METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING LAMINATE, IMPREGNATED DECORATIVE PAPER AND LAMINATE OBTAINED THEREBY

Abstract

A decorative paper of a roll of decorative paper is laminated on paper in a continuous pressing operation under pressure and at elevated temperature by means of an aminoplast resin. The roll of decorative paper comprises serially differing decorative finishes. After the continuous pressing operation, the laminate can be divided into sheets. A method is also described for impregnating, with aminoplast resin, decorative paper that comprises serially differing decorative finishes.

Claims

1.-121. (canceled)

122. A method for the manufacture of impregnated decorative paper, for use in the manufacture of High-Pressure Laminate or Continuous Pressure Laminate, wherein the method comprises the steps: the provision of a roll of decorative paper that comprises serially differing decorative finishes, by serial addition of various decorative finishes on a roll of paper; impregnation of the paper of the aforementioned roll of decorative paper with an aminoplast resin; the optional coating of the decorative side of the aforementioned paper with a thermosetting resin, or with polyurethane acrylate or with a polyester resin; the rolling up of the impregnated decorative paper, wherein a roll of decorative paper impregnated with aminoplast resin is obtained, wherein this impregnated decorative paper comprises serially differing decorative finishes, wherein these decorative finishes each consist of a decorative printing and/or of a uniform dye application; or wherein after impregnation the impregnated decorative paper is cut or chopped into sheets.

123. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the impregnated decorative paper is wound on a roll, wherein this paper roll comprises a length of paper of at least 300 meters.

124. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein on the roll of paper that is being impregnated, gaps without decorative finish are provided between the decorative finishes following one another serially, or in that on the roll of paper that is being impregnated, no gaps without decorative finish are provided between the decorative finishes following one another serially.

125. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the different decorative finishes are located in the roll of paper that is being impregnated on a continuous length of paper, without seam; wherein the decorative finishes were produced by digital printing.

126. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the roll of paper that is being impregnated comprises serially differing decorative finishes, wherein at least a number of the serially differing decorative finishes are each located on a separate length of decorative paper, wherein each of these lengths of decorative paper are joined together serially.

127. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the width of the various decorative finishes is not constant and/or wherein the various decorative finishes comprise decorative finishes wherein several decorative finishes are placed over the width of the paper, wherein a zone without decorative finish is placed between the several decorative finishes over the width of the paper.

128. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the paper of the roll of paper comprises an inkjet receiving layer, a primer that makes the paper suitable for digital printing.

129. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein one or more of the decorative finishes are produced at least partly, and by digital printing.

130. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein one or more of the various decorative finishes each consist of one uniform color.

131. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the paper of the roll of paper is impregnated with a melamine resin, wherein the melamine resin comprises etherified resin and/or acrylates and/or a polyurethane dispersion, and/or other modifiers to make the impregnated paper easier to roll up.

132. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein on the roll of decorative paper the lengths of the various decorative finishes on the roll of decorative paper are such that account is taken of the stretching of the decorative paper that occurs during the impregnation with aminoplast resin, so that the desired length for each decorative finish in the impregnated decorative paper is obtained such as necessary for the manufacture of the desired length of sheet or sheets of laminate for each of the decorative finishes.

133. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the impregnated decorative paper is intended for making laminate; wherein the roll of decorative paper that is fed into the impregnation process comprises markings that indicate where the laminate must be cut or chopped into sheets after a continuous pressing process for making the laminate; or that indicate where the roll of impregnated paper must be cut or chopped into sheets for use in a discontinuous or continuous pressing process for making the laminate, wherein the process in which the decorative paper is impregnated with aminoplast resin and is later dried is controlled in such a way that the cutting markings on the impregnated decorative paper produced are at the correct position and distance from each other so that during the cutting or chopping of the laminate produced in a continuous pressing operation with impregnated decorative paper, the use of the cutting markings to cut or chop the laminate into sheets leads to the desired length of the sheets of laminate.

134. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the impregnated decorative paper is intended for making laminate; wherein in the process for making laminate, successive discrete sheets of laminate are produced; wherein the successive discrete sheets of laminate are divided up into orders, wherein each order comprises a number of directly successively produced laminates, whether or not with different decorative finishes, wherein the roll of paper that is fed into the impregnation process comprises markings over its length, which indicate where an order begins and/or ends.

135. The method in accordance with claim 122, wherein the roll of decorative paper that is fed into the impregnation process comprises markings over its length linked to decorative finishes, wherein these markings comprise coded information for further processing of the length of decorative paper, which follows, or which precedes or which accompanies the marking; for processing information relating to the impregnation process, or information relating to a process in which the roll of decorative paper will be processed into laminate, and wherein the markings can be read optically and decoded by means of a controller.

