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EP-4735262-A2 - METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A DECORATIVE ELEMENT FOR DECORATIVE SURFACES

EP4735262A2EP 4735262 A2EP4735262 A2EP 4735262A2EP-4735262-A2

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a decorative element (1) comprising the steps of: - providing a substrate (2) having a first decorative pattern (5), wherein said first decorative pattern (5) is visible on at least a first surface (4) of said substrate (2); - acquiring digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5) visible on said first surface (4); - generating a digital copy (32) of a second decorative pattern (6) on the basis of said digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5); - feeding a printer (40) with said digital copy (32) of a second decorative pattern (6) and printing said second decorative pattern (6) on said first surface (4) of the substrate (2) to obtain the decorative element (1).

Inventors

  • PATKI, RAHUL
  • TREVISAN, MARCO

Assignees

  • Dal-Tile, LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240627

Claims (20)

  1. 1. A method for manufacturing a decorative element (1) comprising the steps of: - providing a substrate (2) having a first decorative pattern (5), wherein said first decorative pattern (5) is visible on at least a first surface (4) of said substrate (2); - acquiring digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5) visible on said first surface (4); - generating a digital copy (32) of a second decorative pattern (6) on the basis of said digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5); - feeding a printer (40) with said digital copy (32) of a second decorative pattern (6) and printing said second decorative pattern (6) on said first surface (4) of the substrate (2) to obtain the decorative element (1).
  2. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of generating the digital copy (32) of the second decorative pattern (6) is performed by a machine-learning model (50).
  3. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the machine-learning model (50) is configured to identify a first group of information (55) within the digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5).
  4. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the machine-learning model (50) is configured to predict a second group of information (56) of the second decorative pattern (6) based upon the first group of information (55) identified within the digital copy (31) of the first decorative pattern (5).
  5. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of generating the digital copy (32) of the second decorative pattern (6) involves an image editing operation performed on a starting digital copy (57) of the second decorative pattern (6).
  6. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said image editing operation is performed by a human operator, preferably using a graphic editor software, for example Gimp or Photoshop.
  7. 7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein substrate (2) comprises an identification element associated to said starting digital copy (57) of the second decorative pattern (6) and wherein the method comprises the step of evaluating said identification element and selecting said starting digital copy (57) of the second decorative pattern (6), from example from a plurality of digital copies stored in a storage unit (35).
  8. 8. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first decorative pattern (5) is an imitation of a stone.
  9. 9. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said second decorative pattern (6) is an imitation of a stone.
  10. 10. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first and second decorative pattern (5, 6) are both visible on the first surface (4) of the decorative element, for example the first and second decorative pattern (5, 6) form a combined decorative pattern (9) on said first surface (4).
  11. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said second decorative pattern (6) represents additional details of the first decorative pattern (5).
  12. 12. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the decorative pattern is configured to hide said visual defect.
  13. 13. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said first decorative pattern (5) is present in the entire thickness of the substrate (2).
  14. 14. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said substrate (2) is made of a cured engineered stone, a sintered stone or a ceramic material.
  15. 15. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising one or more of the following steps before said step of printing: - sanding or polishing said first surface (4) of the substrate (2); - heating at least said first surface (4) of the substrate (2); - providing an adhesion promoter coating on said first surface of the substrate; - providing a primer coating (7) on said first surface (4) of the substrate (2).
  16. 16. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising providing a protective coating (8) on said second decorative pattern (6).
  17. 17. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a step of polishing said protective coating (8).
  18. 18. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said printing operation is performed directly on said first surface (4) of the substrate (2).
  19. 19. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said printing operation is performed by jetting curable inks and/or sublimation inks.
  20. 20. The method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising manufacturing said substrate (2), preferably wherein said substrate is made of engineered stone, and preferably wherein manufacturing the substrate involves at least the steps of preparing a mixture for an engineered stone comprising the inorganic filler and a binder; providing the mixture on temporary support, for example a mold; forming a first decorative pattern on the mixture in the temporary support; compacting the mixture; curing the binder to obtain the engineered stone.

