Patent Application
20240125131
The invention relates to a wall skirting for floor coverings made of plastic, PVC, rubber, linoleum or similar materials, for manufacturing a moisture-proof wall closure and a method for manufacturing a wall skirting.
Floor coverings with wall skirtings are mainly used in public buildings, such as hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, laboratories, kindergartens or schools. Such floor coverings must be configured to be absolutely moisture-proof in these buildings and are sometimes highly stressed.
A wall skirting is understood to be a trough-shaped installation of a floor covering. Such a wall skirting is arranged in the transition area between the screed and the adjacent walling and is connected with the floor covering. The wall skirting thus provides a seamless transition from the floor covering to the adjacent wall surface.
The wall skirtings are cut on site from the actual floor covering as strips with a cutter knife or with a miter saw, bent manually and installed in the transition area between the screed and the walling. The bent wall skirting has a convex bend on the rear side, whereby in installed state a type of coved fillet results. Such a coved fillet represents a weak point, as this is a cavity which can be damaged if subjected to a compressive load, whereby the wall skirting is no longer moisture-proof.
Wall skirtings which are prefabricated by machine are, moreover, already known from the prior art, which are also known as coved fillet strips. In the manufacture of such a wall skirting, a strip is first cut out by machine from a floor covering made, for example, of plastics, PVC, rubber, linoleum or similar materials. The strip cutting is thereinafter bent along its longitudinal axis, preferably in a shaping device, so that the strip cutting can be laid in the transition area between the screed and the walling arranged at 90° to the screed. On the building site, only the bent wall skirting is then installed and connected to the rest of the floor covering, whereby a uniform surface results.
To prevent mechanical damage, for example, a tearing of the wall skirting in the transition area, attempts have been made to reinforce the bending area of the wall skirting with stop wedges, whereby the wall skirting becomes more impact and pressure resistant. For example, a continuous wedge-shaped support body made of PVC is attached to the back. The support body is configured as a separate part and is glued into the transition area between the screed and the walling.
EP 1 514 979 A1 discloses a method of manufacturing a wall skirting for floor coverings. The present application refers back to the same applicant and full reference is made to said patent.
In methods according to EP 1 514 979 A1, a strip cutting is first created and bent into the desired shape using a shaping device. A permanently elastic edge support wedge is then applied to the convex bending area. The wall skirting produced by the method therefore already comprises an elastic coved fillet reinforcement bonded to it. As the edge support wedge is attached to the surface of the wall skirting at the factory, no further support wedge needs to be installed at the building site.
In part, the wall skirting is manufactured of a very resilient material with only limited elasticity. During the manufacture of the wall skirting, high stresses are created by the process of bending of the strip cutting.
These stresses are transferred to the applied PVC edge support wedge, whereby in turn the edge support wedge can detach from the surface of the wall skirting and a reinforcement in the bending area is not guaranteed in a permanent manner.
The task of the present invention is therefore to now provide a wall skirting with an edge support wedge which has a better and permanent supporting effect.
To solve the given task, a factory-prefabricated wall skirting is provided for floor coverings made of plastic, PVC, rubber, linoleum or similar materials, for manufacturing a moisture-proof wall closure, wherein the floor-side wall skirting is produced from a strip cutting of the floor covering and comprises a bending area, about which the strip cutting is bent, wherein in the convex bending area of the strip cutting, the material of the strip cutting is partially removed and replaced by a filling material.
An essential feature of the invention is that in the convex bending area of the strip cutting, the material is partially removed and replaced by a filling material.
By partially removing the material and filling this area with a filling material, a kind of anchoring of the filling material in the wall skirting takes place. A detachment of the filling material is thus largely prevented. The elastic material can move along and maintains a constant bend of the wall skirting.
