Floor covering and method for producing the same

Abstract

A floor covering including one of a sheet-shaped or plate-shaped matrix made of an elastomeric material. The matrix is provided with particles made of a thermoplastic material, where the elastomeric material of the matrix and the thermoplastic material of the particles each have at least one matching monomer.

Claims

1. A floor covering, comprising one of a sheet-shaped or plate-shaped matrix made of a vulcanized elastomeric material that is rubber, wherein the matrix is provided with particles made of a transparent thermoplastic elastomer, wherein the transparent thermoplastic elastomer is selected such that at least one of a softening temperature and a melting temperature of the transparent thermoplastic elastomer lies below the vulcanization temperature of the rubber material, and the vulcanized elastomeric material of the matrix includes a first monomer and the transparent thermoplastic elastomer of the particles includes a second monomer, wherein said first monomer and said second monomer are the same, and wherein a hardness of the vulcanized elastomeric material is 40 to 90 Shore A and a hardness of the transparent thermoplastic elastomer is 40 to 90 Shore A, and wherein the matrix and the particles are made with different materials.

2. The floor covering according to claim 1, wherein effect pigments are incorporated into the particles.

3. The floor covering according to claim 1, wherein the rubber material and the transparent thermoplastic elastomer are provided with fillers, and wherein the portion of fillers in the rubber material is higher than the portion of fillers in the transparent thermoplastic elastomer.

4. The floor covering according to claim 1, wherein the rubber material and the transparent thermoplastic elastomer contain at least one of: styrene, butadiene, ethylene, propylene and isoprene as the first monomer and the second monomer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the present floor covering.

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the present floor covering.

(3) Several embodiments of the floor covering according to the invention are explained in greater detail below on the basis of the examples.

(4) By way of an example, FIG. 1 shows a layable floor covering with a matrix of elastomeric material that is provided with particles made of thermoplastic material. The particles are transparent, made from semi-finished products, and thus available in a wide variety of shapes. Merely by way of an example, the figure shows particles having circular, annular, half-moon-shaped and star-shaped cross sections.

(5) By way of an example, FIG. 2 shows a floor covering according to FIG. 1, wherein the particles in this embodiment are configured in the form of bands and strings. FIG. 2 also shows the arrangement of the particles in the form of strips and as a random spaghetti pattern.

EXAMPLE 1

(6) Example 1 shows a floor covering with a plate-shaped matrix made of elastomeric material; in this embodiment, it is made of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). The matrix is provided with transparent particles made of a thermoplastic elastomer; in this embodiment, it is styrene butadiene block copolymer (SBS). The thermoplastic elastomer can be additionally provided with effect pigments. The elastomeric material of the matrix and the thermoplastic material of the particles have styrene as the matching monomer. The elastomeric material and the thermoplastic material are provided with fillers in order to improve the material properties, wherein the content of fillers is higher in the elastomeric material than in the thermoplastic material. Furthermore, the SBS has a softening temperature of 95° C., which is below the vulcanization temperature of approximately 180° C. that applies to SBR.

(7) Additional material combinations according to the invention are shown in the table below.

(8) In order to produce the particles, first of all, an extruded profile was produced by means of extrusion as a semi-finished product that was subsequently cut to size. This gave rise to particles with a prescribed profile in a prescribed length. The so prepared particles were scattered onto a plate-shaped elastomeric material, shaped into a sheet by means of calanders, and subjected to a heat treatment in order to vulcanize the SBR. Due to the matching monomer, namely, styrene, the particles are firmly incorporated into the matrix of the floor covering.

(9) In another advantageous embodiment, the particles are configured in the form of bands or strings.

EXAMPLE 2

(10) Example 2 shows a floor covering with a plate-shaped matrix made of an elastomeric material; in this embodiment, it is made of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR). The matrix is provided with particles of different colors made of a thermoplastic elastomer; in this embodiment, it is made of styrene butadiene block copolymer (SBS). The elastomeric material of the matrix and the thermoplastic material of the particles contain butadiene as the matching monomer.

(11) In order to produce the particles, first of all, free forms were made by means of injection molding. Furthermore, the elastomeric material was shaped into a sheet, subsequently the particles were scattered onto the sheet and subjected to a heat treatment in order to vulcanize the SBR. Due to the matching monomer, namely, butadiene, the particles are firmly incorporated into the matrix of the floor covering.

EXAMPLE 3

(12) Example 3 shows a floor covering with a plate-shaped matrix made of an elastomeric material; in this embodiment, it is made of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR). The matrix is provided with transparent particles made of a thermoplastic material; in this embodiment, it is polystyrene (PS). Metallic effect pigments are incorporated into the thermoplastic material. The elastomeric material of the matrix and the thermoplastic material of the particles have styrene as the matching monomer.

(13) In order to produce the particles, first of all, a flat layer was made by means of extrusion as the semi-finished product, which was subsequently shredded to form particles. This gave rise to randomly shaped particles. The elastomeric material was shaped into a sheet by means of calanders, subsequently the particles were scattered onto the sheet, calandered once again, and the sheet provided with the particles was subjected to a heat treatment in order to vulcanize the SBR. Due to the matching monomer, namely, styrene, the particles are firmly incorporated into the matrix of the floor covering.

(14) The following table shows material combinations according to the invention made up of elastomeric materials and thermoplastic materials for the production of a floor covering described according to the examples:

(15) TABLE-US-00001 Matrix Particle nitrile butadiene rubber SBS (styrene (NBR) butadiene block copolymer) styrene butadiene SBS rubber (SBR) SBR SEBS (hydrogenated SBS) SBR (styrene isoprene block copolymer) SBR SEBS butadiene rubber (BR) SBS ethylene propylene SEBS diene monomer rubber (EPDM) natural rubber (NR) SIS isoprene rubber (IR) SIS ethylene propylene polyethylene (PE) diene monomer rubber (EPDM) EPDM polypropylene (PP) NBR polyacrylonitrile (PAN) NBR acrylonitrile butadiene styrene copolymer SBR polystyrene (PS)