Floor panel and method for manufacturing a floor panel
AssigneeIvc N.V.
InventorsKristof Van Vlassenrode, Paul Brusseel, Nick Vanhulle, Jochen Bossuyt
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Abstract
Floor panel with a substrate, including thermoplastic material, a decor provided thereon, and, on at least one pair of opposite edges, coupling parts realized at least partially from the substrate. The coupling parts allow to effect a mechanical locking between two of floor panels, where the substrate includes a rigid substrate layer of thermoplastic material, and a glass fiber layer is present in the floor panel.
Claims19
A floor panel with a substrate, comprising:
- thermoplastic material,
- a decor provided thereon, and,
- on at least one pair of opposite edges, coupling parts realized at least partially from the substrate, said coupling parts allowing to effect a mechanical locking between two of such floor panels,
- wherein the substrate comprises a rigid substrate layer of thermoplastic material, and a first glass fiber layer and a second glass fiber layer are present in the floor panel,
- wherein the first glass fiber layer and the second glass fiber layer are situated at a vertical distance of at least ⅕ times a thickness of the floor panel from each other,
- wherein the first and second glass fiber layer enclose a single substrate layer,
- wherein the substrate, between the decor and the rigid substrate layer, comprises a flexible substrate layer of thermoplastic material which is more flexible or more compressible than the rigid substrate layer,
- wherein said coupling parts comprise a tongue and a groove, the groove being bordered by an upper lip and a lower lip, wherein the lower lip has a portion that protrudes beyond said upper lip, said coupling parts further comprising locking elements in the form of a protrusion on a lower side of the tongue and an upward-directed locking element in the portion of the lower lip that protrudes beyond the upper lip, which, by means of cooperating locking surfaces counteract a moving apart of the tongue and the groove in the horizontal direction, wherein said cooperating locking surfaces are essentially formed in said rigid substrate layer.
A method for manufacturing a floor panel with a substrate, comprising thermoplastic material, and a decor provided thereon, wherein the method comprises the following steps:
- providing a first rigid substrate layer of thermoplastic material by means of a first strewing treatment;
- providing a first glass fiber layer on the strewn substrate layer;
- providing a second rigid substrate layer of thermoplastic material on the first glass fiber layer, by means of a second strewing treatment;
- providing a second glass fiber layer on the strewn second rigid substrate layer, wherein the first glass fiber layer and second glass fiber layer exclusively enclose the second rigid substrate layer;
- consolidating the strewn substrate layers and the first glass fiber layer and the second glass fiber layer under the influence of pressure and/or heat;
- providing, on the consolidated second substrate layer, a more flexible or more compressible substrate layer of thermoplastic material by applying this thermoplastic material in liquid condition,
- wherein the substrate, between the decor and the consolidated second rigid substrate layer, comprises the flexible or more compressible substrate layer of thermoplastic material which is more flexible or more compressible than either the first rigid substrate layer or the second rigid substrate layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.