RIGID POLYVINYL CHLORIDE FLOOR TILE AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

Abstract

The present invention provides a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile comprising, in order from top to bottom, a protective layer, a decorative layer, a support layer and a balance layer, wherein the rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile has a thermal dimensional shrinkage of 0-0.15% as determined in accordance with European Standard EN434, and a Shore-D hardness of 60-90. The present invention also provides a process for preparing the rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile.

Claims

1. A rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile comprising, in order from top to bottom, a protective layer, a decorative layer, a support layer and a balance layer, wherein the rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile has a thermal dimensional shrinkage of 0-0.15% as measured in accordance with European Standard EN434, and a Shore-D hardness of 60-90.

2. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, wherein the protective layer comprises a UV coating layer and optionally a polyvinyl chloride layer as a substrate for the UV coating layer, and the polyvinyl chloride layer comprises 65 to 100% by weight of polyvinyl chloride, 0 to 35% by weight of a plasticizer, and 0 to 5% by weight of a CaZn stabilizer.

3. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, wherein the decorative layer is a patterned polyvinyl chloride film comprising 40 to 100% by weight of polyvinyl chloride, 0 to 60% by weight of an inorganic filler selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, talc and their combination, and optionally a pigment.

4. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, wherein the support layer comprises 100 parts by weight of polyvinyl chloride, 0 to 30 parts by weight of a plasticizer, 100 to 750 parts by weight of an inorganic filler selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, kaolin, talc and combination thereof, 0 to 20 parts by weight of a toughening agent or an impact modifier, and 0 to 5 parts by weight of rosin, and the floor tile comprises one or more support layers.

5. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 4, wherein the support layer has a thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm and a Shore-D hardness in the range of 70 to 90

6. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, wherein the balance layer comprises 100 parts by weight of polyvinyl chloride, 0 to 40 parts by weight of a plasticizer, 100 to 550 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, 0 to 20 parts by weight of a toughening agent or an impact modifier, and 0 to 5 parts by weight of rosin.

7. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 6, wherein the balance layer has a thickness in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm and a Shore-D hardness in the range of 65 to 80

8. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 2, wherein the plasticizer is one or more selected from the group consisting of diisononyl phthalate, dioctyl terephthalate, citrate esters, and epoxy soybean oil.

9. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 4, wherein the toughening agent or the impact modifier is selected from the group consisting of chlorinated polyethylene and acrylic ester processing additives.

10. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according claim 1, wherein a foam layer is provided between the decorative layer and the support layer, between the support layer and the balance layer, and/or under the balance layer, wherein the foam layer is made from a foam material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride foam, EVA foam, PP foam, PE foam and PS foam, and a fibrous material is optionally added in the foam layer.

11. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, wherein an upward slope of 15-60 degrees is formed at the peripheral edge of the tile, and the horizontal width of the slope is in the range of 0.5 times of the thickness of the protective layer to 3.8 times of the thickness of the floor tile.

12. The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 11, wherein a decorative coating is applied to the upward slope of the tile.

13. A process for preparing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 1, comprising pre-preparing a balance layer, a decorative layer, and optionally a polyvinyl chloride layer which is used as a substrate of a protective layer; preparing a support layer by mixing the raw materials in a mixer, internal milling, open milling and then calendaring the mixed materials to obtain a support layer, laminating the support layer with the pre-prepared balance layer, decorative layer and optionally the polyvinyl chloride layer in an order of balance layer, support layer, decorative layer, and the optional polyvinyl chloride layer, embossing the laminated body and cooling the laminated body in a stepwise cooling step, then on-line applying an UV coating to form a protective layer with the optional polyvinyl chloride layer as a substrate of the protective layer, tempering and on-line forming the product to obtain a polyvinyl chloride floor tile, wherein the preparation process of the balance layer is the same as the preparation process of the support layer, the decorative layer is obtained by directly printing or thermal transferring a pattern on a polyvinyl chloride film substrate, and the polyvinyl chloride layer, which is optionally present as a substrate of the protective layer, and the polyvinyl chloride film as a substrate of the decorative layer each is prepared by uniformly mixing their raw materials, plasticizing the raw materials in an extruder, calendaring in a calendar, cooling and molding.

