ACOUSTIC PANELLING FOR PRODUCING A FLOOR COVERING

Abstract

The invention relates to a multi-layer panel for producing a floor covering exhibiting sound-insulating properties, of which at least one of the layers is made from PVC, the said panel comprising male-female means for connecting or assembling several panels together, the said panel comprising at least one decorative layer bonded to a backing layer, the latter being bonded to a nonwoven textile sublayer intended to be in contact with the ground with a thickness of between 0.5 mm and 3 mm.

Claims

1. A multilayer panel is proposed for the implementation of a floor covering having acoustic insulation properties, for which at least one of the layers is made of PVC, said panel comprising male-female means for the connection or assembly of several panels therebetween, said panel comprising at least one decorative layer (2) bonded to a reverse layer (3), characterized in that the reverse layer (3) is bonded to a nonwoven textile underlay (4) intended to be in contact with the floor and having a thickness of between 0.5 mm and 3 mm.

2. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) has a thickness of between 1 mm and 2.5 mm.

3. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) comprises a resistance to compression, measured according to the CEN/TS 16354:2012 standard, which in turn refers to the NF EN 826 standard, of greater than or equal to 20 kPa.

4. The panel according to claim 3 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) comprises a compression resistance of greater than or equal to 100 kPa.

5. The panel according to claim 4 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) comprises a compression resistance of greater than or equal to 400 kPa.

6. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) comprises natural, synthetic or synthetic mineral fibers.

7. The panel according to claim 6 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) comprises polyester fibers or polypropylene fibers.

8. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that it has a higher bending stiffness than that required to meet the International Standard ISO 24344:2008.

9. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that the nonwoven textile underlay (4) has a surface density of over 100 g/m.sup.2.

10. The panel according to claim 1 characterized in that in the nonwoven textile underlay (4), the ratio of surface density, taken in g/m.sup.2 to the thickness, taken in mm, is greater than 200.

11. A manufacturing method for a multilayer panel comprising male-female means for the connection or assembly of several panels therebetween for implementing a floor covering having acoustic insulation properties, characterized in that this method comprises at least the steps consisting in: binding together, and in this order, at least one decorative layer (2), a reverse layer (3) and an underlay (4) of nonwoven textile, wherein said underlay (4) of nonwoven textile is intended to be in contact with the floor and to have a thickness included between 0.5 mm and 3 mm, and at least one of the layers is made from PVC; machining the male-female connection or assembly means near the edges of the panel allowing for the assembly of several panels therebetween.

12. The method according to claim 11 characterized in that the textile underlay (4) used comprises a resistance to compression, measured according to the CEN/TS 16354:2012 standard, which in turn refers to the NF EN 826 standard, of greater than or equal to 20 kPa, preferably of greater than or equal to 100 kPa.

13. The method according to claim 12 characterized in that the textile underlay (4) used comprises a compression resistance of greater than or equal to 400 kPa.

14. The method according to claim 11 characterized in that the textile underlay (4) is bonded to the reverse layer (3) by calendering, cold adhering, hot adhering, or by means of the powdering of a hot-melt adhesive.

15. The method according to claim 11 characterized in that it comprises a step consisting of calendering the textile underlay (4) so as to make the thickness thereof homogeneous, before binding said textile underlay (4) to the reverse layer (3).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0036] Other advantages and characteristics will emerge more clearly from the description which follows, given as a nonlimiting example, with reference to the single attached FIGURE which shows, schematically, a section view of a floor covering according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] In reference to FIG. 1, the floor covering (1) according to the invention comprises: [0038] a decorative layer (2); [0039] a reverse layer (3) [0040] an underlay made of a nonwoven textile (4).

[0041] The decorative layer (2) is made for example from a transparent wear layer, for example made from plasticized, unfilled PVC (2a) and a decorative film (2b). The decorative layer (2) can also be obtained from granules made of PVC and then pressed or even by plastisol coating, by slot die extrusion or by calendering.

[0042] The reverse layer (3), for example, constitutes a first layer made from PVC (3a) intended to be bonded to the decorative layer (2), a second layer (3c) intended to be bonded to the underlay (4) and a reinforcement (3b) bonded between the first layer (3a) and the second layer (3c). The layers (3a) and (3c) are for example obtained from filled plasticized PVC and formed by calendering. The reverse layer (3) can also result from granules made from PVC and then pressed or even by plastisol coating or by slot die extrusion. The production of this layer by means of calendering nevertheless remains the preferred manufacturing method thereof in terms of cost and resulting mechanical performance. The reinforcing grid is in particular obtained from a glass mat, a glass grid or a complex comprising a bonded glass mat and grid.

Example 1

[0043] In order to perform acoustic and mechanical tests, LVT planks were prepared.

[0044] These planks constitute: [0045] Two plasticized PVC based reverse layers (3a, 3c) comprising the filler. The layer (3a) also comprises glass fiber particles for providing the plank good dimensional stability. [0046] A decorative film printed (2b) in PVC. [0047] A transparent wear layer of plasticized PVC without filler (2a) which protects the printed film of PVC. [0048] A surface polyurethane treatment of the transparent wear layer (not shown).

[0049] The components and characteristics of the layers (2a, 3a, 3c) and printed film (2b) correspond to the product sold by the applicant under the Creation 55 Insight Clic System name. The first layer (3a) comprises about 33% PVC, 10% plasticizers (DINP), 4% additives (e.g. process aids, stabilizers, pigments), 3% PVC particles mixed with glass fibers and 50% filler. The second layer (3b) comprises about 33% PVC, 10% plasticizers (DINP), 4% additives (e.g. process aids, stabilizers, pigments) and 55% filler.

