Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes – Recycling of reclaimed or purified process material – Of excess solid particulate
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-31
2003-01-07
Watkins, III, William P. (Department: 1772)
Plastic and nonmetallic article shaping or treating: processes
Recycling of reclaimed or purified process material
Of excess solid particulate
C264S037280, C264S037300, C264S074000, C264S076000, C264S073000, C264S112000, C264S124000, C264S126000, C264S175000, C264S029300, C427S194000, C427S195000, C427S189000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06503424
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to a multicolored, patterned floor covering and a method for its manufacture. The floor covering is of the type which typically has a thickness of 1 to 4 mm, and consists of a sheeting having a first color that contains an imbedded granulated material dyed to a second color that differs from the color of the sheeting. The granulated material is embedded in the sheeting in at least the upper side of the sheeting. Such a floor covering is disclosed in French patent FR-PS 11 67 760, which lists a number of thermoplastic, polymer materials usable for this purpose, with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) being preferred.
The French patent also describes a method for manufacturing such a floor covering, particularly from PVC, in which at least two differently colored fractions of raw material are converted into sheeting using two rollers having identical diameters turning inversely at the same speed. Concomitantly, granular materials are forced under pressure into a thermoplastic base material, which is then heated to at least the softening point of the base material and again pressed, so that the base material completely surrounds the particles.
One problem arising from the manufacture of such floor coverings is that the pieces of waste material such as border trimmings and production remnants that are produced by such methods are characterized by the respective colors that are utilized. Consequently, they are not reusable in the same production process, and are usable to only a limited extent for the production of other recycled products.
This invention is directed to the problem of providing a floor covering of this general type, and a method for its production, such that the pieces of waste material that are produced through the manufacture of the floor covering can be reused in the same process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention solves this problem by providing a patterned floor covering having a thickness of 1 to 4 mm, in which sheeting comprises a matrix having a first color and to which a quantity of contrastingly colored particles is added. Both the matrix sheeting material and the contrastingly colored particles are made of cross-linkable elastomeric materials. The contrastingly colored particles have a plurality of dissimilarly colored sections that also differ in appearance from the matrix material. The amount and color of the particles and the sections within the particles are so selected and harmonized with respect to the quantity and color of the material forming the sheet matrix that the overall mixed color effect from intermixing the components is itself consistent with respect to the matrix color. In other words, while the added particles may, individually, contrast with respect to the surface of the matrix sheeting material in which they are imbedded, they are provided in overall quantities and color such that when remnants of the finished sheeting containing the added particles are reduced to particulate material, they can be recycled into matrix material for use as additional sheeting. The coloration of the imbedded particles and their quantity is not so great as to contrast unduly with the virgin matrix sheeting material with which the process is begun.
It is to be understood that the recycled material will agree in coloration with the virgin matrix material in the general sense, and that the latter may be combined with the former or used alone as matrix even though it may not be exactly identical in appearance to the virgin matrix material, and even though slight color variations between the mixed color and the first color may be detectable optically or by using measuring technology. This does not constitute an obstacle to the practical utilization of this material in recycling within the process. This is especially true when one considers that in a typical large-scale industrial process, the recycled remnants that are used may constitute merely a fraction of the total quantity of matrix material employed to produced new sheeting.
By utilizing elastomeric materials for all of the components of the covering, the floor covering obtained possesses excellent mechanical properties. Moreover, these properties are easy to control, as the matrix material which forms the sheeting is of homogenous composition, and completely surrounds the particles embedded therein (with the exception of the particle surfaces which face the working surface of the floor covering). In addition, by eliminating the production of unrecyclable waste material, the floor covering can be manufactured in a particularly cost-effective manner.
The particles that are added to the matrix can comprise at least three zones varying in coloration from the adjoining zones of the particle. This permits one to vary the appearance of the floor covering to a great extent to suit a wide array of tastes.
The particles can be arranged so close to one another that they touch. In this embodiment, the outer appearance of the floor covering is determined substantially by the structure and dying of the particles.
However, it is also possible to arrange the particles so that they are spaced apart from each other. In this embodiment, the outer appearance of the floor covering is determined substantially by the color of the sheeting, with the particles serving to provide the effect of “breaking up” the appearance of the sheeting.
The particles can be distributed in a randomized pattern or in an arbitrarily selected ordered pattern. For example, the particles may be distributed in the sheets to present the form of letters, words, or pictographs.
Such detailed distribution of particles requires that one be able to precisely distribute the particles into the matrix forming the sheet. This is best done by limiting the distribution of particles so that they are embedded only in the top side and/or in the bottom side of the sheeting. In such a variant, it is advantageous that the quantity of particles embedded in the top side of the sheeting be greater that the quantity of particles embedded in the bottom side. The discrete color surfaces visible in the area of the top side should have a size of between 1 to 25 mm
2
, it being preferable that the contrastingly-colored particles and particle sections be present in a quantity of between 80 to 450 g/m
2
, relative to the weight of the material body forming the sheeting.
The method set forth in FR-PS 11 67 760 is not well suited to the manufacture of a floor covering that, like the floor covering of the present invention, is made of rubber. Accordingly, a further goal of the invention is to further develop the known method so that to permit the manufacture of a floor covering made of rubber.
In the method of the invention, a contrastingly-colored granular material made of caoutchouc is introduced into a sheeting of caoutchouc that has previously been homogeneously dyed to a first color. The granular material comprises particles which include at least two particle sections dyed differently both from each other and from the sheeting and which are permanently set in position by means of subsequent vulcanization into the sheeting. In its final, ready-to-use state, the floor covering is no longer capable of being thermally softened, and possesses great chemical, mechanical and thermal stability. The sheeting is harmonized with respect to the quantity and color of the caoutchouc of which it is formed with respect to both the quantity and the color of the particles and particle sections contained in the granular material. This is done so that the mixed or composite color effect resulting from the homogenous intermixing of all the components added to the floor covering agrees with the color of the original sheet matrix, thereby facilitating the use of sheet remnants in recycled form. Hence, the floor covering can be produced cost-effectively while avoiding the production of any waste material.
In accordance with one advantageous refinement, the sheet or matrix is formed from a feed of a first granular rubber material having a first
Graab Gerhard
Grünhag Helmut
Heckel Klaus
Nahe Thorsten
Rischer Dieter
Firma Carl Freudenberg
Kenyon & Kenyon
Watkins III William P.
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