Synthetic flooring apparatus and method
A welded synthetic floor-covering material and a method of forming, the floor-covering material formed from one or more adjacent pairs of flooring elements welded together by a symmetrical lower weld which engages each flooring element substantially equally; and wherein the symmetrical lower weld is substantially free from a metallic element; and a method of preparing the welded synthetic floor-covering material having a layout suitable for covering a pre-determined area wherein the welded synthetic floor-covering material includes one or more adjacent pairs of flooring elements welded together with a symmetrical lower weld engaging each flooring element substantially equally.
1 . A welded synthetic floor-covering material, said welded synthetic floor-covering material comprising two or more flooring elements wherein each adjacent pair of flooring elements is welded together by a symmetrical lower weld wherein the symmetrical lower weld engages each flooring element of an adjacent pair of flooring elements substantially equally; and wherein the symmetrical lower weld is substantially free from a metallic element;
wherein the flooring elements comprise one or more upper layers above the symmetrical lower weld wherein the one or more upper layers comprise a decorative layer;
wherein the flooring elements have a floor engaging lower surface and wherein each flooring element of an adjacent pair of flooring elements forms a partial groove on the floor-engaging lower surface such that the symmetrical weld is formed in an adjacent pair of partial grooves wherein the adjacent pair of partial grooves is symmetrical.
2 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein each partial groove has a uniform depth and/or uniform width.
3 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein the one or more upper layers are separated by a gap.
4 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 3 wherein the one or more upper layers are separated by a narrow gap.
5 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 3 wherein the one or more upper layers are separated by a gap wherein the gap is aligned to the groove.
6 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein the adjacent pair of flooring elements have one or more upper layers above the symmetrical lower weld wherein the one or more upper layers are sealed such that there is no gap between the one or more upper layers.
7 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 6 wherein the symmetrical lower weld has a depth wherein the symmetrical lower weld depth is from 40% to 80% of the depth of the floor-covering material.
8 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein the flooring elements include one or more of the following layers: a base layer, a support layer, a structural layer, a topcoat layer, a clear wear layer, and/or an upper protective coating layer.
9 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 8 wherein the one or more base layers comprise a floor-engaging base layer.
10 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 9 wherein the floor-engaging base layer is a fabric layer, a tissue layer, support layer, a synthetic layer, or a self-adhesive layer.
11 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 10 wherein the floor-engaging base layer is a pre-coated fabric layer.
12 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 10 wherein the floor-engaging base layer is a foamed synthetic layer.
13 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein the flooring elements are non-slip flooring elements wherein the non-slip flooring elements include a non-slip upper layer.
14 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 1 wherein the symmetrical lower weld is formed in one or more lower layers of the flooring elements.
15 . The floor-covering material as defined in claim 14 wherein the one or more lower layers comprise one or more base layers, a support layer, a structural layer, and/or a topcoat layer.
16 . A method of preparing a welded synthetic floor-covering material having a layout suitable for covering a pre-determined area wherein the welded synthetic floor-covering material comprises two or more flooring elements wherein the flooring elements have a floor-engaging lower surface and wherein the method comprises the following steps:
(a) providing a floor plan for the pre-determined area wherein the floor plan defines a layout of flooring elements including positions of one or more welds;
(b) providing a length of flooring and forming a groove on the floor-engaging surface of the flooring at the position of each of the one or more welds;
(c) cutting the length of flooring to form the one or more adjacent pairs of flooring elements; and
(d) arranging the flooring elements according to the layout and welding together each of the one or more adjacent pairs of flooring elements to form a symmetrical lower weld wherein the symmetrical lower weld engages each flooring element substantially equally.
17 . The method as defined in claim 16 wherein step (a) additionally comprises preparing a flooring cutting plan for cutting up a length of flooring to obtain the flooring elements to minimize waste.
18 . The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the steps are carried out sequentially such that cutting step (c) is performed after groove forming step (b).
19 . The method as defined in claim 16 wherein step (d) comprises sealing one or more upper layers of each adjacent pair of flooring elements.
20 . The method as defined in claim 19 wherein step (d) is performed on an insulating and/or reflective substrate.
21 . The method as defined in claim 16 wherein step (c) comprises trimming the length of flooring to remove one or more superfluous areas of flooring.