PVC-PLASTIC PANEL

Abstract

The present invention relates to a panel, in particular a wall, ceiling or floor panel, comprising a carrier plate (12) based on polyvinyl chloride with a density of, for example, 900 to 2,500 kg/m.sup.3 and a film (17) applied thereon. The film is a thin PVC-film and comprises a decorative pattern (18) directly printed thereon.

Claims

1. A panel, in particular a wall, ceiling or floor panel, comprising a carrier plate (12) based on polyvinyl chloride and a film (17) attached thereto, characterized in that the film (17) is a PVC film having a thickness of 0.04 to 0.2 mm and comprising a decorative pattern (18) directly printed thereon, and a cured polymer layer (19) is provided over the PVC film.

2. Panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the polymer layer (19) comprises a hardness gradient, so that the hardness of the polymer layer decreases essentially continuously with increasing depth as seen from the surface of the polymer layer.

3. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the printing ink used for printing the decorative pattern (18) is solvent based and preferably a UV printing ink.

4. Panel according to claim 3, characterized in that the polymerizable printing ink contains a polymerizable acrylate and/or N-vinylcaprolactam.

5. Panel according to claim 4, characterized in that the polymerizable printing ink for printing the decorative pattern (18) contains a polymerizable acrylate and N-vinylcaprolactam in a weight proportion in the ink of 2 to 50, more preferred 5 to 40 and most preferred 10 to 30%.

6. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the printing ink and the polymer layer are cured together, preferably by radiation.

7. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the decorative pattern (18) was applied by means of digital printing.

8. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the PVC film has a thickness from 0.05 to 0.15 mm, more preferably from 0.06 to 0.095 mm.

9. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier plate (12) comprises a thickness between 3 and 20 mm, preferably between 4 and 15 mm, more preferably between 3 and 12 mm and most preferably between 4 and 10 mm.

10. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a layer comprising a UV primer is provided on the PVC film (17).

11. Panel according the preceding claim, characterized in that the layer comprising a UV primer (14) has a surface mass of 1 to 15 g/m.sup.2, preferably a surface mass of 1.5 to 10 g/m.sup.2, particularly preferred a surface mass of 2 to 5 g/m.sup.2.

12. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier plate (12) is an extruded PVC plate.

13. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the PVC film (17) is glued or thermally welded to the carrier plate.

14. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the PVC film (17) is unicoloured and in particular white.

15. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that abrasion-resistant particles are provided in the polymer layer, wherein the abrasion-resistant particles preferably comprise an average diameter of 10 to 150 m, preferably 20 to 80 m, more preferably 25 to 70 m and particularly preferred 30 to 60 m and further preferred consist of corundum.

16. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the polymer layer (19) base on one or more of the following acrylates: 1,6-hexane dioldiacrylate, polyester acrylate, polyurethane acrylic acid ester and dipropylene glycol diacrylate.

17. Panel according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, besides the decorative pattern (18) on the PVC film (17), no further dcor layers in particular no dcor papers or dcor films are provided.

18. A method for manufacturing a panel, in particular a wall, ceiling or floor panel, comprising the following steps in the given order: (i) Providing a carrier plate based on polyvinyl chloride with a density of 900 to 2,500 kg/m.sup.3; (ii) Applying a PVC film having a thickness of 0.04 to 0.2 mm to the carrier plate by means of a calender; (iii) Printing a decorative pattern on the PVC film; (iv) Applying a first polymer layer to the PVC film; (v) Optionally: Applying at least a second liquid polymer layer to the still wet first polymer layer so that a partial mixing of the polymer layers occurs; and (vi) Curing the polymer layer(s).

19. Method according to claim 18, characterized in that the steps (iv) to (vi) are performed such that the cured polymer layer has a hardness gradient, wherein the hardness of the coating decreases with increasing depth as seen from the surface of the resulting coating.

20. Method according to one of the preceding method claims, characterized in that the carrier plate is produced by extrusion.

