1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a finishing profile for a floor covering, as well as to a method for manufacturing such finishing profile.
2. Related Art
More particularly, the invention relates to finishing profiles that can be employed there, where an edge of a floor covering must be finished. Herein, this relates to any type of floor covering, however, preferably the finishing profiles of the invention are applied when finishing a floatingly installed floor covering, such as, for example, when finishing gluelessly installed flooring of the type known, for example, from the WO 97/47834, namely, laminate panels, prefabricated parquet, veneer parquet or solid parquet.
Profiles that allow finishing an edge of such floor covering are known from the state of the art, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,745,534. Usually, such finishing profile is performed as a decorative strip, whether or not consisting of several parts, or the like, which can be pressed on in a rail-shaped profile or holder by means of an attachment portion.
Currently, a difference is made between some three kinds of possible finishing modes and associated finishing profiles.
According to a first possibility, the finishing profile relates to a so-called expansion profile, which usually is applied for finishing a joint, said joint being intended, for example, as an expansion joint, between two floor coverings of an equal or similar type.
According to a second possibility, the finishing profile relates to a so-called transition profile, which usually is applied for forming a transition from one type of floor covering to another type of floor covering, such as, for example, a transition from a laminate flooring to a carpet or a transition between laminate floorings of different thicknesses.
According to a third possibility, the finishing profile relates to a so-called end profile, which usually is used for finishing an edge of a floor covering next to a wall. Generally, in the above by “floor coverings of another type”, floor coverings are meant having a different thickness.
In the meantime, amongst others, from WO 01/20101 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,074, finishing profiles are known that allow finishing several kinds of transitions. To this aim, according to these documents, they have to be composed from several portions to form different configurations, depending on the required kind of finishing.
In the Belgian patent application BE 2005/0015, filed by the present applicant, finishing profiles have already been described, which allow to finish several kinds of transitions. According to BE 2005/0015, different configurations of one and the same finishing profile may be obtained by separating one or more portions from the finishing profile. Herein, the separation may take place, amongst others, by cutting through a layer-shaped covering provided on the finishing profile. However, the inventor of the present invention has found that in certain cases, it remains difficult to form a well-cut edge at the layer-shaped covering, for example, when not using a knife designed in particular to this aim. Also with embodiments in which is intended to break off one or more portions of the finishing profile instead of cutting them off, wherein the break line is realized also through the layer-shaped covering, the disadvantage is created that that the risk is rather high that the layer-shaped covering is damaged at the broken-off edge or is delineated in a rather un-esthetic manner.
In order to remedy this, the present invention aims at a finishing profile in which, when separating a portion of this finishing profile, the risk of obtaining a top layer delineated in a less qualitative manner is minimized or excluded. To this aim, the invention relates to a finishing profile for a floor covering, wherein this finishing profile comprises a body with at least two portions made separable from each other, which, in the unseparated condition, are connected to each other by means of a break-off or cut-off zone, wherein, by whether or not removing one or more of the aforementioned two portions, various application possibilities of the remaining portion of the body are created, wherein, at least on the aforementioned two portions of the body, a layer-shaped covering is provided, with as a characteristic that said layer-shaped covering shows an interruption at least over part of the length of the finishing profile, at the height of the transition between said two portions, and preferably at the height of said break-off or cut-off zone.
Herein, by an “interruption” is meant that the layer-shaped covering as such is completely interrupted in the depth for at least a portion or portions of the length of the finishing profile, or, in other words, that the interruption extends across the material layer of the layer-shaped covering. However, this does not exclude that the layer-shaped covering, at the height of the interruption, may be composed of overlapping portions; according to the present invention, in such case the layer-shaped covering also has to be considered interrupted.
With a finishing profile according to the present invention, a better result is achieved, in particular in relation to the quality of the remaining portion after a possible separation has taken place, whereas a universal utilization of the finishing profile still remains possible.
It is noted that the application of the finishing profiles of the invention is not restricted to the above-described utilization possibilities or to the application thereof for the above-described types of floor coverings, although they preferably allow for at least two of the above-described utilization possibilities, of which, still better, at least one utilization possibility relates to the application of said remaining portion as an expansion profile.
Preferably, said interruption of the layer-shaped covering is provided locally, and still better, the two portions of the layer-shaped covering, these are the portions at opposite sides of the aforementioned interruption, adjoin closely and/or is the distance between both portions of the layer-shaped covering smaller than one millimeter. In this way, it is obtained that, in the case that in the desired configuration or utilization possibility of the finishing profile, the respective separable portions of the body do not have to be separated, this interruption is hardly apparent.
It is noted that according to the invention, a layer-shaped covering of any kind can be applied. So, for example, may the layer-shaped covering consist of a film, laminate, veneer, lacquer, ink or similar. When a finishing profile according to the invention comprises a layer-shaped covering consisting of a laminate, all difficulties imparted by a possible breaking-off or cutting-off of this laminate are avoided. So, for example, is it known that such laminate comprises a resin-immersed layer that may have abrasion-resistant features. These abrasion-resistant features are mostly obtained in that hard particles, such as aluminum oxide or the like, are incorporated in the laminate. The application of such laminate for a finishing profile of the invention is of particular importance, in view of the fact that in this case, too, a good result may be obtained in a simple manner.
