Description

Profiled product made of a composite material

Technical field

The present invention relates to profiles made of a composite material that are similar to those that are known on the market as WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) products, which were developed to substitute or replace natural wood.

Background Art

In these products, the woody component that is usually in the form of wood dust or wood fibres of various lengths is normally obtained by recycling products made of wood or by recovering wood shavings or offcuts, sawdust, etc. The plastic component is normally obtained from low or high density polymers such as PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene) and PVC (polyvinylchlori.de). Also, various types of additive (either auxiliary products or fillers) can be used to produce WPC products, depending on the characteristics of the material one wishes to obtain; for example, some auxiliary products or fillers can prevent the product from degrading, some can help make the product self-extinguishing when it catches fire or stabilise the material against exposure to UV rays, etc.

The material resulting from these compounds can be processed in the same way as plastic; for example, it can be injected through a die or extruded through a draw plate to create a finished product such as profiles (or strips) for floor or wall coverings used in building construction, or for covering furnishing items. These profiles are particularly used in the construction industry for outdoor flooring, as a covering for decorative walls or walls in rooms, or to create wainscoting, skirting boards, edging around openings in rooms, window frames or door frames, etc.

The known materials have limitations when used in applications for flooring, interior coverings and decorative coverings. These limitations are principally due to the fact that the profiles that can be obtained with the above materials have negative qualities such as a rather unattractive appearance, low resistance to UV (i.e., sensitivity to light with consequent change in colour and resulting deterioration of the physical/mechanical characteristics of the product due to exposure to the elements and to light). It follows that these profiles must be properly treated with stabilisers

such as clear protective/decorative varnishes, or even covered with decorative paper glued to the surfaces which will be fully visible to the observer.

Disclosure of the Invention. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate these shortcomings by creating a profiled product made of a composite material such as WPC as described above, but with characteristics that give the product a pleasant appearance (such as surface finishing with irregular grain patterns that are completely similar to or comparable to those of natural wood) and with surfaces designed to remain in full view and therefore exposed to the elements . To achieve this, the surfaces are covered with a film that is clear - so it does not change the surface appearance of the profiles - and is made of one or more thermoplastic polymers. This film increases the mechanical strength of the profile and filters out UV rays extremely well, which helps maintain the mechanical and appearance characteristics of the profile throughout its service life.

Thanks to these properties, the profiled product according to the present invention is ideal for use in applications such as indoor and outdoor flooring, coverings, decorations for walls used for furnishing purposes or walls of rooms, and screens that keep sunlight from penetrating into rooms, and for producing finished profiles used to create highly attractive frames around interior doors and windows.

The profiled product according to the present invention is structurally characterized by the fact that all its surfaces, or at least the surfaces that will remain exposed to external agents, are covered by a clear thermoplastic film which is made to adhere permanently to the entire area of the surfaces not by using glues or adhesive materials, but by simple physical/chemical/mechanical adhesion that is obtained when the profiled product is extruded, specifically through co-extrusion of said thermoplastic film and simultaneous fastening or bonding of the latter onto the chosen surfaces of the profile through thermal/chemical/mechanical action.

An additional property of the profiled material according to the present invention is that the surface appearance of the finished profile to be covered with the clear protective film can be and is determined by the extrusion process and not by mechanical or graphic procedures performed subsequent to the extrusion process and before or after the clear protective film is applied.

The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the above aims, are clearly found in the claims below.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed description which follows, which contains references to the accompanying drawings that illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is provided merely by way of example and without restricting the scope of the inventive concept, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a possible first section of profile according to the invention, shown during co-extrusion and bonding of sections of clear thermoplastic film onto the two faces with a larger cross-section; - Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a possible second section of profile according to the invention, shown during co-extrusion and bonding of sections of clear thermoplastic film onto the two faces with a larger cross-section;

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of a possible third section of profile according to the invention, during co-extrusion and bonding of sections of clear thermoplastic film onto the two faces with a larger cross-section;

