Patent ID: 7588821

Claim:
A polyvinyl chloride thermoplastic article comprising: an extruded polyvinyl chloride thermoplastic panel having an upper surface and a lower surface, said panel having a width and a thickness; a plurality of pigmented pellets distributed across the width of said panel at said upper surface of said panel, wherein said plurality of pigmented pellets are arranged so as to provide an aesthetic pigmented grain pattern; and about 1% to about 10% by weight of a microsphere additive, said microsphere additive substantially uniformly distributed throughout said panel such that said microsphere additive is located in said panel, wherein the presence of said microsphere additive causes the article to be more resistant to scratches than similar articles without said microsphere additive; wherein said thermoplastic panel has a more uniform grain appearance across the width of said panel than a thermoplastic panel without the microsphere additive as the presence of said microsphere additive functions to more uniformly distribute the plurality of pigmented pellets across the width of said panel.