In the most preferred embodiments of the invention, said two portions of the body are integrally connected to each other at the location of said break-off zone, still better the two portions as such, including the break-off zone, are performed in one piece and/or the entire body is made in one piece. According to these preferred embodiments, it is obtained that separate and/or integrated connection elements between said two portions are not necessary, which may result in a simple and/or inexpensive manufacture of the finishing profiles of the invention.
As will become evident from the further introduction and the description, the invention is not limited to finishing profiles with a body, of which latter solely two portions are made mutually separable. When the body comprises three or more separable portions and/or is provided with two or more break-off or cut-off zones where these portions may be separated from each other, the layer-shaped covering preferably, at least over a portion of the length of the finishing profile, comprises an interruption at the height of each of the transitions between said three portions, and preferably at the height of each of the aforementioned break-off or cut-off zones.
It is noted that the aforementioned interruption, interruptions, respectively, may extend, whether continuously or not, over the entire length of the finishing profile. It is clear that the presence of such, whether or not continuous, interruptions over the entire length of the finishing profile yields an optimum result with a possible separation of a portion of the body.
The finishing profiles of the invention may be manufactured in any manner. However, the present invention also relates to two inventive possibilities for realizing such finishing profile.
According to a first possibility, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing such finishing profile, starting from a carrier from which said body is formed and which is provided, at least partially, with said layer-shaped covering, with as a characteristic that said layer-shaped covering is provided as a single whole on the aforementioned two mutually separable portions and that said interruption, interruptions, respectively, is effected after providing the layer-shaped covering. This first possibility offers an inexpensive and/or simple manufacturing mode for such finishing profile.
In a particular case, wherein the layer-shaped covering shows a printed pattern or other pattern and the interruption is relatively thin or is local, it is obtained, according to this first possibility, in a simple manner that the aforementioned pattern still extends, practically seen, continuously over the interruption. It is noted that the pattern does not necessarily have to be obtained artificially, for example, by printing, however also may relate to a natural pattern, such as it is the case, for example, when veneer is applied as a layer-shaped covering. Preferably, the aforementioned pattern is adapted to the floor covering with which the finishing profile has to cooperate, and possibly may represent a wood pattern or a stone pattern.
According to a second possibility, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing such finishing profile, starting from a carrier from which said body is formed and which is provided, at least partially, with said layer-shaped covering, with as a characteristic that said layer-shaped covering is provided separately on each of the aforementioned two mutually separable portions. By applying a method according to this second possibility, a separate processing in order to provide said interruption is not necessary. Also, by means of this method, a close adjoining between both portions of the layer-shaped covering may be obtained in a simpler manner, such that the interruption may be performed in such a manner that it is hardly visible.
According to a first preferred form of embodiment of both possibilities, said body is formed from said carrier after the layer-shaped covering has been applied.
According to a second preferred form of embodiment of both possibilities, said body or said carrier, from which the body is obtained, is formed by extrusion prior to applying the layer-shaped covering.
For the body of the finishing profiles of the invention, use can be made of any material, such as, for example, composite material consisting of wood particles and a binding agent, MDF or HDF (Medium Density Fiberboard or High Density Fiberboard), plywood, paper pulp, synthetic material, metal, such as aluminum, or the like.
Various other preferred forms of embodiment of finishing profiles and methods for the manufacture thereof are possible. In this respect, reference is made to the detailed description and appended claims.
With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, hereafter, as an example without any limitative character, several preferred embodiments are described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The finishing profile 1 of
The variant of
In the example of
As represented in
As represented in
As represented in
The particularity of the finishing profiles 1 of the present invention lies in the fact that said layer-shaped covering 3 shows an interruption 21 at the height of the transition 22 between the portions that are made separable, in this case, between the flange-shaped portion 4 and the nose portion 8. In the example of
According to the invention, said interruption 21 of the layer-shaped covering 3 at the height of the transition 22 preferably is provided locally. Herein, the distance O between two portions of the layer-shaped covering 3 preferably is smaller than one millimeter. By the close adjoining of both portions of the layer-shaped covering 3 is obtained that the interruption 21 of the layer-shaped covering 3 is experienced as less disturbing by the user of such finishing profile 1, whereas still a good result is obtained with a possible separation of the respective portions 4-8.
In
It is evident that according to the invention, the interruption 21 of the layer-shaped covering 3 may also be performed solely over a part of the length L of the finishing profile 1.
It is noted that
It is clear that the finishing profile 1 of
The variant of
It is noted that for manufacturing the bodies of the finishing profiles from
The present invention is in no way limited to the forms of embodiment described by way of example and represented in the figures, on the contrary may such finishing profiles 1 and methods for the manufacture thereof be performed according to various variants, without leaving the scope of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2006/0074 | Feb 2006 | BE | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/223,161 filed Jul. 24, 2008, which is the national stage of PCT/IB2007/000228 filed Jan. 25, 2007, and which further claims priority to Belgian application 2006/0074 filed Feb. 7, 2006, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12223161 | Jul 2008 | US |
Child | 13432518 | US |