CA2131817A1

CA2131817A1 - Wall or furniture lining, in particular wallpaper

Info

Publication number: CA2131817A1
Application number: CA002131817A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Gunter Tesch
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-01-09
Filing date: 1994-01-08
Publication date: 1994-07-21
Also published as: EP0630317A1; WO1994015779A1; DE59409260D1; EP0630317B1; ATE191398T1; AU5881494A

Abstract

A wall or furniture lining, in particular wallpaper, has a substrate (3, 6, 9) upon which are arranged pieces of a foil-like material having thermoplastic properties. The material arranged on the substrate is thermally and pressure-jointed thereto in such a manner that the surface of the wall or furniture lining is provided with a relief pattern formed of projections (2, 7, 10).

Description

~ l ~ i 8:1 7 WO 94/15779 PCT/EP94/0()036 _ WALI, O~ FU3~NITU~E COVERING, ESP13CI~LL~ W~LLP~P~R

The invention is a wall or furniture eovering, especially a wallpaper having a base, especially made of paper, and having: attached to this material that lends it a three-dimensional textured appearance.

Wallpapers, especially: paper wallpapers, textured or untex~ured, are known.
Textured wallpapers are pnmadly known as~ ingrain wall coverings in which a laye~ of wood chips are attached irregularly to a~layer~of pape~. Other textured wallpapers, like, for :~:
example, embossed wallpapers, textured layered wallpapers, are expensive to manufacture, : ~
and their handling and maintenance xequire great care. In ~ddition~ they are sensitive to ~;
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moisture.
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It is the task of the present invention to provide a wall or furniture covering, or a wallpaper, which is simple to manufacture, has multiple applications, and offers advantages in its usage.

This task is solved by the invention presented in the main clairn. ~ccording to it, the invented wall covering comprises a base, especially paper, pieces of filrn-like material having thelmoplastic characteristics arranged regularly or irregularly, these pieces of film bonded together and to the base by pressure and heat in such a way that a surface having a three-dirrlensional texture results ~rom intentionally impressing elevations. By heath~g the material ex}libiting thermoplastic characteristics to a temperature in the ra~ge of the melting temperature of the material, the materia! becomes heat adhesive and bonds under pressure to the base. In this preferred embodiment, the material exhibiting thermoplastic characteristics is pieces oP plastic film, particularly pieces of polyethylene filrrl. The film pieces may be arranged on the base regularly or irregularly ;n one layer or in multiple layers. Handling is par~icularly easy if the size of the film pieces is between rnore than one and 10 millirneters in width and length. When the film pieces are arrangecl regularly on the base, e.g., layering the pieces in a layer of uniform thickness, the embossed texture can be stamped by a calender roller, dandy roller, or die. A preferrecl embodiment provides that the film pieces are arranged on the base in such a ~vay that the arrangernent corresponds somewllat to the subse~uent embossed texhlre and are then bonded to the base using the effects o~ heat and pressure. Intentional arrangement ;:

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WO 94/15779 PCr/EP94/00036 of the filrn pieces on the base carl, for example, result from use of a piercing roller. If the elevations forming the three-dimensiollal surface texture are to be relatively soft and elastic, it is pre~erable that bonding t}le film pieces to the base be done using at least locally lirmited pressure. This carl be done USillg pressure preferably by brusl-es or by a light roller printing.
If the elevatiorls of the wall covering according to the inventioll are to e7~hibit a firmer texture, the textllre can be made by starnping under high pressure, preferably using a dandy roller, a die, or a calender roller. Dosing the film pieces and arranging them on a base is particularly s;mple using a lhree-dimensional form of film pieces employed, especially pieces of plastic filr~. In addition, such pieces of plastic film are "ample in volume," so that the texture of the elevations resulting from them and therefore the texture of the entire product can be ai~hieved intentionally and is more elastic than those of a product manufactured from flat pieces of plastic film. Employment of pieces of plastic ~llrn derived frorn waste film is preferred because such clean plastic film waste can be employed immediately and with no additional processing steps.

The same is true ~or ernployment of film pieces from a material provided with a thermoplastic layer on at least one side and containing a layer of aluminum foil. These materials may also be bonded ta the base in the sarne way and manner as described above.
No additional processing steps are re~uired for these materials, either, in order to use them in the product according to the invention, i.e., in order to dispose of them simultaneously.
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~13181i7 WO 94/15779 PC l /EP94/00036 The wall or furlliture covering according to the invention has a particular advantage in that film pieces of different colors may be used, and may be used intentiollally in sucll a manner fhat a part;cular color pattern in the product is achieve(l. lf, for example, transparent, single-color clear films are applied as a base layer and pieces of colored film are then applied on top of these in order to achieve a particular color pattern, ~he result, with no additional processing steps, is a wallpaper with a colored texture.

In a further development the invention provides that the base also derives from waste material, particularly from waste paper, e.g, from printed paper. By arranging the pieces of plastic film across the full surface of the base (the color composition and pattern corresponding to the requirements of the final product), the base is not visible and such wal~
paper may be manufactured economically ~nother variant provides that a base comprising paper that has already been processed is covered only in certain locations by pieces of plastic film and bonded to the base, so that the wall covering produced, when used wi~h an appropriate color (lilce the ingrain wall covering), Is painted, and the color is only picked up by the paper acting as the base and the color pattern is provided by the colored elevations fiom the applied pieces of plastic fllm ;
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~ s ernbodied, the invention provides that a very thin paper layer is arranged on the side exhibiting the film material, which layer either partially or entirely covers the sur~ace with the plastic film material and is bonded to the base. The bond of the thin paper layer to the base and the film yieFes arDnged on it rcsults from heating the :

