PANEL WITH STONE VENEER

Abstract

The present invention relates to a panel (20) and a method for manufacturing such a panel, in particular a wall, ceiling or flooring panel, comprising a carrier board (10) with a front surface and a rear surface. The carrier board (10) is a mineral wool board or a fiber cement board with a thickness of 3 to 30 mm and comprises on its front surface a layer (26) made of a stone veneer.

Claims

1. A panel, in particular wall, ceiling or flooring panel, comprising a carrier board with a front surface and a rear surface, wherein the carrier board has a thickness of 3 to 30 mm, wherein the carrier board is a board of mineral wool and comprises on its front surface a first layer of an adhesive, as well as a second layer of a stone veneer, which has a thickness of 0.1 to 4 mm, and which is adhered to the carrier board by means of the adhesive.

2. The panel according to claim 1, wherein between the layer of adhesive and the layer of stone veneer additional layers are provided.

3. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is a polyurethane adhesive.

4. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the layer of adhesive is present in a thickness of 50 μm to 3 mm, more preferred of 200 μm to 2.5 mm, yet more preferred from 300 μm to 2 mm and most preferred from 500 μm to 2 mm.

5. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the layer of adhesive was applied in a thickness of 50 μm to 3 mm, more preferred from 200 μm to 2.5 mm, even more preferred from 200 μm to 2 mm and most preferred from 500 μm to 2 mm.

6. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive is present in an amount of 50 to 5,000 g/m.sup.2, more preferred in an amount of 70 to 4,000 g/m.sup.2, even more preferred of 300 to 3,000 g/m.sup.2 and most preferred of 500 to 2,500 g/m.sup.2.

7. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the elongation at break (according to EN ISO 527-1) of the layer of adhesive is at 100 to 600%, more preferably at 150 to 500% and most preferred at 200 to 400%.

8. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the layer of adhesive has a shore A hardness value (DIN EN ISO 868) of 25 to 95, more preferably of 27 to 80 and most preferably of 30 to 70.

9. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the layer of adhesive has a density between 1,000 and 1,700 kg/m.sup.3, more preferred between 1,200 and 1,500 kg/m.sup.3.

10. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the carrier board has a thickness between 3 and 20 mm, preferably between 4 and 15 mm, more preferred between 3 and 12 mm and most preferred between 4 and 10 mm.

11. The panel according to claim 1, wherein the carrier board made of mineral wool has a density of 20 to 180 kg/m.sup.3, preferably of 30 to 160 kg/m.sup.3, more preferably of 40 to 150 kg/m.sup.3 and most preferred of 60 to 130 kg/m.sup.3.

12. The panel according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the carrier board made of mineral wool has a modified surface, which is achievable by treating the carrier board with a solution of water and water glass, in particular sodium silicate.

13. The panel according to claim 12, wherein the carrier board made of mineral wool comprises a modified surface, which is achievable by spraying the carrier board with the aqueous solution or by dipping the carrier board into the aqueous solution.

14. A method for the manufacturing of a panel, in particular a wall, ceiling or flooring panel, comprising the following steps: a. providing a carrier board made of mineral wool, with a front surface and a rear surface; b. treating the carrier board with water glass; c. gluing a layer of a stone veneer onto the front surface, which has a thickness of 0.1 to 4 mm, by means of a layer of an adhesive.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the treatment of the carrier board with water glass is done by means of an aqueous solution of water glass.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the aqueous solution is mixed before the treatment of the carrier board as follows (proportion of weight): 1 part water glass and 1 to 10 parts of water, preferably 1 part water glass and 1.5 to 7 parts of water and most preferably 1 part water glass and 1.5 to 3 parts of water.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the carrier board is sprayed with the aqueous solution or is dipped into the aqueous solution.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein the carrier board is dried after the treatment and before the layer of stone veneer is glued onto the board.

19. The method according to claim 14, wherein the method after step b. comprises the following step: applying a layer of adhesive in a thickness of 50 μm to 3 mm, more preferred from 200 μm to 2.5 mm, even more preferred from 300 μm to 2 mm and most preferred from 500 μm to 2 mm.

Description

4. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] In the following, the present invention is described under reference to the enclosed figures. Hereby:

[0027] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary layer stack of a panel in accordance with the invention;

[0028] FIG. 2 schematically a device for the treatment of a carrier board with water glass; and

[0029] FIG. 3 a further schematic illustration of a layer stack.

[0030] In FIG. 1, a schematic layer stack for a panel 20 according to the invention is shown. The illustration is schematic and not up to scale. In particular, the carrier board 10 is substantially thicker than the additional layers 24, 25 and 26. Further, the panel 20 can comprise additional layers, in particular grounding layers, primer layers and similar.

[0031] In the shown example, carrier board 10 has a thickness of approximately 8 mm and comprises on its surrounding edges coupling means in the form of groove 23 respectively tongue elements 22, which are, however, only shown schematically in the figures. Suitable coupling means in the form of groove and tongue elements, which allow connection of several similar panels by means of form locking, are known to the skilled person from the field of laminate floorings. For the details of such coupling means, it is for example referred to WO 0188306 or WO 0148332 of the same applicant, the contents of which are herewith incorporated by reference. It is generally preferred that the carrier boards according to the appended claims are provided with coupling means in the form of groove and tongue elements that allow connection of several similar panels by means of form-fitting connection. Preferably, the coupling means are machined into the board before the same is e.g. treated with water glass.

[0032] At least the front and rear surfaces of carrier board 10 are preferably treated with water glass, so that the surfaces of carrier board 10 are provided with a silica layer 24. In FIG. 1, this layer 24 is only schematically shown at the front and rear surface, however, it is clear to the skilled person that preferably, all surfaces of the carrier board 10 are correspondingly treated with water glass. Onto the front surface of carrier board 10, a layer of a stone veneer 26 is applied. The layer of stone veneer 26 is glued onto the carrier board 10 by means of a layer of an adhesive 25.

[0033] In FIG. 2, the treatment of a carrier board 10 by means of an aqueous solution of water glass is schematically shown. The carrier board 10 is already provided with coupling means. A spraying device 12 with a number of spray nozzles 14 sprays a hot, aqueous solution of water glass onto the surface of carrier board 10. The carrier board 10 is rotated in the mist provided by the spray nozzles 14, as it is indicated by the arrow.

[0034] Thereby, it is secured that the surface of the carrier board 10 is completely and without any gaps treated with the aqueous solution of water glass.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows schematically a layer stack and shall illustrate the roughness respectively irregularity of the layer of stone veneer 26′. The layer of stone veneer 26′ is fixed by means of an adhesive layer 25′ onto the carrier board 10. The adhesive layer 25′ was applied with a thickness of for example 500 μm and subsequently the layer of stone veneer 26′ was pressed onto the surface of the adhesive layer 25′. Thereby, in the final product, as one can see from FIG. 3, different thickness of the layer of adhesive occur.

[0036] The present description shall only serve to explain the present invention and is not intended to be limiting. The scope of protection is rather defined by the enclosed claims.