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure of 10 kg/cm2, thus making the anti-slip vinyl flooring having the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm.
The PVC base layer or the PVC base layer with which the backing layer was laminated was made in the same manner as that in the first embodiment of the present invention. Next, the semi-finished product was coated with the PVC surface sol as suggested in the first embodiment to a thickness of 1.5 mm, and the coated sol was gelled in an oven having a temperature of 150° C. for 5 minutes, so that when the PVC surface gel was drawn from the oven, one or more kinds of chips or particles having particle sizes in the range of 8 mesh to 50 mesh scattered thereon, and the chips or particles were deeply embedded into the PVC surface layer through an embossed roll at a pressure of 4 kg/cm2.
As a result, the anti-slip vinyl flooring was formed having the concavo-convex portion having a minimum roughness of 100 μm.
Under the greasy condition where the flooring is contaminated with gear oil, the friction coefficient, roughness, slip angle, and dimension stability were measured for the third to fifth embodiments of the present invention and the third and fourth comparative examples, which were listed below in Table 2.
As appreciated from Table 2, in case of the third and fourth comparative examples, the slip angles indicated by the DIN 51130 standard were 10° or less, so that anti-slip performance was not sufficiently exerted, and further, the dimension stability as the basic property of the flooring was not good. Contrarily, in case of the third to fifth embodiments of the present invention, the dimension stability was excellent.
Further, preferably, it was found that the concavo-convex portion formed with inorganic matters, PVC inorganic matters or the PVC chips having the porous and coarse surface shapes in the fourth embodiment (
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2011/006984 | 9/21/2011 | WO | 00 | 2/21/2014 |