~1~i81~7 WO 94/15779 ~CT/EP94/00036 _5 surface of ~he wallpaper thus far already finished, e.g., by hot air or in~ared radiation, and thereby softening the plastic rnaterial arranged on it ancl making it sticky. The thin paper layer may then be attashed to the wallpaper by simply pressing or bmshing. The arrangement of the thin paper layer is preferable if the entire surface of the wallpaper is to be painted, i.e., if the entire surface of the wallpaper is to be and must be provided with a color-receptive layer, since the pieces of plastic film are color-resistant. Of course this thin layer of paper may connprise waste paper. The thin paper layer that is applied to the layer of plastic material or to the plastic material elevations may be in the ~orm of a continuous web, but it may also comprise shredded waste paper. If the pieces of paper are small enough, they may be applied to the wallpaper mixed with color as a dispersive or they may be scattered loose with no color. This type of wallpaper is particularly similar in appearance to ingrain wallpapers. The wallpaper according to the invention, however, has the advantage that it can be manufactured entirely from recycling products, e.g., fronn waste paper as the base, ~rom plastic film waste arranged on top of this, and from cuttings of wastepaper as tlIe ::.
top layer.
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The greatest thickness of wallpapers produced in this manner can be between 3 mmand 0.5 n~m. Wallpapers with higher elevations, that is, thicker material, are particularly suitable particularly for embossed wallpapers, especially when employed as protective wal~
coverings, while the thin materials~are suitable for employment as decorative wall coverings. ;~
An advantage of the products irt accordance with the invention also results from the fact that ~`
they do not rip as easily during rolling and processing as wallpapers manu~actured solely from .,, - ~ ' WO 94/15779 PCT/3~P94/00036 paper, because they are produced from film materi~ls. ~esistance to moishlre compared to conventional wallpapers is likewise increased.

The products described are suitable not only as wall coverings; they are also suitable as furniture and ceiling coverings, in short, as coverings of surfaces to which a certain appearance, and in some cases a certain texture, are to be given.

An embodiment example of the wall covering in accordance with the invention is explained in greater detail using the following illustrations:

Fig. 1:- ~ schematically enlarged depiction of a cross-section of a wall covering in accordance with the invention.~ ;

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Fig. 2: Depiction of a wallpaper having a coarse surface texture and a paper . ~ covering layer.

Fig. 3: A schematic depiction of a wallpaper having a smooth surface texture.
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The wallpaper 1 depicted schematically in Fig. 1 exhibits elevations 2 arranged on a ...
paper base 3, the elevations comprising pieces of ~plastic film 4 that are at least partially bonded to each other. The pieces of plastic film 4 are bonded to the base 3 and to each o the r by the ef~ects of heat;and pressure.;

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A wallpaper having a relatively coarse texture is depicted in Fig 2, the textured side o~ the wallpaper being provided with a thirl layer of paper 5. This makes the entire surface of the wallpaper color-receptive, including the elevations 7, which comprise plastic material.
The base~ is also covered with thè paper layer 5~ the areas 8 located between ~:

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WO ~/15779 Pcr/~p94/ooo36 tlle elevations 7.

Fig. 3 depicts a wallpaper having a smooth texture that exhibits small elevations 10 arranged on a base 9.

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Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. Wall or furniture covering, especially wallpaper, having a base (3, 6, 9), especially paper, and having arranged regularly or irregularly on this pieces of Film-like material exhibiting thermoplastic characterics, which are bonded to the base (3, 6, 9) by the effects of temperature and pressure, so that the surface of the wallpaper is provided with a three-dimensional texture in the form of elevations (2, 79 10).

2. Wall covering in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the pieces (4) made of film-like material exhibit dimensions of about 1 to 10 mm in length and width.

3. Wall covering in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pieces of film-like material partially or entirely cover the surface of the base (3, 6, 9).

4. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that the pieces (4) of film-like material are arranged on the base in a single layer or in several layers.

5. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) are made of plastic film, especially polyethylene.

6. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) derive from plastic waste film.

7. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that the pieces of plastic film (4) are shaped in three dimensions.

8. Wall covering in accordance with claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) derive from material provided with a thermoplastic layer on at least one side and containing a layer of aluminum foil.

9. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that the color pattern of the wall covering is provided by different colored film material.

10. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that a thin paper layer (5) bonded to the elevations (7) and the entire surface or part of the surface of the base is arranged on the side exhibiting the film-like material.

11. Wall covering in accordance with any of the previous claims, characterized in that a thin layer of color-receptive material bonded at least to the elevations is arranged on the side exhibiting the film-like material.

12. Wall covering in accordance with claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the thin layer comprises shredded paper, particularly shredded waste paper.

13. Process for manufacturing a wall or furniture covering, particularly wallpaper according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that pieces (4) of film-like material exhibiting thermoplastic characteristics are applied in a regular or irregular arrangement to a base (3, 6, 9), especially paper, and compressed through the effects of heat and pressure and bonded to the base (3, 6, 9) by stamping onto it a three-dimensional texture.

14. Process in accordance with claim 13, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) are bonded to the base (3, 6, 9) under light pressure e.g., using rollers, brushes, or similar means, using the effects of heat.

15. Process in accordance with claim 13, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) are bonded to the base (3, 6, 9) under high pressure while simultaneously stamping the texture.

16. Process in accordance with claim 15, characterized in that the pieces of film (4) are stamped on the base (3, 6, 9) using a roll printer, dandy roller, die, or calender roller.

17. Process in accordance with any of claims 13 through 16, characterized in that the pieces of film corresponding to subsequent embossing are layered on the base, e.g., using a piercing roller.