136. A method for producing a laminate, wherein a roll of decorative paper is fed into a continuous pressing operation, wherein the decorative paper of the roll of decorative paper is laminated on paper by means of an aminoplast resin, under pressure and at elevated temperature in the continuous pressing operation, wherein the roll of decorative paper comprises serially differing decorative finishes, wherein these decorative finishes each consist of a decorative printing and/or a uniform dye application; wherein the decorative paper is impregnated with a melamine resin, wherein the decorative paper before impregnation has a weight between 40 and 130 grams per square meter, wherein the decorative paper before impregnation has a weight between 50 and 100 grams per square meter.

137. The method in accordance with claim 136, wherein the roll of decorative paper comprises serially at least two different decorative finishes, wherein these at least two decorative finishes have been digitally printed.

138. The method in accordance with claim 136, wherein the width of the various decorative finishes is not constant and/or wherein the roll of decorative paper comprises at least certain lengths of decorative paper, wherein at least two different decorative finishes are placed over the width of the decorative paper, wherein a zone without decorative finish is placed between the various decorative finishes over the width of the paper.

139. A method for producing laminate, wherein the method comprises a continuous pressing operation wherein the laminate is produced, wherein successive sheets of decorative paper of discrete length are fed into the continuous pressing operation, by cutting or chopping of sheets from a roll of decorative paper; wherein at least two successive sheets of decorative paper are provided with a different printed and/or dyed decorative finish, wherein a continuous length of substrate is fed into the continuous pressing operation; wherein in the continuous pressing operation the various successive sheets of decorative paper are laminated successively by means of a resin on the continuous length of substrate, wherein a release film is fed in the continuous pressing process, which provides pressing of a texture into the laminate produced with the various successive sheets of decorative paper, wherein the various successive sheets of decorative paper at the inlet of the continuous pressing process are placed on the substrate in such a way that these sheets are fed on and together with the substrate into the continuous pressing operation and so that in the continuous pressing operation the release film presses the texture in register with the printing on the sheets of decorative paper.

140. The method in accordance with claim 139, wherein the successive sheets of decorative paper are impregnated with melamine resin, and wherein the melamine resin comprises etherified resin and/or acrylates and/or a polyurethane dispersion, and/or other modifiers so that the impregnated paper can be folded over a smaller radius.

141. The method in accordance with claim 139, wherein markings are applied on the release film that allow the successive sheets of decorative paper to be positioned correctly during feed into the continuous pressing operation, so that in the continuous pressing operation the release film presses the texture in register with the printing on the sheets of decorative paper.

Description

[0194] For a better presentation of the features of the invention, some preferred embodiments are described hereunder, as examples without any limiting character, referring to the appended drawings, in which:

[0195] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a roll of decorative paper as may be used in the invention;

[0196] FIG. 2 shows a top view of a decorative paper of a roll of decorative paper as may be used in the invention;

[0197] FIG. 3 shows an example of a method for the impregnation of a roll of decorative paper;

[0198] FIG. 4 shows an example of a method according to the invention, wherein laminate is produced in a continuous pressing operation;

[0199] FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show examples of laminates that can be made according to the invention;

[0200] FIG. 8 shows an example of a method according to the invention, wherein laminate is produced in a continuous pressing operation; and

[0201] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method according to the invention, wherein laminate is produced in a continuous pressing operation.

[0202] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a roll of decorative paper 10 as may be used in the invention. Serially, this roll of decorative paper 10 comprises different decorative finishes A, B, C. This roll of decorative paper can be produced by means of digital printing of a roll of decorative paper with successively the various decorative finishes. Although not shown in FIG. 1, it is possible to leave a gap without decorative finishes between the various printed decorative finishes A, B, C. However, it is also possible to leave no space without decorative finish on the roll of decorative paper between the various decorative finishes.

[0203] It is also possible to produce a roll of decorative paper such as in FIG. 1 by fetching the required length of paper of each decorative finish from separate rolls of decorative papereach with one particular decorative finish, and joining these lengths of paper together, for example by making a seam, for example by means of an adhesive. This manner may be applied especially usefully for decorative paper with various uni decorative finishes following each other. Uni decorative finish means that the decorative finish consists of one color, such as is obtained in bulk dyeing of paper.

[0204] The roll of decorative paper in FIG. 1 may then be impregnated with aminoplast resin, for example with melamine resin; wherein a similar roll is obtained with decorative paper that has been impregnated with aminoplast resin.