14. The process for preparing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 13, wherein the step of laminating the support layer, the balance layer, the decorative layer and optionally the polyvinyl chloride layer used as a substrate of the protective layer is carried out on-line in the process step of preparing the support layer.

15. The process for preparing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 13, wherein the step of laminating the support layer, the balance layer, the decorative layer and optionally the polyvinyl chloride layer used as a substrate of the protective layer is carried out by calendaring these layers in an calendar at a temperature of 130-145 C. and a press of 40-80 Kg for 20 to 40 minutes, and there are one or more support layers.

16. The process for preparing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 13, wherein the stepwise cooling step comprises lowering the temperature of the floor tile stage by stage, with the temperature in the first stage being 70-80 C., the temperature in the second stage being 40-50 C., and the temperature in the third stage being 0-23 C.

17. The process for preparing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to claim 13, wherein the tempering temperature is 80 to 100 C. and the tempering time is from 1 to 10 minutes.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0034] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the structure of a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a process for producing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a chamfer at the peripheral edge of a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to one embodiment of the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings commonly understood by an ordinary skilled person in the art. In case of conflict, the definitions provided in present specification prevail.

[0038] Unless otherwise indicated, all percentages, parts, and proportions are given by weight.

[0039] The term polyvinyl chloride used in present application denote any polyvinyl chloride commercially available or obtainable by any known polymerization method. C.ommercially available polyvinyl chloride with a polymerization degree K as K60 or K67 is particular preferred.

[0040] The rigid polyvinyl chloride tile of the present invention and the process for preparing the same are further illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0041] FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the structure of a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to an embodiment of the present invention. The polyvinyl chloride floor tile comprises, from top to bottom, a protective layer 1, a decorative layer 2, a support layer 3 and a balance layer 4. Protective layer 1 may be a layer formed by applying a UV coating on a polyvinyl chloride substrate or may be just a layer of a UV coating. Decorative layer 2 is a layer formed by printing a desired pattern on a polyvinyl chloride film substrate. Support layer 3 may be one or more layers.

[0042] FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a process for producing a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the process, raw materials of the supporting layer formulation are fed into a high-speed mixer 2 through an automatic metering system 1 so that the materials are mixed uniformly, then the materials are subjected to internal milling in an internal mill 3, open milling in a rolling mill 4, and next the materials are calendared by entering into two double-roll horizontal calendars 5 and 6 to obtain a support layer with a thickness in the range of 0.1-10 mm and to ensure the difference of the thickness in the range of less than 0.1 mm.

[0043] Subsequently, the support layer is directly laminated on-line with previously prepared a polyvinyl chloride layer (which is used as a substrate of protective layer), a decorative layer and a balance layer, and then embossed in an embossing machine 8 to press the protective layer substrate, the decorative layer, the support layer and the balance layer in this order firmly together. The laminated product is then cooled in a stepwise cooling device 9, and after cooling a UV coating (not shown) is applied to the polyvinyl chloride layer which is used as the substrate of protective layer. The obtained floor tile is then tempered and cooled and collected from a collecting device 10.

[0044] FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a chamfer at the peripheral edge of a rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the vertical side of the tile is formed into an upward slope, where A is the thickness of the tile, B is the horizontal width of the slope, C is the angle of the chamfer, and D is the height of the slope (sometimes D=A). It is preferable to apply on the slope a decorative abrasion resistant coating, such as golden epoxy resin or polyurethane coating having wood grain effect, so that the floor tile as a whole becomes more beautiful.

EXAMPLES

[0045] The present invention will now be described in further detail by way of examples, but it is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

Example 1

Preparation of a Rigid Polyvinyl Chloride Floor Tile

Raw Materials:

[0046] Polyvinyl chloride: Nanya Plastics, K60 Polyvinyl Chloride

[0047] DOTP (Dioctyl Terephthalate): Qilu Petrochemical, LF-30

[0048] CaZn stabilizer: Singapore, SUNACE SAK-CZL39-NP

[0049] Titanium dioxide: DuPont, R900

[0050] Talc powder: Beijing Liirenao Powder Material, 800 mesh

[0051] CPE (chlorinated polyethylene): Shandong Gaoxin Chemical, 135A

[0052] Rosin: Eastman US, Foral AX-E

Preparation of a Substrate for a Protective Layer

[0053] 135 kg of polyvinyl chloride, 41.4 kg of dioctyl terephthalate and 3.6 kg of CaZn stabilizer were uniformly mixed in a high-speed mixer, plasticized by a planetary extruder, and then calendared into a sheet by a four-roll calender, cooled by a cooling roll to obtain a polyvinyl chloride layer, which would be used as a substrate of a protective layer.

