EP2260161A1

EP2260161A1 - Coated wooden floor panel

Info

Publication number: EP2260161A1
Application number: EP09728244A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefan Pletzer
Original assignee: Fritz Egger GmbH and Co OG
Current assignee: Fritz Egger GmbH and Co OG
Priority date: 2008-04-03
Filing date: 2009-04-02
Publication date: 2010-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2029-04-02
Also published as: DE102008017438A1; PL2260161T3; WO2009121941A1; ES2406389T3; EP2260161B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a floor panel (1) comprising a slab-shaped substrate (2) made of wood and/or wood-based material, wherein at least the upper side of the substrate is provided with a decorative finish, preferably a decorative wood finish, and with a transparent, closed coating (3) based on an organic binder, this coating being applied to the decorative finish and defining the exposed upper side of the floor panel. According to the invention, when a sample of the floor panel is subjected to a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522, the coating (3) of the floor panel according to the invention produces an oscillation damping in the range from 8 s to 22 s. The coating according to the invention allows the wooden floor covering to be perceived satisfactorily by the user, has a comparatively high wear resistance combined with low maintenance requirements and substantially prevents deformations of the wooden floor covering resulting from small-area loading.

Description

Coated wood floor panel

The invention relates to a floor panel with a plate-shaped substrate made of wood and / or wood material, wherein at least the top of the substrate is provided with a decor, preferably wood decor, and applied to the decor transparent, closed coating based on an organic binder, which the exposed Defined top of the floor panel.

Various coatings for wood floor coverings are known in the prior art. These may consist of oils or waxes or they are based on synthetic resins. These different coatings give the wood surfaces a brilliant appearance, especially as they emphasize the grain of the wood, giving the flooring an attractive appearance. Furthermore, the various coating materials provide the necessary wear resistance of the covering. They also protect the wood surface from the influence of UV light, which causes graying of the wood surface, and also improve the stain sensitivity and hygiene of the floor covering or allow it to be cleaned on a regular basis.

If, due to use, signs of wear appear after some time, wooden floor coverings provided with oil and wax-based coatings can be recessed with a corresponding coating. Re-letting can occur nearly as often as is to preserve an attractive appearance of the Holzfι ^if3 ^'Knrfciri - covering a year generally necessary. For wood-based floor coverings with resin-based coatings, a possibly worn coating can be sanded off and replaced by applying a new resin-based coating. The process of rebuilding a resin-based coating can be repeated several times, usually at least two to three times, depending on the thickness of the wear layer of the wood flooring, so that even here average use over many years an attractive appearance of the wood flooring is achieved.

The different coating systems have different properties with regard to their wear properties. Oil- and wax-based systems do not form virtually any closed layers and therefore offer little protection against mechanical abrasion. Resin-based coatings, on the other hand, form closed layers of specific thickness, which can also be varied by the choice of application quantity. For this purpose, different order methods are available, and it can of course be achieved by multiple order different order quantities.

As a result, oil and wax-based coatings must be regularly renewed by relatively frequent insertion; On the other hand, however, such coated wood floors have the advantage of making the properties of the substrate, so the wood surface the user perceived better. This is very important especially in residential areas, where, however, excessive use is not expected, which is why, despite the reduced wear properties and the need for frequent use Renewal, the oil and wax-based coatings are often given preference.

However, where increased wear resistance is required, synthetic resin-based coatings will have to be used. However, these allow the user due to their required layer thickness and hardness less good to perceive the surface properties of the substrate. Furthermore, due to their hardness, they are generally relatively brittle.

Both for wood floors with known oil or wax coatings as well as those provided with a resin-based coating, there is the disadvantage that angular, falling objects or other small-scale loads, the surface without the coating, however, a resistance can oppose, inflict a permanent deformation. In the case of a described load oil- and wax-based coatings offer the advantage that they can then have no coating cracks and thus no conspicuous gray spots arise, but nevertheless there is also a permanent deformation on the surface, the most expensive repair work, possibly even can not be removed satisfactorily at all.

The present invention has for its object to provide a floor panel of the type mentioned above, the coating on the one hand provides a satisfactory perceptibility of Holzfußbodenbelages by the user and its coating on the other hand, a comparatively high wear resistance at low Has maintenance and deformation of the Holzfußbodenbelages largely prevented due to small-scale loads.

This object is achieved by a floor panel having the features of claim 1.

Preferred and advantageous embodiments of the coating according to the invention or the floor panel according to the invention are specified in the subclaims.

The coating of the floor panel according to the invention is formed of a transparent coating based on an organic binder, which is to define the exposed top of a Holzfußbodenbelages and causes a vibration damping in accordance with EN ISO 1522 vibration damping in the range of 8 s to 22 s. This means that the transparent coating on the floor panel according to the invention or on a sample of a floor panel according to the invention in a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522 causes a vibration damping in the range of 8 seconds to 22 seconds.