[0205] FIG. 2 shows a top view of decorative paper from a roll of decorative paper 10 as may be used in the invention. The decorative paper comprises different decorative finishes A1, B1, B2, C1, C2 and C3 not only over its length, but also over its width. These decorative finishes can be obtained by digital printing of a continuous length of paper. This decorative paper also contains, in one or in both technical zones, markings 90for example QR codes, which can be produced together with the decorative finishes in digital printingwhich comprise information over the position of the decorative finishes in the length of decorative paper. These QR codes (or markings in some other form) may further comprise coded information, for example about the order of laminate for which the respective length of decorative paper is intended. This digital printing can be carried out by means of single-pass digital printing or by means of multipass digital printing.

[0206] FIG. 3 shows an example of a method for the impregnation of a roll of decorative paper, as may be used in the invention, more specifically in the first aspect of the invention. A roll of decorative paper 10in the invention a roll of decorative paper that comprises serially differing decorative finishes over its lengthis unrolled. The paper from this roll of decorative paper is led through a bath 20 of aminoplast resin (for example melamine resin) and squeezed between press rolls 22. This impregnated decorative paper is then dried in an oven 24, after which the impregnated decorative paper is rolled up. Thus, a roll of impregnated decorative paper is produced that comprises serially differing decorative finishes. Optionally, before rolling up, the decorative side of the paper may be coated with a thermosetting resin, preferably with an acrylate, or with polyurethane acrylate or with a polyester resin.

[0207] FIG. 4 shows an example of a method 30 according to the invention, wherein laminate is produced in a continuous pressing operation 40. The paper is unrolled from each of three rolls 32 of paper impregnated with phenolic resin. From roll 10which comprises a roll of impregnated decorative paper, the paper is unrolled and laid on the layers of paper impregnated with phenolic resin. The roll of decorative paper comprises serially differing decorative finishes. A wearing layer is unrolled from roll 34. This wearing layer is a layer of paper impregnated with melamine resin. Then a release film 37 is unrolled from a roll 36. This release film comprises a texture. The various layers are pressed together in a continuous pressing operation 40 at elevated temperature and pressure, wherein the resins from the different paper layers are cured. A laminate 50 is produced thereby. The release film 37 presses a texture into the surface of the laminate. The release film is then rolled up again. After the pressing operation the laminate may be cooled, abraded and the edges trimmed. Optionally a chopping or cutting tool 42 can chop or cut the produced laminate 50 into sheets. These sheets of laminate can then be stacked according to order. It is desirable for all the laminates for a specific order to be produced directly after one another, even if this order comprises sheets of laminate with different decorative finishes. These sheets of laminate 50 may be placed per order for example on a pallet.

[0208] It is also possible, during the continuous pressing operation wherein a roll of impregnated decorative paper 10 is processed, to modify the feed of other layers. For example, over a certain length, an intermediate layer may further be inserted between the layers of paper impregnated with phenolic resin and the decorative paper. It is for example also possible to alter the number of layers of paper impregnated with phenolic resin during the continuous pressing operation wherein a roll of impregnated decorative paper 10 is processed. This may for example be obtained by stopping the feed from a particular feed roller by cutting the paper from this roll; and feeding in paper from another roll. For this purpose, the production line may be provided with additional units for the unrolling of rolls of paper or other layers for feed into the continuous pressing operation.

[0209] Instead of cutting or chopping the laminate after the continuous pressing operation into sheets, it is also possible to roll up the laminate. In this way, a roll of laminate can be obtained that comprises different decorative finishes over its lengthand possibly also over the width.

[0210] FIG. 5 shows an example of a laminate 60 that can be made according to the invention. This laminate comprises three layers of kraft paper 63 impregnated with phenolic resin. It is possible to use other numbers than three layers of kraft paper impregnated with phenolic resin. The laminate comprises a decorative layer 65; formed by a printed sheet of paper impregnated with melamine resin. On top of that, the laminate further comprises a translucent wearing layer 66, formed by a layer of paper impregnated with melamine resin. The whole has been pressed to a laminate in a continuous pressing operation under pressure and at elevated temperature, wherein the resins were cured.

[0211] FIG. 6 shows an example of a laminate 61 that can be made according to the invention. This laminate comprises three layers of kraft paper 63 impregnated with phenolic resin. It is possible to use other numbers than three layers of kraft paper impregnated with phenolic resin.

[0212] The laminate comprises a decorative layer 80; formed by a printed sheet of paper that has not been impregnated with resin. This printed paper preferably has a weight between 25 and 60 grams per square meter and is preferably 100% cellulose paper.

[0213] This unimpregnated decorative paper is located between two layers 81, 82 of paper impregnated with melamine resin. In the continuous pressing operation at elevated temperature and pressure, melamine resin from the two layers 81, 82 of paper impregnated with melamine resin will flow and on hardening will provide good adhesion of the decorative paper to the layer of paper under and above the decorative layer.