Preparation of a Decorative Layer

[0054] 81 kg of polyvinyl chloride, 81 kg of CaCO.sub.3, 3.6 kg of dioctyl terephthalate, 3.6 kg of CaZn stabilizer, 1.8 kg of titanium dioxide and 5 kg of talc powder were mixed uniformly in a high-speed mixer, plasticized in a planetary extruder and calendared into a sheet by a four-roll calendar, then the sheet was cooled by a cooling roll to obtain a polyvinyl chloride film, which would be used as a substrate of the decorative layer.

[0055] A desired pattern was printed on the above-obtained polyvinyl chloride film by thermal transfer and thus a decorative layer was obtained.

Preparation of a Balance Layer

[0056] 50 kg of polyvinyl chloride, 13 kg of dioctyl terephthalate, 90 kg of CaCO.sub.3, 1 kg of CaZn stabilizer, and lkg of rosin were fed into a high-speed mixer by means of an automatic metering system to mix the materials uniformly, then the mixture was subjected to internal milling in an internal mill, open milling in a rolling mill, and calendaring by two double-roll horizontal calendars at 140 C., then cooled to obtain a balance layer.

On-Line Preparation of a Support Layer and a Whole Floor Tile

[0057] 40 kg of polyvinyl chloride, 5 kg of dioctyl terephthalate, 120 kg of CaCO.sub.3, 0.8 kg of CaZn stabilizer, 3 kg of chlorinated polyethylene, and 2 Kg of rosin were fed into a high-speed mixer by means of an automatic metering system to mix the materials uniformly, the mixture was then subjected to internal milling in an internal mill, open milling in a rolling mill, and calendaring through two double-roll horizontal calendars at 140 C. to form a support layer.

[0058] Then the support layer was directly on-line laminated with the above pre-prepared balance layer, decorative layer and the polyvinyl chloride layer in an order of, from bottom to top, balance layer, support layer, decorative layer, and polyvinyl chloride layer at 140 C. The laminated body was embossed to press the layers firmly together, and then cooled in a stepwise cooling device, which has three-stage cooling temperatures of 80 C., 40 C., and 20 C. Then an UV coating was applied on-line on the polyvinyl chloride layer, which serves as a substrate of the protective layer. The obtained floor tile was tempered at 90 C. for 3 minutes and on-line shaped to obtain a polyvinyl chloride floor tile with a thickness of 5 mm.

Property Test

[0059] The rigid polyvinyl chloride floor tile obtained above has a thermal dimensional shrinkage of 0.08% as determined in accordance with European Standard EN434, and a Shore-D hardness of 72.

[0060] By adopting the process according to the present invention, not only the production yield is improved, but also the stability of the produced floor tile is greatly improved and the sensitivity to temperature of the floor tile is significantly reduced.

[0061] In the preparation process of the present invention, the support layer is directly on-line laminated with the substrate of the protective layer, the decorative layer and the balance layer. As compared with the conventional process of extruding through a die and then laminating with an oil hydraulic press or the conventional calendering method, the present invention can obtain a final floor tile directly, and thus production efficiency and production capacity are improved, and the defects in traditional die extrusion process, such as bubbles and uneven plasticization, etc. are avoided.

[0062] Table 1 below shows a comparison of production capacities of three different preparation processes of floor tile.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Process of Traditional Die Traditional the present Extrusion Calendaring invention Production of tile with a Not applicable 80-90 tons 160-180 tons thickness of 2.0 mm Semi-finished Final product (24 hours) product Production of tile with a 12-24 tons 80-90 tons 170-180 tons thickness of 4.0 mm Semi-finished Semi-finished Final product (24 hours) product product Directly final product or No No Yes not

[0063] The present invention has been specifically described above by way of embodiments and examples, however, the embodiments and examples are not intend to limit the scope of the invention, and those skilled in the art would understand that, on the basis of the present disclosure, one can make various changes to the polyvinyl chloride floor tile, and those changes are covered by the spirit and scope of the present invention.