FLOOR PLANK WITH FOAM CORE

摘要

The floor member has a closed-cell foam core that constitutes approximately 50% of the overall thickness of the floor member. All constituents of the floor member, including a design layer, wear layer and resilient foam plastic underlayer, are highly water resistant and essentially water repellant. The closed-cell foam core is relatively lightweight and the floor member is also relatively lightweight compared to equally dimensioned floor planks formed exclusively of solid laminated plastic materials or wood-based laminated materials. The floor member has edge connecting means for convenient floating floor installation without the need to adhere the floor member to a floor base. The floor member is also easy to handle to permit a do-it-yourselfer to install a floor covering with the floor member.

主权项

1. A floor member comprising,
a) a generally rectangular unit having a top surface, a bottom surface, a predetermined overall thickness and opposite edge portions, b) a core layer of closed cell pvc foam plastic material with a toughening agent such that said core layer is impact resistant and is of lower density and lighter weight than a solid pvc material of similar dimension, said core layer having an upper foam surface and a lower foam surface, c) a non-foam plastic layer provided on the upper foam surface of said core layer, d) a display or design layer provided over the non-foam plastic layer, e) a clear vinyl wear layer and a protective transparent plastic coating provided over the design layer, such that said design layer shows through said clear vinyl wear layer and said protective transparent plastic coating and said protective transparent plastic coating constitutes the top surface of said floor member, f) a resilient polyethylene foam layer provided at the lower surface of said core layer, and said resilient polyethylene foam layer having a bottom surface constituting the bottom surface of said floor member, g) joining means provided at the opposite edge portions of said floor member to permit joining of said floor member to other said floor members in adjacent edge-to-edge contact, h) said floor member having an overall thickness defined between the top surface and the bottom surface of said floor member, and i) said core layer having a thickness that is approximately 50 percent of the overall thickness of said floor member.