The wall skirting according to the invention is preferably manufactured in the factory. The cutting to size, the machining of the bending area and the bending process can therefore all be carried out by machine. This ensures, in particular, that a consistent quality is achieved. The factory-prefabricated wall skirting thus has the advantage that it is delivered to the building site as a finished part and already has the desired side leg dimensions and a bend with the desired radius. On the building site, there is thereby no need for strip cutting of the floor covering or bending, but rather only a joining of the wall skirting to the floor covering. The fitting of an additional bottom profile or alternatively support profile is no longer necessary.
In a first preferred embodiment, the wall skirting comprises a bending area with lamellae and groove areas. The lamellae and groove areas alternate and are manufactured by partial removal of the material. The lamellae therefore form the wave crest and the groove areas form the wave trough. Preferably, only the groove areas are manufactured by a shaving removing production, whereby the lamellae come to be automatically. The lamellae are thus the original floor covering material, which has the same height or material thickness. After the manufacture of the lamellae and of the groove areas, the strip cutting is bent to the required dimension. Subsequently, filling material is filled into the curved, convex bending area. The filling material is located, at least partially, in the groove areas and thereby supports the two adjacent lamellae. The filling material therefore has a supporting effect which maintains the curved shape of the strip cutting or of the wall skirting.
The filling material fills either only part of the groove area or the entire groove area. In the case of complete filling, the height of the lamellae is reached with the filling material. It is, however, also possible for the filling material to protrude beyond the lamellae such that the additional material forms a type of support wedge.
The wall skirting is bent in the bending area, whereby a first side leg is created which is later connected to the walling and a second side leg is created which is connected to the screed. Preferably, the wall skirting is bent in such a way that the two side legs are arranged at a right angle to each other. Of course, other angles between the two side legs (for example, 75° or 110°) can also exist.
The floor coverings with the wall skirtings can be used, for example, in homes, healthcare, education, sports, retail, industry, offices, hospitality and transportation vehicles.
The floor covering is, for example, a roll, tile or plank material and consists, for example, of PVC, rubber, linoleum or related materials.
The material of the wall skirting is preferably the same material as the floor covering. The floor covering normally has a certain elasticity. This means that in the case of a bending operation that has taken place, the material will be pressed back into its original shape. In order to prevent this, the wall skirting according to the invention has a filling material in the convex bending area, which filling material is filled into the groove area between the lamellae and which supports the lamellae against each other.
The filling material consists, for example, of a plastic (for example, permanently elastic plastic, thermoplastic, elastomer), an adhesive (for example, hotmelt adhesive) or another material. The filling material serves to stiffen or consolidate the curved shape of the wall skirting.
The filling material is preferably filled up to the upper edge of the lamellae of the wall skirting. The material thickness in the bending area then corresponds to the material thickness of the wall skirting. It is, however, also possible for the filling material to protrude beyond the lamellae and form a certain shape. The filling material then forms a kind of edge support wedge, the shape of which is adapted to the respective installation situation of the wall skirting. The height of the filling material above the lamellae can be, for example, up to 8 mm.
In a preferred embodiment, the wall skirting comprises lamellae and groove areas with a specific pattern in the convex bending area. The pattern may, for example, have a serrated, wavy or angular shape. That which is decisive is that the groove areas are selected to be large enough to allow the filling material to be filled in and thereby develop its supporting effect between the lamellae of the wall skirting.
The lamellae and groove areas can, for example, extend in the direction of the longitudinal axis or perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the strip cutting. It is, however, also possible that the lamellae and groove areas are arranged at a certain angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wall skirting.
In another preferred embodiment, the groove area is a single planar recess. The wall skirting then comprises a connecting strip in the bending area, which connecting strip is not machined. A flat recess attaches to the connecting strip, which recess is later filled with the filling material.
The wall skirting according to the invention preferably breaks down into a first side leg, a bending area and a second side leg. The first side leg has, for example, a length of 10 cm and the second side leg a length of 10 cm. It is also possible that side legs of 10 cm to 6 cm or other ratios are also possible. The two side legs are, for example, arranged at a right angle to each other.
