Decorative material

Details Decorative material Decorative material

1996-04-25

1998-10-20

Ryan, Patrick

Stock material or miscellaneous articles

Composite

428 95, 428159, 428200, 428202, 428206, 428207, 428290, 428172, 428343, 4285422, 525183, 525419, 525502, 15624411, B32B 900

Patent

active

058244158

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to decorative materials, such as floor coverings, and more particularly to decorative materials, having high properties, which can be used as an alternative to vinyl chloride resin floor coverings which causes environmental pollution.
A large number of floor coverings using a polyvinyl chloride film as a top film have hitherto been used in the art. The floor coverings using a polyvinyl chloride film as the top film, however, had the following drawbacks.
(1) The surface thereof has unsatisfactory abrasion resistance.
(2) Incineration results in the formation of a chlorine compound.
(3) Since the transparency and brilliance are unsatisfactory, the commercial value as the floor covering is still unsatisfactory.
(4) The soil resistance is so low that, once the surface is soiled, it is difficult to remove the soil.
In particular, the incineration of waste of the polyvinyl chloride film, which has hitherto been used as a decorative material, poses problems of corrosion of an incinerator by a hydrogen chloride gas and a chlorine gas evolved during the incineration and the evolution of a strongly acidic gas. Solving the above problems unfavorably incurs an increase in waste disposal cost.
In order to reduce the above problem, an attempt has been made to reduce the chlorine content of the decorative material by forming the surface layer of the printed decorative face through coating of a solvent-soluble resin varnish instead of the use of a transparent vinyl chloride film. The formation of the surface layer by coating of the solvent-soluble resin varnish is advantageous in that a surface protective coating can be formed simply by evaporating the solvent to dry the coating. The resultant decorative material, however, is unsatisfactory in surface properties such as surface hardness, gloss, abrasion resistance, and chemical resistance.


DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a decorative material which is excellent in surface properties, such as scratch resistance and soil resistance, and, at the same time, environmentally friendly.
In order to attain the above object, the decorative material of the present invention comprises: a substrate of a thermoplastic resin; and a resin layer provided on one side of the substrate through a heat-sensitive adhesive layer, the resin layer comprising a copolymer of ethylene with an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated carboxylic acid, the copolymer being partially or completely neutralized with a metal ion.
In the present invention, a pattern layer and a backer may be suitably laminated according to the purposes.
The process for producing a decorative material according to the present invention comprises the steps of: forming a pattern layer on one side of the substrate and a heat-sensitive adhesive layer provided on the other side of the substrate; and putting a resin film formed of a resin of a copolymer, of ethylene with an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated carboxylic acid, which has been partially or completely neutralized with a metal ion, on the top of the laminated substrate in such a manner that the resin film faces the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, and bonding and integrating the resin film with the laminated substrate.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the decorative material according to the present invention.


BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the decorative material according to the present invention comprises: a substrate 1 of a thermoplastic resin; and a resin layer 3 provided on one side of the substrate through a heat-sensitive adhesive layer 2, the resin layer being formed of a resin of a copolymer, of ethylene with an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated carboxylic acid, which has been partially or completely neutralized with a metal ion.
Further, in the present invention, a pattern layer 4 and a backer layer 5 may be provided.
In the decorative material of the present invention, the resin layer 3 i

REFERENCES:
patent: 3770558 (1973-11-01), Stahl
patent: 4071387 (1978-01-01), Schlaepfer
patent: 5389432 (1995-02-01), Blanch et al.
patent: 5436049 (1995-07-01), Hu

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