US-12623390-B2 - Method of preparation of a decorated wall or floor panels

US12623390B2US 12623390 B2US12623390 B2US 12623390B2US-12623390-B2

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing a decorated wall or floor panel, comprising the method steps: a) providing a first molten polymer mass and a second molten polymer mass; b) extruding the molten polymer masses, wherein in particular each polymer mass is extruded by a separate extruder, wherein the molten polymer masses are layered on top of each other; c) expelling the layered molten polymer masses through a die; d) calibrating the layered molten polymer masses in order to form a plate-shaped carrier comprising at least one carrier layer comprising the first polymer mass and a sealable layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the second polymer mass. Furthermore, the disclosure relates to plate-shaped carriers and decorative panels produced in this way, and to a device for carrying out the method.

Inventors

Peter Wendling
Hans-Juergen Hannig

Assignees

AKZENTA PANEELE + PROFILE GMBH

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20221221
Priority Date: 20211223

Claims (10)

1 . A method for producing a decorated wall or floor panel, comprising the steps of: a) providing a first molten polymer mass and a second molten polymer mass; b) extruding the first and the second molten polymer masses, wherein each polymer mass is extruded by a separate extruder, wherein the molten polymer masses are layered on top of each other, c) expelling the layered molten polymer masses through a die; and d) calibrating the layered molten polymer masses in order to form a plate-shaped carrier comprising at least one carrier layer comprising the first polymer mass and a sealable layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the second polymer mass, wherein the method further comprises the method step: e) applying a film onto at least a partial area of the sealable layer of the plate-shaped carrier, wherein the film comprises at least one top layer, wherein the top layer comprises an inner side, an outer side and a decorative layer applied to the inner side of the top layer, and wherein the film is applied to the sealable layer in such a way that the outer side of the top layer faces away from the plate-shaped carrier, wherein said top layer comprises a fourth polymer, wherein said fourth polymer is a vinyl polymer or consists essentially thereof, wherein said fourth vinyl polymer is a homopolymer or a copolymer, and wherein the fourth vinyl polymer comprises a polypropylene-based vinyl polymer, or a polypropylene copolymer, or a polypropylene copolymer selected from the group consisting of a propylene-ethylene random copolymer, a propylene-ethylene block copolymer, and a polypropylene-ethylene-butylene copolymer.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first polymer mass comprises a solid material, wherein the solid material comprises a layered silicate powder.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second polymer mass comprises a third polymer, wherein the third polymer is a vinyl copolymer, wherein the third vinyl copolymer comprises a vinyl terpolymer, or a polypropylene-based vinyl copolymer, or a polypropylene-ethylene-butylene copolymer.
4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein in step a) a third molten polymer mass is additionally provided and the plate-shaped carrier formed in step d) additionally comprises at least one backing layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the third polymer mass.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and the second molten polymer masses are extruded in such a way that the carrier layer has a layer thickness of greater than or equal to 60% to less than or equal to 95% of the thickness of the plate-shaped carrier.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the calibration is carried out by means of an arrangement of a plurality of rotatable rollers, wherein the individual rollers are arranged one above the other or one behind the other and each roller of the plurality of rotatable rollers forms at least one calibration gap with adjacent rollers, said calibration gap having a calibration gap height defining the size of the gap, wherein the adjacent rollers form a pair of rollers through which the first and the second molten polymer masses layered one on top of the other are guided, wherein the calibration gap height can be variably adjusted by means of a horizontal and/or vertical movement of individual rollers during the production process.
7 . The method according to claim 6 , wherein the first and the second molten polymer masses layered on top of each other are guided through a plurality of pairs of rollers.
8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the film comprises a laminating layer, wherein the laminating layer is applied onto the decorative layer applied to the inner side of the top layer, wherein the laminating layer is bonded to the decorative layer via a laminating adhesive.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the step f) structuring the top layer, wherein the top layer is formed by a structured roller of an embossing calender.
