Resilient flooring product and methods of making same
Described herein are resilient floor coverings produced by using digitally printed UV-cured inks and exhibiting high adhesion properties between an ink layer and a wear layer. Also described herein are methods for manufacturing same. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.
1 . A resilient surface covering article comprising:
a backing portion having a first surface and an opposing second surface;
a decorative portion having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the decorative portion comprises UV cured ink; wherein the opposing second surface of the decorative portion is connected to the backing portion;
a tie layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the tie layer comprises a polymer adhesive, wherein the opposing second surface of the tie layer is connected to the first surface of the decorative portion; and
a protective layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the protective layer is configured to provide at least one of a wear or scratch resistance, wherein the opposing second surface of the protective layer is connected to the first surface of the tie layer; and
wherein the protective layer exhibits a pull value greater than about 5 pounds as determined by ASTM 3936 with a 1-inch strip pulled at a rate of 2 inch/min for a pull distance of 2 inches.
2 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the backing portion comprises a plurality of backing layers.
3 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the backing portion is an extruded backing portion.
4 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , further comprising a balancing layer disposed on at least a portion of the opposing second surface of the backing portion.
5 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the protective layer is one of a wear layer or scratch layer, and wherein the wear layer or scratch layer comprises at least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane, polypropylene, polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), nylon 6, nylon 6,6, surlyn resin, heat stabilized biaxially-oriented PET (BoPET), amorphous PET (aPET), recycled PET (rPET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG), polyolefin, cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), cyclic olefin polymer (COP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polylactic acid (PLA) copolymers, nylon, cellulose acetate, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polycarbonate, polyethylene (PE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), and acrylate, or a combination thereof.
6 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the protective layer is a substantially transparent polyolefin layer.
7 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 6 , wherein the substantially transparent polyolefin layer comprises polypropylene.
8 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein protective layer comprises a surface hardening agent, the surface hardening agent comprising aluminate, alumina, acrylic beads, silica, glass spheres, sol gel alumina, polyethylene dispersion, silyl acrylic set wet particles, wollastonite, clay, silyl acrylic polysiloxane, sodium silicate, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), silicon carbide, quartz, diamond dust, or a combination thereof.
9 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 8 , wherein the surface hardening agent comprises alumina, silica, or a combination thereof.
10 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the backing portion comprises a polyester, a polyamide, a polyolefin, a polyurethane, or any combination thereof.
11 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the backing portion comprises a low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), ethylene methacrylate (EMA), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyethylene-polypropylene (PE-PP) rubber, conventional thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), conventional thermoplastic olefins (TPOs), alpha-olefin polyethylene co-polymers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), ethylene butyl acrylate (EBA), ethylene-octene copolymer, high density polyethylene (HDPE), and heterogeneously branched ultra-low density polyethylene (ULDPE), or any combination thereof.
12 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the decorative portion comprises a substrate layer.
13 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 12 , wherein the substrate layer comprises oriented polypropylene (OPP), polyolefin (PO), woven polyethylene (PE), nonwoven PE, woven polypropylene (PP), nonwoven PP, woven PET, nonwoven PET, woven nylon, nonwoven nylon, paper, foil, foiled oriented polypropylene, a heat stabilized biaxially-oriented PET (BoPET), amorphous PET (aPET), recycled PET (rPET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), cyclic olefin polymer (COP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polylactic acid (PLA) copolymers, nylon, cellulose acetate, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomers (TPS), polycarbonate, polyethylene (PE), or a copolymer thereof.
14 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 12 , wherein the substrate layer is a whitened substrate layer.
15 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 12 , wherein the substrate layer is a film.
16 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 12 , wherein the substrate layer has a thickness of 1 mil to 20 mil.
17 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the polymer adhesive is an UV cured polymer adhesive.
18 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the protective layer is UV cured.
19 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the resilient surface covering article has a top surface and an opposing bottom surface, wherein the opposing bottom surface is embossed.
20 . The resilient surface covering article of claim 1 , wherein the protective layer exhibits a pull value greater than about 7 pounds as determined by ASTM 3936 with a 1-inch strip pulled at a rate of 2 inch/min for a pull distance of 2 inches.
21 . An article of a resilient surface cover, the article comprising:
a decorative portion having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the decorative portion comprises UV cured ink, wherein the decorative portion is configured to be connected to a backing portion such that the opposing second surface of the decorative portion is connected to the backing portion;
a tie layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the tie layer comprises a polymer adhesive, wherein the opposing second surface of the tie layer is connected to the first surface of the decorative portion; and
a wear layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the opposing second surface of the wear layer is connected to the first surface of the tie layer; and
a scratch layer having a first surface and an opposing second surface, wherein the opposing second surface of the scratch layer is connected to the first surface of the wear layer,
wherein the wear layer exhibits a pull value greater than about 5 pounds as determined by ASTM 3936 with a 1-inch strip pulled at a rate of 2 inch/min for a pull distance of 2 inches.
22 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 21 , wherein the decorative portion comprises a substrate layer configured to be connected to the backing portion.
23 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 22 , wherein the substrate layer comprises oriented polypropylene (OPP), polyolefin (PO), woven polyethylene (PE), nonwoven PE, woven polypropylene (PP), nonwoven PP, woven PET, nonwoven PET, woven nylon, nonwoven nylon, paper, foil, foiled oriented polypropylene, a heat stabilized biaxially-oriented PET (BoPET), amorphous PET (aPET), recycled PET (rPET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), cyclic olefin polymer (COP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polylactic acid (PLA) copolymers, nylon, cellulose acetate, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomers (TPS), polycarbonate, polyethylene (PE), or a copolymer thereof.
24 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 22 , wherein the substrate layer is a whitened substrate layer.
25 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 22 , wherein the substrate layer is a film.
26 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 22 , wherein the substrate layer has a thickness of 1 mil to 20 mil.
27 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 21 , wherein the wear layer comprises at least one of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane, polypropylene, polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), nylon 6, nylon 6,6, surlyn resin, heat stabilized biaxially-oriented PET (BoPET), amorphous PET (aPET), recycled PET (rPET), polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG), polyolefin, cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), cyclic olefin polymer (COP), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polylactic acid (PLA) copolymers, nylon, cellulose acetate, poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polycarbonate, polyethylene (PE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), and low density polyethylene (LDPE).
28 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 21 , wherein the polymer adhesive is an UV cured polymer adhesive.
29 . The article of a resilient surface cover of claim 21 , wherein the scratch layer is UV cured.
30 . The article of the resilient surface cover of claim 21 , wherein the wear layer exhibits a pull value greater than about 7 pounds as determined by ASTM 3936 with a 1-inch strip pulled at a rate of 2 inch/min for a pull distance of 2 inches.