Tension floor covering with reinforcing layer

A resilient, tension floor covering comprising a reinforcing layer and a matrix material wherein a continuous layer of said matrix material covers said reinforcing layer, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, the reinforcing layer being elongated in at least one direction, the total of the elongation and shrinkage due to aging of the floor covering being greater than 0.2% as measured over a six week period at room temperature, the floor covering being unbalanced.

A resilient floor covering comprising a reinforcing layer and a matrix material, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension,, the reinforcing layer being elongated in at least one direction, the total of the elongation and shrinkage due to aging of the floor covering being greater than 0.2% as measured over a six week period at room temperature, the reinforcing layer having been elongated at least in part due to roll-up growth.

A resilient, tension floor covering comprising a single reinforcing layer and a matrix material, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, the reinforcing layer having a first region and a second region, the relaxed compressive stiffness and the relaxed tensile stiffness of the first region being different than the relaxed compressive stiffness and the relaxed tensile stiffness of the second region, said reinforcing layer being disposed within the matrix material of the floor covering and below the neutral bending plane of the floor covering, the neutral bending plane of the floor covering being between the upper and lower surface of the floor covering.

A tension floor covering comprising a single reinforcing layer and a matrix material, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, said reinforcing layer being disposed within said matrix material, said matrix material including a first upper layer above said reinforcing layer and a second lower layer below said reinforcing layer, said matrix layers having compositions such that on rolling the floor covering with the surface of the upper layer of the matrix material opposite the reinforcing layer facing outward, the upper layer is elongated and the lower matrix layer facing inward is compressed, and on unrolling the floor covering the elongated upper layer overcomes the compressed lower layer and the floor covering has a dimension greater than its original unrolled dimension by at least 0.1%.

A resilient, tension floor covering comprising a reinforcing layer and a matrix material, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, the matrix material forming a continuous layer said continuous layer covering said reinforcing layer, the reinforcing layer being elongated in at least one direction, the total of the elongation and shrinkage due to aging of the floor covering being greater than 0.2% in one dimension within 1,000 hours at room temperature.

A tension floor covering comprising a reinforcing layer and a matrix material wherein a continuous layer of said matrix material covers said reinforcing layer, the reinforcing layer having been modified by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, the floor covering being secured to a wooden subfloor around the periphery of the floor covering only, the reinforcing layer being elongated in at least one direction, the total of the elongation and shrinkage due to aging to the floor covering being greater than 0.2% as measured over a six week period at room temperature.

A method for making a resilient, tension floor covering comprising:

• (a) disposing a reinforcing layer in a matrix material,
• (b) modifying the reinforcing layer by chemical or mechanical means to have a relaxed compressive stiffness and relaxed tensile stiffness such that the floor covering will elongate under tension, and
• (c) elongating the reinforcing layer whereby the total of the elongation and shrinkage due to the aging of the floor covering is greater than 0.2% as measured over a six week period at room temperature.