21. Method according to one of the preceding method claims, characterized in that a heated calender is used in step (ii) in such a way that the PVC film is thermally welded to the carrier plate.

22. Method according to one of the preceding method claims, characterized in that the decorative pattern is directly printed on the PVC film by means of digital printing.

23. Method according to one of the preceding method claims, characterized in that the PVC film has a thickness of 0.05 to 0.15 mm, more preferred of 0.06 to 0.095 mm.

24. Panel or method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier plate (12) based on polyvinyl chloride has a density of 900 to 2,500 kg/m.sup.3, preferably 1,000 to 2,200 kg/m.sup.3, more preferably 1,300 to 1,950 kg/m.sup.3 and most preferably 1,350 to 1,500 kg/m.sup.3.

25. Panel or method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the directly printed decorative pattern imitates a wood, stone or tile surface.

26. Panel or method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier plate (12) based on polyvinyl chloride contains no plasticizers.

27. Panel or method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carrier plate (12) based on polyvinyl chloride consists of hard PVC (PVC-U).

Description

4. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0033] In the following, the invention is explained in more detail using the figure, wherein:

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a panel to according to the invention with a polyvinyl chloride carrier plate 12; and

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a device for coating.

[0036] In FIG. 1 the carrier plate 12 is shown, which has tongue and groove connections at its respective edges, which allow individual panels 10 to be connected with each other. The carrier plate consists of an extruded hard PVC (PVC-U).

[0037] Above the carrier plate 12 a PVC film 17 is arranged. A decorative pattern (dcor layer) 18 is printed on the top side of film 17, preferably by means of a digital printing process. This decorative pattern can be any pattern, depending on the application. Above the PVC film and the dcor layer, a UV-curable polymer layer system 19 is provided. The illustration is not true to scale and the layers are shown here at a distance from each other not present in the real product in order to make them more clearly visible. In particular, the plate 12 is considerably thicker than the layers applied to it, namely in the range of several mm, whereas the layers applied to it represent only a fraction of a mm in total.

[0038] In the following, FIG. 2 is used as an example to describe the manufacture of a panel according to the invention or the method according to the invention. FIG. 2 schematically shows a coating device for the coating of plates 12 or for the production of panels 10. The plates 12 are made of hard PVC with a thickness of 4-8 mm. The plates 12 are guided by a roller conveyor 21 through the various stations of the coating device. The coating stations shown are not to be understood conclusively, but serve only as examples to explain the method according to the invention and are shown purely schematically. In front of, behind and between the stations shown, further processing stations may be provided, such as further drying stations, stations for applying primers, stations for applying fillers, etc. The first station 30 is intended to be a calender unit used to apply the PVC film 17 to the top of the plates 12. The film is unwound from a supply roll 31 and attached to the top of the plates 12 by a heated calender roll 32. The film is cut to size using suitable cutting means known to a person skilled in the art (not shown).

[0039] In Station 60, a decorative dcor, in particular a real wood dcor, is printed on PVC film 17 using digital printing. After printing, a polymer layer is applied in the coating station 70. The polymer layer is applied with a hardness gradient, so that the hardness of the polymer layer decreases essentially continuously with increasing depth as seen from the surface of the polymer layer. For this purpose, a first polymer layer based on a polymerizable acrylate system is applied in a first coating unit 71. A further wet-on-wet polymer layer is applied to this first polymer layer in Station 72. The second polymer layer, for example, has a higher double bond content, as described in detail in the above-mentioned application on the hardness gradient. The two polymer layers are applied wet-on-wet in stations 71 and 72, so that partial mixing occurs at the interface of the two layers. In Station 73, the two polymer layers are cured together under the influence of UV radiation.

[0040] Station 60 is preferably a digital printing station and uses a printing ink based on a polymerizable acrylate. In this case, it is preferable that no curing of the ink takes place between stations 60 and 70, but at most an intermediate drying step during which some moisture is removed from the polymerizable acrylate of the ink. In the curing station 73, the printing ink and the first and second polymer layers are then cured together, resulting in a particularly resistant surface.