Figure 4 shows an example of the profile shown in figure 1 being used to cover a wall employed for purposes of furnishing;

Figure 5, shows an example of the profile shown in figure 2 being used as a floor covering; - Figure 6 shows an example of the profile shown in figure 2 or in figure 3 being used to create wainscoting;

Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of a window frame or a frame around the opening of a door that can be created using sections of profiles produced according to the invention.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

In the accompanying figures, the numerals 1, Ia and Ib indicate the body of a section of profile that could, when a number of such profiles are placed one next to the other along their lateral sides, constitute the covering of a wall in a room or a wall of a furnishing element (see Fig. 4) or the covering of a floor (see Fig. 5), or be used in appropriate lengths to create wainscoting (see Fig. 6), or be appropriately cut to size and used to create frames around doors and windows (see Fig. 7).

The profile according to the invention is made of a composite material that preferably has the following composition: - 15% to 70% wood dust;

less than 10% auxiliary compounds or fillers such as plasticizers, flame retardants, expanding agents, bonding agents and pigments; the remaining percentage of the composite comprising one or more polymers, preferably PVC (poϊyvinylchloride), PP (polypropylene) or PE (polyethylene); - a density of 650 Kg/m3 to 1400 Kg/m3

The numeral 2 indicates sections of the plastic film that are to be used for covering the surfaces of the profiles 1, Ib, Ic in order to provide these profiles with the properties described above.

The sections 2 are created using clear thermoplastic polymers that are mixed to meet priority requirements, which can be: technical in nature, such as resistance to scuffing, scratching, denting, UV rays, bending, fire; perceived qualities such as opacity, shininess, softness, hardness, etc.

These polymers are preferably PVC (polyvinylchloride), MBS (polymethacrylate butadiene styrene, more specifically called methyl methacrylate butadiene styrene thermopolymer) and PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) in mixtures that may vary from

0% to 100% of each of the three polymers, depending on the requirements as described above.

For example, in outdoor applications, it is preferable to use more than 60% PMMA to limit yellowing in case of direct exposure to UV rays. For applications in which the need to resist impact and scratches is paramount, it is preferable to use more than 30% MBS.

For ordinary uses in which the film protects against staining, it is preferable to use more than 60% PVC. The thickness of the films 2 may vary from 0.1 mm to several millimetres, depending on the application for which the profiles 1 are intended. For example, when profiles 1 are used as a floor covering (figure 5), the thickness of the film 2 may range from 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm.

The stable, permanent joining of the films 2 with the surfaces of the profiles 1 is created by taking advantage of the properties of the respective materials , specifically by co-extruding (simultaneously) the profiles 1 and the films 2 and causing the films 2 to adhere to the surfaces of the profiles 21 using the proper amount of pressure and under the proper temperature conditions to create a bond between the films 2 and the surfaces of the profiles 1 through a thermal-chemical-mechanical effect. In a preferred embodiment of the profiles 1, the relative composite material is

prepared in such a way that during extrusion, its surfaces show grain that can be in the mix or at random, depending on the appearance that is desired.

For example, the grain can be more or less evident, with colours that contrast to a greater or lesser degree with the underlying colour, and can be present in one or more shades and colour variations.

The innovative technical characteristics of the profiled product made of a composite material, according to the invention, can be summarised as follows: high resistance to scratching and scuffing, thanks to the covering applied on the surfaces of the profile using the film 2; - elimination of the need for varnishing, or in any case elimination of the need to apply protective agents to the extruded profile, due to the fact that the surface finish of the profile is obtained during extrusion and depends on the composite material used, and that the surface finish is protected by the application of the film 2 through a thermal/chemical/mechanical effect, that is, without the aid of glues or any added adhesive substances; total recyclability of the profiled product into a product of the same colour and with the same characteristics, due to the fact that no varnishes or added adhesive substances are used; improved resistance to UV rays, which is provided by protective films made of clear materials that by their very nature offer great resistance to such rays; greater mechanical resistance, particularly to flexing, impact and traction.

The invention described above is susceptible to industrial application and may be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.