In addition to the wall skirting, protection is further claimed for a method of manufacturing a factory-prefabricated, strip-shaped wall skirting made of plastic, PVC, rubber, linoleum or related materials.
The method according to the invention consists of the following steps:
In a further preferred execution of the method, the following steps are performed:
The filling material can, for example, be filled beyond the lamellae as a further process step, whereby the material thickness of the bending area is greater than the material thickness of the wall skirting.
The removal of the material in the bending area is preferably carried out by a shaving removing process. This can be, for example, a milling of the strip cutting. It is, however, also possible that the lamellae and groove areas are created using a laser.
The strip cuttings can, moreover, be heated before filling with the filling material. In so doing, a better connection between the filling material and the slats or alternatively the groove areas can be achieved.
During the assembly of the wall skirting, it is preferably cut to the desired length on the building site using a cutter knife or a miter saw. The length of the wall skirting strips is, for example, 240 cm, which makes them easy to handle and enables an efficient laying performance.
The subject-matter of the present invention results not only from the subject-matter of the individual patent claims, but also from the combination of the individual patent claims among themselves.
All details and features disclosed in the documents, including the abstract, in particular the spatial configuration shown in the drawings, are claimed to be substantial to the invention insofar as they are new, either on their own or in combination, when compared to the prior art.
In the following, the invention is elucidated in more detail by means of figures illustrating several embodiments. Further features and advantages of the invention that are essential to the invention are apparent from the drawings and their description.
The wall skirting 5 according to the invention comprises a front side which forms the visible side. Preferably, the wall skirting 5 is made of the same material as the floor covering 4 and is produced from a strip cutting 9 of the floor covering 4. The front side of the wall skirting 5 thus corresponds to the top side of the floor covering 4. The wall skirting, moreover, has a rear side which becomes connected to the walling 2 and the screed 1. The bending process of the strip cutting 9 or alternatively of the wall skirting 5 creates a convex bending area 7 on the rear side.
The screed 1 is designed as a floating screed 1 and rests on an solid underlying ceiling 8. There is a gap between the screed 1 and the walling 2 in which an edge insulation strip can be arranged.
The transition between the screed 1 and the adjacent walling 2 must be designed as an absolutely moisture-tight connection that does not lose its absolute tightness either due to thermal expansion, shrinkage at low temperatures, or mechanical loads, such as those caused by floor cleaning machines.
Such a moisture-proof connection is achieved with the wall skirting 5 according to the invention. The wall skirting 5 is configured in a curved shape and consists substantially of a first side leg 11, which is connected to the walling 2, and a second side leg 12, which is connected to the screed 1. The bending area 7 is located between the first side leg 11 and the second side leg 12. The second side leg 12 is connected to the floor covering 4 by a weld seam 6.
The bending area 7 has a convex rear side and consists of two sections arranged one above the other. The first section is a connecting strip 17. The connecting strip 17 is the area remaining after machining which is not machined. The connecting strip 17 forms the top side of the wall skirting 5 and is the visible area. In the case of the second area, material is first removed by shaving-producing processing and then infilled by a filling material 15.
The removal of the material in bending area 7 is preferably carried out with a specific pattern. Possible patterns include serrations, curves, waves, angular shapes or other geometric shapes. In the case of
The pattern has a wave trough and a wave crest. The wave crest is formed by lamellae 16. The wave trough is formed by groove areas 18. Preferably, the lamellae 16 are formed so high that the material thickness 19 of the filling area 14 corresponds to the material thickness 10 of the wall skirting 5.
By introducing the filling material 15 into the filling area 14, the shape retention of the wall skirting 5 is supported and the memory behavior is reduced to a minimum. The filling area 14 thereby forms a kind of stabilization, whereby the factory-curved shape of the wall skirting 5 is maintained in the long term.
According to
The rear side of strip cutting 9 is shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22200228.9 | Oct 2022 | EP | regional |
