Patent Publication Number: US-2006003132-A1

Title: Surface covering module having an adhesive barrier membrane

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application claims priority on Canadian patent application number 2,471,983 filed on Jun. 22, 2004 which is herein incorporated by reference.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to modules for covering surfaces. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with surface covering module having an adhesive barrier membrane.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Surface covering modules such as decorative bricks, tiles and the like are popular commercial products.  
      Decorative tiles, such as bathroom tiles for example, having adhesive that are can be either self-adhesive or heat-softened to become adhesive are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,962,504 and 5,989,369 issued to Sherwin on Jun. 8, 1976 and to Light on Nov. 23, 1999 respectively are examples of such decorative tiles.  
      A drawback of the prior art is that that when adhering modules on a surface such as a ceiling, a floor, and/or a wall extra material for providing a barrier for water, gas, vapor, moisture and/or insulation  
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
      An object of the present invention is to provide an improved surface-covering module.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved surface covering.  
      A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of covering a surface with a surface-covering module.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      More specifically, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a module for covering a surface, the module comprising: 
          a decorative front face; and     a back surface-mounting face opposite the front face and comprising a heat-softening adhesive barrier membrane,     wherein when the adhesive barrier membrane is heat-softened it provides for the surface-mounting face to be adhered to the surface.        

      In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a surface covering comprising modules being mountable to a surface side by side, each module comprising: 
          a decorative front face; and     a back surface-mounting face opposite the front face and comprising a heat-softening adhesive barrier membrane, the barrier membrane being heat-softenable so as to provide for said surface-mounting face to be adhered to the surface;     peripheral sides adapted to mate with corresponding sides of a similar module disposed adjacent to the module;     wherein when the module and a similar module are adhered side-by-side on the surface, thereby forming a contiguous covering.        

      In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of covering a surface, the method comprising: 
          (a) providing modules, each module comprising a decorative front face, a back surface-mounting face opposite the front face and comprising a heat-softening adhesive barrier, and peripheral sides adapted to mate with corresponding sides of a similar module disposed adjacent to the module;     (b) heating the heat-softening adhesive barrier membrane so as to become adhesive; and     (c) adhering the modules side-by-side on the surface so that corresponding sides of adjacent modules mate.        

