Surface covering production method using digital printing

Abstract

A method of producing a decorative surface covering comprises generating one or more synthetic images. The generation of these images includes arranging local prototype motifs characteristic of a material to be mimicked in a random manner and generating or preserving continuity between the local prototype motifs in such a way as to yield globally an appearance of the material to be mimicked, digitally printing one or more synthetic images on a printing substrate, and assembling the printing substrate with one or more backing layers and/or one or more transparent top layers so as to form the decorative surface covering.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of producing a decorative surface covering, comprising
 receiving images of natural material acquired from a plant in which the natural material is processed,   buffering the images of the natural material,   assembling the images of the natural material into a synthetic image to be printed,   digitally printing the synthetic image on a printing substrate; and   assembling the printing substrate with one or more backing layers and/or one or more transparent top layers so as to form the decorative surface covering.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method produces a decorative wall or floor covering. 
     
     
         3 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the images of natural material comprise at least one of photographs, roentgenograms and tomographies. 
     
     
         4 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the plant in which the natural material is processed is a sawmill or a quarry. 
     
     
         5 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising checking the images of natural material for flaws, prior to assembling the images of the natural material into the synthetic image. 
     
     
         6 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein assembling the images of the natural material into the synthetic image comprises blending individual neighbouring images of the natural material into one another. 
     
     
         7 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein assembling the images of the natural material into the synthetic image comprises rule-based processing using rules selected in accordance with the material to be mimicked. 
     
     
         8 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the images of the natural material comprise lineal, areal or volume features and wherein assembling the images of the natural material into the synthetic image comprises coordinating the images of the natural material in an at least three-dimensional space, and retrieving a two-dimensional surface embedded in said space. 
     
     
         9 . The method as claimed in  claim 8 , comprising mapping the two-dimensional surface into a plane. 
     
     
         10 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the synthetic image mimics a surface of natural material selected from the group consisting of stone, wood, bamboo, cork and metal. 
     
     
         11 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein assembling the images of natural material comprises at least one of:
 a) arranging the images of natural material as an at least two-dimensional dense mosaic devoid of gaps and wherein continuity between the images of natural material is generated, the generation of continuity comprising modifying said images of natural material so as to eliminate discontinuities between adjacent images of natural material; and   b) arranging the images of natural material as an at least two-dimensional sparse mosaic with gaps between the images of natural material and wherein continuity between the images of natural material is generated, the generation of continuity comprising extrapolation of the images of natural material into the gaps and/or interpolation of the images of natural material.   
     
     
         12 . The method as claimed in  claim 1 , comprising, before digitally printing the synthetic image, applying a base coat on the printing substrate. 
     
     
         13 . A method of producing a decorative surface covering, comprising:
 digitally printing one or more synthetic images on a printing substrate, the one or more synthetic images
 comprising areal and lineal features characteristic of a material to be mimicked, the material to be mimicked; and 
 representing a total printed-out surface of at least 10 m 2  of flooring, said areal and lineal features being distributed over said surface so as to form a random pattern, wherein the areal and lineal features located within any geometrically convex subarea of at least 0.01 m 2  with an aspect ratio not greater than 5 form a visual motif that is unique within a radius of at least 2 m around said subarea; 
 and 
 assembling said printing substrate with one or more backing layers and/or one or more transparent top layers so as to form said decorative surface covering. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the method produces a decorative wall or floor covering. 
     
     
         15 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the material to be mimicked is selected from the group consisting of stone, wood, cork and metal. 
     
     
         16 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the one or more synthetic images represent a total printed-out surface of at least 16 m 2  of flooring. 
     
     
         17 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the areal and lineal features located within any geometrically convex subarea of at least 25 cm 2  with an aspect ratio not greater than 5 form a visual motif that is unique within a radius of at least 2 m around said subarea. 
     
     
         18 . A method of producing a decorative surface covering as claimed in  claim 13 , comprising, before said digital printing of the one or more synthetic images, applying a base coat on said printing substrate. 
     
     
         19 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , comprising, before digitally printing the one or more synthetic images, applying a base coat on the printing substrate. 
     
     
         20 . A multilayer decorative floor covering comprising one or more backing layers, a printing substrate and/or one or more transparent top layers, the printing substrate carrying a digital print comprising one or more synthetic images, the one or more synthetic images
 comprising areal and lineal features characteristic of a material to be mimicked, the material to be mimicked; and   representing a total printed-out surface of at least 10 m 2  of flooring, said areal and lineal features being distributed over said surface so as to form a random pattern, wherein the areal and lineal features located within any geometrically convex subarea of at least 0.01 m 2  with an aspect ratio not greater than 5 form a visual motif that is unique within a radius of at least 2 m around said subarea.