[0050] In general, a reverse layer (3) according to the invention may be obtained with a composition comprising about 30% PVC, about 10% plasticizers, about 5% additives (e.g. process aids, stabilizers, pigments) and about 55% fillers.

[0051] Male-female connection or assembly means allowing for the assembly of several panels are machined into the reverse layers (3a, 3c). These means allow for the assembly of planks in a direction perpendicular to the floor and are described in the patent application WO 2016/030627 from the applicant whose content is incorporated in the present application.

[0052] In order to evaluate the acoustic interest of the panels according to the invention, a nonwoven textile underlay (4) is laminated on the reverse of the second layer (3c). The lamination is performed using a double-sided adhesive film. Other lamination methods are possible such as pre-spreading adhesive onto the nonwoven textile by the powdering of a hot melt adhesive, adhering with an acrylic adhesive or even adhering with a hot melt adhesive.

[0053] Three different underlays whose characteristics are given in detail in the following table were bonded to the reverse layers (3c) of various panels thus formed. The underlays SC-01 and SC-02 are made of nonwoven textiles according to the invention; the underlay SC-03 is a polyolefin foam used as a reference.

TABLE-US-00001 Compression resistance Underlay Surface (CEN/TS number Thickness Type Material density 16354: 2012) SC-01 1 mm Nonwoven Polyester fibers. 220 g/m.sup.2 100 kPa needlepunched, 200 g/m.sup.2 of fibers calendered, Coating of heat fixed and 20 g/m.sup.2 of heat bonded copolyester powder SC-02 0.93 mm Nonwoven Polyester fibers. 227 g/m.sup.2 400 kPa 10% needlepunched SC-03 1.5 mm foam Closed cell 344 g/m.sup.2 400 kPa (reference) polyolefin foam, physically crosslinked, laminated with a polyolefin sheet

[0054] The resulting panels according to the invention first undergo a first impact machine test in order to determine the impact noise attenuation value of the product before traffic, in other words before wear. The panels next go through the castor chair test set by the NF EN 425 (or ISO 4918) standard in order to observe phenomena of breakage or delamination between the layers. Here the objective is to observe the behavior of the acoustic insulation properties as a function of the number of castor chair cycles endured. The castor chair test is taken up to 35,000 cycles if there is still no breakdown.

[0055] After going through the castor chair test, a second acoustic test is performed to verify the behaviour of the acoustic properties after traffic, after wear. To do that, panels are required that have not been damaged (e.g. no breakage of the male-female assembly means nor delamination between the various layers of the plank). An acoustic test is performed on the panels starting at 15,000 castor chair cycles, and then after 20,000 cycles, 25,000 cycles and 30,000 cycles.

[0056] An indentation test is also performed on one plank sample according to the invention that has not been exposed to castor chair traffic.

TABLE-US-00002 Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic Acoustic insulation insulation insulation insulation at at at at Walking 15,000 Walking 20,000 25,000 0 cycles noise #1 cycles noise #2 cycles cycles (dB) - EN (dB) - NF (dB) - EN (dB) - NF (dB) - EN (dB) - EN Underlay ISO EN ISO EN ISO ISO >35,000 Indentation number 10140-3 16205 10140-3 16205 10140-3 10140-3 cycles (mm) SC-01 18 71 dB 17 71 dB 17 NC Breakage 0.13 of assembly means SC-02 15 72 dB 14 74 dB 14 Breakage 0.13 of assembly means SC-03 16 69 dB 15 72 dB Breakage 0.2 of assembly means

[0057] This table serves to show that the SC-01 and SC-02 underlays according to the invention retain good acoustic insulation and walking noise performance and do so even after 20,000 cycles or even 25,000 castor chair cycles, even whilst preserving the behavior of the assembly means of the panels. The compression resistance of the nonwoven textile underlay is also an important factor; a compression resistance over 100 kPa, advantageously over 400 kPa, serves to improve the resistance of the assembly means over time and to retain good acoustic insulation and walking noise performance. The castor chair tests show that the panels according to the invention also have good results and ensure a better resistance of the assembly means over time, especially in comparison with a foam underlay. The values of the indentation tests are also comparable with equivalent panels without underlay and significantly better than the results of panels on a foam underlay.

Example 2

[0058] In order to evaluate the impact of the underlay surface density to underlay thickness ratio, the SC-01 and SC-02 underlays and also the four additional underlays SC-04 to SC-07 are bonded to various layers (3c) of various panels similar to those from example 1 in order to form panels according to the invention. The underlays SC-04 to SC-07 are made from nonwoven textiles according to the invention. The thicknesses thereof and the surface densities thereof are given in the following table.

[0059] The panels thus formed next go through the castor chair test set by the NF EN 425 (or ISO 4918) standard in order to observe phenomena of breakage of the assembly means or delamination between the layers.

TABLE-US-00003 Number of castor Surface chair cycles before Underlay density Thickness breakage of the Surface density/ number (g/m.sup.2) (mm) assembly means thickness ratio SC-01 220 1 >30,000 220 SC-02 227 0.93 >20,000 244 SC-04 300 0.87 >30,000 344 SC-05 268 1.05 >30,000 255 SC-06 308 1.66 <15,000 185 SC-07 300 1.8 <15,000 166

[0060] It is thus observed that the ratio between the surface density of the underlay and the thickness thereof must be greater than 200 g/m.sup.2 per millimeter of thickness of the nonwoven textile underlay for improving the number of castor chair cycles which can be supported by the covering. In particular more than 15,000 castor chair cycles can be supported this way. An increase of the thickness of the nonwoven textile underlay, for improving acoustic attenuation, must therefore be compensated for by means of an increase in the surface density in such a way as to not create excessive mechanical stresses on the assembly means. Adhering to this ratio is in particular very important when the reverse layer comprises at least one plasticized PVC layer, in particular a non-flexible layer.