Description

Method for manufacturing a decorative element for decorative surfaces like, for example, floor, wall or furniture surfaces and a decorative element for decorative surfaces The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a decorative element for decorative surfaces like, for example, floor, wall or furniture surfaces. The invention further relates to a decorative element for decorative surfaces. More in particular, the invention relates to a method for manufacturing a decorative element of the type made of an engineered stone which is often known on the market as quartz. An engineered stone comprises an inorganic filler like crushed stones, sands or other minerals but also recycled ceramic or glass, bonded by means of a cured resin, in particular thermosetting resin. More in detail, with engineered stone is intended a composite material formed by an inorganic filler or a stone like material bonded together by means of a cured binder that it is cured at low temperature, wherein with low temperature is intended a temperature below 500°C. The binder is preferably a thermosetting resin. Therefore, in the past years methods for manufacturing engineered stones were developed in order to reduce costs and provide a more environment friendly product. A well-known example of such methods is represented by the so called Bretonstone® technology described, for example, in the document, WO 2007/138529. Said document discloses a method for manufacturing an engineered stone which comprises the step of: providing a mineral filler, for example by grinding sand or quartz; mixing the stone or stone like material with a binder, for example a resin powder, in order to obtain a mixture; depositing the mixture in a mold of a press, having shape and dimension similar to those of the final article; press the mixture applying vacuum, with the accompanying application of a vibratory motion at pre-established frequency; the semi-product obtained is then hardened by means of a heat curing process to obtain the engineered stone; the engineered stone is then subjected to finishing steps like cutting or polishing. Such kind of engineered stone normally comprises a one-color decoration. Alternatively, the engineered stones comprise a decor formed by artificial veins for imitating a natural stone like marble or granite. As disclosed in WO 2009/010406 such decor is obtained by adding a coloring agent to the mixture before the mixture is deposited in the mold. The mixture is carried by an endless belt above the mold and is loaded into the mold itself by free falling from the end of the belt. The coloring agent is loaded by means of appropriate nozzles to the surface of the mixture substantially in correspondence of the end of the belt so to fall into the mold together with the mixture in a non-controlled manner. Following the vibro-compression step the pigment particles distribute in the mixture thereby generating a veined effect through the entire thickness of the engineered stone. Therefore, with this technique it is not possible to obtain an engineered stone with a reproducible and predefined decor, because both the decoration technique and the vibrocompression step cause an uncontrolled and undetermined displacement of the coloring agent in the mixture. WO 2016/113652 discloses an equipment and a method for creating programmable chromatic effect in an engineered stone by means of a computer controlled machine. The machine is an anthropomorphous robot or a cartesian robot provided with one or more nozzles for dispensing a coloring agent inside a groove formed in the mixture in a temporary support. The nozzle is connected to a tool that interacts with the surface of the mixture to create grooves or holes to receive the color in order to imitate marble veins. Thus, this equipment needs a machine work of the mixture and provides for decor imitating natural stone with a relative low-quality resolution. This technology is slow and has limits in the dimension of the imitated veins that can be imitated. Moreover, it is noted that the created pattern is subjected to vibration and compaction so that the final pattern always differs from the starting predetermined pattern. WO20 19070621 discloses a method for improving the aesthetic quality of the engineered stone by inkjet printing a decor on a main surface of the stone. The decorative element obtained through this method show a decor on the main surface which is formed by a combination of the inkjet printed pattern and the decor in the substrate. Anyway, since the final aspect of the decor in the substrate is non predictable, because of the intrinsic characteristics of the process, as explained above, it can be particularly difficult to obtain a good matching between the inkjet printed pattern and the decor in the substrate. The present invention aims in the first place at providing an alternative and improved method for manufacturing a decorative element, which, in accordance with several o