Sealing web with fiber coated marginal areas

A sealing web is useful for installation in the joint areas of floors or walls, to which layers of plaster, tiles or boards may be applied with an adhesive, especially if layers or coverings are produced in connection with the sealing of the floor or wall surface. The sealing web includes a stretchable plastic sheet having an uncovered center section located between two marginal sections which are coated with fiber material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a sealing web for bridging expansion 
joints in structures comprising a stretchable plastic sheet bridging the 
area of the joint. This plastic sheet is impermeable to moisture, and the 
marginal sections of this plastic sheet are coated with fiber material 
solidly secured to the plastic sheet. The marginal sections have at least 
partly projecting zones of fibers for attaching the plastic sheet to the 
substrate under it, while leaving uncovered a stretchable center section 
of the plastic sheet on the top side in the running direction of the 
sealing web. 
2. The Prior Art 
Such a sealing web is known from DE 93 17 637 U1. The sealing strip 
according to this prior art document consists of a plastic sheet web, on 
which provision is made on both of its sides for an adhesive base for 
gluing and sealing compounds. The adhesive base is formed by the surface 
of strips of fleece which have marginal areas that protrude laterally 
beyond the edge of the web sheet. On their inner sides the strips of 
fleece are vulcanized into the surface of the web sheet. This is done in 
such a way that the surface of the web sheet is structured and formed 
within the zone of its marginal sections by protruding fleece fibers. Good 
adhesive conditions are available within the area of the adhesive base for 
gluing the base to a wall covering, for example such as tiles. The 
elasticity of the web sheet is preserved within the center section. 
The drawback with this known sealing web is that the plastic sheet is glued 
to the ground or substrate under it with the fleece sections serving as an 
adhesive base like a block of pavement, covering the expansion joint on 
the top side. Thus, it is possible for fleece strip sections to project 
beyond the plastic sheet solely for the purpose of securing the plastic 
sheet onto the substrate. Gluing of the plastic sheet with the sheet 
resting on the substrate, so as to prevent moisture from penetrating the 
expansion joint laterally, is not possible with the adhesive intended for 
gluing the sections of fleece material. The lateral penetration of water 
seeping into the expansion joint is at best reduced only in that the 
plastic sheet is marginally pressed onto the substrate by the projecting 
fleece arranged on the top side. However, as a rule, effective sealing can 
not be assured due to the roughness of the substrate. In any case, even 
with such a solution, a hollow marginal space remains, in which water, for 
example coming from cross joints can circulate in such a hollow space 
between the fleece material and the plastic sheet, and penetrate into the 
expansion joint. 
The sealing web according to DE 93 17 637 U1 is suitable for application to 
a wall area. However, the known sealing web is unsuitable for application 
in the floor area particularly if the floor is subjected to certain types 
of loads, for example shipping traffic across the floor. The plastic sheet 
is readily deformable relative to the projecting fleece material which has 
been hardened by the adhesive. Thus, the plastic sheet represents a 
substrate that is flexible within certain limits versus other types of 
zones. Especially with load bearing industrial floors, which, for example, 
are covered with tiles, and where load bearing traffic takes place on such 
floors, the tiles in these marginal zones will rest upon a substrate that 
is yielding to different degrees. This poses the risk that the tiles may 
break in such transitional zones. 
DE-design patent 88 14 650 describes a sealing web intended for area 
sealing of entire floor sections. However, such a sealing web is 
unsuitable for bridging expansion joints because they lack elastic 
properties. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing web for 
bridging expansion joints in structures, in connection with which the 
undesirable penetration of seeping water into the expansion joint is not 
only effectively prevented, but which is also suitable for application for 
bridging expansion joints in floor areas. 
This object is achieved according to the present invention by having the 
width of the sealing web correspond with the width of the plastic sheet, 
and by having the two marginal sections of the plastic sheet being coated 
in the longitudinal running direction with fiber material both on the top 
side and the bottom side of the plastic sheet. 
The advantages resulting from the present invention are the following. Due 
to the fact that the plastic sheet is positioned along the total width of 
the sealing web, protruding zones reacting differently as a substrate with 
respect to their stability properties are avoided. Therefore, the sealing 
web according to the invention is applicable without limitations also in 
floor areas stressed by load bearing floor traffic without having the fear 
that floor tiles will tend to form cracks under the load. By coating the 
plastic sheet in its marginal sections on both the top side and the bottom 
side with fiber material, an adhesive base is formed on both of these 
sides of the plastic sheet. Thus, the plastic sheet can be glued both to a 
substrate beneath it and to a floor covering above it. The only non-glued 
section of the plastic sheet is the one for which no coating is intended, 
and which bridges the expansion joint for assuring the elastic properties 
of the sealing web. Adjoining sections of the floor connected by such a 
sealing web can therefore be provided with a sealing web which is 
impermeable to moisture. Thus, it is assured that different movements of 
the floor sections, for example due to thermal changes, can be compensated 
for and simultaneously the feature of moisture impermeability of the 
sealing web remains assured. 
The present invention is thusly an improvement over the sealing webs 
according to the subject matter of DE-GM 88 14 650. By means of the 
present invention, it is possible to effectively seal floors or walls 
across their entire areas. 
The width of the uncovered section of the sealing web which is free from 
any fibers in the longitudinal running direction of the web preferably 
ranges between about 10 to 40 mm. The adjacent, covered marginal sections 
preferably support a fleece-like fiber material, which has its fibers 
partly melted into the plastic sheet. Thus, the fibers or fiber sections 
partly project beyond the sheet, so as to form an adequate adhesive base 
for adhesives, mortar, or sealing material that can be smoothed out to 
form a level surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Turning now in detail to the drawings, in FIG. 3 reference numeral 3 
denotes a joint between the two floor sections or substrates 2. For 
sealing purposes and later for applying a covering material, for example 
tiles or boards within the zone of the floor sections 2, this joint 3 is 
covered with the glued-on sealing web denoted as a whole by numeral 1. 
This sealing web 1 preferably has a width of 125 to 230 mm. Web 1 is made 
of a flexible, elastic plastic sheet 11 having a partly projecting, 
fleece-like fiber material 12 laminated and melted into this plastic sheet 
11 on both the top side 14 of this sheet and the bottom side 16 of this 
sheet. The center section forms the uncovered, stretchable section 11a, 
which section 11a has a width w which is at least equal to the width of 
the joint. The width of section 11a usually ranges between about 10 to 40 
mm. The marginal sections or areas 4 and 5 are on each side of the center 
section 11a. 
While the center section 11a is free from any fiber coating, the marginal 
sections or areas 4 and 5 of the web 1 are shown as being covered with a 
coating arrangement of zones or clumps of fibers 12. Between the clumps of 
fibers 12 is this checker board pattern of squares and diamonds of 
uncovered areas 18 which are free from any fiber coating. 
Examples of the plastic material from which the plastic sheet 11 can be 
made include thermoplastics such as polyolefins such as polyethylene, 
polypropylene, polybutylene or mixtures of these as copolymers or 
terpolymers. Examples of the fiber fleece material 12 include polyvinyl 
chloride or polyacrylamide. 
While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and 
described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may 
be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the 
invention as defined in the appended claims.