Overlayment

Abstract

A flooring system including a finished flooring layer and an overlayment to which the finished flooring layer is coupled. The overlayment has a closed cell foam layer, an adhesive layer applied to a side of the closed cell foam layer, and a peelable layer removably positioned on the adhesive layer. The adhesive layer having a positive coefficient sheer adhesion to the finished flooring layer over a period exceeding three weeks from application of the finished flooring layer to the adhesive layer.

Claims

1. An overlayment for application of a covering layer thereover, comprising: a closed cell foam layer; an adhesive layer applied to a side of the closed cell foam layer; and a peelable layer removably positioned on the adhesive layer, the adhesive layer having a positive coefficient sheer adhesion to the covering layer over a period exceeding three weeks after the peelable layer is removed, the positive coefficient sheer adhesion being at an elevated temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, wherein the positive coefficient sheer adhesion at the elevated temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit is higher than if the overlayment was not at the elevated temperature.

2. The overlayment of claim 1, wherein the period is at least 30 days.

3. The overlayment of claim 1, wherein the closed cell foam layer has a sound transmission loss coefficient that is generally positive over the range of 100 Hz to 4,000 Hz.

4. The overlayment of claim 3, wherein the closed cell foam layer has a sound transmission loss that ranges from approximately 30 dB at 100 Hz to approximately 70 dB at 4,000 Hz.

5. A flooring system, comprising: a finished flooring layer; and an overlayment to which the finished flooring layer is coupled, the overlayment including: a closed cell foam layer; an adhesive layer applied to a side of the closed cell foam layer; and a peelable layer removably positioned on the adhesive layer, the adhesive layer having a positive coefficient sheer adhesion to the finished flooring layer over a period exceeding three weeks from application of the finished flooring layer to the adhesive layer, the positive coefficient sheer adhesion being determined at an elevated temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit which is higher than if the overlayment was not at the elevated temperature.

6. The flooring system of claim 5, wherein the period is at least 30 days.

7. The flooring system of claim 5, wherein the closed cell foam layer has a sound transmission loss coefficient that is generally positive over the range of 100 Hz to 4,000 Hz.

8. The flooring system of claim 7, wherein the closed cell foam layer has a sound transmission loss that ranges from approximately 30 dB at 100 Hz to approximately 70 dB at 4,000 Hz.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an embodiment the overlayment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is another view of the overlayment of FIG. 1 being applied to a sub-floor with new flooring being installed on the overlayment;

(4) FIG. 3 is a plot of sheer adhesion of the adhesive of the overlayment of FIGS. 1 and 2 at an elevated temperature;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plot of sheer adhesion of the adhesive of the overlayment of FIGS. 1 and 2 at a non-elevated room temperature; and

(6) FIG. 5 is a plot of the sound deadening capability of the overlayment of FIGS. 1 and 2.

(7) Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplification set out herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention, in one form, and such exemplification is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a view of an embodiment of an overlayment 10 of the present invention. While the terms “underlayment” and “overlayment” may be a term of preference, the term used herein is overlayment to represent that it is laid over a floor and becomes part of the new flooring system laid over the old floor.

(9) Overlayment 10 has a substrate layer 12, an adhesive layer 14, and a peelable layer 16. As can be seen in FIG. 2, overlayment 10 is placed on a legacy floor 18, and peelable layer 16 is peeled back and a new floor 20 is positioned on adhesive layer 14.

(10) Layer 12 of the present invention is made of a high density (referred to as 24.5 HD) foam that is a closed cell foam that is in the form of ground material that is mixed with an adhesive to form cylindrical logs. The material may have an approximate composition of 80% ground HD foam and 20% adhesive, which is baked at an elevated temperature, such as 475 degrees F., for a predetermined time, such as 6 hours. The formed logs are then veneered using a cutting device, such as a band saw into the desired thickness.

(11) Adhesive layer 14 is applied to a surface of layer 12 and layer 16 is applied for the ease of handling of overlayment 10. An advantage of the present invention is that unlike other similar products the present invention is non-leaching onto the applied flooring material. Another advantage is that the present invention allows for superior adhesion, yet allows easy shifting and removal of the flooring pieces during the installation process.

(12) As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 there is a positive coefficient of sheer adhesion of unit A, which is the results of the present invention, over all measured time periods, where the prior art samples B and C are static or decline over at least a portion of the selected time ranges. FIG. 3 illustrates the shear adhesion strength when aged at 150° F. at one week, three weeks and 30 days. FIG. 4 illustrates the results over a 24 hour to 30 day time period at room temperature. Generally elevated temperature testing is an accelerated testing of what can be expected at room temperature over an even longer period of time. The results of unit A show an always positive growth (positive coefficient) in the shear adhesion test. While it is recognized that this cannot continue forever, the present invention has a positive coefficient of shear adhesion even over the accelerated aging at 150° testing, while the prior art does not.

(13) Now, additionally referring to FIG. 5 there is shown the results of testing the sound deadening capability of the present invention over a frequency range of 100 to 4,000 Hz, which is a significant portion of the audible hearing range. The sound loss at 100 Hz is approximately 30 dB and the loss generally increases over the frequency range to approximately 70 dB at 4,000 Hz.

(14) Advantageously the present invention has an adhesive property that allows a floor 20 to be installed that can be shifted or removed with reduced force to correct any installation problems, similar to unit C early on (see particularly FIG. 4), yet increases as it ages over at least the 30 day timeframe and likely longer looking at the accelerated aging test of the 150° F. testing (in FIG. 3), so that the shear adhesion will exceed the unit B result over time.

(15) While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.