      In an embodiment, the adhesive barrier membrane is selected from the group consisting of a waterproofing membrane, an gas/vapor barrier membrane, an insulation membrane and a combination thereof.  
      Definitions:  
      The term “bitumen” should be construed herein to comprise without limitation residue front atmospheric distillation of crude oil or of a mixture thereof with a slightly oxidized product.  
      The term “copolymer” should be construed herein to comprise without limitation an elastic polymer which may be formed with ethylene, polyester, polypropylene, polybutyrene, polyimide, polycarbonate, polyamide, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinylchloride, fluoroplastics, sulfone polymers, polyvinylidene, chloride, butene, derivatives or mixtures, thereof.  
      The term “sealing” or “sealed” should be construed herein to comprise without limitation the capacity or property of a material to significantly prevent the passage of a gas or a liquid through a material or a structure  
      The terms “transudent” or “transuding” should be construed herein to comprise without limitation the capacity or property of a material to transude, to exude, to excrete, to fuse, to transpire, to diffuse, or to pass through pores or interstices of a layer, as a sheet of paper for example. A non transuding material is relatively solid, and does not transude, exude, excrete, transpire, diffuse, or pass through pores or interstices.  
      The term “waterproofing material” or “water repellant” should be construed herein to comprise without limitation a material that can have the function of gas barrier such as an air barrier for example, vapor barrier, moisture barrier, or combinations thereof.  
      An advantage of the present invention is that the adhesive barrier material not only allows securely adhering a module on a surface but also provides waterproofing and/or gas/vapor and/or insulation barrier.  
      Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following non restrictive description of embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      In the appended drawings where like elements are referenced by like reference numerals and in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the front face of a module for covering a surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the back face of the module of  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the front face of a module for covering a surface in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a front elevation view of a surface covering surface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention adhered to a surface. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT  
      With reference to the appended drawings an embodiment of the invention will be herein described so as to exemplify the invention and not limit its scope.  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show a module  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention adapted to be mounted onto a surface for covering it.  
      The module  10  has a visible decorative brick face  12 . The decorative brick face  12  includes decorative bricks  14  separated by delimiting elements  16 . In this example, the delimiting elements  16  are grooves that can receive decorative material therein, as explained hereinafter.  
      In the example shown here, the module  10  has four jagged-edge sides  18 ,  20 ,  22 , and  24  respectively.  
      Sides  18 ,  20 ,  22  and  24  are delimited by delimiting elements  16 , which in this example are grooves.  
      With reference to  FIG. 2 , the module  10  also includes a back surface mounting face  26  that is opposite the front decorative face  12 .  
      The back surface mounting face  26  comprises a heat-softening adhesive barrier membrane  28 . The adhesive barrier membrane  28  is covered with a protective film or sheet  30  that can be peeled off.  
      In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , the adhesive barrier membrane  28  covers the whole back surface of the module  10  and includes a peripheral edge  32  that is co-linear the edges of sides  18 ,  20 ,  22  and  24 .  
      In use, the protective film sheet  30  is peeled off and the adhesive barrier membrane  28  is heat softened until it is rendered adhesive. The module  10  is positioned on a surface (not shown), such as a wall structure for example. In this way, a plurality of modules  10  are adhered on this wall in a side-by-side fashion mating their corresponding adjacent sides  18 ,  20 ,  22  and  24  together. Thus, the wall structured is not only covered by a brick-wall facade but it a barrier membrane  28  is simultaneously added along the covered wall.  
      Grooves  16  are filled with material such as a cemententoius material for example. Since the sides  18 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 , of the modules  10  are bordered by grooves  16 , abutting edges will also be filled with material. In this way, the user may create a decorative brick wall surface.  
       FIG. 3  shows a module  10 ′ that is similar in construction to module  10  and as such, need not be further described herein for concision purposes only.  
      Module  10 ′ comprises a back surface mounting face similar to face  26 . In this example the peripheral edge  32 ′ of adhesive barrier membrane  28 ′ extends beyond the edges of sides  18 ′,  20 ′,  22 ′ and  24 ′.  
      Hence, when covering a surface, such as a wall for example with a plurality of modules  10 ′ as explained above for modules  10 , the extended edges  32 ′ of two side-by-side modules  10 ′ mate or even overlap. In this way, any space between to adjacent modules  10 ′ has been covered by the adhesive barrier membrane.  
       FIG. 4 , shows a surface covering  40  comprising modules  42  such as tiles. Tiles  40  are adhered to a surface such as floor  44  in a shower for example with their front decorative faces  46  being exposed. An adhesive barrier membrane  48  is mounted on the back faces (not shown) of the tiles  40 . The peripheral edge  50  of the adhesive barrier membrane  48  extends beyond the peripheral sides  52  of the tiles  40 . In this way, the extended edges  50  of the membrane  48  of two side-by-side tiles  40  mate or even overlap thus covering any space therebetween.  
      The heat-softening barrier adhesive membranes  28 ,  28 ′,  48  of the present invention may be selected from a variety of waterproofing membranes, gas (such as air) and vapor barrier membranes, insulation membranes and a combinations of the foregoing.  
      In this way, the adhesive barrier membrane not only permits to adhere surface covering modules to a surface such as a wall or a floor but it also provides waterproofing and/or an gas/vapor barrier and/or insulation.  
      In one embodiment, the adhesive barrier membrane comprises sealing material and an impervious non-transudent surfacing material.  
      Furthermore, the adhesive barrier membrane comprises a water repellant or waterproofing material. This water repellant material may be transudent bitumen, transudent polymer, a transudent resin and any other suitable water repellant and/or any combination of the foregoing.  
      The impervious non-transudent surfacing material can be a polymer, a resin, a plastic, a metal, a polyester, a polypropylene, a polybutyrene, a polyimide, a polycarbonate, a polyamide, a polyethylene, a polystyrene, a polyvinylchloride, a fluoroplastic, a sulfone polymer, and a polyvinylidene chloride.  
      The sealing material may comprise up to 40% by weight of filler. In an embodiment, the sealing material comprises between 50 to 100% of bitumen, and up to 50% by weight of at least one copolymer. In this way, the combination of bitumen and the copolymer forms 100% of the sealing material.  
      The bitumen copolymer may be a combination of styrene-butadiene-styrene and a block copolymer.  
      In an non-limiting example, the softening point of various types of bitumen that can be used within the scope of invention may vary from 36° C. to 140° C. A mixture of various types of bitumen can also be contemplated within the scope of the invention ad the properties of the bitumen can be modified by adding mineral oils, fatty substances and chemical agents.  
      Of course, the modules of the present invention may be any type of surface covering module as will be understood by the skilled artisan and as such may be constructed by a variety of suitable materials such as a ceramic, cementations material, metal, plastic, wood and combinations of the foregoing or any other type of suitable material.  
      It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described hereinabove. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practised in various ways. It is also to be understood that the phraseology or terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not limitation. Hence, although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit, scope and nature of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.