In experiments, it was found that such a coating provides a relatively high wear resistance with low maintenance and deformation of a Holzfußbodenbelages largely prevented when the coated wooden flooring is loaded by edged, falling objects or other small-scale loads. The perceptibility of provided with the coating according to the invention wood flooring was assessed by neutral subjects as satisfactory to good. Particularly favorable test results with regard to the wear resistance (abrasion resistance), the protection against deformations due to kieinflächige loads and the visibility of the coated Holzfußbodenbelages were achieved if the coating according to the invention a vibration damping according to EN ISO 1522 in the range of 8 s to 18 s, preferably 8 s to 14 s showed.

Conventionally coated floor panels, however, show a vibration damping in the order of 45 s.

The protective effect of the coating according to the invention against deformations of the wood floor covering by small-area loads generally increases with increasing layer thickness of the coating. With regard to the lowest possible material consumption and a satisfactory perceptibility of the wood flooring, it is advantageous if the layer thickness of the coating according to the invention in the range of 60 .mu.m to 200 .mu.m, preferably in the range of 80 .mu.m to 180 .mu.m, and more preferably in the range of 100 .mu.m to 160 microns is.

The coating according to the invention is transparent. It can also be referred to as lacquer or clear lacquer. Paints are coating materials based on organic binders.

The binder (paint resin) of the coating according to the invention is preferably synthetic resin. In particular, polyurethane resin, epoxy resin, urea-formaldehyde resin, melamine-formaldehyde resin, phenol-formaldehyde resin, polyester resin, unsaturated polyester resin, vinyl ester resin and mixtures thereof may be considered as the synthetic resin. Furthermore, binders can also Basis of polyolefins, for example of polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate and copolymers thereof, or mixtures based on one or more synthetic resins (thermosets) with one or more polyolefins (thermoplastics) are used.

The coating according to the invention is preferably a two-component reaction lacquer which, after the mixing of co-ordinated resin hardener and / or catalyst components with the synthetic resin component, has a time-limited processability. This may in particular be a two-component polyurethane coating or a two-component epoxy resin coating.

If the coating according to the invention is formed on the basis of one or more synthetic resins, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention it preferably contains one or more additives which increase the vibration damping. The relevant additives are preferably ASE (alkyl sulfonic acid ester of phenol) or DINCH (cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester).

According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, particles which increase the vibration-damping effect of the coating can be contained in the coating according to the invention. The particles are, for example, PUR elastomer particles and / or EPR particles (ethylene-propylene rubber). The coating matrix surrounding the particles ensures the required wear resistance, in particular scratch and abrasion resistance. The plate-shaped substrate of a floor panel provided with the coating according to the invention may be of different nature. To protect the real wood resources, the plate-shaped substrate is preferably made of wood material, for example made of MDF or HDF board provided with a wood decor, tile decor or Fantasy decor, preferably printed directly and the visible side (top) then with a coating according to the invention is provided.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing illustrating an embodiment. In the drawing show

Figure 1 shows two connectable floor panels in a perspective view. and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the side edges of the floor panels of FIG. 1 in end view.

The illustrated panels 1 are formed from a plate-shaped substrate 2 made of wood material. The substrate 2 is, for example, a high-density fiberboard whose upper side is printed by direct printing with a decor, preferably a wood decor. Before applying the decoration, the fiberboard is sanded and primed. The primer may comprise a primer and a grindable roll coat base. The underside of the substrate 2 is preferably provided with a sealing layer (Gegenzugschicht).

After the primer is dried and optionally smoothed by grinding, the decor is by means of a multi-color printing unit, the two or in the direction of passage comprises three successive application rolls, directly printed on the pretreated wood-based panel 2. Optionally, before the printing of the decor, a base color coating is first applied, which covers the primer and is color matched to the decor. For example, the base color coating has an ocher or umber hue.

The directly printed decor is sealed by a coating 3 according to the invention. The coating 3 is transparent and protects the decor and the substrate 2 against mechanical wear. Furthermore, the coating 3 prevents small-surface loads of the substrate 2 whose permanent deformation at the load points. In addition, the coating 3 protects the substrate 2 from moisture and the penetration of liquid.

The coating 3 according to the invention is applied to the decor in one or more layers, preferably in two layers. At least one of these applied layers forms a closed layer. If the coating 3 is applied in two layers, the two layers preferably have a different degree of gloss. By way of example, the first layer may have a relatively low degree of gloss or may have a matt finish, while the second layer, as the uppermost layer (finishing layer), has a relatively high degree of gloss. In the case of a two-layered embodiment of the coating 3, at least its first applied layer forms a closed layer.

The second layer (finishing layer), on the other hand, may have a structure or pores that are on the decor, in particular a replicated wood grain are tuned.

After the coating 3 according to the invention has cured, the printed wood-based panel (for example HDF panel) is divided into a plurality of floor panels 1 and provided with connecting means 4, 5 by milling the longitudinal edges of the panels 1. The connecting means are formed as a groove 4 and spring 5 and have mutually associated locking means 6, 7. The locking means consist of a formed in the lower groove flank trough-shaped recess 6 and formed on the spring, in the recess 6 positively insertable projection. 7

The damping properties of coating materials can be defined by indicating the vibration damping. This is determined by means of a mounted on the coating surface pendulum, which oscillates on two steel balls (tungsten carbide balls) as a support surface back and forth. The oscillation energy of the pendulum is attenuated all the more, the better the damping properties of the coating. As a measure of the vibration damping that period is measured in which the oscillation amplitude of the pendulum decreases by a certain amount. The vibration damping is then given in seconds according to this standardized method according to EN ISO 1522.

