Claims
- 1. A decorative surface covering product comprising:
- (a) a substrate;
- (b) a first impervious layer of a synthetic plastic polymeric material, said layer bonded to at least one surface of said substrate;
- (c) a decorative design on said impervious layer to provide a design of selected colors;
- (d) a second layer partially covering said first layer, said second layer comprising discrete raised portions of 0.015 to 0.045 inches in height of a substantially transparent cured thixotropic plastic material forming raised elements extending upwardly therefrom with depressed areas around the raised elements; and
- (e) a third opaque layer filling in part of the depressed areas whereby the decorative design is obscured by the third layer, but is visible through the second layer to color the raised elements.
- 2. The decorative surface covering product of claim 1 wherein the first impervious layer is comprised, in substantial part, of resin particles.
- 3. The decorative surface covering product of claim 1 wherein the second layer comprises raised discrete dot-shaped elements which are positioned on the first impervious layer and said raised elements are preferably 0.015 to 0.045 inches in height at the center of the raised shape.
- 4. The decorative surface covering product of claim 3 wherein the raised discrete elements form a repetitive pattern with the raised portions covering substantially 30 to 50 percent of the first layer.
- 5. The decorative surface covering product of claim 4 wherein the raised discrete portions contain solid particles of a MOHS hardness of at least 7 and a diameter size of 600 microns or less.
- 6. The decorative surface covering product of claim 5 wherein the thixotropic plastic material contains at least one thixotropic chosen from the group consisting of fumed silicas, precipitated silicas, finely powdered organophilic clays, highly substituted sorbatrols and calcium/organic complexes.
- 7. The decorative surface covering product of claim 1 wherein the third layer fills in 30 to 80 percent of the depressed areas around the raised elements.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
The present application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 059,518, filed June 8, 1987 now abandoned.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a surface covering product. In particular, the present invention relates to a surface covering product comprising a substrate; a decorative design on one surface of the substrate, a first impervious layer substantially covering said substrate and design; a second layer partially covering said first layer, said second layer comprising discrete raised portions of a thixotropic plastic material; and, a third layer filling in part of the area between the raised portions of the second layer.
In the prior art, it is known to provide surface covering products having disposed thereon raised elements which contain particles of solid material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,447 to Miller and Petzold shows non-skid plastic flooring structures in which inorganic particles are embedded in a cured plastic matrix in a substantially abutting relationship. Since the adhesive can be printed in a selective pattern, the raised elements give the appearance of an embossed-in register flooring material. Because such particles are applied to the adhesive surface of the matrix, however, particles applied in this manner typically do not penetrate uniformly throughout the plastic matrix. In addition, the number of particles is substantially limited and the particles must be covered over with a thin coating of clear plastic material to fully bond them to the material. In coating the particles with such a thin film, the underlying coating, interstitial to the raised elements, is coated also.
In the above reference, however, the raised elements, while they may have some decorative value per se, nevertheless do and would interfere with and obscure any underlying decoration, if such decoration were present. Further, such raised elements while useful for increasing wear resistance and slip resistance, create additional difficulties in the maintenance of the surfaces, and additional care must be taken in the maintenance of flooring employing such devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface covering product having elements of enhanced decorative effect in a product without the maintenance difficulties typically associated with raised elements.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a decorative surface covering producing comprising: (a) a substrate; (b) a design on the substrate; (c) a first impervious wear layer of a synthetic plastic polymeric material, said layer substantially covering one surface of said substrate and design; and (d) a second layer partially covering said first wear layer, said second layer comprising discrete raised portions of a thixotropic plastic material; and a third layer filling in part of the area between the raised portions of the second layer.
US Referenced Citations (14)
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
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59518 |
Jun 1987 |
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Patent Grant
4816317