10 . A method for producing a decorated wall or floor panel, comprising the steps of: a) providing a first molten polymer mass and a second molten polymer mass; b) extruding the first and the second molten polymer masses, wherein each polymer mass is extruded by a separate extruder, wherein the molten polymer masses are layered on top of each other, c) expelling the layered molten polymer masses through a die; d) calibrating the layered molten polymer masses in order to form a plate-shaped carrier comprising at least one carrier layer comprising the first polymer mass and a sealable layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the second polymer mass; and e) applying a film onto at least a partial area of the sealable layer of the plate-shaped carrier, wherein the film is applied during the calibration in method step d), wherein the film is applied downstream a first pair of rollers, and upstream a sixth calibration roller or upstream a fifth calibration roller or upstream a fourth calibration roller or upstream a third calibration roller.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of and priority of European Patent Application No. 212174445, filed on Dec. 23, 2021. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. FIELD The present disclosure relates to a method for producing a decorated wall or floor panel, comprising the method steps: a) providing a first molten polymer mass and a second molten polymer mass;b) extruding the molten polymer masses, wherein in particular each polymer mass is extruded by a separate extruder, wherein the molten polymer masses are layered on top of each other,c) expelling the layered molten polymer masses through a die;d) calibrating the layered molten polymer masses to form a plate-shaped carrier comprising at least one carrier layer comprising the first polymer mass and a sealable layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the second polymer mass. Further, subject matter of the present disclosure is an apparatus for producing a decorated wall or floor panel and a wall or floor panel produced in accordance with the method described above, a panel-shaped carrier for a decorated wall or floor panel produced in accordance with the method described above, and a decorated panel produced in accordance with the method described above. BACKGROUND Decorated panels are known per se and these are used, for example, in interior design as floor or wall covering. In this context, the term wall panel also refers to panels which are suitable for ceiling cladding. The panels usually consist of a carrier or core made of a solid material, for example a wood-based material, which is provided on at least one side with a decorative layer and a top layer and optionally with further layers, for example a wear layer arranged between the decorative layer and the top layer. The decorative layer is usually a printed paper impregnated with a resin. The top layer and the other layers are also usually made of resin. Methods for producing panels usually include several method steps. For example, a “cake” of granular pellets may be applied to the lower belt of a press via a spreading machine. In the course of production, this cake is usually fed into a hot belt press with steel and/or Teflon belts, in which the heating and melting of the granulate pellets takes place. Simultaneously with the melting, the material can be pressed and formed into the shape of a carrier. Subsequently, controlled cooling leads to a solidification or crystallization of the carrier material, wherein the waste heat remains largely unused because the usable temperature difference due to controlled cooling is too small for any other use. In this belt pressing process, heat is transferred from above and below by contact with the press. Another disadvantage for cooling is that the heat must pass through the glass-fiber-reinforced Teflon belt. Only then the heat transfer takes place through heat conduction into the granulate bed or the carrier material. These physical processes are very slow because the pellet cake initially still contains air from the granulate bed, which, from the point of view of product physics, may only be pressed out of the carrier slowly. To achieve acceptable belt speeds in production, a high temperature gradient must be applied for cooling, which leads to considerable waste heat losses. In general, methods for producing decorated wall or floor panels often include further elaborate method steps in which decorations, top layers and/or wear layers are applied. In order to apply these, the components often have to be elaborately tempered and many method steps are often necessary to bond the desired layers together. It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide an improved method for producing decorated wall or floor panels. The disclosure thus proposes a method for producing a decorated wall or floor panel, comprising the method steps: a) providing a first molten polymer mass and a second molten polymer mass;b) extruding the molten polymer masses, wherein in particular each polymer mass is extruded by a separate extruder, wherein the molten polymer masses are layered on top of each other;c) expelling the layered molten polymer masses through a die;d) calibrating the layered molten polymer masses to form a plate-like carrier comprising at least a carrier layer comprising the first polymer mass and a sealable layer contacting the carrier layer and comprising the second polymer mass. Surprisingly, it was found that the above-described method enables an improved production of a wall or floor panel. By aggregating the method steps, high-quality panels with improved decorative properties can be obtained within very short process times. By use in particular of the calibration step according to the disclosure, the panels have particularly even carrier surfaces to which high-quality decorations can be applied particularly efficiently. Without being bound by theory, decor