According to this standard, the measurement defined there is applicable for determining the vibration damping of coating materials. For this purpose, it is provided to apply the coating materials to be tested previously on a glass or steel plate in order to exclude any influences of the substrate. However, since the present invention exactly that If the problem of the effect of a small-area load on the substrate is to be eliminated, but this is also essentially dependent on the condition of the substrate, the information given here always refers to results which were determined on samples of coated wooden floor panels.

The coating 3 according to the invention forms the exposed upper side of the floor panel 1. It is designed with respect to its material composition and layer thickness such that, in a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522, a vibration damping in the range from 8 to 22 s, preferably in the range from 8 to 18 s, and more preferably in the range of 8 to 14 seconds.

The coating 3 according to the invention has a comparatively high layer thickness compared with conventional synthetic resin-based clearcoat coatings, which is in the range from 60 μm to 200 μm, preferably in the range from 80 μm to 180 μm, and particularly preferably in the range from 100 μm to 160 μm.

It has been found that a comparatively high wear resistance with low maintenance is achievable with the given, specifically set vibration damping in the range of 8 to 22 s and a layer thickness of 60 μm to 200 μm in the specified range of 60 μm to 200 μm, and that the mechanical properties of the invention Coating 3 are to a great extent able to largely prevent deformations of the coated substrate 1 in the case of small-area loads.

Preferably, the transparent coating 3 is formed from a resin-based paint. It is preferably a two-component polyurethane varnish or a two-component epoxy resin varnish. In order to increase the vibration-damping properties of the coating 3, it is preferably spread with the addition of appropriate additives. The additives used here are, for example, ASE (alkyl sulfonic acid ester of phenol) or DINCH (cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid diisononyl ester).

Furthermore, the coating 3 may contain particles which increase their damping properties. These particles consist for example of PUR elastomer particles and / or EPR particles and have a particle size which is smaller than the layer thickness of the coating 3. The coating material surrounding the particles ensures the required wear resistance, in particular scratch and abrasion resistance.

The particle sizes of these vibration damping particles are in the range of 50 microns to 200 microns, preferably in the range of 50 microns to 160 microns, and more preferably in the range of 50 microns to 100 microns.

In addition, the coating 3 according to the invention can provide the wear resistance increasing particles, e.g. Corundum particles or ceramic nanoparticles, and / or at least one antistatic agent as an additive.

The embodiment of the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawing. Thus, for example, the order of the production steps in the production of inventive floor panels can be varied; This applies both to directly painted floor panels based on wood-based panels as well as in particular for Fertigparkettpaneele having a solid wood layer as a wear layer. So can the application of the coating according to the invention, for example, even after the assembly (division) of larger plates in a desired panel format and / or after edge processing of the panels done. In addition to the production of tongue and groove as well as optionally locking means, the edge processing can also include the production of a chamfered edge (chamfer) on the upper-side longitudinal edges and / or transverse edges of the respective panels.

Claims

claims

1. floor panel (1) with a plate-shaped substrate

(2) made of wood and / or wood-based material, wherein at least the top of the substrate (2) with a decor, preferably wood decor, and applied to the decor transparent, closed coating

(3) is provided on the basis of an organic binder, which defines the exposed top of the floor panel, characterized in that the coating (3) in a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522 causes a vibration damping in the range of 8 s to 22 s.

2. Floor panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the coating (3) in a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522 causes a vibration damping in the range of 8 s to 18 s.

3. Floor panel according to claim 1, characterized in that the coating (3) in a pendulum damping test according to EN ISO 1522 causes a vibration damping in the range of 8 s to 14 s.

4. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the coating (3) has a layer thickness in the range of 60 microns to 200 microns.

5. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the coating (3) has a layer thickness in the range of 80 microns to 180 microns.

6. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the coating (3) has a layer thickness in the range of 100 microns to 160 microns.

7. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the coating (3) is formed of synthetic resin containing one or more vibration damping additives.

8. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that its coating (3) is formed on the basis of polyurethane.

9. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the coating (3) is formed on the basis of one or more polyolefins.

10. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the coating (3) is formed on the basis of one or more epoxides.

11. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that its coating (3) is formed on the basis of ethylene-vinyl acetate.

12. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the coating (3) contains vibration damping particles.

13. Floor panel according to claim 12, characterized in that the vibration damping-increasing particles have particle sizes in the range of 50 microns to 200 microns.

14. Floor panel according to claim 12, characterized in that the vibration damping-increasing particles have particle sizes in the range of 50 microns to 160 microns, preferably in the range of 50 microns to 100 microns.

15. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the coating (3) contains one or more antistatic agents.

16. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the plate-shaped substrate (2) is a directly printed with a decor wood-based panel.

17. Floor panel according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the plate-shaped substrate (2) on at least two opposite side edges as a groove (4) and spring (5) formed connecting means, the mutually associated locking means (6, 7) exhibit.