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EP-4470739-B1 - PANEL AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A PANEL

EP4470739B1EP 4470739 B1EP4470739 B1EP 4470739B1EP-4470739-B1

Inventors

  • MOUTON, Kenny

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240308

Claims (11)

  1. A panel, wherein said panel (1) comprises at least a lignocellulose based substrate (2), such as a wood fiber board or a particle board, said substrate (2) comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, and at least one covering layer (3a, 3b) attached to the upper surface or the lower surface, wherein said covering layer (3a, 3b) comprises a metal layer (4), wherein said metal layer (4) directly adheres to the respective surface of the substrate (2) and forms a film or coating that covers said surface of the substrate (2), characterized in that said metal layer comprises an aluminum/zinc alloy, and wherein said covering layer (3a, 3b) further comprises a finishing layer (5a, 5b, 6a, 6b) which forms an outer side of the panel (1), wherein said metal layer (4) adheres to said finishing layer (5a, 5b, 6a, 6b).
  2. The panel according to claim 1, wherein said metal layer (4) comprises at least 90 weight percentage by weight of said aluminum/zinc metal alloy.
  3. The panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said finishing layer (5a, 5b, 6a, 6b) comprises a resin impregnated paper sheet, for example a melamine impregnated paper sheet.
  4. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said aluminum/zinc metal alloy has been directly coated upon said surface of the substrate (2) to form said metal layer (4).
  5. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the metal layer (4) has a thickness of at most 100 µm, preferably at most 50 µm and more preferably at most 10 µm.
  6. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the said surface of the substrate (2) upon which the covering layer (3a, 3b) is attached, is a sanded surface.
  7. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the metal layer (4) is a one layered metal layer.
  8. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said aluminum/zinc metal alloy has between 80 and 90 weight percentage of zinc and between 10 and 20 weight percentage of aluminum.
  9. A method for the production of panels comprising a lignocellulose based substrate (2), such as a wood fiber board or a particle board, said substrate (2) comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, and comprising at least one covering layer (3a, 3b) attached to the upper surface or the lower surface, wherein said covering layer (3a, 3b) comprises metal, wherein said method comprising the following steps: - providing a lignocellulose substrate material comprising an upper surface and a lower surface; - coating aluminum/zinc metal alloy upon the upper surface and/or the lower surface to form a metal layer; - applying a finishing layer upon said metal layer, said finishing layer preferably comprising a wear resistant layer to provide wear resistance and/or scratch resistance.
  10. The method for the production of panels according to claim 9, wherein the coating of aluminum/zinc metal alloy is done by spray coating said aluminum/zinc metal alloy, preferably thermal spray coating, such as thermal spray coating by electrical arc wire.
  11. The method for the production of panels according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the finishing layer at least comprises a resin impregnated paper sheet, wherein said resin impregnated paper sheet of the finishing layer is laminated upon the metal layer.

Description

This invention relates to panels comprising a substrate, such as a wood fiber board or a particle board, and at least one covering layer attached to the upper surface or the lower surface of the substrate. This invention also relates to methods for producing such panels. This at least one covering layer preferably provides the panel with fire retardant properties and/or antistatic proprieties. With antistatic properties is indicated that the accumulation/buildup of static energy is prevented and/or minimized. Static charge could badly influence electronics present upon said panels due to a discharge of static electricity. In particular, this invention relates to load-bearing panels, more specifically mezzanine floor panels. However also other type of panels which require fire retardant properties, more specifically flame retardant properties, and/or the prevention of accumulation/buildup of static energy, such as furniture panels, wall panels or floor panels are envisaged in this invention. The above-mentioned so-called mezzanine panels are panels intended to be applied to a frame in order to form floors and/or stocking surfaces at desired heights. As is known, these are commonly used for the furnishing of warehouses and storage facilities in order thus to form stocking spaces at various levels. The frames usually consist of steel constructions that comprise horizontal beams placed at short distances from one another at the desired levels that support the mezzanine panels placed on them. Said mezzanine panels often have a particle board substrate, or a MDF/HDF substrate (medium density fiber board/high density fiber board). Different solutions for providing panels with the abovementioned desired characteristics are known. For providing panels with fire retardant properties, one could for example make use of panels comprising a fire retardant substrate, for example a fire retardant wood fiber board or a fire retardant particle board. Such a fire retardant substrate comprises fire retardant additives, for example flame retardant additives, that have been introduced during production of said substrate. Said fire retardant additives are for example phosphor comprising additives, such as ammonium phosphates - for example ammonium polyphosphate (APP) or mono-ammonium phosphates (MAP)-, phophinate based materials, melamine (poly)phosphate, aluminum trihydroxide or calcium silicate. A disadvantage of such fire retardant substrates, is that additional additives need to be used and this throughout the entire substrate. Since the substrate normally takes up a relatively large volume of the panel, such panels are costly. Also the additional fire retardant properties obtained with such a fire retardant substrate is limited and is often not enough for panels, such as mezzanine panels, which require high fire retardant properties. Additionally or another way to provide the panels with additional fire retardant properties and preferably sufficient flame retardant properties, is to provide the panel with at least one fire retardant layer, for example a flame retardant layer. Such a fire retardant layer, for example an aluminum foil, will normally cause the panel to show resistance to burning through and/or collapsing during a fire for a longer period than it would, if no such fire retardant layer were present and/or will reduce smoke production at least at the beginning of a fire. Depending on the use of the panel, this fire retardant layer could be attached to the upper surface of the substrate or this fire retardant layer could be attached to the lower surface of the substrate or two fire retardant layers could be respectively attached to the upper surface or the lower surface of the substrate. Such a panel is for example disclosed in WO 2020141384. This panel comprises an aluminum foil which is attached by a glue layer to the substrate. This panel has good fire retardant properties. However producing such a panel requires many steps, for example to attach said aluminum foil to the substrate a specific glue is needed. Also said aluminum foil is sensitive to scratches and the application of a scratch resistant layer upon said aluminum foil is difficult. Also if one wants to provide different classes of fire retardant panels, one needs to have different types of aluminum foil. Said scratch resistant layer can have various purposes, such as providing a well-maintained appearance, more specifically in a specified color, for example grey, providing greater resistance to abrasion, for example to abrasion resulting from motor vehicles moving over the panel, such as e.g. forklift trucks and AGVs (automated guided vehicles), increasing slip resistance, reduction of the adhesion of dirt and/or material deposition resulting from the wheels of transport vehicles, obtaining an easily cleanable surface; and so forth. A panel with a similar fire retardant layer is also disclosed in BE 1022653. To prevent the accumulation/buildup of stat