[0214] FIG. 7 shows an example of a laminate 62 that can be made according to the invention. The reference numbers in FIG. 7 have the same meaning as in FIG. 5. In the laminate 62 in FIG. 7, an additional layer or intermediate layer 70 is fed in, which is bonded into the laminate at elevated temperature and pressure in the continuous pressing operation. This intermediate layer may for example be metal foilfor example an aluminum foil, a glass fiber nonwoven, or a layer of paper, whether or not impregnated with resin.

[0215] FIG. 8 shows an example of a method according to the fourth aspect of the invention, wherein laminate 50 is produced in a continuous pressing operation. Paper is unrolled from each of three rolls 32 of paper impregnated with phenolic resin. Next, sheets of impregnated decorative paper 11 of discrete length are fed in, for example by cutting or chopping of sheets from a roll of impregnated decorative paper, optionally a roll of impregnated decorative paper such as in any embodiment of the second aspect of the invention or such as obtained in a method such as in any embodiment of the first aspect of the invention, preferably wherein at least two successive sheets of decorative paper are provided with a different printed and/or dyed decorative finish.

[0216] A wearing layer is unrolled from roll 34. This wearing layer is a layer of paper impregnated with melamine resin. Then a release film 37 is unrolled from a roll 36. This release film comprises a texture.

[0217] The various successive sheets of decorative paper 11 are, during feed into the continuous pressing method, laid on the layers of paper impregnated with phenolic resin in such a way that these sheets are fed on and together with the substrate into the continuous pressing operation and so that the release film will, in the continuous pressing operation, press the texture in register with the printing on the sheets of decorative paper.

[0218] The various layers are pressed together in a continuous pressing operation 40 at elevated temperature and pressure, wherein the resins from the various paper layers are cured. A laminate 50 is produced thereby. The release film 37 presses a texture into the surface of the laminate in register with the printing on the sheets of decorative paper. The release film is then rolled up again. Optionally, a chopping or cutting tool 42 can chop or cut the produced laminate 50 into sheets, wherein the length of laminate without decorative finish is cut out and removed. These sheets of laminate can then be stacked according to order. It is desirable to produce all the laminates for a specific order directly after each other, even if this order comprises sheets of laminate with different decorative finishes.

[0219] FIG. 9 shows an example of a method 30 according to the invention, wherein laminate is produced in a continuous pressing operation 40. The paper is unrolled from each of three rolls 32 of paper impregnated with phenolic resin.

[0220] Roll 92 comprises paper impregnated with aminoplast resin (preferably paper impregnated with melamine resin), which is unrolled from roll 92 and is placed on the layers of paper impregnated with phenolic resin.

[0221] Roll 90 comprises unimpregnated paper that is printed digitally in-line with decorative finishes in apparatus 91. Serially differing decorative finishes can be printed hereby on the unimpregnated paper. It is also possible to print different decorative finishes over the width of the decorative paper. This digitally printed paper is placed on the layer of paper impregnated with aminoplast resin that was unrolled from roll 92.

[0222] A wearing layer is unrolled from roll 34. This wearing layer is a layer of paper impregnated with melamine resin. Then a release film 37 is unrolled from a roll 36. This release film comprises a texture. The various layers are pressed together at elevated temperature and pressure in a continuous pressing operation 40, wherein the resins from the various paper layers are cured. A laminate 50 is produced thereby.

[0223] During pressing, the digitally printed and unimpregnated decorative paper is pressed dry. Through pressing at elevated temperature and pressure, the resin from the layer of paper under and the layer of paper above the unimpregnated decorative paper will flow and penetrate into the unimpregnated decorative paper. During crosslinking of the resins, adhesion will then be obtained between the various layers in the laminate, including adhesion between the decorative paper and the directly underlying layer and the directly upper layer.

[0224] The release film 37 presses a texture into the surface of the laminate. The release film is then rolled up again. After the pressing operation the laminate may be cooled, abraded and the edges trimmed. Optionally, a chopping or cutting tool 42 can chop or cut the produced laminate 50 into sheets. These sheets of laminate can then be stacked according to order. It is desirable to produce all the laminates for a specific order directly after each other, even if this order comprises sheets of laminate with different decorative finishes. These sheets of laminate 50 may be placed per order, for example on a pallet.

[0225] Instead of cutting or chopping the laminate into sheets after the continuous pressing operation, it is also possible to roll up the laminate. A roll of laminate can thus be obtained that comprises different decorative finishes over its lengthand possibly also over the width.