SURFACE COVERING WITH WEAR LAYER HAVING DISPERSED WEAR RESISTANT PARTICLES AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME
A surface covering includes a base layer, a wear layer, and a topcoat layer. The wear layer is laminated to the base layer. The wear layer comprises a polymeric binder system having wear resistant particles dispersed therein. The wear layer is formed by dispersing a plurality of wear resistant particles into a liquid to form a stable liquid dispersion, blending the stable liquid dispersion into a polymeric resin to form a mixture, and extruding the mixture to form the wear layer.
1 . A surface covering comprising a first major surface opposite a second major surface, the surface covering further comprising a laminate structure comprising:
a base layer;
a wear layer atop the base layer, the wear layer having a first thickness as measured from an upper surface to a lower surface of the wear layer, the wear layer comprising a polymeric binder and wear resistance particles dispersed in the polymer binder;
a topcoat layer atop the wear layer, the topcoat layer having a second thickness as measured from an upper surface to a lower surface of the topcoat layer; and
wherein the wear resistance particles are offset from the first major surface of the surface covering by a distance of at least the second thickness of the topcoat layer.
2 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the first major surface of the surface covering comprises the upper surface of the topcoat layer.
3 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the topcoat layer is continuous.
4 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of second thickness to the first thickness ranges from about 1:1 to about 1:40.
5 . The surface covering of claim 4 , wherein the ratio of second thickness to first thickness ranges from about 1:1 to about 1:12.
6 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the second thickness of the topcoat layer to a size of wear resistant particles ranges from about 2500:1 to about 50:1.
7 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the laminate structure further comprises a print layer positioned between the base layer and the wear layer.
8 . The surface covering of claim 7 , wherein the print layer is embossed.
9 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear resistance particles have a size ranging from about 10 nm to about 500 nm.
10 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the wear resistance particles are present in an amount of 0.1 parts to 5 parts per hundred parts by weight of the polymer binder in the wear layer.
11 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the base layer has a third thickness as measured from an upper surface to a lower surface of the base layer, the third thickness ranging from about 35 mils to 170 mils.
12 . The surface covering of claim 1 , wherein the first thickness of the wear layer ranges from about 1 mil to about 40 mils.
13 . A process for forming a surface covering comprising:
mixing together polymeric binder and wear resistant particles to form a wear composition;
forming a film from the wear composition; and
applying the film to a base layer;
wherein the film is formed by at least one of extruding or calendering the wear composition into the film.
14 . The process of claim 13 , wherein the film is applied to the base layer by stack press or rolling laminator.
15 . The process of claim 13 , wherein the film is formed by calendering the wear composition, and the film has a thickness ranging from about 1 mil to 40 mils.
16 . The process of claim 13 , wherein the film is formed by calendering the wear composition at a temperature ranging from about 160° C. to about 200° C. and the polymeric binder of wear composition comprises vinyl resin.
17 . The process of claim 13 , wherein the base layer comprises an upper surface opposite a lower surface, the upper surface comprising a decorative pattern, wherein the film is applied to the upper surface of the base layer and the film is clear.
18 . The process of claim 13 , further comprising forming a topcoat atop the film.
19 . The process of claim 18 , wherein the topcoat is formed by applying a topcoat composition that comprises a curable polymeric composition and curing the topcoat composition by at least one of UV radiation or electron beam radiation.
20 . A surface covering comprising a laminate structure comprising:
a base layer having an upper surface opposite a lower surface;
a wear layer atop the base layer, the wear layer comprising a polymeric binder and wear resistance particles; and
a topcoat layer atop the wear layer, the topcoat layer being a continuous layer and being substantially free of the wear resistant particles.